You are hereOctagon of Doom? Hold the Hype
Octagon of Doom? Hold the Hype
One of those little things that makes me go "Awrrrrr".
Seems to me it may be a bit premature to force feed us with this Octagon of Doom moniker some are trying to put on Kansas State's Bramlage Coliseum.
Kansas State has lost its last two games at the OOD. Prior to that the Wildcats had won 14 straight at the OOD.
Ten in a row this season and the final four home games of the previous season.
Including games against South Dakota, Cleveland State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Fort Hays State, Western Illinois, Illinois Central and North Carolina Central.
For perspective, consider the nation's two longest consecutive-game home winning streaks, which happen to reside within the Big 12 Conference.
Kansas has won 54 straight games at Allen Fieldhouse and Missouri has won 32 straight games at Mizzou Arena.
I know some at KU like to refer to the fieldhouse as "The Phog". But for most, Allen Fieldhouse sounds fearful enough.
And I know that, in football, Missouri has tried to force feed us with "The Zou" instead of calling Memorial Stadium Memorial Stadium, or using the Faurot Field designation which actually belongs only to the playing surface.
I think that's a bit over the top, too, especially considering Missouri went 3-3 at The Zou last season.
But I like the idea that Allen Fieldhouse is Allen Fieldhouse and Mizzou Arena is Mizzou Arena.
The Octagon of Doom?
That makes as much sense as calling K-State's guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente "The Purple Popguns."
No. That was the nickname applied more than 30 years ago to another K-State pair of guards, Chuckie Williams and Mike Evans.
Let nicknames be earned rather than recycled or manufactured.
Now, Kansas State fans, feel free to rip me. Everybody else, care to list nicknames applied to sports teams or their arenas that make sense?
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Bill Self said it was the loudest away arena he has been to. I think that says enough. Let the fans/students have fun with it. That is what college basketball is all about. Go cover the NBA and have fun with that...
You are entitled to your opinion but shouldn't you be writing about MIZZOU? They will get their shot in the OoD soon enough and then you can address it after that game. We will see how long MIZZOU's win streak lasts when KU and Texas come to town.
I've never argued that you're not entitled to an opinion, although you have an avenue with this blog that most of us don't have. Why you decided to take on the nickname for K-State's arena is something only you can answer.
What I do take issue with is when my posts are deleted because they don't conform to your entries. I pointed out earlier today that MU is currently tied with Siena for second place with a 32-game home winning streak. I think the part you took offense to was that I cited that your original post had MU with 33, not 32. This seemed to run counter to your assertion that another poster do some fact-checking.
Evidently your position with the KC Star allows you access to blog about whatever you like and it also allows you to edit your posts when the facts are not 100% correct. I don't think it should allow you to delete posts you don't agree with simply because it might put you in a bad light.
It is a 32-game streak. Your post referenced something that no longer was on the blog. That's why it was deleted. Congrats on the catch. Wish I had caught it earlier.
There really is no cover-my-rump conspiracy here. Nor am I overly sensitive to some criticism. If I were, then there are a lot of posts I would delete from this thread.
As a K-State fan, that almost makes me love the name even more! Paul Rudd is great, and whether he went to KU or not, at least he's a Kansas City guy... the dude supports the Royals on national TV - come on, that takes some cajones!
Honestly, I know the name is ridiculous. It doesn't make much sense (aside from the fact that Bramlage IS an Octagon), but does it really need to? Let the students have fun with it. It's been noted several times that KSU fans have been calling it the OoD for several years... people like Mike just didn't take notice until Doug Gottlieb dropped a line about it. That's not our fault.
Does anyone else think it's funny that Paul Rudd calls his junk the Octagon of Doom in Anchorman. And if that wasn't good enough, Paul Rudd went to KU. As a KU fan, it can't get any better than that. Keep that nickname going. That is fantastic.
better lay off the zou...though this year at home was disappointing the tigers were 23-4 there the four years before that...trust me its someplace opponents arent comfortable visiting
Siena holds that distinction. Would it kill you to do a little fact checking?
This changes when one team plays at home and the other doesn't. They are tied at 32. So Missouri's 32-game home winning streak is second to KU's. Might do some fact checking yourself.
They're tied for the second longest. Glad we cleared that up. Now where's that post about the NCAA planning to expand the tournament to include 96 teams? I could see you getting behind this. Seems like a good way for Missouri to finally get some more banners hanging in their gym.
This isn't even about KU.
Mike, can you do a Vlog about this topic? Seems to have ignited enough opinion from all involved, haha!
Maybe it's because Mizzou has such a winning streak at home right now and isn't getting the "cred" you think they deserve, but I think you should just let it go, Mike.
