NBA Outdoors!

[averyj]

About it:

On October 12, 2008, the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets will duke it out in a preseason game.

Except the difference is that they'll be outside.

The event (which will take place at night) will resemble the league's All-Star weekend, and if successful, would turn into an annual event.

The game will be televised nationally on TNT.

The selected venue is the 16,000+ seat Indian Wells Tennis Garden, located in Indian Wells, a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area).

The facility is host to the annual Pacific Life Open tennis tournament, and has played host to concerts by the Eagles, The Who, Andrea Bocelli, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and more.

Organizers hope to include kids clinics with Suns players and different hoops contests, a classic-rock concert, and the finals for a national "three-on-three" basketball tournament, said the Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District General Manager Stan Ford.

Suns co-owner and desert resident Richard Heckmann predicted the game will attract several thousand fans of each team. Suns season ticket holders will get an advance opportunity to purchase, he said.

Mike Islava and Rob Osterberg, the La Quinta Resort & Club's associate director of sales, said their hotels could reap long-term sales from a national TV audience.

How it happened:

The valley NBA game was the brainchild of Craig DeWitt, a former college basketball player and present Coachella Valley Recreation and Parks District facilities superintendent.

"I've had the idea in my head passing by the tennis garden regularly but didn't know how to make it work," DeWitt said. Then, he learned that Heckmann, a full-time Desert resident, co-owned the Suns.

DeWitt pitched his "Suns under the Stars" idea in May 2007 to Heckmann, who liked the proposal. He passed it along to team president Rick Welts, and the ball got rolling from there.

Suns officials, including Kerr, visited the tennis garden in the fall of 2007 and were impressed, Ford said.

Last October, they "trucked-in" the same hardwood basketball court used for the U.S. Olympic qualifying event in Las Vegas to the tennis garden, said DeWitt, a former college player at Eastern Illinois University.

A local Catholic high school basketball team played a few test games to make sure the court worked, DeWitt said, adding that the players were asked to keep the NBA game a secret.

Heckmann said the Suns are planning several precautions in the very rare case of rainy weather. He could not share all of them on the record, but said the group hired a meteorologist to suggest the best possible day for a rain and wind free game. That day ended up to be October 12.

"We don't want to see if Steve [Nash] can make a three-pointer in a 30 mph cross wind," he said.

About the stadium:

The stadium opened March of 2000, and was designed by Rossetti Associates Architects.

Rossetti has designed the award-winning Palace of Auburn Hills (Detroit Pistons arena), Ford Field (Detroit Lions stadium), the International Tennis Center in Key Biscayne (host of the annual Nasdaq-100 Open), and the highly acclaimed Arthur Ashe Stadium (Main stadium of the US Open)

As an aside, Arthur Ashe Stadium is the largest tennis stadium in the world, followed by the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

"The Well" has a 16,100 seating capacity; with 6,082 Lower Bowl Box Seats and 7,350 Upper Bowl Loge and Grandstand Seats.

Also, being a modern stadium it has 14 Deluxe Concourse Suites and 30 Second Level Suites, and 2 large state-of-the-art video boards.

For the press and media, The Well has 12 Broadcast Booths, a 108 Seat Press Room, and 1 interview room.

It also features player locker rooms, an 8,000 square foot commissary, a player and media dining room, 2,500 square foot lounge, a box office, and 7,000 Parking Spaces.

Where the #$%& is Indian Wells?

Click here for Indian Wells's location on a Map.

And I live 40 seconds away from the stadium, sweet!

[jkrdevil]

Aside from trying to copy hockey and it's outdoor games what is the point? The venue is smaller than the normal arena, isn't historic, and unlike hockey the sport of basketball has little history outdoors. Hockey at least began as an outdoor games and competitions at the international level were held outdoors up until the 1960's Basketball was invented as an indoor game and I don't believe at an organized level has any history of being played outdoors. This screams of look what someone else is doing and let's try to copy it.

