Reusse: Unlike the Gophers’ coaching situation, the solution for Williams Arena is simple: Blow up The Barn

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He hits the nail on the head and only misses on the needed capacity of the new arena. 9,000 should do it. Volleyball is a good draw.
 




It reads like a conversation with an 80 year old man. But distilling down to the point, he's not wrong in the main premise - the Barn is past its use by date.

Beyond that, is he suggesting a very small on campus arena for most games and higher attendance games be played at a new Timberwolves arena? That doesn't make a ton of sense. Build a 10k-11k arena and play all games on campus.

The U screwed up when it built Mariucci and renovated the Barn. It should have built a new multipurpose arena. But seldom does the U do the right thing when it comes to athletics.

I'd miss the Barn but there's a lot of things I miss that aren't coming back. It is time to go.
 

The held punches against Johnson is insane. Mentioned it before but it's unreal the difference in treatment for Johnson compared to other Gopher coaches.

As for the Barn, I think it's more of a reasonable point of discussion. I love historic college buildings, but if the aesthetic could be kept it would be alright I think. If a new arena was built with a similar framework, "barn-shaped" so to speak, similar raised floor, but with better tech, concourses, etc. I think that could work. Barn 2.0 maybe?

The Bank was built with that brick exterior, and is a mix of modern and old-school college football. Could do the same with the basketball facility.
 

Stan said:
That column was an exhausting read. All over the place. He’s right, we need a new arena, but like The Barn, Pat is way past his usefulness.
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I did read the whole article and like stan said...it is hard to read.
I agree with what I think are his two main points: 1. Tear down Williams Arena. 2. Do not hire Medved.
But after that I don't agree with anything he tried to say...I don't think.
On a side note...hopefully Richard keeps winning. First place in the Mountain West at 12 and 1.
 

The last time the Barn was relevant, Max Winter thundered around the basket watching tre after tre from Bobby J. popping the net audibly screaming, "When Lord! When is it going to be MY time!"
 




Reusse needed to retire 15 years ago. He's stealing space that could be taken up by a younger person with a fresher take on sports and the world.

He should, in his line of work, be aware that building new facilities for college sports was the trick 20 years ago. You couldn't pay the players outright (well not in Minneapolis at least -- the newspapers would find out), so you built them fancy lounges with big screen tvs and Playstations. That's not the case anymore.
 

Moving into a tiny house with 9,000 capacity would be a huge mistake IMO. This is a metropolitan area of two and a half million people and a good basketball town. The program remains a sleeping giant from the standpoint of potential fan support. It might not ever be what it was before: a waiting list for season tickets in a 14,000-seat venue; but let's not sell the potential of this situation short.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Moving into a tiny house with 9,000 capacity would be a huge mistake IMO. This is a metropolitan area of two and a half million people and a good basketball town. The program remains a sleeping giant from the standpoint of potential fan support. It might not ever be what it was before: a waiting list for season tickets in a 14,000-seat venue; but let's not sell the potential of this situation short.
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Could say the same about FB. Why only 50,000 seats? Sleeping giant, etc. The stadium is actually appropriate sized. Williams Arena is too big.
 



The bigger piece to all of this is that it will take a huge private investment to build a new arena. I don't see any appetite at the legislature for building stadiums and arenas, especially with looming budget deficits (imagine spending a $17 billion dollar budget deficit and raising taxes and now being faced with deficits?). I can't imagine that there is more than one thing state Republicans and Democrats agree on but I'd be certain they agree they aren't funding new arenas.

And if this is dependent on private donors... well there's the village.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Moving into a tiny house with 9,000 capacity would be a huge mistake IMO. This is a metropolitan area of two and a half million people and a good basketball town. The program remains a sleeping giant from the standpoint of potential fan support. It might not ever be what it was before: a waiting list for season tickets in a 14,000-seat venue; but let's not sell the potential of this situation short.
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50k made sense for the Bank because we rarely broke 50k average attendance (aided by visitor fans for big games/rivalries).

Even at rock bottom has attendance only dropped below 9k once, and with even moderate success, has been 11-12k+. I think 11-12k makes sense.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Moving into a tiny house with 9,000 capacity would be a huge mistake IMO. This is a metropolitan area of two and a half million people and a good basketball town. The program remains a sleeping giant from the standpoint of potential fan support. It might not ever be what it was before: a waiting list for season tickets in a 14,000-seat venue; but let's not sell the potential of this situation short.
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You are right that the U of M is a sleeping giant in basketball. There is so much potential here. To realize it, it is going to take substantial investment and modernization, from the facility to NIL to overall athletic department strategy . I do wonder what it would be like for Richard Pitino or Ben Johnson if they could recruit with a huge NIL bag and a top 10in the country facility experience. I also wonder how it would change a coaching candidate and player recruitment pool.

The top two college sports by revenue — football and basketball— are now truly professional sports. The U needs to figure out how they are going to compete in the financial arms race to be relevant nationally in these two sports. Or they need to be fine with who they are and just be that.
 


