Why is no one at the AAC Men's B-ball tourney?

[weyuo]

Pretty easy answer. Has nothing to do with the caliber of play or the locations of the opponents. It's the location folks. Hartford is not a destination and some how, some way if Hartford wants to host big time sports events along with other big time events it needs to transform itself both physically and market-ably. Fixing the infrastructure and transforming the capital city into a destination should and need to be the top priorities for the state because lets face it folks, you can only go to Mystic Seaport so many times and anything else in the state besides a casino is a one and done experience. Somebody, in the land of steady habits, get creative already!!

 

[BUHusky]

I was there tonight and the lower bowl was mostly full for the 6-11 game. I was also at the early rounds of Big East tournament in 2012 (when it was still the real Big East) and MSG was a graveyard. Sorry to rain on your hate parade!

 

[Fishy]

You're clueless.

No, it has nothing to do with Hartford.

These cats don't go to their own home games and you think they're going to come to Hartford? They're having the thing at DisneyWorld next year and guess what....the games will be empty.

It doesn't matter where they put this conference tournament, they will still have the same issue. Outside of UConn and possibly Memphis, the rest of them have no history of traveling to or even attending a conference tournament. And let's face it, no one is really invested in a conference that was created out of convenience two years ago.

 

[Gampeltiles]

5,431 announced. We have to double that at the very least tomorrow.

 

[FartMan69]

This Tourney could be held on the Island of BJ's and no one would show. It's not Hartford's fault no schools in this conference have fans.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

This Tourney could be held on the Island of BJ's .

For the record, I would make it from Florida for that.

 

[whaler11]

Pretty easy answer. Has nothing to do with the caliber of play or the locations of the opponents. It's the location folks. Hartford is not a destination and some how, some way if Hartford wants to host big time sports events along with other big time events it needs to transform itself both physically and market-ably. Fixing the infrastructure and transforming the capital city into a destination should and need to be the top priorities for the state because lets face it folks, you can only go to Mystic Seaport so many times and anything else in the state besides a casino is a one and done experience. Somebody, in the land of steady habits, get creative already!!

Did you have an superjohn while you posted this?

Nobody went to the AAC tournament because it's the AAC.

Next year when no one goes in Orlando I look forward to your insightful posts.

 

[whaler11]

All this nonsense about destinations exists 5 miles away from downtown. If only someone was creative enough to replicate Glastonbury and West Hartford Center in downtown Hartford they would be so smart!

People don't go to the ACC tournament to watch basketball. They go for all the excitement of Greensboro. That's a world class city with so many attractions!

 

[geohusky]

This Tourney could be held on the Island of BJ's and no one would show. It's not Hartford's fault no schools in this conference have fans.

Where is this magical island?

 

[geohusky]

All this nonsense about destinations exists 5 miles away from downtown. If only someone was creative enough to replicate Glastonbury and West Hartford Center in downtown Hartford they would be so smart!

People don't go to the ACC tournament to watch basketball. They go for all the excitement of Greensboro. That's a world class city with so many attractions!

I had a multi day meeting there years back talk about a city with nothing to do.

 

[TheChamps990411]

You're clueless.

No, it has nothing to do with Hartford.

These cats don't go to their own home games and you think they're going to come to Hartford? They're having the thing at DisneyWorld next year and guess what....the games will be empty.

It doesn't matter where they put this conference tournament, they will still have the same issue. Outside of UConn and possibly Memphis, the rest of them have no history of traveling to or even attending a conference tournament. And let's face it, no one is really invested in a conference that was created out of convenience two years ago.

Being in this conference is absolutely embarrassing.

 

[Marty Jackson]

This Tourney could be held on the Island of BJ's and no one would show. It's not Hartford's fault no schools in this conference have fans.

Berkeley Jensen has an island resort?

 

[Marty Jackson]

Being in this conference is absolutely embarrassing.

I think a lot has to do with the teams playing on Thursday.
Which one of those teams doesn't belong?

