No XL games until Fall 2021

[HooperScooper]

Hurley has taken some jabs at the building

If I remember correctly his beef wasn't with the condition of the building itself but because the team never gets to practice there so he thought their shooting wasn't as good there.

 

[Waquoit]

Georgetown played at MacDonough until 1981. It has a capacity of 2500. Seton Hall played at Walsh which is a capacity of 1655. Villanova split its games between the field house with a 1500 capacity and the Palestra which has the capacity of 8700. Gym capacity wasn’t a factor in choosing The original Big East teams.

Actually, UConn played in McDonough in 1982 so you're wrong right off the bat. Gym capacity wasn't a "factor" per se because every BE school was in a city with an arena for the big games. So that's a bad faith argument. A league full of arenas isn't taking a school playing in that Field House, a true dump. And Corny and McKay aren't staying in state to play at the Field House, making UConn even less attractive.

 

[Chin Diesel]

If I remember correctly his beef wasn't with the condition of the building itself but because the team never gets to practice there so he thought their shooting wasn't as good there.

If the inability for UConn to get practice time at XL is systemic due to other events at the building, them it's a distinction without a difference.

 

[HooperScooper]

If the inability for UConn to get practice time at XL is systemic due to other events at the building, them it's a distinction without a difference.

That and even if they could get time it's kind of a pain to get on a bus for 30 minutes to get to practice.

 

[Waquoit]

That and even if they could get time it's kind of a pain to get on a bus for 30 minutes to get to practice.

Yeah, I read that to be the PITA factor not the unavailability factor. If only the place was busy all of the time. The Karma says that if you think it's a factor, it's a factor. But those XL rims seem pretty forgiving and team performance there over the years is a wash.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Also Geno a couple years ago had negative things to say about the building.

Again I don't see how anyone who goes to games at both places can pick XL in it's current state. It's the definition of a dump. It smells of grease, disgusting bathrooms, poor food selections, cramped concourse, awful sight lines, terrible staff workers, terrible scoreboards. Hell if you sit in the top half of the lower level corner seats, you get a cool breeze coming from the doors opening.

 

[glastonbury50]

My only

Hurley has taken some jabs at the building

True grievance against the xl center is the slippery floor. Figure that out and I really don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Chin Diesel]

My only

True grievance against the xl center is the slippery floor. Figure that out and I really don't see what the big deal is.

The figured that out years ago. It's funding the repairs to the ice making and colling system and the HVAC above the ice surface that has been done.

 

[CL82]

Actually, UConn played in McDonough in 1982 so you're wrong right off the bat. Gym capacity wasn't a "factor" per se because every BE school was in a city with an arena for the big games. So that's a bad faith argument. A league full of arenas isn't taking a school playing in that Field House, a true dump. And Corny and McKay aren't staying in state to play at the Field House, making UConn even less attractive.

Lol, the field house was among the bigger auditoriums in the Big East back in 1979. Clearly, the Civic Center was not a factor in our getting an offer, and certainly not the key factor. If you look at anything Gavitt said, he was looking for Regional opponents, not gym size.

As usual, you were talking out your butt. It’s OK to admit at this time, we all know.

 

[Waquoit]

... terrible staff workers,

Your just piling on now. I suppose you can find the occasional grump but the beer vendors are all nice and I dropped my wallet somehow last year and got it back intact. That's not terrible.

 

[CL82]

The figured that out years ago. It's funding the repairs to the ice making and colling system and the HVAC above the ice surface that has been done.

The XL Center is a rundown out of the facility that still loses millions of dollars after charging UConn exorbitant rates to lease the facility. Throwing more money down that hole really won’t change that.

The market has defined the need, and smaller more modern facilities make more sense. We should use it for a few big-name appointments scheduled when school is out of session, but it is at the end of its useful life. UConn should not make facilities decisions based upon the XL Center. It’s not gonna be around much longer. That’s why going small on the on-campus hockey arena is a bad decision, in my opinion. It does look like it can be expanded fairly easily though.

For what it’s worth, like most of us, I have a lot of great memories from the Civic Center and then the XL Center. Recently I really enjoyed watching UConn play hockey there. It just makes zero sense for the state to keep dropping money into it, and it absolutely is not a benefit to Connecticut to play half its games a half hour from campus. I doubt that we would’ve built Rentschler Field if we weren’t already used to play in the Hartford.

 

[Waquoit]

Lol, the field house was among the bigger auditoriums in the Big East back in 1979. Clearly, the Civic Center was not a factor in our getting an offer, and certainly not the key factor. If you look at anything Gavitt said, he was looking for Regional opponents, not gym size.

As usual, you were talking out your butt. It’s OK to admit at this time, we all know.

The Field House was horrible and was disallowed for Big East use as soon as the HCC was up and running again. Playing in arenas was a big part of the Big East plan.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Also Geno a couple years ago had negative things to say about the building.

