Fans on courtside

[sportpro]

Who started this garbage trend, taking seats from press row? I cover a Major D-I program and we have been delegated the end zones. I don't think fans, no matter how much money you have, should be on courtside. ... desturbing trend that just sucks! Goes to show you the power of a dollar!

 

[Clever username]

As you'll probably come to find out on this thread, you're not alone.

 

[Notepad]

Who started this garbage trend, taking seats from press row? I cover a Major D-I program and we have been delegated the end zones. I don't think fans, no matter how much money you have, should be on courtside. ... desturbing trend that just sucks! Goes to show you the power of a dollar!

Try "relegated" not "delegated"...
and how "desturbing" does a trend have to be to "disturbe" you?

 

[Stitch]

It means that the college doesn't think the media coverage brings more money in than courtside seats. I am not a fan of being courtside anyway. I like being a few rows up at least.

 

[John]

One of the perks of covering a small D-I school is that even with courtside seats, there's room on the abbreviated press row for me to sit — and there are usually a couple of empty seats on each side of me.

 

[BYH]

As John notes, the sick thing is this is trickling down to mid-majors who can't draw flies to the regular seats yet somehow think they're going to get $25 for a folding chair courtside.

It'll end the first time a kid gets whaled in the face by a flying player. I, for one, can't wait.

 

[ADifferentOkie]

I have a few major problems with this.
Of course it makes our job harder, because there are certain things we miss if we get moved to corners or higher up.
But the school doesn't care about that. What it should care about is we represent a lot of their fans. We are still the way fans get to know the team.
Athletic programs seem to think they don't benefit from us anymore. I beg to differ. If the media has no positive effect for them, why do they always bend over backwards to get their games on TV?
What would happen if we just stopped covering them? Sure, the fans would take it out on us in the short run but the school would really suffer as time went on.
Also, those rich bastards that sit courtside are, in my experience, the quietest fans in any arena.
If they're going to bump us, at least put the students courtside so you establish more of a home-court advantage.

 

[spnited]

This has been standard in the NBA for quite a while now.
I believe it began with the Lakers and the Jack Nicholson seats...as far back as the "Fabulous Forum"

 

[Diabeetus]

Who started this garbage trend, taking seats from press row? I cover a Major D-I program and we have been delegated the end zones. I don't think fans, no matter how much money you have, should be on courtside. ... desturbing trend that just sucks! Goes to show you the power of a dollar!

Try "relegated" not "delegated"...
and how "desturbing" does a trend have to be to "disturbe" you?

Typos happen. Don't be a complete ****.

 

[Tom Petty]

Who started this garbage trend, taking seats from press row? I cover a Major D-I program and we have been delegated the end zones. I don't think fans, no matter how much money you have, should be on courtside. ... desturbing trend that just sucks! Goes to show you the power of a dollar!

Try "relegated" not "delegated"...
and how "desturbing" does a trend have to be to "disturbe" you?

Typos happen. Don't be a complete ****.

i have 14k posts and don't spillchick everyfukingtime. if i had 11, i would.

 

[SoCalDude]

This has been standard in the NBA for quite a while now.
I believe it began with the Lakers and the Jack Nicholson seats...as far back as the "Fabulous Forum"

When the Forum was built, there was no press box. It was an oversight. Then JK Cooke wasn't going to pull out the expensive seats for the press. Press box wound up above the walkway in the colonnade. Chick Hearn coined "Word's-eye view" from bird's-eye view.

 

[SoCalDude]

The last time I was going to complain about not being courtside, I was given an endline press seat at the Pac-10 Tournament. Turns out the Oregon cheerleaders were right in front of me. So I didn't bother complaining.

 

[spnited]

That was the "press box" for TV/radio, not print media.
Trust me I was there in '72 when the NBA wriuters, led by Bob Ryan, compained about being in a press "level" that was just below the upper deck when every other arena in th NBA had courtside press tables.
The league made Cooke put the press at courtside until about 10 years later when the coourtside rich guy seat became more popular around the league.

 

[Tom Petty]

This has been standard in the NBA for quite a while now.
I believe it began with the Lakers and the Jack Nicholson seats...as far back as the "Fabulous Forum"

When the Forum was built, there was no press box. It was an oversight. Then JK Cooke wasn't going to pull out the expensive seats for the press. Press box wound up above the walkway in the colonnade. Chick Hearn coined "Word's-eye view" from bird's-eye view.

sorry, but everything connected to the showtime lakers was pretentious as hell. chicky-boy included. the guy would have blown worthy just to say he blew worthy.

 

[Appgrad05]

N.C. State has gone to this. We're down to having four or five seats on press row for writers. They put rest of the beat writers along the baseline now, and the others have a couple of folding tables directly behind press row.

It's swell.

 

[anonymousprick]

Sorry guys and gals, but I'd do the exact same thing if I owned a team/ran an athletic department. Hockey press boxes are usually in the rafters; NFL reporters don't get to roam the sidelines; baseball press boxes tend to be on the 200 level; why do you need to be at courtside?

 

[jmm1412]

Sorry guys and gals, but I'd do the exact same thing if I owned a team/ran an athletic department. Hockey press boxes are usually in the rafters; NFL reporters don't get to roam the sidelines; baseball press boxes tend to be on the 200 level; why do you need to be at courtside?

Amen. They're not telling us to get the hell out of the building. They're telling us that we don't get the best seats in the building. Not going to get a lot of sympathy from the readers.

 

[Starman]

Amen. They're not telling us to get the hell out of the building.

That'll be next. There are teams/universities thinking very hard about cutting press seating down dramatically, and also charging full-freight admission for press seating (i.e. the highest rate for comparable single seats).

The rationale: a) if your paper doesn't want to pay it, they're not serious about covering the team; and b) the paper can write it off as a business expense anyway.

 

[BYH]

Amen. They're not telling us to get the hell out of the building.

That'll be next. There are teams/universities thinking very hard about cutting press seating down dramatically, and also charging full-freight admission for press seating (i.e. the highest rate for comparable single seats).

The rationale: a) if your paper doesn't want to pay it, they're not serious about covering the team; and b) the paper can write it off as a business expense anyway.

And the sycophants will love it when the writers are booted out entirely.

 

[JBHawkEye]

It doesn't bother me if I'm not courtside.

What bothers me is when I can't see the game (Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind., seats right behind the student section).