[NU Sports] Big 10 Tournament; NIT

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> Interesting discussion by Mark Murphy in most recent
> "Murphy's Mark" as to  
> why he thinks Chicago is a better choice to become
> permanent Host City for the  
> BT Tourney (both men's and women's brackets) than 
> Indianapolis.  As he 

As much as I love the Windy City, I must disagree.

Indiana *is* basketball. In just about every way, Indy
is a better choice for host city than Chicago.

The arena is simply better. Sight lines at Conseco are
built for basketball and it's an arena with all the
great gadgets of new venues with the classic feel of
the great fieldhouses of Indiana. The U-C is an
airline hangar. There is no atmosphere. The fans are
further from the court. There's just no energy there.

The location is better. Canseco is right in the heart
of downtown, with hotels and restaurants within
walking distance in a city fairly centrally located
within Big Ten country. Chicago has an arena with
little around it in terms of hotels and restaurants -
getting around is more of a headache (especially since
more than half the league will be coming from 94 east
and will have that wonderful Dan Ryan construction
project for the next decade:) ).

About all Chicago has is the non-basketball stuff with
Michigan Avenue, sites to see, the gorgeous lakefront,
etc. Indy's got a lot for families and stuff, but it
just can't compete in the sightseeing department with
the "true American City."

Finally, in Indy - a city in a state that quite simply
IS basketball (in 49 other states, it's just a game).
The tourney is big news. It's the talk of the town.
It's a city used to hosting Final Fours and big events
that can get all decked out for a league tourney and
make an event of the whole weekend for fans from
across the league. In Chicago, it's just another event
on a weekend calendar.

About the only plus side I could see to Chicago would
be if they did the mens and womens tourneys the same
weekend with the Sears Center, like the Big XII does
in the same city (usually KC), so it could be a big
basketball weekend for fans from schools to see both
teams.

As for the NIT ...

> I would give anything to see the 'Cats play at MSG. 
>  Even if it's not "the 
> Dance", should we make it to the NIT semis or
> finals, it  would be quite the 

Hey, the NIT may have lost some luster but the
Garden's still the Garden and beggars can't be
choosy.:) Getting to New York would be a great thing
for the program. Just hope we can do it! PSU will be
tough, but PSU and OSU are certainly two teams we know
we can play against and beat if we play well.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT


> boost for recruiting.
>  
> Paul Levinson
>  
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* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

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