You'd still have to find Michigan basketball fans

Today's Detroit News has an interesting article by Fred Girard about the progress of renovation plans for the University of Michigan's Crisler Arena. Last month, the cost for the project was estimated as high as $75 million.

Athletic director Bill Martin, however, says such plans aren't at the stage for a set price tag yet. For one thing, much more updated information is needed. The last infrastructure study on Crisler was done 10 years ago.

Plus, there are several more building projects on the docket, many of which hold a higher priority for the U-M athletic department. Included among these are the newly opened Ross Academic Center, updates to Alumni Field (softball) and Fisher Stadium (baseball), and the much-anticipated renovations and additions to Michigan Stadium, set to cost $226 million.

But even if improvements to Crisler Arena weren't far down the to-do list for Michigan, I'd wonder just how much support such plans would have in the first place. From both the inside and outside, the facility seems perfectly suitable. Nothing appears to be falling apart or in crying need of repair.

What Crisler seems to be most in need of is an atmosphere transfusion. The place is dimly lit. (Maybe to hide all of the empty seats?) You want to fall asleep as soon as you sit down. It's almost as dark as a concert hall while a symphony is performing.

The Maize Rage has done an impressive job over the past few years of boosting up the noise and spirit close to the court, but any and all fervor seems to be restricted to that section. It's certainly a good start, but hardly the Izzone at Michigan State, for example.

Unfortunately, my frame of reference for other Big Ten arenas is restricted to the state of Michigan. So I can only compare Crisler to the Breslin Center. But it's not too difficult to see what MSU gets right as soon as you walk in. The place is bright and exciting, almost like a miniature version of The Palace of Auburn Hills. It makes you sit up and take notice.

But the big question for the Michigan athletic department is whether or not they'd see any return on such an investment. I'm not saying anything a Michigan fan already doesn't know, but basketball just doesn't draw the same kind of support football does here. Fan interest isn't attached solely to performance, either. I don't have any hard data to back this up, but I don't remember Crisler being consistently filled during the "Fab Five" era. And that was arguably the program's most successful run. (It was certainly its most notorious.)

So would Michigan shelling out $75 million for an improved basketball arena be the athletic department equivalent of buying a Bowflex for yourself in January? This year you're going to start working out! And then by February, you've spent $1,500 on a dust-gathering coat rack/DVD shelf. Would the same thing happen in Ann Arbor after the one-year novelty of a newly spruced-up Crisler Arena wears off?

Less-Than-Complete-Sports?

I was thinking about changing the name of this blog to Less-Than-Complete-Sports, since I had absolutely nothing to say about Tiger Woods winning the British Open (as Mr. Eno did) or Floyd Landis keeping the American victory streak alive at the Tour de France (Brian is suffering through cycling withdrawal).

But the Sweaty Men Endeavors legal team has advised me that Complete Sports might have something to say about that name change, and I'd be really bummed out if legal fees prevented me from maintaining my Netflix membership, so we're going to stick with what's been working.

While I deal with my anxiety over the White Sox possibly acquiring Alfonso Soriano, instead of the Tigers, here's what's in the thought jar today:

▪▪ Isn't it more likely that White Sox GM Kenny Williams is just hoping to raise the market for Soriano, hoping that the Tigers offer too much in a deal? (Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says yes.) I don't think Dave Dombrowski plays that game.

▪▪ It's right there in print for me to read, so it must be true, but I'm having trouble believing that the Tigers now have a seven-and-a-half game lead over the aforementioned Pale Hosed Competition after last night's victory over Cleveland.

▪▪ One more White Sox thought: I've defended Ozzie Guillen before, but I'm having trouble maintaining that stance after watching him chew out Jon Garland for not hitting a Texas batter in retaliation for Vincente Padilla plunking Alex Cintron. Ozzie, by the way, doesn't think his behavior warrants a suspension. Imagine that.

▪▪ Something else I'm having trouble believing, despite actual evidence to prove it? The Indians are 23 1/2 games behind Detroit. And 12 games under .500. Chief Wahoo cannot be smiling over how fast that Tribe train derailed.

▪▪ I don't know what Harold Reynolds did to get fired from ESPN, but given the abruptness of the move, one's imagination can be left to wonder. If it's serious, then this is obviously a trivial remark, but Reynolds was the only ex-jock I liked on "Baseball Tonight." If this means we get more of "The Cowboy," Jeff Brantley (and we've already gotten way too much), I might have to wean myself off that show completely. And it's a daily fix for me.

▪▪ It was nice to see Michigan athletic director Bill Martin speak out on the need for renovations at Crisler Arena, but like Angelique Chengelis in today's Detroit News, I kind of doubt it will happen any time soon.

Such a project is probably low on the athletic department's priority list, and I'm not sure it would receive the same financial support that other renovations (Michigan Stadium, Fisher Stadium, Alumni Field) already have. Plus, I wonder how many people look at Crisler and think no more than cosmetic changes to boost the game-night atmosphere are necessary. But hey, renovations could probably be done in the upper bowl throughout the season without worrying about anyone getting hurt.

▪▪ Actually, I do have something to say about Tiger Woods' victory. As someone who lost his own father just over a year ago, I became very emotional as I watched Tiger break down into tears, knowing he couldn't share his latest triumph with his dad. As great as it's been to have some of my writing be published in Motor City Sports Magazine recently, it truly saddens me that my father isn't here to see it.