The world has changed. Attendance is declining for college sports everywhere across the country. Every game is on TV. It’s hard to compete with the convenience of watching at home for the casual fan. And, if you do decide to show up and put up with the hassle and expense, you experience an uncomfortable and decrepit physical environment that’s far less than half full. It doesn’t scream “I should do this again.”

Penn State recently held a game at their old venue, Rec Hall, that holds far less than the oft-empty Bryce Jordan Center. It was full, and so much more energy. I’m sure there’s way fewer amenities at Rec Hall, but that’s the right atmosphere to attract people to come back. Scarcity creates demand. And, PSUs product on the floor ain’t much better than Minnesota’s.

I also agree that the political climate makes building a new arena with public money very difficult. Kinda stuck unless some corporate bigwig decides to be philanthropic. If I were AD, I’d get some plans in place, just in case.

BTW, regarding some games at Target, I think UConn does play some games in Hartford vs. on campus, but I could be out of date on that.
 


swede2 said:
Could say the same about FB. Why only 50,000 seats? Sleeping giant, etc. The stadium is actually appropriate sized. Williams Arena is too big.
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The football stadium is set up for expansion though. An arena would not be.
 


swede2 said:
The bigger piece to all of this is that it will take a huge private investment to build a new arena. I don't see any appetite at the legislature for building stadiums and arenas, especially with looming budget deficits (imagine spending a $17 billion dollar budget deficit and raising taxes and now being faced with deficits?). I can't imagine that there is more than one thing state Republicans and Democrats agree on but I'd be certain they agree they aren't funding new arenas.

And if this is dependent on private donors... well there's the village.
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Twins Wild and Vikings are all at the legislature asking for renovation funds. The U should be in that line as well.
 

I’d build it in lot 37 with a skyway over to the ball fields and practice facility. Wouldn’t need to even play off campus if done this way. Tear down the barn and build more parking there.
 


IceBoxGopher said:
The held punches against Johnson is insane. Mentioned it before but it's unreal the difference in treatment for Johnson compared to other Gopher coaches.

As for the Barn, I think it's more of a reasonable point of discussion. I love historic college buildings, but if the aesthetic could be kept it would be alright I think. If a new arena was built with a similar framework, "barn-shaped" so to speak, similar raised floor, but with better tech, concourses, etc. I think that could work. Barn 2.0 maybe?

The Bank was built with that brick exterior, and is a mix of modern and old-school college football. Could do the same with the basketball facility.
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Agree, do a throwback like a mini Conseco aka Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a barn type theme. It could be done.
 


formerlybis said:
The world has changed. Attendance is declining for college sports everywhere across the country. Every game is on TV. It’s hard to compete with the convenience of watching at home for the casual fan. And, if you do decide to show up and put up with the hassle and expense, you experience an uncomfortable and decrepit physical environment that’s far less than half full. It doesn’t scream “I should do this again.”

Penn State recently held a game at their old venue, Rec Hall, that holds far less than the oft-empty Bryce Jordan Center. It was full, and so much more energy. I’m sure there’s way fewer amenities at Rec Hall, but that’s the right atmosphere to attract people to come back. Scarcity creates demand. And, PSUs product on the floor ain’t much better than Minnesota’s.

I also agree that the political climate makes building a new arena with public money very difficult. Kinda stuck unless some corporate bigwig decides to be philanthropic. If I were AD, I’d get some plans in place, just in case.

BTW, regarding some games at Target, I think UConn does play some games in Hartford vs. on campus, but I could be out of date on that.
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Texas downsized for its new basketball arena. The Erwin Center held 16k, their new one 10k but can flex it to 12-13k as needed. UConn still plays games in Hartford, but it seems they are not doing it as much as they used to. Remember when BC played in the Garden and Villanova played in the Spectrum? Miss those days!
 

swede2 said:
It reads like a conversation with an 80 year old man. But distilling down to the point, he's not wrong in the main premise - the Barn is past its use by date.

Beyond that, is he suggesting a very small on campus arena for most games and higher attendance games be played at a new Timberwolves arena? That doesn't make a ton of sense. Build a 10k-11k arena and play all games on campus.

The U screwed up when it built Mariucci and renovated the Barn. It should have built a new multipurpose arena. But seldom does the U do the right thing when it comes to athletics.

I'd miss the Barn but there's a lot of things I miss that aren't coming back. It is time to go.
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Multipurpose arenas suck...especially basketball hockey. They are concrete wastelands with terrible sounds and atmospheres. They are halfway decent for basketball (if filled) but flat out awful for hockey.

You need only look at the Kohl Center (even when the BADgers are good in hockey) to see how awful that place is. There are others and the atmosphere always sucks.
 

GoodasGold said:
🤮
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I really like the idea of building it on campus and, ideally, part of the athletic complex. It's a pain to have students take a train to downtown for a basketball game. We learned from the Metrodome experience.

If Gophers basketball is an important part of the U of M experience, there is enough money in this state to get the arena done. Public funding should also be a part of it, especially if it's being used for state tourney games, basketball clinics for kids, etc. The Barn was a pretty good investment, having stood for 100 years. If the Barn can be re-created on the existing site, the Gophers can play at the new Timberwolves arena temporarily.
 

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