Should we stop playing all men’s games at CA?

There are many positives to having us use the new USB arena as a home court. Proximity to campus, brand new arena, they would probably make it feel like a real home court for us floor wise etc. Also, a major factor to consider, and someone please correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t the NCAA consider our Big East Tournament games as home games instead of neutral court games which can hurt our ranking and seeding if we do make the tournament? If we use USB Arena as our main home court then the NCAA would no longer be able to treat our BET games as home games in their evaluation process. I know it may not seem like a big deal now because we haven’t made the tournament in forever but if we become a consistent Top 25 program again it will matter. 
 
Just a minor correction. It's UBS Arena not USB. It's named after a Swiss Bank not a cable sold at Best Buy :)
 
The question was not where you'd like to play, what arenas you like, or potentially playing somewhere else.  The question was. Should we stop playing all games in CA?
NO.  We should not.
 
MainMan post=436401 said:
Must be July.
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If Italy loses I hate to see what Kranmars will write on this thread. He will go full blown scorched earth
 
Maybe it's just me, but when someone complains about being in his 30s, having back pain from sitting in the bleachers at CA, and feel sorry for 'old people' in those seats, I'm thinking it is Joe4 writing it.
 
Beast of the East post=436405 said:
Maybe it's just me, but when someone complains about being in his 30s, having back pain from sitting in the bleachers at CA, and feel sorry for 'old people' in those seats, I'm thinking it is Joe4 writing it.
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We all cant afford the expensive seats like you Beast lol. Have you tried sitting middle row in the bleacher style seats at CA??
 
Forget calling it the UBS arena.  We all know it is the Belmont Park Arena.  The place is going to blow away any other arena to date.

 
 
The below link is to a video tour of the soon to be completed UBS Arena



 
 
Mean Gene post=436398 said:
There are many positives to having us use the new USB arena as a home court. Proximity to campus, brand new arena, they would probably make it feel like a real home court for us floor wise etc. Also, a major factor to consider, and someone please correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t the NCAA consider our Big East Tournament games as home games instead of neutral court games which can hurt our ranking and seeding if we do make the tournament? If we use USB Arena as our main home court then the NCAA would no longer be able to treat our BET games as home games in their evaluation process. I know it may not seem like a big deal now because we haven’t made the tournament in forever but if we become a consistent Top 25 program again it will matter. 
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I'd be open to playing all of our games there if, and this is a big if, we can get a deal like Seton Hall does at the Rock, where they curtain off the upper bowl.  That would help keep opposing fans out, and sound reverberation would create a home court advantage.

Location wise, for us, this place can't be beat.  Queens and Long Island make up the vast majority of our fan base.

MSG just has too many conflicting dates, and the teams we play there, are only going to play MSG once or twice a year, so they are going to give it their best.  OTOH, it can get a little old for us playing there so often, or at least the thrill could be gone after a couple of defeats.  The thrill is never gone for our opponents.

Sometimes, less is more.



 
 
Room112 post=436407 said:
Beast of the East post=436405 said:
Maybe it's just me, but when someone complains about being in his 30s, having back pain from sitting in the bleachers at CA, and feel sorry for 'old people' in those seats, I'm thinking it is Joe4 writing it.
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We all cant afford the expensive seats like you Beast lol. Have you tried sitting middle row in the bleacher style seats at CA??


I've sat in the middle row for 43 seasons at CA

I was just saying that PharmdJohnnie sounds very much like Joe3, who stopped posting here at the same time .
 
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I can't help but think of the impact this would have on marketing and recruiting. Less games at MSG would certainly impact recruiting. More games in Long Island would also impact our slogan of calling ourselves New York City's team. Opposing coaches could certainly use it against us in recruiting battles. 
 
Definitely a fair point on recruiting but wouldn't he surprised if CA gets used against us.

In the comments that Cragg has made publicly in his twitter Q&A, it seems like there is little to worry about as there are no funds/plans for major CA renovation, and that MSG will remain a home court and ideally would grow if we win/draw attendance. Think UBS will just compliment for a few games. That Kansas game on 12/2 will tell a lot on attendance potential for a big team, on a weeknight in its opening months.
 
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UBS Arena literally straddles the queens Nassau border and would not change our identity. 

MSG is an important part of our strategy, which is why even in down years we schedule games there, at a net dollar loss.  More than any other college team, it is our home and sju intends it to stay that way.    The same goes for the BET and league.   

When we become a top program, notable new yorkers will show up and people will flock to the garden.  It's just not possible to limit sales to opposing team fans.

The problem with adding seatback chairs is that it substantially reduces capacity.  All fans would prefer seatbacks but I believe every 2 seatback chairs take up 3 bleacher seats.  It may be more.    We would lose up to 1500 tickets if we went all seatbacks, making the arena too small without a major and costly expansion.
 
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Room112 post=436439 said:
I can't help but think of the impact this would have on marketing and recruiting. Less games at MSG would certainly impact recruiting. More games in Long Island would also impact our slogan of calling ourselves New York City's team. Opposing coaches could certainly use it against us in recruiting battles. 
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I think we were dubbed NY’s team, not NYC’s team.
 
I am not a youngster and so my most outstanding memories of Johnnies BB mostly relate to Madison Square Garden (and the predecessor to the Garden for that matter), where I witnessed some remarkable St. John's basketball over the years. The Holiday Tournament, the early BE tourney games, and going back even further the huge games against national powerhouses, where St. John's typically won more than its fair share of big games. The excitement was palpable.

I have been in CA when you could hear a pin drop even when it is a good game. Too many quiet people, and too antiquated to host the big Moment events.

I would hate to see St. John's lose its identity as a NYC team, for decades we ruled the city and it was a formidable basketball city from Rucker to the Garden and all points in between. Wouldn't it be great to return to that glory and punch out big teams once again at the Mecca and have our photos splashed across the back pages of the tabloids. That does not happen with our games being at CA or the swiss place. (It may be on the border of Queens and Nassau but it is Long Island.)

Selfishly, getting to CA from places west, north, and south is no picnic and getting to an arena on Long Island is even worse, so I want the following:

1. CA gets the cupcakes, and low tier BE games, and the occasional thumb-in-your-nose games (maybe Uconn, Providence)

2. MSG gets all mid to upper tier BE games

3. USB /media/kunena/emoticons/tongue.png and Barclays get none.

That's just me. I love seeing the Garden rock and with this coach, AD and new President I have a feeling it is going to be rocking real good.

Plus, I like watering holes and there are quite a few nearby the Garden, not so CA and this new place. Been to Barclays, one time, it did nothing for me and I was born and raised in Brooklyn (before it was cool).



 
 
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I typically go to a few CA games each year against conference opponents and always sit in the areas without any chair back. When the place is packed and loud - which is how it can get when we are playing well - the lack of comfort doesn’t bother me one bit because I’m enjoying everything else. And I think the opposing teams feel that because the crowd is both loud and on top of you. 
 
I'm not sure if people know where Belmont is located? To make it as clear as possible I just went on Google Maps and got the estimated times of various routes. 

Ridgefield Park NJ
Carnesecca - 42 Minutes
Belmont - 48 Minutes

Portchester NY
Carnesecca - 42 Minutes
Belmont - 41 Minutes

Huntington 
Carnesecca - 43 Minutes
Belmont - 41 Minutes

I'm not for decreasing games at MSG and also wouldn't suggest that Belmont is more convenient than MSG for anyone west of the campus. But if four or five games that are played on campus could be moved to UBS everyone would have four or five more games in a more comfortable setting with basically the same commute. 

 
 
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