By Nate Sanchez
Senior Columnist
HOORAY!
It’s finally happened, guys. CSUB basketball teams will play all their home games at the Icardo Center. Here’s why that’s a great idea.
It’s a source of “school pride.” As a matter of fact, this pride is so important to CSUB, it’s making you pay a little extra for it whether you like it or not to prove that we have it in the first place! You’re feeling it already, huh? Me too. GO RUNNERS! GO FEES!
To my knowledge, the Icardo Center is the only all-blue basketball court in Division-I sports. It’s one of those things that not everyone likes, but it gives character, like doing chores outside for your dad.
The Blue Court at the Icardo Center on campus, as much as I don’t like it, is home to the Roadrunners. It only makes sense to play home games there, right? If you said yes, you’re wrong. According to the Bakersfield Californian, CSUB has played “more than 90 percent” of its home games in the Rabobank Arena since 1998.
It never made sense to me that my school has a basketball facility, but only plays half of its home games there. It’s like playing away games 75 percent of the season. That can’t be good for the home team. It only ends up hurting them.
CSUB has a fanbase, but it’s not too big yet. The Icardo Center is a perfect fit for a school that’s pretty mid-tier competitively speaking. The Rabobank’s occupancy for basketball games is listed at 10,000. Average attendance last year for men’s basketball games? Just over 1,200 people (counting season ticket holders, who don’t always show up to games). The Icardo Center holds 3,800 people.
Being at the Rabobank was demoralizing for me. I thought, “Good grief, this place is empty,” every time I covered a game there, and I wasn’t even on the court (or under any sort of pressure whatsoever). The Roadrunners actually have some pressure on them to win, and they had to do in an empty venue. Not cool.
I write sports because I love sports and I stink at most other things (except Mortal Kombat and Madden. I will DESTROY those who challenge me). It helps that I get some recognition when this stuff gets published. The fact that someone sees this inflates my ego with the quickness and gives me a reason to work harder at bringing you content worthy of looking at.
Knowing that I’m working my fingers to the bone to bring you the best product I can to see that one of every ten people will see is a quick morale killer. That’s what I imagine playing basketball at the Rabobank is like for our players.
I think that’s also why Sinbad doesn’t do huge comedy clubs anymore. You go where you can sell the place out, am I right?
To top off CSUB’s upturn this year, they’re making parking free. That’s right. You’ll no longer have to have that awkward three dollar transaction anymore! Three has to be the worst price for anything, ever. Paying a dollar for parking would be too cheap, and five would be too expensive. No more horrible inconvenience of finding three bucks.
The new marketing campaign adopted by the Roadrunners has shifted the focus of the program to the community, making athletics friendlier to families. What’s friendlier than getting something for free? Nothing, that’s what.
Got a question for me or Josh (The Runner’s sports editor)? We’re starting a mailbag and taking questions and opinions from you, the reader! Congratulations. Email your question/statement/pledge of undying allegiance to [email protected] and we’ll answer it in a special column. We hope to hear from you soon!
