hoyajmw
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,038
|
Post by hoyajmw on Mar 2, 2013 12:29:38 GMT -5
... is that it should result in a much more conveniently scheduled Big East tournament, especially if Fox's scheduling demands aren't what ESPN's have been. For the first decade or so the tournament had quarters on Friday (any play-in(s) Thurday night), semis Saturday afternoon and championship early Sunday afternoon (often followed by a raucus championship party/Nard's rock and roll spinning tunes leading to watching NCAA brackets announced -- sweet memories indeed). It was easy for all the fans to plan for the tournament/very limited uncertainty in when you'd play -- and even if your team lost, heck staying for the semis and/or final was easy enough with little downtime. And the atmosphere in the Garden was electric beginning to end (alright - the Thursday night game wasn't alway abuzz/thankfully, we didn't have to play in it but a time or two), since games were bunched such that I really think attendance was strong throughout. But then ESPN insisted on playing the championship Saturday night, and the whole schedule backed up -- and then expansion created the convoluted/uncertain monstrosity we've endured for 15 years or so. Anyone who has planned to attend the tournament these last many years knows what an incredible pain it currently is, and how dead the early games are....
But now we have the real chance to go back to the future, given the size (at least for the first few years) of the new Big East and (perhaps/hopefully?) what could be Fox's own needs. Returning to the Friday/Saturday/Sunday format especially would make fan travel scheduling MUCH easier generally and make the attending the tournament for more distant fans especially (the newbies and otherwise) FAR more worthwhile. If you're in Omaha (or Indianapolis or Cincinnatti), you could plan the trip well in advance and know you'll see some great hoops and even if you lose early, heck you're in NYC (assuming/hoping as most of us do it is still MSG of course) and can take in MORE hoops quickly in the world's most famous arena, or catch a show etc. I REALLY hope the people working with Fox bear this in mind as scheduling is contemplated ...
|
|
|
|
Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Mar 2, 2013 12:35:02 GMT -5
I disagree with this. I think the Saturday night final is the best thing about the BET and why it's so much better than the ACC, B10, and SEC tournaments that don't finish until the time the bracket is announced.
The final needs to stay on Saturday night. That's part of the reason it's such a big event. No other conference tournament games are competing with it. It's the main attraction. Sunday you'd be competing with 3 other conference championship games.
|
|
thebin
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,869
|
Post by thebin on Mar 2, 2013 12:37:45 GMT -5
Agree prefer sat night.
|
|
rosslynhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,595
|
Post by rosslynhoya on Mar 2, 2013 12:48:13 GMT -5
... is that it should result in a much more conveniently scheduled Big East tournament, especially if Fox's scheduling demands aren't what ESPN's have been. For the first decade or so the tournament had quarters on Friday (any play-in(s) Thurday night), semis Saturday afternoon and championship early Sunday afternoon (often followed by a raucus championship party/Nard's rock and roll spinning tunes leading to watching NCAA brackets announced -- sweet memories indeed). It was easy for all the fans to plan for the tournament/very limited uncertainty in when you'd play -- and even if your team lost, heck staying for the semis and/or final was easy enough with little downtime. And the atmosphere in the Garden was electric beginning to end (alright - the Thursday night game wasn't alway abuzz/thankfully, we didn't have to play in it but a time or two), since games were bunched such that I really think attendance was strong throughout. But then ESPN insisted on playing the championship Saturday night, and the whole schedule backed up -- and then expansion created the convoluted/uncertain monstrosity we've endured for 15 years or so. Anyone who has planned to attend the tournament these last many years knows what an incredible pain it currently is, and how dead the early games are.... But now we have the real chance to go back to the future, given the size (at least for the first few years) of the new Big East and (perhaps/hopefully?) what could be Fox's own needs. Returning to the Friday/Saturday/Sunday format especially would make fan travel