lamarfan360 Posted August 30, 2023 Share Posted August 30, 2023 https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/article/neches-federal-credit-union-arena-announced-lamar-18338900.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted September 19, 2023 Author Share Posted September 19, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 As much as I loved it as "The Montagne Center" (Insane in the Montagne), the infusion of capital is needed to bring the arena into the 21st Century. Looking forward to these upgrades. The fan experience is going to be exponentially better than it was last year. The only upgrade I wish they'd done with it is to add suites on the south side of the arena that can be used both for football and basketball. There are enough employers in SETEX to fill them for all the football games and basketball games. healthcare, the refineries, the banks and credit unions, the construction companies, law firms. Nothing like a good environment to schmooze clients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddin tane Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 As much as I loved it as "The Montagne Center" (Insane in the Montagne), the infusion of capital is needed to bring the arena into the 21st Century. Looking forward to these upgrades. The fan experience is going to be exponentially better than it was last year. The only upgrade I wish they'd done with it is to add suites on the south side of the arena that can be used both for football and basketball. There are enough employers in SETEX to fill them for all the football games and basketball games. healthcare, the refineries, the banks and credit unions, the construction companies, law firms. Nothing like a good environment to schmooze clients. so, they will play on the billy and pat tubbs court in the neches fcu arena of the montagne center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted September 20, 2023 Author Share Posted September 20, 2023 As much as I loved it as "The Montagne Center" (Insane in the Montagne), the infusion of capital is needed to bring the arena into the 21st Century. Looking forward to these upgrades. The fan experience is going to be exponentially better than it was last year. The only upgrade I wish they'd done with it is to add suites on the south side of the arena that can be used both for football and basketball. There are enough employers in SETEX to fill them for all the football games and basketball games. healthcare, the refineries, the banks and credit unions, the construction companies, law firms. Nothing like a good environment to schmooze clients. Agree, suites would be nice in the arena! However, there are more pressing needs regarding facilities at Lamar. 1. A training center for men and women basketball. 2. Indoor practice facility for football. 3. Major renovation of Vincent-Beck 4. Major upgrades to the press box at Provost-Umphey. 5. Renovation to the basketball arena with suites and other amenities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 The main upgrade needed in all these sports is winning. Most of my attention when I am at a game is on the court of the field. I glance at the scoreboard for the time left and the score. Some places have good replay, but you only look at that during a timeout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 so, they will play on the billy and pat tubbs court in the neches fcu arena of the montagne center? Sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Agree, suites would be nice in the arena! However, there are more pressing needs regarding facilities at Lamar. 1. A training center for men and women basketball. 2. Indoor practice facility for football. 3. Major renovation of Vincent-Beck 4. Major upgrades to the press box at Provost-Umphey. 5. Renovation to the basketball arena with suites and other amenities. I agree across the board- though I'm wondering what the issue with the Press Box is that is diminishing the experience. While I value the Fourth Estate, the experience for the players comes first... with the fans second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 The main upgrade needed in all these sports is winning. Most of my attention when I am at a game is on the court of the field. I glance at the scoreboard for the time left and the score. Some places have good replay, but you only look at that during a timeout. Winning is a balm for everything but we can't just roll out the basketballs. If we improve the experience of attending a game, more fans show up. If more fans show up, the experience improves even further because it creates that homecourt advantage we used to be able to have. I haven't attended a lot of games but the place feels way too big for the number of attendees. 3000 fans used to be the baseline; now, the team hasn't averaged over 3200 fans since 2008-2009 (and haven't even hit 3000 in over a decade). Bring in an extra 1000 fans a game and you're talking an extra $10K/game... or nearly $150K/season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted September 20, 2023 Author Share Posted September 20, 2023 The main upgrade needed in all these sports is winning. Most of my attention when I am at a game is on the court of the field. I glance at the scoreboard for the time left and the score. Some places have good replay, but you only look at that during a timeout. Prospective coaches look at facilities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Before the Montagne the Cards were playing in the civic center, winning and selling out. The civic center was not a great atmosphere as a building, it was a great atmosphere because the team was winning, and the fans were coming. If Lamar were winning in time the fans would come. Duke has a nice scoreboard, but it is an old small facility. University of Kansas is in a big old building. If the among the best basketball programs don't need the most