iowa80
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,400
|
Post by iowa80 on Jan 28, 2022 15:09:14 GMT -5
Remember when we were “D.C.’s team”? OK, I’m dating myself, but the one advantage to downtown is that it’s available to everyone. I disagree, more or less, that tweaks like buses can cure the inaccessibility of McDonough. If the goal is to put more students in the stands, that’s fine. If the goal is to have select games on campus, and others downtown, that probably works. Since my preference is to build a program around a local coach and players that reaches a fan base beyond a school well in the Northwest quadrant, I see some issues, as undesirable as downtown can be for a losing team.
|
|
drquigley
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,381
|
Post by drquigley on Jan 28, 2022 15:34:23 GMT -5
The original concept for expanding McDonough was to turn the court East to West and take advantage of the highest point in the building's ceiling (the ends). I believe estimates at the time projected this would increase capacity from somewhere between 6 to 8 thousand. If the arena is only going to hold 6,000 parking is not a major issue as most of the fans will probably be students (a good thing). You will likely get a number of folks coming from the Georgetown area. And if the games are on weekends some of the underground parking will be available. And as someone suggested, the GUTS buses could be free to ticket holders. If it is a retrofit in the existing building, the Georgetown residents do not have the same ability to prevent construction. The biggest obstacle is money and making this a priority. But if DeGoia wants this it can happen. You could create a hell of a good home court advantage this way and create great on-campus entertainment for students that are starved for it. Put kegs outside and dig down and make it a pit. It also gives you pricing power. Right now there is no real incentive for season tickets. Add 500 or 1000 "premier" packages that would include these tickets and you would have something. I think it should be for every OOC against and every Big East game on weekdays. Who cares if you can get slightly more people into Verizon when the rent is a killer and the environment is a home court advantage killer? I would take 5K on campus vs. 9K showing up at Verizon every day of the week. As long as we could retain Cap One for prime BE and OOC games. Assuming we return to semi-respectability we can still put 10,000+ in Cap One for Syracuse, Uconn, Nova, and maybe a Duke or UNC game.
|
|
bostonfan
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,508
|
Post by bostonfan on Jan 28, 2022 15:34:37 GMT -5
Remember when we were “D.C.’s team”? OK, I’m dating myself, but the one advantage to downtown is that it’s available to everyone. I disagree, more or less, that tweaks like buses can cure the inaccessibility of McDonough. If the goal is to put more students in the stands, that’s fine. If the goal is to have select games on campus, and others downtown, that probably works. Since my preference is to build a program around a local coach and players that reaches a fan base beyond a school well in the Northwest quadrant, I see some issues, as undesirable as downtown can be for a losing team. I think you want to always keep some games (the bigger OOC and the weekend Big East games) at the Capitol One Center. I think playing some games in a NBA arena is helpful for recruiting, but playing the other games on campus, in front of students and probably a pretty full arena, would be the best of both worlds solution. Seems to be what St John's, Villanova and Seton Hall are doing, and having what seems to be good success.
|
|
gunny
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 559
|
Post by gunny on Jan 28, 2022 15:41:46 GMT -5
Just a few facts to throw out here:
Pitt played in Fitzgerald Field House on campus until 2002. The capacity was 6,800. It played its bigger Big East games (Georgetown and Syracuse are the ones I remember)at the Civic Arena. This lasted until the new Petersen Event Center was opened with a capacity of 12,500.
Villanova: This year the Wildcats have 10 home games at the 6,500 seat Pavillion. The remaining 3 games will be played at Wells Fargo. Those 3 games are Saturday contests against Butler, Seton Hall and Connecticut.
