And the Allstate Arena era...
- Thread starter Fitz51
- Start date
Please correct me if I am wrong -- I'm not sure why, but I get the sense that you were less than pleased with the Allstate experience.
one of the most antiseptic basketball arena i have ever been in. Hospitals have more character. How the heck DePaul played there for so long is just amazing and probably a huge reason their program has been so poor
Ha! No, I did that in St. Moritz . . . but man, I defy you to find even ONE of us who is going to miss that place.
Possibly. A few years back we hosted my son's 10th Birthday party at Allstate, the occasion being the Coors Bull Riding Classic.
Although the bulls were sluggish, none of us fell asleep. And, fittingly, soon after we all came down with gastroenteritis.
The wrecking ball can't swing soon enough.
Although the bulls were sluggish, none of us fell asleep. And, fittingly, soon after we all came down with gastroenteritis.
The wrecking ball can't swing soon enough.
Unfortunately as a Wolves fan, I still have to put up with that dump. But I'm glad the 'Cats don't have to.
Historically they average around 8000 a game, with big crowds on the weekends and a very small group of die-hards during the week. Back in the days before the Blackhawks resurgence, the place would rock. Since then, a lot of casual sports fans who used to come to Wolves games have jumped on the Hawks bandwagon, leaving the crowds a little younger and less interested in hockey. Nowadays it's mostly groups of kids who got the tickets through scouts or a church group or something, and are there to eat cotton candy and scream when the video board tells them to. It seems like hardly anyone pays attention to the game. Just my $0.02.
While I don't think that where the games were played greatly affected the results for NU this year, I'd like to ask a question. Where do fans think would have been a better spot? Wintrust? Horizon? Loyola? Did NU consider any of these or someplace else?
Would have preferred Loyola; right on the Red Line. It's not like there were any great choices; all involved compromise. Thankfully, this is not a question we'll have to revisit any time soon.
Guess it all depends what soon means. I would have thought that the horizon would have worked better. Scheduling conflicts?
What are you talking about?? Allstate Arena is the corporate name for the former Rosemont Horizon......which is where NU spent their vagabond year!!
Well, I did think about filling out a comment card for the Allstate Arena folks, but
ETHS >>> Rosemont
I had fond memories of Rosemont Horizon. Wolves BDay party as a kid, ‘05 NCAA Tournament, etc. Rosemont is significantly closer to me so I was excited. Didn’t realize just how run-down it’s become over the last 12 years. And there are some overzealous workers there (one security guy trying to be the show, ushers booting you within minutes after the game). Won’t miss it anymore.
I will put Rosemont ahead of one place - Pavilion. Heavy traffic on that exit. Bad area. Very dark stadium. Very narrow concourses (don’t wrap around either). Sparse concessions. Scoreboard 75 ft behind one basket. Mold all over rafters. Old seats.
Loyola would’ve been best. Beautiful complex. Great area. Only 5k seats so we could limit visitors. Heard their game today had an insane atmosphere.
I will put Rosemont ahead of one place - Pavilion. Heavy traffic on that exit. Bad area. Very dark stadium. Very narrow concourses (don’t wrap around either). Sparse concessions. Scoreboard 75 ft behind one basket. Mold all over rafters. Old seats.
Loyola would’ve been best. Beautiful complex. Great area. Only 5k seats so we could limit visitors. Heard their game today had an insane atmosphere.
Maybe your right about the current conditions at the Pavilion but you are overstating that's in a bad area. Did you ever try some of the great Italian restaurants in the area? Also think the students could have just taken the EL to the games.
I've attended quite a few UIC games there over the years and no, not a bad area at all. But definitely a congested one. And parking around there would make Rosemont seem like a day at the beach.
Parking around there isn’t too dissimilar to parking at Welsh-Ryan - if you know where to look you can find free street parking within a couple blocks, and of course there’s the pay lot across the street. But the traffic congestion can be ridiculous around rush hour.
The last time I attended Pavilion was for a hockey game, which was obviously years ago. I also used the parking lot across the street, which was convenient and not very expensive. Guess traffic around there is crowded but not any more then at other city sport sites. Also getting to the Horizon is no walk in the park coming on the Kennedy or the Tri-State. Still feel that playing in the city would have worked better then out in Rosemont.
You may be right. But it over with, what's the point of beating that dead horse? And no, WRA will not have 10,000 seats either, that's another dead horse...........
I think it would have been better as well, I just don’t think there was a good choice available. Anywhere they went would have been inconvenient for both the team and a good chunk of the fans. Personally, I wish they could have found a way to get time at Wintrust, only because I’m about a 10 minute walk from there, but that probably wasn’t realistic.
Loyola also has a stop on the intercampus shuttle before the bus gets on Lake Shore Drive (or at least it did in my day nearly a decade ago). So it would have been easier to get students out and an easier drive for people in Evanston and the lakeside suburbs. We could have even made it work with second-tier dates, since the Big Ten plays seven days a week now for television. My guess is the program would have taken a big financial hit -- students come free and the money from opposing fans filling Allstate is still green -- and maybe Loyola didn't want to have us for all 20 games because the arena is right on campus.
