Time to bring Final 4 to MSG

J

jerseyshorejohnny

Well-known member
Jerry Carino , @njhoopshaven

Published 8:03 a.m. ET March 25, 2017


It's Time For NCAA to bring Final Four to Garden / Asbury Park Press




NEW YORK — You know the lore of this place. Everyone does. Willis Reed limping out for game seven. Syracuse over Connecticut in six overtimes. Larry Johnson’s 4-pointer, Ali-Frazier II, the first Wrestlemania.

It’s written in the heart of every sports fan, including the victors of Madison Square Garden’s latest gem.

“You think of everyone who’s come through here, the history, just knowing this is the greatest arena in the world,” Florida men’s basketball center Kevarrius Hayes told reporters at 1 a.m. Saturday. “You feel like you’re on the court where legends came before you, where legendary things happened.”

The Gators’ 84-83 barnburner over Wisconsin in the East Regional semifinals was that, and more. Two buzzer-beating 3-pointers, a furious Wisconsin rally, a limping Bronson Koenig and a holy-smokes block by Canyon Barry lifted a Big Dance that needed a golden moment. And the 20,047 fans who stood for most of the final hour, willing this game to greatness, sparked an idea to fix one of the few flaws in March Madness.

The NCAA should hold a Final Four in the World’s Most Famous Arena.

“That would be great, man,” said Sindarius Thornwell, who led South Carolina past Baylor in Friday’s opening act. “There is no better basketball arena than the Garden. It’s every kid’s dream to play here. If a Final four was held here, it would be terrific.”

Since the Meadowlands hosted in 1996, every Final Four has taken place in a football stadium. It’s a senseless practice, except for all the tickets the NCAA can sell. But with CBS forking over $1 billion a year for the broadcast rights, does the governing body need the money?

Leave a few pennies on the table and stage your marquee event in a world-class atmosphere instead. The Garden, which rejoined the Big Dance’s rotation in 2014 after 53 years on the sideline, is the perfect excuse to put the Final Four back into a shoe that fits.

“It was nuts out there, a lot of emotion in this building,” Florida guard Kasey Hill said in the triumphant locker room. “This court, it’s like you’re on a stage. It’s a big stage, and big players make big plays on a big stage.”

NCAA Tournament: No Duke? No Villanova? No worries at MSG
Wisconsin fans came out in droves, turning the Garden into an ear-splitting home environment as the Badgers surged from 10 down to force overtime. No way that happens in a vacuous stadium. When they booed the refs, who performed slightly better than Congress, the court shook.

“You dream of playing in this arena as a little kid,” said South Carolina guard Rakym Felder, who hails from Brooklyn. “To be in an Elite Eight here, it’s just amazing. A Final Four here? That would be unbelievable.”

On paper, Sunday’s East Regional final between South Carolina and Florida is about as juicy as a sun-dried tomato. Especially when you compare it to the North Carolina-Kentucky showdown for the South Regional crown that follows.

That MSG magic, though, has a way of elevating things. Imagine how it would catapult a Final Four.

Afterward, on the PATH train back to Jersey, three Florida fans raved about their first pilgrimage to the Mecca.

“It was everything you hear about,” one of them said. “We even had a bird in our section. An actual bird, flying around.”

Only in the Garden, where everything soars.

Staff writer Jerry Carino: jcarino@gannettnj.com.
 
how much would they actually lose though on tix sales $$ because I'm assuming they would be charging a boatload more money per ticket if it was at msg
 
how much would they actually lose though on tix sales $$ because I'm assuming they would be charging a boatload more money per ticket if it was at msg
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Well the University of Phoenix stadium holds >60,000 people for football games, which means even more for basketball games. That would mean ticket prices would have to at least triple to make the same amount of money at a 20,000 seat MSG. I doubt the NCAA would do that. But it's not like the NCAA needs more money than it already makes.
 
Never going to happen. Don't ever see the Final 4 moving away from stadiums. Just wouldn't make enough money in an arena.
 
Hey, Final Four: Let’s Get Small!

