MBB should play a game at Memorial Gym
- Thread starter unihorn
- Start date
Yuup. I threw out that idea on here before too. Should play the D2 games there
Can’t. Soccorro, Montwood, Eastlake, Pebble Hills, El Dorado, and Americas all use it. They have double headers on Thursdays and Fridays sometimes. UTEP and their opponent would not be able to really use the field prior to game day
Why did all those schools stop playing games at their own place? Kind of sucks that if you're in the SISD you don't really have your own field.
They don’t have their own place. None of those schools have anything more than a practice field on their land. The SAC was probably built in mind for 3 schools, not 6 like they have now.
This idea goes back almost twenty years and had a somewhat serious discussion because Mike Price was for it if I remember correctly? When he got to El Paso he did not realize how big El Paso was, especially territorial wise and he wanted east siders to be part of the UTEP/Price experience. UTEP bookstore even opened a small store (off Zaragosa?).
I will take your word for that. If UTEP wants to do something for eastsiders, they will have to do something else than a real game.
When you have a crappy product, people will make excuses to not go, especially when they’re being “questioned” by someone they know is a super fan. If UTEP had just beat Oklahoma St and SMU, and had gone 8-4 last season, nobody would be complaining about $2 price increases or that the Sun Bowl is too far from their house.
It’s 2 miles from UTEP to EPHS. Not sure eastsiders are going to attend something 2 miles closer. Again, distance isn’t the issue. The product and people are.
One obstacle to hosting a game at Memorial Gym is that they would need to rent and install a floor, just for that game.
When UTEP hosted the CUSA tournament back in 2011, we had to rent and install a floor so that some of the women's games could be played there. More details regarding that are on page 3 of this link:
When UTEP hosted the CUSA tournament back in 2011, we had to rent and install a floor so that some of the women's games could be played there. More details regarding that are on page 3 of this link:
This was brought up a few years ago. Here's what was said back then:
Concessions would be unable to meet demand. The one window with a few foldable tables always has a long line even for volleyball games
The security would be a nightmare with the courtside bleachers having immediate access to the court.
The floor is painted permanently for volleyball. A new floor would need to be brought in for basketball which doesn't make sense financially
Restrooms aren't able to handle the capacity. The lines would be ridiculously long especially with only one way in and out of the two restrooms
With only one entrance the line to get in would be long.
The capacity would be very small so the seating would be limited to mostly season ticket holders
The lack of a state of the art scoreboard would mean less advertising and therefore less money
This is just what I remember off the top of my head
Concessions would be unable to meet demand. The one window with a few foldable tables always has a long line even for volleyball games
The security would be a nightmare with the courtside bleachers having immediate access to the court.
The floor is painted permanently for volleyball. A new floor would need to be brought in for basketball which doesn't make sense financially
Restrooms aren't able to handle the capacity. The lines would be ridiculously long especially with only one way in and out of the two restrooms
With only one entrance the line to get in would be long.
The capacity would be very small so the seating would be limited to mostly season ticket holders
The lack of a state of the art scoreboard would mean less advertising and therefore less money
This is just what I remember off the top of my head
Hello, that would be what you call a “perk” for being a season ticket holder.
You could warn attendees before hand about bathroom or concession issues. I guess it would be unrealistic to bring in some portable potties or have some concessions outside?
Lack of advertising? Yeah, I’m sure there’s a long list of companies waiting to advertise for the Northern New Mexico game!
Yeah, security would be an issue for season ticket holders. They are known to be unruly and uncontrollable, especially during a game vs D2 power Northern New Mexico!!!
Exactly — just do it for one or two of the early scrub games when The Don will be empty.
Right. You give your season ticket holders something special and regular people will just buy tickets to the next game. Especially if you advertise it so everyone knows what the deal is.
The first game of 2019 was New Mexico Highlands. The attendance was 3,738.
With no assigned seating 3,738 would be a nightmare considering there is no barricade and anyone can run onto the court straight from the gym entrance.
This idea comes up every few years and gets the same shoot down
What prevents anyone from running onto the court at The Don?
They’re obviously scared of the 5’5” 40 year old woman security guard protecting the floor, duh! At memorial gym, all the fans would run onto the court to shake Souley Boum’s hand!
It's more difficult with the metal barrier. Also in Memorial the entrance is at floor level and there is less floor space in general.
Texas is doing something similar this season, by hosting Sam Houston State in Gregory Gym instead of the Irwin Center.
I remember before the SAC was built, Socorro played their home games at their high school in the 90s.
That means that the athletic department (Senter and Stull) and administration (Natalicio was in charge for 30 years) is too blame for letting Memorial fall apart.
Why would they have to bring in a temporary floor when the floor can be remade during the off- season (2022) to accommodate both basketball 🏀 and volleyball. So how was security handled when the men's team was there in the '60s and '70s? The city fire marshal can enforce the amount of people that can enter the gymnasium.
It doesn't even have its own sound system much less score/ video board
The old floor was still there at that point. Bob Stull had the entire off- season (2010) to install a new floor but chose not too. Didn't women's volleyball use to play on a bluecourt mat in the 90s and only use half the gym? The other thing that needed to be replaced were the two main backstops ( backboards, rims, ceiling masts).
Spalding® | Ceiling Mast & Wall Braced Backstops
www.spalding.com
For some reason I think I remember Ice T's band Body Count performing a concert at Memorial Gym in the early 90's.
I know some pretty big acts performed at Memorial in the 70's. Before my time. But I've never been to any event at Memorial Gym. I used to have a Racquetball class their at UTEP
I know some pretty big acts performed at Memorial in the 70's. Before my time. But I've never been to any event at Memorial Gym. I used to have a Racquetball class their at UTEP
Ice-T was scheduled for Magoffin Auditorium but no-showed.