scheduling MUCH easier generally and make the attending the tournament for more distant fans especially (the newbies and otherwise) FAR more worthwhile. If you're in Omaha (or Indianapolis or Cincinnatti), you could plan the trip well in advance and know you'll see some great hoops and even if you lose early, heck you're in NYC (assuming/hoping as most of us do it is still MSG of course) and can take in MORE hoops quickly in the world's most famous arena, or catch a show etc. I REALLY hope the people working with Fox bear this in mind as scheduling is contemplated ... In what years did the tourney have a Sunday championship? It seems like a Saturday night final has been a hallmark of the Big East since no later than 1983's tournament, after the Big East expanded to nine by adding Pitt. It looks like all of the MSG tourneys have finished with a championship on Saturday. It definitely looks better on television. Watching the Big Ten and ACC scramble on Sunday to wrap up their tournaments before the Selection Sunday show has always seemed kind of silly. |
|
hoyajmw
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,038
|
Post by hoyajmw on Mar 2, 2013 12:54:40 GMT -5
It went to Saturday night sometime in the early/maybe mid-90s as I recall -- for many years at MSG it was the Friday/Saturday/Sunday format. It did not suffer for attention, inside or on TV -- and I think the main reason it got moved to Saturday night was to get out of the way of the ACC final -- and the ACC sure doesn't suffer from a lack of attention Sunday afternoon.
|
|
hoyajmw
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,038
|
Post by hoyajmw on Mar 2, 2013 13:03:23 GMT -5
Through use of DFW's great Basketball History archive of games/dates and google, just confirmed that the first Saturday night final was the Ray Allen game/1996 -- prior to then, the schedule is as I set out above. The bad memories of that game alone are reason to want to go back to Sunday finals . . .
|
|
|
|
Post by HoyasAreHungry on Mar 2, 2013 13:29:15 GMT -5
Saturday is definitely the more desirable prime time spot. More people will go more people will watch. Sunday means work/school the next day.
|
|
hoyajmw
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,038
|
Post by hoyajmw on Mar 2, 2013 13:38:26 GMT -5
It isn't just the championship game/TV watching that is the issue (though what gets better ratings/Fox prefers probably will drive this and you could be right that the Saturday night spot will win out) -- I"m talking about the people in the building/rooting throughout (especially those traveling distances). Friday-Sunday makes it much easier, and getting home for work or school on Monday is not an issue. I had 12 tournaments worth of experience (school, then work) with that system, and it worked just fine. In any case -- and hopefully we can at least agree on this -- the smaller number of teams in the near term will help tremendously in and of itself, even with a Saturday night finish, so that is a reason to welcome the smaller conference...
|
|
jgalt
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,380
|
Post by jgalt on Mar 2, 2013 13:56:26 GMT -5
Sunday is bad for the Tournament committee. They really dont like having the ACC and Big10 on sunday. They have told those leagues they can only hold up the seeding for so long.
Also if you are on Sunday you are competing with the ACC and Big10. Dont see the point in that when Saturday has been just fine (to say the least) for the league for the past 15 years.
|
|
|
|
Post by vamosalaplaya on Mar 2, 2013 13:56:44 GMT -5
Having been to both, prefer Saturday night for all the reasons stated above. And I will also say this - the scene at the Big East semifinals on Friday nights is one of the greatest sports environments anywhere. The place is rocking. In other threads there has been concerned expressed about attendance- that Friday night time makes it perfect for folks to come straight from work who are just into basketball - and it is electric. And yes 2/3 of the crowd would get a DWI and it isn't fit for kids under 12. But still.
I forget whether the old format played the semis on Saturday night and then followed with a mid-day Sunday final. A mid-day Saturday semifinal would pale in comparison to Friday and you would lose some of the incremental hoops crowd who are as intense as many of the alums.
Those Sunday tournament finals have all the atmosphere of a mall food court. BET owns Saturday night - and that Friday night scene is a big part of it's character.
|
|
CTHoya08
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Bring back Izzo!
