Like Canzano, I Won’t Cry Any Tears Over Mac Court
Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Keith Becker in Oregon Ducks
The always popular John Canzano wrote a column yesterday bidding farewell to Mac Court.
Don't worry, The Pit may be gone, but The Pit Crew will be back again in full force next season, just in an arena that has urinals where you don't have to be touching hips with the guy you're peeing next to.
As usual, it caused a bit of controversy. Minutes after it was posted to the interwebs, several of my friends gushed to me about what an idiot he was and how he had no respect for The Pit’s history.
No, Canzano didn’t reminisce about the famous “Tall Firs” and their run to the first ever NCAA tournament title in 1939 or Oregon’s upset over No. 1 UCLA in 2007, or any other memory that had been made there in the past 84 years.
Instead, Mr. BFT called Mac Court something no Oregon Duck fans wanted to hear: a dump. Even going as far as to say: “Mac Court is cramped. It’s outdated. It’s become a cumbersome place to watch a game, and I’m not sure many will really miss it.”
But you know what? He’s right. Well, at least for me.
Calm down, calm down. Let me explain myself.
I’m only a sophomore at the University of Oregon, and the first game I ever attended at Mac Court was against St. Mary’s last season. Fittingly, it was a loss.
During my entire tenure here in Eugene, the Ducks record is 23-38 overall and 9-27 in the Pac-10.
I’ve had nothing to be excited about. Honestly, my greatest memory from The Pit was when we beat Stanford for our first conference win (in late February, my apologies Robbie G) and stormed the court in pity celebration.
(The same kind of celebration like when a pitcher walks the bases loaded on 12 straight pitches and then receives a mocking cheer when he finally throws a strike. Not the good kind of celebration.)
I was never in The Pit to see Luke, Luke and Freddie or Aaron Brooks. I have no special connection to this stadium.
If I didn’t know any better, based on my two years of experience alone, I would have guessed Mac Court was just a tiny, cramped, usually empty arena, with a home team that usually loses, and which also curiously happens to be located across the street from a cemetery.
Now, l realize this is a selfish opinion, but that’s why I have a blog.
For Oregon to reach the next level in the national basketball landscape, the new stadium is a must. Players are tired of cramped showers, dilapidated locker rooms and vacant seats. Top recruits in 2010 don’t care about history; they care about state of the art, and cool.
Mac Court is not cool. Mac Court is historical. There’s a reason why most inner city kids don’t want the History Channel: it’s just not cool.
New memories will be made in Matthew Knight Arena. A new hope.
As Canzano says: “Hope that Oregon can become relevant. Hope that the new building will hold more great memories than the old one. Hope that there will be thrills, and memories, and that someday 100 years from now when Matthew Knight Arena is outdated and crumbling that someone will ask, “How could they tear down this wonderful place?!?”
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Robbie G
07. Mar, 2010
uosportsdouche,
Wow, have you actually been to a game? You said:
“Honestly, my greatest memory from The Pit was when we beat Oregon State for our first conference win (in MARCH) and stormed the court in pity celebration.”
You are a moron, Oregon’s first Pac-10 win last year was against Stanford and was in FEBRUARY! Quit trying to appear like you are an expert when you can’t even get one simple fact straight. Shouldn’t have been that tough considering there were only 2 conference wins last year at Mac Court.
Get out of here and quit your blog. Let someone who actually knows some stuff do the reporting…I mean blogging (when someone says they are a blogger, that’s code for “I would like to be a journalist but nobody will pay me and I have an excuse for not fact-checking”).
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Keith Becker
08. Mar, 2010
Like Matthew said, this blog was not meant to disparage Mac Court, it is just my opinion on how I feel about moving to the new arena. I have no emotional attachment to The Pit, I have no true good memories there. I know for a fact that most people do, but unfortunately I am not one of them.
That said, I couldn’t be more excited to move into a state of the art arena.
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James
07. Mar, 2010
“only a sophomore at U of O”.
That explains a lot….
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Dee
07. Mar, 2010
For a relevant fan perspective on the final days of The Pit, refer to Off The Pond: http://www.offthepond.net/2010/03/mac-court-farewell.html
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Max
08. Mar, 2010
I’m not going to go as far and insult you, dude. But, you have a lot of Oregon history to learn. This building is more meaningful than your two years of experience at UO can let you comprehend. When you aren’t very informed on a certain topic, its best not to discuss it. Because you make yourself look foolish talking about your memories of the past two years and your slightly racist analogy of “inner-city” kids and the history channel.
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J
08. Mar, 2010
Yeah.. nice jab at the inner-city kids… You have a lot to learn, little boy.
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Matthew
08. Mar, 2010
Now that the site’s loading for me, I can post this here…
I’m in my second year at UO as well, and this is about how I feel. Mac Court will be missed, and deservedly so, but I won’t be doing much of the missing. And that’s what I took as the point of this post: anyone for whom the past two years are most or all of their Mac Court experience doesn’t have all that many good memories there. (Okay, that’s a bit of a lie in my case; volleyball this year winning its first match against Stanford since ’89 was pretty awesome.) That includes out-of-staters, of course, but also any freshmen or sophomores who hadn’t been to many live games before enrolling.
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DuckNelson
08. Mar, 2010
Dear UOSD,
You are entitled to your opinion. I kind of agree with you that it is old and it will be SWEET to see the new place.
A new arena is also an excellent recruiting tool, which is part of the overall plan I’m sure.
As for the inner city kids and the History Channel thing, I’m sure you could have come up with a better analogy that wouldn’t distract from your point.
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Josh
08. Mar, 2010
I’ve been going to Oregon basketball games since I was 6. I still remember my first game in Section 205, row 1. I remember getting courtside seats when I was 13 and how excited I was to see Oregon vs Stanford from the floor, even if one of the Stanford guys landed in my lap.
However, I think this move to Matt court is necessary. One chapter comes to an end and another begins. I’ll miss Mac court but I wont cry over it. I’m excited for a new era in Oregon Basketball. I’m excited for more than 2 men’s room, I’m excited for cup holders, I’m excited for extra leg room (6’3), I’m excited for hot water in the bathrooms, and most of all unobstructed views!
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Parker
18. Mar, 2010
Yea I agree with the complaints. I only got two years here, and I was able to notice something special at Mac Court. Sure it’s cramped and old, but you could tell that it was exciting. The people are right on top of the action. Sure the Ducks have lost more than a few recently, but when the place needed to get loud it could, and fast. I grew up right outside of Knoxville, TN, and trust me when I saw that huge isn’t always the best. T-B arena is one of the biggest in the country and world, but that doesn’t make it amazing. It’s the team, the history, and the tradition. Which leads to the next point: you don’t have to have been going to games for 15 years to have a connection. Most people don’t. Most go to school for four years and that’s it. Maybe you follow a bit before hand because you’re from the area, or you’re excited to go to school there, and maybe you keep up with the ducks afterward, catch a game or two on the weekends. But just because you were only a student for a few years doesn’t mean you can’t feel a connection to what happened before you and what will come after you
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