Great read

A well written article.

Great article and hits the two biggest problems head on.

Agree on both points.

Bingo

I agree on the Redbook angle of the article. I disagree on the recruiting angle of his article. I'll always say that it depends on what teams continually win during the Sweet 16 and what kind of fan support they have that makes a difference in overall attendance.

I am sure I am alone here, but I think that the extra day is too much and drags out the tournament.

 

I might even go as far to say that Rupp isn't the best place. to hold them.

 

I would say that it is time that the tournament would rotate between Louisville and Lexington since the KFC Yums Center just opened. It is just as nice a facility as Rupp and is in a good downtown location. There are just as many hotel rooms in Louisville as there is in Lexington and would be more centrally located, especially to the western part of the state.

A good idea would be to change the Sweet 16 to the Elite 8 with quarterfinal games on Thursday, semifinal games on Friday, and the final on Saturday night. There could be sectional games between the winners of two regions for the honor of going to the state tournament. For example, the 3rd and 4th region winners would meet in a sectional game with the winner going to the state tournament. The sectional game would rotate between the largest gym in each region from one year to the next. In the example provided, the sectional game would be at the Owensboro Sportscenter one year and at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green in the next year.

Good read. I don't know the Redbook so I can't comment, but sounds like what I have heard a lot of others say, so might be something to it hurting attendance.

 

I agree somewhat with his comments about recruiting in general, however, I don't think it has anything to do Sweet 16 attendance, not to any significant level anyway as he seems to suggest.

Per the article's suggestion that recruiting is driving fans away, if that was the case this year and last year, whatever neutral fans stayed away during sessions Taylor Co. played in was made up for by masses of Cardinal fans. They've packed the gyms the past few years in the 5th Region tournament as well, giving them a decided home-court advantage in their region games. I would presume that was the case in districts for them as well.

You want to add fans, (regular and post season), add a 30 sec shot clock, people simply want to see a faster game!!

I have written and re-written a response twice now. Neither one I posted, because I felt like I rambled too much. But basically, I feel this tells you all you need to know.

 

From the article:

When I started coaching nearly twenty years ago every member of our coaching staff was bought tickets to every session of the state tournament. Additionally we were granted educational days to attend Wednesday through Friday. Furthermore, each coach was given an allotment to cover costs for gas, food or hotels. The head coach got a little more than the assistants, but we all got something. And my guess is this is the way it worked just about everywhere.

 

Think about that for a moment. Part of the reason that he feels the attendance is down is that coaches no longer get free tickets, time off, and money for hotels/food/gas/etc. And before someone jumps my case about whether or not coaches are deserving of this...this is what I want to focus on: the fact that even coaches, who are probably your most knowledgable fans and biggest supporters of high school basketball out there...aren't willing to pay for the experience. And if they aren't, then why should Joe Q. Public?

 

I'm sorry to break the news to them, but high school basketball (even at the elite level) is not what it used to be, when it comes to entertainment priorities. People blame classification on the downfall of Indiana's tournament, but I think it just happened to coincide with the rising popularity of the internet. Now we've got that 100-fold, and Kentucky is just seeing the repurcussions.

I don't have a problem with seeding and I think it would help. My question is who is doing the seeding and how? And be ready for folks to whine about it.

 

I also think they should move them up earlier in the month and not compete with the NCAA tournament. In a college basketball crazy state it is always easy to see when the UK or UL game is on.

 

I'm a big fan of the Sunday title game. I can't remember who it was that made the point that the semifinals now have their own day and are a big deal now. They never were a big deal before and were forgotten about when played on Saturday morning. With them on Saturdays by themselves they have their own day and take on more meaning. I'll also never be convinced that having the semifinals and finals on the same day is a good thing for the coaches and players.

 

I still maintain that the teams involved make a huge difference in the attendance numbers. In 2013 over 120,000 people attended the Sweet 16. Madison Central was in the finals. The whole town of Richmond came to Rupp for 4 days. Makes a big difference.

 

Agree 100% with everything you have said. Like@ The Professor I really miss having the programs. I had collected one for the last 50 years.

I have written and re-written a response twice now. Neither one I posted, because I felt like I rambled too much. But basically, I feel this tells you all you need to know.

 

From the article:

When I started coaching nearly twenty years ago every member of our coaching staff was bought tickets to every session of the state tournament. Additionally we were granted educational days to attend Wednesday through Friday. Furthermore, each coach was given an allotment to cover costs for gas, food or hotels. The head coach got a little more than the assistants, but we all got something. And my guess is this is the way it worked just about everywhere.

 

Think about that for a moment. Part of the reason that he feels the attendance is down is that coaches no longer get free tickets, time off, and money for hotels/food/gas/etc. And before someone jumps my case about whether or not coaches are deserving of this...this is what I want to focus on: the fact that even coaches, who are probably your most knowledgable fans and biggest supporters of high school basketball out there...aren't willing to pay for the experience. And if they aren't, then why should Joe Q. Public?

 

I'm sorry to break the news to them, but high school basketball (even at the elite level) is not what it used to be, when it comes to entertainment priorities. People blame classification on the downfall of Indiana's tournament, but I think it just happened to coincide with the rising popularity of the internet. Now we've got that 100-fold, and Kentucky is just seeing the repurcussions.

 

This is a good point.

He needs to study the hospitality room:

 

Lexington spent almost $38,