Can we do something like this?
|
|
|
Post by KenteKrazies on Jan 28, 2022 15:48:13 GMT -5
This may be a long shot, but does anybody have dimensions of the McDonough Arena space?
|
|
|
Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Jan 28, 2022 16:18:04 GMT -5
Remember when we were “D.C.’s team”? OK, I’m dating myself, but the one advantage to downtown is that it’s available to everyone. I disagree, more or less, that tweaks like buses can cure the inaccessibility of McDonough. If the goal is to put more students in the stands, that’s fine. If the goal is to have select games on campus, and others downtown, that probably works. Since my preference is to build a program around a local coach and players that reaches a fan base beyond a school well in the Northwest quadrant, I see some issues, as undesirable as downtown can be for a losing team. This is a good point Iowa but right now we aren't drawing anyone. I think you do this to get students there and to make it a true home court advantage. If we get back to the top of the Big East, it would be harder for the casual DC fan to attend at Gtown is isolated without a metro but I would still make it over to games and I am sure plenty of die hards an alums would too. It has its own recruiting advantages because I can tell you kids that go to Kansas and Duke could care less they aren't in a pro arena. Being in a packed house is more important. While we are at it, I would do the following: 1) Force the band to change the tunes. It's tired, 2) Get more involvement from the on campus dance and singing groups. Could you imagine the chimes singing show tunes directly behind the opponents bench all game? That would truly mess with their heads in the weirdest kind of way, 3) Create a student VIP section in the arena that you get to be in based off of non-prime game attendance, 4) Hold a pre-game raffle for one student fan to sit in the middle of the bench during the game (that would get the kids there early), 5) BEER!! Lots of free beer pre-game to turn it into an event for the students. Throw some GUTS hot dogs at the kids while you are at it, 6) Half time entertainment should be 6th, 7th and 8th grade AAU teams. Hook 'em while they are young, 7) Get me a drumline for entertainment as well. Could be pregame outside or could be during game, I can think of about a dozen other fun ways to really create an event and some new traditions around the program. My guess is Ronny and Howze aren't really on the cutting edge of promotions. Maybe highlight some in-game tweets by fans during the game. Give me something for the love of God.
|
|
hoyaguy
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,852
Member is Online
|
Post by hoyaguy on Jan 28, 2022 16:20:13 GMT -5
A complete McD overhaul likely remains a pipe dream, but I like the idea of asymmetric seating. I don't know how much renovation would need to be done or if it'd require local govt approval, but if something can be accomplished relatively cheaply and without the neighborhood's red tape (*the real hurdle*) then I think that's a first step. 1.) If we're doing this for weeknight OOC games, that'd have been AU, Longwood, UMBC, and Howard this year. Last year it would have been UMBC, Navy, & Coppin St. 2.) You don't need 3,000 parking spaces when you weren't even drawing 3000 to CapOne. Besides, the idea is to get more students to attend. 3.) Offer a supplement to the season tix package for the hundreds (dozens?) of diehards who'd be interested in going. 4.) Instruct the GUTS shuttles going to Dupont and Rosslyn to let on anyone with game tix. 5.) Don't think you can do anything about booze in the arena, but that's what Dixie's, Tombs, and Bulldog Tavern are for. Plus you can park food trucks outside and create an app for ordering/serving. *on edit* pretty sure the Big East did away with the seating requirement for home arenas a few years ago. I agree that a balance of the two should be the goal as increasing student engagement is important especially when trying to rebuild, if a recruit shows up to a mostly empty NBA arena to watch 50 students cheer on the team then that is just not great, but it there is a great buzz around campus and a totally full 4-5k during a week night then that is so much better. Gotta keep all weekend games and big OOC/BE games at Cap One as it is a positive to be in a pro arena when we get 10k+ Also make more Friday night games! And those can be at Cap One which would in my opinion would help total and student turn out as it gives them a free way to get downtown and be a part of the student event in one swoop and this may just be my POV but this would also remove a lot of students from the neighborhood during said Friday nights for the sake of the neighbors If in the future there is sustained success, more games can be moved back to Cap one based on weight and interest We all just want to get back on track to win but ideas and improvements in the overall infrastructure are needed even if it isn't at McD to help bounce back and keep it going and avoid more apathy from the students, fans, and the school itself Also food trucks would be so hype and it's students, many don't really care about high end concessions (I sure didn't even as an adult now) and the outside fans like myself personally just want to watch some good ball with a full house, I don't need anything super clean cut, it's the soul that matters.
