|
|
|
RCA Dome (basketball)
-
|
|||||
|
The RCA Dome is one of the NFL's smallest football stadia. But it also
serves as one of the most often-used college basketball venues come tournament time.
I decided to feature this venue on this site because it is a good example
of how football stadia are turned into basketball arenas. The end zone is closed off by a section of temporary seating, and
the court is turned sideways to fit more or less in the back 20 or 30 yards of the football field. The benefit, of course,
is increased seating. But the negative, then, is that the venues offer lots of bad seats and a less intimidating atmosphere.
The RCA Dome is certainly nice enough in terms of facilities and location,
but end seats can be a long way from the court and upper deck seats offer a more or less blimp-like view of the action. The
RCA Dome hosted the 2000 and 2006 NCAA championship games, both of which saw the winner score 73 points in not-so-exciting
games.
Although not often discussed, this use of football stadia as multipurpose
venues - for basketball - is one I have long quibbled with as to whether I like it or not. From the architecture perspective,
the design techniques involved are certainly interesting, but as a basketball fan, I'm not so sure.
|
|
||||
|
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
|||||