I love how Lewis said “I’m not blaming the fans...” and then blamed the fans for the players “not being up” for the game.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Game Thread: OFFICIAL POSTSEASON THREAD - Bama v. The World 2018-2019...
- Thread starter TIDE-HSV
- Start date
I would have preferred a new arena but I'm sure the improvements that will be made to Coleman will make a first class facility with one exception, the roof. That roof is atrocious and looks so out of place. Then on the inside it looks as bad or worse than it does on the outside. I would have been more thrilled with the renovation had they made replacing the roof a part of it. My understanding is that asbestos may be an issue is why they have left it alone over the years? Perhaps someone in the know can chime in on that.
I don't think we have any choice at this point. It is pretty clear the environment around basketball is toxic right now. Greg Byrne gets to earn his pay. Now we will know whether UA will commit to the future or just continue to put a band aid on knife wound.
I don't blame the 17 year old kid, I believe the coach who put the 17 year old kid in front reporters when he obviously is not mature enough at this point to handle it. Speaking to the media is just like any other aspect of coaching a team, you have to instruct the players on what to say and how to respond to certain questions knowing the media is trying to dig as much information out of you as possible plus they love any controversy they can stir up. The adults failed the kid in this situation. Lewis has put out another statement clarifying the earlier comments. I won't post it here but it appears to have been written by someone who is a lot more media savvy than Kira.
The asbestos was removed a few years ago, but you are right. Why spend millions on a 50 year old building that will still have seating issues. Build a new one and get it right. We've cheaped out every time so we have the opportunity to "reboot" basketball and change the perception of the sport at Alabama. Does UA want a competitive basketball program or do they want more of the same?
Yep, I don't understand this "hard to get up for a game" mentality that some players, coaches, and fans use when talking about the NIT or a minor bowl game. What happened to just being competitive. I don't care if I'm playing tiddlywinks against my daughter, I still want to win. Of course, I would let her win, but my desire to win would still be there. I played just as hard in a pickup game as I did in a real game determining if we would go to the state tournament in my high school days. I don't understand this ridiculous thought process that kids don't get excited to play in front of small crowds or in a bad arena or (insert excuse here). My question would be why in the world would he expect ANYBODY to come see this team play? What effort have they shown that would justify that ANY fan spend hard earned money to watch them play? They can't even improve in the fundamentals of the game, yet they are receiving a free college education, room, board, training, coaching, medical care, tutoring, clothing, and media exposure. Give me a break. Many people talk about paying college players, but I think they receive too much already.
Seems like we now have three threads that are covering much of the same. I thought this one was started as a catch-all but the "Who replaces Avery?" thread was started and the "CECIL HURT: Sooner or Later" thread stills grows.
Sometimes a renovation job can end up costing more and taking longer than a brand new building. I have always preferred new buildings over renovation jobs. Sometimes the architects don't even make money from renovation jobs. This is why the school will not care. They got their building, so they don't care that everybody else got screwed.
Honest question since this is your field - do you think Byrne wasn’t accurate when he said a renovation saves about $70 million?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Without knowing what was proposed for either, you couldn't tell. Renovations are messy, costly, and time consuming for sure though.
I'm all for a new place, but I'm still not sure they have a clue about the renovation. I frankly HATE the idea of a lounge area at one end of the court. What an "awesome" image for national games, not to mention our players. We're awful now in the effort department, so let's put an area right in front of the players where fans can order a beverage, play on their phones and watch the game on luxury TVs they could just watch with their eyes if they turned their head. I know I'd feel compelled to give 110% in front of that. What a joke.
Look to the best atmospheres in college basketball. If Auburn can do its best Duke crowd impression now after rising from nothing within the last 3 years, we can do much better than we are now. Nothing says excitement like seeing the pasty, pale leg areas between the pant hymn and sock of a bunch of grumpy old men with their arms crossed instead of parking them in some luxury box and bringing crazy acting students out from the rafters. I digress...
Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk
It would really depend on what they would want in a new building. Were they talking about tearing down the old and then rebuilding in the exact same spot or repurposing Coleman and building the new facility in a different location? I would think the easier and better alternative would be repurpose Coleman (they really would need to do that much to it for this). The difficult thing would be finding a location for the new building.
70 million seems over inflated numbers. We have built entire high schools for that and that includes a gym (a project I am currently working on was 80 million but will take 3 phases). It might save them money today, but might cost more money down the road. They might discover an issue during the demolition phase that could cost more money. Hopefully the existing drawings or As-Built drawings are accurate as to what is actually there. A lot of times these drawings are not accurate. Architects and engineers are not onsite every day so the contractor could have put up a wall that is hiding an issue we could not see (believe me it happens).
Currently the construction world is booming so prices are booming. This could also explain the over inflated numbers. If they waited until the next recession they could get the new building dirt cheap.
Not sure I would go so far as to call it idiotic. You must not be around many 17,18,19 year old kids of this generation. You even hear it from the professional players. Clay Thompson straight up blasted the fans for not giving the players energy. You hear it all the time players feed off the crowd.
The crowd is also part of the problem. Same thing in football teams with no fan support seldom win. I think it is even more relevant in Basketball where the players always, always cite the crowd gives them energy. Micheal Jordan said it often he fed off the energy of the crowd.
