(02-17-2016 12:25 AM)MemTGRS Wrote:  I will confess that I really really miss it not being in Richmond. For all the criticism of it granting VCU a home tournament, it would truly be a centrally located neutral site now. But I don't know if they (Richmond) even made a qualifying bid?

Richmond and Charleston were the only 2 who bid.

(02-17-2016 07:42 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(02-17-2016 12:25 AM)MemTGRS Wrote:  I will confess that I really really miss it not being in Richmond. For all the criticism of it granting VCU a home tournament, it would truly be a centrally located neutral site now. But I don't know if they (Richmond) even made a qualifying bid?

Richmond and Charleston were the only 2 who bid.

Interesting Baltimore did not try and keep the tournament to help sell hotel rooms and the bars in that area are waiting for the Orioles season to start and probably liked the extra business.

Lack of local interest seems to be the criticism of Baltimore and who knows how N.Charleston will turn out for the games. It wouldn't it be funny if it turned out Richmond was the best site for the tournament after all. It is centrally located and the the local population who were not fans of any of the CAA schools did turn out to watch basketball . More than once I talked with people who lived in the area and had been enjoying the tournament for years .

(02-17-2016 09:21 AM)Tribe Fan Wrote:  

(02-17-2016 07:42 AM)dan10 Wrote:  

(02-17-2016 12:25 AM)MemTGRS Wrote:  I will confess that I really really miss it not being in Richmond. For all the criticism of it granting VCU a home tournament, it would truly be a centrally located neutral site now. But I don't know if they (Richmond) even made a qualifying bid?

Richmond and Charleston were the only 2 who bid.

Interesting Baltimore did not try and keep the tournament to help sell hotel rooms and the bars in that area are waiting for the Orioles season to start and probably liked the extra business.

Lack of local interest seems to be the criticism of Baltimore and who knows how N.Charleston will turn out for the games. It wouldn't it be funny if it turned out Richmond was the best site for the tournament after all. It is centrally located and the the local population who were not fans of any of the CAA schools did turn out to watch basketball . More than once I talked with people who lived in the area and had been enjoying the tournament for years .

One problem for Richmond moving forward is that the local media won't doesn't cover the CAA like it used to. The league was a big deal for the area, but it isn't anymore.

I sure hope N. Charleston has developed more in the 10 years since I went to a tournament there. One nice thing about Baltimore is all the restaurants and bars right in the neighborhood. Richmond didn't have that anymore. When I went to N. Charleston for a tournament in 2006, there was one sports bar near the arena, and a few hotels and that was it.

(02-17-2016 09:21 AM)Tribe Fan Wrote:  It wouldn't it be funny if it turned out Richmond was the best site for the tournament after all.

I dont think many would have disagreed with that even when it was there. The problem most had was the overwhelming advantage for VCU which made the experience tough to enjoy if you played VCU at any point because it was not any bit neutral and was very much a true road game. The staff seemingly catering to their fans did not help either. A neutral game day staff certainly could have gone a long way. Is that VCU's fault they were good and had a strong following? Absolutely not, but for a tournament that touted being a neutral tournament, it did not have that feel when VCU was around, and the irked many people from most of the schools.

Also many folks even after VCU left was fine with Richmond if they would have done more renovations to the place. The RC is just not a comfortable arena and lacks a lot of basic amenities (due partly to age of the building). Amenities right around the RC are also limited, which was always a downside as well. The one thing Richmond brought was local support (especially after the minor league baseball team left). For a league such as ours, local support can be tough to hold onto. Would Richmond support it now without VCU, I dont really know but my gut says it would do better than Baltimore or N. Charleston.

(02-17-2016 12:53 PM)dan10 Wrote:  The RC is just not a comfortable arena and lacks a lot of basic amenities (due partly to age of the building). Amenities right around the RC are also limited, which was always a downside as well.

