If I am ever deathly ill, and my life is in need of saving, I will never say one word about someone hauling my backside to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN, assuming one thing; I never want to have to enter Memorial Gymnasium for anything, because to be honest, it makes me ill when I enter it. The funny thing about Memorial Gymnasium is that Adolph Rupp himself was responsible for that layout to a certain extent, AND for the building of the Gymnasium also (see below), however he spearheaded the decision by coaches in the SEC back in the 1960’s to move the coaches and players to the ends of the court, in order to improve visibility.
Memorial Gymnasium has a certain “mystique” about it, of that there is no doubt. It is a player’s court, as long as you are a Commodore. The layout and the way the court sits high above the true floor of the Gymnasium takes some getting used to, and thus can be quite intimidating to freshmen when they see their first action there. It effects depth perception and focus, which is a direct contradiction to the fact that Vanderbilt is one of only three teams remaining that have made a 3 pt basket in every game since the rule was adopted back in 1986.
My personal experiences at the Gym aside, you even have to watch a game at Memorial differently on TV. When you see the game on TV, you do not see the crowd as well as at other venues. That does not mean they do not get into it as well as other fans, because they can make that place rock when they wish to do so. It just not come across as raucous or rowdy as say Cameron Indoor does on ESPN. I have yet to talk to a coach who says they like the place other than to give it lip service, because they can only really coach half the game. The first half is spent yelling things at your team who cannot hear them across the court. When I first entered the place, I thought it was an undersized airplane hangar, but I then realized what it reminded me of, and has led to my nickname for the place ever since, and that is the Barn. Yes, I know that Minnesota already uses that name, oh well, it fits. Not only does it have the same look as Minnesota’s home court due to the elevated playing area, it just simply sounds and feels like an old barn on the inside. The designers wanted to it be just as useful as a concert venue as it would be for basketball games, so there you go. The fabric draping down from the ceiling, as well as the other oddities are just a small part of what that place is to a person for the first time they enter. I always said that there are some pretty smart cookies attending Vandy, and I guess they had some when they built that place as well. Having been in several arenas for the purpose of watching a basketball game, including Rupp, Memorial Coliseum ( The former home of our beloved Wildcats), UD Arena, Minnesota’s Barn, University of Wisconsin’s Arena, and a host of others I am not going to list.
But to add to the list of oddities, I am going to include a link to this article, which describes in detail why Adolph Rupp himself was directly responsible for that monstrosity some 70 odd years ago, in a story which is not only charming but very true.
So folks, like it or love it, hate it or embrace it, Memorial Gymnasium is something to everyone out there who has ever seen it, been in it, or wanted to know why it is so odd. And more often than not lately, that place has served as a thorn in the side of the Cats and our SEC destiny. I am starting to get nauseous about the place already.
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