The arena's partly to blame for UT hoops woes
by Tony Basilio
Tennessee basketball. Say those two words to yourself. What thoughts do they conjure? It's likely that you came up with these three words: Thompson-Boling Arena. And taken all together, those five words probably made you think of a sixth: Mediocrity.
I've often said that University of Tennessee basketball is a program struggling to reclaim its identity. Since Ernie and Bernie walked off campus in the late 1970's, UT men's hoops have not only fallen well short of the standards of the Ray Mears era, they've failed to spark even a modicum of sustained loyalty among the fan based that once comprised the Big Orange Nation.
It's been a slowly sinking ship, this program, one sunk even further into the abyss by the bland dead weight of Thompson-Boling Arena.
How the boondoggle that is the Tommy Bowl (the term of non-endearment applied to TBA in some circles) came into existence is a story in and of itself. In brief, former head coach Don DeVoe (Mears' successor) wanted a Rupp-sized arena to compete with Kentucky. UT brass and state lawmakers hesitated at first, but eventually gave in for fear of losing DeVoe and his coaching "genius" to a more accommodating (means: "more gullible") program. Now we're left with what I fondly refer to as our Mistake on the Lake, a.k.a. the albatross that hangs from the neck of current head coach Buzz Peterson. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!
It often seemed that TBA was cursed from the word 'go,' afflicted with all manner of squabbling and teeth-gnashing as contractors built an arena that bore only a passing resemblance to the one originally promised. The arena is quite simply an awful place to watch college basketball. The seats are too far from the court, and the acoustics are terrible. And though it was designed as a multi-purpose arena, suited to a variety of Event-sized gatherings, it isn't even a good place to watch a tractor pull, much less see a concert. (My ears are still ringing from an Eagles reunion show a couple of years back. I loved the way the basslines reverberated from the metal ceiling.)
Compounding the problems is the fact that UT administrators saw fit to guarantee choice courtside seats to fat-cat financial contributors during the season, relegating potentially more enthusiastic student basketball fans to a far corner of the gym. At the Tommy Bowl, the crowd is always flat. I'm convinced that even the Ernie and Bernie Show would remain grounded in the sterile confines of Thompson-Boling.
I feel for people like Coach Peterson and UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton; they've inherited a problem they didn't ask for. They've gamely tried to make TBA a warmer, friendlier place to watch a basketball game. They've eliminated the Gestapo greeters at the front gate and instituted new fan-friendly policies. For all of this, they should be commended.
But the greater problem remains hopelessly unresolved, in that the arena, like the men's team that calls it home, isn't going anywhere anytime soon. That's a sad truth. And thus, Thompson-Boling and Tennessee basketball remain inextricably linked, partners in mediocrity, the Milli and Vanilli of college hoops.
Tune in and talk sports with "The Tony Basilio Show" each weekday from 3-6 p.m. on the network (670 WMTY-AM, 850 WKVL-AM, 1140 WLOD-AM, 1290 WATO-AM, or 1400 WGAP-AM).
January 22, 2003 * Vol. 14, No. 4
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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