Geno at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce

[BRS24]

Geno Auriemma talks UConn women's basketball team's March Madness bracket, Diana Taurasi, and more

Some Geno quips:

“The men (NCAA Tournament) are not very bright. They have something called regionals, which means they're in the four regions of the country, North, South, East and West. The Women's (Tournament) is so smart. They have two,” Auriemma said sarcastically. “They have one in Alabama and one in Spokane Washington, which means 90% of the country can't go to any of those games.​

​

“And they have eight teams in Spokane, Washington, us being one of them. There aren't even eight hotels within 500 miles of Spokane. We're gonna have to stay in Idaho. And you think I'm funny, that's the honest-to-God truth. … They picked these sites, and I have no idea why they pick them, other than when they were decided there wasn't this craziness about women's sports that there is today.”​

 

[Vowelguy]

Funny.
Though I'm guessing the Spokane folks arent going to appreciate the description.

That said I'm really disappointed to hear they're going to be staying in Idaho. There was a very unpleasant incident with a team staying in Idaho last year when Gonzaga unexpectedly earned the right to host the opening rounds. There wasnt enough capacity because Spokane was already hosting the men's tournament and I think a HS volleyball tourney.

 

[Vowelguy]

FWIW I think Birmingham is a pretty good location. Close to many SEC and ACC teams and not super far from the midwestern schools.

Spokane on the other hand is conveniently near nothing. I doubt it will have a single team from within 1000 miles.

 

[BRS24]

Funny.
Though I'm guessing the Spokane folks arent going to appreciate the description.

That said I'm really disappointed to hear they're going to be staying in Idaho. There was a very unpleasant incident with a team staying in Idaho last year when Gonzaga unexpectedly earned the right to host the opening rounds. There wasnt enough capacity because Spokane was already hosting the men's tournament and I think a HS volleyball tourney.

Yeah. However I get his comment. The two region format excludes a wide swarth of the fans who have significant travel. I hope the NCAA revisits this decision and goes back to four regionals, as the men still do it.

On edit - the two regional format is only through 2028. NCAA has Final Four sites listed through 2031, with no regional detail for the last 3 years. We'll see.

 

[Forego]

I don’t understand Geno’s concerns. Everyone knows that the hotels in western Idaho are renown for the quality and quantity of their training facilities and workout equipment.

 

[Vowelguy]

There was a very unpleasant incident with a team staying in Idaho last year

Police on Utah incidents: Racial slur audible

Police investigating alleged racist incidents against the Utah women's basketball team when it was near its Idaho hotel last month for the NCAA tournament said they've found an audio recording in which the use of a racial slur was clearly audible.

www.espn.com

 

[Stagnant]

Spokane is definitely a strange site for this regional.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Spokane attendance will be mostly player family I suspect. Real shame. Somebody will have to show us the weight room.

 

[DocStressor]

I recall attending a meeting at a nice hotel in Coeur d'Alene. I couldn't sleep and went for a walk at 2:00 AM. The parking lot was busy with cars pulling up and buying drugs. The hotel staff said that gang members from Spokane came over each night to do business. Not the best place to have a women's tournament.

 

[Zonepress]

Going to to regionals was done for a couple of reasons
First, I wanted to avoid any team having a Home quarter vantage remember the whole nonsense about the Bridgeport regional a few years ago
Secondly if there wasn’t a local team, attendance was not very good and they didn’t want to see the empty seats
Thirdly it was cheaper to have two regionals verses four and no doubt Spokane did a lot of money to get the regional there
The other proposal was to have all of the teams in the second weekend play in Las Vegas
Made a lot of sense, but didn’t get any traction

 

[Vowelguy]

I recall attending a meeting at a nice hotel in Coeur d'Alene. I couldn't sleep and went for a walk at 2:00 AM. The parking lot was busy with cars pulling up and buying drugs. The hotel staff said that gang members from Spokane came over each night to do business. Not the best place to have a women's tournament.

I think you need to stay at nicer hotels.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Going to to regionals was done for a couple of reasons
First, I wanted to avoid any team having a Home quarter vantage remember the whole nonsense about the Bridgeport regional a few years ago
Secondly if there wasn’t a local team, attendance was not very good and they didn’t want to see the empty seats
Thirdly it was cheaper to have two regionals verses four and no doubt Spokane did a lot of money to get the regional there
The other proposal was to have all of the teams in the second weekend play in Las Vegas
Made a lot of sense, but didn’t get any traction

I liked the Vegas idea. In spite of a lot of folks pre-conceived notions, it would make an excellent host location. We are going in a couple weeks to the annual "Glass and Bead Expo", which we haven't gone since pre-pandemic. My wife will take a couple classes, we will help her mentor with her booth on the vendor floor, etc. We don't stay on the strip (the event is in the Southpoint so we stay there), but probably would if we were attending basketball. Food can be expensive but doesn't have to be.

Back to basketball not in Las Vegas, but in Spokane. We went to an NCAA first round game there in 2011? 2012? when Rutgers lost to Gonzaga, shortly after we moved out here to Arizona. It has a long history of hosting basketball, as you note not all good. Back when we went it was quite attractive, as far as it went (as a location) but not exciting.

 

[husky8273]

Geno Auriemma talks UConn women's basketball team's March Madness bracket, Diana Taurasi, and more

Some Geno quips:
There aren't even eight hotels within 500 miles of Spokane. We're gonna have to stay in Idaho.

