Just wanted to pass along some tourney observations, not game-related necessarily, but the overall experience
- First, lets compare with NYC. DC is a cool place. The Verizon Center is in a great spot and that whole area seems very safe (relatively speaking, its a big city after all) with lots to do, tons of shops, hotels, restaurants. Seems a lot cleaner and modernized compare to midtown Manhattan. However, NYC is NYC and MSG is MSG. I can't say I felt the "electricity" that MSG has for Big East Tournament games. That is very subjective, I know and hard to put a finger on but at MSG, there just seems to be this vibe that resonates. One thing I think that causes MSG to be more electric is that the Big East Tournament was a "guy's weekend" destination for a lot of non-team affiliated fans. Example, a 20 something or 30 something Big East grad and 5 of his friends who are not BE grads or fans make it an annual event. There seemed to be just a lot of baskeball fans at MSG, not team-related. Lots of guys looking like they were dressed for the bars afterwards, not wearing team stuff. However, they were drunk and loud. And I think this added to the electricity. Lots of fans at MSG there just to see good basketball and have a good time with their friends. In DC, I noticed more of an older crowd, and family crowd. I didn't notice any "guy's weekend" fans like what I notice in NYC or just some locals that want to take in a couple games. Most fans were fans were affiliated with the teams.
- So it goes without saying that although we saw some very good games, the crowd wasn't as loud as you would have thought. I do give them credit as we stood "everybody in the whole building" for the last minute or 2 against Syracuse. That was impressive and something you don't see at The Pete. They do that at MSG though too. In fact, at MSG, when a team has a fast break, the fans under the basket all rise up in anticipation of a dunk.
- Crowd estimates for Wednesday
Duke: 3000
Syracuse: 2500
Pitt: 800
NC State: 500
VT: 3500
Clemson: 250
GT: 100
FSU: 100 (might be being generous on FSU and GT)
Thursday
UNC: 3500
Duke: 3500
Pitt: 500
ND: 250
Very, very disappointing turnout by Pitt fans
- I know the ACC gives tickets to each team by section but you would never know which sections belong to which teams. I would estimate that 90% of the actual crowd did NOT buy the original ticket through their school. They got it through some other means. That's OK but it eliminates one thing that makes college sports great, which is having a dualing sections of fans. I wished the ACC would do it like the NCAA Tournament and maybe give each school 500 seats behind their benches (best 2 seeds in the session) and across from the bench (worst 2 seeds in the section). Its fun to see those team-affiliated sections.
- Disappointed the ACC doesn't do student sections. Would it kill them to reserve 50 seats like the Big East did. That helped make the BE Tournament more fun. Its actually pretty ridiculous they don't do this. How do you have the Cameron Crazies, Oakland Zoo, etc but not have sections devoted to these fans. That's what college hoops is all about.
- ACC did a great job with halftime entertainment. They did a Mascot Game. Roc scored a basket and BC's was the leading scorer, maybe Jim Christian should have been scouting. Also, Red Panda and some other stuff.
- It was kinda funny on Wednesday afternoon. I noticed a large amount of Duke dad's with their little boys. It was a school day after all and I don't think I saw one other kid wearing Pitt, Syr, or NCSU but tons of little Duke fans. We know how little kids love those bandwagon teams. Luckily, there were no Penn State football assistants or fans.
- This was my 2nd time at Verizon Center and I always find it a confusing building. Its kind of wedged in between some other buildings and it doesn't look like a stand-alone building. I never could figure out where the Verizon Center begins and the other buildings end. Best way I can explain it is it seems like it is a massive complex with the Verizon Center just squished in. I've never seen another building like that. My guess is if you were walking past it, you wouldn't even realize its an arena.
- Overall though, good time, looking forward to NYC next year. I just don't see how they can put this thing back in Greensboro for any extended period of time. I'm a nostalgic guy so maybe once a decade or so but the ACC Tournament has to be about more than basketball. It has to be an event and in DC it is. In Greensboro, you go to the games, hop in your car, wait in traffic and go drive to Bojangle's.
- One last thing, the sessions I was at didn't sell out. There was probably a block of 500-1000 seats or so in the upper deck endzone that you can tell nobody bought because there wasn't 1 person in them. Maybe they were Louisville buyers who got their money back. Besides those, all the seats were sold but obviously, the place was never totally packed because people come and go at different times as is common in events like this.
