Emma got to see the bears defeat the Salukis of Southern Illinois and from pretty good seats I might add! We met up with my friends Bridget and Andy, who are also loyal bears fans.

The game was among the most exciting I’ve seen ever. The cardinals played MICDS, a private school in St. Louis, and neither team was capable of stopping the other’s offense. Webb City scored on every possession except the first and when the clock ran out at the half. MICDS scored on every possession except for 2, both in the second half and both teams successfully pulled off on-side kicks to attempt to steal an extra possession, since it seemed the only way to win this game was to have an extra possession. For most of the game, the score was tied or one team had a temporary 1 score advantage.

In the end a total of 98 points were put on the board, which was a Show-Me-Bowl record for all classes. With Lamar and Rogersville also bringing home titles, it was a good showing for Southwest Missouri at the dome.

A 60ish yard score that sealed the win.

Eily hangin’ around with Grandad.

The next day we visited the arch and enjoyed the fairly nice fall morning in the park!

As you can see in the photo she was quite interested in the action on the court. I think she’s going to be a good bears fan!

So we got up early and met Bridget and Andy, who had been in town for the whole tournament, and had a great lunch at a bbq place called Pappy’s. Unfortunately, that’s about where the ‘great’ things ended.

The bears played ‘ok’ in the first half, and lead by a few points. But the second half started out with lots of foul calls and not one basket made until 11 minutes into the half. In spite of Indiana State playing stellar on both ends of the court, and the bears shooting only 19% in the half, and referees that seemed to be attempting to set a record on number of foul calls, the bears managed to come back and tie it a couple times, and even got in prime position to steal the win, but then turned it over on 3 consecutive possessions to end the game.

So Arch Madness certainly lived up to it’s name but we still had a good day and I’m glad we were able to go!

We attempted to eat at Eskimo Joe’s but decided against it when we found out there was a 2hr wait. Instead we opted for The Hideaway Pizza, which was quite tasty. The game itself was fairly disappointing. OSU was favored by 4 points and I expected we would probably lose by a few points after a close came. The first half was close, but the second half was a total disaster. Plus it didn’t help that MSU was called for fouling every time they attempted to play defense.

Nevertheless, we had a great time and found a frozen yogurt place afterward!

I have decided to dig up the scoring card that I developed for whenever I visit other valley conference schools so that I could put the new arena to the test so everyone can know how I feel about the arena, and also in case anyone is interested to see what the new place is like.

Arena Overall: I will give the JQH overall a 5 because it is really impressive in just about every way for any D-1 program, let alone a ‘mid-major’. I’ll place some more photos and comments below.

Crowd Involvement: It may be a new arena but it’s still the same bears fans who like to sit and generally require something substantial before they get fired up. The lady behind me tapped on my shoulder twice to ask me to sit down. The first time I obliged, but the second time, with the bears up by one point and roughly a minute remaining… I just ignored her. It’s a known fact that an excited crowd on their feet can give a team a boost.

Team Intros: The videos and spotlights were cool, but the crowd didn’t really know how to participate. I would like to see some new music with a good loud beat so the crowd can all clap or something like they used to. Or something new… just something at least.

Concessions: I didn’t get any concessions, so I don’t know what they had or prices or anything like that, but it did seem that concession offerings were far more plentiful, at least in terms of variety and locations.

Parking: The arena displaced a fairly large parking lot and because everyone has to enter through the main entrance now it makes for a substantially longer walk from the parking area we use, but I would say it’s still above average given the size of the event.

Restrooms: My one visit to a restroom Saturday night was probably the longest line I’ve ever waited in at a bears game. The restrooms were nice in that they were new, but logistically they were only marginally better than HSC. I was disappointed there is still only one way in and out, creating the same bottleneck problem we had at HSC. I was also disappointed that they had traditional urinals instead of the eco-friendly waterless ones like we have at MSW.

The arena looks very cool as you approach, with the upper perimeter illuminated with the bear eyes peeking through. Here you see mom, dad, and bridget walking by in the cold.

The front entrance on opening night. Unfortunately the entrance is at the farthest corner from the parking garage.

The main lobby isn’t anything particularly noteworthy, but I really like how they have the live tv monitors so you can see what is going on if you are ever late and waiting in line.

The main concourse with one of the refreshments. This was taken from the bridge that goes to the upper seating area where we were sitting. For the record, section KK is about as good as you can get without being in the lower section.

This is one of my favorite aspects of the new arena… a dedicated student section. During my years at SMS, student participation at the games was at an all-time low so I am extremely envious of the large “maroon madness” section they have now. I hope the students take full advantage of this so that I can live vicariously through them.

The sign guy has relocated from the corner in the old arena to a pretty great seat about 10 rows up in the new place. I thought this sign was clever, as are most of his signs.

Here is the scoreboard. I may have a hard time getting used to the scores being on top of each other, rather than side by side, but the stats on the side is AWESOME. The video board of course is a great add and re-plays will be nice once the video crew gets a little more nimble with the equipment. Also, note that the blimp has migrated to the new arena.

The first half of the game had the Arkansas crowd stunned, as MSU came out to an early lead and held off the “Hogs” for almost the entire first half of play. Arkansas struck me as a “want to be SIU” type team trying to figure out the constant attack of in your face defense that for some reason never seems to draw a whistle from any officials. The constant pressure really didn’t phase the bears much in the first half. MSU started out the second half with a crowd silencing 3-pointer (the only made of 14 attempts in the half), but proceeded to implode from then on, making a stellar 7 baskets the rest of the game. The bears did keep it close until a turnover, followed by a series of foul calls allowed Arkansas to run off 9 straight points…just enough incentive for the bears to give up. After that point I think they scored… maybe 5 points the rest of the game and got maybe 2 rebounds. I wasn’t sure if they even knew they were allowed to grab for the ball and get a second chance.

So, after a strong first half showing, the bears really made for a pathetic and embarrassing showing in Fayetteville. In fact, I would almost go as far as to say it was the worst I have ever seen the bears look. Kind of reminded me of being at Hammons Student Center when Northeast Iowa Technical Community College, or some other doormat team comes to town. You see players slam dunking that you didn’t even know were on the team, and most of the crowd is gone 10 minutes before the game is even over.

On the up side, even with a horrible showing by my favorite team, at least I was able to make it there and back this time without totaling my car again.