The BIG the BAD the BYU
by gaz-tastic on Sep 1, 2010 11:43 AM PDT
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PrintWell folks, we have been hearing a lot about our newest W.C.C. member, Brigham Young University, and I thought it would be nice to get a peek at their basketball arena. It is huge. Seating capacity is over 23,000. The "jumbotron" that floats up high near the rafters looks like a U.F.O. It will be loud and they rarely get beat at home.Their home record in the last 5 years is 76-4. ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes calls BYU "unbeatable at home in the Marriott Center" and has ranked their student body #1 of all the venues he has been to.
Gonzaga has enjoyed a rather raucous home court advantage of their own and have an incredible record at the McCarthey Athletic Center {MAC}, where the record since it's opening in 2004 is 59-4. Opponents dread coming into our arena and playing us. Although the MAC has a much smaller capacity of 6,000, it is extremely loud and deafening at times. We get a lot of home cooking.
BYU's home court is quite a step up from the "quaint gyms of the W.C.C." and I am sure we are all eagerly awaiting a chance to play there. If you cannot get excited about this, you must be pushing up daisies.
I am very excited about the prospect of showing BYU what we can do...Let the games begin!!~
This post does not reflect the views of the blog authors or SB Nation.
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I lived a few blocks away from the Marriott Center and have been to a lot of games there
It generally doesn’t fill up very much, but I am guessing that it will be pretty rowdy for the GU games. If you go you will have Danny Ainge’s gamewinner vs. Notre Dame shoved down your throat 74 times in 2 hours. Think Meech in short shorts. One thing I will say is that we must be ready for irrational BYU fans who think that the the world revolves around BYU sports.
Familiar w/ some of them...
from the Fox Sports Gonzaga page. They can be really pesky. If you say anything remotely considered anti-BYU? It was like stirring up a hornets nest. I quite enjoyed the banter!
Enthusiastic fans they have. A great team and arena too. Cannot wait to show them who is better!!~
One more thing. Playing in that arena will help give us valuable experience with big, hostile crowds and it will pay off later on. IMO
Its gonna be gLoRiOUS!!~
Your nerdiness is showing :)
Between your profile photo and the way you phrased the sentence about enthusiastic fans I see that you are a true fan.
Look, you guys got it all wrong its...
Kick some Brigham Young Bootay we shall, Use the Force…we must!!~ haha
Its gonna be gLoRiOUS!!~
Wait a minute
Are you saying the world doesn’t revolve around BYU sports? Seriously though, I’m a BYU fan and I will admit their are some crazies out there. But I think every sports team has it’s fans that are irrational. I’ve spent the last couple of days on Mountain West Connection reading post from fans calling BYU everything from cheaters, to traitors, to backstabbers. Meanwhile they think what Utah did was just fine.
As for the Marriot Center not always filling up, that’s only partly true. Most games will have between 18,000 and 20,000 fans. So while it’s not sold out, it’s still pretty full. And there’s always a handfull of game when it will sell out, so you better believe it will be packed to the rim when the Zags come to town.
Don't trust this guy. He lies.
OK, I take the 18,000-20,000 back
I looked at their attendance for last year and it whent from a low of 8,003, to a high of 22,644 which is a sell out and it happened twice, when they played Utah and New Mexico. Seven times they broke 15,000 and six of those seven where against conference opponents. In fact, only 2 times did they play a conference opponent and had less than 15,000 in attendance. Probably more information than you needed, but there it is anyways.
Don't trust this guy. He lies.
Gonzaga is the biggest fish
We will fill that arena up and then some. It will be a madhouse. I can only begin to imagine the buildup, providing both schools are doing as well as I think they will, that this game will bring about.
I say bring your earmuffs to BOTH venues…double thick for Gonzaga’s.
Its gonna be gLoRiOUS!!~
It sounds like they are getting more support than when I went there 10 years ago
I have nothing but respect for Dave Rose and what he has done with the program and there is no doubt that these changes are great for GU and the WCC. The BYU fans that I know that actually follow basketball are certainly reasonable, but the casual fans drive me NUTS. Here is a scenario which describes my frustration with BYU fans, obviously this is for illustrative purposes only. I think that most years we will end up splitting our home games because both the Kennel and Marriott are near impossible places to leave with a W but here is the scenario:
Gonzaga beats BYU twice
Gonzaga loses to USF (or any other WCC bottom feeder)
BYU beats USF by a significant margin
In this scenario most BYU fans that I know would say that the games GU and BYU actually played were a fluke and that BYU is 10X better than Gonzaga because you were able to beat USF and we lost to them.
