Author Topic: KU Basketball is Hurting  (Read 161001 times)

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Offline KST8FAN

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #775 on: April 14, 2021, 12:17:35 AM »
I am the old on here and attended games in Ahearn thru college.  If its too costly to revamp,, and we're going to upgrade Bram is there a compromise scenario where we make Bram more Ahearny?

Give me a pitched roof with steel beams, a few windows to drop some sunlight in on the Saturday afternoon games.  Wheel in a couple food trailers to sell popcorn. Give real Willie his own habitat by the club.  Figure out how to incorporate those steep steps and little tunnels.  Slap a little more limestone up.

They literally raised the roof on Gallagher Iba to add an upper deck.  Surely the HIQE on here can draw this up.


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Offline TaqMan

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #776 on: April 14, 2021, 11:35:22 AM »
I didn't go to any games there, but I remember that's where I stood in line for my freshman enrollment/financial aid paperwork stuff. 1994 I think? I think Asbury was coach so I know we sucked anyway.

Online chum1

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #777 on: April 14, 2021, 11:45:22 AM »
I went to some games there, but I don't really remember them.

Offline star seed 7

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #778 on: April 14, 2021, 12:09:51 PM »
I went to some games there, but I don't really remember them.

Yeah, I've been told I went to games there but was too young to remember.

The only time I remember even going in the building was because my macroecon teacher had an office in there and I needed to turn something in.
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Offline Kid In the Hall

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #779 on: April 14, 2021, 12:21:52 PM »
In a weird way, it was actually a pretty decent venue for volleyball - just an odd/unique setup. Even with only 1,000 people, it would get decently loud. The lack of A/C did suck for August/September matches (I imagine opposing teams hated that since they weren't used to it).

I can't remember when, but in the late 90s/early 2000s, K-State hosted NCAAs instead of Nebraska and there were definitely all sorts of firecode violations when the corn people packed the stands (and endlessly bitched about having to come to MHK instead of hosting themselves).

Offline tdaver

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #780 on: April 14, 2021, 01:58:25 PM »
I am the old on here and attended games in Ahearn thru college.  If its too costly to revamp,, and we're going to upgrade Bram is there a compromise scenario where we make Bram more Ahearny?

Give me a pitched roof with steel beams, a few windows to drop some sunlight in on the Saturday afternoon games.  Wheel in a couple food trailers to sell popcorn. Give real Willie his own habitat by the club.  Figure out how to incorporate those steep steps and little tunnels.  Slap a little more limestone up.

They literally raised the roof on Gallagher Iba to add an upper deck.  Surely the HIQE on here can draw this up.


Tom

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https://goEMAW.com/forum/index.php?topic=26002.msg1669555#msg1669555

Here you go.  Compliments of Shooter Jones.

Offline 1863

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #781 on: April 14, 2021, 05:22:10 PM »
I know there are other threads for stupid unrealistic facilities dreams, but I have always thought that revaming Ahearn to hold 8K or so would be fun, and make over half of it student seating...completely encircle the floor with first level student section and make a small upper deck almost all luxury seating and club for alumni who cough up cash.


Edgy people on this blog trash this Ahearn pipe dream but I have it too. Yes Ahearn sucks. Yes it's hot garbage and would be exorbitantly expensive to revamp. But arenas with history are cool too every once in a while for a small handful of non-con games a year, 'specially for those of us townie qat fans who are of the age where we just barely missed seeing a game in legendary 'hearn but grew up with everyone we know telling us how incredible it was. We all want luxury suites and jumbotrons long-term, but eff it...if we're playing Southern Utah, I'd stomach ancient and decrepit facilities to be able to enjoy a little history I missed out on. Especially if we use the old 1960s-era scoreboard where the game clock appeared to be an actual clock. You got a problem with my Ahearn pipe dream? Meet me up on the weird rafter/catwalk/press area (???) thing and we can settle this the way Dick Knostman and Lew Hitch would've.

Northwestern renovated their arena, Welsh-Ryan for $110 million. It was built in 1952 with a capacity of 9,500 and now holds 7,039 (Ahearn opened in 1950 with 14,000 and closed in '88 around 12k to give you a size comparison). Bramlage renovations are projected  at $85 million and will reduce capacity to introduce more luxury seating and a mid level concourse.

I mention Welsh Ryan because the interior might look familiar:

https://www.supportthecats.com/capital-projects/welsh-ryan-arena.html

https://twitter.com/NUMensBball/status/1058476786080759809

I am sure someone can photoshop a powercat onto the court.
 

