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The Burrow is last place?

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The Burrow is last place?

This guy is an absolute clown…Troy has the "worst " arena bar far…after this fall, hopefully we will be in much better shape…i do have to agree with him on the scorboard though - its pretty sad…

"Getting ready to head back to FAU Arena for tonight's game. I'm covering both the men's and women's games.

When ranking Sun Belt Conference facilities, I have a new contender for last place. It's FAU Arena. It's old, not well kept and small. Looks like a slightly oversized high school gymnasium. No video, primitive scoreboards and, making my job less easy, no Internet access. Bottom three in the Sun Belt right now are: Florida Internationals' Pharmed Arena, Florida Atlantic's FAU Arena and Troy's Trojan Arena. Amazing that Troy and FAU are two of the Sun Belt's newest members and have two of the three worst arenas. In ranking the bottom three, I'd go (best to worst and I'll give New Orleans a pass on its current facility) Troy, Florida International and Florida Atlantic. Troy has built on to its facility and has a nice entrance/concession area. And FAU's arena has slightly more amenities. The high school scoreboard at FAU puts it at the bottom.

1. Western Kentucky (good arena, good atmosphere, good fans)

2. UALR (leather seats, scoreboards vault it to top)

3. South Albama (Needs better video, atmosphere to move up)

4. Denver (might be the best if it was basketball specific)

5. Louisiana-Lafayette (Very nice, just way too big)

6. Arkansas State (Has everything you need)

7. Middle Tennessee (Improved a lot in past four years)

8. North Texas (Super Pit isn't really a pit)

9. New Orleans (Lakefront Arena, please move back there soon)

10. Louisiana-Monroe (paint job did wonders for Fant-Ewing)

11. Troy (concession area keeps it from bottom)

12. Florida International (Got to love an open air facility)

13. Florida Atlantic (enough said already)

One thing in FAU's favor is its location. Just a couple of minutes from very nice beaches.

And it's a fantastic day today in South Florida.

On to the game. I expect Lorenzo Razz will have some family and friends in attendance. I hope he'll get the opportunity to play at least a little.

No predictions. I'm smarter than that."


Slatton/Arkansas Gazette

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The Burrow is last place?

He does make some valid points and many of those are easy fixes, at least if the money is there:

- A new scoreboard and sound system could be upgraded easy enough, again all it takes is a little money form a nice donor, the Internet access would require a little more effort to be done right, could have benefited last year when part of the floor had to be replace, raceways could have been installed then, but I don't think timing would have allowed enough time to pull this off.

Anyway, we do need to make some of these amenities available.
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The Burrow is last place?

They do have internet access at the gym.....dial-up. But what the hell does this guy want to do? Download movies to his laptop?
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The Burrow is last place?

I hate to say it, but FAU's arena is very poor. My High School arena was better 27 years ago than the FAU arena is now…but that was in Indiana. The good news is that Angelos and Brogan understands it. Rex understands it, and it will get better. The reality is that if you have an average of 600 fans per game, that is what you get. My high school averaged about 7,000 fans a game. We need fans. We need better marketing. It's not Indiana, it is Boca Raton, not a basketball mecca…but in D1, there is no reason we cannot get more fans out to the games. There is no reason we cannot find the money to get a decent sound system. Hopefully we will get there. As I have stated in other threads; win some big games and win consistently and good things will happen. Go Owls!!
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The Burrow is last place?

Slatton:

You can't really be a writer for the Arkansas Gazette, because you appear to be a moron.


… FAU Arena. It's old, not well kept and small. Looks like a slightly oversized high school gymnasium.

How many high school gyms hold 5,000 people? I've never seen a high school gym as nice or as large as FAU Arena. Is something built in 1981 "old"? Maybe in Florida.


No video, primitive scoreboards and, making my job less easy, no Internet access.

What a tough job! I'm so sorry you have to actually watch the action 10 to 100 feet from your front row seat. I haven't seen a SunBelt area that has video. Some 'Belt football stadiums don't even have video. Maybe you're used to that high-tech stuff in your metropolis of, well, Little Rock. :)

FAU has wired and wireless Internet. I've transmitted photos from FAU Arena. Maybe you should spend less time writing insulting blog entries and more time investigating the amenities of the campuses that graciously host you.


Amazing that Troy and FAU are two of the Sun Belt's newest members and have two of the three worst arenas.

Amazing? Wouldn't it make sense that two programs from football hotbeds making a move to a larger and more respected conference might be initially challenged when it comes to basketball facilities? Get it?

