Rumored ACC Offer

[UcatsRick]

While at the Belk Bowl I heard more than one person say that the ACC will offer UC membership if three things happen first:

1. Hire big name football coach - Done
2. Announce improvements to Nippert - Done
3. Annonce improvement to 5/3 Arena - nothing yet

Interesting proposal I think, and could explain the hiure of Tuberville and announcements on Nippert. If 5/3 announcement comes soonm, then look out.

[anbuc88]

While at the Belk Bowl I heard more than one person say that the ACC will offer UC membership if three things happen first:

1. Hire big name football coach - Done
2. Announce improvements to Nippert - Done
3. Annonce improvement to 5/3 Arena - nothing yet

Interesting proposal I think, and could explain the hiure of Tuberville and announcements on Nippert. If 5/3 announcement comes soonm, then look out.

I'm sure they have told the ACC that FTA will eventually be addressed. I don't know where the money will come from to improve Nippert and FTA concurrently.

[coach]

that's complete garbage. how many fball coaches can you even name in the acc? these expansion deals are driven 95% by tv contracts and to a lessor extent logistics. they'll expand(along with others) when they need teams and or feel threatened or see a positive contribution from where they are currently in a tv contract. u think md and rutgers are big time programs, not so much. i think there were 5300 fans at the uc/rutgers bball game the other night in that barn.

[letharion]

I realize 5/3 is becoming outdated, but is it really that bad? What am I missing?

[JDBEARCAT]

I hope this rumor is true & comes true. I would love for Mic & the boys to beat UNC &
Duke on a regular basis.

[GoCats1994]

Not trying to be a downer... But without (credible) sources, it's tough to put a lot of stock in this rumor

[richard k.]

Not trying to be a downer... But without (credible) sources, it's tough to put a lot of stock in this rumor

This is exactly the kind of thing someone thinks out loud around Belk Bowl time - geez - we hired a big time football coach, so if we announce improvements to both the Nip and the Shoe I'll bet we get an invite from . . ., because that is probably what they are looking for. Supposition is nice - but it "ain't " necessarily reality.

[Bearcat Otto]

I hope this rumor is true & comes true. I would love for Mic & the boys to beat UNC &
Duke on a regular basis.

You are assuming that UNC and Duke will be in the ACC. Both probably will be, but if one leaves, I think it would be UNC before Duke.

Football is driving these moves. If I were Duke, I might be worried if the ACC is raided.

[Fear the Binturong]

I realize 5/3 is becoming outdated, but is it really that bad? What am I missing?

It's not that bad. Building it as a multi-purpose arena was a mistake but what's done is done. The bathroom facilities aren't great and neither are the concessions but can anyone tell me a single stadium they've ever been to where the bathrooms and concessions aren't crowded? Honestly, I don't care what you do, when you pack thousands of people into a facility you're going to have lines. PBS is a relatively new stadium and many people have applauded how great the facility is but the concession lines are always long and there's always a line outside the door to go to the bathroom.

I think people feel like the Shoe sucks because too often the energy or atmosphere in the area stinks early in the season. I dare anyone who was at the Marquette game the other night to say that wasn't a great experience. When that place is full it's still a good place to watch a game. Are there some nosebleed seats that suck? Sure, but that's why they're called nosebleed seats and they cost $11 a pop. You don't like the nosebleeds then fork out a little more dough and sit closer to the action.

I think a new arena is something we'll need within the next 5-15 years but we're certainly not in an emergency mode with 5/3rd arena. It will do for now. The lighting at 5/3 is awful and the sound systems are awful and these issues should be addressed. I'd like to see the university invest a small amount of money into the current space to improve the atmosphere. I'm sure for less than $10 million we could install a state of the art sound system and new lighting for the arena. Get some HD score boards that trim around the arena and make the atmosphere better. I remember going to the shootout at XU last year and it was my first time at Cintas where I actually saw the player intros. It's really cool how Xavier can turn off the lights and use the scoreboards to light the place up blue while they do their player intros. It would be awesome if UC could do something similar in 5/3rd but we'd need new lights to do it. The current lights we have take about 20 minutes to turn on once they're turned off. That's the kind of stuff a recruit will remember when they attend a game, how cool the intro was when the crowd was pumped and cheering. With a minor investment in 5/3 we can greatly enhance the game-day experience for the fans while we wait for a new arena which probably won't be seen until 7 to 12 years from now.

[BearCatMarcher]

Those rafters that the sickly old lights hang from cause a lot of the view problems. They effectively cut off half the fans from the other side not allowing the atmosphere to spread across the entire arena at once when you can't even see the other side except for the lower red sweaters. Not really much can be done about that, though.

[UcatsRick]

Not trying to be a downer... But without (credible) sources, it's tough to put a lot of stock in this rumor

The people I heard this from seem credible to me, as they have connections inside the athletic department. But we'll see. I think it is interesting that 2 of the 3 happened already.

[UcatsRick]

As far as 5/3 is concerened....
1. Concourse area should be extended beyond glass walls out to the columns outside, which would add a lot of sqaure feet to the concourse.
2. Site lines from some seats are forever blocked by people walking the aisles. They should adopt theater seating rules about moving up and down the stairs only during time outs.
3. I would rip out the folding seats in the lower arena and replace with permanent seats. With the new building next door, I doubt the multi purpose feature is that much in need anymore.
4. It may be possible to build a mezzanine level in the concourse area to provide concessions to the upper level patrons.

