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IowaBison
03-11-2005, 02:10 PM
I've never made a game and I've heard a few people make comments, but could anybody here enumerate the problem with playing basketball at the Dome.

greenandgold01
03-11-2005, 02:36 PM
Syracuse seems to do ok.

http://web.syr.edu/~jjhoffma/Basketball.jpg

Big_BisonFan
03-11-2005, 03:09 PM
I like the idea, however NDSU currently has only so many days that they are allocated to use the dome. I am not sure how that would be worked out. However the dome already has many things that need to be upgraded at the BSA: new scoreboards, video boards a decent sound system, etc.....

I have been to a Class "B" tournament game at the dome and personally I thought it was a good atmosphere. The bleachers from the south were moved all the way up, plenty of seats.

greenandgold01
03-11-2005, 03:26 PM
Would NDSU get to use their own floor or would they have to use the dome's yellow floor?

Big_BisonFan
03-11-2005, 03:27 PM
I would hope NDSU would get to use its own floor. I don't see why they couldn't seeing as how it is in there this weekend for the Super "A" tournament.

Bisonguy
03-11-2005, 04:19 PM
The biggest complaint is the "dead" atmosphere. If there's only 1,000-2,000 fans in there, it sounds like a church during a wake. If there's a decent sized crowd, it's not that bad. The other big complaint is that the seating isn't designed for BB. The seating is set up for football, so some of the rows (especially on the sides) are a lot longer than they should be.

Here's a seating chart for BB in the Fargodome- http://www.fargodome.com/floorPlans/globetrotters.gif

Judge for yourself. It's not ideal, but it's not the worst seating layout.

WYOBISONMAN
03-11-2005, 04:34 PM
3 questions that are relevant to this entire debate.

1- Does it seat more than the BSA?

2- Is it better seating than the BSA?

3- Does it provide a better atmosphere than the BSA?


I don't know the answer to number 1, but I have seen a few BB games in the Fargodome and I would have to say yes to 2 and 3. *One thing that may be an issue is whether or not the distance from the dorms will cut down on student attendance. *Student attendance is a key to atmosphere at a college event.

BisonCountry
03-11-2005, 04:38 PM
I would guess that it could seat 8K - 9K given the layout.

Sioux_Yeah_Yeah
03-11-2005, 04:40 PM
I wouldn't think that the one block distance makes a difference to the students, if you are someone who wants to go to a game you are going to walk the extra block to get there!

I saw the T-Wolves play a game in the dome a few years back and didn't mind the atmosphere at all. Yeah it seems a little dead and distant but like WYO said, it would be better then the BSA.

I can't remember, is the sound in the Dome very good during bball games? Not sure if it was maybe a bit drowned out from the open space.

Bisonguy
03-11-2005, 04:57 PM
I wouldn't think that the one block distance makes a difference to the students, if you are someone who wants to go to a game you are going to walk the extra block to get there!

I saw the T-Wolves play a game in the dome a few years back and didn't mind the atmosphere at all. *Yeah it seems a little dead and distant but like WYO said, it would be better then the BSA. *

I can't remember, is the sound in the Dome very good during bball games? *Not sure if it was maybe a bit drowned out from the open space.

They just updated the sound system in the Fargodome last year, so it should be better. I know the mic never clipped out during the national anthem last year, unlike previous years. ;D

somebison
03-11-2005, 04:59 PM
advantages of the dome

Chairs instead of Benches, improved Concessions, video replay screens

greenandgold01
03-11-2005, 05:48 PM
3 questions that are relevant to this entire debate.

1- Does it seat more than the BSA?

2- Is it better seating than the BSA?

3- Does it provide a better atmosphere than the BSA?


I don't know the answer to number 1, but I have seen a few BB games in the Fargodome and I would have to say yes to 2 and 3. One thing that may be an issue is whether or not the distance from the dorms will cut down on student attendance. Student attendance is a key to atmosphere at a college event.


Has student attendance decreased since football went from Dacotah to the Dome?

Rodentia
03-11-2005, 06:05 PM
I was in Section B of the BSA for the SDSU game. It was hard to see the far end of the court because of the angle - looking through too many heads...

The Fargodome might be an option if attendance is high. I'd like to see the Gophers play a game at NDSU. I have to admit the Gophers can be really stingy when it comes to playing road games. I think the BSA would be too small for an NDSU/Minnesota basketball game. The Fargodome might have enough capacity to make it worthwhile. I have to admit the Gophers can be really stingy when it comes to playing road games, but then again, the new RPI really rewards playing road games.

greenandgold01
03-11-2005, 06:58 PM
And the new RPI has really pissed people off.

It's going back to the old formula next season.

roadwarrior
03-11-2005, 09:53 PM
I believe that the Gopher women will be playing in Fargo in 06-07. Amy has mentioned playing some games in the Fargodome, so we might get a taste of what it is like.

IowaBison
03-11-2005, 10:21 PM
My thought is that you could do some 'interesting' things with 5-10 million bucks to make the dome more friendly.

Bison007
03-11-2005, 10:58 PM
I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. Sure, we are D1 now and we need to upgrade our facilities to accomodate, but the road of D1 needs to be taken in steps, not leaps. I think the BSA is a good place for basketball for the time being. And when it is full the atmosphere is amazing. I agree that if the likes of Minnesota or Tennessee roll into town the dome would need to be used. However, I don't think that the dome should be the future home of Bison basketball. I also don't think is would be cost effective to spend a lot of money to upgrade the BSA. We need to be patient and let our athletic budget build up enough, and hopefully find a corporate sponsor to eventually fund a new arena. If you build it, they will come.

