Tampa out for AAC Tournament; Memphis frontrunner

[upstater]

NYC!

UConn, Temple, Cincy, Rutgers and Louisville should be able to top anything that Atlantic 10 joke can do.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

The sarcasm is funny, I'll admit. I'm saying that if people like us won't go, then how can you expect UConn fans to have a presence there

 

[Waquoit]

Philadelphia I can understand, but they've never really been a big college basketball city despite having like a billion colleges.

Wait, wha? Never been a big college hoop town? You sound like Spinal Tap.

 

[CL82]

If the tournament is relying on 100% boneyard attendance this conference is in deep deep deep trouble.

I hate to break it to you but Aresco's first concern is not the boneyard.

And there's the reason why our conference partners... well... suck. I've seen hundreds of plans to get ND to join as a full time member, form a new east coast conference with UConn, PSU, BCU, Pitt, RU, Cuse, Maryland, WVU, VT, UNC, USF and Miami. There was 2 or 3 being put out there a day for a while. We only need one of them to work! Aresco start reading the Boneyard, and running the conference according to it accumulated wisdom. Really, could we have done worse than you have?

 

[Fishy]

I don't understand the Memphis hate. It's a pretty cool city. What are we comparing it to? Hartford? Montville?

Philadelphia I can understand, but they've never really been a big college basketball city despite having like a billion colleges.

Memphis is a raging s--- hole. I don't doubt that some people like it, but those people should be put in cages and poked with sticks.

That aside, Philly has 'never really been a big college basketball city'?

You need to take a mulligan on that one.

 

[Northbound]

Philadelphia I can understand, but they've never really been a big college basketball city despite having like a billion colleges.[/quote]

The Big 5.

That is all, please resume your normal activities.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

That aside, Philly has 'never really been a big college basketball city'?

You need to take a mulligan on that one.

Do I? Villanova was pretty good at basketball once several decades ago. Does Temple put butts in the seat? St. Joe's?

Philly, like Boston, is a pro sports town. People care about the Flyers, the Eagles, the Phillies.

Villanova averaged a measley 8,923 last year. Temple 8,165. Saint Joseph's less than 5,000. I couldn't even find numbers on LaSalle.

UConn averaged over 12K.

Memphis? Over 16K.

So the notion that Philadelphia is a better college basketball town than Memphis or heck, even Hartford, seems more a historic artifact than a truth. I admit "never" was a strong word, but the past doesn't make Philadelphia an attractive target now.

 

[Waquoit]

Do I? ..., but the past doesn't make Philadelphia an attractive target now.

Everything you said about Philly could be said about New York.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Everything you said about Philly could be said about New York.

I was about to post the exact same thing

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Everything you said about Philly could be said about New York.

Except New York has a history of showing up to the Big East Tournament. Unfortunately, we are not in the Big East at this point and I'm not sure we'd pull the same level of interest in comparison. I don't know about Philadelphia, however. Maybe?

 

[Jerry1714]

People need to be realistic here. NYC is not happening and never was. Philly would be nice, but can we guarantee solid attendance there given the conference make up and school's locations?

Temple was 58th in home attendance this year.

Tampa should never have been an option, there would be no local support as USF gets 3k for home games. Tampa had the NCAA tournament a few years ago with UK and Florida and only got 15k. 13k were probably UK fans. That place would be less crowded then a Marathon Oil game.

Outside of convenience for CT people Hartford sucks. The city is a dump, the weather sucks and there is nothing to do. If you are going to sell me on the suburbs that only strengthens my point.Do people from the south (where a lot of teams in the AAC are) really want to travel to Hartford in early March? No. UConn draws 12k for games, you would be lucky to see that number for this tournament.

Memphis draws over 16k for home games. It is close to the other huge basketball school in the conference, Louisville. And its also not that far from Cincy. By any measuring point Memphis is better place to spend 4 days in March then Hartford. You will get more people from the also ran schools to travel there given proximity.

If you are looking for the tournament to make money and draw people I think Memphis is your best bet.

 

[AtlantaHusky]

Easy road trip for me & Scote. 3rd bass? AtlHusky too?

 

[upstater]

Do I? Villanova was pretty good at basketball once several decades ago. Does Temple put butts in the seat? St. Joe's?

Philly, like Boston, is a pro sports town. People care about the Flyers, the Eagles, the Phillies.

