NCAA Basketball Regionals arrive this week
SYRACUSE -- The Syracuse University Athletics Department is counting on fans of the Cornell Big Red to help fill the Carrier Dome for this weeks East Regional Finals of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. There are thousands of seats available before the Dome reaches capacity for basketball. "We're very disappointed at this point," said Peter Sala Carrier Dome Managing Director. "In '05 we were over 30,000. Today we're at 21,090 tickets we've got about 10,000 tickets to sell. We're hoping with Cornell being here, we're very excited about Cornell, we're hoping they sell some tickets."
Fans of the Syracuse Orange who would like to attend the games at the Dome this week are faced with a dilemma. Coach Jim Boeheim's team also plays its Sweet Sixteen game in Salt Lake City Thursday evening against Butler. The game time is 7:07 pm. It is in direct conflict with the early game at the Dome between Washington and West Virginia.
Fans who are hoping to catch Syracuse on television while at the Dome are out of luck. Dome staff has been taking a lot of calls asking about the possibility of cheering for the Orange and still seeing live action in their hometown arena. "Unfortunately the NCAA doesn't allow us to show our game on the big screen TV's in the arena. So you will not be able to see the Syracuse game in the facility while the games are going on here," said Peter Sala.
Stadium staff is receiving special training tonight to make sure they understand the changes mandated by the NCAA during the games. They are also being told about the importance of guiding out of town guests to the right places.
Carrier Dome staff has been working since last Wednesday on installing a new hardwood floor delivered to town just for the NCAA tournament. This floor is made by Connor. The usual Carrier Dome court is made by Horner. The tournament floor extends further at each end to accommodate photographers. It is also a thinner surface giving a slightly different feel to the players.
Also, there were come concerns that the Cornell-Kentucky game would be blacked out on local television if the Dome was not sold out on Thursday. CNY Central has checked with CBS and we have been assured that the game will be shown live, currently scheduled for 9:57 pm.
