Commentary: Tudor an upgrade but needs tweaks

By Natalie Clericuzio     11/20/08 6:00pm

Not since Autry Court's construction in 1950 or perhaps after the installation of the central air-conditioning system in 1991 have students sat in the stands at a Rice basketball game in such an aesthetically pleasing space. Last weekend ushered in the beginning of a new era in Rice Athletics with the opening of Tudor Fieldhouse.Even though the pregame tailgate itself had low attendance, the students appeared to make up the majority of the crowd at the game and certainly to generate the majority of the cheering during play. With the right side of the student section packed, student support for Rice basketball appeared to be on an upswing. In comparison to the Rice-Texas game at the Toyota Center last season, where there were at most 40 students present, the enthusiasm level certainly increased fairly dramatically.

Besides, with the arena no more than a hop, skip and jump from the south colleges, and a 15-minute walk from the rest of campus, there is no excuse now for students not to attend games.

Several things did go well this weekend. I'm always a fan of free T-shirts, especially when there are plenty for everyone, and I don't have to fight off three other people for my size. Also, the handing out of scraps of Autry's curtain was an excellent way to recall and commemorate old Autry. Rice could just as easily have put those up for sale in the Team Store, but the Athletics Department instead generously chose to give them away.

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The Team Store is also a nice new addition to the place. It really ups the credibility of the building as a gym deserving of a Division I squad, along with the new food options on the concourse.

Finally, both games were entertaining even if they didn't both end in wins. The women's team certainly showed plenty of promise for the rest of the season with a victory, and the men's team played tough against a good team and lost only in the final seconds. Hopefully this defeat will not dent the team's momentum considerably.

However, I do have a few suggestions for improvements the athletic's department could make in the new arena.

While the massive Jumbo-tron certainly is fancy and an excellent addition to the gym, the lack of an actual scoreboard with more information besides possession and score within view of the student section is a major faux pas in the arena's planning. The students, I suspect, will be the most active fans at any game. Students also are more invested in the game than practically anyone else (with the exception of some proud parents). Therefore, to my dismay I did not even notice the two other scoreboards chock-full of stats on the ledge above the student section, completely out of student view, until I was walking out of the gym. These share the fouls of each player as well as team fouls, statistics not available anywhere on the smaller scoreboard across from the student section. Maybe it's just my obsession for knowing the statistical progress of any sporting event, but I really felt in the dark without that kind of information.

Now that the season has begun, it's probably too late for any change in this arrangement of scoreboards, but perhaps that issue could be addressed in the off-season. Also, whether student support will remain anywhere near as high as at Saturday's game is another factor to whether that issue is even one worth examining.

Another problem that has nothing to do with the building itself is the fan section's name. Autry Army at Tudor Fieldhouse sounds like the section was just too lazy to come up with something creative enough for the new place. While I am not suggesting that this is actually the case, the new building does deserve a new name. Granted, Autry Army was a really sweet name (much better than the Snake Pits and Black Holes I encountered in my high school basketball days).

Anyways, a little brainstorming never hurt anyone, right? After only a couple minutes worth of consideration, I have come up with two viable options: Tudor Hooters or Tudor Tooters. OK, I guess Tooters is kind of lame. Hooters, on the other hand, has real potential. During my first semester at Rice, my brother (in all seriousness) asked me if the student section were called the Hooters. I really feel like we're missing out on an excellent opportunity here.

I also have one suggestion for the cheering style of the student section. While I am all for loud and proud support of the Owls, I also feel that classy should be the name of the game. I observed harassment of the referees and of the Portland State coach by a few of the louder commanders in the Army, which is completely unnecessary and inappropriate. After suffering through the inconsistent refereeing of this powderpuff season, the referees at Saturday's game were eagle-eyes in comparison. More importantly, however, the flicking-off of referees and the opposing coach and other belligerent attitudes from a minority of the student section reflects poorly on the majority of the fans at the game who were supporting the Owls appropriately. Plus, in my experience, no coach will actually be affected by taunts from an opposing crowd. Anyways, in what line of logic does it make sense that the referees will start calling the game more favorably for Rice when the students consistently berate their work?

So, next game, I would urge all student supporters to be pro-Rice, not anti-refs. Sure, everyone gets mad at the ref every now and then, but that doesn't mean we should harass them consistently.

Either way, I had a great time this weekend in the new facility, and I can't wait to go back. I hope I'll see several of you there.

Natalie Clericuzio is a Wiess College sophomore and sports editor.

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