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Forget the commercial folks...that is plain old nonsense. Check this link out. We have had 2 games over 10k+ w/ these guys, and they refuse to recognize us with Top-10 attendance marks. R U kidding me? Are they that afraid to be linked to ALbany?

 

I gotta tell you, everything I see from the Athletic Dept. is a defeatist attitude (not the fans...the department). This option for the fourth year should have been picked up by now...get the blood boiling. Not putting the games on this list...more defeatism. When I worked at the Pepsi in 1995-96, I remember Bob Belber having a meeting with a Siena alumn (who works in a capacity for the ADept. now) who was furious that UA was playing in the then KNICK. I think back then, Siena played half-there games at the Knick. I remember the DI rumblings were going on for UA...and SIENA coming up w/ a multi-year deal with the KNICK. At the time, the talk was that SIENA wanted to lock up the Knick fearing what UA's potential was. I thought it was scuttlebut at the time...but the more and more I think about it...the more I believe it.

 

My question is this...if and when UA becomes a huge program...what does the Pepsi do then???? If UA ever becomes a mid-major power...it would seem that the vast student body and local fans could be more prevelant than Saint fans. Of course that is at least 5-10 years off...but will the SIENA Athletic Dept. respect UA???

 

Here is the link where SIENA seems to nonchalantly forget our 10k+ games. I wonder if they even put the game in their "official stats." In the words of the PRIVATE POUND.....$IENA $TILL $UCK$ !!!!

 

http://sienasaints.ocsn.com/school-bio/sie...ties-pepsi.html

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In fairness (not that they deserve it) the 2001 game (10,285) wouldn't make the top ten, and since it speaks of the 2003 NCAAs in the future, that page probably hasn't been updated since before the 2002-3 season.

 

But before Albany hosts any more games at the Pepsi Arena, they should insist on covering the $iena logos on the floor, if not lowering the MAAC banners. After all, the Pepsi is not their private court.

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Forget about the Pepsi Arena!!! The Great Danes have their own home at the RACC. Believe me, a crowd of 4,000 at the RACC would be louder than 7,000 at the Pepsi Arena. It is simple as that. Just be patient people. We will begin filling that arena on a consistent basis shortly.

 

However, I do like the idea of snagging a high-profile non-conference opponent every other year and playing them at the Pepsi, just like we did against Syracuse two years ago.

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Attention board members: When will you get a clue?

 

No reason AT all to be playing at the Pepsi.

 

If you can't get 4,000 to 5,000 people to jam into the RACC, at $5 a pop or $75 for the season, then WHERE are you going to get people to go to games at Pepsi Arena?????

 

We need to smarten up here. It's just not a viable option. Don't post about how people would come because it's a nicer arena. $17 per game is a far cry from what Albany charges now. It's not worth playing down there.

 

PS- the RACC is about 500 yards away from the dorms now and the students don't come. So good idea, move the games about a mile and a half down the road where you have to pay to park. That'll do the trick.

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I believe all games should be played at the RACC until we out grow it. Stony Brook plays St Johns and Utah at home on campus and their facility is the same as ours.

 

The one problem we will have as soon as we start drawing decent crowds is bathroom facilities and food concessions. You can't get to the concession stand when there's 500 people in the building it will be 10 times worse with 5,000 fans. Hopefully the Athletic Department is preparing because I believe it's going to happen soon!!!!

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Ok first let me address the "i put words in people's mouth" clown.

 

"Don't post about how people would come because it's a nicer arena"

 

No one ever said that. Second...i was talking down the line, something obviously the POPE (AKA D2k) says is not allowed.

 

Third....stony brook is a tiny town....they will never get support.

 

Fourth, the RACC had 4800 for the NYU-UA Elite 8 game. From what I hear, the bathroom situation was so bad they opened the ones on the floor by the entryway into the lockers and the food line was awful. IF and when the team sells out for a solid amount of games, there will be major dissatisfaction from the fans. I agree...i think until we see 4000+ season ticket holders...we have no need to move. That will not happen for at least 10 years. However, if and when that day comes...i have a better idea....a revamping of the RACC. For those who do not know this, the RACC was purposely built down...rather than up for the exact reason of expansion. And before you shoot me down D2k....that is a fact that was told to us when we were recruited.

 

IMHO, they need to build concesssion stands. What we have now is terrible!

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Dane96, don't take everything so personally. I accurately predicted what some people would post - that the Pepsi is nicer, and thus more people would come to the games. I guarantee some people were going to post that in response to my saying we wouldn't draw well there. So I'm not putting words in YOUR mouth, but I DO know that some people would post that, and I headed off that argument by saying it's not a good one. People just won't travel excessive distances to go to a game, no matter how nice the arena.

