(05-28-2013 08:52 AM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  

(05-28-2013 08:41 AM)Dukesfan71 Wrote:  Yes. Go for the hard schedule and perhaps we will get a good return home game a year or two from now. Let the team take some lumps and learn and get better. The only pressure this year will be to see improvement during the year. Young teams can be good teams. Who knows, we could be a good team at the end of this year.

We could be a good team at the beginning of the year! I have said it many times. You don't wait to suddenly get good. If you are good, you will be good as a freshman. When you have good players as freshmen and sophomores you are in for a good run. That is why there is parity in college basketball. The big boys lose their players after one or two years. The mid majors that are good have their players for 4 yrs. I think with our current recruiting class that we should be good right out the gate. This should be a really good yr. No excuses about being young. Talent is talent and we have a lot of good talent. We just need a different mindset. I hope the coaches don't give our team an excuse to not be great this year by constantly talking about how young we are and that we are a year away. bull****! Our attitude should be that we are going to win the conference this year. Anything less is unacceptable.

This just made me want to run through a wall for Dukes.

(05-28-2013 02:13 PM)VCUfan Wrote:  if JMU's admins are shrewd enough to understand the window of opportunity

You just lost all credibility

(05-29-2013 11:33 AM)Purplehazed Wrote:  

(05-28-2013 02:13 PM)VCUfan Wrote:  if JMU's admins are shrewd enough to understand the window of opportunity

You just lost all credibility

That assumes that I had actual credibility to begin with.

(05-29-2013 05:49 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  JMU's university planners are well aware of the JPC and other modern facilities...the TED at ODU and Auburn Arena are the models JMU will be looking to emulate.

http://www.auburntigers.com/facilities/a...tball.html

http://www.constantcenter.com/planning_event/arena

These are nice facilities, but both lack the key ingredient in great arenas/stadiums.
The seating must be at a steeper slope. I'm talking billy goat steep.

(05-29-2013 09:26 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(05-29-2013 05:49 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  JMU's university planners are well aware of the JPC and other modern facilities...the TED at ODU and Auburn Arena are the models JMU will be looking to emulate.

http://www.auburntigers.com/facilities/a...tball.html

http://www.constantcenter.com/planning_event/arena

These are nice facilities, but both lack the key ingredient in great arenas/stadiums.
The seating must be at a steeper slope. I'm talking billy goat steep.

The Convo seating/egress is so poorly designed I can understand why you'd want something "steep"...but "Billy Goat" steep seating is neither necessary or a "key ingredient" to the functionality of a superior arena.

Slope is but one small part of designing new multi-function arenas with superior seating/viewing angles. The degree of slope is also something that would be impacted by VA-USBC, ICC, BOCA (or whatever building codes are used by the architects) that govern egress and safety concerns for patrons... and by "patrons" I mean old farts like me who don't need to feel like we're repelling down a sheer slope just to get to and from our seats.

But be of good cheer, even though the notion of extreme steepness won't be in play when the new convo is built, you can be sure computer modeling will be used to maximize viewing angles.

By the way, the TED is considered more than just "nice"...in a recent poll of those in the arena booking biz it was ranked 8th in the world, and 2nd in the U.S. for facilities seating under 10k. Hopefully JMU will design something even nicer.

http://www.constantcenter.com/news/detai...0-in-world

So pumped to play UVA, especially in Harrisonburg. As far as JPJ, the Ted, and all that go, I've been to JPJ and yeah it's really really nice but I don't know how much I'd like it for a home court. Like the Ted, doesn't really feel intimidating or like a good home court advantage, I especially wasn't impressed by the Ted. Maybe it's just bias against Old Dirty. I've been to JPJ, but not for a basketball game so I guess I'll see in November.

