JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Does he report to Josh? Because I would assume that Josh cares a lot about the gameday experience, for both players and fans.
Illini Basketball 2022-2023
- Status
I’m not sure who his immediate boss is.
Has the system changed such that Krush are the only student tix? I had student tix for seven years and moved progressively closer each year until I was second row on the floor and was in Krush exactly zero seconds of my life. Is that not how it works now?
I'm honestly not sure. I didn't go to UI for undergrad (though I'm currently on my last year of grad school and am considering pulling a Steve Buscemi and trying to sit with the Krush once this year just to say I have).
But this is from the article I linked.
"The Orange Krush sits east side alongside the court and behind the south end baseline, with a combined capacity of 1,200. This number is up from the previous 600 seats Krush claimed prior to $169.5 million State Farm Center renovations in 2014 — nowhere near the 3,000 capacity sufficient for all student season-ticket holders."
I mean the thought was that that puts the Krush on the TV screens. Not saying that was the right decision but that is why it is behind the media table.
Fully on board that students should have floor priority. I'm of the opinion that 101-103 and 119/120 should be set up just like the other side of the court, with Krush seating on the lower portion and premium seating above. Basically circle the floor with the Krush and put the premium/lower level seating just above the Krush. If they're really hurting for cash, they could shrink the number of rows a bit on the new side, but in any case, making that move would be a major olive branch to the students and would avoid having 1 sideline mostly quite compared to the other.
All that said, the 200 level is such a massive section and varies big time in experience/view. It's treated as one block but those bottom 10 or so rows still give a great viewing experience -- not *that* much of a difference between upper-lower and lower-200. There's some room to maneuver with "choice upper seating" or something along those lines, though of course that should've been done during the remodel.
Unfortunately, this is all just a band-aid on the unfortunate Assembly Hall design (as cool as it looks from outside). Only about 2/3 of people are going to have a good-decent viewing experience (if that), which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for having an overwhelming student presence on the lower level and great spots for donors without cutting your average Joe's completely out of the picture. I often wonder if we would've been better off using that $165 million towards a new arena or ponying up more to add more verticality to the seating. Ahh, the wounds of the pre-Whitman years...
Random poll: setting aside rivalries, what is the best arena in the Big Ten (from a design/atmosphere standpoint)?
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Based solely on what I've seen on TV:
Elite design/atmosphere
Indiana
Purdue
Impressive
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland
Above average
Michigan
Iowa
Minnesota
Fine
Ohio State
Northwestern
Rutgers
Nebraska
Bad
Penn State
I should have clarified. I’m talking about the beat writers and other media. The tv announcers are on the other side. They put them in the aisle between the crush and the scorers table on what looks like fold out tables or something.
It does look like the DIA's ticket department is trying to get more students into games. I saw this in an article about the PSU game nearing a sellout.
STUDENT TICKETS: Single-game student tickets will be available to purchase beginning Saturday, Dec. 3, if tickets remain. Single game tickets are $25. Despite selling out of student season tickets earlier in the year, Illinois students have the opportunity to purchase tickets for a single game, if that game is not previously sold out. Tickets become available one week before the game or following the previous home game, whichever is sooner. 200 left for the PSU game
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
That's all fine and good, but if these seats are up in the nosebleeds when they have taken away Orange Krush seating for this game then I don't give a flip about this kind of "effort."
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
That was TOTALLY the right decision. It was infuriating to see a sold-out Assembly Hall that you could hear was rocking broadcast sections that were about 15-20% ugly, empty gray seats on a national TV broadcast. Now, our arena looks awesome on TV, IMO. I'm all for giving high donors the good seats across from the benches, as they currently have, and having them NOT on TV. The only conceivable way to add a little student seating is to push them back up further into these weird seats between the Krush and the luxury suites, IMO. Almost no schools have students ring the entire court; you usually just see them around three sides at most, which I think is fair. The difference is that many student sections go back more rows than ours.
On another attendance topic, Braggin' Rights tickets went on sale recently, and I was looking at the attendance map (Mizzou is on the left, we are on the right).
It looks like there will be much better attendance than last year, but right now it is looking like a heavily pro-Illini crowd again. Only our very top rows behind the basket are not sold out, whereas the entire Mizzou upper deck would be empty using this map as a proxy. Missouri is currently 8-0 and should be 9-0 entering games at home vs. Kansas and vs. UCF in Sunrise, FL. Mizzou very well could enter the game 10-1 and possibly even undefeated if KU lays an egg in a hostile environment, so I think their tickets will start to sell a bit more as the month goes on ... and if they don't, I wouldn't be surprised if they have very orange upper deck on their side.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
All of this is based on my perception from TV broadcasts except for Carver-Hawkeye (Iowa) and Welsh-Ryan (Northwestern), where I have seen games in person.
Generic Ranking (Facility, Atmosphere, Current Status, etc.)
1. Purdue - Ticks all the boxes right now
2. Michigan State - Might be nostalgia, but those White-Outs...
3. Indiana - Pains me to say it, but it's at least iconic
4. Maryland - The steepness is cool
5. Minnesota - I love The Barn, and it's raucous when they're decent
6. Michigan - Honestly should be better, shame on their fans
7. Rutgers - RAC is a dump, but gotta give the atmosphere credit
8. Wisconsin - Crazy how much this seems to have declined in my eyes over the years
9. Nebraska - Awesome arena but the team itself kills the atmosphere
10. Ohio State - Blech
11. Iowa - Great place to WATCH a game, but just feels SO soulless
12. Northwestern - At least it looks like a NICE high school gym now
13. Penn State - Always seems like the most depressing place on Earth on TV
Pure Setup (Facility Only - From What I Can Tell!)
