I’m a huge advocate for a new arena, but man nothing beats a packed 14k capacity crowd at Coleman. It’s beautiful and LOUD
Coleman Coliseum
- Thread starter Jordan Harper
- Start date
Bring in recruits and let them see a packed house and they won't care how old the place is. If we are competing with UK for recruits, I hope they watched this game.
No place beats Coleman when it’s packed and we’re playing well. Those pushing for a smaller arena need to try to buy tickets for the Arkansas, boog, or LSU games. They may change their tune. The average fan will have to take out a second mortgage to purchase tickets for big SEC games if we downsize by 5 or 6 thousand seats.
This is why I keep hoping a new arena is made to be capable of seating over 13k for a basketball game. Maybe 13.5k with some creative standing room seats. Put that 15k today into a gym made for basketball and built to hold some noise and it will be deafening.
I was there and it was loud. The Big Blue Nation must have had the Big Blue Flu because their fans didn't show up. Usually we have hundreds of KY fans in Tuscaloosa. I bet there was less than a hundred.
I read a wisecrack describing Coleman as a WWII aircraft hangar. Personally, I like the joint. I have a lot of memories from there: Graduating (high school & college), concerts, bb games, gymnastics, and back in the day, that's where we registered for classes. If/when a new arena is built, Coleman would make an excellent storm shelter or a place where I can stash my beer. 🍻 😎
Duke will always be the best: Smartest students too. Our student section and their "hard hats" is a minor league show. Whatever happened to all the pretty coeds at the football games? We have a great coach and final-four-worthy team, but our student section needs some of the football glamor.
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The re-modeling of the inside of Coleman is sop nice. Haven't been inyearsd but really like how its laid out. If the basketball program continues this success, don't need any smaller facility.
Agreed. As long as they keep winning, I don't care if they play in a circus tent.
Duke’s arena is small but it has a Special Vibe in it.
I think most of us want a new Coliseum, but trashing it as a dump is incorrect in my opinion.
I remember the games in the Plaid palace and even Nate Oats said he and the team really liked the atmosphere when we have good crowds like Saturday.
I'm as ready as anyone to get a brand new arena, but I don't like the idea of limiting the seating to 9 or 10 K.
I remember the games in the Plaid palace and even Nate Oats said he and the team really liked the atmosphere when we have good crowds like Saturday.
I'm as ready as anyone to get a brand new arena, but I don't like the idea of limiting the seating to 9 or 10 K.
The cost ballooned out of control because of supply chain issues, inflation, and interest rates rising. Those all equal significant increases on a 200 million dollar project. I'd personally rather those donations go to 5 stars while we wait on interest rates and inflation to go back down to a reasonable number
I watched a kentucky fan/reporter talking about his experience on show, he spoke about the stadium. He said it had a strange lay out, but was one of the loudest when the fans get going. He said coach Cal gave up numerous times trying to call in plays because they couldn't hear him anyways. He said it was a good atmosphere.
I’m all for a new stadium. However, when we have an ELITE team like we do right now, that draws Saturday sellouts. And when that place is sold out, it’s very loud and creates a great home court advantage.
Linda Ronstadt ,The Allman Brothers, and 93-90 over Tennessee in 2 OT's. Some great memories.
I'm not a betting man, but I'd take that bet if I were. A really bad Florida team had them on the ropes there, but folded in the last minute. We'll beat them in that cracker box, as will Tennessee. I just don't get the boog envy by some on this board. Coleman is gonna be packed for the rest of the season and will provide us with a great home court advantage. 15,000 people make a lot more noise than only 9,000. We won't drop a game at home this year.
One can like Coleman and still desire a new arena. Coleman just like Fosters Auditorium, should not be razed, but retasked for serving the campus or the community. Coleman is a solid structure and would make an excellent storm shelter.
Remember Bama has already played Houston at home and not only did they slay the dragon (the team), they quieted the peanut gallery too.
We beat then there in 2020, why shouldn't we bear them with a team as least as good as that one?
There should be massive envy of their program. They have a Final Four, and they are probably one bad call away from winning a natty. They were the shittiest program in the SEC. Just an absolutely awful program. So what does the administration do, they build one of the best home court advantages in college basketball and then hire an excellent coach. You can hate him, but you can't deny that he is a good coach. There is absolutely other reasons they should be anywhere near the top of the SEC over the last 8 years, but they are there. I for one am glad they are. Otherwise, we would not have Oats. It made us step our game and hopefully, we will upgrade our facilities to catch up. It is a shame we are in this boat because of the administration's inaction, but that is what they do. They put basketball off.
As for whether we win there, I hope we beat them by 20. Maybe we will, but they will have that place amped up for us. They live to beat us.
You are kidding yourself if think Coleman will be packed for Vandy, Ms State or GA. Fans will not show up to sit next to the asbestos in row 49.
It is the best win in basketball this year. Maybe we can do it, but I believe that is one we lose.
Vandy and MSU are mid week games and currently are slated to be late tipoffs. Likely near sold out but visibly probably 60% full. UGA is a Sat game and I'll be surprised if this team doesn't enjoy packed houses for the Sat games from now to March (LSU, UGA, Ark). Not to mention UGA has quietly had a solid start so they won't look like a layup game.
