The Sights and Sounds of the A-10 Tournament
by Bill Kintner
CINCINNATI – It is March, the time of year that the A-10 gathers for their annual festival called the Atlantic 10 Tournament. This year it is on the banks of the Ohio River at the US Bank Arena.
The US Bank Arena, formerly Riverfront Coliseum, formerly known as The Crown, and finally formerly known as FirstStar Center, has a long and almost storied past.
It opened in 1975 and was an arena in search of a purpose. The next summer Elton John rolled into town and played there with his monster “Louder Than the Concorde, But Not Quite As Pretty” tour followed by Paul McCartney and Wings “Wings Over America Tour.” Riverfront Coliseum was then on the map.
Gale Catlett’s University of Cincinnati Bearcats moved their basketball games to the coliseum. Back then, the Bearcats were a member of the new Metro Seven Conference. About that time the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA made the coliseum their home.
In December of 1979, 10 people were killed from a stampede at the coliseum during a concert by the rock group The Who. After that, Riverfront Coliseum was on the map permanently.
Over the years, US Bank Arena has been home to several indoor football teams, minor league basketball teams and minor league hockey.
The University of Kentucky just ended a 10-year run of playing a home game a year, at the facility. They have played area mid-major teams like Wright State, Ohio University, Ball State and Dayton. The Flyers even beat the Wildcats 68-66 in a stunning upset on November 29, 1999.
The last several years, UC has played Miami at US Bank Arena, as a neutral court game. Two years ago, C-USA rolled into town to play their conference tournament at US Bank Arena.
Through the years, in addition to the tragic deaths at the Who concert the arena has had it share of minor mishaps. One was in 1996, when during the NCAA Frozen Four hockey tournament the ice melted and the games had to be delayed while they fixed the problem.
Last year at the Atlantic 10 Tournament, the scoreboard went out on the first day. On the second day, a bird got caught in the fan of the ventilation system high above the court, spewing feathers all over the court. Eventually the mortally wounded bird dropped to the court and the start of the 6 PM game was delayed. Even this year, during the Dayton/Saint Joseph’s game a bird was flying low, buzzing the players and landing on the court during timeouts. It is only a matter of time until the bird craps on someone.
Notes
- Temple turned the table on Rhode Island when they beat them in the first round. Just a week ago, Rhode Island knocked off the Owls 69-63.
- When Temple defeated Fordham on February 23rd they joined some elite company. They joined Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, St. John’s and Syracuse as the seventh-winningest program of all time with 1654 victories.
- The Flyers fell in the Opening Round of the A-10 for the first time since 1997, when UD lost to 81-75 to St. Bonaventure.
- Two years ago Xavier became the first team in Atlantic 10 history to win four games in four days at the 2004 A-10 Championship at the University of Dayton Arena.
- UMass defeated Xavier 65-56 just four days ago in Amherst.
- Richmond’s 37-point output was just three points off the A-10 Tournament low for a game.
- The 82 combined points by Fordham and Richmond was the fewest points scored in an A-10 Tournament game.
- John Chaney, who in the past criticized the A-10 for putting the conference tournament in Ohio (saying it was the sticks and that he didn’t want to go to a state that voted for Bush), continued kicking Cincinnati by saying that the US Bank Arena facilities were lacking because the locker rooms didn’t have tables suitable for his players to get worked on by the training staff. No word yet if he was happy with the amenities at the Westin Hotel, where Temple is staying in downtown Cincinnati.
- The movers and shakers who run the A-10 are probably wishing Dayton had stuck around a little longer. Not that they have anything against St. Joe’s, but it would have been nice to have the 4,000 or so fans that come down from Dayton attending future sessions. They will sleep sound tonight knowing that host team Xavier is alive to play another day.
- Besides Dayton, the school on day one with the most traveling fans was St. Joe’s. There were probably 100 or so fans that made the trip to Cincinnati.
- Under the heading of… the three traveling Musketeers – and they have nothing to do with Xavier: While here at the A-10 Tournament I met up with Phil Kasiecki (Hoopville Managing Editor and CSTV contributor) and Kyle Whelliston from ESPN.com. We are probably the only three basketball writers who might catch a hundred Division I basketball games in a year. To have all three of us at one location is a first. We ate dinner together between Session I and II. So it was pretty amazing to hear us trading stories about the games we have seen, the arenas we have visited and the various goings-on in Mid-major basketball. The amount of basketball knowledge at the table was amazing and most of it was not coming from me. I did eat more than the other two guys combined. I have always tried to be the best at something. Make sure you catch Kyle on Mid-Majority as well as at ESPN.com. Phil can be found right here on Hoopville. Tomorrow it becomes the two Musketeers as Kyle heads up to Cleveland to cover the MAC Tournament.
