putter said:It will be interesting to see what the crowds are like in Billings for the NAIA championship tournament. Could be a good gauge if they were to bid on the Big Sky tournament again. With no one showing up at the games in Reno the league office may look at more than just recreation opportunities and tune into butts in the seats.
HelenaHandBasket said:Billings will never be a real option for the BSC tourney.
SACCAT66 said:HelenaHandBasket said:Billings will never be a real option for the BSC tourney.
Nowhere in Montana or Utah will be. To much of a home court for the schools that actually draw fans to the Big Sky.
Billings has successfully hosted conferences/events much larger than the Big Sky Conference tournaments. It's not the perfect city, but certainly capable of hosting this basketball tournament. Not a sporting event, but the 2016 Goldwing motorcycle rally involved approximately 10,000 tourists; a similar BMW rally in July 2016 attracted 7,500 riders to Billings.GrizLA said:putter said:It will be interesting to see what the crowds are like in Billings for the NAIA championship tournament. Could be a good gauge if they were to bid on the Big Sky tournament again. With no one showing up at the games in Reno the league office may look at more than just recreation opportunities and tune into butts in the seats.
Well, the issue is housing for the athletes, the coaches, the families, the fans, and whatever media will be there. Is Billings up to that? I haven't been there for years, so it must have become quite the city. But, the Dakota school leaving sorta puts Billings on the edge of the territory, so to speak. Still, the attendance would be better, I'm sure.
EverettGriz said:Well seriously: who in their right mind (and here I'm allowing a great deal of latitude to the bsc leadership) believed this "experiment" would work? Let's see....let's host in a state where we have zero member schools, in a town with it's own college basketball team, a thousand miles away from most of our schools!! Yeah! Winner!!
I totally agree ... in principle. In the SEC, Missouri is seeded #14, having gone 2-16 in conference and 7-23 overall. I mean, C'MON!fanofzoo said:Got to get rid of the participation ribbons also, if your not good enough to be in the top 6 then play harder during the season.
There I just solved half of your problem.
EverettGriz said:Well seriously: who in their right mind (and here I'm allowing a great deal of latitude to the bsc leadership) believed this "experiment" would work? Let's see....let's host in a state where we have zero member schools, in a town with it's own college basketball team, a thousand miles away from most of our schools!! Yeah! Winner!!
grizzlyjournal said:The games have been good so far. I've also enjoyed the high quality of the Eversport streams. And... have noticed the less than huge crowds. But I've beaten that dead horse too many times already.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/bhein3/status/839324913957687296[/tweet]
GrizLA said:SACCAT66 said:HelenaHandBasket said:Billings will never be a real option for the BSC tourney.
Nowhere in Montana or Utah will be. To much of a home court for the schools that actually draw fans to the Big Sky.
Billings is like another state if you are in Missoula, Butte, or Kalispell.
fanofzoo said:Got to get rid of the participation ribbons also, if your not good enough to be in the top 6 then play harder during the season.
There I just solved half of your problem.
grizband said:Billings has successfully hosted conferences/events much larger than the Big Sky Conference tournaments. It's not the perfect city, but certainly capable of hosting this basketball tournament. Not a sporting event, but the 2016 Goldwing motorcycle rally involved approximately 10,000 tourists; a similar BMW rally in July 2016 attracted 7,500 riders to Billings.GrizLA said:putter said:It will be interesting to see what the crowds are like in Billings for the NAIA championship tournament. Could be a good gauge if they were to bid on the Big Sky tournament again. With no one showing up at the games in Reno the league office may look at more than just recreation opportunities and tune into butts in the seats.
Well, the issue is housing for the athletes, the coaches, the families, the fans, and whatever media will be there. Is Billings up to that? I haven't been there for years, so it must have become quite the city. But, the Dakota school leaving sorta puts Billings on the edge of the territory, so to speak. Still, the attendance would be better, I'm sure.
kyle_sample said:fanofzoo said:Got to get rid of the participation ribbons also, if your not good enough to be in the top 6 then play harder during the season.
There I just solved half of your problem.
I don't understand this theory. I thought the thing everybody liked about March was how unpredictable it was and how it gave everybody a chance. In all reality, 16 seeds don't belong in the NCAA tournament, they're nowhere nearly talented as the teams they'd have to play. But isn't it part of the magic that anything can happen and everybody invited has a chance? I think that's the same with the BSC
Mousegriz said:grizband said:Billings has successfully hosted conferences/events much larger than the Big Sky Conference tournaments. It's not the perfect city, but certainly capable of hosting this basketball tournament. Not a sporting event, but the 2016 Goldwing motorcycle rally involved approximately 10,000 tourists; a similar BMW rally in July 2016 attracted 7,500 riders to Billings.GrizLA said:putter said:It will be interesting to see what the crowds are like in Billings for the NAIA championship tournament. Could be a good gauge if they were to bid on the Big Sky tournament again. With no one showing up at the games in Reno the league office may look at more than just recreation opportunities and tune into butts in the seats.
Well, the issue is housing for the athletes, the coaches, the families, the fans, and whatever media will be there. Is Billings up to that? I haven't been there for years, so it must have become quite the city. But, the Dakota school leaving sorta puts Billings on the edge of the territory, so to speak. Still, the attendance would be better, I'm sure.
36 teams will show up for the national NAIA women's tourney in Billings....it can handle 22 teams for the Big Sky. And don't laugh about Butte. Well located......pretty cool little arena (Civic Center)...and they serve pasties and gravy at the concessions. What more could you ask for?