Again I don't see how anyone who goes to games at both places can pick XL in it's current state. It's the definition of a dump. It smells of grease, disgusting bathrooms, poor food selections, cramped concourse, awful sight lines, terrible staff workers, terrible scoreboards. Hell if you sit in the top half of the lower level corner seats, you get a cool breeze coming from the doors opening.

You make the SAME arguments every time this comes up. Again, we get it. You don't like the XL Center. You would like every game at Gampel.

I am an XL Center only season ticket holder. The reason for me is simple. I live just outside of Danbury. Hartford is an hour there (ok a little more with traffic) and an hour back. Easy in. Easy out.

From where I live, Storrs is 90 minutes, without traffic. I don't mind going to a Saturday or Sunday game, but mid week games I wouldn't get there until the 2nd half. This is the case for a lot of the fan base. Hence why we had less than 5,000 people against St. Joe's last year early in the season on a weekday which was embarrassing. There would have been more fans if that game was at XL and you know it.

From a venue standpoint...I don't know how anyone would argue XL is nicer than Gampel. It isn't. So you are right on there. I have good seats at XL and won't even make that argument.

That being said...XL offers many things Gampel doesn't. You can buy alcohol. You can GO OUT BEFORE AND AFTER games right next to the arena. That is huge. You don't have that option with Gampel.

So I think you have to look at everything when you are truly comparing both arenas.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The XL Center is a rundown out of the facility that still loses millions of dollars after charging UConn exorbitant rates to lease the facility. Throwing more money down that hole really won’t change that.

The market has defined the need, and smaller more modern facilities make more sense. We should use it for a few big-name appointments scheduled when school is out of session, but it is at the end of its useful life. UConn should not make facilities decisions based upon the XL Center. It’s not gonna be around much longer. That’s why going small on the on-campus hockey arena is a bad decision, in my opinion. It does look like it can be expanded fairly easily though.

For what it’s worth, like most of us, I have a lot of great memories from the Civic Center and then the XL Center. Recently I really enjoyed watching UConn play hockey there. It just makes zero sense for the state to keep dropping money into it, and it absolutely is not a benefit to Connecticut to play half its games a half hour from campus. I doubt that we would’ve built Rentschler Field if we weren’t already used to play in the Hartford.

I am with you on building a new arena matching demographics of Hartford and CT's sports scene. No more NHL. It really needs to be a 10k-12k facility.

As for the Rent, like some I'd have loved UConn to have an on campus stadium but reality of road infrastructure in/out of Stores, cost and time of land and environmental studies and a host of other reasons made a free plot of land in an industrial area a no brainier.

 

[Kemba Time]

Again I don't see how anyone who goes to games at both places can pick XL in it's current state. It's the definition of a dump. It smells of grease, disgusting bathrooms, poor food selections, cramped concourse, awful sight lines, terrible staff workers, terrible scoreboards. Hell if you sit in the top half of the lower level corner seats, you get a cool breeze coming from the doors opening.

I’ve been going to games at Gampel for 20 years and literally have never bought food in the building because it’s a line to the doors for some stale popcorn and a Pepsi in a paper cup. My high school had better concessions than that.

You can walk into the XL Center and get food from a restaurant that literally beat Bobby Flay on National TV in Whey Station, grab a slice from Wooster Street pizza and sip a craft beer from some of the better local breweries in the state all while enjoying pregame warmups at an in-arena bar and heading to your seat with an actual chairback that doesn’t end up with the guy next to you’s legs bumping you all game long. Sorry your pretzel vendor didn’t smile at you that one time.

 

[CL82]

The Field House was horrible and was disallowed for Big East use as soon as the HCC was up and running again. Playing in arenas was a big part of the Big East plan.

You’re moving the goalposts, your original comment was that the Civic Center was the reason why you can was invited to the biggest. Want to just admit that you’re wrong on that?

 

[CL82]

I’ve been going to games at Gampel for 20 years and literally have never bought food in the building because it’s a line to the doors for some stale popcorn and a Pepsi in a paper cup. My high school had better concessions than that.

You can walk into the XL Center and get food from a restaurant that literally beat Bobby Flay on National TV in Whey Station, grab a slice from Wooster Street pizza and sip a craft beer from some of the better local breweries in the state all while enjoying pregame warmups at an in-arena bar and heading to your seat with an actual chairback that doesn’t end up with the guy next to you’s legs bumping you all game long. Sorry your pretzel vendor didn’t smile at you that one time.

The good news is there is a planned expansion of the concourse at Gampel. I believe it is tentatively scheduled for after the hockey arena.

 

[gampelcrazies]

You make the SAME arguments every time this comes up. Again, we get it. You don't like the XL Center. You would like every game at Gampel.

