19-567: UC Santa Barbara Events Center , previously known as the Campus Events Center , also known as The Thunderdome , is a 5,000-seat, indoor multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California . The Thunderdome was built in 1979, originally under the name of Campus Events Center. Along with Harder Stadium , it has since become one of
38-519: A multitude of spectators. The word derives from Latin harena , a particularly fine-grained sand that covered the floor of ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome , Italy, to absorb blood. The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl , but such a facility is typically called a stadium . The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with
57-469: A sellout crowd, the Events Center acquired the unofficial nickname "The Thunderdome". Credit has been given to the athletic director at that time, Stan Morrison , for having coined the nickname. Also many believe it was further reinforced by Valvano himself when he said in a postgame interview, "It was louder than thunder in there tonight." During the 1980s, students threw toilet paper onto the court after
76-548: A third consecutive national championship, becoming only the second school in history to accomplish such a feat. The Final Four was held at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana , on April 4–6 and was hosted by Tulane University . UConn, coached by Geno Auriemma , defeated archrivals Tennessee , coached by Pat Summitt , 81–67 in the championship game. UConn's Diana Taurasi was named Most Outstanding Player for
95-421: Is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre , musical performances , and/or sporting events . It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate
114-578: Is the home to teams of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos athletic program. Currently, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball and UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball teams, as well as the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's volleyball team all call The Thunderdome home. In 2002, 2,794 fans attended a women's volleyball match between UCSB and the USC Trojans in which the 9th ranked Gauchos upset USC 3 games to 1. The facility also hosted
133-461: The "UCen"). For basketball, the arena seats 5,000. One of the recent upgrades to the Thunderdome has been the replacement of bleachers with chairback seating which significantly improved the fan experience but did reduce capacity by about 600 seats. The floor of the Thunderdome was named by Bleacher Report as the 11th best court design in college basketball . At first, crowds were small, but with
152-457: The facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium . Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the outdoor game that is designed for
171-431: The first Gaucho basket. After the school cracked down on this practice around 1990, students started a new tradition of tossing tortillas onto the court like frisbees after the first UCSB basket. The team would then be assessed a technical foul for delay of game while the tortillas were cleaned up. This tradition became known as "The Tortilla Technical." During an early 1990s game, one of ESPN's professional video cameras
190-574: The first and second-round games of the 2004 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament . In addition to sporting events, The Thunderdome has seen many concerts, boxing matches, and performances. Dave Chappelle performed comedy on June 2, 2004, while The Killers played at The Thunderdome on April 6, 2007, and the Harlem Globetrotters played an exhibition game on February 15, 2007. The center has hosted summer basketball camps by Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant . Arena An arena
209-403: The first two rounds were determined approximately a year before the team selections and seedings were completed, following a practice established in 2003. The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations: The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 27 to March 30 at these sites: Each regional winner advanced to
SECTION 10
#1732872943927228-516: The game where a tortilla nearly hit coach Jerry Pimm in the face. Following this incident, UCSB officials began searching students for tortillas as they entered the arena. Apart from a few sporadic instances of tortilla-tossing, the novelty has worn off. While the tortillas have stopped flying at The Thunderdome, raucous students have brought the practice to Harder Stadium , home of the 2006 NCAA champion UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team; no such penalties are enforced there. The Thunderdome
247-491: The hiring of Jerry Pimm in 1983, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball program began to experience greater success. As crowds began to increase (often exceeding the stated capacity), the Events Center gained a reputation as one of the loudest and most hostile venues in college basketball, creating significant problems for opposing teams. After UCSB (led by future Laker Brian Shaw ) upset Jim Valvano 's North Carolina State Wolfpack team by double digits in 1987 before
266-534: The most patronized venues at UC Santa Barbara. After a naming contest and vote among students and faculty (which included some tongue-in-cheek nominations such as "Yankee Stadium", the Jerry Brown Arena, and the Corrugated Fortress), it was eventually given the generic name "Campus Events Center". Eventually, the name was unofficially shortened to the "ECen" (much like UCSB's University Center being called
285-468: The second consecutive year. The tournament was also notable as UC Santa Barbara became the first double digit seed not to lose by a double-digit margin in the Sweet 16 as they lost to UConn 63–57. Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA tournament. Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete
304-581: The sixty-four invitations. Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-three cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from eight of the conferences. In 2004, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. Sixteen sites for
323-531: The type of event. Football (be it association , rugby , gridiron , Australian rules , or Gaelic ) is typically played in a stadium, while basketball , volleyball , handball , and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University men's and women's basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but
342-699: The usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse as well as futsal and indoor soccer , also exist. The term "arena" is also used loosely to refer to any event or type of event which either literally or metaphorically takes place in such a location, often with the specific intent of comparing an idea to a sporting event. Such examples of these would be terms such as "the arena of war", "the arena of love" or "the political arena". 2004 NCAA Division I women%27s basketball tournament The 2004 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 20 and concluded on April 6 when Connecticut won
361-433: Was ruined when tortilla fragments got into the mechanism. While UCSB paid for a replacement camera, ESPN was skittish about returning to the Thunderdome. Despite continued pleading from the players and coaches to stop the practice, the tradition continued unabated. When ESPN finally returned to the Thunderdome for a 1997 game against Pacific, the game was interrupted by three "Tortilla Technicals," including one incident late in
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