It’s time for college basketball to end its obsession with gigantic football stadiums


By JASON GAY / Wall Street Journal

March 26, 2017

Is it time for the Final Four to downsize?

I’m not saying college basketball’s biggest event needs to contract to, say, a Final Three or a Final Two and a Half. And I’m not implying it’s diminishing in popularity. Calm down, this isn't a dig at North Carolina or South Carolina or any Carolina. Gonzaga fans: I love you, congrats on getting here. You, too, Oregon Ducks. Seventy-eight years! That’s some wait. When Oregon last made it here, 1939, Nike was an amateur Greek goddess without a shoe—or sandal—deal.




And I’m not suggesting March Madness ought to shrink from 68 teams to 32, though I’d be perfectly OK returning to 64 teams, since nobody cares about that unnecessary four-team “play-in” or “First Four” round, which is just a goofy money grab for TV bucks.





I’m talking about downsizing the room. The stadium. The Final Four host.

Once again, the Final Four, which begins Saturday, April 1, will be played in a gigantic tuna can: University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., where the NFL’s Cardinals play. It has hosted two Super Bowls, a WrestleMania, Kenny Chesney, Guns N’ Roses and, of course, Monster Truck Nationals.

It is really big. Huge, you might say. The U of P Stadium has both a retractable roof and a retractable grass field, which are two things you definitely need for a basketball game.

I think this is silly. I really like the Final Four. But its gigantic tuna can worship is passe—and needs to end.

(I bet you guys think I’m just grumpy because Wisconsin lost that overtime heartbreaker to Florida in the Round of 16 and won’t be in the Final Four. You’re right. I am grumpy Wisconsin lost that overtime heartbreaker to Florida in the Round of 16 and won’t be in the Final Four. WHO SAW THAT SHOT COMING? THERE WERE FOUR SECONDS LEFT! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?)

Back to the tuna cans. Stadiums aren't a new thing for the Final Four. The NCAA has been sticking its marquee showdown in colossal rooms since 1982, when it began the tradition with the New Orleans Superdome. Since then, it’s shown up in tuna cans like the Kingdome, the Metrodome, the Alamodome, Ford Field, and Jerry Jones’s JerryWorld. It hasn’t been played in a traditional arena since 1996, when it was played at the then-Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. They’ve even played regional finals in tuna cans.

I get the concept. I really do. Shoving a Final Four into a tuna can is a spectacle, and spectacles can be fun. It’s pretty neat to see how they configure a basketball game for a place built for football and flickering lighters at Bon Jovi. On TV, it has a vastness. You also have the elevated court, and the coaches sitting on bar stools, looking like a rumply Frank Sinatra at 3 a.m.

As gimmicks go, it’s an interesting one. And surely lucrative, which is a top NCAA priority. But the gimmick has had its moment. Now it’s time to get small.

Everything in life is getting smaller. Basketball played in a gigantic tuna can is out of sync with modern culture, where size doesn’t matter as much (Ha, ha. Keep your terrible jokes to yourselves.) Haven’t you noticed? Mega-SUVs are uncool—they’ve been supplanted by eco-rides and ride sharing. Malls are quickly going kaput; temporary pop-up shops are where it’s at. McMansions are cheesy — who needs a steam shower luxury spa and a wine cellar underneath their indoor pool? Tiny Houses are what’s cozy and coveted.

You couldn't pay me to live in a tiny house. I would much prefer a steam shower luxury spa. But you see where I am going with this. The move in 2017 is to go small and sustainable.

Haven’t you heard about the minimalist movement? The minimalists are the folks who live in compact spaces, share toothbrushes, take out the garbage every six months and only own two pairs of pants. They shrink their footprints and save dollars. They get out of the soulless cycle of upgrading and consumption.



I’m not saying the Final Four should be played in a yurt without air conditioning. I would not mind one Final Four being played in a yurt, just to see what it was like, even if the NCAA insisted on branding the yurt with Powerade stickers.

But a common basketball arena—a Staples Center, a Madison Square Garden—would suffice. There is nothing wrong with a little intimacy, NCAA.

