- Crisler Arena
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Crisler Arena "The House that Cazzie Built" Location 333 E Stadium Blvd
Ann Arbor, MI 48104Broke ground 1965 Opened December 6, 1967 Renovated 1998, 2001, 2011[1] Owner University of Michigan Operator University of Michigan Construction cost $7.2 million Architect Dan Dworsky, '50 Capacity 13,684 (1967)
13,609 (1968-1991)
13,562 (1991-2001)
13,751 (2001-present)[1]Tenants Michigan Wolverines
(Men's and Women's Basketball)
Former tenants
(Women's Gymnastics (1978–1989), Men's Gymnastics (1978–1989) and Wrestling (1967–1989))Crisler Arena, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, is the home arena for the University of Michigan men's and women's basketball teams. Constructed in 1967, the arena seats 13,751 spectators. It is named for Herbert O. "Fritz" Crisler, head football coach at Michigan from 1938 to 1947 and athletic director thereafter until his retirement in 1968.
The arena is often called "The House that Cazzie Built," a reference to legendary player Cazzie Russell who starred on Michigan teams that won three consecutive Big Ten Conference titles from 1964 to 1966. Russell's popularity caused the team's fanbase to outgrow Yost Fieldhouse (now Yost Ice Arena) and prompted the construction of the current facility.
At Michigan men's basketball games, the recently-added bleacher seats behind the benches are home to the Maize Rage student section.
Despite being on a Big Ten Conference campus, the facility hosted the 1980–1982 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament. It has also hosted Big Ten and NCAA gymnastics championships, the 1999 Big Ten wrestling championship, and other events. Prior to the opening of Cliff Keen Arena, the arena was the full-time home to the men's and women's gymnastics teams and the wrestling team. As of 2007, women's gymnastics continues to hold significant meets in the arena.[2]
The arena has also hosted concerts, perhaps most famously, the opening show of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's The River Tour, in which Springsteen began the show by completely forgetting the words to "Born to Run", but was rescued by the Michigan audience.
Crisler Arena was also the site of the famous "ten-for-two" John Sinclair Freedom Rally, featuring John Lennon & Yoko Ono in 1971.
Crisler Arena was designed by Dan Dworsky (B'Arch. 1950), a member of the 1948 Rose Bowl team. Among other structures that he has designed is the Federal Reserve Bank of Los Angeles.
Notes
- ^ a b http://www.mgoblue.com/facilities/crisler-arena.html
- ^ "Crisler Arena". University of Michigan & Host Interactive. http://www.mgoblue.com/facilities/crisler-arena.html. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
External links
Basketball arenas of the Big Ten Conference Assembly Hall (Illinois) • Assembly Hall (Indiana) • Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa) • Crisler Arena (Michigan) • Breslin Student Events Center (Michigan State) • Williams Arena (Minnesota) • Bob Devaney Sports Center (Nebraska) • Welsh-Ryan Arena (Northwestern) • Value City Arena (Ohio State) • Bryce Jordan Center (Penn State) • Mackey Arena (Purdue) • Kohl Center (Wisconsin)
Basketball student sections of the Big Ten Conference Orange Krush (Illinois) • Crimson Guard (Indiana) • The Hawks Nest (Iowa) • Maize Rage (Michigan) • Izzone (Michigan State) • The Barnyard (Minnesota) • Red Zone (Nebraska) • Wildside (Northwestern) • Buckeye NutHouse (Ohio State) • Nittany Nation (Penn State) • Paint Crew (Purdue) • Grateful Red (Wisconsin)
Coordinates: 42°15′54″N 83°44′48″W / 42.265037°N 83.746768°WCategories:- Michigan Wolverines sports venues
- College basketball venues in the United States
- Michigan Wolverines basketball venues
- Basketball venues in Michigan
- Event venues established in 1967
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