89rabbit Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Say goodbye to Municipal Auditorium and say hello to Swinney gym (cap 1,700). http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/01/20 ... -home.html Swinney is UMKC’s new hoops home By BLAIR KERKHOFF The Kansas City Star By shrinking its seating capacity, UMKC looks to expand its basketball horizons. The Kangaroos are moving out of their downtown home since debuting as a Division I program in 1987, Municipal Auditorium, and into their campus gymnasium. UMKC will play 14 of its 15 home games at Swinney Recreation Center this season. The seating downshift will take the Kangaoos out of one of basketball’s most historic venues that seats 10,000 and into a 1,700-seat structure. “But I like the idea,” said Spencer Johnson, a UMKC forward who will be a senior this season. “We’ll have a real home-court advantage.” . . . (read more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Home court advantage?...sorry, pal....problem is, your team still sucks!.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 I once had a client - a bank here in Tulsa - that suffered three robberies in a several week period. Each time, rather than escape onto the busy street out front, the bandit made his getaway into the surrounding neighborhood by scaling a 6-foot wooden fence behind the bank. In an emergency meeting of the bank Board of Directors, a proposal was discussed to beef up security, including video cameras and an armed guard in the lobby. Towards the end of the discussion, one of the oldest men (among many retirement-age gentlemen around the table) leaned forward and drawled, "Boys, that's all fine, but I tell ya what we REALLY need - we need a bigger fence!!" UMKC, rather than improve their product and WINNING A GAME OR TWO to draw more fans to one of the truly great old arenas in America, has instead gone the "fix-the-fence" route by retreating to an inadequate facility on campus just to save a buck on rent and take in concession sales from 1700 people a night, at most. I guess it could be worse: we could be back at the livestock arena they used one season at the Kansas City Stockyards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 I've never been on the UMKC campus, but this article gives me the impression that the Swinney Recreation Center is very similar to the Cooper Aerobics Center. Although it never made sense for UMKC to play in an empty fieldhouse, I can only imagine that Swinney is also woefully inadequate for a D-1 basketball venue. I hope that I'm proven wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Wow! The demand for tickets have just skyrocketed. They could probably even raise the price to help recoupe some of the lost revenue from all of the people left outside. Then again, I don't know how many folks they averaged for games at Municipal so their campus gym may suit them just fine. The players will definately feel as though they are back in high school. Can you imagine what games would be like if we played them in the Aerobic Center? I think the league needs to bring the Summit Tournament back to Tulsa again. Just so the coaches and ADs can see what a high school can build (UMAC) to gain some perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbl78 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 I've never been on the UMKC campus, but this article gives me the impression that the Swinney Recreation Center is very similar to the Cooper Aerobics Center. Although it never made sense for UMKC to play in an empty fieldhouse, I can only imagine that Swinney is also woefully inadequate for a D-1 basketball venue. I hope that I'm proven wrong... Your impressions are absolutely correct Blue. This venue is not ready for prime time. That being said, The City of Kansas City, MO, which operates Municipal Auditorium is a terrible landlord. They really jack-up the costs on their facilities with all of the contracts that are in place for the number and cost of workers to operate their facilities. It would not surprise me if it were costing UMKC money (meaning ticket revenue less facility operating costs) to play a number of their home games. In Swinney, I would guess that they will be able to substitute a number of "work-study" employees for the union workers at Municipal. If they would use the savings from not playing at Municipal to invest in their program, and become more competitive, it would be a good thing for the Summit League. By the way OT, once you see Swinney, you will wish we were back at Hale Arena. (The stockyards are long gone, but playing at Hale has the same inherent problems as playing at Municipal, but is even worse with its rotten location.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Pics from the UMKC website. Sure looks a lot like the AC! http://www.umkc.edu/src/bld.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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