 

And sadly, in Smallbany, 1-2 miles is "excessive", especially for the students who won't walk 500 yards.

 

They also won't pay "excessive" prices for tickets when they can get 25 games (men's and women's) for $75 now (and hardly anyone does).

 

Part of the problem with the concessions is that the RACC lobby is so small. Basically, the thing is a band box - you can't sell on the floor, because it distracts the fans and blocks either one of the team entrances. Can't sell on the far side on the floor because it blocks the fire exits. One possibility is opening up the PE Building lobby for concession sales, and then people can mill about after buying their food and go back to the RACC lobby to talk and eat. However, that is just bad bad from every other standpoint I can think of. You want your food to be close by.

 

Also, another problem with the concessions is that Chartwells is the University's food service provider. So they do the concessions as well. Their food sucks. Ask the students. Their service is just about as bad. Ever been to a cold UA football game? Don't try to get coffee or hot chocolate til the second half, 'cause they don't show up until the start of the game.

 

There is no question that the bathroom facilities at the RACC are totally inadequate for a building its size. The RACC lobby men's room is a decent size, and I've never seen the women's bathroom inside, but it wouldn't accomodate 5,000 people. The bathroom on the RACC floor is a closet (four stalls?). Absolutely no question something would have to be done, however I doubt any new bathrooms could be installed. Short of putting port-a-johns outside near the parking lot and having people go out to use them, I don't know what you could do (which also brings up the problem of re-admission).

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Dane Fan2K3

 

Again you complain and demean (smallbany), you recognize problems and never offer solutions. It's people like you who constantly see the cup as half empty rather than half full. That's why Albany has progressed so slowly.

 

Hopefully we have a few people in place now who expect to be good and will push for success in all areas. A lot of the time "you are what you percieve yourself to be" and if the Administration wants it - it can all happen in reasonable time.

 

Like it or not the RACC (though it seats 5,000) is not a good DI Venue especially for basketball once the crowds get to 2,000+. With that said it could be made more manageable with a little foresight.

 

Bathrooms are going to be tough so the front Lobby will have to be blown out into the court yard, probably connecting the two buildings.That will give you additional space to extend the bathrooms and concessions.

 

Concessions are going to (for now) have to be placed on the floor at the locker side area but pushed all the way back to the side court walls. On the upper level concessions on both sides would help.

 

A canopy should be put up outside on the parking lot side and people should be allowed to enter directly from the outside lot. It's a long, cold walk from the parking lot for young children and older adults in the winter months.

 

If things of this magnitude were planned know most could be in place in a reasonable time frame. If not it will be a hassle to attend games at UA and people will shy away from it.

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I would have to say I would love for us to play at the RACC for as long as possible. I currently intern at the Pepsi for the River Rats, there basic crowd is between 3 and 5,000 per game. The place really makes no noise. Until we can simply not play at the RACC for the reasons everyone listed we should play as many games as possible there.

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Dane Fan2K3

Bathrooms are going to be tough so the front Lobby will have to be blown out into the court yard, probably connecting the two buildings.That will give you additional space to extend the bathrooms and concessions.

 

Concessions are going to (for now) have to be placed on the floor at the locker side area but pushed all the way back to the side court walls. On the upper level concessions on both sides would help.

 

A canopy should be put up outside on the parking lot side and people should be allowed to enter directly from the outside lot. It's a long, cold walk from the parking lot for young children and older adults in the winter months.

 

If things of this magnitude were planned know most could be in place in a reasonable time frame. If not it will be a hassle to attend games at UA and people will shy away from it.

I dont' think you can put concessions on the floor near the locker rooms, you'll have fans lining up for food and forming a line right across the entrances that the teams use to get to and from the locker room. Also, this encourages people to walk on the floor behind the benches and near the exit hallway area, which is supposed to be a "restricted" area during gametimes. You'll then need security to "part the masses" when the players need to leave the floor at halftime and be there the entire time during pregame (as they come in and out).

 

I think if you were going to really "blow out" the lobby and connect it to the PE building, you wouldn't put the bathrooms in there. Then your main entrance is into ... a bathroom holding area. Yuck. You'd sell concessions from there possibly, alleviating some of the strain on the thin lobby. Or, that opens up the possibility of walking over to the PE Gym bathrooms, which are equally small but would effectively double the bathroom size for the total "new" building.

 

As for the outside parking area entrance it's a good idea in theory.

 

But in practice, again, I think you're running into space limitations.

 

Although the lobby is small, it's bigger than the area on the floor in either far corner. So while people are taking tickets and such, patrons will be waiting out in the cold (assuming that there is a line of fans long enough to get out the door, and we are assuming this is all happening when we get 1,000-2,000 fans, so that is a good assumption).

