MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Superfoot Wallace]

Pennstghs is right, worst kind of dog to fight is an injured dog.  Could be argued OWU got their win after Carraway went down, so why didnt the injured dog get his, but the proximity of the game to the injury gives the Coach and staff a little preparation time.  Maybe to even work the psychology.

Dont listen to the Scot Tigers.  Lost its drama?  The only team the Tigers havent beaten yet?  Sneaky reverse psychology.

Who put you down?

The Haters

Who put you in the game?

Thought I could get in through the backdoor

Slap!

signed,
DD #33 - Castle

[sac]

Here's a couple photo links to Hope's DeVos

http://hope.edu/pr/athletics/devoshighlights.html

http://www.hope.edu/pr/campusdev/devos.html#photos

The second link will give you way more info than you'll ever wish to know.  As competition goes its stickly an event building for basketball and volleyball.  Hope has an on campus wellness building which contains, basketball courts, pool, small track, weightroom......Dow Center.  Its a very unique place for a D3 school.


I was struck by how much Wooster and Wittenberg's gyms were similar.  I think I liked Wooster's a little better because it was brighter and the seating seemed to get more fans closer to the court.  Both are nice D3 gyms.

[earlhamalum]

Has anyone seen random game at HPER and Timken that didn't involve Wooster playing Wittenberg?  goscots you are right about wittenberg, but I enjoy Timken as you will see in my top 10 NCAC gymnasium.

1.) Wooster-  Likes: the Saturday game crowd and when they Host NCAC Tourney.  Dislikes: not much...never seeing them lose
2.) Earlham-  Likes: Simple, Clean, modern, when filled and outstanding basketball environment.  Dislikes:  not a shooters gym, empty to much.environment.  
(Wally_ you should try to make a trip to Richmond on game day sometimes!)
3.) Allegheny-  Likes: the drop down seating, Scoreboard, individual seating.  Dislikes: locker-rooms behind the baskets, final college basketball gym I played in.
4.) Wabash-  Likes: Student body (when they show up) The old Estelle Meter, the over-all size, Geographically close and located in Indiana. Dislikes  Student body, Bo always being a Ref!
5.) Wittenberg-  Likes:  size, the student couch, the dim lights.  Dislikes: Earlham never plays well there, and Bo always being a ref!
6.) OWU-  Likes: the ceiling, feels like playing basketball in a Church!  Dislikes: The candy table when you walk in, the 3 story hike to the 95 degree locker room.
7.) Denison-  Likes:  In a nice little city of Granville (2nd fav. NCAC baseball fields!!) The Glass window on the entrance wall.   dislikes: the old wooden bleachers and the half-wall on the Bench side.  
(Billy_ I just think you like the way the baskets came out... like Hinkle Field House, which was hands down my favorite d3 basketball experience!!!
8.) Kenyon *old gym-  Likes: not a whole lot to say about it, it was 2 steps up from my next gym!
9.) Oberlin-  Likes: NONE  Dislikes: Dump, Middle of nowhere, old, a dingy feel
10.) Hiram-  Likes: an old hangar Maybe???  Dislikes:  Glass light during day games, OLD, OLD, Open, locker-rooms you go through 9 doors and 1.2 miles away from the court.

[pennstghs]

wally-unfortunately the tradition of the couch at wittenberg games that i loved and often won privileges of sitting in his disappeared......maybe we can bring it back someday.

One thing about OWU gym is that is awfully cold in there

Earlham's gym is modern-but the only d3 gym i know with box seats lol (the upstairs glass room with chairs where the lockerrooms are)

Wooster's gym can get really loud, but that is kind of skewed as ive been there twice and both times playing wittenberg-cant say i would be willing to go there any other time

[wally_wabash]

I must admit that the idea of having a couch at a hoops game is awesome and I'm bummed that Wabash students didn't come up with this idea.  Wabash students will bust out some couches for home baseball games.  Few things beat watching a double-dip at Mud Hollow kicked up on a couch with some Dari-Licious.  Good times. 

[Li'l Giant]

I went to the Amherst/Trinity(TX) game earlier this season and there was a couch in the corner of the floor there, too. There were a few students on it during the game. The guy that was sitting on it had some good smack. He told one Amherst player on an inbound "You're gonna wish you had gone to Williams".

Wabash students will bust out some couches for home baseball games.

The lack of actual seating at Mud Hollow makes it more of a necessity and less of a joke.

[David Collinge]

Has anyone seen random game at HPER and Timken that didn't involve Wooster playing Wittenberg? 

Well, of course I've been to tons of games at Wooster that didn't involve Wittenberg.  Still the average home crowd is about 1000, and maybe 500-700 for games during student holidays, so there's always some sort of a crowd (for men's games; the women don't draw much beyond friends and relatives.)  It's okay; big, can be loud, fairly comfortable, convenient--it just lacks character. 

I've was at Witt for the women's Woo-Witt game this year, which was sparsely attended, and I have basically the same comments as I have for Timken.  I agree with sac, though, about the lighting and the angle of the stands.  The top of the stands at Witt feels like it's a half-mile from the court.  I pity the broadcasters who have to work way up and back there.  Parking is another drawback of the HPER Center.  But the old gym is still there on the other side of the lobby.  Wooster Booster took me on a tour of it when we were there; it was pretty cool.  We also stumbled on a pre-game meeting of the Witt team with Bill Brown, and the notes we took and passed along to Steve Moore were pivotal ("they don't plan to defend Port if he happens to grab an offensive rebound and run to the corner and whirl and launch a three, so you should run that play in the final minute, Steve." )

I must admit that the idea of having a couch at a hoops game is awesome and I'm bummed that Wabash students didn't come up with this idea.  Wabash students will bust out some couches for home baseball games.  Few things beat watching a double-dip at Mud Hollow kicked up on a couch with some Dari-Licious.  Good times. 

