Ever wonder what a scientific analysis and ranking of CAA basketball stadiums looks like? Well, wonder no more! Check out our DEFINITIVE LIST of the BEST stadiums in the CAA.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Roll Tribe Roll.

Article: https://wmsportsblog.com/2017/12/19/the-...ms-ranked/

Wow you guys have Trask and Kaplan much higher than I would. And I've never been to TD but that seems low. I feel like CoC people like that arena a lot.

Think you did a good job on this,

And I don't think you are being a homer on Kaplan. Never understood why people complain about it so much - maybe they haven't been to many other mid major arenas. It's easily one of best in the CAA despite the years. Still looks clean.

Hofstra has a nice arena as you point out though such s weird design. Too many end zone seats and you have to walk around on the floor to sit on the bench side.

Agree with above comment. Despite its age and problems Kaplan's a fine place to watch a game...great lighting and seat views of the court, wide hallways, easy access, close-in parking, clean and accessible bathrooms.. Sure it's too big and the open end is poor (although putting the Pep Band there helps a bit). And the food (other than the very good caramel popcorn) is awful but the young kids seem to like it. However, I don't go to basketball games to eat so who cares?

Close off part of the upper deck, put in a few luxury suites, and it would be fine.

We're not getting a new arena for at least another 20 years so let's enjoy what we have.

I thought the list was accurate. I always wondered why Kaplan was so big. If the history in there is accurate, it makes more sense now. Trask may be old and a little "meh" from the outside, but there's no doubt it's one of the nicer places to play or watch a game in the CAA. Throw in that it has some of the best seating in the CAA even for it's age... no brainer that it easily falls into the top 3.

Never been to Towson, but now I want to go see a game there.

Charleston's arena is pretty much the same as Towson's - both fantastic gyms that are perfect for what a CAA school should want. Not sure why one is #1 and the other second to last... Every Tribe fan should take Charleston's gym in a heartbeat.

(12-19-2017 09:25 AM)Tribe2011 Wrote:  Charleston's arena is pretty much the same as Towson's - both fantastic gyms that are perfect for what a CAA school should want. Not sure why one is #1 and the other second to last... Every Tribe fan should take Charleston's gym in a heartbeat.

+1. Great venue inside, and fits in with the streetscape.

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(12-18-2017 08:34 PM)Sitting bull Wrote:  Think you did a good job on this,

And I don't think you are being a homer on Kaplan. Never understood why people complain about it so much - maybe they haven't been to many other mid major arenas. It's easily one of best in the CAA despite the years. Still looks clean.

Hofstra has a nice arena as you point out though such s weird design. Too many end zone seats and you have to walk around on the floor to sit on the bench side.

Actually, I think Kaplan attracted so much criticism because when they ran out of money in construction, they simply stopped:

• "OK, let's just leave one end open."
• "We don't need seats everywhere, do we?"
• "Bare concrete looks fine. No need to paint."
  

In the last 10 years or so, we've made some progress on improving the appearance. If we continue to work on it, I think Kaplan can become a very good home to the basketball programs for a long time.

And by the way, it's not too big. The cited 11,300 capacity is for something other than basketball. There are only about 6,400 seats in the building. (Yes, I counted. And Spencer confirmed.) Sure, you can squeeze in about 2k more by seating people on the concrete, but we shouldn't expect that of people.

Finally, Kaplan reflects compromises because it was super cheap! In 2017 dollars, SECU Arena cost $90M. In those same 2017 dollars, Kaplan cost $32M. So the smaller arena that cost three times as much should be nicer.

Got Ribe!

(12-19-2017 09:11 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I thought the list was accurate. I always wondered why Kaplan was so big. If the history in there is accurate, it makes more sense now. Trask may be old and a little "meh" from the outside, but there's no doubt it's one of the nicer places to play or watch a game in the CAA. Throw in that it has some of the best seating in the CAA even for it's age... no brainer that it easily falls into the top 3.

Never been to Towson, but now I want to go see a game there.

I can remember going to concerts there. One being, John Denver and another being Neal Diamond. The place was almost filled up. To bad we can't do more of this and make good money in the meantime.

(12-19-2017 09:52 AM)Biggjohn43 Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:11 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I thought the list was accurate. I always wondered why Kaplan was so big. If the history in there is accurate, it makes more sense now. Trask may be old and a little "meh" from the outside, but there's no doubt it's one of the nicer places to play or watch a game in the CAA. Throw in that it has some of the best seating in the CAA even for it's age... no brainer that it easily falls into the top 3.