|
|
hoyaguy
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,852
Member is Online
|
Post by hoyaguy on Jan 28, 2022 16:26:45 GMT -5
Remember when we were “D.C.’s team”? OK, I’m dating myself, but the one advantage to downtown is that it’s available to everyone. I disagree, more or less, that tweaks like buses can cure the inaccessibility of McDonough. If the goal is to put more students in the stands, that’s fine. If the goal is to have select games on campus, and others downtown, that probably works. Since my preference is to build a program around a local coach and players that reaches a fan base beyond a school well in the Northwest quadrant, I see some issues, as undesirable as downtown can be for a losing team. This is a good point Iowa but right now we aren't drawing anyone. I think you do this to get students there and to make it a true home court advantage. If we get back to the top of the Big East, it would be harder for the casual DC fan to attend at Gtown is isolated without a metro but I would still make it over to games and I am sure plenty of die hards an alums would too. It has its own recruiting advantages because I can tell you kids that go to Kansas and Duke could care less they aren't in a pro arena. Being in a packed house is more important. While we are at it, I would do the following: 1) Force the band to change the tunes. It's tired, 2) Get more involvement from the on campus dance and singing groups. Could you imagine the chimes singing show tunes directly behind the opponents bench all game? That would truly mess with their heads in the weirdest kind of way, 3) Create a student VIP section in the arena that you get to be in based off of non-prime game attendance, 4) Hold a pre-game raffle for one student fan to sit in the middle of the bench during the game (that would get the kids there early), 5) BEER!! Lots of free beer pre-game to turn it into an event for the students. Throw some GUTS hot dogs at the kids while you are at it, 6) Half time entertainment should be 6th, 7th and 8th grade AAU teams. Hook 'em while they are young, 7) Get me a drumline for entertainment as well. Could be pregame outside or could be during game, I can think of about a dozen other fun ways to really create an event and some new traditions around the program. My guess is Ronny and Howze aren't really on the cutting edge of promotions. Maybe highlight some in-game tweets by fans during the game. Give me something for the love of God. You are so right there are literally a hundred ways to make game day more fun and noticeable around campus. I am sure the students would jump on a new club dedicated to coordinating stuff like this or can just hire someone who actually wants to help the program (and yeah that's a shot at them lol) And I just tune out the band at this point during the games because it really is the same stuff, I personally thought while at one of the soccer games this past fall that a song they should use is "That's the Way (I like it)" by KC Sunshine as it's something everyone knows and it can be kind of mocking the other team for missing or cheering for us when we score
|
|
bills
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 235
|
Post by bills on Jan 29, 2022 9:50:21 GMT -5
I believe several years ago that Georgetown dropped free bus rides ti the Arena and started to charge for them. Giving students a free way to get to and from the games would likely improve student turnout.
|
|
|
Post by KenteKrazies on Jan 29, 2022 12:10:24 GMT -5
Remember when we were “D.C.’s team”? OK, I’m dating myself, but the one advantage to downtown is that it’s available to everyone. I disagree, more or less, that tweaks like buses can cure the inaccessibility of McDonough. If the goal is to put more students in the stands, that’s fine. If the goal is to have select games on campus, and others downtown, that probably works. Since my preference is to build a program around a local coach and players that reaches a fan base beyond a school well in the Northwest quadrant, I see some issues, as undesirable as downtown can be for a losing team. This is a good point Iowa but right now we aren't drawing anyone. I think you do this to get students there and to make it a true home court advantage. If we get back to the top of the Big East, it would be harder for the casual DC fan to attend at Gtown is isolated without a metro but I would still make it over to games and I am sure plenty of die hards an alums would too. It has its own recruiting advantages because I can tell you kids that go to Kansas and Duke could care less they aren't in a pro arena. Being in a packed house is more important. While we are at it, I would do the following: 1) Force the band to change the tunes. It's tired, 2) Get more involvement from the on campus dance and singing groups. Could you imagine the chimes singing show tunes directly behind the opponents bench all game? That would truly mess with their heads in the weirdest kind of way, 3) Create a student VIP section in the arena that you get to be in based off of non-prime game attendance, 4) Hold a pre-game raffle for one student fan to sit in the middle of the bench during the game (that would get the kids there early), 5) BEER!! Lots of free beer pre-game to turn it into an event for the students. Throw some GUTS hot dogs at the kids while you are at it, 6) Half time entertainment should be 6th, 7th and 8th grade AAU teams. Hook 'em while they are young, 7) Get me a drumline for entertainment as well. Could be pregame outside or could be during game, I can think of about a dozen other fun ways to really create an event and some new traditions around the program. My guess is Ronny and Howze aren't really on the cutting edge of promotions. Maybe highlight some in-game tweets by fans during the game. Give me something for the love of God. Love the ideas. Will not that Hoya Blue allocates “staff passes” based off who has attended the most on campus athletic events. This makes the front row of the student section a VIP section like you are describing.