 

Otherwise, even if everyone can get in while they wait to get their ticket ripped, there is a large group of people convened in one corner of the RACC (cramped). Also, then you have a bottleneck with security and ticket takers in that small area, which also happens to be a fire exit. It's not accessible to the handicapped, so it can't be your main entrance legally unless you build a ramp, and it would be very steep (and maybe not possible). And you can't set up a boxoffice there, so any will call situations or walk-up purchases will still be forced to walk around (unless you do it "ghetto style" and have just a table as your "boxoffice").

 

Also, if you have people coming in on the bottom, they may never venture up to the top - where you have your concessions, and, eventually, the GreatDanesGear Store (in my mind). You would want them all coming in and passing that stuff as they go down, to serve as a mental reminder that it was there.

 

That is actually one possibility for something that COULD go into the corners of the RACC - Great Danes Gear. That would be on the floor, right in plain view, but I doubt that the lines would be as long as for bathrooms and food.

 

Here is an alternate suggestion, since you claim I just complain: Why not pull out the other end bleacher (nearest the locker rooms) and push the far end bleacher in to the wall? That would give you a ton of space on the end of the court to do a whole bunch of things: sell tickets, allow people to enter from the parking lot with minimal hassle, sell concessions and merchandise.

 

It wouldn't be possible to do all those things at the other end of the court (although it is open) because the locker rooms are at that end.

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Just to add my .02 to this. I hope these fan overcrowding problems occur in the very near future as it will be a sign that the program is improving. I am not in love with the Pepsi, it's concrete floor, or it's $5 hot dogs. The RACC is our place, not the rented barn the Pepsi is. Sure it's $iena's home court and does have a big-time feel, but it's also the home of the River Rats, Cher and everyone else who comes through town. I really like Dane96's idea of someday (probably a long way away) expanding the RACC. Until then I would think you could get a greater use out of the Hall of Fame room. Since most of the concession stand lines occur at halftime and not at the beginning of the game when people come in at different times and their is no great concentration of people in the atrium.

I was glad to see the other night that the security at the RACC has relaxed somewhat and hope that continues. It seems really unnessary and delayed everyone from getting into the game. It also interferred with our tradition of patting the big Dane statue in the lobby for luck.

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DaneFan2K3

 

Great idea about the Bleachers at the far end of the gym. It eliminates traffic around the locker room areas.

 

Let's compromise on the enterance from the Parking Lot. Let's not make it General Admission. Make it VIP for season ticket holders only. Might be a nice plus for those folks.

 

If they blew out the lobby, I thought the bathrooms could go there because that's wher they are presently located and we would just be expanding them.

 

Great Danes gear on the floor by the lockerroom areas might be very doable.

 

Hopefully someone in the Athletic Administration views this board and maybe some of our thought might come to fruition.

 

Now lets hope we get going in the right direction and turn this program around our fan problems surface.

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Instead of blowing out the lobby you could probably just move the fitness center into the old gym where there is plenty of room. That way you could extend the bathrooms into the current fitness center if you need to. You could also use the rest of the fitness center space for concessions, Great Danes gear, etc.

Maybe instead of just having a concession stand you could have a little grill with burgers and set some tables up. As I write this Lady DP is reading it over my shoulder and she suggests naming some of the stuff after prominent Danes. Maybe a "Brown Burger" or a "Sauer's Burger", "Ford Fries." You could also call the garbage pails "Beeten Buckets."

Edited by Dane Pound
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Actually I never though about moving the RACC Fitness Center, but it's a brilliant idea. Now, from a standpoint of doability, I have no idea if it is indeed workable.

 

But there are spaces where you could put the Fitness Center. First of which would be to convert some of the (largely unused) raquetball courts in the RACC into a fitness center. Can you knock down some of those walls, thus creating one long fitness center room? I don't know, but it's worth someone looking into. Perhaps they are foundation walls ... but maybe not. Also, you could create a two-story fitness center by putting down a floor there (the racquetball courts span the lower and middle levels of the RACC). Now you have double the current space of the Fitness Center, and it's still in the RACC (albeit on the Arena and Middle level, instead of Lobby level). You could then use the Fitness Center area either for office space, bathroom extention space, or as the "New" Hall of Fame Room. It could serve a multitude of purposes.

 

If you did that, you could use the sidedoor entrance to the RACC (the door that always seems to be locked when its cold and you're trying to get inside) under the stairs (when walking from the parking lot). I play racquetball, and that door leads right to the courts (where the "new" Fitness Center would now be).

 

I just took Pounds' suggestion about moving it and kept it in the RACC, because there isn't space in the PE Building (you can't take away one of the basketball courts, and where else would you put it in there?)

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