Kudos to OU for filling up the Convo on national television, Miami barely drew 1,000 to Millett today. I don't know how we can re-energize our dormant basketball fan base, though winning MAC games like today will help if we keep it up.

(02-01-2014 05:55 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Kudos to OU for filling up the Convo on national television, Miami barely drew 1,000 to Millett today. I don't know how we can re-energize our dormant basketball fan base, though winning MAC games like today will help if we keep it up.

well, we didn't fill it but thanks for the kind words! with it being Sibs Weekend next weekend and with you all coming to town and doing well (congrats, by the way!), it may very well be an even bigger crowd than it was today.

Today's crowd was loud and charged up, but size-wize was really lame for such a big game (was prob about 7k actually in the building. Still amazes me that after lunch uptown, I'm walking to the Convo and seeing way too many people walking the other way. The ho in the ohio state shirt almost got her *****-ass thrown off the richland ave bridge. But, I've mellowed.

(02-01-2014 08:58 PM)Roberto Gato Wrote:  Today's crowd was loud and charged up, but size-wize was really lame for such a big game (was prob about 7k actually in the building. Still amazes me that after lunch uptown, I'm walking to the Convo and seeing way too many people walking the other way. The ho in the ohio state shirt almost got her *****-ass thrown off the richland ave bridge. But, I've mellowed.

aw, man, you should have thrown her over the side! damn! :-)

I couldn't be at today's game because my daughter had a make up game so my 4 seats were empty. OU attendance is tickets sold plus students. In all honesty the Convo is about 3,000 seats to large. OU does have a great fan base so I think 10,000 seats would be perfect. Being located in a very rural part of Ohio weeknight crowds are usually always smaller than weekend.

There have been times when Ohio has packed it. In the mid 90's during the Trent era weekend crowds topped 11,500-12,000 on a regular basis. I remember a game vs. Miami when the fire Marshall ordered the gates closed and fans with tickets in hand were not allowed to enter because so many students showed up. My brother was one of those fans. The Convo was so packed that day that fans were trying to sit on the steps in the isles. In 90's any time Miami came to town the Convo would fill up. I am guessing next weekends game vs. Miami will top 10,000.

I miss the Ohio-Miami match ups when both teams were contenders.

(02-01-2014 10:57 PM)GalliaCat Wrote:  There have been times when Ohio has packed it. In the mid 90's during the Trent era weekend crowds topped 11,500-12,000 on a regular basis. I remember a game vs. Miami when the fire Marshall ordered the gates closed and fans with tickets in hand were not allowed to enter because so many students showed up. My brother was one of those fans. The Convo was so packed that day that fans were trying to sit on the steps in the isles. In 90's any time Miami came to town the Convo would fill up. I am guessing next weekends game vs. Miami will top 10,000.

I miss the Ohio-Miami match ups when both teams were contenders.

Good memories indeed. While Miami has never had great attendance for basketball, we filled up Millett pretty well in the nineties (averaged around 6,500 in 98 or 99). Some great games between the both of us in the Herb Sendek-early Coles years.

Fortunately it looks like we may be entering an age where both the Bobcats and Redhawks have good teams most years. I'd like to think that this year when OU comes to Oxford that we'll get over 3,000 to show up, it'll be senior night on a weekend (it may end up being on ESPNU). Small steps like that would be encouraging to see, but it'll probably take an NCAA tourney bid to really stir up some interest.

One factor is Toledo doesn't have the hate factor like Akron, Kent State and Miami that turn out the real big numbers. Division rivals always get a big extra. Akron/Ohio games have been a bit chippy for the past decade and its become intense.

good shot of the student section side of the crowd at the end of the game..

No way there only 7k in the house, that would only make it barely over half full. I think the announced number was actually pretty close. Also, I got in trouble with my wife for yelling across Court St at a guy wearing an OSU jersey, I was really just trying to help though since he was obviously lost!

(02-01-2014 08:58 PM)Roberto Gato Wrote:  Today's crowd was loud and charged up, but size-wize was really lame for such a big game (was prob about 7k actually in the building. Still amazes me that after lunch uptown, I'm walking to the Convo and seeing way too many people walking the other way. The ho in the ohio state shirt almost got her *****-ass thrown off the richland ave bridge. But, I've mellowed.

(02-02-2014 12:12 AM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 10:57 PM)GalliaCat Wrote:  There have been times when Ohio has packed it. In the mid 90's during the Trent era weekend crowds topped 11,500-12,000 on a regular basis. I remember a game vs. Miami when the fire Marshall ordered the gates closed and fans with tickets in hand were not allowed to enter because so many students showed up. My brother was one of those fans. The Convo was so packed that day that fans were trying to sit on the steps in the isles. In 90's any time Miami came to town the Convo would fill up. I am guessing next weekends game vs. Miami will top 10,000.

