We Need a New Ambience at Moody

[Lamont_Cranston]

...did anyone else in the southside seats get tired of that damned strobe light going off almost every :30 seconds last night like I did? It was the light in the northwest corner of the coliseum. Will someone in operations maintenance please fix the damned thing before the next home game! I still have blue dots floating around in front of me today!

Update Moody...but don't EVER tear it down! It's historic and part of the campus' overall ambience. And...if it were torn down, you'd have to move the Mustang statues in front that face Airline Drive during the construction period. That sounds like something an Aggie would do. Build it, tear it down, build it again.

That flashing is from the game photographer...It is his remote flash...That flash creates the light he needs without having it on the floor to distract the players...All basketball photographers use this technoogy...I've noticed it and yes it can become annoying...

Are you serious? I've been to almost every home game this year and that's the first time I've experienced that damn strobe light. It was at the top of Moody - up near the old broadcast booth - right above the last row of seats.

Please forgive my ignorance but: what game photographer? Is it someone who works for Laughead or the DMN or the Daily Campus or the Athletic Department or...who?

[Dukie]

Cameron Indoor is a dump.

EastStang, have you ever been to CIS? It's no dump. The last time a reasonable observer could have called it a dump was in the mid-80's before the first serious renovation, and now that Duke has poured millions into updating everything about it, widening the concourses, and moving out the coaches and other offices, it's state-of-the-art. All SMU really needs is a practice facility that can also house the coaches' offices and other random things that have long been housed in Moody, then widen the concourses and re-paint. Significant $$, sure, but not the megabucks some seem to think.

I've been to CIS. Heck, I've stood on the FLOOR at CIS. And while I would not call it a dump, I would say that it is pretty comparable to Moody (when both are empty). You could even say that Moody is BETTER than CIS...which one has air conditioning? It's not the one in Durham.

CIS is NOT "state-of-the-art," as you say it is, Dukie. What makes it such a great arena are the fans. If the Mustang Maniacs were anything close to the Cameron Crazies (and SMU's basketball program was anything close to Duke's) you would hear the sports announcers salivating over Moody just as much as they salivate over CIS.

Yes, Cameron is, indeed, state-of-the-art. It's your information that's dated. It's now been about six years since all coaching and athletic-support offices were moved to the Schwartz-Butters Building and more than four years since the building was air-conditioned and the concourses widened. I agree completely with your other two points--Moody and Cameron are architectural siblings, and it is the students that make the Cameron atmosphere special. The students are less than 1/4 of Cameron's 9314 capacity, however, and I'd argue that the average "above the railing" fan in Cameron is quieter and more apathetic than the average "above the railing" fan in Moody. Moody would be rocking, too, with only 1000 or so students/fans who were interested in yelling and cheering.

[abezontar]

I would be afraid that if we did have a large contingent of loud raucous students all we would here is chants of 'you suck' and lots of cursing.

[CalallenStang]

Cameron Indoor is a dump.

EastStang, have you ever been to CIS? It's no dump. The last time a reasonable observer could have called it a dump was in the mid-80's before the first serious renovation, and now that Duke has poured millions into updating everything about it, widening the concourses, and moving out the coaches and other offices, it's state-of-the-art. All SMU really needs is a practice facility that can also house the coaches' offices and other random things that have long been housed in Moody, then widen the concourses and re-paint. Significant $$, sure, but not the megabucks some seem to think.

I've been to CIS. Heck, I've stood on the FLOOR at CIS. And while I would not call it a dump, I would say that it is pretty comparable to Moody (when both are empty). You could even say that Moody is BETTER than CIS...which one has air conditioning? It's not the one in Durham.

CIS is NOT "state-of-the-art," as you say it is, Dukie. What makes it such a great arena are the fans. If the Mustang Maniacs were anything close to the Cameron Crazies (and SMU's basketball program was anything close to Duke's) you would hear the sports announcers salivating over Moody just as much as they salivate over CIS.

Yes, Cameron is, indeed, state-of-the-art. It's your information that's dated. It's now been about six years since all coaching and athletic-support offices were moved to the Schwartz-Butters Building and more than four years since the building was air-conditioned and the concourses widened. I agree completely with your other two points--Moody and Cameron are architectural siblings, and it is the students that make the Cameron atmosphere special. The students are less than 1/4 of Cameron's 9314 capacity, however, and I'd argue that the average "above the railing" fan in Cameron is quieter and more apathetic than the average "above the railing" fan in Moody. Moody would be rocking, too, with only 1000 or so students/fans who were interested in yelling and cheering.

Well, in May it will have been 6 years since I've last been to CIS, so if all the changes you have described have indeed occurred in the time frame you described them in, it is quite possible that CIS was still the "old" Cameron when I was there.

Dukie, I'm wondering, did you/are you attend(ing) Duke? If so, you know about the internet access in Krzylotsoflettersville that allows the students to have a "tent city" many days in advance of a big game. Do you believe that contributes to the amount of students who do choose to show up?

[quote=DickerJames]Thanks for the pics Cameron, its uncanny how much the two arenas resemble each other. I notice the band occupies a small portion of the endzone bleachers with fans (sudents?) sitting next to them. Also, is that short blue wall in front of the sideline bleachers what allows students or paying fans to sit behind the visitor bench? If so that is an easy fix for us.[/quote]

Correct, I believe, on both counts.

[Dukie]

Dukie, I'm wondering, did you/are you attend(ing) Duke? If so, you know about the internet access in Krzylotsoflettersville that allows the students to have a "tent city" many days in advance of a big game. Do you believe that contributes to the amount of students who do choose to show up?

Yes, the wi-fi probably matters a great deal, now that so much classwork takes place on the computer/online. I was class of '92, and we just lugged our books out there, but I think camping today would be severely restricted were it not for the Internet access, both for schoolwork and for wasting time surfing.