Asses in seats

[InnervisionsUMASS]

^

The Hartford Civic Center is an actual home for UConn sports. That's why they play there.

[natwam2547]

I know it will probably never happen, but I'd like to see 1 game in Springfield and 1 at the Cage as part of a throwback night every year.

I also like that idea. However, I have been to all of the recent cage games and those stands are freakin' uncomfortable. But I'll put up with it for the atmosphere. Regarding Springfield, as mentioned in the McCall thread, 1 game while the students are away would be OK. You would get most of the same Western Mass fans who go to home games and some locals. Try for a "name" opponent to draw the casual fan. I still think back to the atmosphere of the BYU game. The Mass Mutual Center was rocking.

Exactly. It may seem like blasphemy now because of the results of the games, but the Providence or Georgia game would have been perfect for Springfield. It's usually around the same time they've played their most recent games there (FGCU and BYU) in the first or second week of December.

[McKinney]

I'll go ahead and reach out for opinions here too.
Should alternate home games should be counted (ie count CDU/Centrum but not if it's @ Holy Cross)?

For example: our highest ever home game attendance would be vs. #19 BC in Jan 1997 at the Fleet Center with 15,216 in attendance.

Lotta good Matt McCall talk in here.

^^^^^^
It’s really not a bad idea. Winter session attendance is terrible in Amherst. Why not play some games in Springfield, Worcester and Boston in January?

This would pretty much turn all of these "home" games into neutral court games - with the exception maybe of Springfield. You are removing the teams home court advantage of knowing the sight-lines and familiarity with the Mullins and disrupting their home game-day routines. Also, for games in Boston our opponent would likely fly into and stay in Boston while we would make a 2 hour bus ride same day for that game.

Keep the home games in Amherst all year - unless we are going to play the occasional one-off such as BYU in the '14 season or when we played Memphis in Boston, although the Memphis game might have been part of a "tournament." Maybe Coaches vs Cancer?

I continued the attendance discussion over on "Asses in Seats" since I know not everyone in this thread is interested in the dead horse.
http://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/view ... 34#p467834

While I'm here though, I haven't been counting games in Worcester, Springfield, or Boston as home games in my analysis... I was only looking at the Mullins Center. I realized I ignored a few Curry Hicks Cage games too. I'm wondering if games at Centrum/DCU, Springfield Civic/MassMutual, Fleet/TD Garden should be counted or not.

[LS71]

Weren't most of the games played in Springfield in the recent past related to the Hal of Fame in one away or another?

[McKinney]

Weren't most of the games played in Springfield in the recent past related to the Hal of Fame in one away or another?

Not sure. Those aren't listed on any of the attendance data I have.

[Berkman]

Years ago there were some games played in Springfield against decent opponent but recently the attendance was terrible. Springfield did not support the team and was the season ticket holders and some others that went to the games.

[harbo]

http://umasshoops.com/index_pre_wiki.htm
(click on Scoreboard, then on UMass History Scoreboards)

The 70's generally had two or three games in Springfield each year, often during Intersession and against opponents that would draw more attendance than the Cage could hold. Some were related to the Hall of Fame, some not.

[natwam2547]

Years ago there were some games played in Springfield against decent opponent but recently the attendance was terrible. Springfield did not support the team and was the season ticket holders and some others that went to the games.

I remember going to the Abdow's Hall of Fame classic in 1993 at the Springfield Civic Center when Umass/Maryland/Hartford/Hofstra were the 4 teams. That'll never happen again. I also went to see #8 Florida play against #4 Arizona in some sort of Hall of Fame classic there as well in 2003. That also will never happen.

But the turnout against BYU was fantastic, if I remember correctly that was just a regular game. No affiliation to the Hall of Fame. Same with Florida Gulf Coast. I think DK had a lot to do with those games being a Springfield native, but it can be done.

[LS71]

There were also a few other games played in Springfield under Lappas and DK...one of which sucked so badly I was ready turn in my season tickets...the dreadful loss to Lafayette in front of 1,700 or so distraught fans. At least we could drown or sorrows in the beer that’s sold there.

The year before that debacle, I UMass beat an Oregon team that was undefeated when it came to town. Less than 5,000 attended that one.

One year under DK, UMass lost a conference game against LaSalle there in front of about 4,000.

My memory isn’t that good. I got that info from the old UMass Hoops site.

[natwam2547]

There was also a Hall of Fame tournament in 2010 and Umass played New Mexico State and TCU and won both. But I guess my original point is more that games not affiliated with the HOF can be played at the Civic Center.

[LS71]

^ Yup. Apparently so can conference games during Intersession, not that they should.

[natwam2547]

^ Yup. Apparently so can conference games during Intersession, not that they should.

I'd be OK with a conference game while students are gone. No reason why George Mason, St. Joe's or LaSalle couldn't have been in Springfield as well. But only if something earlier in the season couldn't work out of course.

[McKinney]

Weren't most of the games played in Springfield in the recent past related to the Hal of Fame in one away or another?

Not sure. Those aren't listed on any of the attendance data I have.

You know what? Sorry, I just realized they were part of the Hall of Fame Tip Off and Hall of Fame Holiday Classic.

[Swampy]

http://umasshoops.com/index_pre_wiki.htm
(click on Scoreboard, then on UMass History Scoreboards)

The 70's generally had two or three games in Springfield each year, often during Intersession and against opponents that would draw more attendance than the Cage could hold. Some were related to the Hall of Fame, some not.

Marvin "Tire Iron" Barnes

[69MG]

^ I can recall seeing a gut-wrenching last second loss to a top 10 Providence team with Bad News Barnes in 1974. I think it was Kevin Stacom who hit a last second jump shot to beat us by a point. We were heavy underdogs but played a great game at the Springfield Civic Center.