I gotta admit, I think the new floor is awesome, and the new arena is ridiculous. 227 million I believe is what it cost to build, and it's pretty amazing for a college program. Lots of people complained last night about watching the inaugural game on tv...
If USC coach Kevin O'Neill had the urge to cover his eyes to avoid watching his team's discouraging 68-62 loss to last-place Oregon on Thursday night, he can at least take solace that he wasn't alone.
TV viewers from coast to coast had the same experience as a result of the headache-inducing glare from the iridescent ribbon board lining the upper level of Oregon's newly built Matthew Knight Arena.
The above photo offers a glimpse of the blinding reflection visible throughout the first-ever game at the $237 million arena built to replace venerable MacArthur Court. Add in the fact that the ribbon board changed color from white to yellow to green to blue every few seconds, and it made watching the game feel like staring into a strobe light.
[Related: High school unveils crazy-colored football field]
Hard as it may be to believe, complaints over the glare actually overshadowed reaction to the unveiling of Oregon's crazy new basketball floor. The court is framed on all sides by a forest of brown-and-tan fir trees, an homage to the school's picturesque Pacific Northwest setting and to Oregon's 1939 national title team nicknamed "The Tall Firs."
Like the famed blue "Smurf Turf" at Boise State's football stadium, Oregon's forest floor is meant to be an iconic design that will immediately be recognizable to TV viewers nationwide. The design already generated buzz this summer and will surely draw more attention in the coming weeks.
Considering how much thought went into everything from the steeply tiered seats to the duck's epic entrance from the rafters to the "Deep In the Woods" slogan on the floor, it's tough to believe nobody bothered to check how the court would look on TV. Whether that's true or whether somebody just signed off on the TV image too quickly, that's a pretty brutal oversight.
Maybe most frustrating of all was that FOX Sports Net announcers Steve Physioc and Marques Johnson made no reference to the glare during their broadcast.
They probably couldn't see it from their courtside seat, yet it had to be visible from their monitors. And even if it wasn't, a kind producer might have pointed out one of the dozens of complaints popping up on Twitter throughout the telecast.
[Rewind: See incredible rendering of Rays' 'sailboat' stadium]
Besides the glare, TV viewers were also unhappy with the camouflage mid-court stripe and 3-point lines. In its zeal to protect the integrity of its flashy design, it seems Nike neglected functionality by not creating enough contrast for a television audience to view any of those lines.
All these complaints are minor enough that Oregon should be able to solve them with minimal trouble.
What's a shame is that they detracted from a memorable Oregon victory in the grand opening of one of America's iconic new college basketball arenas.
Even without the glare, I'm just not diggin' it. At first glance it looks like the center of the court is worn out, then you begin seeing the trees. You'll always know it's Oregon playing though....
I have tickets for WSU's game down in Eugene in early February, a bunch of us are going to check the new arena out. I don't really remember the glare being too much of an issue while watching the game last night, but we certainly couldn't see the half court stripe at all. The arena itself (excluding the floor) is absolutely incredible though (even if they did have a ridiculously long opening ceremony for it before the game last night).
89Hen wrote:Shocker... Oregon ugly shit that's hard to watch.
So glad they lost to Auburn.
Would have been interesting to see a game in which there wasn't so many commercials to give Auburn a rest. Noticed the one time Oregon really seemed to have the Auburn D on the ropes, at TV timeout was called and then Auburn had a goal line stand.
Also, Auburn had a pro QB, so they should have won.
89Hen wrote:Shocker... Oregon ugly shit that's hard to watch.
So glad they lost to Auburn.
Would have been interesting to see a game in which there wasn't so many commercials to give Auburn a rest. Noticed the one time Oregon really seemed to have the Auburn D on the ropes, at TV timeout was called and then Auburn had a goal line stand.
Also, Auburn had a pro QB, so they should have won.
Thanks for that analysis of the football game from 2 months ago on a thread about a basketball game that is a month old.
SeattleGriz wrote:
Would have been interesting to see a game in which there wasn't so many commercials to give Auburn a rest. Noticed the one time Oregon really seemed to have the Auburn D on the ropes, at TV timeout was called and then Auburn had a goal line stand.
Also, Auburn had a pro QB, so they should have won.
Thanks for that analysis of the football game from 2 months ago on a thread about a basketball game that is a month old.
Hey. I waited for my chance and took it. If it took me two months, so be it. Just be happy I didn't bust out the NC game lines.
At first glance it looks like the center of the court is worn out, then you begin seeing the trees. You'll always know it's Oregon playing though....
