Playing at the Field House
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Sometimes we KU fans can be selfish? We expect our Jayhawks to run rough shot all that enter the Phog. However we really miss and disrespect the old Field House.
You see the Phog Allen Field House is a place of history, a place of scared ground, a Mecca of Basketball. Not even the New York Garden compares. No not even the 30’000 seat coporate arenas the Kentucky Wildcats or Lousiville Cardinals play in compare.
You see the old Field House is legendary all on it’s own. It’s a place of history. It captures the true essence of the game of basketball.
Even the Sleazy Coach Cal has paid homage to it’s greatness. Telling the media and his players you’ll never experience anything like your going to experience playing in the Phog. One of UK’s star studded players that show cased his skills admitted with a fervor that he had never seen anything like it, or played in such a wonderful environment. Somewhere the great Lebron (the King) is showing his envy.
Yes KU is supposed to win. Yet understand opposing players and teams want to rise to the occasion. Just like the Roman Collsiuem. They want to show their greatness on the greatest hard wood floor in the world. They want to rise to the occasion of folklore. For you see playing in the old Fieldhouse is a crowning achievement for Jayhawks and foes.
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Great post. We are spoiled how often we win at AFH. 90% of the time we are happy after the game is played.
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Loved the post! If we ever suffer a sustained reduction in the quality of our own product we put out on that hardwood, we wouldn’t be doing justice to the Fieldhouse either. Kudos to this coach for stirring up the Phog to the current level of Phrenzy. Lotsa banners have kept AFH’s relevance at the forefront.
RCJH
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Terrific stuff DoubleD! Being an outsider when I came to KU in 85 I had little clue about the great history. While I loved my time there, I didn’t maybe appreciate it like I do now. Now is too late. Wondering if I ever make it there for a game. Even then, it wouldn’t be the same as being around for a whole season, attending all 15 or 20 home games. Know anyone hiring in Lawrence?
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Love it @DoubleDD one thing I notice that I wish we as fans would do a better job of is willing the team to make plays even when it isn’t going well. All too often I see the team have to make a 3 or a dunk or a big defensive stand to get the crowd to come alive. I feel this is backwards to an extent and as you said the Fieldhouse house is sacred ground. We must always be loud. We must always be rowdy. We must always let the players, the coaches, and the Phog never doubt that we are the best fans in basketball and never let the best home court advantage in basketball ever falter
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@cragarhawk I’m afraid I have to disagree about always being loud. I think that would actually lessen the effect of the crowd.
It’s like music - the notes you don’t play are as important as the ones you do. Where the swell of volume and tempo adds life and drama to a piece.
Think of a constant loud environment like factory… it simply becomes a drone you can tune out after awhile. Now think of a quiet room where you are watching a fuse burn towards a big firecracker. When it hits, and you know it will eventually, the tension waiting for it can be as excruciating for the opposing team as it is welcome for our players, you know it’s going to be really loud and usually quite disruptive. The energy builds, self-feeding, between the fans and players, growing like a living thing, and everybody in the room feels it. At times, it must almost be terrifying to opposing teams.
I think is much better than forcing a constant roar, and believe it plays a large part in why it is such a special place. We don’t have to drunkenly scream the entire time like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert. Our fans know bad plays from good plays, and the players know we do. This is enough for them. They know that all it takes is one good stuff, one dunk, one stone-cold 3 pointer and the entire place will explode just because of their play. It makes them yearn for it.
I think it’s perfect just the way it is. Yes, it’s good to be a Jayhawk, especially at home games!
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@DoubleDD I think I have seen, the past few years, that teams often come in and play free and easy…possibly because no one expects them to win in AFH…thus they have nothing to lose. No down side…they just let it fly…and some times get hot.
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http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211692333
Call me crazy, I think this is this really lame.
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@DoubleDD Nice post. Love it
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Playing catch-up with KU? “spectacular interactive exhibit” they sure are full of themselves.
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Duke has 5 championships in 27 years. I certainly am not going to be the one telling them they shouldn’t let their fans have fun!
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@mayjay by all means, not trying to get into the program comparison–I wish KU had as much success in the same time. THAT BEING SAID, aesthetically speaking, that’s a real lame feature… Much more prefer all that AFH has to offer.
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@MoonwalkMafia Well, okay, I can get that, but remember, they are crazy!
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KU has a much better exhibit that includes arguable the most important document in all of basketball and we don’t call it … a “spectacular interactive exhibit.”
I believe the point is how silly it all looks considering that many schools have comparable or better exhibits.
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@StLJhawk I understand what you’re saying and largely agree. I’m just suggesting the crowd could come alive and will the team on defense to get a stop and things like that without them actually having to do it first. Let them know we’re behind them. Doesnt mean scream at the top of your lungs for 2.5 hrs. The truth is the building gets as quiet when it’s going bad as it gets loud when it’s going good. Who is anyone to come into the Phog and control us as stewards of that hallowed ground? I’m even admitting guilt in this situation myself. But it’s something I personally vow to change when in attendance. The players, the coaches, the building, the tradition all deserve it.
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@cragarhawk Studies of the effect of noise on performance indicate that constant noise for an extended period of time can be detrimental to concentration, as well as damaging to the ears. Those studies would tend to support the idea that constant noise would be deleterious to both teams equally, but the idea that the home team can get “used to it” has a lot of support. Home teams also get used to the difficulties in communicating in that noise. Visiting teams have to figure out how to adjust, which is why we see so many teams prep for AFH with loudspeakers blasting away.
There have been many people who say that it is amazing that golfers need total silence to hit a stationary object, while baseball players have to hit a spinning one curving at them at 90+ mph with crowds roaring like crazy. But if the golfers played under constantly noisy conditions, it would be a lot easier for them. It is isolated noises that tends to be really distracting–like that one jerk rattling his candy wrapper at the movie.
Let 'em scream–being unable to talk after a Fizzou game is one of my fondest memories of being a Jayhawk!
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@mayjay I got no issue with it if someone can scream for 2.5. I say God bless ya and you’re a daisy if ya do. I personally don’t have the lungs or the stamina. Lol. I’m more speaking to the point of not needing a big play or a positive to be behind the team in cheering or being loud. But doing so in hopes of creating a positive for the team to get energy from.