BTW, how's that UALR football stadium?


Troy has built on to its facility and has a nice entrance/concession area. And FAU's arena has slightly more amenities. The high school scoreboard at FAU puts it at the bottom.

Troy did not build onto its "arena". It renovated the 1960s or early '70s building to add end zone seating, a pro-style scoreboard and an open lobby with nice concessions and the like. Troy's arena may look larger and more college-like, but FAU Arena holds more people and is more functional. With a nice facelift this summer, it will tide over the Owls until a new arena is built.


I'm smarter than that.

Nope.

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The Burrow is last place?

does nayone know if the sound system is finished or if it will be upgraded?? I heard from somone that they had not put in the subs yet…lets Hope so, because right now, the bass sounds well, lets just say its not good…

Also, i havent heard anything about a scoreboard change…has anyone heard about this possibly taking place?? I did speak to someone last night who said Ely High has a state of the art ceiling scoreboard - that would be nice! But for know someone other than the one we have, with some type of video would be great! 8-)
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The Burrow is last place?

I know it is easy to get offended when somebody talks negatively about our facilities, BUT in the case of our basketball gym…it is an embarassing facility in relation to the size of our campus/student body/etc. There is no reason our gym should look like it does! How much are our athletic fees per student??? Do we have the worst gym out of all the 15,000+ schools in florida, I would think so.

Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
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The Burrow is last place?

It's not that bad compared to similar and lesser schools in Florida. Add a new entrance/concessions area, scoreboards and eliminate the bleacher style seating and it will hold FAU over for a awhile.

UCF's place is (was?) no better. Troy's is comparable, and from what I hear of FIU's …

Good or bad, the inaccurate reporting drives me crazy. Comment away, but get the facts straight.
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The Burrow is last place?

Here is an overview of the upgrades that will take place at The Burrow (from Coach Walters blog): http://fausports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/walters-response-020107.html
Question from Greg
Rex,
Great job so far this year! My question is about the upgrades to the arena after the season. What exactly will be done? Thanks!

Response from Coach Walters
Greg,
Thanks for the email and interest in FAU Basketball. I have visited with Craig Angelos our Athletics Director and Associate AD Melissa Dawson and I am excited about what I am hearing. Melissa emailed me and this is what she wrote:

"The exterior of the arena, lobby, locker room and scoreboard upgrades are being planned. In addition to these improvements, we will be adding chair back seating to the lower west sideline as well as both baselines. Our idea is to leave the lower east sideline bleacher seating for students. It is our sincere hope that as the student support for our basketball teams grow, we will be able to fill this lower section with students that will get vocal in support of their team. The thought is to try and create an atmosphere similar in nature to Duke University Basketball where the entire lower level is bleacher seating and students stand and cheer throughout the game.

In addition to this interior atmosphere, we are trying to create a more festive game day experience outside of the arena. The current roadway will be blocked off and resurfaced with pavers. This will allow us to develop a pre-game social area where the band, cheerleaders and dance team can perform while vendors offer pre-game food and beverages. We are hoping this will bring a downtown appeal to the exterior of the arena and provide a perfect space for pre-game gatherings.

There will be a ticket kiosk located in the island that is currently outside the arena. This new ticket kiosk will now become the game day point of sell for anyone wishing to purchase tickets to events located in the arena. After purchasing tickets, fans will walk across the covered roadway and enter the arena. Anyone wishing to enter the building will now have to present their tickets prior to ever entering the facility. This will provide a more collegiate feel and help decrease the clutter in the lobby itself. The lobby will have a team store, new lighting, new tile flooring and wainscoting in order to upgrade its appeal.

Finally, we will be renovating both the men?s and women?s basketball locker rooms. This part of the renovation will divide each of these locker rooms into 2 separate rooms. One room will be a team meeting room and the other the actual changing room itself. It is our hope that the renovation of these areas will allow us a much better opportunity to host double headers with the men?s and women?s teams. In addition, these remodeled locker rooms will assist us in developing a recruiting edge over our Sun Belt competitors."

Melissa and Craig are working their tails off to make this exciting stuff happen. With this renovation, our already beautiful campus and city, and with the leadership of President Brogan and Craig Angelos, we will have all the elements to having a successful basketball program. The Burrow is going to be the place to be!

Thanks again for the email and please come out and support us.

Sincerely,
Rex Walters
FAU Basketball


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The Burrow is last place?

Sounds like the renovation will make the Burrow a great place in the near future - I like the team store they will have inside the arena.

Awesome news!!
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