- First, lets compare with NYC. DC is a cool place. The Verizon Center is in a great spot and that whole area seems very safe (relatively speaking, its a big city after all) with lots to do, tons of shops, hotels, restaurants. Seems a lot cleaner and modernized compare to midtown Manhattan. However, NYC is NYC and MSG is MSG. I can't say I felt the "electricity" that MSG has for Big East Tournament games. That is very subjective, I know and hard to put a finger on but at MSG, there just seems to be this vibe that resonates. One thing I think that causes MSG to be more electric is that the Big East Tournament was a "guy's weekend" destination for a lot of non-team affiliated fans. Example, a 20 something or 30 something Big East grad and 5 of his friends who are not BE grads or fans make it an annual event. There seemed to be just a lot of baskeball fans at MSG, not team-related. Lots of guys looking like they were dressed for the bars afterwards, not wearing team stuff. However, they were drunk and loud. And I think this added to the electricity. Lots of fans at MSG there just to see good basketball and have a good time with their friends. In DC, I noticed more of an older crowd, and family crowd. I didn't notice any "guy's weekend" fans like what I notice in NYC or just some locals that want to take in a couple games. Most fans were fans were affiliated with the teams.
- So it goes without saying that although we saw some very good games, the crowd wasn't as loud as you would have thought. I do give them credit as we stood "everybody in the whole building" for the last minute or 2 against Syracuse. That was impressive and something you don't see at The Pete. They do that at MSG though too. In fact, at MSG, when a team has a fast break, the fans under the basket all rise up in anticipation of a dunk.
- Crowd estimates for Wednesday
Duke: 3000
Syracuse: 2500
Pitt: 800
NC State: 500
VT: 3500
Clemson: 250
GT: 100
FSU: 100 (might be being generous on FSU and GT)
Thursday
UNC: 3500
Duke: 3500
Pitt: 500
ND: 250
Very, very disappointing turnout by Pitt fans
- I know the ACC gives tickets to each team by section but you would never know which sections belong to which teams. I would estimate that 90% of the actual crowd did NOT buy the original ticket through their school. They got it through some other means. That's OK but it eliminates one thing that makes college sports great, which is having a dualing sections of fans. I wished the ACC would do it like the NCAA Tournament and maybe give each school 500 seats behind their benches (best 2 seeds in the session) and across from the bench (worst 2 seeds in the section). Its fun to see those team-affiliated sections.
- Disappointed the ACC doesn't do student sections. Would it kill them to reserve 50 seats like the Big East did. That helped make the BE Tournament more fun. Its actually pretty ridiculous they don't do this. How do you have the Cameron Crazies, Oakland Zoo, etc but not have sections devoted to these fans. That's what college hoops is all about.
- ACC did a great job with halftime entertainment. They did a Mascot Game. Roc scored a basket and BC's was the leading scorer, maybe Jim Christian should have been scouting. Also, Red Panda and some other stuff.
- It was kinda funny on Wednesday afternoon. I noticed a large amount of Duke dad's with their little boys. It was a school day after all and I don't think I saw one other kid wearing Pitt, Syr, or NCSU but tons of little Duke fans. We know how little kids love those bandwagon teams. Luckily, there were no Penn State football assistants or fans.
- This was my 2nd time at Verizon Center and I always find it a confusing building. Its kind of wedged in between some other buildings and it doesn't look like a stand-alone building. I never could figure out where the Verizon Center begins and the other buildings end. Best way I can explain it is it seems like it is a massive complex with the Verizon Center just squished in. I've never seen another building like that. My guess is if you were walking past it, you wouldn't even realize its an arena.
- Overall though, good time, looking forward to NYC next year. I just don't see how they can put this thing back in Greensboro for any extended period of time. I'm a nostalgic guy so maybe once a decade or so but the ACC Tournament has to be about more than basketball. It has to be an event and in DC it is. In Greensboro, you go to the games, hop in your car, wait in traffic and go drive to Bojangle's.
- One last thing, the sessions I was at didn't sell out. There was probably a block of 500-1000 seats or so in the upper deck endzone that you can tell nobody bought because there wasn't 1 person in them. Maybe they were Louisville buyers who got their money back. Besides those, all the seats were sold but obviously, the place was never totally packed because people come and go at different times as is common in events like this.