1. Nebraska - Seems pretty state-of-the-art
2. Michigan - Seems very nice after the renovation
3. Maryland - Looks like a good combination of new but not soulless NBA-style
4. Ohio State - Could not appeal to me any less on a sentimental level but it DOES look like it's a decent building
5. Wisconsin - Objectively nice facility just a little boring
6. Michigan State - Pretty nice but getting dated
7. Indiana - Kind of like us, they purposely kept the classic look but I think the concourses and stuff are nice?
8. Purdue - I think they recently touched it up a bit, but it's still pretty dated looking
9. Northwestern - At a certain point, you lose points for being tiny, lol...
10. Iowa - Just SO boring in every way but it's "nice enough"
11. Penn State - It looks like it was new once?
12. Minnesota - Love the old Barn, but this is the truth
13. Rutgers - Literally looks like it was built by the Soviets in the 1970s
I think if Nebraska ever got consistently good, that would start to be viewed as one of the best venues in the conference. It's hard to judge a "home field/court" when the team sucks. Just think of how differently Memorial Stadium would be viewed if we strung together several 8-9 win seasons and it was sold out every home game and tailgating was bumping? Touch up the Horseshoe and all of a sudden you have a bona fide cathedral of college football. Similarly, how would the public talk about The Barn if Minnesota had the history Kansas does? It would have every bit of the same respect, but Minnesota has historically been bad.
I can safely and proudly say, though, that SFC/Assembly Hall is actually my favorite. I'm of the opinion that the renovation managed to perfectly balance modernizing into a cool/new arena that recruits and new/casual fans would love while also continuing to set itself apart in terms of architecture and atmosphere. There is literally nothing worse than a non-descript homecourt.
Pinnacle has its issues but the location is convenient, it's clean, good food, and the fans somehow continue to show up after decades of ineptitude. I would put SFC safely ahead of it in terms of actual gameday experience though for the reasons you gave above.
Pinnacle doesn't have much of an actual personality as far as venues go.
I actually want to go see the RAC because it is so weird and the atmosphere on TV is so flipping loud... The only downside is that I'd have to go to NJ.
I miss this...
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Switch defense principles (for those interested):
Athletic article (paywall) from John Hollinger about his 10 returning NCAA players who have caught his eye and your Illini have not one but TWO players on the list: TSJ and Hawkins. And, in a parentheses, he mentions he could have easily put 4 of our players on this list -- Mayer and RJ being the other two -- though the in-game evidence isn't conclusive yet of course. What a time to be alive!
https://theathletic.com/3956161/2022/12/01/ncaa-draft-prospects-juniors-seniors-sophomores/
P.S. Pro tip: click the link above and toggle your browser to "Reading View"
Did I just read that Kris Murray is a twin but left-handed? Had no idea that was possible.
It's early but....I will freely admit that I was not on the Coleman Hawkins train this season. Wow. Just wow. No idea if he'll get to the NBA, but he is looking versatile and effective, and a prototype style of play for a modern big. Good reads, quick with his hands, good defender. He's moving up, and it's fantastic to see.
TSJ looks NBA to me. Some of his attacks to the rim have been viciously aggressive --even moreso than Ayo imho.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I do too in some ways, but two toughts:
1) It was simply time for an upgrade ... we were getting a bit left behind, IMO, and now SFC is one of the best facilities in the Big Ten while still retaining some old school character.
2) SFC could still look like this if our fans wore that much orange ... I have no idea when this stopped, but you see SO much more blue, white and gray than you used to. Look at that picture compared to a similarly packed State Farm Center:
The orange just made Assembly Hall/SFC glow!
Love these kinds of videos, thanks for posting.
Anyone know what Underwood's philosophy on switching is?
Really enjoying this team this year. In particular, really enjoying looking up and down other rosters and very rarely feeling like we don’t match up well.
At this point, the only teams I’ve seen which I think could pose matchup problems for us is Arkansas, because Anthony Black is a stud PG at 6’7, and any team with a big bruising big. But I think you can count on one hand the number of teams with a bruising big, and 2 of them are in our conference and thus less likely to show up in our bracket. And further, there are things we can do which pose matchup problems for said bigs.
This is really fun! This weekend into next week should be a great test. We may go 0-2 but I like how we match up with both teams.
At this point, the only teams I’ve seen which I think could pose matchup problems for us is Arkansas, because Anthony Black is a stud PG at 6’7, and any team with a big bruising big. But I think you can count on one hand the number of teams with a bruising big, and 2 of them are in our conference and thus less likely to show up in our bracket. And further, there are things we can do which pose matchup problems for said bigs.
This is really fun! This weekend into next week should be a great test. We may go 0-2 but I like how we match up with both teams.
Arkansas might be the most talented team in college ball. Ridiculous what Muscelman has brought in there.
And ILLINOIS?
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
As it stands right now I’d probably put us around where I put MSU. The fan passion I don’t think anyone is much further ahead than us. But IU and Purdue’s arenas are just a bit more conducive to getting a top-notch home court advantage out of the crowd’s passion.
SFC is a nice place to watch a game, but the seats just aren’t on top of the court, and the student section around the court is very small compared to our rivals.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Don't be afraid to let your public school employees know how you feel as an alumni.
It's our money. It's our school. It's the students' school. Tell him to get his cranium out of his rear end and take care of the Krush properly.
fightingillini.com
It's our money. It's our school. It's the students' school. Tell him to get his cranium out of his rear end and take care of the Krush properly.
Jason Heggemeyer - Associate Director of Athletics, Ticketing and Sales & Customer Service - Staff Directory - University of Illinois Athletics
Began at Illinois: July, 2005 Education: Heggemeyer earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Western Michigan in 1996 and has completed coursework toward
fightingillini.com
- Status