a lot of updates have occurred over the years, but this gets to the track level which a lot of us have been waiting for...

Murphy Center to undergo renovations

Nice. I wasn't even aware that the Murphy Center had a track. It's a great looking facility. Seems like it would be a very intimidating place to play when full or close to full.

Our arena could use some similar updates. Halton is nearing 20 years old at this point and it is starting to show its age, especially the track that all of us niners hate.

(01-05-2014 02:50 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Nice. I wasn't even aware that the Murphy Center had a track. It's a great looking facility. Seems like it would be a very intimidating place to play when full or close to full.

Our arena could use some similar updates. Halton is nearing 20 years old at this point and it is starting to show its age, especially the track that all of us niners hate.

These renovations are badly needed. I think it'll definitely improve the appeal of games at MT, but one thing of note is the arena's size. It seats 12k with bleachers extended and let me tell you what that place is louder than Rupp Arena when it's full with MT fans. The lower bowl seats around 6k (I think, may be closer to 6.5k) and even that is loud when full especially if the bleachers are up (kind of amplifies the sound I think).

That said, an eventual step would be to remove the bleachers and add additional chairback seating where the bleachers currently are, in an upper-deck type seating arrangement. I'd estimate the capacity to still be about 12k or maybe 13k if / when that would be done, but of course that's far off into the future when we have enough money and success with our bball program to do so (likely to be from the women's side).

(01-05-2014 03:35 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 02:50 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Nice. I wasn't even aware that the Murphy Center had a track. It's a great looking facility. Seems like it would be a very intimidating place to play when full or close to full.

Our arena could use some similar updates. Halton is nearing 20 years old at this point and it is starting to show its age, especially the track that all of us niners hate.

These renovations are badly needed. I think it'll definitely improve the appeal of games at MT, but one thing of note is the arena's size. It seats 12k with bleachers extended and let me tell you what that place is louder than Rupp Arena when it's full with MT fans. The lower bowl seats around 6k (I think, may be closer to 6.5k) and even that is loud when full especially if the bleachers are up (kind of amplifies the sound I think).

That said, an eventual step would be to remove the bleachers and add additional chairback seating where the bleachers currently are, in an upper-deck type seating arrangement. I'd estimate the capacity to still be about 12k or maybe 13k if / when that would be done, but of course that's far off into the future when we have enough money and success with our bball program to do so (likely to be from the women's side).

I love that your lower bowl is so big.

Charlotte's lower bowl probably only holds 3,000. It gets really loud in Halton when the arena is 70 + % full, but I think it would be even better if 2/3 of the seating wasn't in the upper level with a track in between.

Happy to see that yet another program in CUSA is investing money into their facilities.

I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

(01-05-2014 05:43 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

no need for a bidet, just a bathroom not made out of plywood.

have you never been to an arena other than middle's?

the heads in that place are embarrassing. i know you tennesseans are used to outhouses but do you really defend what the murphy center looks like now?

place is a dimly lit joke. good for you guys tryna fix it up. finally.

(01-05-2014 06:39 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 05:43 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

have you never been to an arena other than middle's?

the heads in that place are embarrassing. i know you tennesseans are used to outhouses but do you really defend what the murphy center looks like now?

place is a dimly lit joke. good for you guys tryna fix it up. finally.

I sure have. I've been up to Diddly several times, the Mitchell Center, Cajun Dome, the Tire Barn in downtown Nashville. I agree we're overdue for some of these renovations. I hear we may even install sinks to wash your hands after you pee this time. And instead of hose water we'll actually have a full assortment of Pepsi products for our fans to swill while Kermit unleashes strings of profanity for all to hear. It truly is a great time to be a Middle fan.

dahbeed might be the only person I've ever crossed that goes to a basketball game so he can check out and critique the ********.

(01-05-2014 06:39 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 05:43 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

no need for a bidet, just a bathroom not made out of plywood.

have you never been to an arena other than middle's?

the heads in that place are embarrassing. i know you tennesseans are used to outhouses but do you really defend what the murphy center looks like now?

place is a dimly lit joke. good for you guys tryna fix it up. finally.

I can't wait to get some of those fancy indoor outhouses. I'm sure glad our neighbors to the north are sophisticated and can show us the way! Heck, I've heard the renovations include a place outside for the WKY fans to tie their goats, as a friendly gesture!

(01-06-2014 08:04 AM)BlueRaider0x0 Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 06:39 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 05:43 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

no need for a bidet, just a bathroom not made out of plywood.

have you never been to an arena other than middle's?

the heads in that place are embarrassing. i know you tennesseans are used to outhouses but do you really defend what the murphy center looks like now?

place is a dimly lit joke. good for you guys tryna fix it up. finally.

I can't wait to get some of those fancy indoor outhouses. I'm sure glad our neighbors to the north are sophisticated and can show us the way! Heck, I've heard the renovations include a place outside for the WKY fans to tie their goats, as a friendly gesture!

make sure the renovation includes an eye-gouging and stabbing first aid station! woot.

(01-05-2014 08:19 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  dahbeed might be the only person I've ever crossed that goes to a basketball game so he can check out and critique the ********.

sorry but i'm not doing a fodor's best ******** of the south.

but i've been going to the murphy center since the ovc days and it always struck me funny that they have standalone plywood wall bathrooms.

the place has potential. just needs some money spent on it so the bleachers won't fall down. like has happened.

