buckswope

Don't we all.

Chaifetz is a fine arena though...especially when it's full.

A10Backer

I am lucky to say that I have been to EVERY facility in the Atlantic 10 (even Butler and VCU.) I am going to list my top five in best facility and best atmosphere. But there is a difference and here is my logic.

For me, the best facility leans to the newer buildings with the latest in comfort and experience, which is why I think SLU’s Chaifetz Arena is hands down the best building in the A-10. The video boards, the comfort of the seats, the sound system, the clean restrooms, etc. make Chaifetz tops, with Cintas a close second for the same reasons.

However, I think a difference has to be made with atmosphere, as I think Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse is tops in the league (heck maybe even in the country). It is kind of run down but the place has a magical aura to it. Also, the game day experience can sometimes change due to whoever the home team is playing. For instance, I saw the X-SJU game in 2004 at Cintas Center which had an amazing buzz in the air as the Hawks were No. 1 and undefeated in the league. However, I also saw X hammer SLU by like 30 in 2007 when the game was over 10 minutes in and the Cintas crowd was “dead” the rest of the way.

So for my personal list:

Best facility
SLU – Chaifetz Arena
X – Cintas Center
URI – Ryan Center
Dayton – UD Arena
Charlotte – Halton Arena

Best atmosphere
Butler – Hinkle Fieldhouse
SJU – Hagen Arena
Dayton – UD Arena
X – Cintas Center
VCU – Siegel Center

paulxu

Let's not make any hasty decisions here.

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AdamtheFlyer

UMass drew 7,501 vs Rhody, your league rival. Don't get me wrong, that's a good crowd, but it's only 79% of capacity. That's not "near capacity". The Xavier game drew 6,632, or 69% of capacity. La Salle game drew 6,283. St Bona drew 4,253. Those are the last 4 regular season UMass home games.

You are allergic to facts.

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z8-Minutemen

Thank you jpschmack. Finally, a voice of reason here besides myself.

Ha, a Flyers fan calling someone allergic to facts. I think you missed my point, all of those crowds are still larger than most other A-10 crowds. It's just that our facility is extremely big, therefore making the crowd look kinda lame. But in reality, our crowd is still larger than yours. And our arena is too, because we've actually had enough significant success in the past to justify building it.

Your team is allergic to winning.

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UMass Minutemen- 8 tournament appearances, 1 final four. Alumni: Julius 'Dr. J' Erving, Marcus Camby

Northeastern Huskies- 7 tournament appearances. Alumni: Reggie Lewis, Jose Juan 'JJ' Barea

jpschmack

Well, you ARE behind Bonaventure in my ranking system (And I probably spelled Bassett's name wrong) so I expect a massive backlash with name-calling and hostility!

Also, that WAS the 14 years ago.

bprichard

The area immediately around Fordham is kind of scary at night, and I don't scare particularly easily having spent years hanging out in the Tenderloin in SF. Then you get a couple blocks away and suddenly it's very nice. Thus is the nature of NYC outside of Manhattan. But I think you have to give it to Fordham for food, easily.

ace93

With Fordham it really depends in which direction you head when leaving the campus. The walk over to Arthur Ave is not scary at all on my view, but if you're heading towards the subway that's a different animal. I was mostly kidding though, I understand it can be scary, especially to those unaccustomed to it.

That's the nature in Manhattan also. Alphabet City around Avenue D, Washington Heights, some of the areas around Port Authority. The list goes on. That is the nature of NYC.

bprichard

Yeah, I stayed there for a month and a half one summer (Teach for America training), so I was always going to the subway. Is that Sears still there? It was remarkably shabby. I loved the Fordham campus, although the contrast between the campus and just outside was alarming and filled me with white guilt!

ace93

That Sears is still there, but I think limited in what they sell. There was a Best Buy put in not too long ago, but not sure if it survived the recent closures. That area there is a lot nicer than it was when I was there (89-93).

I here you on the contrast, but I never had white guilt. That's more because I'm not white. Though the locals thought I was.

xavierhoops

Are you talking about Dayton? They bring in 12,000/game.

This is a Xavier fan now calling you allergic to facts. A-10 teams in Top 100 nationally in attendance in 2012:

28. Dayton 12,154
39. Xavier 10,155
58. Temple 8,165
66. St Louis 7,757
70. VCU 7,622
78. Butler 6,599
89. Charlotte 6,001
93. Richmond 5,660

UMass had 4,279 followed by St. Joes with 4,197 and Rhode Island with 3,829.

So you're crowds are larger than UD's and most A-10 schools? That's some muddled logic.

If it just weren't for that damn big arena!

twisted3829

and that's for a 7-24 URI team, a decent team averages around 4500

Averaged 5,057 the previous 6 seasons

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hykos1045

You are right. I am sorry for my omission of Fordham. But I understand why I forgot. I have seen at least three more Fordham wins there than I would care to remember I believe Fordham is 3-1 when I visit for basketball and 7-1-1 for all sports. (Yep, the only Fordham loss I attended was in men's basketball.)

As for Fordham eateries, I frequent Manhattan and know my way around Brooklyn, but I have never visited Bronx's Little Italy. Next time I go to a game, I will try your recommendation. I usually bolt on the train next door to campus and have never stuck around to find out how the food tastes. One time I did walk around the area nearby, I saw a rat in broad daylight running through one of the discount clothing shops that was almost the size of some house cats. Rude awakening. I could never get used to that.

X-man47

This seriously dates me, but I used to shop on Fordham Road near the university in the late '60's. The area was just fine back then. However I confess that I haven't returned, other than driving through the Bronx periodically, since those halcyon days as a college kid.

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e-parade

We do have a very nice campus, and absolutely the food around campus is incredible.


I will admit that we do have way too many bandwagon fans...hopefully we can get some good years in a row here to make people more excited to go to the games and legitimately enjoy them.


I'd add to this discussion more, but I've only been to UMass and URI for games in the A10. I have been to a game at the Carrier dome with a crowd of over 20,000 people. That was damn incredible.