1. Yes, the NIT Should Stay at Hinkle Fieldhouse
I don’t begrudge anyone wishing the NIT Final Four would return to Madison Square Garden. That’s where it started. That’s a special place. The thing I think a lot of people don’t put together is that it wouldn’t make sense for the NIT to want to leave MSG. This is only my own conjecture, but I think it was MSG who wanted the NIT to move on. I’m not positive. But that’s my guess, and I’ve published that before on here and have never heard it contradicted.
Given that…
Is there anywhere better for the NIT than Hinkle Fieldhouse?
You could make a case that Hinkle Fieldhouse is even better for the NIT than MSG, and it’s for the same reason that Hinkle is better for the NIT than the Palestra, the other college basketball temple:
Butler loves hosting this thing.
It was evident all around the building this week. I was told it directly by numerous Butler employees. Butler was thrilled to have the NIT Final Four at their beautiful cathedral of a basketball court.
Back before opt-outs solved this more directly, we used to say that the important thing with the NIT was which teams wanted to be there. That’s important with a host too. Hinkle Fieldhouse wants the NIT. The NIT should value that.
(My personal rankings would, at this point, go: 1. Hinkle; 2. MSG; 3. The Palestra if someone excited was hosting; 4. The most historic gym in whichever city the other Final Four is being held.)
2. Should We Build More Football Stadiums?
I am, of course, always thinking of ways to take down the NCAA T*urnament. It is an abomination. It is a stroke of disrespect against the Lord. Here’s an angle we haven’t—in seven years of NIT blogging—explored before:
The NCAA To*rnament loves to be played in football stadiums, even though basketball played in football stadiums stinks.
What if we tried to bait it?
What if we built even more football stadiums?
Think of it like a trap.
Put the second weekend in football stadiums too!
3. What Sports Now?
Today marks the full transition to Joe Kelly Season for me personally (I’m in Chicago already and will be at Wrigley Field in an hour), but Joe Kelly almost never pitches on back-to-back days. Ideas, then, for how we should spend our time:
- Find someone in Italy who loves the Europa League and rebrand them as NIT Giovanni.
- Get fully back into NASCAR. (Still into it, but can always be more into it.)
- Become a huge NBA In-Season Tournament guy even though the In-Season Tournament doesn’t happen until college basketball’s back underway.
- Identify an election nobody cares about and hype the hell out of it. Without picking a side.
It’s a work in progress.
(In seriousness, if you’re new here, we do cover all of the sports, even if the NIT takes priority. We do other fun things as well. Or at least, things we find fun. The 90’s Bangers Bracket returns in a week or two.)