I am an XL Center only season ticket holder. The reason for me is simple. I live just outside of Danbury. Hartford is an hour there (ok a little more with traffic) and an hour back. Easy in. Easy out.

From where I live, Storrs is 90 minutes, without traffic. I don't mind going to a Saturday or Sunday game, but mid week games I wouldn't get there until the 2nd half. This is the case for a lot of the fan base. Hence why we had less than 5,000 people against St. Joe's last year early in the season on a weekday which was embarrassing. There would have been more fans if that game was at XL and you know it.

From a venue standpoint...I don't know how anyone would argue XL is nicer than Gampel. It isn't. So you are right on there. I have good seats at XL and won't even make that argument.

That being said...XL offers many things Gampel doesn't. You can buy alcohol. You can GO OUT BEFORE AND AFTER games right next to the arena. That is huge. You don't have that option with Gampel.

So I think you have to look at everything when you are truly comparing both arenas.

I've never said play every game at Gampel. I'm saying it's unacceptable for a program like UConn to play in one of the worst venues in America. And it aggravates me that fans accept that.

I have no problem with games being in Hartford.

 

[gampelcrazies]

I’ve been going to games at Gampel for 20 years and literally have never bought food in the building because it’s a line to the doors for some stale popcorn and a Pepsi in a paper cup. My high school had better concessions than that.

You can walk into the XL Center and get food from a restaurant that literally beat Bobby Flay on National TV in Whey Station, grab a slice from Wooster Street pizza and sip a craft beer from some of the better local breweries in the state all while enjoying pregame warmups at an in-arena bar and heading to your seat with an actual chairback that doesn’t end up with the guy next to you’s legs bumping you all game long. Sorry your pretzel vendor didn’t smile at you that one time.

Not talking about food vendors when I complain about staff. I am talking about security/venue staff. Some of which work games in Hartford too.

 

[CL82]

I am with you on building a new arena matching demographics of Hartford and CT's sports scene. No more NHL. It really needs to be a 10k-12k facility.

As for the Rent, like some I'd have loved UConn to have an on campus stadium but reality of road infrastructure in/out of Stores, cost and time of land and environmental studies and a host of other reasons made a free plot of land in an industrial area a no brainier.

That wasn’t how they sold it, though. They sold it as being an economic development move for East Hartford. We all can see how well that worked out.

I’ve posted about it before but there’s actually very sensible ways that you could empty a stadium out of Storrs. You just need to break up your traffic by direction and hire some police to override local traffic control to keep traffic moving. Rutgers SHI(t) stadium uses this methodology and it works pretty well. The other example that I talk about is West Point. Both are stadiums that don’t have access to a major highway.

The other thing that works is extending tailgating hours both before and after the game in the loud people to leave later so that you’re not emptying out the entire stadium at once. I always hang around at West Point after the game, if I drove up, because it’s a gorgeous campus, especially in the fall, and in that way they have virtually no I always hang around at West Point after the game, if I drove up, because it’s a gorgeous campus, especially in the fall, and that way they have virtually no way when I leave.

So, it can be done, but that’s all irrelevant because the Rents in place and it’s not going anywhere. As I also often say, once you’re in the stadium, the rent is so, it can be done, but that’s all irrelevant because the Rent is in place and is not going anywhere. As I also often say, The Rent is a great place to see a game and great tailgating location.

 

[Kemba Time]

The Gampel-XL Center, Storrs-Hartford play-all-the-games on campus debate is completely overblown.

Being Connecticut's pro teams is an undeniable pillar of the success the basketball program has been able to build and sustain. Calhoun mentioned it often, Geno knows it. Hurley rarely starts or ends a conversation without mentioning how important this college basketball-crazy state is to him choosing to come here and what this program will be again under him.

There are countless examples in this thread, among our fan base and with key corporate sponsors of situations who go to Hartford regularly but could not make the same commitment to season tickets in Storrs. If you live in Fairfield County or really anywhere from New Haven south, you know, the fan base that allows us to turn the Garden into our home court every time we play there, a trip to Hartford is something you're willing to make a few times a year maybe. The drive to Storrs? Not so much. If you work anything that resembles a 9-5 in the greater Hartford area, XL Center season tickets are a realistic option. By the time you get home from work, drive up to Storrs, park, figure out food and get to the game and then return home and have to get up to go to work again the next morning, Gampel seasons are not.

There are also many season ticket holders in both facilities who would not be able to commit the time or money to 20 games in one venue, especially with the number of early-season no-name opponent games in a college basketball schedule, but have a very good solution by being able to either or it with Gampel/XL.

