MSG TV Atmosphere Looked Excellent...!

[Hall2012]

There was a pretty good crowd last night. Excellent for 1st round games really, but it was far from packed. They did a good job of making sure the sections the camera sees were the most densely filled. I was sitting behind one of the baskets (section 111) and was surrounded by empty seats.

[JOPO]

From the comfort of my living room, the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden last night looked excellent. It was loud, and it seemed as though even during normal gameplay, there was constant buzz was going on throughout both games, and the stands looked filled. And this was for our 8/9 and 7/10 games.

I was wondering if anyone who was at the games could give their first hand impressions of their experience last night. Last night was really just the warmup in intensity.

Also, looking at other opening nights from other conferences, they seemed like a cross between library and a funeral parlor. The Temple-UCF game was empty. Boston College vs Georgia Tech was pretty empty too. The Oklahoma State game was a little better than those two.

I was there last night to watch my beloved Pirates! Coming in to MSG last night Butler's Blue was hanging out in front of the arena soaking up the atmosphere, posing for pictures and enjoying the occasional ear scratch. It was cool to meet him and I snapped a few pictures of him as well. Funny thing about Butler's Blue though, I spoke to my mom after the game and told her about Blue (we are both dog lovers) the Bulldog and how he goes to all of Butler's games and goes out on the court with cheerleaders. She thought this was a great idea and told me that Seton Hall should do that as well (get a dog to do the same thing). I told her but we're Pirates. She then said but the other school has a dog so why not. I then explained that Butler's mascot was in fact a Bulldog, the same breed as Blue. Then she got it and sort of laughed at herself. LOL! Gotta love your mom!

I noticed fans from all three of our new conference mates along with the old regulars. The crowd was a little thin in the beginning but I attribute that to the 7:00 start. In this area (NY/NJ) is everyone is commuting in rush hour traffic so people sometimes are running a little late. By 7:30 though the place had filled out nicely. Great atmosphere and no dealing with some of the more obnoxious fan bases whose schools have since left or been tossed out of the Big East. The refs really let the guys play typical Big East basketball in the first game which I loved. However, at one point in the second half two of our guys had seven fouls between them (Auda and Teague) when only about 9-10 fouls total had been called against the Pirates. I was a little nervous with both of our big guys sitting on the bench. Butler made a nice (and scary) cut into our lead when both of our guys were on the bench. We were able to hang on in the end but it certainly was not pretty. We had too many missed layups that should have been easy point and will have to clean that up going again today.

I'm very thankful for the win over Butler. Hopefully my Pirates advance today so that I can head back to the City to watch them play again tomorrow night. Today I will be listening from the comfort of my office.

[Masterofreality]

Last nite attendance. BE- 13,177, AAC- 4,815, ACC- 10,945, A10- 3,845. All opening round.

Big East Requiem? Uh, no ESPN. No.

[LeMoyne00]

Great job Big East! Looked a little thinner than past years, but considering all the changes, looked good!

I found slightly different numbers on USA Today box scores... the two-game American session had 12,102 and the A-10 had 3,842

[GoldenWarrior11]

Last nite attendance. BE- 13,177, AAC- 4,815, ACC- 10,945, A10- 3,845. All opening round.

Big East Requiem? Uh, no ESPN. No.

That is an amazing statistic. The fact that each tournament game, thus far, has been close and exciting only adds to the history the league brings.

[billyjack]

Great job Big East! Looked a little thinner than past years, but considering all the changes, looked good!

I found slightly different numbers on USA Today box scores... the two-game American session had 12,102 and the A-10 had 3,842

The American got 12,000...? Is that true? The stands were empty.

Also, you mentioned that you and your wife were concerned about the excitement of the BET this year. What were your thoughts so far at MSG?

[LeMoyne00]

The American got 12,000...? Is that true? The stands were empty.

Also, you mentioned that you and your wife were concerned about the excitement of the BET this year. What were your thoughts so far at MSG?

My guess is all-tourney passes bought by Memphis fans, much like my wife and I yesterday - NO SHOWS! It looked good on TV last night.

I like the dark stands of MSG - where the floor is lit, but not really the building - it HIDES empty seats well, unlike all the other new school cookie cutter Arenas where every empty seat stands out in the bright building wide lighting. Plus, I haven't seen the new bridges yet and the new scoreboard looks amazing on TV - can't wait to see the finished Garden.

We made it to NYC this afternoon, not happy with 'Nova... I was planning on cheering them tomorrow and Saturday. My wife left to meet her sister, and I'm at the hotel; we'll be there for the late session and the rest of the tourney.