I miss the Ohio-Miami match ups when both teams were contenders.

Good memories indeed. While Miami has never had great attendance for basketball, we filled up Millett pretty well in the nineties (averaged around 6,500 in 98 or 99). Some great games between the both of us in the Herb Sendek-early Coles years.

Fortunately it looks like we may be entering an age where both the Bobcats and Redhawks have good teams most years. I'd like to think that this year when OU comes to Oxford that we'll get over 3,000 to show up, it'll be senior night on a weekend (it may end up being on ESPNU). Small steps like that would be encouraging to see, but it'll probably take an NCAA tourney bid to really stir up some interest.

I remember being in Millett for a couple Ohio and Miami games and the place was packed! One game really stands out. The students were fired up and loud and if memory serves there were over 10,000 crammed into Millett that day. I know you will find this odd but my favorite cheer the students at Miami did was chanting "OU Sucks" while grabbing their crotches on the sucks part. It was not just a handful of 10 students either. It was the entire group behind the basket in front of the brick wall. It just showed how heated that matchup was and it was students being students.

I know that Ohio-Akron and Ohio-Kent have been more meaningful games recently but I secretely long for Miami to take its rightful place (in 2nd behind Ohio of course) and for Akron and Kent to return to the bottom of the league. Kent appears to be complying but those pesky Zips just dont seem to be cooperating.

(02-02-2014 07:23 AM)Y-CityCatFan Wrote:  No way there only 7k in the house, that would only make it barely over half full. I think the announced number was actually pretty close. Also, I got in trouble with my wife for yelling across Court St at a guy wearing an OSU jersey, I was really just trying to help though since he was obviously lost!

(02-01-2014 08:58 PM)Roberto Gato Wrote:  Today's crowd was loud and charged up, but size-wize was really lame for such a big game (was prob about 7k actually in the building. Still amazes me that after lunch uptown, I'm walking to the Convo and seeing way too many people walking the other way. The ho in the ohio state shirt almost got her *****-ass thrown off the richland ave bridge. But, I've mellowed.

Think about it... The convo is a big circle... the outer rings, which were the empty ones hold way more people than the inner rings, So vertically, it might have appeared to be 2/3 full, but in reality it was probably a little more than half of the seats. That was far from a good Saturday crowd, size-wize.

(02-02-2014 01:17 PM)Roberto Gato Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 07:23 AM)Y-CityCatFan Wrote:  No way there only 7k in the house, that would only make it barely over half full. I think the announced number was actually pretty close. Also, I got in trouble with my wife for yelling across Court St at a guy wearing an OSU jersey, I was really just trying to help though since he was obviously lost!

(02-01-2014 08:58 PM)Roberto Gato Wrote:  Today's crowd was loud and charged up, but size-wize was really lame for such a big game (was prob about 7k actually in the building. Still amazes me that after lunch uptown, I'm walking to the Convo and seeing way too many people walking the other way. The ho in the ohio state shirt almost got her *****-ass thrown off the richland ave bridge. But, I've mellowed.

Think about it... The convo is a big circle... the outer rings, which were the empty ones hold way more people than the inner rings, So vertically, it might have appeared to be 2/3 full, but in reality it was probably a little more than half of the seats. That was far from a good Saturday crowd, size-wize.

I would guess the actual crowd was 7,500 plus or minus a few hundred. OU has also been placing temporary seats behind each basket and those seats are not part of the official arena capacity. Tickets sold also count toward attendance so the listed number was probably accurate.

(02-02-2014 12:21 PM)GalliaCat Wrote:  I remember being in Millett for a couple Ohio and Miami games and the place was packed! One game really stands out. The students were fired up and loud and if memory serves there were over 10,000 crammed into Millett that day. I know you will find this odd but my favorite cheer the students at Miami did was chanting "OU Sucks" while grabbing their crotches on the sucks part. It was not just a handful of 10 students either. It was the entire group behind the basket in front of the brick wall. It just showed how heated that matchup was and it was students being students.

When Millett is full it's fun to watch a game. If it's empty it sucks. The puke-green padded seats and the large gap between the court and seating areas hurt the atmosphere a lot, there's no intimacy like you have at the JAR or MAC at Akron or KSU. That being said, it's in decent condition for being over forty years old, and the concourses are nice and big for games like you described.

Next year it should be different. If I'm correct, we're replacing the seats with red plastic ones, the court is being moved south (close to the curve of the seating bowl), a new locker room will be built on the northeast side, the big entry portals on the east and west sides are being filled in with seats, and more sections on the north side of the arena are being blocked off. No one will confuse it for Cameron, but it'll make for a better venue, especially if the Redhawks are winning. Miami fans have shown that we've supported our football/hockey/basketball teams when they're winning, it's a matter of time and being consistent.