modern facilities to sell them out and have them full of fans why do the programs that are not winning think improving the aesthetics will bring in the fans. Note, I don't disagree with improving the facilities, just that I don't believe the facilities will improve the winning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted September 20, 2023 Author Share Posted September 20, 2023 (edited) KU has a nice practice facility and the Jayhawks basketball team has their own dorms! https://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/oct/17/inside-mccarthy-hall-ku-basketball-teams-insane-ne/ Plus, in 2022 Bill Self made 10 million!!! Finally, I agree that winning is the most important thing in athletics. It brings pride to alumni, students and the community. It has been proven at the college level to positively improve attendance, new student enrollment and retention. I believe making improvements is a tool used by administration and coaches to attract the best students athletes possible. Edited September 20, 2023 by lamarfan360 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Before the Montagne the Cards were playing in the civic center, winning and selling out. The civic center was not a great atmosphere as a building, it was a great atmosphere because the team was winning, and the fans were coming. If Lamar were winning in time the fans would come. Duke has a nice scoreboard, but it is an old small facility. University of Kansas is in a big old building. If the among the best basketball programs don't need the most modern facilities to sell them out and have them full of fans why do the programs that are not winning think improving the aesthetics will bring in the fans. Note, I don't disagree with improving the facilities, just that I don't believe the facilities will improve the winning. 1) In the 80s, basically every arena was a dump. 2) In the 80s, fans didn't have the options they have now. 3) We're not Duke or Kansas; they're selling out the arena every game- their fans are the arena. If they had 10 bad years in a row, they would be drawing crappy crowds. Lamar has more 20-loss seasons than 20-win seasons in the last 35 years. Baby Jessica wasn't alive the last time we had back-to-back 20-win seasons. She now has a kid in HS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Prospective coaches look at facilities! More important than prospective coaches looking at facilities is: - Recruits looks at facilities. - Coaches of recruits look at facilities. - Families of recruits look at facilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 More important than prospective coaches looking at facilities is: - Recruits looks at facilities. - Coaches of recruits look at facilities. - Families of recruits look at facilities. You're correct, Kansas and Duke have other perks that Lamar does not have, but the bottom line is still winning fills the seats and yes it takes years of winning. Do you remember going to Minute Maid Park before the Astros really started winning. You could walk up to the gate a half hour before game time and get great seats at a reasonable price. Right now, with the Astros a championship contender great seats are more expensive and a lot of times they may not be available for a game against a good team. McNeese. just opened their new facility, but since they aren't a contender were they able to fill it? I'm not in the area so I don't know when I might see it in person, but is it nicer than a forty-year-old Montagne, you tell me? How does, the Montagne compare to the rest of the Southland? I've been to several of them over the years and I can promise you facilities is not why other schools are at the top of the heap every year when it comes to their arenas. How about Northwestern State's Quonset hut building. I believe year in year out the last twenty years they have at worst split with Lamar in most years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachacola Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Let's pretend for a moment that LU had the budget to renovate the arena. I would remove the upper ring of seats and convert that area to luxury suites. Capacity would drop to around 7500 to 8000 that would be more than enough seats. On the outside I would add add some red bricks to part of the facade so it would blend in more with the football stadium and the theme of the campus. Give me a boatload of money and I would completely redo the side of the building facing the football stadium. Expand those luxury suites out and add more suites and viewing areas, maybe add a gameday restaurant/bar. For the stadium, first thing I would do is tear down the press box and add a small upper tier with a nicer press box, luxury seating and a few more suites. As we go further into fantasyland, extend out the grandstands on both sides and extend the seating to wrap in front of the athletic complex. It could be a very nice and cozy 25K seat stadium, and really if LU would have kept up with their peers then that should already be a reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 You're correct, Kansas and Duke have other perks that Lamar does not have, but the bottom line is still winning fills the seats and yes it takes years of winning. Do you remember going to Minute Maid Park before the Astros really started winning. You could walk up to the gate a half hour before game time and get great seats at a reasonable price. Right now, with the Astros a championship contender great seats are more expensive and a lot of times they may not be available for a game against a good team. McNeese. just opened their new facility, but since they aren't a contender were they able to fill it? I'm not in the area so I don't know when I might see it in person, but is it nicer than a forty-year-old Montagne, you tell me? How does, the Montagne compare to the rest of the Southland? I've been to several of them over