A Fan’s Love Letter to PacWest Conference Hoops

A Fan’s Love Letter to PacWest Conference Hoops

I’m going to miss the Pacific West Conference. Seriously, I am.

This weekend’s PacWest basketball tournament in Azusa, Calif., will be the first and last for GCU’s teams. As you know, they’ll be in NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference next season. That means road trips to Seattle (salmon), Chicago (pizza) and Kansas City (barbecue) — but also to Moscow, Idaho; Orem, Utah; and Edinburg, Texas.

You can’t tell me that those last three places have anything on San Francisco, Honolulu and San Diego. Because they do not. Over the past four seasons of traveling with the Antelopes, I have run on foot across the Golden Gate Bridge, visited Pearl Harbor, hiked in Utah’s Zion National Park and watched surfers on the Pacific Ocean (in two places). Hard to beat those highlights.

I’ve also heard some really bad versions of the national anthem, consumed copious quantities of stale popcorn and rubbery hot dogs, made friends with some rather quirky fans (including ours), and been told to pipe down once or twice. I’ve paid too much for a ticket ($12) and I’ve also sneaked in (nice!). I’ve gotten lost in Oakland (easy to do) and in St. George, Utah (difficult).

In short, I’ve had a blast.

Here, then, are my impressions of the places where our teams have played in the 14-member PacWest, which (depending on the hospitality or the officiating) I occasionally refer to as the PacWorst or the PacWuss. I’ve made all of the stops at least once and, well, it’s been real.

♦ Dixie State (St. George, Utah): Burns Arena is the second-best facility in the conference behind GCU Arena. This is a big rival, very tough to beat on their floor, so it never was hard to get amped for a Dixie trip. Can’t forget Steve “Moonshot” Morin’s 3-pointer to win there in 2011. Terrific men’s coach in Jon Judkins and nice-guy athletic director in Jason Boothe. Dixie fans turn out to support their teams, and a quality pregame buffet can be had at Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta. Five stars.

♦ BYU-Hawai’i (Laie, Hawai’i): The voice of the Antelopes, Michael Potter, insists that if you’ve got any bleachers at all, you’re a gym and not an arena. But the Cannon Center is still very nice, and it’s on the laid-back North Shore of Oahu. Aside from the nearby Polynesian Cultural Center, there’s nothing to do except look at the ocean — and that’s kind of the point. Five stars.

♦ Point Loma Nazarene (San Diego): When the doors of your cozy gym open to an ocean view, as they do at Point Loma, you’ve got it going on. The baseball field claims to be “America’s Most Scenic Ballpark,” and that is no exaggeration. Plus, the campus is only minutes from downtown San Diego, one of my favorite downtowns. Five stars.

♦ Hawai’i Hilo (Big Island of Hawai’i): I can get GCU’s assistant athletic director, Mike McNally, fired up with just two words: teriyaki burgers. That’s what they serve at the concession stand, and they’re the Tastiest Burgers Ever. GCU’s teams are fond of Ken’s House of Pancakes, a 24-hour joint that has portions large enough to make you ill. Everyone agrees that the nearby hotel is a dump, but it reminds me of something out of the original “Hawai’i Five-O” (so I like it). Four stars because of the burgers.

♦ Hawai’i Pacific (Honolulu): You gotta feel for the HPU Sea Warriors. They don’t have a campus gym, so they play most of their games at the downtown Blaisdell Arena, a complete wreck of a place distinguished only by an Elvis Presley statue outside. However, HPU has the most entertaining public-address announcer in the conference in Rafael Zayas, who has a way of saying “Sea Waaaarrrriiiioooorrrrssss” that is absolutely unforgettable. Four stars because of Zayas.

♦ Azusa Pacific (Azusa, Calif.): Azusa’s facility, the Felix Event Center, is probably No. 3 in quality in the conference but charges $12 admission. Points off for that (hey, guys, this is Division II). But the concessions are first rate, namely because there’s a sub-sandwich shop inside (Sam’s Subs). Eight members of the GCU men’s team got trapped in an elevator for an hour at the Marriott on last weekend’s trip, but that wasn’t Azusa’s fault. Three and a half stars.

♦ Dominican (San Rafael, Calif.): The Penguins’ fairly new gym is called The Igloo, their student section is The Ice Box and their mascot is a poor man’s Thunder. At least they’re trying. Weak concessions — microwave popcorn was handed in the bag to a GCU customer last year — but the Marin County, wine-country vibe is nice in tony San Rafael. Three stars.

♦ Fresno Pacific (Fresno, Calif.): The dinner-for-two at Tahoe Joe’s, a local steakhouse with a rustic motif, is the best dining value in the PacWest at $20 per person. Otherwise, there is little to recommend Fresno, and certainly not the Special Events Center where the Sunbirds play (it’s not special). The PA guy, though no Rafael Zayas, had a smooth-jazz style and sent everyone home with the words “Stay warm.” Only in the PacWest. Two stars because of Tahoe Joe’s.

♦ California Baptist (Riverside, Calif.): Decent enough gym plus a student section that gets into the game. But the school’s slogan (“Live Your Purpose”) sounds suspiciously like someone else’s even though tuition is a very un-GCU $27,000 a year. Good eats at the nearby Yard House Restaurant. Two stars.

♦ Notre Dame de Namur (Belmont, Calif.): Great location in the Bay Area and a pretty, accessible campus. Gym has seating on only one side and is below average. Felt sorry this year for the five cheerleaders, who looked bored. Two stars.

♦ Academy of Art (San Francisco): Another school with no gym on campus. GCU played Art this year at a community college in San Mateo. Most of Art’s games are at creaky, old Kezar Pavilion in the city, the kind of place I have a perverse affection for. One and a half stars (but higher if I had seen games at Kezar).

♦ Chaminade (Honolulu): Dark, gloomy gym where the opposing team has to go outside for a halftime chalk talk. The place doesn’t even belong to Chaminade but rather to a local high school. With a crowd numbering in the dozens back in 2010, I was told to quiet down by a grumpy university official. Zero stars.

♦ Holy Names (Oakland): Campus is nondescript and hard to get to, and the gym isn’t even a decent middle-school gym. Borderline depressing fan experience. Zero stars.

Email Doug Carroll at doug.carroll@gcu.edu.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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