Springfield bidding for A-10 Tournament

[SavageNYCQueens]

Not a good location for the tourney, as much as I'd like it to be there. It's a bit too far from Philly to ensure that those fans make the trip. Besides us, there's not a team in the conference within a 5 hour drive to Springfield. The A-10 has become a mid atlantic, even mid west conference with few exceptions.

I compelety agree. As a UMass fan, I would love for the A-10 Tournament to be held in Springfield. We would get somewhat of a homecourt advantage.

Buuuuuut the rest of the teams in the conference would hate this. Springfield hosting this event is pretty unrealistic. In my opinion, places like Atlantic City have a lot more to offer as far as touristy stuff to do and less time to get time there for most teams.

[UMatt]

I think bringing it back to Philly makes the most sense. And I'm not just saying that because I live in Philly now.
It's obviously the most central location in the league. You've got the 3 Philly schools, plus by my count there are 7 other schools that are between 2 to 6 hours away by car.
X and Dayton fans seem to travel well regardless.

AC is fine too, although obviously it doesn't really cater to kids quite as well.

But to me, Philly is the perfect spot. It's really cleaned up and has gotten safer (in some areas) in recent years. And even if you're in love with Atlantic City, it's an easy day trip from here.

I have no problem with Springfield, but as others have mentioned, I think fans of just about every school with the possible exception of URI would balk at the idea.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

URI is no more than 3 hours away from Springfield.

[AGldFinch6]

Besides us, there's not a team in the conference within a 5 hour drive to Springfield.

You mean besides UMass, URI, Fordham, La Salle, St. Joes and Temple. All are within 5 hours of Springfield.

[lane one]

Its not that big of a world. Fordham is less than three hours from Springfield, and Philly is less than 5 hours.

Springfield has a tough sell to get the tournament, but might just be able to convince the A10 they can get the city excited enough about the idea to make a good pitch. All in all, I'm not too concerned about the location. Any place between Philly and Boston is a drive for a large percentage of UMass fans. I figure if I am going to watch the tournament for the weekend, there isn't that much extra free time. Give me a couple of places to eat decent meals, and one bar in walking distance of the hotel and thats good enough. Its a tournament, not a vacation.

Of course, my problem in the past couple of tournaments is that I couldn't get there for the first game due to work, and by the time I could go, UMass had been knocked out.

Atlantic City has some pretty good eating - it goes along with the casinos, and its pretty easy to get to from Philly and NY, and not attrocious from DC.

[Marty Peretz]

My bad. I somehow forgot about URI. As for Fordham, they won't even make the A-10 tourney a lot of the time. And Philly might be slightly less than 5 hours. Sorry. That said, my point still holds since URI and Fordham have less devoted followings than many other A-10 schools.

[umass1234]

hah. Just because Fordham won't make the tournament doesn't mean it's not a game. Stop trying to justify your previous stupidity.

[Wheeler]

The odds are about the same Springfield getting the A10 Tournament and UMass joining the Bie East.

[Kosty]

Can you imagine the outcry from the Ohio fans if Springfield were to get the A-10 tournament???? They already think that they own this league (when in recent times, that's true) and feel the league should do everything to appease them. Imagine the horror of X and Dayton fans having to travel to Springfield. They wouldn't stand for it!!

[InnervisionsUMASS]

I'm more concerned about the horror of Kosty having to travel to Springfield if it was held there. The outcry would be beyond belief!

[SignMan]

X fans?
will come to see X; but, when the games were in Cinci and X was knocked out of the tourney, X fans disappeared from the arena in their own town.

[HoopHead]

We shouldn't sell Springfield short. I'm not from there, and not even from this area originally. BUT, the city has lots to offer. After the Hall of Fame, there's lots of good restaurants, bars, music, the quadrangle if anyone wants to visit some good museums, the armory... and so on. The close airport is a real plus too!

I agree with lane one, you don't need a lot of extras, and the HoF alone is a huge plus.

[uz2b-len]

I would imagine Springfield would attract a lot of fans just to see the HoF. Then the important thing is to get info into their hands so they have a good time--music, food, other sport around, etc. Don't forget Theodore's, a really top blues club. I often meet/hear of New Yorkers coming up just to visit Northampton.

[Jackman]

Mentioned partway down in a Matty V article today about Gaffney is the list of the five finalists being considered. They are:

Atlantic City
Cincinnati
Dayton
Pittsburgh
Springfield

The shocker of course is no Philly. Rumors floating about Newark and DC are also wrong, apparently. How does that change the analysis? I'm pulling even harder for Springfield now, because the only other acceptable option is AC.

[throwdown]

Leave it in AC.