This post is not meant to be tongue-in-cheek.
We can all agree that Colonial Life Arena is way too large of an arena for South Carolina men's basketball. It's frustrating to see all of the great intimate venues around the country, where fans are on top of the action and create a raucous homecourt environment... and then compare those environments to the lifeless environment we have at Colonial Life Arena. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the CLA, so we've got to figure out a way to improve what we've got.
Winning, of course, would help greatly. But regardless, the arena is simply way too big. We need to curtain/tarp off the upper decks and force everyone into the lower bowl. If certain games have demand that exceeds the capacity of the lower bowl, then open up sections (the sections running the length of the court) in the upper deck. But the upper deck sections behind the basket will almost never need to be open.
Also, how many years do we have to talk about flipping the TV angle at CLA before this administration actually does something about it? Either move the benches to the other side and put the students on the current bench side, or build a TV box on the other side and flip the orientation of the court. It's that easy. Currently, the empty Gray Hair Section is all we can see on TV. It's embarrassing and pathetic that USC can't figure this out.
I remember a few years ago, Jay Phillips was interviewing Ray Tanner after the end of another underwhelming MBB season. Jay actually asked some pointed questions to Ray about improving the environment, and mentioned curtaining off/tarping off the upper deck. Ray gave a vague answer but claimed that we were studying ways to improve the environment. Years later, it appears Ray is still studying it, because I can't see that anything meaningful has been done.
We can all agree that Colonial Life Arena is way too large of an arena for South Carolina men's basketball. It's frustrating to see all of the great intimate venues around the country, where fans are on top of the action and create a raucous homecourt environment... and then compare those environments to the lifeless environment we have at Colonial Life Arena. Unfortunately, we're stuck with the CLA, so we've got to figure out a way to improve what we've got.
Winning, of course, would help greatly. But regardless, the arena is simply way too big. We need to curtain/tarp off the upper decks and force everyone into the lower bowl. If certain games have demand that exceeds the capacity of the lower bowl, then open up sections (the sections running the length of the court) in the upper deck. But the upper deck sections behind the basket will almost never need to be open.
Also, how many years do we have to talk about flipping the TV angle at CLA before this administration actually does something about it? Either move the benches to the other side and put the students on the current bench side, or build a TV box on the other side and flip the orientation of the court. It's that easy. Currently, the empty Gray Hair Section is all we can see on TV. It's embarrassing and pathetic that USC can't figure this out.
I remember a few years ago, Jay Phillips was interviewing Ray Tanner after the end of another underwhelming MBB season. Jay actually asked some pointed questions to Ray about improving the environment, and mentioned curtaining off/tarping off the upper deck. Ray gave a vague answer but claimed that we were studying ways to improve the environment. Years later, it appears Ray is still studying it, because I can't see that anything meaningful has been done.