I actually believe it would be better if we could remove the bleachers all together and install suites all the way around that upper rim. That's not even feasible though until we get an indoor football facility.

(01-06-2014 12:06 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 08:04 AM)BlueRaider0x0 Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 06:39 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 05:43 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

no need for a bidet, just a bathroom not made out of plywood.

have you never been to an arena other than middle's?

the heads in that place are embarrassing. i know you tennesseans are used to outhouses but do you really defend what the murphy center looks like now?

place is a dimly lit joke. good for you guys tryna fix it up. finally.

I can't wait to get some of those fancy indoor outhouses. I'm sure glad our neighbors to the north are sophisticated and can show us the way! Heck, I've heard the renovations include a place outside for the WKY fans to tie their goats, as a friendly gesture!

make sure the renovation includes an eye-gouging and stabbing first aid station! woot.

Well of course they are! Both are Middle Tennessee traditions!

(01-06-2014 12:17 PM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  I actually believe it would be better if we could remove the bleachers all together and install suites all the way around that upper rim. That's not even feasible though until we get an indoor football facility.

That's what WKU did at Diddle Arena a few years back. Diddle used to hold 14,000 which was awesome when it was full. I was against it when they removed the upper bleachers during the remodel and put in suites around the top. But now, it really makes it more upscale as well as cozy.

(01-05-2014 02:50 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Nice. I wasn't even aware that the Murphy Center had a track. It's a great looking facility. Seems like it would be a very intimidating place to play when full or close to full.

Our arena could use some similar updates. Halton is nearing 20 years old at this point and it is starting to show its age, especially the track that all of us niners hate.

What exactly is a track in a basketball arena?

(01-06-2014 12:25 PM)BlueRaider0x0 Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 12:06 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-06-2014 08:04 AM)BlueRaider0x0 Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 06:39 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 05:43 PM)MTowho Wrote:  I hear they are putting bidets in the restrooms so Dahbeed can wash his nuts after takin' a dump.

no need for a bidet, just a bathroom not made out of plywood.

have you never been to an arena other than middle's?

the heads in that place are embarrassing. i know you tennesseans are used to outhouses but do you really defend what the murphy center looks like now?

place is a dimly lit joke. good for you guys tryna fix it up. finally.

I can't wait to get some of those fancy indoor outhouses. I'm sure glad our neighbors to the north are sophisticated and can show us the way! Heck, I've heard the renovations include a place outside for the WKY fans to tie their goats, as a friendly gesture!

make sure the renovation includes an eye-gouging and stabbing first aid station! woot.

Well of course they are! Both are Middle Tennessee traditions!

all kidding aside. some renovation will make it a nice place to watch a game. is there any plan on adding suites at the top?

i know that takes away from total possible attendance but how many times will you actually need to fill it? and that's not a shot on middle. attendance is down across the country.

make it around 8500 with suites and some nicer amenities. i used to go down and watch the tn. state playoffs whenever we had a tn. recruit playing. are the playoffs still held there?

(01-06-2014 12:46 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 02:50 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Nice. I wasn't even aware that the Murphy Center had a track. It's a great looking facility. Seems like it would be a very intimidating place to play when full or close to full.

Our arena could use some similar updates. Halton is nearing 20 years old at this point and it is starting to show its age, especially the track that all of us niners hate.

What exactly is a track in a basketball arena?

It is a track, in an arena. In other words, an indoor track. It is smaller (not sure of length, maybe 1/4 mile??), and at least in Murphy Center it surrounds the top-level bleachers when they are not extended (when they are the bleachers sort of cover it up).

The track is standard for indoor stuff such as 60m vs. 100m (i.e. indoor doesn't run 100's for those of you that aren't familiar with track). And MT does host meets there. I believe they've hosted indoor conference championships there too.

Beed, there have been some plans drawn up to do something similar to what I mentioned, but I haven't seen them. I suspect it's purely aspirational at this point. Until we have a multi-purpose indoor facility trying to do it before then is a net loss for T&F. I suspect money is a problem too. This renovation addresses some of the more overdue issues as you've noticed. I doubt the timeline to do the next phase is near term.

Can't wait to see the arena Saturday Night win UAB rolls in and get that first conference victory of the season!

(01-06-2014 12:46 PM)StillJonesing Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 02:50 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Nice. I wasn't even aware that the Murphy Center had a track. It's a great looking facility. Seems like it would be a very intimidating place to play when full or close to full.

Our arena could use some similar updates. Halton is nearing 20 years old at this point and it is starting to show its age, especially the track that all of us niners hate.

What exactly is a track in a basketball arena?

We have an indoor running track in the arena for students. It also serves as a concourse in between the upper and lower levels.

Supposedly the only way we were able to move ahead with construction with Halton was to make it a multi-purpose facility, so it was created as a basketball arena and a student activity center.

Three areas of seating can slide back against the wall (though they're still seat backs and not bleachers), opening up three basketball courts for students to play on and a track for students to run on.

That is why Halton has a weird shape when you look at a seating chart.