I am a basketball purist. I loathe the fact that the modern game, according to the powers that be, needs luxury boxes and expensive club seats. Even if I had millions of dollars at my disposal, I would rather stand in the Paint Crew than sit in the new Captain's chairs at Mackey Arena. In fact, I don't even think you should be admitted to the arena unless you promise to stand and scream your fool head off, adding to the Paint Crew, for the entire game. If you are going to sit down and politely clap the entire game you shouldn't even be int he gym.
Few fans have my passion, however. I hate that I am going to have to go back to quiet, proper old alumni section for the next home game. I would much rather do that, however, than have a Jimmy Buffet Night.
We should be embarrassed as a program that we are resorting to a gimmick night to sell out our Arena against a conference opponent. Maybe, maybe if it were a random non-conference game against Directional State U. during Christmas break it would be acceptable. Even then, it is a special circumstance of having thousands of student tickets flooding the market for a game where the students are not on campus. The proposed Jimmy Buffet Night against Iowa is on January 17, well after the students return.
You don't see the marquee programs like North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, or Michigan State resorting to these shenanigans. We didn't even resort to them during football season when 20,000 seats per game were sitting empty in Ross-Ade Stadium. Indiana didn't even resort to these gimmicks when they were 1-17 a few seasons ago in the Big Ten. It is a flat out embarrassment that we would do something like this.
The product on the floor should speak for itself, and if you cannot sell the place out after winning 26 in a row then I don't know what you are waiting to see. Then again, this is the same athletic department that thought it would be a good idea to appeal to fan comfort rather than the product on the floor just because they could sell one seat for the price of four.
Sorry for the rant, but this idea really rubbed me the wrong way.