Sneed talks about the move of the hoops games in the Times today.

_________________
There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

Do you think that will make any difference for them, Bob? I think they desperately need to play on campus. There's nothing sadder than a DePaul game in Rosemont these days. I bet a student hasn't seen a game in the last ten years.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

It would be even more better if they build a Pink Line stop at Madison.

_________________

So, just as people begin to come to Rosemont/Des Plaines looking for leisure and to spend money, De Paul pulls out...good move

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

GD, methinks you have an opinion on people that read Sneed?

_________________

This would help with getting students to the games. They could contract buses from Lincoln Park and take people to the games.

I really haven't given a damn about DePaul since they lost their deal with WGN years ago. I think that was back when Joey Meyer was still running things.

_________________

_________________

It makes more sense for DePaul to play their home basketball games at United Center instead of Allstate Arena in Rosemont. However, I think they should play a handful of marquee games at the home of Derrick Rose & Jonathan Toews, similar to other Big East schools that play home games at NBA/NHL arenas, and instead spend the $$$$ on a state-of-the-art on campus arena a lot closer to their home campus in Lincoln Park.

Obviously an on-campus arena would be ideal, but I feel like if they had the wherewithal and real estate to do it, they would have done it by now.

The United Center would be in the city, yes, but still several miles from campus, so that's not a perfect solution. At least it's sort of on the L (and yes, spmack, there should absolutely be a stop at Madison), as opposed to the Horizon, which for all practical purposes is inaccessible. My real fear is that the rent is too damn high. They have 82+ dates accounted for with the Bulls and Blackhawks (when they're not staging lockouts), plus concerts, so it's not like demand is low. There may not even be enough open dates for DePaul to play a full slate there. And if you think a small crowd at the Horizon makes for a bad vibe, try a small crowd at a 23,000-seat arena.

I'm wondering if maybe DePaul should accept that irrelevance and failure is the new normal and just play their games at the gym where the girls play. There's a NBA D-League team out in Bakersfield that actually started playing its games in its practice facility and presenting them as basically luxury-box events, with dinners included and everyone sitting either courtside or up in a mezzanine, and wound up being surprisingly successful with this approach. Now of course DePaul can't start making dinner for everyone, but maybe they could just sell the intimacy and the exclusivity of playing at a small gym in the city, creating DA ATMASPHEER that college fans love so much, and perhaps exhibit some forms of creativity that I can't come up with. Play in a gym that seats 3,000 and make sure there are 3,000 every night. Better than playing in a morgue in Rosemont.

_________________

Are you referring to what's now called McGrath Arena, CH? It used to be called the DePaul Athletic Center, and I remember they played a few home games a season there, thanks in large part to scheduling conflicts at Allstate Arena. It's right off the Red/Brown Line stop at Fullerton & Sheffield.

This.

I never understood why the men don't play on campus. If they schedule a marquee opponent like Duke, North Carolina, etc, then sure, schedule the game at the UC, otherwise it should just be held in the gym on campus.

_________________

No matter where they play they are still going to suck at basketball

_________________

Yes! I'm looking at it and yeah, it's basically a high school gym, but maybe if there's any way they could expand it just a little (maybe some annexes on the sides where you could put cafe-style luxury seating?), they could have something. The program is basically dead now, they've said they're de-emphasizing athletics (or something to that effect), so why not go small and make the most of it? Just enough room for the pep band and the most diehard fans. Could wind up being kind of cool.

_________________

That was my point, guys. If DePaul had marquee opponents like Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, UCONN, Notre Dame & other high-profile basketball schools on their schedule, then play the games at United Center. Once upon a time, DePaul basketball actually mattered in Chicago. Not the case now, and I think it's safe to say HC Oliver Purnell has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild a once proud program.

Would at least be claustrophobic for opposing teams used to playing in front of real crowds.

_________________

I've seen that little gym used to host Chicago Public League high school boys & girls' basketball games in recent years on MeTV's "Game of the Week".

Filling an on-campus stadium, regardless of size, is going to be tough with the amount of commuters DePaul has.

_________________
team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Well, they're not filling a suburban arena that's only accessible by car, either, so I'm not entirely sure what it is you think they should do.

_________________

Worry about becoming better at basketball so the stadium issue becomes moot...

_________________
team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

They're no Loyola......

_________________

Unfortunately for DePaul, they've been bad at men's basketball for a long time, regardless if they were in the defunct Great Midwest, Conference USA & now the Big East. It seems like a long time ago since ex-HC Dave Leitao actually coached the Blue Demons to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

_________________
team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

It's never going to be moot. DePaul is never going to be what people say it used to be. The Bulls are too big, the Big Ten diaspora is too big, other sports are too big. DePaul University itself has said that it's not going to be a pull-out-all-the-stops jock factory. So what's the sense in playing at an 18,000-seat arena in the suburbs as if they're big-time? All they're going to be from here on out is Loyola with a tougher schedule.

_________________

Guys, DePaul should be in a much smaller conference with schools in the same boat as they are. They have no business in the Big East and the folks in charge on Belden Ave. should realize that.

I agree. They should be in a conference with Loyola and UIC. Are they in the same conference? If not, one or the other, I guess.

_________________

Loyola & UIC are in the Horizon League, along with Butler, CH. Northern Illinois, another non-conference opponent DePaul always plays, is in the Mid-American Conference. Last but not least, Chicago State, I believe is in the Mid-Continent Conference and they've got a sharp-looking new arena of their own I've also seen on MeTV's coverage of the Chicago Public League.

Looks like a pretty nice gym that Loyola Academy has there.

_________________

No school should want that. While they are in the Big East, there is a chance, albeit not good, of becoming a ranked team again. If the Big East would allow them to build a 5,000 seat stadium in Lincoln Park, then do it. But I was under the impression that there were seat minimums for Big East basketball stadiums.

And they are both in the Horizon.

_________________
team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Chicago State almost isn't a school. Let's not talk about them.

I think the Horizon League sounds up their alley. That gives you local rivalries with Loyola, UIC, and Valparaiso (wikipedia says Butler left). The MAC seems more, I dunno, not Catholic? Northern Illinois, though, there's another basketball program that should be more than what it is but never will be.

_________________