I just can't believe that the expressed reasons here had any impact whatsoever on the decision to move from Richmond to Baltimore. I've been to countless Richmond tournaments, and I went to last year's tourney in Baltimore. If anyone can make a rational argument that the Royal Farms Arena was in any way better than the Richmond Coliseum, I'd love to hear it. In addition, if anyone can argue that there are more "amenities" right outside the Royal Farms Arena versus those outside of Richmond Coliseum, I'd be interested in hearing those arguments also.

In my opinion, the two are almost identical. Both arenas are old and lacking amenities. Both have restaurants within walking distance, but I wouldn't ask my wife to venture far from either arena, and I personally wouldn't do too much walking around either arena after dark. There really isn't much to do outside the arena, and there are plenty of hotel rooms within a few blocks.

(02-18-2016 12:46 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  In my opinion, the two are almost identical. Both arenas are old and lacking amenities. Both have restaurants within walking distance, but I wouldn't ask my wife to venture far from either arena, and I personally wouldn't do too much walking around either arena after dark. There really isn't much to do outside the arena, and there are plenty of hotel rooms within a few blocks.

We will agree on that. I think there are closer eateries in Baltimore than in Richmond around each stadium but totally agree on the arenas. I think most would honestly. Heck most people (talking fans here, not people making the decisions in the CAA office) who wanted Baltimore had one major issue. They didnt have a good choice of the arena since Royal Farms was no much different than the RC in age and quality. That still stands today that both are well outdated arenas. Its been discussed ad nauseum but there really are not many good choices of arenas for our league in the footprint that makes sense. Most are either too old and deteriorating or too large or both. Without ODU/GMU/VCU, it would be interesting to see how Richmond would do, my guess is it wouldnt be anywhere near as strong as it was and would be nearly as empty as we are in Baltimore.

Even if it seems small time, my honest opinion is the best location is probably Richmond to draw from the most fan bases and the place to play would be VCU's Siegel Center. Newer (ish) arena that is about the right size for our conference.

Richmond would almost certainly draw a bigger crowd. But Baltimore is a much better area to host the tournament. There are tons of places to hang out in the area of Royal Farms than RC. But agree both arenas are old and gross. Let's see how N. Charleston is and then we can all criticize them too :)

After the Sunday game last year I had a terrible time finding somewhere that was open in Baltimore near the arena.

I stumbled across this review of the North Charleston Coliseum as a hockey venue -- looks like most of it would hold true for basketball as well.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/n...eum-s1873/

I have walked up and down Pratt St. many times after night games at Oriole Park and never had a problem with finding someplace to eat and especially drink. The Inner Harbour area has numerous places to eat and Charm City had pubs everywhere. I would be very wary of walking Broad St in Richmond at night. Downtown Richmond has come a long way but that area of our Capitol City needs more help.

As stated previously, Virginia Beach building an arena near the oceanfront would be an excellent choice to start looking at. This arena is nearly a done deal and could host the tourney indefinitely.

(02-18-2016 06:51 PM)Tribe Fan Wrote:  I have walked up and down Pratt St. many times after night games at Oriole Park and never had a problem with finding someplace to eat and especially drink. The Inner Harbour area has numerous places to eat and Charm City had pubs everywhere. I would be very wary of walking Broad St in Richmond at night. Downtown Richmond has come a long way but that area of our Capitol City needs more help.

Agree, Baltimore has much more to offer outside the Arena than does Richmond, but I think both are permanently in the rear view mirror for the CAA. I will enjoy N. Charleston because it is relatively close to me and I don't think I will have to worry about winter weather affecting my drive as the ice/snow in Baltimore did last season.

I went to see the Globetrotters at the Coliseum tonight. That place needs to be knocked down. Unless we're playing the tourney somewhere else, I don't want any part of Richmond for the CAA.