Posts: 2,954
|
Post by CTHoya08 on Mar 2, 2013 14:02:35 GMT -5
Having been to both, prefer Saturday night for all the reasons stated above. And I will also say this - the scene at the Big East semifinals on Friday nights is one of the greatest sports environments anywhere. The place is rocking. In other threads there has been concerned expressed about attendance- that Friday night time makes it perfect for folks to come straight from work who are just into basketball - and it is electric. And yes 2/3 of the crowd would get a DWI and it isn't fit for kids under 12. But still. I forget whether the old format played the semis on Saturday night and then followed with a mid-day Sunday final. A mid-day Saturday semifinal would pale in comparison to Friday and you would lose some of the incremental hoops crowd who are as intense as many of the alums. Those Sunday tournament finals have all the atmosphere of a mall food court. BET owns Saturday night - and that Friday night scene is a big part of it's character. Agree. |
|
Buckets
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,656
|
Post by Buckets on Mar 2, 2013 14:07:03 GMT -5
|
|
hoyainspirit
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
When life puts that voodoo on me, music is my gris-gris.
Posts: 8,398 
|
Post by hoyainspirit on Mar 2, 2013 14:12:44 GMT -5
I'll bet that ESPN moves someone to Sat night to counter program us.
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,446
|
Post by lichoya68 on Mar 2, 2013 14:23:23 GMT -5
Just win and they MUST follow see our current hoyas AND our now getting some press ottomatic fella yup win and will follow TV TOo. ;D
|
|
AvantGuardHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
"It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something."
Posts: 1,489
|
Post by AvantGuardHoya on Mar 2, 2013 14:51:51 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but 1996 was NOT the first Saturday BE Tournament Championship game. I vividly remember being at the '84 game -- the Hoya overtime win over Syracuse. That was March 10, a Saturday. Look it up.
I don't ever remember the championship game being the game played on a Sunday. But I'm old and forgetful....
|
|
guru
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,665
|
Post by guru on Mar 2, 2013 14:59:00 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but 1996 was NOT the first Saturday BE Tournament Championship game. I vividly remember being at the '84 game -- the Hoya overtime win over Syracuse. That was March 10, a Saturday. Look it up. I don't ever remember the championship game being the game played on a Sunday. But I'm old and forgetful.... Final was on a Sunday afternoon in the late 1980s and early 90s. I remember seeing Billy Packer at the morning mass at St. Patricks before a couple of our finals matchups. I always loved that schedule - I think the semifinals were also played in the afternoon the day before |
|
hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,234
|
Post by hoya9797 on Mar 2, 2013 15:00:32 GMT -5
The Big East final in 1994 was definitely on a Sunday afternoon.
|
|
hoyainspirit
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
When life puts that voodoo on me, music is my gris-gris.
Posts: 8,398
|
Post by hoyainspirit on Mar 2, 2013 15:11:37 GMT -5
The 1984 BET Championship game was most assuredly on March 10th, a Sat. I was there w/AvantGuardHoya. Patrick and Michael Jackson made the all tourney team.
|
|
HoyaChris
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,414
|
Post by HoyaChris on Mar 2, 2013 15:22:23 GMT -5
The Sunday final used to be the norm.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2013 16:40:39 GMT -5
The old Friday thru Sunday schedule was MUCH more fun for fans. It was 48 hrs of booze and ball. OK - so by Sunday, nobody had the energy left to care... but the weekend was a great party.
Everybody showed up b/c everybody was a train ride away, and you knew your team would be involved in at least one game over the weekend (unless you were playing on Thurs).
Now the schedule is built for TV and the people attending just aren't as "fired up". Why would you be when there's a great chance that your team will be out before the weekend ever starts?
To be fair, I guess they figured in '96 that we had so many new teams that they'd be playing games during the week anyway -- so let's go ahead and change the schedule... But it's never been the same experience.
If pushing the schedule back to Fri-Sun allows more fans from Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc. to make the trip to NYC (who knows if it would), I'm all for it.
More than anything else, though, it means that more SJU, SHU, PC, and Nova fans will be able to watch their teams play over the weekend -- which will definitely boost the excitement at MSG.
|
|