Never been to Towson, but now I want to go see a game there.

I can remember going to concerts there. One being, John Denver and another being Neal Diamond. The place was almost filled up. To bad we can't do more of this and make good money in the meantime.

My list: Outlaws, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Linda Ronstadt, Police, Bruce Hornsby.

(12-19-2017 09:52 AM)Biggjohn43 Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:11 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  I thought the list was accurate. I always wondered why Kaplan was so big. If the history in there is accurate, it makes more sense now. Trask may be old and a little "meh" from the outside, but there's no doubt it's one of the nicer places to play or watch a game in the CAA. Throw in that it has some of the best seating in the CAA even for it's age... no brainer that it easily falls into the top 3.

Never been to Towson, but now I want to go see a game there.

I can remember going to concerts there. One being, John Denver and another being Neal Diamond. The place was almost filled up. To bad we can't do more of this and make good money in the meantime.

I remember when the Hall was full for basketball games.

Best concert in the Hall that I saw was Tom Petty, but my wife says Billy Joel was better.

Back in the day there were many concerts in the "Hall". I believe my first concert was Jethro Tull. I was in Circle K and ushered many of them. The Dead concerts could be disruptive for a few days. I'm not sure if that had a hand in stopping the concerts or not. The John Denver concert on the revolving stage was pretty cool.

Also movies on Friday night and even an occasional dance. Bill Deal and the Rhondels for Derby Day comes to mind.

I even worked at a Democratic State Convention that was held in the Hall for a few extra bucks.

Sadly being younger, the only meaningful concert there was Sugar Ray w/ Orgy on the "MTV Campus Invasion Tour". Yeah. And not only that, but within the first 5 minutes of Sugar Ray's set, the power went out for about 30 minutes. Not like because of a Williamsburg or Campus outage, but some sort of Circuit Breaker or whatever situation.

It was.. yeah.

Car Stevens, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, The Police, The Cars, Sting, Little Feat, Dan Fogelberg, Bruce Hornsby, The Beach Boys. Damn, I miss those days.

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(12-19-2017 11:07 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  The Dead concerts could be disruptive for a few days. I'm not sure if that had a hand in stopping the concerts or not.

I briefly worked as a groundsman at the college for several months after graduation but before mandatory military service. I can tell you that the mess left all over campus after a Dead concert was just unbelievable. Mostly I just asked myself "where did these people come from?".

Circa '77 or '78 the Beach Boys gave a really awesome, sold out concert at the Hall.

(12-19-2017 11:23 AM)Zorch Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 11:07 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  The Dead concerts could be disruptive for a few days. I'm not sure if that had a hand in stopping the concerts or not.

I briefly worked as a groundsman at the college for several months after graduation but before mandatory military service. I can tell you that the mess left all over campus after a Dead concert was just unbelievable. Mostly I just asked myself "where did these people come from?".

Circa '77 or '78 the Beach Boys gave a really awesome, sold out concert at the Hall.

I lived on the first floor of a unit in fraternity row in 1973-74 and came back from class one day when the Dead were in town to find a couple in my bed engaged in extra curricular activities. They were highly indignant when I interrupted and threw them out. I learned to lock my door after that...

I remember the Beach Boys fondly, I was in the MBA program at that time. The Dead, not so much.

Mason covered their upper corners of Eagle Bank Arena because they can't fill their gym. We should really consider fully covering our entire upper section. We could ask our fan base to knit something nice during games

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I hope you are kidding.

Drapes scream loser a lot more than some empty seats.

We have a larger arena yet our games look "fuller" than a lot of others with smaller arenas (Towson, JMU, etc).

Cameras don't even pan the upper section of Kaplan. Mason doesn't cast light on the covered areas so you can't see it unless you look and if you do look, all you see is a nicely done "Mason" or "Patriots" logo. Looks a hell of a lot better than some old concrete.

Agree on the screens. You could easily open the sides up to the top and close down the ends and corners. If we have bigger success or larger crowds for certain games we can always pull the screens and sell some tickets. We could also put bleachers behind each basket and probably shut down the entire upper section.

If you've been to some of the newer arenas like ODU's Constant Center, the slope to the floor is very steep which makes the upper seats closer to the court and gives good vision lines. In Kaplan you are up high and far away.

My final comment: The closer the fans are to each other the more they chant/scream and when it is tighter it is louder.