It is the only student body that I am aware of with this level of irrationality.
I'm not sure I totally agree with that
I do agree that their are irrational and anoying BYU fans. But I think you find that with fans of any sports teams. I’m not so sure the percentage of crazies is higher among BYU fans than any other team. Then again, I’m a BYU fan so I’ve never found myself arguing with one. I also find it curious that you’re a BYU alum but don’t like the teams. Why is that? Or is it that you’re fine with BYU but just like the Zags more? Me personally, I’m a BYU alum and ex-Mormon, but I’m still a huge fan of all things Cougar.
Don't trust this guy. He lies.
It may be a matter of timing, but I don't expect my opinion to change anytime soon.
It didn’t help that I was at the Y at a time when it seems like the only decent teams were the volleyball teams. I will admit that it is likely that the fans at this time were simply trying to justify mediocrity by using the associative property as described above. I couldn’t stand hearing about how “we lost to team A but we beat team B who beat team A so we are the best of the three.” I can’t tell you how many times I was subjected to this logic by students and faculty alike. It may sound petty, but it completely turned me off from BYU sports. I went to some Football and Basketball games the first year but soon after I would only watch Baseball, Volleyball and Rugby. Rose and Mendenhall have been superb in all aspects of the game and I wish the programs the best (unless playing GU of course), but the little red guy on my other shoulder wants to see the fans suffer a little bit.
I grew up in Spokane and Gonzaga will always be my team, however, I like to believe that I can be objective in good times and bad.
I hate that logic as well
This didn’t happen, but if BYU beat Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt beat Georgia, and Georgia beat Florida, some fans would then say this proves BYU would beat Florida if they played. I agree that’s pretty faulty logic. BTW, this example was for football, not basketball where BYU did beat Florida last season.
Don't trust this guy. He lies.
Exactly what, I am talking about
Even more accurate as it stretches across a few teams. I really hope that I can grow to like BYU sports. I am sure we will be rivals at the top of the conference for as long as BYU is in the WCC but there is no reason that both teams together can’t bring greater respect to the conference.
Bottom Line
If Gonzaga is having a good year (which they almost certainly will be as long as Coach Few is around), the Marriott Center will fill up the same way it has in recent years for the bigger MWC rivalries, i.e. Utah, UNLV, and last season New Mexico.
Now, whether it will fill up for a mediocre Portland squad is another matter…but they’ve been a conference with Wyoming and Air Force hoops too…
Ok...someone needs to explain this to me...
I realize BYU has been to the tourney…yada yada….
But look who GU has played just in the last two years:
Last year:
Mich State @ Mich State L (tragic)
Wisconson W
Colorado W
Wake Forest L but no way if Harris is not ejected
Illinois @ Illinois W
Oklahoma W
Memphis W
Duke L
Florida state W
SMC W W L
Year before:
OK ST W
Maryland W
Tennesse W W
Uconn L in OT (tragic)
Arizona L (tragic)
North Carolina L (Eventual National Champion)
I will leave it to you to look at who they will play this year…it is a helluva slate again…
…you get the idea….so my point…
Look at who we play…Fact is…if BYU we played them…most of us would be disappointed in a loss, feeling we should beat a team like that. I know I would!
Why would we be or should we be so concerned with BYU? Hell SMC has been just as good or better then BYU the last 3 years.
I think BYU needs be concerned…look at what we do to “Cougar teams” :)
Gonzaga's been the better team over the last decade
But I still think they’ll end up splitting in most seasons. To bad they can’t play each other this year whill BYU still has Jimmer Fredette.
Don't trust this guy. He lies.
Or, too bad we can't play each other,
THIS year while WE still have Elias Harris and Steven Gray? It works both ways bro.
Side note: I changed my profile pic. It was starting to make me talk funny. Tanx for bringing it to my attention Zagsfanatic….heheh
Its gonna be gLoRiOUS!!~
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