State General Assembly has passed their bill to replace the Richmond Coliseum and sent it to the Gov for approval. Great news! Certainly should place Richmond back in strong contention for hosting the CAA tourney again. It would, also, be a viable neutral court site for OOC games to lure P5 schools that won't come to the Burg. With the convention center, and the present influx of downtown hotels, would have to believe any development would promote reuse/revamping of the 6th St Market Place space, also.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/go...55205.html

This bill is only to allow the regional transportation authority to build a new coliseum if they were inclined to do so.
there has been no movement or talk that they have any desire to build it

(03-04-2016 11:20 AM)Tribeheart Wrote:  State General Assembly has passed their bill to replace the Richmond Coliseum and sent it to the Gov for approval. Great news! Certainly should place Richmond back in strong contention for hosting the CAA tourney again. It would, also, be a viable neutral court site for OOC games to lure P5 schools that won't come to the Burg. With the convention center, and the present influx of downtown hotels, would have to believe any development would promote reuse/revamping of the 6th St Market Place space, also.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/go...55205.html

Richmond and the counties that make this Authority usually end up having their own agendas and do not get things done on a timely basis. They lost the AAA Richmond Braves because they could not agree on renovating the existing stadium or a location for a new venue. The parent Atlanta Braves gave the City and Counties plenty of time to come up with a plan and they could not. With that history it could a long time for a new arena to be actually built, unfortunately .

(03-04-2016 01:02 PM)Tribe Fan Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 11:20 AM)Tribeheart Wrote:  State General Assembly has passed their bill to replace the Richmond Coliseum and sent it to the Gov for approval. Great news! Certainly should place Richmond back in strong contention for hosting the CAA tourney again. It would, also, be a viable neutral court site for OOC games to lure P5 schools that won't come to the Burg. With the convention center, and the present influx of downtown hotels, would have to believe any development would promote reuse/revamping of the 6th St Market Place space, also.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/go...55205.html

Richmond and the counties that make this Authority usually end up having their own agendas and do not get things done on a timely basis. They lost the AAA Richmond Braves because they could not agree on renovating the existing stadium or a location for a new venue. The parent Atlanta Braves gave the City and Counties plenty of time to come up with a plan and they could not. With that history it could a long time for a new arena to be actually built, unfortunately .

The city of Richmond will never build a new arena downtown. Never. Best case scenario is that they find a few hundred thousand dollars to renovate the Coliseum, and I doubt that will happen unless money can be appropriated to build a Slave Museum first, and there seems to be no appetite to throw money at that idea either. The local politicians seem more interested in debating tearing down the monuments on Monument Avenue then they do attracting revenue-producing events to the city. On a related note, mark my words that the Richmond Flying Squirrels will be gone within a few years.

Much rides on who the next mayor is, and whether the longtime Richmond private powers that be can impact a credible choice. (Insert Rocco's alien believer cartoon here)

(03-04-2016 01:31 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 01:02 PM)Tribe Fan Wrote:  

(03-04-2016 11:20 AM)Tribeheart Wrote:  State General Assembly has passed their bill to replace the Richmond Coliseum and sent it to the Gov for approval. Great news! Certainly should place Richmond back in strong contention for hosting the CAA tourney again. It would, also, be a viable neutral court site for OOC games to lure P5 schools that won't come to the Burg. With the convention center, and the present influx of downtown hotels, would have to believe any development would promote reuse/revamping of the 6th St Market Place space, also.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/go...55205.html

Richmond and the counties that make this Authority usually end up having their own agendas and do not get things done on a timely basis. They lost the AAA Richmond Braves because they could not agree on renovating the existing stadium or a location for a new venue. The parent Atlanta Braves gave the City and Counties plenty of time to come up with a plan and they could not. With that history it could a long time for a new arena to be actually built, unfortunately .

The city of Richmond will never build a new arena downtown. Never. Best case scenario is that they find a few hundred thousand dollars to renovate the Coliseum, and I doubt that will happen unless money can be appropriated to build a Slave Museum first, and there seems to be no appetite to throw money at that idea either. The local politicians seem more interested in debating tearing down the monuments on Monument Avenue then they do attracting revenue-producing events to the city. On a related note, mark my words that the Richmond Flying Squirrels will be gone within a few years.

+1

I'm still pulling for VA Beach beginning 2020.