(02-02-2014 01:45 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 12:21 PM)GalliaCat Wrote:  I remember being in Millett for a couple Ohio and Miami games and the place was packed! One game really stands out. The students were fired up and loud and if memory serves there were over 10,000 crammed into Millett that day. I know you will find this odd but my favorite cheer the students at Miami did was chanting "OU Sucks" while grabbing their crotches on the sucks part. It was not just a handful of 10 students either. It was the entire group behind the basket in front of the brick wall. It just showed how heated that matchup was and it was students being students.

When Millett is full it's fun to watch a game. If it's empty it sucks. The puke-green padded seats and the large gap between the court and seating areas hurt the atmosphere a lot, there's no intimacy like you have at the JAR or MAC at Akron or KSU. That being said, it's in decent condition for being over forty years old, and the concourses are nice and big for games like you described.

Next year it should be different. If I'm correct, we're replacing the seats with red plastic ones, the court is being moved south (close to the curve of the seating bowl), a new locker room will be built on the northeast side, the big entry portals on the east and west sides are being filled in with seats, and more sections on the north side of the arena are being blocked off. No one will confuse it for Cameron, but it'll make for a better venue, especially if the Redhawks are winning. Miami fans have shown that we've supported our football/hockey/basketball teams when they're winning, it's a matter of time and being consistent.

I think the Convo and Millett opened around the same time. I never understood the color scheme of Millett. Switching to red seats will definately be a nice change. The Convo is getting ready to get a much needed face lift as well. The old girl is a great arena but she needs a little TLC. The outside fascade of the building is getting some plastic surgery and on the inside the seats are all being replaced. The current seats are nice in that they are padded but they are really worn. From what I was told the new seats will be hard plastic and I am hoping all hunter green and not different shades of green.

I wish I could be at next Saturdays game but the winter weather has completely screwed up my weekend trips to Athens due to my daughter having HS girls basketball make up games.

Jumping back to Millett, would a hockey rink have fit in Millett? I always wondered becasue of the amount of space around the actual court. Plus with Miami's hockey team I am sure they have games in which the actual rink is to small.

The person who bought our seats must've thought we were the Greenskins, I never got why the seats were that way. I can understand the padding, Millett was built to be a multipurpose arena and upholstered seats seemed like a good idea for speaking events, concerts, etc. The fact that our previous home (Withrow Court) had nothing but wooden benches might have influenced our thinking as well.

Maybe with renovations Millett could fit a hockey rink, but I don't think it can at the present time. I don't think we'll ever need an arena that big for hockey, Goggin gets good crowds but there's enough standing-room-only space that I don't think they've ever had to turn people away. If we're renovating this offseason, it may be worth it to go ahead and adjust the arena a bit so that we could take seats out and put a rink in there if Goggin became unusable for some reason.

according to Wikipedia Millett Hall opened Dec 2nd, 1968 and the Convo opened Dec 3rd, 1968.

(02-02-2014 04:44 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  according to Wikipedia Millett Hall opened Dec 2nd, 1968 and the Convo opened Dec 3rd, 1968.

oh wow I had no idea the two places opened within a day of each other! pretty cool!

(02-02-2014 04:44 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  according to Wikipedia Millett Hall opened Dec 2nd, 1968 and the Convo opened Dec 3rd, 1968.

Must have been the "official" opening date because I was at an event in the Convo in the summer of '68.

Also played HS basketball in March '69 in Millett. I had never played in a gym that seated more than 1000. Completely awed and more than a little freaked out.

(02-02-2014 05:18 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 04:44 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  according to Wikipedia Millett Hall opened Dec 2nd, 1968 and the Convo opened Dec 3rd, 1968.

Must have been the "official" opening date because I was at an event in the Convo in the summer of '68.

Also played HS basketball in March '69 in Millett. I had never played in a gym that seated more than 1000. Completely awed and more than a little freaked out.

yeah that was the official opening date. and if I remember correctly, we beat Indiana 80-70 in that first game.

(02-02-2014 06:18 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 05:18 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 04:44 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  according to Wikipedia Millett Hall opened Dec 2nd, 1968 and the Convo opened Dec 3rd, 1968.

Must have been the "official" opening date because I was at an event in the Convo in the summer of '68.

Also played HS basketball in March '69 in Millett. I had never played in a gym that seated more than 1000. Completely awed and more than a little freaked out.

yeah that was the official opening date. and if I remember correctly, we beat Indiana 80-70 in that first game.

Indiana must have been everyone's punch for opening new arenas. Toledo beat them to open Centennial, now Savage.