New video from the BSU Library archives

Was trying to remember the circumstances of why Paris was benched/didn't start, and why Keith started in his place. Also, Rick went deep into the bench... saw Rick Hall in the 1st half when things were still pretty close, as well as Barber getting a decent amount of time in the 2nd.

Bigfoot, on the BSU Digital Media Repository. Here's the link to the BSU films. libx.bsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/HistFilmVid

There's a ton of other stuff Muncie/BSU related elsewhere on the DMR.

Bsu basketball was an event during that time period. Irving Gym was part of it. IMO we lost something when Worthen was built.

I agree. I think the new place should have been built but keep it moe intimate. 10,000 max with a feel that would truly give a home advantage. Make it a harder ticket to get. I was impressed early on by Worthen when the crowds were big, but with smaller crowds it losses something. 

I had season tickets in Irving, front row in the section behind the basket within about 20 feet of the visitors bench where teams entered and exited the floor. Those were great tickets, you could get the attention of the visitor's coaches and players, really could see the battle under the basket. With the possible problem of having players go OB and end up in your seat...kept you on your toes.

Irving was too small, though. We needed an expansion. When you see people argue for a 30,000+ seat FB arena, citing recruiting and the need to go to the next level, Worthen Arena looks like it was built on exactly that model. Build it and they will come. Of course, they did come. When we had some good teams.

In fact, as we filled Worthen Arena from time to time, the master plan was to raise ticket prices and cash in. We hired an AD with marching orders to hire a new coach and expand revenue in that venue. He came up a plan to charge a premium on season tickets and it looked like we had a profit center. And then came Ronnie. Sure looked good on that first season's press guide. I have about 20 copies of it intended as promotional materials. By the end of the season I couldn't even pull one out and give it away.

From day one and right up to now there were pluses and minuses in Worthen. Not a bad seat in the house. But no seat is really close to the action, and nobody feels really close to the players, except maybe in the seats behind the benches. Better for television, better for concessions, better to get in and out, good parking for the gold tickets, but a long hike for most fans.

All in all while we can argue about the right size for right now, if we really can be a high division 1 basketball school Worthen is more what we need. We have a better chance to fill that arena and bring good opponents to town, than we do in football. And, we could make money on basketball. There are a million people within 60 or so miles of Worthen Arena, and Indiana which is still a good basketball market.

All we have to do, of course, is put that good team on the floor year after year. Not easy. But again, that is almost certainly easier to do than to build a top 40 football team, get a big stadium built, and somehow bring good FB opponents to Muncie.

I think it is still an open question whether we should invest in a remodel of Worthen aimed at slightly smaller venue, say 8K, with more amenities. I am not sure whether that will bring in more net revenue after the investment. After all, that route fails too, unless we improve the Program and win. You don't sell sky boxes in Muncie and get 8K crowds even for a team that is good but not great in the MAC. The good news is that if we do build that power team, then we can bring in 10K+ in the current arena for a lot of games, and make it more attractive to bring quality opponents.