|
|
|
Post by KenteKrazies on Jan 29, 2022 12:10:53 GMT -5
I believe several years ago that Georgetown dropped free bus rides ti the Arena and started to charge for them. Giving students a free way to get to and from the games would likely improve student turnout. They are still free. Just somewhat unreliable at times.
|
|
|
Post by tafkashfsee on Jan 29, 2022 15:04:13 GMT -5
If I were a student living on Georgetown's campus, I would be at all the games. All you have to do is catch the G2 bus. It takes only about 20 to 30 mins max to reach downtown DC. And the bus comes right in front of the gates of the campus so there is absolutely no excuses for the student body not to be at every game. There is no need to tear up grounds at Georgetown to build a stadium for games that students won't even attend anyways.
|
|
jpj
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 258
|
Post by jpj on Jan 29, 2022 15:11:38 GMT -5
Just a few facts to throw out here: Villanova: This year the Wildcats have 10 home games at the 6,500 seat Pavillion. The remaining 3 games will be played at Wells Fargo. Those 3 games are Saturday contests against Butler, Seton Hall and Connecticut. Can we do something like this? NCAA Regionals are at Wells Fargo Center in March Villanova normally plays more games at Wells Fargo but this year they have intentionally minimized play there so that it does not become their "Home Court" and are precluded from playing in that section of the NCAA Tourney bracket.
|
|
Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,482
|
Post by Elvado on Jan 29, 2022 16:02:47 GMT -5
If we keep playing like this, current McDonough will be plenty big enough.
|
|
hoyaguy
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,852
Member is Online
|
Post by hoyaguy on Jan 29, 2022 17:50:58 GMT -5
If I were a student living on Georgetown's campus, I would be at all the games. All you have to do is catch the G2 bus. It takes only about 20 to 30 mins max to reach downtown DC. And the bus comes right in front of the gates of the campus so there is absolutely no excuses for the student body not to be at every game. There is no need to tear up grounds at Georgetown to build a stadium for games that students won't even attend anyways. Yeahhh I was a student until a couple years ago and I showed up to probably 90% of the games I could because as a student, burning 3+ hours to go and watch basketball on a week night is not in the cards for the schedules some people lead and I was definitely a way more relaxed student in terms of not having a million commitments bc I didn’t want that stress and it was still a heavy bullet some nights to go watch us play butler at 9pm on a Tuesday with homework to do. And if we can’t get in the tournament or sniff the top 25 then even less of them care, most students are bandwagons it’s just the truth especially considering the student demographics at Georgetown. Would a renovated McD improve student attendance definitely but it’s no guarantee as the team still needs to get better on the court and off it too
|
|
|
Post by tafkashfsee on Jan 29, 2022 17:56:14 GMT -5
If I were a student living on Georgetown's campus, I would be at all the games. All you have to do is catch the G2 bus. It takes only about 20 to 30 mins max to reach downtown DC. And the bus comes right in front of the gates of the campus so there is absolutely no excuses for the student body not to be at every game. There is no need to tear up grounds at Georgetown to build a stadium for games that students won't even attend anyways. Yeahhh I was a student until a couple years ago and I showed up to probably 90% of the games I could because as a student, burning 3+ hours to go and watch basketball on a week night is not in the cards for the schedules some people lead and I was definitely a way more relaxed student in terms of not having a million commitments bc I didn’t want that stress and it was still a heavy bullet some nights to go watch us play butler at 9pm on a Tuesday with homework to do. And if we can’t get in the tournament or sniff the top 25 then even less of them care, most students are bandwagons it’s just the truth especially considering the student demographics at Georgetown. Would a renovated McD improve student attendance definitely but it’s no guarantee as the team still needs to get better on the court and off it too I commend you for showing up to the games. You are a true fan. As far as McDonough, Yates are whatever, it ain't gonna happen man. The only thing they can do is tear down that football stadium and start over with a dome for both the football team and the basketball team to play in. Will you alumni help with that endeavor? I'm sure Patrick would if they made that scenario a possibility.