[letharion]

It's not that bad. Building it as a multi-purpose arena was a mistake but what's done is done. The bathroom facilities aren't great and neither are the concessions but can anyone tell me a single stadium they've ever been to where the bathrooms and concessions aren't crowded? Honestly, I don't care what you do, when you pack thousands of people into a facility you're going to have lines. PBS is a relatively new stadium and many people have applauded how great the facility is but the concession lines are always long and there's always a line outside the door to go to the bathroom.

I think people feel like the Shoe sucks because too often the energy or atmosphere in the area stinks early in the season. I dare anyone who was at the Marquette game the other night to say that wasn't a great experience. When that place is full it's still a good place to watch a game. Are there some nosebleed seats that suck? Sure, but that's why they're called nosebleed seats and they cost $11 a pop. You don't like the nosebleeds then fork out a little more dough and sit closer to the action.

I think a new arena is something we'll need within the next 5-15 years but we're certainly not in an emergency mode with 5/3rd arena. It will do for now. The lighting at 5/3 is awful and the sound systems are awful and these issues should be addressed. I'd like to see the university invest a small amount of money into the current space to improve the atmosphere. I'm sure for less than $10 million we could install a state of the art sound system and new lighting for the arena. Get some HD score boards that trim around the arena and make the atmosphere better. I remember going to the shootout at XU last year and it was my first time at Cintas where I actually saw the player intros. It's really cool how Xavier can turn off the lights and use the scoreboards to light the place up blue while they do their player intros. It would be awesome if UC could do something similar in 5/3rd but we'd need new lights to do it. The current lights we have take about 20 minutes to turn on once they're turned off. That's the kind of stuff a recruit will remember when they attend a game, how cool the intro was when the crowd was pumped and cheering. With a minor investment in 5/3 we can greatly enhance the game-day experience for the fans while we wait for a new arena which probably won't be seen until 7 to 12 years from now.

Thanks FTB - well though out response and I can see all of your points. Addressing some of the less costly issues you mention like lighting and sound would make a huge difference in the gameday experience. Hopefully the other (generally) minor issues won't hurt us in the realignment process.

[RedRocker]

It's not that bad. Building it as a multi-purpose arena was a mistake but what's done is done. The bathroom facilities aren't great and neither are the concessions but can anyone tell me a single stadium they've ever been to where the bathrooms and concessions aren't crowded? Honestly, I don't care what you do, when you pack thousands of people into a facility you're going to have lines. PBS is a relatively new stadium and many people have applauded how great the facility is but the concession lines are always long and there's always a line outside the door to go to the bathroom.

I think people feel like the Shoe sucks because too often the energy or atmosphere in the area stinks early in the season. I dare anyone who was at the Marquette game the other night to say that wasn't a great experience. When that place is full it's still a good place to watch a game. Are there some nosebleed seats that suck? Sure, but that's why they're called nosebleed seats and they cost $11 a pop. You don't like the nosebleeds then fork out a little more dough and sit closer to the action.

I think a new arena is something we'll need within the next 5-15 years but we're certainly not in an emergency mode with 5/3rd arena. It will do for now. The lighting at 5/3 is awful and the sound systems are awful and these issues should be addressed. I'd like to see the university invest a small amount of money into the current space to improve the atmosphere. I'm sure for less than $10 million we could install a state of the art sound system and new lighting for the arena. Get some HD score boards that trim around the arena and make the atmosphere better. I remember going to the shootout at XU last year and it was my first time at Cintas where I actually saw the player intros. It's really cool how Xavier can turn off the lights and use the scoreboards to light the place up blue while they do their player intros. It would be awesome if UC could do something similar in 5/3rd but we'd need new lights to do it. The current lights we have take about 20 minutes to turn on once they're turned off. That's the kind of stuff a recruit will remember when they attend a game, how cool the intro was when the crowd was pumped and cheering. With a minor investment in 5/3 we can greatly enhance the game-day experience for the fans while we wait for a new arena which probably won't be seen until 7 to 12 years from now.

It was built as a multi-purpose facility because that is the only way they could secure the state's portion of the funding for the building. Everybody complains about that, but fails to recall the history of that building getting built. Being on campus at that time, it was a huge step to bring basketball back to campus after a 13-14 year absence.

There are a lot of minor improvements that can be made to enhance the gameday experience as you mention to make it more appealing and fan friendly.

[RedRocker]

As far as 5/3 is concerened....
1. Concourse area should be extended beyond glass walls out to the columns outside, which would add a lot of sqaure feet to the concourse.
2. Site lines from some seats are forever blocked by people walking the aisles. They should adopt theater seating rules about moving up and down the stairs only during time outs.
3. I would rip out the folding seats in the lower arena and replace with permanent seats. With the new building next door, I doubt the multi purpose feature is that much in need anymore.
4. It may be possible to build a mezzanine level in the concourse area to provide concessions to the upper level patrons.

All good ideas. I would also make all seats in the upper level folding seatbacks just like the first 12 rows of the upper level.