NDSUstudent
03-12-2005, 09:21 PM
After watching the South-Devils Lake consolation title game I think NDSU should start looking into playing some or all of their games at the Dome. For the size of the crowd the atmosphere was pretty good throughout most of the game. I think playing in a dome could give the SU basketball team an advantage since they would be adjusted to it's openess and the chair back seats, video replay boards, and better concessions would be better for all Bison fans going to games. I would like to see at least two Bison games at the dome next year just to experiment and see what it is like and NDSU could go from there on whether to play more games there in future.

SDbison
03-12-2005, 10:26 PM
I agree NDSUstudent, at least a couple big games next year for mens and womens basketball should be at the dome (women against Tennessee, men against Kansas State, others?). I really don't know if a bunch of money should be sunk into the BSA unless all of the improvements are useful for future purposes of the BSA without basketball. I don't see what can be done to make basketball better in the BSA. The low ceiling and reduced visibility seats were original design flaws. In fact my 16 year old daughter asked me at the recent SDSU game why the fans seem to sit up in the rafters on the west side and how could they see anything.

roadwarrior
03-12-2005, 11:12 PM
If you think sitting in the rafters in the BSA is high, try watching a basketball game at the Target Center from 90 feet in the air in the upper deck.

Any time you look to expand the size of an arena, there is always going to be a bunch of seats a LONG way from the court compared to what we are used to at the BSA.

I agree that NDSU should experiment with a couple of games at the Fargodome.

With the Class A tournament running two floors, I am assuming that the south end zone seats remained in place for the south floor. How did they set up seating on the south side of the north floor and the north side of the south floor???

NDSUstudent
03-12-2005, 11:19 PM
For the first two days there is no seating on either sides were the curtain is seperating the two halves of the dome, just benches and tables for the press. Today they moved the southside bleachers to the north court and played all the games there.

DIBISON
03-12-2005, 11:22 PM
The first two days of the Super A they used the two floor setup. There were large curtains on both the north side of the south floor and the south side of the north floor. This provded for about a forty yard open area between the two curtains. I think this area was used for games and booths. There was no seating on these sides rather they had tables the length of the court for officials and media. Then behind the tables there was only about 20 feet of open space up to the curtains.

At today's game they only use the north floor. The south endzone stands were moved to the south courtside. There was still the curtain behind these south stands which blocks off all of the rest of the dome.

roadwarrior
03-13-2005, 01:49 AM
Thanks for the answers. When the Fargo Fever played in the Dome several years ago, they didnt have that curtain behind the south seats, and it was completely open behind. The curtain probably contains the noise to the north end of the dome, which would be good.

Hope to hear some comments about the atmosphere from someone that attends the championship games on saturday.

DIBISON
03-13-2005, 04:37 AM
Just got home from the North-Bismarck championship game. You know, the dome has grown on me after being there for 3 days of basketball.

The atmosphere wasn't bad tonight with a decent crowd, sound system blaring, and the video live feed. The black curtain on the south end, which stretches from near the ceiling to both sides of the building, does help to create more of a boxed-in arena.

I now believe that the Dome could be a "long-term" solution for Bison basketball. However, this could only work after the basketball programs become established and maintain an adequate fan base. The Dome just won't work for crowds of 1,500 - 2,000, you are going to have just too much open space and seats. However, like tonight, it was enjoyable for a crowd of 4,000-5,000.

Over the 3 days I sat all over. And like for football games, there wasn't a bad seat for basketball, other than some seem so far away.

If the Bison do use the Dome, they may want to consider using black curtains at the ends of the basketball court. They could line them up with the beginning of the pernament seating, which would still allow for behind the basket seating, and block off the many rows of unused pernament seating.

Hammerhead
03-13-2005, 07:11 AM
I'll bet the curtain is a good addition. Here in Portland, they have a curtain that blocked out the upper bowl of the Rose Garden for smaller events, like semi-pro hockey games.

NDSUstudent
03-13-2005, 07:56 AM
I think a small curtain that covers the upper 1/4 of the seats on the end of the court would be a good idea. The Beez tried using a jumbo curtain and it had little or no effect on the atmosphere of the game. A curtian kind of like the one the twins have over the baggy in right with banners and pictures on it would look nice as long as it wasn't huge. Curtains also take away an advantage of being adjusted to shooting in arena that has so much openess behind each basket.

Trimmy
03-13-2005, 01:49 PM
I've always liked the Dome for Basketball. I was lucky enough to play there for the Fargo Holiday Tourney when I was in High School and I went to about 75% of the Fever games (anyone remember the original Thermo? He was great/crazy). Some of those Fever games got decent crowds and it was a neat atmosphere. Most however were pretty small and could have been played in the Civic with plenty of room to spare, but I still enjoyed those games. Then again, I really like the dome and appreciate any event there. I definitely believe those marquee match-ups next year will be real fun if played in the Dome.

JBB
03-13-2005, 02:46 PM
I agree Trim. I saw a class B tournament there and thought it was fine. Ive never had a problem with it for football either, that I didnt cause myself. I really dont know what fans expect from it.