Corporate sponsors buying up key ticket blocks and putting money in the program are much more likely to do so when you can tell your employees and clients, "let's grab a bite and head down the street to watch UConn play tonight" than when it means "Hey, meet us in F Lot and we'll walk up to Gampel and grab a hot dog." This is college basketball, played on weeknights in January; not college football on fall Saturday afternoons. Distance from population base matters, a lot, and having something that is part college basketball mania and part professional sports experience is an incredible advantage for the program. If you want to know what it's like playing all of your games in a 10,000-seat arena out of practical driving distance for a large portion of your fan base, let me tell you about our mid-major neighbors to the north.

These are facts. These are undeniable decisions that our athletic office is very well aware of and why Hartford is such a crucial part of UConn's ceiling as a basketball power. If your personal situation differs from that, it does not make it any less true.

As an alum who attended games at Gampel and in Hartford for four years as a student, there is no doubt which is a better experience for students. It's on-campus games, and it's not even close. But hopping in a car the other way 7-8 times a year was not the end of the world. Maybe my UConn friends and I prioritized college hoops over studies a little more than most, but big game days in either spot were basically just spent counting down until time to go to the game in either spot and having a bar or two to pregame at never hurt.

And the discussion of our home-court advantage being so much greater at Gampel is simply not true. Some of the biggest wins in program history have come in Hartford and some of the worst losses have come in front of an on-campus crowd in Storrs. Unless you are comparing a November game against Maine or some mid-major in Hartford to a Big East matchup with Nova or another top-25 team at Gampel, the environment at both stadiums is awesome because of this simple truth: We're loud as hell and we have great fans everywhere we go. We tear the roof of Gampel. We tear the roof off the Civy. We tear the roof off of MSG. Hell, we tore the roof of The Rent when we were doing things on the football field.

There's a solution that solves for this — and it’s already in place. Split the game up. Play them in two venues. Give the students an unbelievable on-campus experience in a sold-out Gampel. Own the entire state when we pack every bar downtown and then beat the hell out of someone in Hartford while our boozed-up fans are screaming U-C-O-N-N at the top of their lungs.

And now that we're back in the Big East, one big issue that divided this even further the past few years is gone: The game inventory in both locations is so much better again. It's not non-conference game, Memphis and a pile of crap in one location and Cincy, SMU and a bunch of garbage in another location. It's big game after big game, everywhere. In 2021-22, we're all going to open up any split of tickets and it's going to be like Christmas Day with Nova, G-Town, Marquette, Seton Hall, Xavier and Co. coming to whichever venue you prefer.

 

[CL82]

You make the SAME arguments every time this comes up. Again, we get it. You don't like the XL Center. You would like every game at Gampel.

I am an XL Center only season ticket holder. The reason for me is simple. I live just outside of Danbury. Hartford is an hour there (ok a little more with traffic) and an hour back. Easy in. Easy out.

From where I live, Storrs is 90 minutes, without traffic. I don't mind going to a Saturday or Sunday game, but mid week games I wouldn't get there until the 2nd half. This is the case for a lot of the fan base. Hence why we had less than 5,000 people against St. Joe's last year early in the season on a weekday which was embarrassing. There would have been more fans if that game was at XL and you know it.

From a venue standpoint...I don't know how anyone would argue XL is nicer than Gampel. It isn't. So you are right on there. I have good seats at XL and won't even make that argument.

That being said...XL offers many things Gampel doesn't. You can buy alcohol. You can GO OUT BEFORE AND AFTER games right next to the arena. That is huge. You don't have that option with Gampel.

So I think you have to look at everything when you are truly comparing both arenas.

For what it’s worth, I don’t disagree with any of that, but the question is does it make sense for the state to continue to own and run a venue that loses millions of dollars annually, even with UConn heavily subsidizing it by playing half the home games there, at least, for men’s and women’s basketball and all of the hockey games there.

 

[Ts5034]

I think the happy medium for everyone to be on the same page in the XL vs Gampel argument is simply just less games in Hartford. Instead of playing 10-11 games in Hartford, just play 5 or 6, mainly during the winter break when students are off campus. I think that would make all sides happy. You’re still playing games in Hartford, but the majority of the games are at Gampel.

 

[Chin Diesel]

There are several points of views being discussed here.
Some people are suggesting games not be played in Hartford because the existing facility is no good.
Some are suggesting all games in Gampel for atmosphere and consistency.
Some are saying split the games for a broader access to games by fan base.

Put me in the maximize games at Gampel, build a new or massively renovated XL at 12k, and then have 4-5 games at XL crowd.

 

[CL82]

There are several points of views being discussed here.
Some people are suggesting games not be played in Hartford because the existing facility is no good.
Some are suggesting all games in Gampel for atmosphere and consistency.
Some are saying split the games for a broader access to games by fan base.

Put me in the maximize games at Gampel, build a new or massively renovated XL at 12k, and then have 4-5 games at XL crowd.

I don’t think the economics will support a new or massively renovated XL Center.