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Post by oldmanvb on Jun 29, 2022 14:35:29 GMT -5
I think Tamas breathed a sigh of relief when volleyball on a hockey rink was shelved. He as much as said so in an interview recently.
Huff is a great experience for fans if you have season tickets in the lower bowl. At the ends or behind posts, not so much. For those who travel 3 or 4 times a year and don’t have one of the annually sold out season tickets, watching a volleyball match at Huff is not an enjoyable experience. You are much better off on a big screen tv. Without any marketing research I believe we could draw Wisconsin and Minnesota size crowds in a better facility. I respect all the season ticket holders who love Huff, but the great experience is limited to them. f we ever get a new volleyball facility, and i am not hopeful, it would not be very difficult to recreate the Huff atmosphere with seats close to the court and a little work on acoustics. Until then we are looking at annual 5th to 7th place finishes in the B1G.
With gymnastics at Kenney, and a new wrestling workout facility, there is very little hope for a new volleyball arena. Men’s, women’s gymnastics and wrestling only host 12-14 events a year, total, and 1500 spectators for any of those events is a huge success. Only volleyball will be suffering through summer workouts at Huff. I would like to think a a 5000-6000 seat arena would benefit volleyball and women’s basketball, but that may be a pipe dream.
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Post by ted_heise on Jun 29, 2022 15:31:48 GMT -5
[…]Huff is a great experience for fans if you have season tickets in the lower bowl. At the ends or behind posts, not so much. For those who travel 3 or 4 times a year and don’t have one of the annually sold out season tickets, watching a volleyball match at Huff is not an enjoyable experience. You are much better off on a big screen tv. Just to add one perspective, I’ve been to Huff for the last several matches with Nebraska, and have found it highly enjoyable. I watch closely for single game tickets to go on sale, and typically get seats at the front of the upper section—maybe midway down the sideline. Maybe being quick on the draw makes it different from what you describe. |
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Post by oldmanvb on Jun 30, 2022 2:34:00 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 30, 2022 7:02:11 GMT -5
I think Tamas breathed a sigh of relief when volleyball on a hockey rink was shelved. He as much as said so in an interview recently. Huff is a great experience for fans if you have season tickets in the lower bowl. At the ends or behind posts, not so much. For those who travel 3 or 4 times a year and don’t have one of the annually sold out season tickets, watching a volleyball match at Huff is not an enjoyable experience. You are much better off on a big screen tv. Without any marketing research I believe we could draw Wisconsin and Minnesota size crowds in a better facility. I respect all the season ticket holders who love Huff, but the great experience is limited to them. f we ever get a new volleyball facility, and i am not hopeful, it would not be very difficult to recreate the Huff atmosphere with seats close to the court and a little work on acoustics. Until then we are looking at annual 5th to 7th place finishes in the B1G. With gymnastics at Kenney, and a new wrestling workout facility, there is very little hope for a new volleyball arena. Men’s, women’s gymnastics and wrestling only host 12-14 events a year, total, and 1500 spectators for any of those events is a huge success. Only volleyball will be suffering through summer workouts at Huff. I would like to think a a 5000-6000 seat arena would benefit volleyball and women’s basketball, but that may be a pipe dream. Is it financially and architecturally impossible to get rid of the roof supports at Huff? I am a Huff-lover, who is fortunate to have season tickets in the lower bowl. There is no disputing the problems that the roof-support beams cause for spectators. I have experienced those sight-line problems over the years. There probably are other considerations for AD Whitman in financing a Huff remodel vs. a brand new facility (e.g. locker rooms and meeting rooms). I have been present when Coach Tamas has responded to fans questions about replacing Huff Gym with a new facility. Tamas' most recent response to a fan's question about replacing Huff Gym was that one issue he would not want to lose is the home court advantage Huff has provided for the volleyball team. I remember that back in the day when Teresa Grentz's successful women's basketball team was hosting Michigan, she had the basketball game moved from the regular-site, the cavernous Assembly Hall (State Farm Center), to Huff to bolster the Illini's home court advantage. |
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Post by oldmanvb on Jun 30, 2022 19:02:22 GMT -5
My engineer son tells me with enough money you can do anything. Then he reminds me the Cubs spent half a billion on Wrigley and the poles are still there.
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Post by Friday on Jul 1, 2022 9:52:05 GMT -5
If Illinois doesn't soon have a plan to upgrade Illinois volleyball facilities, Tamas will eventually move on...taking a cue from Justin Spring now headed to University of Alabama (Women's Gymnastics). There are only 8 men's gymnastics teams left in Power5 conferences. I wonder if that sport is on the way to being eliminated? Might explain Justin's move. Not to take anything away from Men's Gymnastics, but if that is truly the case would this open the door to adding Men's Volleyball to replace it. In which case a new facility for both men's and women's would make a lot of sense. |
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Post by pointillinois on Jul 1, 2022 15:09:08 GMT -5
With USC and UCLA joining, I say we start building a beach along the Boneyard Creek and start up some Beach Volleyball! Haha. This is all so ridiculous. Like playing with Monopoly money.
