Venue #20: San Jose State - 23 Feb. 2011

 Team: San Jose State Spartans (WAC)
Arena: The Event Center Arena (Capacity: 5000)
Chill Factor: 3/10
Crowd Factor: 6/10
Cost Factor: 2/5
Food Factor: 3/5
Mascot Factor: 4/5
PA Factor: 3/5
Total: 21/40
Result: San Jose State 72, New Mexico State 70 (OT)*

A frequent site: Adrian Oliver at the charity stripe.

It would be wrong to say that I did not enjoy my experience at San Jose State's Event Center Arena. Unfortunately, that enjoyment resulted mostly from the battle between the WAC rival Spartans and Aggies, rather than from anything to do with the extravagantly named Event Center Arena itself. Indeed, when the highlight of the arena are the mascot and a stale churro, it's a rather sad state of affairs.

The best thing that can be said about the Event Center Arena is that it is in good working order. Otherwise, it's a disaster. Generic, stuck-in-the-'90s generic all-purpose venue. Even the lighting seems dim. Speaking of the '90s, the Spartan** had a permanent grin, reminiscent of Buzz Lightyear. Nonetheless, a cool mascot, with a sword to boot. The latter of the aforementioned highlights, meanwhile, was a churro. And, though it was stale, it was still a churro, which earns an extra point for food in my book. The food was all reasonably priced. Not so reasonably priced, however, were the tickets, at fifteen bucks a pop for a WAC game in an unspectacular venue.

Will Carter with the dunk!

I don't want to discourage anyone from heading out to SJSU games, as they're still fun. Even in a down year for the WAC, this game still featured two likely NBAers in the Spartans' Adrian Oliver and NMSU's Troy Gillenwater. But the actual atmosphere (despite a respectable if unspectacular student section) left a great deal to be desired.*** Pair that lack of atmosphere with a high price point and you can see why the Event Center Arena is easily forgettable On the bright side, the SJSU campus is easily accessible via the VTA.

*Second straight overtime game! After going 0-18, I've finally started to pick some close games.
**Does he have a name?
***The students stormed the court, I guess because the game was on ESPN2? Attendance was 2,159.