Kentucky to have two arenas?!?!

#1
S

SportsFreak

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#1
I know that Kentucky's fanbase is world wide, supposedly; but enough to have two arena's? Come on... Evidentally they are going to have a "Rupp West" in Louisville. Of all places? FREEDOM HALL! Louisville has built a new mega-arena and has no further use for Freedom Hall anymore but still, I can't see how they would allow a building so rich in Louisville tradition to be used as an alternate UK arena. When I am saying they are using the arena, they aren't simply using it. It is going to be remade into a UK arena. This picture surfaced today of the floor that will be used.

freedomhall.jpg
 
#4
#4
No it's for real.. The floor isn't placed in Freedom Hall yet.. It was being constructed and painted at an offsite location.
 
#6
#6
Looks like the ball room, dance hall or whatever UK played in for one of those early season tournaments last year.

Doesn't UK already have two basketball arenas anyway? Rupp and whatever they make the women use?
 
#7
#7
Cal loves neutral or off campus games.. Last year they played in Madison Square Garden, Louisville, and in Mexico. This year they are playing in Canada, Maui, the Rose Garden in Portland Oregon (Trailblazers Arena), and now this alternate UK arena. It spreads the fanbase and recruiting possibilities like no one could ever imagine. I think that was one of the main reasons for doing this...to always have an edge on Louisville recruiting. If a player sees a successful team in their back yard, they will connect to them. I think it would be a great thing for UT to do. Have a venue in Memphis or Nashville to play in once, twice, 5 times a season. Not only would it spread the fanbase but recruiting in those arenas would skyrocket. Not to mention piss off Vandy and Memphis. :)
 
#8
#8
tidwell said:
Looks like the ball room, dance hall or whatever UK played in for one of those early season tournaments last year.

Doesn't UK already have two basketball arenas anyway? Rupp and whatever they make the women use?
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It's not been placed in Freedom Hall yet. It's in some convention center right now being painted and then it will be sent to Freedom Hall.

And yea, they have Memorial Coliseum. It was the arena they used prior to Rupp. They used it for one game two years ago. It only seats like 5,000 though, and Freedom Hall seats 22,000.
 
#13
#13
SportsFreak said:
Cal loves neutral or off campus games..
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Kentucky has played a home game at Louisville pretty regularly for some time. It predates Cal.

tidwell said:
Doesn't UK already have two basketball arenas anyway? Rupp and whatever they make the women use?
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Memorial Coloseum, which was UK's men's home from 1950-1976, still serves as the women's gym and the men's practice facility.

SportsFreak said:
No it's for real.. The floor isn't placed in Freedom Hall yet.. It was being constructed and painted at an offsite location.
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Freedom Hall was a multi-purpose arena with a temporary removable floor. My guess is that now that UofL has no use for it, the red and black floor is being replaced by a blue one. It isn't that big of a deal.
 
#14
#14
cotton said:
Kentucky has played a home game at Louisville pretty regularly for some time. It predates Cal.
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Indeed. the UK/IU rivalry used to go back and forth from the RCA dome to Freedom Hall, until it changed to home/home. Kentucky used to Play Notre Dame in Freedom Hall every other year also.

I do know that Cal was trying to negotiate neutral games with Texas, which would be at Freedom Hall also.



cotton said:
Freedom Hall was a multi-purpose arena with a temporary removable floor. My guess is that now that UofL has no use for it, the red and black floor is being replaced by a blue one. It isn't that big of a deal.
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I don't know if this rumor has any truth to it or not, but if its not a photoshop then its not just a blue floor, its a UK floor.

I'm not really buying it until I hear it from a couple place I trust.
 
#15
#15
Hardwood_fanatic said:
I don't know if this rumor has any truth to it or not, but if its not a photoshop then its not just a blue floor, its a UK floor.

I'm not really buying it until I hear it from a couple place I trust.
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Blue floor, UK floor--the point was that it's a cosmetic job because the Cards don't live there any more. I still don't think it is a very big deal, and it certainly isn't outside the realm of possibility.

I have been in that gym when it had a generic blue floor brought over from Broadbent. Changing it to match the only regular future tenant would be something akin to replacing the carpeting.
 
#16
#16
The only thing that makes me think it's a photoshop is the ugly cream color around Freedom Hall and UK. Doesn't look right.
 
#17
#17
IPorange said:
The only thing that makes me think it's a photoshop is the ugly cream color around Freedom Hall and UK. Doesn't look right.
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Unless I'm wrong, I think thats some kind of tape surface that was used for painting, and at that point had not been removed.
 
#18
#18
With the NCAA cracking down on paying players and extra benefits, Kentucky now has extra cash to do these kinds of things. :)
 
#19
#19
Thats pretty gangster. This would be like Tennessee or Auburn buying Legion Field in Birmingham.
 
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#22
#22
Why not just make the football stadium a basketball arena? Not like they would be missing out on any championships.
 
#23
#23
tvolsfan said:
Why not just make the football stadium a basketball arena? Not like they would be missing out on any championships.
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haha There have been rumors of having Big Blue Madness in Commonwealth as well as an outside game but they are too afraid to plan it with the weather conditions. There would be a lot of pissed off fans if they had to relocate the game back to Rupp because of rain.
 
#24
#24
Think about it though.. This could be HUGE in recruiting for Tennessee. It puts us in the backyards of our rival in-state schools. Think of how pissed off UT fans would be if Memphis had a specific venue in Knoxville to regularly play games, especially if they started taking recruits away from us because of it. Even if UT didn't have a designated place, I think that a neutral site game in Nashville or Memphis would be huge.
 
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