Vanderbilt's Gym Questions

[tx4OU]

Has anyone ever been inside Vanderbilt's gym? I'm watching the LSU/Fla. Atl. game and think the gym is very cool. It looks like one of the old fashioned arenas where the floor is elevated like Minnesota's the "Barn."

The goal supports are also unusual and make the rim/glass look like they're suspended in mid-air by themselves from the camera angles.

The announcers just said the arena has about six different score boards, b/c the way the seating is arranged, folks at the corners can only see directly in front of them (all the way across the length of the court to the other end seating). The corners of the gym protrude out.

Also, the seating for the teams is on the baselines and not on ends of the scorer's table.

I'd love to travel around and watch games in old gyms like this one.

Also, what are some other gyms that are unique or historic around the country that you've been to?

[MsProudSooner]

If I remember correctly, after Vanderbilt built their gym, the NCAA passed a rule that you can't have elevated floors like theirs any more. It's a safety factor. I'm not sure the coaches like having the teams at the ends of the court, either.

[mizzoufan]

We played a school that had a gym like that when I was in high school. It was used as a stage as well as the gym. I'm glad I only had to play there once a year. On one sideline the wall was about 18 inches from a wall and the other sideline had about 3 feet from the sideline to about a 4 foot drop off. You couldn't get up much speed on either side of the court without running into trouble!!!! I can certainly understand why they went away from this design. This gym has been replaced since I played, thank heavens!!!!

[spooky]

They're working on a new gym, but as far as I know, Texas-Arlington still plays in Texas Hall, which is a concert hall. The court is up on the stage like the one Mizzoufan mentioned. At UTA, the stage is a little bigger, so on the back side of the stage are a set of bleachers. and on the front side is a 3-4 foot dropoff to the rest of the theatre style seating. There's a little bit of cushion between the court and the cliff so I'm guessing there's not usually many players falling off but it's probably still a little unnerving to visitors. And the view from the theatre seats is a little strange since the court is above most of the seating. i've never been to a basketball game there, but saw a volleyball game once and it was the strangest collegiate arena setup I've been to.

[MsProudSooner]

This thread reminds me of a couple of wierd places I've watched games.

Anyone from Oklahoma over the age of XX probably remembers when the State Tournament games were at the Civic Center in OKC. The court was on the stage, w/ bleachers behind it. (I don't know who you had to be to get to sit there.) One year, when my high school team was in the finals, I had to sit in the 3rd balcony! Not a good vantage point.

Another wierd experience was watching my kids play in the gym at the metropolis of Avant, OK, when they were in elementary school. There were 3 or 4 rows of bleachers on the south side of the court. There were no bleachers on the north side, just a wall. If the ball hit the wall, it was out of bounds. Players throwing the ball in bounds had to stand w/ their heels against the wall.

[Dale8R]

During the 2004 election, the WNBA's New York Liberty was booted out of MSG, and played several games on the Radio City Music Hall stage.

http://www.frommers.com/articles/2231.html

I didn't look very hard, but didn't find a picture.

I do have one on my hard drive, just don't know how to post it. Well, maybe I've figured it out.

Yep, you do learn something new every now and then, don't you? :D