Bingo. It was evident all along that this was about money and nothing else. Certainly wasn't about the students, it wasn't about the players, and it largely wasn't about the fans. If any of those factored in, they would've chosen a different location. Hope it was worth the lost season to Dr. Jim.
Loyola's Gentile Gym is a great little arena, connected directly to the student center (which is MUCH nicer than Norris). I was at the LUC v. Missouri State game, with about 3,500 attendees in a 4,200 person arena, and the place was rocking. But I don't think it was a realistic possibility for NU, for a number of reasons: (1) even in Rosemont, we drew over 4,200 for almost every game, and there's no way NU would have given up that "free money"; (2) LUC played a full home schedule, and all 4 winter teams (men's and women's basketball and volleyball) practice on that court, so the gym simply wouldn't have been available for most dates; and (3) I wouldn't be surprised if there is tension between the NU and LUC athletic departments, not least because NU has poached Armon Gates and Shane Davis (volleyball) in recent years.
Didn't NU initially announce the Women's Volleyball team would play last season at Loyola? Obviously that didn't happen. Maybe the Davis thing played a role. I attended the first game at the post-renovation Gentile Center and liked it a lot. It would have been great if NU basketball could have played there, but I doubt it was a realistic option, even before considering the Davis/Gates poachings. I assume Loyola uses it quite a bit.
AllState Arena was probably they only realistic option. The Pavilion or the Sears Centre are even farther from Evanston. So the AA experience was just as bad as I expected it to be. I did gain an appreciation for the few DePaul fans who went there year after year. The arena definitely contributed to their program's decline.
While I would love to see the demise of AA I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. The Wolves draw well for the AHL and they don't have anywhere to go. Wintrust Arena doesn't have ice (as far as I know) and I can't see them moving out to the Sears Centre. Also, from what I read about the industry, arenas make most of their money from concerts and the ribbon boards at AA were advertising a lot of concerts. Though I'm going to a concert in March and had my choice between seeing it at AA or seeing it in Milwaukee. I'm going to Milwaukee.
Speaking of the Wolves, I do have one good memory from all my times at AA: Game 7 of the 1998 Turner Cup Final against Detroit. The place was sold out (imagine that) and loud. The game was delayed 30 minutes due to a bench-clearing brawl! The Wolves scored 2 third period goals and won 3-0. Until the Hawks resurgence more than a decade later that was the hockey highlight for me. Unfortunately youtube only has the Wolves intro from that game:
AllState Arena was probably they only realistic option. The Pavilion or the Sears Centre are even farther from Evanston. So the AA experience was just as bad as I expected it to be. I did gain an appreciation for the few DePaul fans who went there year after year. The arena definitely contributed to their program's decline.
While I would love to see the demise of AA I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. The Wolves draw well for the AHL and they don't have anywhere to go. Wintrust Arena doesn't have ice (as far as I know) and I can't see them moving out to the Sears Centre. Also, from what I read about the industry, arenas make most of their money from concerts and the ribbon boards at AA were advertising a lot of concerts. Though I'm going to a concert in March and had my choice between seeing it at AA or seeing it in Milwaukee. I'm going to Milwaukee.
Speaking of the Wolves, I do have one good memory from all my times at AA: Game 7 of the 1998 Turner Cup Final against Detroit. The place was sold out (imagine that) and loud. The game was delayed 30 minutes due to a bench-clearing brawl! The Wolves scored 2 third period goals and won 3-0. Until the Hawks resurgence more than a decade later that was the hockey highlight for me. Unfortunately youtube only has the Wolves intro from that game:
I think you hit on the answer. NU should have played their BB games in Milwaukee!
1) If I remember correctly, the infamous "very reliable source" may have told me in early 2017 that NU approached Loyola about playing at the Gentile Center, and it was greeted less-than-enthusiastically by LU.
But my mind may be playing tricks on me. Can anybody back that up?
2) I'm beginning to draw a conclusion about all the local arenas.
Is there a metropolitan area in the United States that has more generic, poor-planned and generally crappy basketball arenas than the Chicago area? Geez, what a billion-dollar heap of junk - Gentile (maybe they got it right the second time), Allstate, UIC, the Hoffman Estates Arena name of the week, McGrath-Sullivan on DePaul's campus and yes, the UC.
I'll add Wintrust to the list for being poorly planned.
But my mind may be playing tricks on me. Can anybody back that up?
2) I'm beginning to draw a conclusion about all the local arenas.
Is there a metropolitan area in the United States that has more generic, poor-planned and generally crappy basketball arenas than the Chicago area? Geez, what a billion-dollar heap of junk - Gentile (maybe they got it right the second time), Allstate, UIC, the Hoffman Estates Arena name of the week, McGrath-Sullivan on DePaul's campus and yes, the UC.
I'll add Wintrust to the list for being poorly planned.