the years and I can promise you facilities is not why other schools are at the top of the heap every year when it comes to their arenas. How about Northwestern State's Quonset hut building. I believe year in year out the last twenty years they have at worst split with Lamar in most years. Yes, I went to plenty of games at MMP when they sucked- it was my only way (other than about 5 national games) to see them during the CSN-Houston days since I didn't have Comcast. They ran some good promotions to get butts in seats. The campus needs to build some excitement in going to the arena or at least incentives for students, alums, and donors. Look at the excitement that Texas creates when the coach puts up his own money for butts in seats at the Moody Center. I'm not asking the coaches at Lamar to put up their own money, "ExxonMobil Night" where they give $1 to the university for every person who shows up... or even making it competitive between organizations and have a donor to put up some money for the organizations (Greek, honor societies, service orgs, clubs, etc.) that bring the most students. You know the Greeks would love to compete to win a big check. Throw in some more timeout and halftime competitions. LU has more SETEX students than they did a generation ago- they should be able to build the excitement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted September 24, 2023 Author Share Posted September 24, 2023 Yes, I went to plenty of games at MMP when they sucked- it was my only way (other than about 5 national games) to see them during the CSN-Houston days since I didn't have Comcast. They ran some good promotions to get butts in seats. The campus needs to build some excitement in going to the arena or at least incentives for students, alums, and donors. Look at the excitement that Texas creates when the coach puts up his own money for butts in seats at the Moody Center. I'm not asking the coaches at Lamar to put up their own money, "ExxonMobil Night" where they give $1 to the university for every person who shows up... or even making it competitive between organizations and have a donor to put up some money for the organizations (Greek, honor societies, service orgs, clubs, etc.) that bring the most students. You know the Greeks would love to compete to win a big check. Throw in some more timeout and halftime competitions. LU has more SETEX students than they did a generation ago- they should be able to build the excitement. I remember when one of the car dealerships had a promotion of having a fan shoot a half court shot in order to win a new car. I am sure they took out insurance in case someone made the shot. One game, a guy actually made it! He won a pretty nice vehicle. Those games back then were averaging over 5000 and Lamar was not overly successful in the win column. I believe it was during the Grey Giovanine era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 I fully agree that the University and some corporate sponsors need to do somethings to get the students to the games initially and the team needs to win to keep them coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted September 25, 2023 Author Share Posted September 25, 2023 Today is the first day of official practice for college basketball. I can not wait to see the Cardinals (MBB & WBB)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeckEm Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 Yes, I went to plenty of games at MMP when they sucked- it was my only way (other than about 5 national games) to see them during the CSN-Houston days since I didn't have Comcast. They ran some good promotions to get butts in seats. The campus needs to build some excitement in going to the arena or at least incentives for students, alums, and donors. Look at the excitement that Texas creates when the coach puts up his own money for butts in seats at the Moody Center. I'm not asking the coaches at Lamar to put up their own money, "ExxonMobil Night" where they give $1 to the university for every person who shows up... or even making it competitive between organizations and have a donor to put up some money for the organizations (Greek, honor societies, service orgs, clubs, etc.) that bring the most students. You know the Greeks would love to compete to win a big check. Throw in some more timeout and halftime competitions. LU has more SETEX students than they did a generation ago- they should be able to build the excitement. Unfortunately, the Greek population is pretty small. Another brilliant move in late 80's...try to shut down Greek social clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted October 8, 2023 Author Share Posted October 8, 2023 Went in the basketball arena before the football game and the new Jumbotron is pretty nice! There is still a lot work going on in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 Went in the basketball arena before the football game and the new Jumbotron is pretty nice! There is still a lot work going on in there. As long as it's done by the 6th. Have to be ready for the real season opener. No offense to St. Thomas and North American University but, if the game doesn't count, I'm not rushing the construction crews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexGator Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Remember what we were saying about arena environments? Andy Katz reinforcing that the best arenas are where we you feel the most juiced. 1) Phog Allen Fieldhouse 2) Cameron Indoor Stadium 3) Mackey Arena 4) Pauley Pavilion 5) The Palestra 6) Hinkle Fieldhouse 7) Breslin Center 8) The Dean Dome 9) Assembly Hall 10) Hilton Coliseum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamarfan360 Posted October 14, 2023 Author Share Posted October 14, 2023 Work must be completed in the arena! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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