|
|
Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,482
|
Post by Elvado on Jan 29, 2022 18:23:37 GMT -5
Yeahhh I was a student until a couple years ago and I showed up to probably 90% of the games I could because as a student, burning 3+ hours to go and watch basketball on a week night is not in the cards for the schedules some people lead and I was definitely a way more relaxed student in terms of not having a million commitments bc I didn’t want that stress and it was still a heavy bullet some nights to go watch us play butler at 9pm on a Tuesday with homework to do. And if we can’t get in the tournament or sniff the top 25 then even less of them care, most students are bandwagons it’s just the truth especially considering the student demographics at Georgetown. Would a renovated McD improve student attendance definitely but it’s no guarantee as the team still needs to get better on the court and off it too I commend you for showing up to the games. You are a true fan. As far as McDonough, Yates are whatever, it ain't gonna happen man. The only thing they can do is tear down that football stadium and start over with a dome for both the football team and the basketball team to play in. Will you alumni help with that endeavor? I'm sure Patrick would if they made that scenario a possibility. This is the greatest piece of unintentional comedy I have read on this board in a long time. Let’s watch Georgetown pivot on a dime and tear down Cooper, replacing it with a multi-use dome. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. The vast majority of the folks on this board will not live to see Cooper replaced.
|
|
|
Post by tafkashfsee on Jan 29, 2022 18:28:15 GMT -5
I commend you for showing up to the games. You are a true fan. As far as McDonough, Yates are whatever, it ain't gonna happen man. The only thing they can do is tear down that football stadium and start over with a dome for both the football team and the basketball team to play in. Will you alumni help with that endeavor? I'm sure Patrick would if they made that scenario a possibility. This is the greatest piece of unintentional comedy I have read on this board in a long time. Let’s watch Georgetown pivot on a dime and tear down Cooper, replacing it with a multi-use dome. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. The vast majority of the folks on this board will not live to see Cooper replaced. I didn't say that it would be easy. You think tearing down McDonough would be easier?
|
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,752
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Jan 29, 2022 18:31:57 GMT -5
[I commend you for showing up to the games. You are a true fan. As far as McDonough, Yates are whatever, it ain't gonna happen man. The only thing they can do is tear down that football stadium and start over with a dome for both the football team and the basketball team to play in. Will you alumni help with that endeavor? I'm sure Patrick would if they made that scenario a possibility. You may realize of course (or, maybe not) that the aforementioned football stadium just opened in 2021, having taken 22 years and a $50 million gift to get it through the Rubik's cube of Georgetown construction projects, so that's not happening (and let's not even get into the minutiae of Georgetown's floor/area ratio with the District of Columbia).
|
|
|
Post by tafkashfsee on Jan 29, 2022 18:36:25 GMT -5
[I commend you for showing up to the games. You are a true fan. As far as McDonough, Yates are whatever, it ain't gonna happen man. The only thing they can do is tear down that football stadium and start over with a dome for both the football team and the basketball team to play in. Will you alumni help with that endeavor? I'm sure Patrick would if they made that scenario a possibility. You may realize of course (or, maybe not) that the aforementioned football stadium just opened in 2021, having taken 22 years and a $50 million gift to get it through the Rubik's cube of Georgetown construction projects, so that's not happening (and let's not even get into the minutiae of Georgetown's floor/area ratio with the District of Columbia). Wow I didn't know that! Well let me ask you something, why in the world would the smart people at Georgetown put so much investment in a DIII program and not put that into a first class DI basketball program instead? Do you think that was smart of them?
|
|