The Pit Packs A Punch

Gonzaga notebook

Mike Nilson has been with the Gonzaga University basketball team every step of the way since he ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon three weeks ago.

That is until the senior guard had to make the steep climb out of University Arena on crutches. As his teammates turned the corner to the locker room, Nilson was still struggling up the ramp at sportswriter speed.

Welcome to the Pit.

It’s a mile high but the court at the University of New Mexico is 37 feet underground. It seats 18,000-plus. And as the wall on the ramp says, it’s “louder than …”

This is where the Zags will take on Purdue at 4:55 p.m. today. It’s an arena steeped in NCAA history.

This is where arguably the best Final Four was played. In 1983, Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma lived up to its name in a 94-81 win over equally athletic Louisville. In the final, sixth-seeded North Carolina State, that got in only because it won the ACC tourney, beat Houston when Lorenzo Charles grabbed a half-court heave by Derrick Whittenburg and dunked it.

Sports Illustrated named the Pit the second-best college basketball venue behind Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. And on the magazine’s list of best sporting venues, the Pit was ranked No. 13, ahead of St. Andrews, Notre Dame Stadium, the Rose Bowl and others.

Fan noise has been measured at 125 decibels. The pain threshold for the human ear is 130.

And there is little doubt plenty of fans will be there. There were two lines outside the Pit on Wednesday, never mind that it was windy and raining.

The air up there

With the Pit being a mile high, some expressed concern that players may become winded. But Gonzaga trainer Steve Delong said there’s little chance of that happening.

“If we were playing the (New Mexico) Lobos maybe that would be a factor,” he said. “But of all the schools here, we are probably the ones used to playing at higher altitude. And these guys are in such good condition that it shouldn’t be a problem.”

But the altitude was a problem for LSU at last week’s sub-regional in Salt Lake City. The Utah capital’s elevation is 4,000 feet and the thin air gave Jabari Smith lightheadedness.

Gonzaga guard Matt Santangelo said he has played in a higher altitude at Wyoming two years ago in the NIT, and if the thin air is a problem, he will play right through it.

New Mexico assistant trainer David Montelongo told the Albuquerque Tribune it might not be as easy as that.

“It’s a physiological effect,” he said. “You can be mentally tough, but that doesn’t necessarily get you through it.”

Location, location, location

Everybody knows that Jack and Dan’s Tavern in Spokane is the favored watering hole among many Gonzaga alum and fans. What most don’t know is that right above the tavern is GU tallest drink of water, Axel Dench.

The 6-foot-11 senior has lived above Jack and Dan’s for more than a year and this summer had more than a few “guests” sleeping on his floor.

But its not likely that Dench is going to turn into Norm Peterson when the season is over.

“I don’t even drink beer,” he said.

West’s best

The Pac-10 has always touted itself as one of the premier basketball conferences in the country, and was disappointed when a fifth team did not make it into the NCAA Tournament.

But a closer look at the stats reveals that the Pac-10 isn’t even the top conference in the West. Instead that honor (at least temporarily) goes to the West Coast Conference. The WCC has won six NCAA Tournament games over the past two years. The Pac-10 has won five.

Gonzaga, which has won five of the WCC’s six, also beat the Pac-10 champions last year in the second round. And this year, UCLA, the only Pac-10 team left in the tournament, was beaten 59-43 by the Zags at Pauley Pavilion.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Go Zags! cards become hot item

Treasure that `Go Zags!” card you just pulled out of today’s newspaper. They’re quickly becoming the hottest thing in town.

The cheer cards first showed up in last Tuesday’s newsstand editions, just in time for Gonzaga’s march through the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Extras were given to area 7-11 stores, and they were snatched up quicker than an 8-year-old can down a Slurpee.

The free cards also are available at The Spokesman-Review offices, and folks haven’t been shy about helping themselves. At first, The S-R keepers of the cards were pretty generous. They’ve since limited the number to four per person.

“This one lady came in and said she’s having a party Saturday,” said Jan Glidden of the newspaper’s customer services. “She wanted 150 to decorate her den. I told her I couldn’t do that. But I gave her a stack.”

(Note to party gal: If Gonzaga doesn’t beat Purdue tonight, you won’t be needing any of those cheer cards.) Glidden said she’s given out about 1,500 cards since the Zags upset St. John’s in the second round of the tournament. Roger Gow, security officer in the downtown office lobby, said the demand has been non-stop.

“At first I was letting people take as many as they wanted, but I’m trying to control it because people were taking them by the handful,” said Gow, who now keeps his stash behind the front desk.

“We’re about ready to turn as blue as the cards.”

- Hilary Kraus