Friday, February 01, 2008

The Other Half Of Division I


Where have I been? I’ve been off on a project for my company, and have been blogging more sparingly of late.

I have been working on the campus of my company’s client, Stony Brook University. Stony Brook is located on the north shore of Long Island, about 50 miles east of midtown Manhattan. It is one of the flagship campuses of the State University of New York. Stony Brook boasts 22,000 students, a medical school, and a dental school. It is a major research institution. The school has come a long way in its relatively short 50 year history.

Wednesday evening, thanks to the complimentary tickets from my hotel, I took some time and went to the Stony Brook Arena to watch the Seawolves take on the University of New Hampshire in men’s basketball. A tough season continued for the Seawolves, as they lost, 68-60, and saw their record fall to 4-16. They find themselves at #335 in one version of the Ratings Percentage Index, out of 341 teams.

What I saw was a team and an athletic program trying to keep up with the growth of its university. The team was spunky and competitive, in spite of its record. The arena was small and clean. It is currently a physical education facility with a running track at the top and a running track at the bottom, with bleachers pulled out on four sides of the court, and a few chairback seats on one side of the floor. The arena holds around 4,000 people, and was about ¼ full. My cell phone camera isn’t very good, so I couldn’t get a good picture. At Stony Brook, if you’re a booster, you get the opportunity to sit at a courtside table, and are served catered dinner in a tent in a corner of an arena beside the bleachers. They are working hard to grow their athletic program, and will begin renovation of their arena at the close of the season. The Seawolves have only been part of Division I since 1999.

It was good to go to a game. They didn’t pretend to be the Big East or the Big 12, but it was Division I basketball. I wish the Seawolves well.

4 comments:

Zee said...

Those are some great perks you're gettin' there. ;)

It's gonna be no-man's land in sports after this weekend. I hate this time of year in sports.

John said...

No, now it's finally time to focus on college hoops. No-man's land is after the Final Four. Once CBS plays "One Shining Moment" after the national championship game, it's a true no-man's land until pre-season football.

I kinda like the idea of moving the college basketball season to January through April or May. It would make sense to have the entire season in one semester. Or would it? Are they really student-athletes?

Zee said...

Are they really student-athletes? It depends on the school and the program. SBU - yes, they probably are. ;)

John said...

Actually, in looking at the Stony Brook game program, they list majors on the roster. The men's team lists 4 history majors, 3 psychology majors, 2 health science majors, 2 Arts & Sciences majors, and 2 Multidisciplinary Studies majors. As long as they're getting degrees, that's fine.

But, go figure.