Basketball game at Yost someday?

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

As many know, Yost Ice Arena (then Yost Field House) was home to Michigan basketball from 1923-24 - 1966-67.

With teams like sparty and PSU going back to their old buildings recently for a "throwback game", I think it poses an interesting question.

Would you be in favor of Michigan Basketball playing a game in the old barn some day? 2013-14 is Yost's 90th season year in operation.

I realize Jenison and Rec Hall were much easier to configure for basketball than taking down an ice rink. Which is why I think this needs to be done (if it happens) in mid December when hockey has their break before the GLI. Plenty of time to put the rink back up for the new year.

PeterKlima

December 16th, 2013 at 4:44 PM ^

And I think they would have to remove the scoreboard.



Personally, I am not a fan of Veek-style gimmicks in sports. I think it is often trashy.

Tuebor

December 16th, 2013 at 4:45 PM ^

Yost Capacity: 6,637

Crisler Capacity: 13,751

 

Those tickets would probably cost twice as much as a regular game.  That doesn't even factor in that it would be a "premium" game.

Bando Calrissian

December 16th, 2013 at 4:52 PM ^

Floor seats that would pretty much not be able to see anything... You'd pretty much be limited to a few rows on once side of the court and the two endcourts.

Then again, there are photos of the original configuration where people sat in rows of floor seating that were essentially long wood planks balanced on cinder blocks, so I guess anything is possible.

MGoBender

December 16th, 2013 at 4:48 PM ^

It would be awesome - an event that would bring an intimate, loud atmosphere. 

It will never be done, because, obviously there's too much money to be made at Crisler.

Raoul

December 16th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^

Not saying this should happen for a men's game, but it's now possible to create a more intimate atmosphere within Crisler itself with the curtain that's used for women's basketball games. Capacity with the curtain down is about 6,000. For those who haven't seen it, it comes down around the upper bowl, leaving just a few rows of seating available up there.

Bando Calrissian

December 16th, 2013 at 4:49 PM ^

Meh. The workload the Yost rink gets beyond Michigan Hockey, IMO, just doesn't justify the expense of melting the ice, installing a floor, then undoing the process. Yost doesn't get melted down between the late summer and the week after Michigan gets bounced from the tournament, IIIRC. It's not equipped to be a quick-transition, multi-sport venue now that it's permanently hockey.

In other words, it's not like Jenison up in East Lansing, or St. John Arena in Columbus, which not only retain much of their original configuration, but also could be turned into a competitive basketball venue at the drop of a hat. Hell, pretty sure St. John's still has the floor installed. Jenison definitely doesn't. 

Bando Calrissian

December 16th, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^

Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great. And I'm not going to lie, the thought has crossed my mind many a time. But it just doesn't seem particularly practical.

Not to mention there isn't really an institutional memory of when basketball was played there. It's been nearly 50 years. It would be cool, but not for the same reasons MSU can pack Jenison: Magic is Magic, the 1979 championship is still (relatively) recent history and fresh in people's minds, and Breslin has only been open for less than 25 years. The fanbase is still a large part formed around that time and that venue. The history is immediate, and directly connected to a person whose stature at MSU is probably about 50 times what Cazzie's is for Michigan.

Bando Calrissian

December 16th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^

Yost isn't configured to be a multi-sport venue, unlike other arenas that do the rapid conversions all the time to host multiple teams. So my rationale is that the arena likely isn't equipped from an atmospheric (HVAC, etc.) standpoint to be able to pull off that kind of thing without the condensation issues you sometimes see even in arenas that do this all the time. I mean, I'm not an expert on this, but I can't imagine Yost would have the ideal conditions for putting in a temporary basketball court with the ice surface underneath. 

justingoblue

December 16th, 2013 at 5:59 PM ^

I'm no expert either, but looking at that video and checking it out online, the mats are insulating fiberglass, and the boards don't have to come out from a seating standpoint (and you obviously know how easy switching out plexiglass is). If it's just a matter of having the ice between the fiberglass and the refridgeration unit I would think the internal atmosphere wouldn't matter so much.

This is total and complete speculation on my part though, I don't claim to know that any of the above is 100% true.

jcgary

December 17th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^

It's doable there but the rink glass that is in Yost is not meant to be taken down for events.  The glass at multi purpose facilities is different as they are set up to be taken down and put up all the time.  If you notice most of those type of facilities do not have the metal stantions between each pane of glass.  

