Grading IBA

[1972Shocker]

I agree that a weekend game would be much more preferable and would have a much bigger economic impact for downtown Wichita.

[ShockerFever]

Given the choice of a game at CKA or a game at IBA at the same cost/contribution level/parking lot, it's a no brainer...geet home at 11:00 pm or get home at 12:30 pm. LET'S KEEP THE GAMES AT CKA!

14,000 exiting downtown. They can't miraculously just take a magic carpet ride out of there. All venues are like this.

If you wanna complain about waiting to get out of a parking lot, try doing it from an NFL or MLB game. Then come talk to me.

Egress - getting out of the building was implorable. The escalator from the upper level let out right into the line of people from the middle level waiting to get on the lower escalator. The backup caused the upper escalators to STOP. I can't imagine how bad this would be after a concert with people high on beer and drugs! As it was with a mild and happy basketball crowd, it was a hazard, if not dangerous. I'd shoot the architect.

Actually, there's about 20 + exits from IBA. All those stairwells people avoided and having everybody congregate onto one set of escalators was the downfall. So the fail actually goes to the IBA people for not directing people to other exits. The architecture is fine.

Parking Egress: Horrific, unless you like sitting in a parking lot for 30-40 minutes watching other cars watch other cars.

Again, see post above. Try exiting a professional sporting event. This would be a breeze.

[ShockerFever]

How do you build a new modern arena with all the technology we have and still have a bad seat in the house? That is totally unacceptable.

Uh, any arena ever built on this planet is gonna have a "bad seat" somewhere. If you don't like it, either up the ante on your SASO levels or don't wait til the last minute to get tickets.

:good:

[ShockerFever]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

[Kung Wu]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

So you are ready to give props to the athletic department for a job well done?

[wsushox1]

Given the choice of a game at CKA or a game at IBA at the same cost/contribution level/parking lot, it's a no brainer...geet home at 11:00 pm or get home at 12:30 pm. LET'S KEEP THE GAMES AT CKA!

14,000 exiting downtown. They can't miraculously just take a magic carpet ride out of there. All venues are like this.

If you wanna complain about waiting to get out of a parking lot, try doing it from an NFL or MLB game. Then come talk to me.

Egress - getting out of the building was implorable. The escalator from the upper level let out right into the line of people from the middle level waiting to get on the lower escalator. The backup caused the upper escalators to STOP. I can't imagine how bad this would be after a concert with people high on beer and drugs! As it was with a mild and happy basketball crowd, it was a hazard, if not dangerous. I'd shoot the architect.

Actually, there's about 20 + exits from IBA. All those stairwells people avoided and having everybody congregate onto one set of escalators was the downfall. So the fail actually goes to the IBA people for not directing people to other exits. The architecture is fine.

Parking Egress: Horrific, unless you like sitting in a parking lot for 30-40 minutes watching other cars watch other cars.

Again, see post above. Try exiting a professional sporting event. This would be a breeze.

I was on I-135 within 20 minutes of the game being over, and I didn't leave early.

Sure having aisle seats helped but the stairwells and the way traffic gets dispersed through downtown was a breeze.

[ShockerFever]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

So you are ready to give props to the athletic department for a job well done?

No I'm ready to give props to the WSU fans who supported the team. The Eagle's sports section on Tuesday was the biggest marketing tool for the game, not to mention Stutz's dagger on Saturday night.

The athletic department FAILED on the promotion of this event. It could have been a sell-out easy.

[Kung Wu]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

So you are ready to give props to the athletic department for a job well done?

No I'm ready to give props to the WSU fans who supported the team. The Eagle's sports section on Tuesday was the biggest marketing tool for the game, not to mention Stutz's dagger on Saturday night.

The athletic department FAILED on the promotion of this event. It could have been a sell-out easy.

That's better. Your three posts in a row of explaining why IBA was great, instead of complaining about WSU, was worrying me. I thought you might be ill so I thought I'd check your temperature. Healthy as ever. Fever on!

[ShockTalk]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

It was the first game at IBA, the first time a lot of us had been there, and it was against one of, if not our best, historical rival.

I wouldn't expect the same result if on the same day and date next year if we play a currently better team than Tulsa like UAB, UTEP, Cleveland St., and such. (Barring a WSU run in the NCAAs). Nor would it happen on a Saturday against those teams. It needs to be reserved for teams that have a "name". It might even work with an OU (because of name, not stature).

I, too, greatly prefer the Saturday gameday.

[ShockerFever]

Kung Wu,
IBA was great IMO. My positive post about the 14,000 being there on a Tuesday night was not a compliment towards the athletic department though. We are just lucky to have a very loyal and dedicated fan base.

[ShockerFever]

I guess we'll just have to wait see on the opponent and see what happens ST. I also think IBA should be used as a bargaining tool for more "name" opponents. But until that actually happens based on the scheduling that has been put together by this staff so far, we'll have to hold our breath. But one thing is certain. The AD and head coach have voiced their opinions for at least 1 game a year there.

I would hope just the thrill of Shocker basketball being in a new fresh place for one game would be enough to captivate the interests of the faithful, not the stellarness of the opponent.

[shox1989]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

So you are ready to give props to the athletic department for a job well done?

No I'm ready to give props to the WSU fans who supported the team. The Eagle's sports section on Tuesday was the biggest marketing tool for the game, not to mention Stutz's dagger on Saturday night.

The athletic department FAILED on the promotion of this event. It could have been a sell-out easy.

I agree. There was absolutely no promotion of this game. Any promotion at all and this game is sold out.

Actually if the media had just quit talking about a sell out it probably would have happened as well. I know of at least 4 people who decided not to go because they thought it was sold out. I am sure there were many more.

[ShockerFever]

I also agree that a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would easily get sold out, especially with the right opponent.

I thought 14,000+ on a Tuesday night during Christmas break was pretty good.

So you are ready to give props to the athletic department for a job well done?

No I'm ready to give props to the WSU fans who supported the team. The Eagle's sports section on Tuesday was the biggest marketing tool for the game, not to mention Stutz's dagger on Saturday night.

The athletic department FAILED on the promotion of this event. It could have been a sell-out easy.

I agree. There was absolutely no promotion of this game. Any promotion at all and this game is sold out.

Actually if the media had just quit talking about a sell out it probably would have happened as well. I know of at least 4 people who decided not to go because they thought it was sold out. I am sure there were many more.

That was another fail. The media overhyped it and misquoted information.

[kstarheel]

I've had longer walks to the game at CKA... because of that freaking 'parking pass' crap for EVERY parking lot except the ones near the baseball field. Plus I can see passed out drunk people when walking to IBA...
;-) Glad they are responding to some of the issues. Play at both places.

[pinstripers]

I am one complaining about my seats. I paid for tickets in the new venue without knowing where my seats would be. In retrospect, ......damn that was stupid.