[averyj]

Aside from trying to copy hockey and it's outdoor games what is the point? The venue is smaller than the normal arena, isn't historic, and unlike hockey the sport of basketball has little history outdoors. Hockey at least began as an outdoor games and competitions at the international level were held outdoors up until the 1960's Basketball was invented as an indoor game and I don't believe at an organized level has any history of being played outdoors. This screams of look what someone else is doing and let's try to copy it.

To be fair, it's not known when the idea was first thought of. So as of right now, we don't know if it was a case of copying, or if it was of coincidence.

[Lee.]

In other fairness, no one has looked at the NHL in the last 15 years and tried to copy what they're doing.

I think it'd be more interesting if they did this in an all-star weekend, and made them play the game in a street ball type of atmosphere, but that's me; it might make me want to actually want to watch a game on TV.

[Sport]

I heard Suns and I thought of both or the retractable roof stadiums they have in that area. Why not play at Chase Field or Pink Taco Stadium rather than at a tennis court smaller than the actual arena?

[averyj]

I heard Suns and I thought of both or the retractable roof stadiums they have in that area. Why not play at Chase Field or Pink Taco Stadium rather than at a tennis court smaller than the actual arena?

It's Southern California, not Arizona. haha

But yes, general southwest area.

Well, think of Chase Field first... A basketball court on a baseball field? How's the seating going to work for that?

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

For both, the stands don't really fit that extra space, they can't extend and keep the angle... and so you'd have to put folding chairs around the surrounding area... which would be disastrous. haha

[DEAD!]

I wonder what time of the day the game will be on?...

[LMU]

Well, think of Chase Field first... A basketball court on a baseball field? How's the seating going to work for that?

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Chase's already hosted several womens' college basketball games, so it can be done.

The outdoor idea seems a little silly, especially from the standpoint that shooting will be awful with sunlight shining down, plus October in the Mojave still can be up in the hundreds. I could understand a night game, but that just seems like gimmicky novelty.

[averyj]

I wonder what time of the day the game will be on?...

Hm... October... Halloween?

I have a feeling that won't be it though, seeing as they might've said "early winter" instead of "fall". I dunno.

I see them selecting, either the days before Columbus Day, the 11th and 12, or the 18th and 19th.

(both saturdays and sundays)

[averyj]

Well, think of Chase Field first... A basketball court on a baseball field? How's the seating going to work for that?

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Chase's already hosted several womens' college basketball games, so it can be done.

The outdoor idea seems a little silly, especially from the standpoint that shooting will be awful with sunlight shining down, plus October in the Mojave still can be up in the hundreds. I could understand a night game, but that just seems like gimmicky novelty.

It would be a night game, hence "Suns under the Stars", so I guess it would be a gimmicky novelty.

[DEAD!]

Well, think of Chase Field first... A basketball court on a baseball field? How's the seating going to work for that?

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Chase's already hosted several womens' college basketball games, so it can be done.

The outdoor idea seems a little silly, especially from the standpoint that shooting will be awful with sunlight shining down, plus October in the Mojave still can be up in the hundreds. I could understand a night game, but that just seems like gimmicky novelty.

It would be a night game, hence "Suns under the Stars", so I guess it would be a gimmicky novelty.

... how about this for novelty... Dallas Stars play under the Sun?

[averyj]

Well, think of Chase Field first... A basketball court on a baseball field? How's the seating going to work for that?

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Chase's already hosted several womens' college basketball games, so it can be done.

The outdoor idea seems a little silly, especially from the standpoint that shooting will be awful with sunlight shining down, plus October in the Mojave still can be up in the hundreds. I could understand a night game, but that just seems like gimmicky novelty.

It would be a night game, hence "Suns under the Stars", so I guess it would be a gimmicky novelty.

... how about this for novelty... Dallas Stars play under the Sun?

That would turn it into a swim meet. haha

And the Calgary Flames play in Antarctica, right? haha

[averyj]

NEW INFO:

NBA league and city officials weighed in on news that the Phoenix Suns might play a preseason basketball game at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden next October.

A deal to make the Suns' match-up against an undisclosed team a reality is still in the works. NBA director of basketball communications Mark Broussard said the league leaves preseason scheduling up to the franchises.

