UD-XU: A View From The Cheap Seats

By Paul Gotham

When life gives you Section 210, Row P, enjoy the view.

That’s what I said to myself Saturday as I followed the better half up the steps of Xavier University’s Cintas Center. I took a look around while we climbed, and then, like a scene from a Three Stooges episode, I nearly toppled over my wife.

“N… O… where’s P?”

It seemed like a simple enough question. The nearby attendant quickly erased our confusion. Row P was not an actual row of seats, rather an area along the walkway at the top of the arena with portable chairs provided.

We settled in and quickly I acclimated to the surroundings. It reminded me of  Silver Stadium – Rochester’s now defunct baseball stadium. Night after night we would trudge our way up the ramp to the general admission area and find our spot in L22. The walkway behind the bench seats provided a perfect spot for the baby stroller. As our daughters grew, and the stroller became unecessary, we stayed in the same row that offered that panoramic view.

Saturday, we found ourselves with the same wide-angle look but in a different venue. Our daughters, now in college, were by our side.

For the first time in our family history, I was the neophyte, the newbie in a basketball situation.  Our eldest is now a sophomore at Xavier. She witnessed both of  I-75 rivalry games last season. The better half, a Dayton grad, has experienced at least that many.

Saturday was my first.

The game exceeded expectations.

Terrell Holloway earned my POTW.  The gritty sophomore point guard led a spirited attack as Xavier outlasted Dayton, 78-74.  The Musketeers went 10-19 from behind the three point arc. Dante Jackson hit five. The junior got so locked in that it was obvious before his release that the ball would grace the bottom of the net.

Brad Redford added a pair of trifectas. When Holloway found Redford in transition with a diagonal bounce pass from one side of the lane to the other, I was yelling “UH-OH” with the ball in flight. The pass caught Redford in stride, created perfect rhythm, and the ensuing basket was expected.

The result of the game might not have been as important as THE game.

The final horn sounded, and many stayed in the arena for the awarding of The Blackburn / McCafferty Trophy commemorating the contributions of former Dayton coach Tom Blackburn (1947-64) and Xavier coach and athletic director, Jim McCafferty (1957-63).

Others filed out, and it was there I caught another of the game’s importance. I was greeted by lines out the door of the men’s restroom. After a ten minute wait, the message was clear: no one wanted to leave their seats with time on the clock.

Beating the crowds was not important on this day. BEING the crowd was what mattered.

Sure, the game was played at 11 a.m. A time probably dictated by television. If the schools wanted revenue, they would have to take what they got.

The early morning hour deterred no one. The Cintas Center filled to capacity and bounced with an energy fueled by the play on the court.

Somehow, Dayton and Xavier, like so many small schools, fall short in grabbing the national attention of casual fans.  But to this region and to these schools, their students, and alums this is THE game (Crosstown Shootout aside).  Few outside central and southern Ohio realize that the two schools have combined for 36 NCAA Tournament appearances.  Fewer still realize the two schools were regulars in the NIT Final Four during the decade of the 1950s (when that tournament mattered). Xavier beat Dayton in the 1958 NIT Finals.

They are two schools with significant contributions to the game as it grew in the 20th century.  The Dayton Arena has hosted 82 NCAA Tournament games. Only the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium has seen more – 83. The Arena opened in 1969 and was paid for by private funds.

Yes, basketball matters to Dayton.

But now that college basketball has become big business buoyed by national media, it is refreshing to know the  I75 rivalry still thrives.

The players, unlike their counterparts from self-proclaimed ‘basketball factories,’ have limited aspirations of basketball beyond their college experience. Any professional experience would more than likely pale in comparison to their time on the college hard wood. These student-athletes play for the moment. Most will enjoy at least a full four-year college experience.

Instead of using college as a stepping stone into the NBA, these guys live in the present.

The fans appreciate their efforts. They fill the arena and bring their enthusiasm.

Dayton and Xavier may not grab national attention. Neither does a game like St. Joe’s and Temple. The Gonzaga- St. Mary’s rivalry has its own history. Next week Niagara and Canisius will renew their rivalry at the Koessler Center.

These games will not draw national attention, but that does not diminish their importance in the national fabric.

The seats might be referred to as cheap, but the experience was anything but.