Thoughts?

GREAT!

It's a great move for those who make a point to go to the tourney, but will hurt attendance of the bandwagon or casual fan. The great turnout we had last year was made possible by people being able to drive up and not have to plan with a long drive/flight and hotel, etc. But Charleston is a great place to have a tournament.

Charleston is a hot bed for the game. Twelve flights a day from New York area. It's a great idea. It's a paint game down south you'all.

Boo. They're moving in the wrong direction

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For Tribe fans unable to go to the whole tourney, it is bad. Any Virginia Tribe fans could go to Baltimore for the weekend, and then still return for the title game. I was one of a few thousand who came Monday last year. Richmond was even better for travel. On the bright side though, it is an excellent location for a 3-4 day weekend down South where you can bring the whole family to see the Tribe and also do some sightseeing. Charleston is a beautiful town. I don't know if we will ever see a pro Tribe crowd in Charleston like we got last year in Baltimore. This year, it looks like I will be coming for the whole tourney. Can't miss the chance to see all the people I met last year.

Is it a 3 yr deal like Baltimore was? Also, I'll take anything over the playing it on the home court of the top seed.

This will cut down W&M fan support during the tourney. There are 10,000 Tribe supporters who live in the greater Washington area [with an easy commute to the tourney] and maybe 1,000 who live in the greater Charleston area.

On the other hand, Baltimore is a dangerous place to go these days so probably a very smart move by the CAA.

62Indian:

Do you think that it will be unsafe during the tourney? I think we all are aware of the incidents during the baseball games downtown last year. Have there been more since then? I hate to say it, but in the world we live in now, incidents like that could happen anywhere. Charleston had its own horrible shootings last year, although the response in that community following it was for the community to come together to support those grieving and not with more violence. In our part of the state in Virginia near where LeadBolt and I reside, we had 2 senseless shootings as well.
That being said, I have been told that are parts of Baltimore that should be avoided but that has been indicated since I was a student at W&M almost 25 years ago now.

Charleston is a great city to visit. I would guess attendance will be down going that far south. Baltimore makes the most geographic sense, but as in the past when it never moved from Richmond, I am a fan of it rotating places. The folks that will be there will be there no matter where it goes, folks that dont care enough to want to go to the entire event who would make quick road trips, wont attend anyhow unless it was near their backyard. That is true of any area you put it. I think based on the fan bases and locations, it could be real tough to draw a good crowd, I would assume UNCW would have the largest following, but am not super familiar with the interest from general people in Charleston for basketball.

As far as interest in Charleston they are one of only 3 schools ave more than 3000 in attendance. Only one school north of Va ave more than 2000(Del). Based on that I would say there is a lot more interest in Charleston than anywhere North of VA. Also the group that put this together and pays the CAA the guarantee brings a lot of major sporting events to the Charleston area. They rarely lose money on an event after paying the guarantee. I am sure they will be heavily promoting the tourney.

On a positive note, since it's rotating locations, we have the opportunity for Virginia Beach/Norfolk games in the future as well. VB is in the early stages of an oceanfront arena and theres still the Scope.

It will look great on tv as the smaller arena will be packed as opposed to the cavernous Baltimore Arena.

It will significantly, as others have indicated, cut down on W&M fan attendance as the Baltimore arena, of course, was easy access for Tribe alums and students in DC, Richmond and Williamsburg areas.

Charleston is a wonderful city to visit...great hotels and inns to go with terrific restaurants and lots of history and shops.

Very good move by the CAA.

As someone that goes on Friday and stays until Tuesday, this is great for me personally. I found things to like about Baltimore, but Charleston will be an amazing city to spend a weekend.

I think it is an awesome choice. I agree about Baltimore being somewhat in the middle, but so is Philly.

In Charleston it won't snow, you can stay very close to the arena and the food is great. Wonderful reason to take a long weekend.

(01-27-2016 10:49 PM)TribePride91 Wrote:  62Indian:

Do you think that it will be unsafe during the tourney? I think we all are aware of the incidents during the baseball games downtown last year. Have there been more since then? I hate to say it, but in the world we live in now, incidents like that could happen anywhere. Charleston had its own horrible shootings last year, although the response in that community following it was for the community to come together to support those grieving and not with more violence. In our part of the state in Virginia near where LeadBolt and I reside, we had 2 senseless shootings as well.
That being said, I have been told that are parts of Baltimore that should be avoided but that has been indicated since I was a student at W&M almost 25 years ago now.

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The shooting and mass murder in Charleston last year was committed by one person who was a lunatic phsyco and should have been in a mental institution.

Baltimore today has the highest crime/murder rate per capita of any city in the USA [except perhaps Chicago]. There were riots in the streets as a result of the accidental death of a black man who was in custody at the time. City authorities have blamed the police for pretty much everything that has gone wrong. And, as a result the Cops are doing bare minimum police work [only enough to keep their jobs and pensions] and the murder rate has skyrocketed. Probably 90% of the murder rate is drug related black-on-black crime, but still, there are lots of illegal guns on the streets and lots of people who use them.

The areas you were warned to stay out of 25 years ago are now much more dangerous and have expanded to include more of the city. I grew up in Maryland not too far from Baltimore and at one time it was a vibrent exciting and SAFE city, but no more.

Charleston is a nice town, but I'm very sorry the league is moving the tournament to a place where I will be unable to attend.

With a conference that stretches from Mass. to S.C., I think it's odd that they are moving it to one geographic extreme, even if it will be rotating going forward.

(01-28-2016 07:32 AM)swampcougar1 Wrote:  As far as interest in Charleston they are one of only 3 schools ave more than 3000 in attendance. Only one school north of Va ave more than 2000(Del). Based on that I would say there is a lot more interest in Charleston than anywhere North of VA. Also the group that put this together and pays the CAA the guarantee brings a lot of major sporting events to the Charleston area. They rarely lose money on an event after paying the guarantee. I am sure they will be heavily promoting the tourney.

After visiting Charleston this past October, I came away with the distinct impression that this place was a hotbed for the game. They have innovative ideas to promote fan interest and attendance. It's not that big a deal to get there. For legit fans, go, have fun, make a memory.

62 Indian:

Thanks. I knew that there was more to it than I was aware of. Sounds like going to Charleston is going to be good move overall and encourage fans to come for the whole weekend which will be something to look forward to in March.

Seems like Myrtle Beach would be a more fair neutral location though...is there an arena there? You could argue that VB is perfectly located.

(01-28-2016 11:43 AM)TribePride91 Wrote:  62 Indian:

Thanks. I knew that there was more to it than I was aware of. Sounds like going to Charleston is going to be good move overall and encourage fans to come for the whole weekend which will be something to look forward to in March.

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If you really want to know what is going on in Baltimore, get a copy of "The Wire". This is an HBO Mini series that came out about 10 years ago. This show ran for four or five seasons. It was developed and written by a former Crime Reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. The Wire exposes the crime and corruption of inner city Baltimore in a raw and realistic fashion. This show is considered to be one of the top mini-series ever produced in America. Actually, the show depicts what was going on then in Baltimore - it is probably worse now.