Hoff's Comment on the St. Joe's game

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I'm not sure if this is worthy of a thread, but did anyone else notice Hoffarber's burn on St. Joe's arena and the crowd?

Per ESPN article:

The Hoff: "I tend to like these venues," he said. "It kind of feels like high school or something."

Yowch. Saint Joe's can't like that. Turns out Hoff is one icy dude.
 

KSBGopher said:
I'm not sure if this is worthy of a thread, but did anyone else notice Hoffarber's burn on St. Joe's arena and the crowd?

Per ESPN article:

The Hoff: "I tend to like these venues," he said. "It kind of feels like high school or something."

Yowch. Saint Joe's can't like that. Turns out Hoff is one icy dude.
Click to expand...

It's definitely an offensive comment to St. Joes, but I'm sure Hoff meant nothing by it. I'm sure he was just thinking back to his days tearing high school gyms apart.

I actually thought their arena looked nice. Small, but nice. I thought their crowd was good too. Kudos to their Student Section for getting fairly loud at a couple key moments of the game.
 

z-stein said:
It's definitely an offensive comment to St. Joes, but I'm sure Hoff meant nothing by it. I'm sure he was just thinking back to his days tearing high school gyms apart.

I actually thought their arena looked nice. Small, but nice. I thought their crowd was good too. Kudos to their Student Section for getting fairly loud at a couple key moments of the game.
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I didn't catch any of the game...but the comment just seemed icy (I guess I thought he was referring to the empty seats or the shabby arena. I was taken aback because I've never seen Hoff be disrespectful before. There is no way St. Joe's fans take that well though.
 

He's just talking about the size of the gym. It seats 4,200 per the same article. You could probably pack pretty close to that in the Lindbergh Center.
 

joemagoo362 said:
He's just talking about the size of the gym. It seats 4,200 per the same article. You could probably pack pretty close to that in the Lindbergh Center.
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Yeah that's all that I think it was. I see why KSB thinks it was disrespectful (and it probably is), but I think it definitely wasn't intentional on Hoff's part.
 


Yeah...Hagan is brand new this year...I thought this game would be at the Palestra but the arena got done in time...it is small and cozy...I am thinking Hoff was more referring to the seats being right on the court and the students chanting, etc.
 

Disrespect never came to mind when I read that comment. Hoffarber is pretty open with reporters and I think he was just referring to the size of the gym (not in a negative way).
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Yeah...Hagan is brand new this year...I thought this game would be at the Palestra but the arena got done in time...it is small and cozy...I am thinking Hoff was more referring to the seats being right on the court and the students chanting, etc.
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Wasn't Hagan opened a year ago? Pretty sure they played a dozen or so games there last year as well. In addition to its capacity, the layout looks more like a high school arena... I agree, don't think it was a shot by Hoffarber at all.

Hagan is just the old Fieldhouse, remodeled and renamed. Used to be 3.2k seats, added 1k... btw, the project also including hooking up the basketball programs with a dedicated practice court and new, state-of-the-art locker rooms. 16 months is what it took.
 

I believe Hoff was only referring to the size of the gym. Our local high school gym seats 1000 more than St Joe's on-campus gym. The fans are right on top of the players and that makes for a hostile environment. Just the way Tubby wanted it.
 



KSBGopher said:
Yowch. Saint Joe's can't like that. Turns out Hoff is one icy dude.
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You're nuts if you think Hoffarber was referring to St. Joe's, or their basketball team as high schoolers.

It's pretty obvious that he's referring to the size of the gym being so tiny w/fans that close to the floor, since Myron's entire article, question, even the title of the article, talk about how ridiculously small the arena is?

But I guess you can take it entirely out of context to create your own narrative if you want...
 

Many people try to read too much into comments.
 

KSBGopher said:
I'm not sure if this is worthy of a thread, but did anyone else notice Hoffarber's burn on St. Joe's arena and the crowd?

Per ESPN article:

The Hoff: "I tend to like these venues," he said. "It kind of feels like high school or something."

Yowch. Saint Joe's can't like that. Turns out Hoff is one icy dude.
Click to expand...

In the strib he added that it was a shooter's gym. Not icy.
 

Didn't take the comment as disrespectful at all. Just a comment on the size of the gym, and that he (apparently) likes shooting in smaller venues.
 



You're kidding right? Of course it was disrespectful. I heard a bunch about how rowdy the fans were, why wouldn't he respond in kind. All part of the game.
 

