(Better not end up at Oregon....)

HA!

He played a bit v CSUN and LBSU in the first half rotation. Looked okay, a little on the weak side physically. Good luck to him. That’s a big challenge to come over here, especially during global pandemic.

He didn't get a lot of minutes. He looked eager to play and played hard when he was in the game...scrappy...diving for balls...looked fearless to me. Best of luck to him.

Changes coming to the Pavilion. A new name, University Credit Union Center, and long needed improvements, as part of a big new partnership.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/4/6/athletics-uc-davis-and-university-credit-union-announce-new-partnership.aspx

UCUC.

Just flows off the tongue. Maybe call it The U?

The Dakronics video board will be great to have!

One of the first visible improvements already made to The Pavilion is a new Daktronics videoboard, more than 13 feet high and 46 feet wide, showing replays and real-time statistics. The videoboard can also be used for campus events throughout the academic year, in one of the largest on-campus multiuse facilities in Northern California with seating capacity approaching 6,000 for basketball games.

It's funny, my son and I were talking about needed improvements a while back and the first thing we both said was a better scoreboard. There are seats, in the current setup, where you can't see any of the boards. This will absolutely help. I'd like to see some better lighting, too, and replacement of broken seats.

That thing looks like it will be disorienting. Too bad they couldn't hang a board over center court and put some permanent telescope seating into the upper bowl.

I don't think that's the Datronics videoboard...??

I got the picture from their press release but I guess I don’t know for sure if that is the actual board or just a mock-up.

You would think that they would want something that hung down from above at center court and could be viewed from all sides that would be a scoreboard as well.

UCUC @ UC?

For those of us who have been around for awhile it was originally called the Rec Hall’...and I have played many times in those racket ball courts behind the main floor...but great to have new technology for all the games!

I believe that is the actual board, some pre-game broadcast for a Women's game mentioned a board was already installed on that side but the camera angle didn't allow me to see it at all.

Honestly I think it's fine from that side. It's the side with the least amount of seating and no upper tier stands. Having it on one side will also have some advantages for commencement, concerts, and other events with stages that are held in the U Center (seems that's the nickname they're shooting for).

A center board would be ideal but if it was prohibitively expensive to mount it / install multiple screens instead of one, then I'm fine letting the funds flow to other programs instead.

Agree. They have done a pretty crummy job on the video boards and upper level seating twice now. The new board looks fine for graduation/concerts but terrible for sporting events.

It's a multiuse facility and spends most of the time being used for things other than sports events. I'm pretty ok with the decisions they've made so far. Particularly since I'm not the one paying for them. :)

May be way off topic but does Davis have a sports bar or anything close to what the Grad was? Thinking of making a visit. Have not been to Davis in a long time.

Nope. We've been settling for one of the restaurants/bar downtown with a selection of teevs and food (Mr. Froggy's, Woodstocks, Uncle Vitos, etc) or Lamppost Pizza out in west Davis.

Totally hear you. Telescopic seating that folds from the wall into a bowl in the upper deck really should not be prohibitively expensive and won't decrease the functionality of the building. In fact, it would increase capacity for graduation and other events. The combination of facilities management, ICA and the AD has resulted in some curious and short sighted decisions.

They've got that on three sides, FWIW.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/images/2019/3/19/2019_02_28_uc_irvine_v_uc_davis_men_029_Pano.jpg

They have always had the outward folding stacks with large gaps in between (remember the big wood stacks?). They should have integrated the seating to the upper walls and folded inward so that the seating could extend to the rafters, without the big gaps between sections. Had this been done on all four sides, they preserve the third level court space and also have an 8,500 seat venue.

Yeah, the new plastic seats fold inward from the walls. I think they may still have the ability to freestand them like the old wooden bleachers and separate the upstairs courts from the walkway, but I've only seen them pushed back against the wall for basketball games.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/images/2020/12/17/Pavilion_Court3.jpg
https://irwinseating-images.s3.amazonaws.com/Installations/UC-Davis-Pavilion/UC-Davis-Pavilion-5850.jpg

Anyone know what those double sets of doors are for?

edit: pulled up google Earth and took a look--they appear to be fire exits out onto the exterior berms of the building.