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Post by exit237a on Jul 1, 2022 15:15:22 GMT -5
With USC and UCLA joining, I say we start building a beach along the Boneyard Creek and start up some Beach Volleyball! Haha. This is all so ridiculous. Like playing with Monopoly money. Hey, we've got three nice beach courts not far from the "Six-Pack" so we're partway there! That would be pretty rad if we got a beach program. |
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jul 2, 2022 6:56:56 GMT -5
With USC and UCLA joining, I say we start building a beach along the Boneyard Creek and start up some Beach Volleyball! Haha. This is all so ridiculous. Like playing with Monopoly money. Hey, we've got three nice beach courts not far from the "Six-Pack" so we're partway there! That would be pretty rad if we got a beach program. Would having a beach program provide a boost to our women's program? Would having a men's team do the same? |
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Post by oldmanvb on Jul 2, 2022 14:32:34 GMT -5
If men's scholarships become available should men's gymnastics be discontinued, based upon JW's interest in men's hockey I think he would try to figure out a way to use the scholarships for hockey. Although I would prefer men's volleyball, I don't think JW shares that interest.
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Post by exit237a on Jul 2, 2022 14:34:03 GMT -5
Hey, we've got three nice beach courts not far from the "Six-Pack" so we're partway there! That would be pretty rad if we got a beach program. Would having a beach program provide a boost to our women's program? Would having a men's team do the same? Good questions! I'm so ignorant to how college athletics operate that I don't have much insight to offer on stuff like this. That said, I'd generally think that adding another volleyball program or two (beach and/or men's) would be a "rising tide lifts all boats" type scenario, with each team amplifying the awareness of, and interest in the other teams. But that take is half-baked and not grounded in any understanding of our athletic department. What's your thought- would you foresee the addition of those programs as benefiting the women's indoor team? *Also, I'm super jealous of your planned trip to Colorado for the Big Ten/Pac 12 challenge! Hope you have a great time out there. |
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jul 3, 2022 7:05:13 GMT -5
Would having a beach program provide a boost to our women's program? Would having a men's team do the same? Good questions! I'm so ignorant to how college athletics operate that I don't have much insight to offer on stuff like this. That said, I'd generally think that adding another volleyball program or two (beach and/or men's) would be a "rising tide lifts all boats" type scenario, with each team amplifying the awareness of, and interest in the other teams. But that take is half-baked and not grounded in any understanding of our athletic department. What's your thought- would you foresee the addition of those programs as benefiting the women's indoor team? *Also, I'm super jealous of your planned trip to Colorado for the Big Ten/Pac 12 challenge! Hope you have a great time out there. I do not know the definitive answer to the question I asked about beach volleyball benefiting indoor programs. Eastern Illinois just completed their first season of beach volleyball in the OVC. The AD at EIU, Tom Michael, who was in the athletic department at Illinois before taking the EIU job said this about beach volleyball, "We are excited about the addition of beach volleyball to our athletic department," said athletic director Tom Michael. "We have noticed that the programs that have incorporated beach volleyball have increased their success in indoor volleyball as well. This is a great opportunity for our players to get a new college experience while enhancing their overall development as volleyball players. Beach volleyball continues to be an emerging sport at both the NCAA and OVC level and we are happy to be part of that growth." Interesting side note about Tom Michael is that he recently was one of the finalists for the Illinois State AD opening that went to Kyle Brennan. |
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Post by oldmanvb on Jul 3, 2022 11:21:59 GMT -5
If someone on scholarship plays both beach and indoor, which roster carries the scholarship against their scholarship allocation?
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Post by basil on Jul 3, 2022 11:30:16 GMT -5
If someone on scholarship plays both beach and indoor, which roster carries the scholarship against their scholarship allocation? indoor |
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Post by ilalum92 on Jul 3, 2022 17:12:31 GMT -5
Hey lets start doing line-up predictions for the fall. Give us something to talk about the next few weeks.
S: Brown
Opp: Burbage
MB: Collins , Swanson
OH: Terry, Nunge
Libero: Barnes
DS: Mosher (so she can hit out the back row & take a 2nd ball if Brown digs)
We only have 1 OH in reserve but 3,267 middles. Maybe train Hinton as an OH? She is probably last on the MB depth chart. Whittington/Bingham looks like a tight battle for 3rd on the depth chart. Bohm can be the backup RS.
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