Offline Shooter Jones

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #782 on: April 14, 2021, 05:36:20 PM »
What a beaut.

But, we're stuck with Bramlage, guys. With the SEZ and $85 mill hopefully they can make chicken salad out of that chicken crap.

Offline MakeItRain

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #783 on: April 14, 2021, 07:24:01 PM »
when did volleyball stop using Ahearn?  Turning it into an elite VB facility for 3 to 4k fans seems like a great use of a historic building.  Playing a couple years of weekend BB noncons there would command premium ticket prices for at least a few seasons even with the current state of oscar's program.

Completely stop with no hope of going back? This season. It was a slow bleed of games to Bramlage before that though. Everything over there is just too cramped and old. There is a chance they might have to go to Ahearn for a match or two next November when basketball starts up, but Ahearn is dunzo as our volleyball home court.

Offline MakeItRain

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #784 on: April 14, 2021, 07:29:06 PM »
In a weird way, it was actually a pretty decent venue for volleyball - just an odd/unique setup. Even with only 1,000 people, it would get decently loud. The lack of A/C did suck for August/September matches (I imagine opposing teams hated that since they weren't used to it).

I can't remember when, but in the late 90s/early 2000s, K-State hosted NCAAs instead of Nebraska and there were definitely all sorts of firecode violations when the corn people packed the stands (and endlessly bitched about having to come to MHK instead of hosting themselves).

We actually hosted more than once. The record there is just over 5000 and that was for a regular season match against nubb. They didn't move the court, scoreboard set up didn't allow that, so there were people all the way to what would be midcourt for basketball. Those were super duper obstructed view seats. We had a couple of more crowds around 4000 and more around 3000 back then. Around the mid 2000's they capped capacity at around 2000 and they hung that giant tarp behind the student section to make sure everyone was contained to the south side of the building.

Online Cire

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #785 on: April 14, 2021, 07:46:32 PM »
I went to quite a few volleyball games at ahearn in 01/02 ish. It was fun!


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Offline Dugout DickStone

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #786 on: April 15, 2021, 04:01:30 PM »
I am the old on here and attended games in Ahearn thru college.  If its too costly to revamp,, and we're going to upgrade Bram is there a compromise scenario where we make Bram more Ahearny?

Give me a pitched roof with steel beams, a few windows to drop some sunlight in on the Saturday afternoon games.  Wheel in a couple food trailers to sell popcorn. Give real Willie his own habitat by the club.  Figure out how to incorporate those steep steps and little tunnels.  Slap a little more limestone up.

They literally raised the roof on Gallagher Iba to add an upper deck.  Surely the HIQE on here can draw this up.


Tom

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You have my attention.  Or, give fake Willie his own habitat where he has to act like an actual wildcat, eat rodents, perch on  limb and spray trees with urine

Online chum1

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #787 on: April 15, 2021, 04:24:33 PM »
I've remembered seeing somerhng in Ahearn. Willie doing a striptease. Took of layers of warm ups, uniform, down to undershirt and boxers (I think). Recurring bit. Everyone loved it.

Offline Shooter Jones

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #788 on: April 15, 2021, 04:44:24 PM »
Do you think they can tear down Ahearn while they're renovating Bramlage and use some of the materials from the Ahearn shithouse in the reno?

Call it Bramlage Fieldhouse after and all is right in the world.

Offline SkinnyBenny

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #789 on: April 16, 2021, 12:35:03 AM »
Actually I believe Northwestern's renovation did what Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse renovation did: re-oriented the court 90 degrees from what it used to be. It looks kind of weird with the rafters going the "wrong" way but now there are at least five schools I can think of whose court runs perpendicular to the rafters, so it's not as alarming anymore. Anyway, in doing so it allows them to stretch the rows behind the sidelines up higher than they used to, and behind the baskets now they just stack two really tiny 7-row decks on top of each other since the building doesn't allow much room to add rows back.

To wit...

Old Hinkle:




New Hinkle:



If we were ever to retrofit Ahearn, which we won't, I imagine we'd maybe have to do that? So many of these old fieldhouses doubled as armories and indoor track places and crap, so their dimensions don't always work great for hoops by today's sightline standards. That's why there were so many horrendous seats in Ahearn behind the baskets back in the day. It was very 90's Kyle Field'y.

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Offline sonofdaxjones

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #790 on: April 16, 2021, 07:39:56 AM »
K-State Architecture students came up with the BFH plan for AFH, they were ignored.


