Mizzou Basketball

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The Merits Of Mizzou Arena

Commentary Exclusive to Mizzou OSR
by Todd Donoho

Columbia, Mo. - I'd like to pass along some comments from a friend of mine.

"The old basketball arena is much better than the new one."

"The old arena had much better sight lines."

"The fans were so much closer to the court in the old arena than the new one."

"Mizzou had a better home court advantage in the old arena than the new one."

"The old arena was like a pit.  The new arena has a sterile, plastic feel to it."

Yes, those are the words said to me by my friend Tim Cochran.  But they weren't uttered recently.  Tim was my college roommate during my freshman year at Mizzou, and he made those comments to me in 1973.  Tim was comparing Brewer Field House to the then brand-new Hearnes Center.

I bring this up because I hear these same words now when people compare the old Hearnes Center to the new Mizzou Arena.  A recent column in the Columbia Tribune basically said the Hearnes Center was a better arena and had better sight lines.  I have heard this from other folks as well, so let's examine the facts.

Hearnes has a much steeper incline to the rows of the seats than Mizzou Arena.  At Hearnes, a comparable seat was much higher than at Mizzou Arena.  A seat in row 25 at Mizzou Arena is in the lower section below the luxury suites.  A seat in row 25 at Hearnes put you in the back row of the C Section.  There are many more seats closer to the floor at Mizzou Arena.

I have heard people say you have to look through the head of the person in front of you at Mizzou Arena.  This is not true, unless the person in front of you is standing up.  I have seats at Mizzou Arena in row 14 and I don't have to look through anybody's head.  The view and sight line is great.  I can see that if you were used to Hearnes, you do notice a difference.  Because of the steep incline of the rows at Hearnes, your knees were at the same level as the person's head in front of you.  Still, you don't have to look through a person's head in front of you at Mizzou Arena unless you are very small or the person in front of you is very tall, or you are sitting down and they are standing up. 

The trend in modern basketball arena design is to be like Mizzou Arena.  The new modern arenas have the same incline of rows as Mizzou Arena.  It makes it easier to get up and down the steps and puts more people lower to the action.  I can see that if a person had a seat in the third row of Hearnes and then got a third row seat at Mizzou Arena they may be disappointed.  The third row at Hearnes was higher than the third row at Mizzou Arena.  At Mizzou Arena if you have a seat in the first four or five rows, you will have to look through the benches and scoring tables.  It's like sitting in the first couple of rows at Faurot Field, you have to look through the players on the sidelines.  You can't see the near sideline as well as someone sitting higher.

Let's move to the upper deck at Mizzou Arena.  I have heard that some fans have to look through plexi-glas railings.  It's true, there are a few seats where you have to look through plexi-glas railings.  I have sat in the upper deck of the Scott Trade Center in St. Louis, the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the Arrowhead in Anaheim, and there are a few seats in those arenas where you look through a plexi-glas railing.  The majority of the upper deck seats do not look through the railings.  As far as sight lines from the upper deck, do you remember how high the D Section was at Hearnes.  In the corner sections there were seats that did not have a total view of the floor.  When you sat high in the D Section you were way up there, much higher than the back row at Mizzou Arena, and you had a great view of the tops of the players' heads.

Let's look at the student seating.  Mizzou Arena gives more students better seats than Hearnes.  Story over.  Bottom line: there are many more seats that are closer to the floor with better sight lines at Mizzou Arena than the Hearnes Center.

And now the Luxury Suites.  Plain and simple, they create a revenue flow that Hearnes couldn't.  That's the main reason Mizzou Arena was built with Luxury Suites -- to create more revenue.  That revenue helps pay Gary Pinkel and his staff competitive salaries so they stay at Mizzou.  The increased revenue that Mizzou Arena generates pay for coaches and facilities of other sports as well.  If you want to keep the wrestling coach of the team that finished third in the nation last year, you have to pay him and give him decent facilities.  If you want to keep the coach of the sixth-ranked baseball team in the nation, you have to pay him and give him decent facilities.  The revenue stream from Mizzou Arena makes that possible.  It also helps upgrade facilities that will help recruit better players and athletes for all sports.

You've heard the phrase, "Keeping up with the Joneses."  Well, substitute the word "Jones" with Nebraska, Oklahoma. Texas, Illinois and Kansas.  Mizzou Arena makes that possible.  Hearnes did not.

Most fans haven't seen them, but Mizzou Arena's practice and training facilities are second to none in the nation.  It will help get better recruits.

One more thing, Mizzou Arena also upgrades the types of concerts that come to Mid-Missouri.  I don't think Elton John would have been economically feasible in Hearnes.  I saw him at Mizzou Arena.

A new arena is like a new pair of shoes.  At first it doesn't feel as good as the old pair of shoes, but once you break it in, you realize it's a lot better.  Nostalgia has a lot to do with that.  We look back at Hearnes with nostalgic feelings, just like we looked back at Brewer with nostalgic feelings when the Hearnes Center was new.

Mizzou Arena is better.  I realize that right now, just like my friend Tim eventually realized that Hearnes was better than Brewer.  It just might take some time before some others realize that.