As for the trip to the barn, we don't play them until mid Feb. Not sure yet if that's a good thing or a bad thing. If we played down there tomorrow IMO we blow them out of their gym. They're really struggling to score points. However, 5 weeks from now? Pearl will either be in the middle of a total collapse or he'll have them believing again.
Our home games against Arkansas and the boogs have been sold out for awhile. LSU may be a sellout by now. As of Saturday night there were just a handful of scattered singles remaining. It wouldn't surprise me if a couple of our other home games also sell out. Even if they don't, I'll guarantee you that we'll still have more in attendance for those games than the measly 9,000 that the cracker box in West Georgia holds.
We should have an arena that would sit what we can sell out at least 85% of the games we play. 60% full is a bad look for a program trying to break into a top tier program. If that means less seats than what we have, so be it. At least you wouldn’t get the impression when watching on tv that fans don’t care enough about basketball to fill up the coliseum.
asbestos! Really?
Come on pfaud, my buddy. Yes it will be a great atmosphere, crazy for Bama blood and loud, but we can beat them at their place. I don't see a for sure loss on our schedule.
l haven't looked it up, but l think Oats has an outstanding record in Coleman. l know most teams have better records at home, but l think Oats record at home is better than the average home court record of the SEC.
Look at that ceiling and tell me that isn't asbestos.
We can beat them, but what people don't realize is that the crowd can really influence calls. That place gets hostile and they will feed on it. They have students right by the players and the bench. Oats spoke about how hard it is play there when the students are screaming in their ears.
Our arena is just so backwards. Students shoved far away up in the corners, and no where near the opposing team's bench.
Can we win? Sure. I just don't see it happening unless they start losing a lot. They aren't a great team, but they do play good defense. If they start making shots like they did against ARK, they will be tough to beat. I think we will beat them by 20 at home, though.
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I'm pretty sure they had to clean the asbestos out back in the lipstick job they did in the 2000s. Lots of rumors before that with folks like RahRah in the offices getting cancer with no real obvious reason for the type of cancer they had. Now what's up there now I have no idea. Maybe some weird stucco something.
Loyola-Chicago and George Mason have also been to Final Fours recently. Should we have massive envy for their programs? One lucky Final Four run doesn't erase decades upon decades of basketball mediocrity and purgatory. As for their coach. I would rather us disband our program than to stoop to the level of hiring someone of his shady character and moral bankruptcy. Some of our fans were pushing for us to make a run at him before the boogs hired him. I said then that I didn't think we would hire him. Our athletic department has too much integrity to employ anyone as unethical and corrupt as he is. I also said that I would turn in my Bama basketball fan card if we were to hire him and never watch another game as long as he was here. As for the arena, I love Coleman but am not opposed to a new facility. It just doesn't need to be as small as the proposal that was revealed last year. 10,000 seats is not nearly enough IMO. An arena that small would price the average fan out of the market. I'm looking for 4 tickets to the LSU game this weekend and the least expensive that I can find are $72 each. That's $288 for 4 tickets and it's not even a big game. Imagine the prices if there were 5 or 6,000 fewer seats. I don't think a new arena should have a capacity of less than 13,500. That's an attendance mark that we could consistently hit and would keep secondary ticket prices at a somewhat affordable level. Roll Tide and let's smoke some hogs tonight!
How many times a year does Bama get 13,000 for a basketball game? 4-5 times a year tops. Wrong take from this guy as usual.
Let's don't get too combative. You are right, though. Very few times a year do we get 13-15k fans. A lot times when we do, it is because of KY buying up extra tickets or Auburn. So, that extra capacity takes away from our home court advantage.
Somehow if we don't sell out all our games doesn't convince me to have a smaller stadium. I have been in my seats for 45 years. I anticipate not affording tickets in a new smaller stadium.
I really understand moving the students down behind the opposing team. When I was a freshman in 1969, I remember well sitting behind the LSU bench when the football team and their BB team danced at the end of the famous Pistol Pete game. We can do that and make some changes here and there that would help. The idea of lowering the floor appeals to me and making the seats steeper like Fosters. Just not too steep for an old guy. who really would like to keep his tickets.
I really understand moving the students down behind the opposing team. When I was a freshman in 1969, I remember well sitting behind the LSU bench when the football team and their BB team danced at the end of the famous Pistol Pete game. We can do that and make some changes here and there that would help. The idea of lowering the floor appeals to me and making the seats steeper like Fosters. Just not too steep for an old guy. who really would like to keep his tickets.
It was not lucky. Pearl has sustained them at a high level. You can deny it, but it won't make it true. What did Pearl really do? He lied about a kid coming to a bbq. We got busted for paying players under Avery. Regardless, I think he is a good coach and you don't. Fair enough, we don't need argue about it.
As for the seats, that is a hefty price. I have season tickets. I think I only paid $750 total for the year. As pwest said, there are very few games where we have that many fans. Even with some good to decent games during the week, we have prime seats empty. That is what ticks me off. I have tried for years to get better seats, and I usually don't qualify. I think more of a 11 to 12k would be good, but I don't have a problem with a bigger arena. Maybe with a new one where all the seats are pretty good, you can have more people coming. I have never sat in this spot, but behind the backboard on the opposite side of the food area up high is bad seat. My friend sat there during a game in November and they were having to duck down to see below the score boards that were above. There should never be a seat like that in today's arena. There should be no obstructed views anymore.
RTR and I plan for a hog feast tonight!