Villanova averaged a measley 8,923 last year. Temple 8,165. Saint Joseph's less than 5,000. I couldn't even find numbers on LaSalle.

UConn averaged over 12K.

Memphis? Over 16K.

So the notion that Philadelphia is a better college basketball town than Memphis or heck, even Hartford, seems more a historic artifact than a truth. I admit "never" was a strong word, but the past doesn't make Philadelphia an attractive target now.

All I know is that when Cuse played Temple in NYC this year, the place was packed with Temple fans.

There are indeed Temple basketball fans out there in the world.

 

[Jerry1714]

Memphis is also the South Regional host for the 2014 NCAA tournament. This will be the second time in 5 years(2009). People may want to get use to traveling there.

 

[Edward Sargent]

PONTE VEDRA BEACH -- Tampa has pulled out of consideration for the 2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament due to a scheduling conflict with hockey at Tampa Bay Times Forum, USF President Judy Genshaft said Tuesday.
it's also believed that the new conference's women's basketball tournament will stay in Connecticut, perhaps moving from Hartford to the Mohegan Sun casino. Memphis has emerged as a front-runner for the men's event, with the university's incoming interim president telling the Commercial Appeal he is "very, very optimistic" about the event going to FedEx Forum, home of the NBA's Grizzlies.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/tampa-out-of-running-for-american-hoops-tournaments/2122200

Damn. Tampa Times Forum is a great venue. Plus it would be in my home turf. I saw last years Frozen Four there.

 

[sledog]

Would FedX ship us in for free??

I guess not. For those who haven't been there, it's a sh!thole.

 

[8893]

I don't think I've seen such a divided opinion about whether a city is a decent place to visit than we have here with Memphis. As I've said, I've never been there, so I don't know. My blissfully ignorant read was that it has a reputation for a great live music scene and decent BBQ. And even though I'm expecting it to be as momentous as Wall Drug, South of the Border and that giant prairie dog, I feel like I should see Graceland.

So...I'm curious: For those who say it sucks, what makes it such a sh!thole? I mean, some of the greatest times of my life have been in Tampa, San Antonio and Houston--three cities I would never have had the slightest interest in visiting, but for the fact that we were there to bring home the hardware. I've been all over most of the rest of the country (and lots of others) and most major cities, and Memphis is one of very few I haven't been to, so I'm struggling to understand what makes some people have such a strong aversion to it. Crime? Filth? Poverty? Is it like any other southern cities? New Orleans? At all?

Just trying to understand the basis for the hate. And the various forms of "it's a sh!thole" aren't much help.

 

[upstater]

I don't think I've seen such a divided opinion about whether a city is a decent place to visit than we have here with Memphis. As I've said, I've never been there, so I don't know. My blissfully ignorant read was that it has a reputation for a great live music scene and decent BBQ. And even though I'm expecting it to be as momentous as Wall Drug, South of the Border and that giant prairie dog, I feel like I should see Graceland.

So...I'm curious: For those who say it sucks, what makes it such a sh!thole? I mean, some of the greatest times of my life have been in Tampa, San Antonio and Houston--three cities I would never have had the slightest interest in visiting, but for the fact that we were there to bring home the hardware. I've been all over most of the rest of the country (and lots of others) and most major cities, and Memphis is one of very few I haven't been to, so I'm struggling to understand what makes some people have such a strong aversion to it. Crime? Filth? Poverty? Is it like any other southern cities? New Orleans? At all?

Just trying to understand the basis for the hate. And the various forms of "it's a sh!thole" aren't much help.

It's reputation is surely related to it being one of most crime-and-murder ridden cities in America. Never been there, but I'm sure that poverty contributes to it. I'm not an Elvis fan, but Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" movie which is set in Memphis didn't recommend it to me particularly.

That being said, I love Jazz and BBQ, so I'm sure I'd be happy there.

 

[3rdbass]

It's reputation is surely related to it being one of most crime-and-murder ridden cities in America. Never been there, but I'm sure that poverty contributes to it. I'm not an Elvis fan, but Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" movie which is set in Memphis didn't recommend it to me particularly.

That being said, I love Jazz and BBQ, so I'm sure I'd be happy there.

Yeah, it is crime ridden and lacks the Cosmopolitan feel of a bigger city like Atlanta that I live in. I would prefer for it to be in Orlando if Tampa is not an option. I'm sure Orlando has plenty of appeal because of the amusement parks.

