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Making things bigger with a touch started thousands of years before the iPad....

And speaking of the Kohl Center and it's home court advantage, this is what it says on the UW website... That looks like this... PBA seems to have taken some similar ideas. There's no wasted space for walking paths or other nonsense. It's all tucked away beneath each layer (keeping the seats closer to the floor). And much like the Kohl Center, each level seems to rise right above the one below it, leaving a massive wall of seats, that are "right on top of the action". Again, compare that to the Qwest, where they've wasted space on a hockey design, as well as rings of walking paths (green line) that push each successive layer out further and further. The levels aren't stacked nearly as tightly there as they are at PBA. And the upper-most level just goes back for days. To summarize... I think the PBA design is great for basketball. With the building packed, it's going to be a fairly cozy place for a joint that seats nearly 16K. If we can get some crowd noise, look out.

I live in the Haymarket and agree that parking down there (even driving) is an absolute disaster right now. That said, the garages will certainly help that out and not having to drive through multiple lane closers/wait on forklifts driving down the street will open things up nicely. Luckily I won't have to worry about driving/parking for games until I decide to move in a few years so I'll be interested in seeing how it works out. They will have multiple exit ways out of the arena thanks to the new road they're building, but the Haymarket is a pretty congested space for traffic with or without construction. I can't imagine it will be worse than the Bob, though. That was absolutely awful. Party at Concrete's place after the game. I call the couch.

I will park and walk from Waverly for an NCAA tournament team or conference championship.

Woolridge got 17mpg as a frosh and complained. I was of the opinion (during that season) he should've played MUCH LESS. Couldn't understand why Strick would get taken out of the game just to watch Andre pout up and down the court. There are plenty of guys today that would kill for 17 minutes as a freshman.

My bad for responding this late/dredging this up but... Sorry Norm, but I have no idea how you (or anyone) can have these complaints. What were you expecting them to build? Cameron Indoor? Gallagher Iba? This will be one of the best city-built, basketball-centric, multi-purpose facilities in the country. This was definitely built for basketball, and could maybe (probably not very well) host a hockey game. Let's compare it to multi-purpose venues that were built for hockey, and also host basketball games (with lesser quality sightlines). First up is the PBA. The baseline is highlighted in green and I've projected it out into the seats to show how it relates to the "bowl". At PBA, only a few feet exist between the baseline extended and where the bowl starts to curve. The very next section starts to angle towards center court, providing better sightlines and a more compact bowl. But take a look at the Qwest Center (below). You have to go at least a section and a half past baseline extended before the seats start to turn to face the court. This makes the bowl more oblong, which pushes the upper sections even further away from the court. Compare that with the Qwest's hockey config, and you get the result below. The green lines represent the location of the baselines in the basketball set-up. Even a place like the Kohl Center (which has been touted for its environment/home court advantage) is a hockey building that the PBA will have better sightlines than.

The words "parking garages" and "better" should never be used in the same sentence. Parking garages are fine for daily transient traffic that comes and goes at different times. But for events, like concerts and sporting events, they are a deathtrap. One could easily get stuck in a parking garage for a solid 30-45 minutes before getting out. That is not my idea of "better" in any way, shape or form. I am thrilled about the new arena and look forward to this new era of NU BB at Pinnable Bank Arena. But I have never bought into the notion that this arena, which is essentially landlocked in the Haymarket, will improve the parking situation. Fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena will either have to walk a decent distance (most of them directly into a bitter north wind across the pedestrian bridge and then, once they get to their cars, battle all the traffic to get out on to west O street using the one and only exit road available) or park in a garage and wait out the long, slow lines to get out. You missed the option which we now have in the Haymarket, vs. Devaney: Walk across the street and have a cold one or 2 vs. just waiting in a line of cars burning expensive fuel....

you fellas gonna want some cheese with that whine?

^I'll take some of that. As Rivers vast improvement from his freshman to sophomore years so I'm guessing there will improvement in his junior year.

I'll be accepting alcohol donations for parking spots in the bottoms right over the Haymarket bridge.

I may start the trend of leaving early so that I can get my post game beer order before there is a big rush.

While I agree its obviously a good sign that he's coming for an official, I fail to see any advantage to the fact that he wants to commit before his senior season. Maybe you're confusing the start of the school year with the start of his senior basketball season? He's also stated that he plans on taking all 5 of his officials before coming to a decision although I hope his visit here changes that thinking. With the early signing period running November 13-20 this year and his senior season starting sometime around that time, he has 3+ months to get all those visits in. My logic is that at the most we're likely competing against 4 other schools (his other visits that are yet to be scheduled),and he only has a few commitable offers at this point. Hammond seems like the type of player that could see his recruiting blowup in the spring, since decent big men carry a premium in the late signing period. Could easily be a blueblood's plan C. But if he wants to sign in November, we don't have to worry about that. I'd rather compete with St Louis and Oklahoma today, rather than Kansas and Arizona tomorrow.

The words "parking garages" and "better" should never be used in the same sentence. Parking garages are fine for daily transient traffic that comes and goes at different times. But for events, like concerts and sporting events, they are a deathtrap. One could easily get stuck in a parking garage for a solid 30-45 minutes before getting out. That is not my idea of "better" in any way, shape or form. I am thrilled about the new arena and look forward to this new era of NU BB at Pinnable Bank Arena. But I have never bought into the notion that this arena, which is essentially landlocked in the Haymarket, will improve the parking situation. Fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena will either have to walk a decent distance (most of them directly into a bitter north wind across the pedestrian bridge and then, once they get to their cars, battle all the traffic to get out on to west O street using the one and only exit road available) or park in a garage and wait out the long, slow lines to get out.

My wife and I went down to the Haymarket with friends Saturday night, and my friend is all worried that we are building "too fast". I almost fell out of my chair. He kept saying were is everybody going to park? I said that there is like 3 parking garages going in. It was really unbelieveable. I was down again last night and I am so happy to see all the work going on. They were still working at some places at 9:00 last night. These people really want their places ready for that first tip off or concert. Parking sucks right now, but once all the parking garages are finished it will be much better. Am so ready for this I can hardly stand it.

While I agree its obviously a good sign that he's coming for an official, I fail to see any advantage to the fact that he wants to commit before his senior season. Maybe you're confusing the start of the school year with the start of his senior basketball season? He's also stated that he plans on taking all 5 of his officials before coming to a decision although I hope his visit here changes that thinking. With the early signing period running November 13-20 this year and his senior season starting sometime around that time, he has 3+ months to get all those visits in.

I promise you don't want to do what I have to do to get in there without anyone asking questions.

Who's my top three? No clue. That's why I asked the expert.

There was a report from a AAU tournament this summer Robin retweeted where the basketball recruiting analyst watching Hammond said every time he got the ball he was dunking it. Can you imagine someone actually dunking the basketball on a consistent basis in the post? I didn't think that was possible watching NU recently.

I remember how cool it was to get a pair of PF Flyers which I also wore to school as my regular shoes in the late 60's. Money was tight with 8 kids in the family so dedicated basketball shoes wasn't happening. The motto that they would help you "run faster and jump higher" did not necessarily prove true for me. They were, however, an improvement over the work boots I played most of my early "basketball" in out shooting at a hoop nailed to the side of our dairy barn. They were black high tops with the white toe, sole and shoestrings along with the patch on the ankle.