35 minutes to Coeur d'Alene!!

 

[Alydar]

Going to to regionals was done for a couple of reasons
First, I wanted to avoid any team having a Home quarter vantage remember the whole nonsense about the Bridgeport regional a few years ago
Secondly if there wasn’t a local team, attendance was not very good and they didn’t want to see the empty seats
Thirdly it was cheaper to have two regionals verses four and no doubt Spokane did a lot of money to get the regional there
The other proposal was to have all of the teams in the second weekend play in Las Vegas
Made a lot of sense, but didn’t get any traction

Right. There was an uproar of "unfairness" claims. So why is Alabama in Birmingham? This is just another example of the committee policy of different rules for different schools.

 

[HuskyNan]

I liked the Vegas idea. In spite of a lot of folks pre-conceived notions, it would make an excellent host location. We are going in a couple weeks to the annual "Glass and Bead Expo", which we haven't gone since pre-pandemic. My wife will take a couple classes, we will help her mentor with her booth on the vendor floor, etc. We don't stay on the strip (the event is in the Southpoint so we stay there), but probably would if we were attending basketball. Food can be expensive but doesn't have to be.

Back to basketball not in Las Vegas, but in Spokane. We went to an NCAA first round game there in 2011? 2012? when Rutgers lost to Gonzaga, shortly after we moved out here to Arizona. It has a long history of hosting basketball, as you note not all good. Back when we went it was quite attractive, as far as it went (as a location) but not exciting.

Report: UConn basketball team switches Las Vegas hotels over poor room conditions

The UConn men's basketball team had to change hotels after finding their rooms in poor condition upon arriving in Las Vegas, according to a new report.CT Inside

news3lv.com

 

[BRS24]

Report: UConn basketball team switches Las Vegas hotels over poor room conditions

The UConn men's basketball team had to change hotels after finding their rooms in poor condition upon arriving in Las Vegas, according to a new report.CT Inside

news3lv.com

mind + steel trap = HuskyNan

 

[Bigboote]

Funny.
Though I'm guessing the Spokane folks arent going to appreciate the description.

That said I'm really disappointed to hear they're going to be staying in Idaho. There was a very unpleasant incident with a team staying in Idaho last year when Gonzaga unexpectedly earned the right to host the opening rounds. There wasnt enough capacity because Spokane was already hosting the men's tournament and I think a HS volleyball tourney.

Yet the NCAA found rooms for that team the day after the incident. I find it hard to believe the NCAA didn’t know the history of where they sent the Utah team.

 

[Vowelguy]

Yet the NCAA found rooms for that team the day after the incident. I find it hard to believe the NCAA didn’t know the history of where they sent the Utah team.

They found rooms because day 1 was over in the men's tourney and teams that had lost had vacated, freeing up a lot of rooms.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Report: UConn basketball team switches Las Vegas hotels over poor room conditions

The UConn men's basketball team had to change hotels after finding their rooms in poor condition upon arriving in Las Vegas, according to a new report.CT Inside

news3lv.com

Very poorly rated hotel the Luxor, big article ran about 2 days ago. Lines, broken elevators, falling apart, etc. Never been there.

When we have stayed at the Southpoint the rooms were a bit dated, but nothing to complain about. The restaurants - and there are a lot of them - very good, if not of the big name chef variety. And a great buffet when you don't know what you want. We have friends that go to Vegas frequently, stay off strip, and do the Southpoint buffet at least once, as well as a group of first rate local restaurants not on the strip.

 

[maple]

I agree with Geno's complaints, honestly. I'll never understand this decision by the committee.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I recall attending a meeting at a nice hotel in Coeur d'Alene. I couldn't sleep and went for a walk at 2:00 AM. The parking lot was busy with cars pulling up and buying drugs. The hotel staff said that gang members from Spokane came over each night to do business. Not the best place to have a women's tournament.

Coeur d'Alene was a nice little western city sitting on a lake of the same name of size and striking beauty. They were not prepared to handle the wave of crime and criminal drug traffic that spilled over on them from Spokane and frankly all the coastal cities. Spent some great times on the Lake but not a place to go until remediated.

 

[Superhuskies]

I'm already thinking about travel/lodging for the 2027+ 2028 double NCAA regional sites, especially to the distant Western sites, '27 Vegas and '28, Portland, Oregon, .....but suppose there's a slight .......chance.........of UC..... being in....the other 2 sites, ....Philly '27 + Wash DC, '28..........

Oh yeah, ...and Dawn Staley has a possible... chance......, to be in the (South) Philly site, '27............

(PS- is this/...that, called/defined as "sarcasm?".....)....

 

[JeannoCT]

Very poorly rated hotel the Luxor, big article ran about 2 days ago. Lines, broken elevators, falling apart, etc. Never been there.

When we have stayed at the Southpoint the rooms were a bit dated, but nothing to complain about. The restaurants - and there are a lot of them - very good, if not of the big name chef variety. And a great buffet when you don't know what you want. We have friends that go to Vegas frequently, stay off strip, and do the Southpoint buffet at least once, as well as a group of first rate local restaurants not on the strip.

I have stayed there and it's a dump! I stayed there because UConn hockey was in a tournament there and it was within walking distance to the arena. I also stayed there when it first opened and it was good. They have done nothing to update it. I go to Vegas at least once a year, and always stay off strip.