"It's Time for a New Scoreboard, Charlie Brown" is one of the lesser known but quality Peanuts television specials.

I forgot about the blimps! Does Sprint still sponsor it-if it even exists? I jumped into an O-Zone based dogpile once for the coupons it dropped only to discover it was not worth the scrum.

In my dream of dreams I would love a ribbon screen but I don't think that's feasible given the design of the Convo. Does Daktronics still make parts for our existing screens? ; )

Does the entire concourse still look like it fell out of 1972? I always felt like I needed to grow sideburns and wear a butterfly collar walking around there. (disclaimer I have not been to a home game since our CBI tilt against Wright State in 2014.)

If they can do it for $1.2 mil, one would think that Ohio could get it done for that amount, right? The floor shouldn't need refinished since it was recently re-done.

I was at the game Saturday and agree with some that it's fine just the way it is. You can see the game and not be distracted by a kazillion things that will go up there if you have it. I thought the pregame video before the lineup introductions was ridiculous, but I guess that's the norm anymore. In my opinion it would be as if we took a grand old theater and made it into a multiplex. But I'm like the old Johnny Mercer tune, "I'm old fashioned, I love the moonlight, I love the old fashioned things".

They might not matter to some people during the game, but if you're gonna put forth the effort to make a pre-game video or have intros with video and people can't see it, then what's the point? You have to do those things to keep up with the Joneses.

While regarding Akron's Rhodes Arena as an enlarged HS gym with woeful sight lines - the seats angle back so gently that fans can't see the near side line - I much admire its two scoreboards. They show up-to-date game stats and in LARGE numerals. (No video board in Rhodes)

Most of us go to the game "for the game", the better hand dryers, video scoreboards, better concessions, etc. go a long way to convincing those on the fringes of fandom to join the party and perhaps expand our fan base little by little (wives, kids, less sports crazed friends, etc.). Not knowing the stats as the game goes on drives me a little crazy in particular.

In the hanging scoreboard conversation...comparing arena to arena visually for similarities and drawing meaningful conclusions from that is impossible. I've heard Purdue is very similar although haven't paid that much attention to exact details. Being very similar and exactly the same can be the difference between go and no-go (perhaps one used 1/4" thick angle supports, and the other 5/16" for example). Also, with any building the wind/snow load plays a factor in what the roof can support. I have no idea how Athens compares to West Lafayette in that regard, but my point is even the same exact building with the same exact scoreboard could be OK in one area but not in another. Another important thing to consider is soil pressure. These can vary widely from area to area as well which impacts footing/foundation size requirements (think building on a swamp or building on bedrock). Any weight you add to the ceiling carries through the roof to the walls to the foundations so many things can factor into the ability of a structure to support an increased load on the roof.

Moral of the story is the engineering study simply has to be completed before getting this thing off the ground (literally).

No, not confusing Akron and Kent gyms. If Rhodes has a video board, it wasn't being used during this past Saturday's women's game.

Ahh yes the Monster. I've learned that it's better to just go ahead and hit your 2nd shot in the water instead of your 3rd.

Did get some swings in this weekend at the Cleveland golf show. May have to change my screen name soon as a young buck demolished my long drive effort.

I hope Bolden gets an extension with the locker refurb written into it.

Sadly, I don't think and extension, new locker rooms or anything else will be enough to keep Bolden here. He is gonna be one hot property in about 6 weeks...

I was trying to figure out where to put my thoughts without starting a new thread. I chose this one.

Last night, for about the first 10 game clock minutes, I watched Grand Canyon host S.Carolina State in the first round of the CIT on the CBSSN. They have a very, very nice new arena, and a team/program that would seem to be on the rise.

What I noted more than anything was the top shelf video boards and ribbon all over the place, followed by VERY impressive student involvement and participation. They had a packed student section for a CIT game that was coordinated and involved for the entire time I had the game on. They had ribbon boards on the court side advertising boards in front of the scorer's table, and up high showing messages about Stand til we Score, "Defense!" etc.

Guess what they didn't have? A center court scoreboard. But man, for at least that game, they had the game-day atmosphere down to a science.


http://www.gculopes.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=3906

http://www.gculopes.com/facilities/?id=21

Coached by one half of Thunder and Lightning, formerly of the CMU Chippewas, no?

It's even more impressive that they do it with Tempe and Tuscon not that far away. These little private schools have some advantages that small public schools don't.