I agree with you. He is going to be a monster either next year or the year after. He gave his honest thought on the situation. The media always says they don't want a politically correct answer but when a player gives you their real thoughts they get killed for it.
No reason he should have had to go on twitter and issue an apology. He is out there playing. He has every right to say I want fan support. Even in the dark days of football the fans were still supporting the players. They may not have supported the coach but they always showed up to the games and supported the players. I was told that he felt he had more support on his Middle School team than he has seen here at Alabama..and he didn't tell the media that.
Lets face facts, the arena contributes to the lack of a enthusiastic crowd. I was sitting on the front row of the regular seats last night and i was at least 20 feet from the court with media table partially obstructing my view. Not only that, but i had seen this movie it seems like a dozen times this year. We've had double digit leads all year in the 2nd half just to give it all away and lose. Not too many fan bases are going to get excited when the outcome is usually predictable. We were lucky to get to OT in the first place.
The culture at Alabama for basketball has slowly become more and more toxic really since Wimp left. We've reached a point that either we act like we have a genuine interest in the program or resign ourselves to the inevitable disappointment year after year. Almost every program in the SEC has made major investments in their program which have resulted in more fan interest and better teams across the board. Standing still is falling behind in the SEC now. We aren't going to become UK overnight, but if we show the we want to not just win, but compete for championships, we need to make that statement now.
The culture at Alabama for basketball has slowly become more and more toxic really since Wimp left. We've reached a point that either we act like we have a genuine interest in the program or resign ourselves to the inevitable disappointment year after year. Almost every program in the SEC has made major investments in their program which have resulted in more fan interest and better teams across the board. Standing still is falling behind in the SEC now. We aren't going to become UK overnight, but if we show the we want to not just win, but compete for championships, we need to make that statement now.
The Alabama players deserved the crowd support that they received - it matched their play. You want fans to be excited about a game that the players admit to not being excited about? Poor play has consequences, and poor fan support is one of them. Perhaps the fans might have gotten more into the NIT, and this game in particular, if the team had shown some excitement.
Just a quick thought on the crowd issue. This new tipoff times are a real killer - for anyone outside of Tuscaloosa, an 8 pm tip is almost unmanageable. Even for people who in the suburbs of Tuscaloosa, you're looking at a late night.
We have to find a way to make sure that weeknight games are dominated by students and locals. Focus all your marketing and energy on those crowds, or you're going to continue to play to lackluster crowds on Wednesday nights.
We have to find a way to make sure that weeknight games are dominated by students and locals. Focus all your marketing and energy on those crowds, or you're going to continue to play to lackluster crowds on Wednesday nights.
The university has smart people advising them who know much more than we do about the challenges and cost of new construction v renovation.
The fact renovation is being considered and advanced ahead of new construction means there are compelling reasons to renovate.
To build new, you likely are playing games offsite for 2 seasons, trying to find a site to build the new arena, and/or also having to build practice facilities as well which are incorporated as part of Coleman currently.
Given all this, I can see why they would consider renovation especially if the experience issues can be addressed within a renovation.
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
The fact renovation is being considered and advanced ahead of new construction means there are compelling reasons to renovate.
To build new, you likely are playing games offsite for 2 seasons, trying to find a site to build the new arena, and/or also having to build practice facilities as well which are incorporated as part of Coleman currently.
Given all this, I can see why they would consider renovation especially if the experience issues can be addressed within a renovation.
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
Finding a site should not be an issue. Just on the other side of the RR tracks behind the law school is a shopping center UA already owns. There are only metal type buildings there so tear down costs would be minimal and this would give you plenty of space. It would make the arena more accessible for fans as well since it would exit right onto 15th street. The issue is not the really cost . It is commitment to basketball. Again, i say if you can spend 40 million on baseball, you out to be able to spend 200 million of a sport that actually will generate enough revenue to make it at worst come close to break even. You will not lose 2 years revenue from home games and you can have other events that will generate income. Coleman could become a home to hockey and generate revenue from that sport as well.
If you are a donor, would you contribute to yet another renovation of a 50 year old building or would you donate to a new building? It is hard to generate excitement about tearing out old concrete and putting in new concrete in an existing building which is basically what the plan is. Where are we going to be in 25 years when Coleman is 75 years old and in need of even more work? If we want to truly compete, start over. Don't try to make an outdated building new again.
If you are a donor, would you contribute to yet another renovation of a 50 year old building or would you donate to a new building? It is hard to generate excitement about tearing out old concrete and putting in new concrete in an existing building which is basically what the plan is. Where are we going to be in 25 years when Coleman is 75 years old and in need of even more work? If we want to truly compete, start over. Don't try to make an outdated building new again.
Latest threads
-
No. 1 Visits Tuscaloosa for Second Straight Week as Alabama Hosts Top-Ranked Texas A&M- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
-
I'm Declaring the Emporer has no clothes (NCAA rules implosion)- Started by BamaNation
- Replies: 14
-
Home-and-Home Series Wraps Up as Alabama Welcomes UAB on Tuesday
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 1
-
-
A huge win today at my doctor's office...- Started by uafan4life
- Replies: 4