 

[Deepster]

Pretty easy answer. Has nothing to do with the caliber of play or the locations of the opponents. It's the location folks. Hartford is not a destination and some how, some way if Hartford wants to host big time sports events along with other big time events it needs to transform itself both physically and market-ably. Fixing the infrastructure and transforming the capital city into a destination should and need to be the top priorities for the state because lets face it folks, you can only go to Mystic Seaport so many times and anything else in the state besides a casino is a one and done experience. Somebody, in the land of steady habits, get creative already!!

Destination? People IN Hartford don't want to go to these games. No reason people working downtown couldn't have grabbed beers and apps and a cheap ticket last night.

 

[pnow15]

So, just how many people do you know want to spend serious money to come to Hartford in March?

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

i think team america said it best.....

Americaaa, yeah

tulsa, yeah, ECU, yeah, temple, yeah, south florida, yeah, tulane , yeah, sportsmanship, yeah....

you get the point

 

[Rocktheworld]

So if CR never happened, and we had the old Big East tournament in Hartford, we'd be seeing similar turnout?

I get that Hartford's is weak but c'mon son, think before you post.

 

[Rocktheworld]

5,431 announced. We have to double that at the very least tomorrow.

Or else what

 

[dtrumpet]

So if CR never happened, and we had the old Big East tournament in Hartford, we'd be seeing similar turnout?

I get that Hartford's is weak but c'mon son, think before you post.

this this this and this.
and lets not forget, this conference is a geographical nightmare, spread out all over the place. Sure you'd likely get better attendance if it was in Philly instead of Hartford, but most of these schools are a long way from here. Would many of us go to Houston or Oklahoma for this tournament?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If this wasn't coming from a guy who still thinks Pasqualoni needed a couple more seasons, I would've guessed it was one of our visitors that's allowed to troll our boards endlessly.

 

[Dooley]

Please stop about yesterday's attendance. I was in the downtown office yesterday all day. A co-worker asked if I was going to the games. Admittedly, I looked online at tickets. $30 for the the whole lot. Sure, that lot included UCONN...some 5+ hours after admittance. It also included ECU, UCF, Houston, Tulane and USF. 5 teams with losing records in one of the country's worst conferences. Sorry, but I wouldn't pay 30 cents to watch any of those 5 teams play. And I wouldn't pay any amount of money to be trapped inside the XL Center to watch these garbage programs play on endless loop. I went home, finished a few things up for work from home, then enjoyed our game at 8:30 on the NEWS.

Today? Different story. I'm going to UCONN/Cinci and looking forward to it. And I'm not in the office today.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

There are a number of reasons as most people pointed out. Most of the teams stink, they don't have huge/ and or passionate fanbases, and I doubt they have big alumni bases in the area.

But most importantly, and I'm surprised it doesn't get brought up more, none of these schools are EVEN CLOSE to Hartford. Temple is the closest school at over 200 miles away. The Florida schools, Tulsa, and Memphis are all over a thousand miles away and SMU and Houston close to 2.

The Big East tourney at MSG would be empty too for the first round if that was the travel required.

 

[John]

There are a number of reasons as most people pointed out. Most of the teams stink, they don't have huge/ and or passionate fanbases, and I doubt they have big alumni bases in the area.

But most importantly, and I'm surprised it doesn't get brought up more, none of these schools are EVEN CLOSE to Hartford. Temple is the closest school at over 200 miles away. The Florida schools, Tulsa, and Memphis are all over a thousand miles away and SMU and Houston close to 2.

The Big East tourney at MSG would be empty too for the first round if that was the travel required.

Geography is king. Except in college football.

 

[Northbound]

I had a multi day meeting there years back talk about a city with nothing to do.

I lived there for 5 years, tell me about it. Goodnight. Greensboro & Winston-Salem are horrible and this is from someone that is from Upstate NY.

 

[Jerry1714]

Did anyone really expect people there yesterday? I certainly did not.

I do expect people there tonight, and if UConn wins tonight for Saturday to be packed for both games especially if Temple is playing.

Thursday games stood no chance.