Offline passranch

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #791 on: April 16, 2021, 02:47:23 PM »

Actually I believe Northwestern's renovation did what Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse renovation did: re-oriented the court 90 degrees from what it used to be.


You would be wrong.  Welsh-Ryan Arena was always that way.  Pre-renovation pic below as proof:




Building hoops arenas in that orientation was also a thing.  Here is Oregon State's Gill Coliseum:



Same as the 40's when it was new:


Offline BIG APPLE CAT

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #792 on: April 16, 2021, 10:56:13 PM »
It’s that what basketball courts used to look like? I’m starting to think that maybe what happened was one day the good Doctor Naismith was doodling some fresh dongs and someone saw and was like “are...are those dicks?” And he was like “what?! No, it’s...uh, it’s a new game I invented, its called...basketball. Now build a museum and put this drawing in it. Wait, no, not this exact drawing. Make a copy of it, and put the copy in the museum. To reiterate: I definitely wasn’t drawing cranks.”

Offline SkinnyBenny

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #793 on: April 16, 2021, 11:16:36 PM »

Actually I believe Northwestern's renovation did what Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse renovation did: re-oriented the court 90 degrees from what it used to be.


You would be wrong.  Welsh-Ryan Arena was always that way.  Pre-renovation pic below as proof:




Building hoops arenas in that orientation was also a thing.  Here is Oregon State's Gill Coliseum:



Same as the 40's when it was new:



No doubt, but it certainly wasn't the norm. It does exist, though. Alabama's Coleman Coliseum is the same way. Also I've been to a game at McGill and it definitely scratched an itch for a game in an old timey arena. :thumbs:


Western Michigan's Read Arena now has the court oriented perpendicular to the rafters. They also pulled a Butler. Or maybe Butler pulled a Western Michigan? Not sure who did it first.

Here's old Read Arena, which clearly looks exactly like Ahearn as far as proportions, court alignment, permanent upper deck but with temporary bleachers at the bottom. Then when they updated it they flipped the court 90 degrees.







"walking around mhk and crying in the rain because of love lost is the absolute purest and best thing in the world.  i hope i fall in love during the next few weeks and get my heart broken and it starts raining just to experience it one last time."   --Dlew12

Offline KITNfury

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #794 on: April 17, 2021, 08:18:34 AM »
SkinBen getting schooled in the ways of the arena. Lots to learn grasshopper, apparently.
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Offline SkinnyBenny

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #795 on: April 19, 2021, 02:46:31 PM »
Correct, I was wrong on Northwestern's arena. But surely anyone would admit that 90%+ of the fieldhousey arenas in those days were built with the rafters running the way Ahearn's do.

"walking around mhk and crying in the rain because of love lost is the absolute purest and best thing in the world.  i hope i fall in love during the next few weeks and get my heart broken and it starts raining just to experience it one last time."   --Dlew12

Offline Shooter Jones

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #796 on: April 19, 2021, 03:14:44 PM »
Guess which way the court sits in this pretty much new fieldhouse???



P.S. I think a roof like this would be awesome for Bramlage.

Offline Pete

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #797 on: April 19, 2021, 04:48:54 PM »
Take it to the facilities fantasies threads you dorks.

Offline passranch

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #798 on: April 22, 2021, 04:26:51 PM »
Guess which way the court sits in this pretty much new fieldhouse???



P.S. I think a roof like this would be awesome for Bramlage.

Nice...plus it has a clerestory!   :love:

Here is Mizzou Arena (or mini-Banker's Life I'd imagine they call it)


Offline Shooter Jones

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Re: KU Basketball is Hurting
« Reply #799 on: May 01, 2021, 07:50:23 PM »
How much of Texas's new arena is actually being paid for by the school or AD tho? I thought the city was chipping in a bunch, as it will also be used as a public event venue.

I believe originally a developer/property group/investment group (honestly not sure how to describe it) was paying for it/building it and would get all profits for a certain amount of time, then there would be profit sharing with UT after.

But then, the Moody Foundation donated like half the cost to UT to chip in for the Arena and I believe a new basketball practice facility... so I'm not really sure how any of it works now.

I do know it's everything I would want in a facility at K-State (we probably wouldn't even need the upper deck option to expand seating for events.)



The upper deck thing is fascinating to me. Is it actually "expandable" or will they be tarping that sucker?

I just saw an interview, and they said it’ll use “revolutionary technology” to adjust it.

So it better be pretty cool.