Basically to make it happen they would have to rent a floor to put over the ice and then buy/rent something to store the glass with and then have to unbolt all the metal stantions.  

As for the refridgeration of the ice, the ice is frozen from under the ice in the floor so there won't be a problem keeping the ice frozen without the glass up.  

Steve in PA

December 16th, 2013 at 4:58 PM ^

 

Anyone who has ever seen a game at the Jordan Center knows basketball should never have moved there in the 1st place.  With the arena 1/2 to 3/4 empty there is more enthusiasm and excitement at many of the funerals I've attended.  Basketball moving there was mostly to justify he big shiny toy the taxpayers had just bought.

I regularly attend Bucknell games with my family and that small arena is a much more enjoyable venue than the  Jordan Center.

I've nnever seen a game at Crisler (it's on my bucket list) but from what I see on TV the atmosphere is 100x better than the Jordan Center.  An exhibition game at Host, maybe, but not a real game.

 

 

Bando Calrissian

December 16th, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^

Well, Crisler resembled Bryce Jordan for a good chunk of time over the last 20 years. Get a winning team, and people will show up (at least, most of the time). Atmosphere isn't chalked up to the building alone.

Personally, I've always thought Crisler was built a few thousand seats too big to begin with. Then again, it was built at a moment when it was thought the program was on the brink of dominance and could fill an arena that big, which was only partially true in time. Sure, the capacity is down about a thousand from when it opened, but Crisler as a 10,000 seat venue instead of a 12-13,000 would have been a far different, and probably far better venue in the long run.

Bando Calrissian

December 16th, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^

It fills for the big games, but even in the good years (this one included), the lesser games are never full. Even the middle-range B1G games, too.  For better or worse, the consistent attending fanbase of Michigan Basketball at its best is probably around 9-10,000, give or take. Probably always been so, too. You're going to get more than that for the big games, but that's just about it. 

Michigan Hockey has become the same way in that it can probably regularly sustain about 6000 on a regular basis, but a little less than that for cupcakes, and about 1500 or so more for something like Michigan State or most top-5 opponents.

It's not a knock on the fanbase, but acknowledging that building capacities should roughly coinicide with the following they have. For more data, see Ohio State's oversized hockey arena.

Tater

December 16th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^

I think it would be fun.  They should do a preseason four-team invitational "tournament" with Michigan and three tomato cans.  Four teams would justify a higher ticket price, and they could have a third and fourth place game before the championship game.

David Brandon makes enough money selling advertising that he could put a bit of it back into Michigan basketball tradition.  And they just might turn a profit, even in a small venue.  There are plenty of people on the payroll who could handle the extra workload of "flipping" the facility.

Raoul

December 16th, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^

Scrolling through the history book online, I found that Michigan actually hosted a holiday tournament at Crisler called the Michigan Invitational each year from 1970 to 1975. They played Harvard, Wyoming, Ohio, Toledo, WMU, Toledo, Yale, Bowling Green, Virginia Tech, Manhattan, Southern Illinois, and Miami (Ohio), losing just one game. The 1970 program (currently available on ebay) went for a quarter:

Steve in PA

December 17th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^

 

I can't help but think playing a pre season tournament as a benefit for he children's hospital would be 100% win.  Heck, they've played on an aircraft carrier and a high school gym in Korea why not?

According tto the website, there's only 2400 seats where the Maui Invitational is held.

 

Cold War

December 16th, 2013 at 6:47 PM ^

How about a Johnny Orr Invitational Tournament? (not at Yost)

 Include Iowa State and UMass. We probably couldn't include a B1G school  -  but he played at Beloit College, apparently. They could be first round fodder for us. Or he may have a special connection to another school?

willow

December 16th, 2013 at 9:47 PM ^

Especially when everyone stood up and cheered.  The bleachers were literally rocking and rolling. Part of the excitement was waiting for the collapse!  The noise was tremendous, the spirit absolutely gleeful.  I loved every minute of it even without a great view of the court.

The team had been meh for some years until around 1963.  With the advent of Bill Bunton, Larry Tregoning and a couple of years later Cazzie Russell, students were camping out all night in January just to get tickets.

When we moved into Crisler, the space was very intimidating until the number of season-ticket holders grew into the place.  There were many exciting teams that followed, but not big-time championship teams until the Fab Five era.