December 4, 2012
Bob Carpenter Center (Capacity: 5,000)
Newark, DE
Delaware Blue Hens vs Radford Highlanders
Final Score: 68 – 59
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A beautiful early December day worked out nicely with plans to check out the attractions in the nearby Brandywine Valley before making the trip back to Newark for some Delaware basketball. Unfortunately, an accident on I-95 led to a huge traffic jam that delayed our arrival by well over an hour and I was only able to see the second half of the game. The University of Delaware takes up much of Newark (pronounced New-ark, as opposed to New Jersey’s New-erk), a college town of about 31,000 in the northwest part of the state. UD is a public ivy with a high academic standard that includes strong chemistry, engineering and pharmaceutical programs. Football certainly takes center stage athletically at the school, while basketball is trying to return to the glory days of the 1990s, when the Blue Hens made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In 1992, the Bob Carpenter Center opened up and the facility has a modern look, with a bright interior. Despite my short visit time, I saw everything the arena has to offer and enjoyed the set-up for Blue Hens basketball.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
Newark’s small downtown is located along Main Street (Rt. 273) and the area features a decent mix of local restaurants, shops and bars, many of which have some history. It’s worth grabbing a pre-game meal at one of the restaurants where the University merges into downtown. Campus is a nice walk-through on The Green, but the overall area offers little in the way of attractions. This section lies more than a walk away from the arena, which sits a few miles to the south in an athletic complex. Just a couple hotels and chain restaurants line the nearby street, along with an eyesore in a former Chrysler Assembly Plant.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Putting my localized traffic incident aside, it is very easy to get to the Bob Carpenter Center as it is right off of I-95. Just a couple miles north on Route 896 at Exit 1 brings you to the complex and plenty of parking is found in front and to the southwest of the arena. Traffic can be hit or miss
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
The Bob has somewhat of a complex exterior design as varying shapes and patterns distinguish the outside. There are also several other adjoining buildings to the main arena. A nice brick and landscaped walkway leads to the facility, with the most prominent feature being a classic brick layout to the building. Ticket windows are on the outside and to the left of the main entrance, which includes a small overhang and “Bob Carpenter Center” spelled out in silver lettering on the front of that overhang
Exterior Ranking: 6 out of 10
Concourse
The partial brick theme continues inside the entranceway as walls are either brick or a plain white. It’s a really nice entrance into the arena as the large, open space features various displays and the walls have quotes from the Delaware fight song. A couple flights of stairs lead to the actual concourse which surrounds the top level of the arena. It is a little more plain up here, with the exception of the awesome Blue Hen logo on the floor as you make it to the top. The concourse has enough room most of the way and there are views of the court in all areas but the corners. Another nice touch is the tables and chairs set up at the ends, which make for a spot to eat before the game or during halftime.
Concourse Ranking: 4 out of 5
Food
The best food location is near the main entrance as the pit barbeque is good, along with the rotisserie chicken. Side dishes are a highlight and you can even make that your own platter with mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, broccoli…etc. I also liked seeing the UDairy, which is the campus’ own creamery that was serving their varieties of ice cream. Doesn’t get any more local than that! Other items are more generic in taste and the offerings included hot dogs, meatball subs, Italian sausage and Grotto Pizza (which the wife found disgusting).
Food Ranking: 6 out of 8
Interior
A well-lit arena features seating that is semi-permanent as some of the stands are pull-outs. Sideline seating extends to each baseline and goes up about 26 rows. While one side is set in concrete and features all blue folding chairs, the other side is a pull-out structure that has blue seats in the middle and yellow, plastic bleachers in the other sections. They should just make the whole sideline blue back chairs. Corners are left open, while the ends feature a wide T like seating section, only in bleacher form. One end is reserved for students, while the other end is for the pep band and they block off the rest of the seats with a “This is Blue Hens Country” sign (always an indication that the place is hardly full). There is one luxury area, the Bob Carpenter Club, and it is hidden behind windows and above the exposed concourse on the sideline. The place feels small and tight, but overall not a bad arena.
Interior Ranking: 7.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The center scoreboard’s size fits the 5,000-seat arena and it is four-sided with a blue background. Typical game information centers the board, while above are ads and below is an old-style graphics display. A big miss though is no video. The ribbon corners of the scoreboard say “Delaware” with a logo. A smaller scoreboard is attached to the walls in the corners of the arena and it is flanked by player number and points/fouls.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2 out of 4
Displays
The UD Athletics Hall of Fame on the right wing of the opening atrium is a very nice display with plaques for each member and a huge collage of athletes past and present. One problem is they wouldn’t let me see it as I was politely informed that I wasn’t allowed in the area. Luckily, there are other distractions nearby, including a display/trophy case and a portrait of Bob Carpenter, the namesake of the arena. Inside, the rafters are appropriately filled with blue Delaware banners. Volleyball and Basketball accomplishments are featured with conference championships and NCAA appearances. I wish they didn’t have up the Men’s banner for their CBI Tournament appearance in 2011-2012. Really? Universities seem to honor everything and I don’t think making the fourth-tier post-season tournament is worth a banner. In addition to school accomplishments, team banners for each CAA conference member are hung as well.
Displays Ranking: 4.5 out of 6
Cost
Overall, prices are pretty good at Delaware and it started with free parking and a $1 program. Reasonably priced tickets ranged from $8 to $15. With this game featuring a somewhat small crowd, we moved from our $8 end seats to the sidelines. There are floor seats here and those go for $40. Concessions included a $3 regular coke and $2.75 for a hot dog. The BBQ sandwich platter (with two sides) was $9.50, which is not bad for the amount and quality of food.
Cost Ranking: 8 out of 8
Fan Support
It took a long time for the basketball team to play its home opener, but nearly one month into the season, Delaware opened on a Tuesday Night in front of a paid crowd of 1,798. It certainly looked sparse. A weeknight, non-conference game with bad traffic is not the best gauge for fan support…but paying attention to the team over the next few months didn’t display much attendance growth as the season went on. Overall, support isn’t that great for men’s basketball as the team is typically in the middle tier of the CAA with around half or slightly less than half the arena filled on an average night. This is part of a downward trend the last few years…possibly having to do with the success of the women’s team, which has become very popular with sold out games thanks to local product Elena Delle Donne.
Fan Support Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The atmosphere consisted mostly of people watching the game and clapping after each basket, though there were some spirited boos after a bad call. The pep band was the only thing livening up the place. About a hundred students showed up and sat behind the basket. Only two individuals stood and tried to cheer and chant during the game. I think if the team starts consistently winning, the crowds will come back.
Atmosphere Ranking: 5.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
Delaware’s athletic teams are known as the Blue Hens, which is the state bird…..Though the facility is known as the Bob Carpenter Center, the arena portion is called Acierno Arena, named after a businessman who contributed monetarily. The most commonly used and associated name for Delaware’s home is the Bob Carpenter Center (or the Bob)…..The club portion at the top of the arena doesn’t have the most ideal view of the basketball court, but it does have an impressive end zone view of the football stadium from its back windows…..In 2010, an addition was built and attached to the southeast of the complex. The new building includes a practice facility along with new athletic offices.
Game
After starting the game with a 13-4 run, Delaware cooled off and Radford got back into it as they were only down one at the break. In the second half, Delaware gradually pushed ahead as they were led by NBA-prospect, Devon Saddler. He finished with 18 points (and 5 assists), including some nifty finishes of his drives around the basket. The game was pretty much sewn up around the 5-minute mark as the Highlanders weren’t able to make any significant pushes as they tried to come back. Delaware went on to win 68-59.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
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