Take it from someone who was there and interviewed Hoffarber after the game ... He told me the same thing. Not disrespectful at all. It did feel like a high school gym. Just 4,200 seats. It was an observation. If you read my story, he says that he "kind of likes" smaller gyms.
 


Myron P. Medcalf said:
Take it from someone who was there and interviewed Hoffarber after the game ... He told me the same thing. Not disrespectful at all. It did feel like a high school gym. Just 4,200 seats. It was an observation. If you read my story, he says that he "kind of likes" smaller gyms.
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if only you could provide a key at the bottom of each article. Italics = icy, brush script= happy, wingdings = post concussion symptoms.
 

Myron P. Medcalf said:
Take it from someone who was there and interviewed Hoffarber after the game ... He told me the same thing. Not disrespectful at all. It did feel like a high school gym. Just 4,200 seats. It was an observation. If you read my story, he says that he "kind of likes" smaller gyms.
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Thanks for the clarification Myron...definitely makes sense; figured KSB was looking a little too far into it...
 


Hey guys. I was at the game last night. Good one and we have not seen a lot of them as of late. Impressed with Joseph and the Mbakwe. Nice players. I got the feeling that your team was not all that interested in the game. Thought the Hawks might steal one. Gophers did what they had to do. I appreciate Tubby Smith playing us on the road at the fieldhouse. We have a hard time getting quality home & home games against BCS teams. When we do its usually at the Palestra. Don't get me wrong the Palestra is awesome but its a 2nd home not our true home court.

I have no issue with this kids comment. We are what we are and make no excuses for it. We play some of our home games at the Palestra while the rest we play in our updated fieldhouse. Right now we are VERY, VERY young but talented. I expect you will see us in the Top 25 in a couple years. Hopefully we will continue to play you guys but I have my doubts that Tubby will come back to the St. Joe Fieldhouse.
 

station19 said:
Many people try to read too much into comments.
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19, no doubt about that. But...I never try to drink too much out of each beer. When it's gone, time to substitute for the tired one.
 



ShowinGoldyLove said:
You're nuts if you think Hoffarber was referring to St. Joe's, or their basketball team as high schoolers.

It's pretty obvious that he's referring to the size of the gym being so tiny w/fans that close to the floor, since Myron's entire article, question, even the title of the article, talk about how ridiculously small the arena is?

But I guess you can take it entirely out of context to create your own narrative if you want...
Click to expand...

Do you read posts?

I got the comment via the ESPN article, which didn't mention any of the context surrounding the question. In addition, I said I "was shocked" to see that. Taking that comment on its face, it seems pretty hostile...the venue "is like high school or something" - nothing is "obvious" about the comment referring to the size of the gym and the fan location. Regardless, no college team wants to be compared to a high school team regardless if the comment is directed towards the venue or the fan base (which is, again, what I thought he was referring - as I mentioned).

You reprimand me for taking things out of context and then contradict yourself by taking my post out of context (i.e. after I say I read the ESPN article, you quote the Myron article and assume I read the Myron article). Brilliant. Keep up the good posts, champ.
 

HAWK91 said:
Hey guys. I was at the game last night. Good one and we have not seen a lot of them as of late. Impressed with Joseph and the Mbakwe. Nice players. I got the feeling that your team was not all that interested in the game. Thought the Hawks might steal one. Gophers did what they had to do. I appreciate Tubby Smith playing us on the road at the fieldhouse. We have a hard time getting quality home & home games against BCS teams. When we do its usually at the Palestra. Don't get me wrong the Palestra is awesome but its a 2nd home not our true home court.

I have no issue with this kids comment. We are what we are and make no excuses for it. We play some of our home games at the Palestra while the rest we play in our updated fieldhouse. Right now we are VERY, VERY young but talented. I expect you will see us in the Top 25 in a couple years. Hopefully we will continue to play you guys but I have my doubts that Tubby will come back to the St. Joe Fieldhouse.
Click to expand...

I was part of a group of approximately 60 Gopher fans that made the trip and I thoroughly enjoyed Hagan Arena and the whole SJU experience. While loud, it didn't seem like a hostile crowd at all. The fans were knowledgable, respectful and passionate. Had many approach me with questions or observations before the game and at half-time. After the game I heard nothing but positive comments from the SJU fans I encountered.

The SJU fans and the Hagan Arena ambiance made for a truly memorable fan experience for me. I would go back in a heartbeat but agree that Tubby might be reluctant to do so.

HAWK91 agree with your assessment of your team. Very talented and athletic group. Believe SJU started 3 freshman so the future looks pretty bright.
 

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