We always had a couch for our intramural softball games when I was a student.  It was in left-center field and was usually shared by the left fielder (me) and center fielder.  We usually had a keg, or at least a pitcher of gin and tonics, out there with the couch.  When I was a senior, we used one pledge as a cocktail waitress and another as an ottoman, and if anyone hit the ball our way we'd send the pledges to retrieve it.  We didn't win many games.

[Li'l Giant]

We always had a couch for our intramural softball games when I was a student.  It was in left-center field and was usually shared by the left fielder (me) and center fielder.  We usually had a keg, or at least a pitcher of gin and tonics, out there with the couch.  When I was a senior, we used one pledge as a cocktail waitress and another as an ottoman, and if anyone hit the ball our way we'd send the pledges to retrieve it.  We didn't win many games.

Didn't win many games? I'm shocked. I must say DC I have a ton of respect for anyone who measures gin & tonic in "pitchers". That's the kind of pitchers that softball needs more of.

[tigerup07]

I pity the broadcasters who have to work way up and back there. 

As a broadcaster who's worked from up there, it's actually not too bad. Sure, being courtside at places like Wooster can be cool, but it actually does limit the ability to comment on ball movement. Sitting up in the HPER press box gives a very good bird's eye view, but is still close enough to see numbers and track ball handling, even to notice a carry or a travel most of the time. Maybe that's just a homefield thing for me, though. In terms of nicest press boxes, they are all pretty much the same from what I've seen. And I believe now that I've seen almost all the press boxes. The only things making one press box better than another are location, carpeting, the table we work at, and access to phone and electric outlets. I can't name the nicest one (although I'm leaning towards Kenyon) but I know I can name the worst: Hiram. We had people climbing through our box the whole game, and the chairs were uncomfortable, and it was in the high corner of the gym... a better option would honestly be courtside. Not to say anything about Hiram, but the press box is lacking. But maybe I'm biased with this one as well since this is where Scott Leo and I experienced a 2 hour power outage (although our power still worked) that we sat the entire way through, only for them to call the game 5 minutes before power was restored.

[wally_wabash]

We usually had a keg, or at least a pitcher of gin and tonics, out there with the couch. 

Amen.  I'm still holding out hope that I can go pro in IM softball.   

[kiltedbryan]

Has anyone seen random game at HPER and Timken that didn't involve Wooster playing Wittenberg? 

Well, of course I've been to tons of games at Wooster that didn't involve Wittenberg.  Still the average home crowd is about 1000, and maybe 500-700 for games during student holidays, so there's always some sort of a crowd (for men's games; the women don't draw much beyond friends and relatives.)  It's okay; big, can be loud, fairly comfortable, convenient--it just lacks character. 

David, I thnk Timken doesn't have any character simply because it has a few too many bare walls.  For example, I've been in Otterbein, Wittenberg, and Ohio Wesleyan's gyms this year, and all three of them were sporting a banner on the wall that would fit in just beautifully in Timken.  I heard such banners are only available in Virginia.  

[billy_pilgrim]

I think Earlhamalum's question about who had been to games at Witt/Woo as an opposing fan in a game not involving those teams is a pertinent one. While neither gym has the same atmosphere when Earlham comes calling on a Saturday, rather than the arch rival, it is Wooster that still has a fairly nice gathering.

Wittenberg, on the other hand, is really dead. I've been to a number of women's and men's games there and, for the most part, the crowds were smaller and quiter than they were at any Earlham/OWU/Wabash home game.

Meanwhile, Wittenberg's press area is absolutely not conducive to broadcasting a basketball game. You are way too far away. While Wabash and Wooster were the best, even sitting near the top of the bleachers at Denison, Earlham and OWU was much, much closer than from the nosebleed pressbox at Witt (not to mention it was always freezing up there). For the record, the worst place to try to broadcast a game from was Oberlin, where you were perched above the basket and couldn't see a thing on a couple portions of the court.

A fun discussion....always love talking about gyms/ballparks/arenas.

[TigerLady]

As far as Witt vs. Wesleyan goes today....it could be interesting!  Hill sprained his ankle in practice on Monday, and may not play.  But, even if he does play, he won't be 100%. 

[pennstghs]

David, I thnk Timken doesn't have any character simply because it has a few too many bare walls.  For example, I've been in Otterbein, Wittenberg, and Ohio Wesleyan's gyms this year, and all three of them were sporting a banner on the wall that would fit in just beautifully in Timken.  I heard such banners are only available in Virginia.  
[/quote]

Ouch that's harsh, coming from a Wooster fan as well.......GO  Tigers-get a much needed self satisfactory win

[zu1414]

Yes I know our facilities at Hiram are not the best,and Price certainly has some issues with lighting. We have made substantial improvements to the overall athletic facilities with the addition of the Coleman Sports Center, which opened in 2005.

http://admission.hiram.edu/visit/virtualtour/buildings/coleman.html