Incidentally, the NBA is on this wavelength. It could easily sell out a dome for its annual All-Star Game, but prefers to play in the host city’s basketball arena. The NCAA remains fixed on dome towns. After Glendale, it’s onto tuna cans in San Antonio, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Indianapolis.

Argh. That’s a lot of cans.

You might think I’d be saying none of this if Florida had bricked that shot—HOW DID THEY HIT THAT SHOT?—and Wisconsin had beaten South Carolina and was in the Final Four. I’d be happy and a little hung over and focused on the Badgers.

OK, fine, that’s true. But the point stands: small is beautiful. It’s time for the Final Four to get comfortable with going small.


Write to Jason Gay at Jason.Gay@wsj.com
 
Before Citifield was built the Mets proposed a retractable roof stadium that would have been perfect for hosting such an event. I now love Citifield as it is a very nice ballpark but the retractable roof stadium would have given us a legitimate chance at such events. NY just doesn't have the right facility for the NCAA Championship game.
 
Before Citifield was built the Mets proposed a retractable roof stadium that would have been perfect for hosting such an event. I now love Citifield as it is a very nice ballpark but the retractable roof stadium would have given us a legitimate chance at such events. NY just doesn't have the right facility for the NCAA Championship game.
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Actually I believe under the Guiliani administration in near the end of his last term he proposed dome stadiums for both the Yankees and the Mets but both died a quick death. Also in the early Bloomberg days, he purposed a new Jets Stadium on the West Side over the LIRR yards with a retractable roof which was to be used year round as a supplement to the Javits center when the Jets were not playing. It too would have been a nice place to hold such a game but Sheldon Silva put the breaks to that plan when the State Assembly would not take up the legislation needed to make such a dream happen. The Jets wound up going in with the Giants on Metlife Stadium and Hudson Yards with mix use office/retail/housing is going up over the LIRR yards and the surrounding area. And Javits continues to be a poor excuse for a convention center when compared to other cities.
 
Having gone to the Final Four in 85, my opinion was changed once Lexington hosted the event SJU participated in. In Lexington, the Final Four absolutely dominated every inch of the city and surrounding area. Everywhere we went, with our without SJU gear, we were welcome and greeted and everyone knew we were visiting for the Final 4. Even at mass on Sunday the priest singled us out (we were a group of 15 or so) and welcomed us to the city and everyone gave us a round of applause.

There weren't a lot of bars there so it was a ton of fun encountering fans from other schools the night before and everyone was proclaiming their team would win to opponents. Waiting to enter Rupp Arena we saw limos pull up with the biggest coaching names in history attending the game - I believe the NCAA held meetings at the same time and many coaches attended that too. It was kind of like watching the red carpet of NCAA coaches arrive.

The Final Four, even as big as it is, would not dominate public discourse in the same way it would in a smaller city if it were in NY. Not to mention that hotels and restaurants are much more expensive here, making it tough for students to visit.
 
Beast you lucky devil, you were there. I didn't go. A SJU friend went and said in the lobby bar of their hotel they were drinking all of the time with sportswriters and coaches. Had a blast. I sure wished I had gone, but back then I thought I would get another chance soon. The closest we came was against Ohio State in the Elite Eight and I promised myself if they won that game I was going :-(

Rupp is not a football stadium behemoth.

I have been to the Carrier dome, which is not the size of these other places, and they put gigantic drapes at the 40 yard line, so it fits like 30,000 +/-, and our SJU seats were in the last row far away from the action, the players looked liked ants. IT WAS HORRIBLE.

I imagine in the Cowboys Stadium it was ten times worse.

Bring the event back to an arena where the shooting sight lines are made for basketball, please.

I'd even put up with a few more Dickie V. Subway and Grant Hill Pizza Hut commercials to make up for the lost revenue. What kind of self respecting Italian American would ever buy an Italian sub from Subway, gimme a break fuhgetaboutit. (Although the actors they got to do it seem pretty authentic and funny.)
 
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