(05-29-2013 09:26 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(05-29-2013 05:49 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  JMU's university planners are well aware of the JPC and other modern facilities...the TED at ODU and Auburn Arena are the models JMU will be looking to emulate.

http://www.auburntigers.com/facilities/a...tball.html

http://www.constantcenter.com/planning_event/arena

These are nice facilities, but both lack the key ingredient in great arenas/stadiums.
The seating must be at a steeper slope. I'm talking billy goat steep.

I agree... that's what makes the 400 level of BFS so nice. It also gives you the feeling of being right on top of the game. The further away the more removed from the action you feel.

(05-30-2013 12:13 AM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  So pumped to play UVA, especially in Harrisonburg. As far as JPJ, the Ted, and all that go, I've been to JPJ and yeah it's really really nice but I don't know how much I'd like it for a home court. Like the Ted, doesn't really feel intimidating or like a good home court advantage, I especially wasn't impressed by the Ted. Maybe it's just bias against Old Dirty. I've been to JPJ, but not for a basketball game so I guess I'll see in November.

Love ya KITS, but if you don't think the Ted is awesome, your awesome meter is broken! It is an absolutely fabulous facility in all aspects except LOCATION!

Guys, the angle of incline is just fine in the TED, and whatever notion you have of building "steeper" just isn't going to happen today (because ADA seating concerns and other common sense building codes will prohibit it). I think some members of the JMU Nation expressed similar initial concerns about the angle of seating in the upper-deck at BFS during its construction...and yet today, I don't think there has been one legit complaint that BFS seating needs to be "steeper."

Believe me, if we build something similar to the Auburn Arena (and I think that's where JMU is headed) you will feel plenty close to the action...indeed, the upper levels in a new Convo will feel much, much closer to the action than in the current two-sided barn because seating will be much closer to the floor. This will be accomplished by a design that increases seating in the lower bowl and that equitably equalizes seating in locations around the floor. The slope of the seating may also be slightly more inclined, although it will not be not "Billy Goat" steep. In the end, sight-lines and egress will be vastly improved primarily because of the placement and reorganization of seating, and fans will marvel that we put up with the old Convo for as long as we did.

As for making JMU sporting venues into intimidating places to play...well, I think that mostly depends on JMU fans (especially students) showing up in large numbers and cheering on the good guys. Empty arenas, no matter how sloped the seating, don't intimidate anyone.

Which leads me to my biggest hope as it effects seating assignments in any new Convo. Will JMU designate/reserve a substantial section of lower-bowl seating for students? Student fees will be paying off the bonds used to build the darn thing, so they have a right to prime seats. IMHO, I believe JMU should create a substantial JMU student section of prime seating located next to the floor along the length of one side of the court and at the baselines. Indeed, this should be done now in the old Convo. In essence, provide students with an incentive to come to the game in person, as opposed to staying at home and watching on Madizone, or worse, opting-out for so-called "big boy" games on national TV.

Auburn's looks like a perfect match for JMU, both in terms of cost and size ($92M and 9,100). It's a much more attractive facility than ODU's in my humble opinion.

ODU's facility, as I recall, cost something like $47M or so, but that was a number of years ago now and the link show it as holding about 8,000 for sporting events. Auburn's facility opened in 2010 or so.

I like ODU's arena.

But i hope to god we don't do anything like VCU's. Looks like a gutted Costco where they added some seats and a floor.

(05-30-2013 09:41 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  I like ODU's arena.

But i hope to god we don't do anything like VCU's. Looks like a gutted Costco where they added some seats and a floor.

+ 1 to this.
their arena colors remind me of a WWII battleship - black and grey.
ugly. no planning for luxury suites or hospitality when built so they are having to retro-fit it now, and it looks out of place.

And VCU's Siegel center has an improper seating slope. It has a ton of wasted space in addition to being ugly. Just think if they would have built the seating up to the ceiling instead of halfway up the 4 walls. VCU would have a 10,000 seat arena in the same footprint that they now seat 7,500.
I trust that JMU will do an online survey for ticket holders and donors when the time is right to design and build the new arena.