 

[3rdbass]

Easy road trip for me & Scote. 3rd bass? AtlHusky too?

I would go guys. I never been to a Big East Championship so it would be good to support UCONN in this. I normally have only gone to NCAA tournament games for UCONN and regular season game during the Christmas time in Hartford(I still have family in West Hartford).

I'm just not too interested in Memphis.

 

[huskymedic]

I don't think I've seen such a divided opinion about whether a city is a decent place to visit than we have here with Memphis. As I've said, I've never been there, so I don't know. My blissfully ignorant read was that it has a reputation for a great live music scene and decent BBQ. And even though I'm expecting it to be as momentous as Wall Drug, South of the Border and that giant prairie dog, I feel like I should see Graceland.

So...I'm curious: For those who say it sucks, what makes it such a sh!thole? I mean, some of the greatest times of my life have been in Tampa, San Antonio and Houston--three cities I would never have had the slightest interest in visiting, but for the fact that we were there to bring home the hardware. I've been all over most of the rest of the country (and lots of others) and most major cities, and Memphis is one of very few I haven't been to, so I'm struggling to understand what makes some people have such a strong aversion to it. Crime? Filth? Poverty? Is it like any other southern cities? New Orleans? At all?

Just trying to understand the basis for the hate. And the various forms of "it's a sh!thole" aren't much help.

In my opinion the basis for hate is it's not NYC and it's associated with the AAC.

Again... You're not moving your wife/husband and kids there, you're going for 4 days to watch UConn basketball. I enjoyed a brief visit there - people were hospitable, food was awesome and decent bars w/ good music. There are a lot of worse cities in America. Dissect stats and NYC, Hartford/New Haven, Philly, Baltimore and Atlanta can all claim a medal for crime @ some point. It's an urban city... Thought Birmingham was nothing special and a bit of a thole but had a good time there for Pizza Bowl.

City boy @ heart. You want a pucker factor - try Oakland

 

[AtlHusky]

Easy road trip for me & Scote. 3rd bass? AtlHusky too?

Count me in. My only outstanding questions are:

-Does the wifey also want to make the trip
-And if so, what do we do with the kids

Stay tuned.

 

[kobe]

The Conference USA tournament was held there a few times when Cincinnati was in the league and Memphis was about as good as it gets for a non-MSG conference tournament. Great turnout of Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis fans...of course at that time there was a mutual disdain for each other which has cooled considerably.

 

[8893]

It's reputation is surely related to it being one of most crime-and-murder ridden cities in America. Never been there, but I'm sure that poverty contributes to it. I'm not an Elvis fan, but Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" movie which is set in Memphis didn't recommend it to me particularly.

That being said, I love Jazz and BBQ, so I'm sure I'd be happy there.

That's pretty much my take, and Mystery Train is more than twenty years old, so perhaps not as representative any more?

But if the crime/murder/poverty part is driving the reaction, I'm wondering if those who hate it also hate New Orleans? I know some people who just don't "get" New Orleans, but I love it, so I'm just trying to gauge whether that's a remotely accurate comparison. Not that I'm expecting Memphis to be as interesting to me over the long haul as New Orleans has been, but if it has some of that essence I'm guessing there would be enough to interest me for a long weekend at least.

 

[Jerry1714]

I lived there for four years. There is crime, just like there is in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston or Chicago, but the chance you are a victim to it is close to zero. Have you seen harford's crime stats recently? Like Hartford most of the crime is in a few areas that you will not go too as there is no need to. I lived i. both downtown and midtown and never had an issue.

Is it cosmopalitan? No. The people that say Atlanta is though obviously have not travelled much.

The food is beyond excellent, the music is great, Beale street can be a blast, and if like music history it has it. Museums? Not so much outside of a great civil rights museum. There also great music related historical sites.

The city could use some sprucing up sure, but so can a lot of places. I lived in Hartford, and trust me it blows Hartford out of the water in terms of food and entertainment.

It is a poor city, but it is also the South, the cities are much different than northern cities.

It's smaller then New Orleans, has a lot of similarities, but to be honest Memphis is a lot safer. Both great food and music cities, New Orleans just has more it, and has more history. Both are grimy though and a ton of fun if you want to have it.