While I have no involvement with UCD, I do design arenas and stadiums for a living so I can posit some (longwinded) hypothesis here-- when the last renovation was done ~10 years ago, the seats were changed to push against the back wall. The also raised the front row so you can see over people walking (standing) on the concourse. The gaps in the seats are for the fire exits that were always there, but they likely got nailed on a change in the fire code. In the 1970s, it was calculated simply as inches of exit space to number of occupants. More recently, you have to consider path of travel, path distance and intermediary pinch points. Likely the concourse wasn't wide enough and the corner exits were too far away from the center seating sections. To make up for the loss of seats, they absolutely should have considered seats for the fourth side. But at the time, the MU was being gutted and there was a temporary textbook store setup there, not to mention average attendance for basketball probably doesn't fill out the demand quotient.

As to the new video board, not ideal for a court sport and sort of precludes viable bleachers on that fourth side. My guess is twofold as to why no center cube. Floor to low steel at center court is listed as 51'. This would be marginal to fit a cube because the accepted minimum safe clearance is 35' to floor. Anything lower becomes dangerous for gymnasts and cheerleaders, not to mention sightline issues from the other end bleachers when configured for an endstage concert or graduation. Modern arenas design their cubes so they can be hoisted into the space between the low and high steel of the roof truss when not in use, but not sure that clear void exists here. The other issue may be that according to the promoter guide there are no permanent hang points (engineered eyelets welded to structural steel) and the load capacity is only 2000lbs per beam section. This is really low by modern standards. A wide screen can distribute the load across multiple beam sections, but a cube may have been too concentrated of a load. Those kind of video screens are fundamentally just a collection of ~12"x12" modules that can be reassembled in any shape and I have done jobs where the venue can reassemble a video wall as a cube, it just takes time and is likely not practical for the level of inhouse technical expertise (or not) that the ARC has. Why on earth they continue to go with Daktronics for video boards is beyond me. They used to be the market leader for quality and service, but they just aren't anymore. The Asian manufacturers have a better product for less than half the cost. Daktronics also purposely changes the size of their modules about every 5 years, fundamentally making repair impossible after that designed obsolescence date unless you hoard spare parts.

I hope new lighting is in scope. Metal halide and fluorescent are pretty antiquated these days. If you are listening, Rocko, PM me if you want advice - Musco has a great product and superior planning services. But Ephesus has some cool features like color correction and DMX universe integration that could really improve the fan experience.

Rec Hall/Pavilion was a really forward thinking design for the 1970s. As life has progressed, sharing a facility between spectator events, career fairs, and recreation uses has become less of a great idea as all of those uses now demand more specialization. At a certain point it is just cheaper to build an arena and an expo hall rather than try to make a transformer building that does both to the satisfaction of the fire marshal. If, over the 10 years of this naming agreement ICA can generate demand for more seats and luxury boxes, I wouldn't be surprised to see a drive for a newer facility. The current one will be over 50 years old by then.

:up:

I think you should give Rocko a call!

Fug we all very much appreciate your expert input; but we are a small D-1 program. We do not have 8000 attendance at the Pavillion and will never have that. Gonzaga has a 6000 court. UCLA has a 13,800 at Pauley. I think we are OK with the size. Amenities we can work on. Fug you are a great resource we love you.

Agreed basketball is unlikely to crest 6000 on any regular basis, but commencement and Doxie Derby do. It's not ideal for show promoters because 6000 is too big for an intimate show and too small for mid-range tours. But the lack of luxury may eventually become a problem if we grow our highroller base. I've been to the corporate box suite a couple times -- it's real nice and I can see how the regulars in that world don't want to sit on bleachers with the rest of us (mainly because they're busy to drinking and doing business rather than watching the game). Pipe dream perhaps, but naming rights are a step in that direction and if Rocko sticks around, based on his background I bet there's more to come.

In the meantime, we are all eligible to join a new credit union now. Rates and fees seem decent and they offer a partial rebate on closing costs if anyone is in the market for such things.

Great insight. Always wondered if the ICA's subdividing net (which makes the place look pathetic IMO) or structural limitations were the real driving factor behind the lack of a cube. I would be surprised if Maples (or even pre-reno Pauley) has much more clearance than the Pavilion but their retrofit may have added the load capacity and beams to hoist away when not in use. You're spot on regarding the venue -- it was the most forward thinking facility that the campus has ever developed -- and its too bad the many facelifts have resulted in a facility that is not very well suited for anything. They really need a modern space with at least average DI amenities for basketball and the flexibility to modulate between say 5k and 10k seats without looking like a horror show. Curious if that's economic via upper level retrofit on the current site or whether they will eventually build a new arena.