Power of the Pit
Sports Illustrated says UNM’s Dreamstyle Arena-the Pit remains one of the tough places to play for opponents
Well, it hasn’t exactly been the Pit of old in recent years.
But history holds a stronghold on the memories of the staff at Sports Illustrated, which on Thursday revealed a group- effort listing of the Top 10 Toughest Arenas for Opponents in men’s college basketball.
Sitting pretty at No. 6 was Dream style Arena - The Pit.
“New Mexico has taken a step back in recent years after making four of five NCAA tournaments from 2010 to ’14,” stated the article posted Thursday on SI.com, “but opponents would never be wise to underestimate The Pit. The Lobos have won a whopping 732 home games since the arena’s opening in 1966, with their fans making it a daunting place to play.”
Duke’s Cameron Indoor Arena topped the list. No other Mountain West school made the cut. Arizona’s McKale Memorial Center was included as an honorable mention.
As for getting the Pit back to the atmosphere it once had, second-year head coach Paul Weir has never shied away from that as a goal, even if some coaches would suggest they should only focus on coaching and not also marketing the program.
“I think as a coach you have two options, and I don’t even know if one is right or wrong,” Weir said. “You can either just focus on coaching your team and worry about that product alone. Or you can start to … dabble in those other areas with regard to marketing, attendance, revenues, expenses, whatever those other things may be. I feel as though the marketing, attendance side of things … is a little bit apart of my job, and that is something I’ve tried to work on ever since I’ve become a head
coach, period.”
Weir, and several Lobo basketball players, took part this week in a phone drive to try to get renewals from past season ticket holders. Weir’s interjecting his ideas into the marketing and ticketing operations at UNM has been received with mixed reactions at times.
His recent idea to research converting unused suites in the Pit to office space received critical reaction. Weir said Thursday he recently told athletic director Eddie Nuñez they should table, though not discard, the idea at least until after this coming season.
UNM has sold 7,464 season tickets for season as of Thursday afternoon. It sold 8,057 last year. That number was as high as 11,617 in the 2013-14 season, the first under former head coach Craig Neal.
Meanwhile, Weir noted he is not happy with the Mountain West Conference’s TV contracts with CBS Sports Network and ESPN pushing four of the Lobos’ home games off the usual 7 p.m. tipoff into the 9 p.m. time slot.
“My first call was to my conference office when those times came out,” Weir said. “I’d be lying if I said I was jumping for joy. I told them how I felt. I’ll continue to tell them how I feel. Our fan base and this community comes first to me. So, we’ll do everything we can to market, brand 9 p.m. games. It’s a blessing and an honor to be considered for ESPN. Last year we weren’t considered for ESPN. We didn’t have to worry about it.”
PRACTICE: The Lobos begin practice on Sept. 28 and are allowed 30 practices before the regular season. Public scrimmages or exhibitions like the Lobo Howl or the Oct. 19 Cherry/Silver game count in that number.
The NCAA allows practices to start next Wednesday, but Weir said he will wait until Friday in order to get a better routine for those 30 games.
PIGSKIN PRAISE: While reminding fans that “there’s a lot of things that have gone on through media” around the UNM athletics department in the past year, Weir opened Thursday’s press conference by praising football coach Bob Davie, whom he says he’s gotten to know well in recent months, and the Lobo football team for beating New Mexico State last week in Las Cruces.
“Really happy for coach (Bob) Davie and the football program and hopeful that our fans, or just fans around the community, will continue to try and support them and attend games and hope that their season can continue to go strong,” Weir said.
He added, “At the end of the day, Lobo football doing well is a huge part for all of us.”
GET YOUR VIN: Lobo hoops and the Albuquerque Police Department are holding a free VIN etching event Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the northeast corner of the Pit parking lot.
People can have their vehicle VIN numbers etched into four windows of the vehicle by police in an effort to deter vehicle theft — an issue in Albuquerque at large and more specifically on UNM’s campus, where a recent study showed the campus leads the nation in vehicle thefts, by a large margin.
Lobo players will be on hand to meet people, as well.