"They've got eight games they have to play. They work that out themselves," he said.

The teams use many of their preseason match-ups to market the league in areas without a franchise, Broussard said.

"With the preseason, we're able to bring our teams to destinations we normally wouldn't go to," he said. The league uses the early games to hit fans "not within reach of our NBA cities."

The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, regularly play preseason matches in Hawaii, Bakersfield, Las Vegas and Orange County, team spokesman John Black said.

The league also has gone global in recent years, with practice events in Europe and preseason match-ups in China, Broussard said.

League officials were still working Thursday to confirm if the Suns' game in the valley would be the league's first-ever outdoor game.

Indian Wells City Manager Greg Johnson said he met with Suns officials two months ago for a "conceptual" meeting on the idea, but he hasn't been involved in the negotiations to bring a pro basketball game to the valley.

He liked the idea, however.

"It would add to the cachet of Indian Wells as a premier location for high-end sporting events," said Johnson, referring to the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament and the LG Skins Game.

"It would be very interesting to play in a tennis stadium," he added.

[averyj]

EVEN MORE INFO:

"Final arrangements are being made" to bring the first-ever outdoor NBA game to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden next season, the co-owner of the Phoenix Suns has confirmed.

It would be an exhibition game between the Phoenix Suns and a "special opponent," co-owner Richard Heckmann said.

"We have a natural market here," he said. "We want to do this right."

He also said that a deal could be announced within the next 60 days.

[OMMF]

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Have you watched a Final Four since 1984?

[averyj]

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Have you watched a Final Four since 1984?

Me=College Basketball Ignorant.

I really shouldn't be though. haha

I'm trying! heh.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Why do you call this a special report? All you did was cut an paste a story from here. I'm not sure if it's the former journalism student or current academic in me, but I think it's important to source one's material. It's nice that you added graphics, but it's not like you're doing any original research here. You're just pasting info from mydesert.com and making it seem like that because you're "45 seconds away," you somehow have the inside scoop.

[Breakwood]

And then for the University of Phoenix Stadium, A basketball court on a football field? WAY too much extra room.

Have you watched a Final Four since 1984?

Me=College Basketball Ignorant.

I really shouldn't be though. haha

I'm trying! heh.

The Toronto Raptors played the first 3 or 4 years of their exsistance in the SkyDome, and the Spurs used to play at the Alamodome.

[averyj]

Why do you call this a special report? All you did was cut an paste a story from here. I'm not sure if it's the former journalism student or current academic in me, but I think it's important to source one's material. It's nice that you added graphics, but it's not like you're doing any original research here. You're just pasting info from mydesert.com and making it seem like that because you're "45 seconds away," you somehow have the inside scoop.

I call it a special report that, (1) It's special news (being early info and all, and since the event would be the first time in history), and (2) it's a report...

Note that at no time have I ever said this information was from me.

I'm not saying I have the inside scoop.

I live in the general location of the stadium, yes. 45 seconds away.

Therefore I recieve news from mydesert.com, (and its newspaper, The Desert Sun) and was able to report this.

HOWEVER:

If you had taken time to compare the two articles, you would see that they have many differences. Mostly being, placement of information.

The Desert Sun is a local newspaper, (and a terrible one as well, but I won't get into that) and therefore I had to edit it significantly from the original source to present the story in the form of not "local news", but "national news" or even just "basketball news".

Who here wants to read about the economic impact it might have on the desert? Not many people. It's not just me taking someone's material.

Do you know why I didn't source it?

I didn't really feel it was necessary, because it wasn't like I was passing it off as my own...

If people wanted a source (a source that would have a vastly different story, mind you), they could have just asked for one.

Asked for one, instead of making wrongful, somewhat harmful, accusations at me.

Oh, and sorry, but none of the stadium or geographic info was from mydesert.com.

See, I wouldn't have to point this out if you had just completley read the article.

The same article you were using to so righteously accuse me of plagiarism.

Have a nice day.

For those of you who would like to see the original article (with a link that actually works):

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...9/1003/business

[Mac the Knife]

Just remember, when shooting free throws... you've got to adjust for the wind...