November 15, 2015
McGonigle Hall (Capacity: 3,900)
Philadelphia, PA
Temple Owls vs South Florida Bulls
Final Score: 3 – 0
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To complete a visit to all of the Philadelphia stadiums on The List, my last venture in the city took me to Temple University and McGonigle Hall. This small arena opened in 1969 and is best known as the former on-campus basketball home for the John Chaney-led Owls. The team moved next door to the much larger Liacouras Center in 1997 and the women’s basketball and volleyball teams became the primary tenants. I visited the volleyball team, who has been in existence since 1975. In that relatively short time, they have built a near .600 winning percentage and reached four NCAA Tournaments. Their deepest run came in their last appearance when they made the Sweet Sixteen in 2002. Temple University is a fairly large public school of nearly 38,000 students, offering many different forms of education (there are nearly 300 degrees). As for the City of Brotherly Love, it is a place I always enjoy visiting. The fifth largest city in the U.S. is located in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. History has a big place in the city and there are many places to visit that feature Philadelphia’s storied past. The building containing McGonigle has been renovated into a modern venue far different from the old basketball days, while the gym displays a nice character.
Prestige Ranking: 2 out of 5
Location
Temple is in a dicey surrounding North Philadelphia neighborhood and while the general area does have a reputation of poverty and crime, campus itself and the section immediately around McGonigle Hall is fine with a lot of activity and some newly modern shops/restaurants. Several places to eat have opened along Broad Street, just past Cecil B. Moore Ave and I enjoyed a nice lunch at Pita Chip. Another good option around the corner is The Draught House. The school’s location puts it just a couple miles north of Center City Philadelphia, which features an array of things to check out.
Location Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Temple is on Broad Street, the main artery through Philadelphia and it is pretty easy to get there from I-676, which cuts through the city between I-95 and I-76. There is a convenient, large parking garage nearby, but some tight side roads need to be used to get there and it is best to follow the directions from the school’s website. Street parking on Broad is also available. City traffic can be expected, otherwise the sparse attendance from volleyball means there is no issue leaving campus. Public transit is a decent option (and the route I went with on this trip) as the Cecil B. Moore Station on the Broad Street subway line is right near the arena. This line is accessible easily throughout Philadelphia and it takes just 6 minutes to get to City Hall, in the middle of downtown.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Exterior
The facility has the appearance of a modern academic building and that’s because it is. McGonigle is just a small part of the encompassing Pearson Hall, a multi-functional piece of Temple that was heavily renovated a few years ago and now includes a complete glass front. The sides have a sleek, metallic design. Despite it appearing more academic than sporting (especially with just a tiny “McGonigle Hall” sign at the bottom right), it is a nice looking building.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
Again, the same theme continues when stepping inside as “sporting arena” was far from my mind, especially with an informational directory desk for the building’s many functions. Perhaps most noticeable is the huge rock climbing wall for students, which made me jealous thinking back to my school days. On the other side was a Cosi Restaurant, but the hours are not friendly for volleyball games (closing at 6 PM on Fridays and not opening until 2 PM on Sundays). The introductory hall is modern with white tile floors and changing light fixtures along the ceiling. Subtly on the right side are the doors to the arena. Inside, a middle walkway allows access around the gym and there is one tiny snack stand inside.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
That small stand that was mentioned contains hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn, candy and water/soda. I thought it was closed initially, but the person running it was late and didn’t set up until 10 minutes into the match. On the plus side, Temple occasionally provides free pizza for fans, which is an unexpected treat.
Food Ranking: 1.5 out of 8
Interior
The gym itself is quite simple as all of the seating is on the sides and the ends are used as a walkway or an overlook. Seating basically goes from the floor to the roof with the lower third consisting of fold-down seats with backs. The highest seats can be obscured by banners or other ceiling obstacles, but these sections are not needed for volleyball. What gives the place some character is the excellent use of maroon throughout (or cherry as Temple calls it). Not only are the seats this color, but so are the walls and floor, both consisting of multiple school and team logos. My favorite is the Owl Eyes on the end façade, looking right at the players.
Interior Ranking: 6 out of 14
Scoreboard
Above each end is a pair of boards. The first is a high school-like Daktronics scoreboard that is more geared towards basketball than volleyball (the sets won were placed under “Fouls”). There is also video board that is pretty nice and provides a decent picture. Shown throughout was the game feed and a few pre-recorded videos, including a good team introduction.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2 out of 4
Displays
I thought there would be more displayed in Pearson Hall as there is plenty of room, but I saw nothing more than pictures of random Temple graduates. This area could use some trophy cases. Inside, there is a nice set of white banners hanging from the sides. Conference Championships and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance highlight one side, while the other side is reserved for women’s basketball honors. The end wall has the flag and name for each American Conference team. It still saddens me to not see this school with the A-10 (and it’s awful how these girls now have to fly to most away matches instead of taking a bus….it’s all about the “student athletes” right).
Displays Ranking: 1.5 out of 6
Cost
Just walk right in and to your seat as there is no ticket needed and the game is free. The complimentary pizza is an awesome touch too and even the few snacks at that one stand are just $1 or $2 dollars. The lone downfall for the cost is the high price of parking on this urban campus, as the only nearby public lot is a garage that costs a ghastly $17. Finding metered street parking (on Broad) or using the BSL is a cheaper alternative.
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
I counted 78 fans for the game and unfortunately, it seems to be a family/friends affair in terms of the crowd (a far cry from my first two volleyball matches at Penn State and Wisconsin). This seems to be the norm as looking at past videos through the season, crowd size was about the same with a hundred people or so. Too bad there isn’t more support from a campus with a huge student population.
Fan Support Ranking: 1 out of 8
Atmosphere
Most of the noise heard in the arena came from the players on the floor, while the fans in attendance clapped at the end of each point. Their enthusiasm did not exactly rise for set or match points. Thumbs up to the PA Announcer, who tried to inject some energy with his boisterous “Let’s Goooooooooooooooooo Owls”. Cheerleaders and the mascot were on hand and there were also a couple of fan contests, so that spruced things up a bit too.
Atmosphere Ranking: 3.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The facility is named after Arthur McGonigle, a significant contributor to Temple…..The renovation a few years ago to Pearson Hall added better athletic facilities, including a visually appealing basketball practice facility that sits on top of the original building. In addition to the rock climbing wall, other student recreational amenities added include a driving range…..Women’s Gymnastics and Fencing also compete in McGonigle.
Game
The Owls came in with the better squad and it showed in a dominant first set as they won 25-14. USF was better in the second and a see-saw affair ended with Temple pulling away 25-20. In the third, the Bulls jumped on top 9-5, but Temple slowly chipped at the lead to tie it at 16. A 6-2 run was finished by an Irem Asci kill and Temple swept the match for their 20th season win. Izzy Rapacz led the team with 14 kills, while Sandra Sydlik had 45 assists.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
