See You At The Palace

In response to my post mentioning the new JPJ Arena at UVA, Mediocre Fred suggested that the new arena be called the Cow Palace. So it shall be. From here on out on these pages, UVA basketball will play at the Cow Palace. I think it's more than a fitting name.

On a related subject, it occurred to me on the way home from work tonight that Charlottesville suffers from a total embarrassment of riches when it comes to solid entertainment hotspots. Really, when you think about it, there's more in Cowtown than anywhere else in the state - especially when you break it down in terms of population. Here's some facts on who's got what across the Commonwealth:

Charlottesville
- Scott Stadium (football) - Capacity: 61,000
- Cow Palace (men's/women's basketball) - Capacity: 15,000
- Pavillion (concerts) - Capacity: 3,500
- Paramount Theatre (concerts/arts) - Capacity: 1,300

Richmond
- University of Richmond Stadium (football/soccer) - Capacity: 22,000
- Richmond Coliseum (basketball/hockey/football) - Capacity: 13,500
- The Diamond (baseball) - Capacity: 12,134
- Robins Center (basketball) - Capacity: 9,071
- Alltel Pavilion (basketball) - Capacity: 7,500

Northern Virginia
- Nissan Pavilion (concerts) - Capacity: 25,000
- Patriot Center (basketball/concerts/circus) - Capacity: 10,000

Tidewater/Norfolk
- Hampton Coliseum (concerts) - Capacity: 13,800
- Norfolk Scope (concerts/circus) - Capacity: 12,600
- Harbor Park (baseball) - Capacity: 12,067
- Chrysler Hall (arts) - Capacity: 2,500
- Harrison Opera House (arts) - Capacity: 1,632

Blacksburg
- Lane Stadium (football) - Capacity: 66,233
- Cassell Coliseum (basketball) - 10,052

There are more, but those are all the major ones I can remember. And no, I don't count racetracks. NASCAR isn't entertainment.

Point is, Cowtown ranks right up there with Richmond and Norfolk, two far bigger and better-known cities. For a town of less than 150,000, that's frigging incredible. Especially when you consider that the stadiums in those two cities are basically old and decaying hunks of depressing concrete, while the digs in C'ville are shiny-new and classy joints that people really like.

All of a sudden, I'm really proud of my new home. Nice.