Don't get me wrong, I love the hype KSU is getting and you're just making it a little better by fueling the conversation with your little tantrum. The fact that the nickname of a K-State arena bothers you so much, though, says a lot more about you than it does about KSU fans. You've clearly got an inferiority complex going on; if I were you, though, I'd worry about my own team!
I guess naming your arena after a spoiled rich girl whose Daddy bought off the University so his precious daughter's name could grace the building is more appropriate. Oh and then to have to rename it after it was found out she was cheating to make grades! Classic. Mike your turning into that typical angry old guy. Isn't it time for you to retire yet??
I actually like nicknamed stadiums.. I think they give the fans a sense of pride! That being said, I REALLY like the Hawktagon of Doom!! 21-1.. We have a better winning percentage there (all-time) than ksu has in the "last three years"
You mildcat fans sure are sensitive.
Mike and I finally have something in common :)
Mike, My only question for you is what deserves a nickname? Since the 06-07 season, the wildcats are 53-8 at home, thats 87% of home games, by my research. Thats averaging only 2 home losses a year if they win out rest of their home games this season(which is very possible with MU being the hards home game left). By my standards, thats a major home advantage and deserving of a nickname, if one is given. But by your article, I guess you have to have the longest or second longest home winning streaks to deserve a nickname.
I bet you're a real treat at parties. Talk about a Debby Downer.
This blog post certainly has ignited some. And Mafia, your idea of a great party is everyone getting together and agreeing on everything?
Mike,
You are the Mizzou beat writer. That's where you earn your bones, and I respect that. You have to fill word count, BUT you come off as a curmudgeon in this post.
Bah, humbug.
Octagon of Doom? I wish Mizzou-rah would be as creative. No matter the record (and I fully expect MU to be destroyed when it goes there). But I've heard that from KSU message boards for years. It's not new, and it shouldn't have anything to do with W-L record, which IMO, will be more W in the future, than L.
The "angriest fans in America?", ripped off by K-Staters from a column Whitlock wrote after the KSU win over KU two years ago? Genius.
My diploma sez Mizzou, but I would buy that T-shirt about the angriest fans.
Have more fun in your job, Mr. DeArmond. You might be, but this post isn't showing it.
In the end, it's just dribble-dribble.
Octagon of Doom was not forced on anyone. Its a name that has been around among a sellect group of K-Staters (goEMAW.com) for over 3 years and students have had signs and t-shirts for several years. If anything, its a name that correlates with the Frank Martin led rebirth of K-State basketball and is what college basketball tradition is all about; grassroots efforts born from a fanatical base, in this case largely diehard fans that had stuck with the Cats through over a decade of bad basketball. No one from K-State mentioned this to anyone, it was a K-State fan who knew about the name that ran into Gottlieb and mentioned it to him before the Texas A&M game. Gottlieb happened to say it on the air and the name exploded on the scene, both locally and nationally, from there. This was not a promotion, this was simply media from all over gravitating to the name and K-State basketball and letting it run. No one is asking you to like the name, but if you are going to comment about it at least have an understanding of the history behind it.
Because Doug Gottlieb mentioned it?
Be that as it may, no matter who came up with the Octagon of Doom, I don't see a history of winning to support it.
I've know a select group of people that believe Mizzou Arena should be named The House That Norm Stewart Built.
And I know another select group of people that want to call Mizzou Arena "The Jungle."
If you want to call Bramlage Coliseum "The Octagon of Doom," you go right ahead.
If enough of you do it, the nickname will stick.
Sort of like Kansas vs Missouri being the Border War, no matter how much the politically correct naybobs want to try to have everybody call it the Border Showdown.
At least Don Fambrough and I agree on something.
You really have no basis to argue that it hasn't caught on, it went from a Gottlieb mention to extensive use in ESPN's promos for the game in a span of 2 weeks. Regardless of whatever anyone wanted to call any of Mizzou's arenas, those never caught on and landed on a national stage. Octagon of Doom did. It was discussed at length nationally in the last week by not just ESPN personalities, but by Dan Wetzel (who called it the greatest rebranding since Michigan's "The Big House"), by Sporting News Radio, and by USA Today to name a few.
Honestly, none of us ever expected it to become what it did in the past two weeks, but its hard to deny what happened. And whether you think it is worthy or not, its caught on.
I do agree with you on one point though, for it to have any staying power K-State has to continue to have success, and probably a little luster was lost with the 2 consecutive losses. However, I think Octagon of Doom is here to stay as long as K-State continues to build their basketball program into one of the top programs in the Big 12.
Why not just "The Octagon"? Octagon of Doom sounds like something out of a comic book. But I've always been partial to Allen Fieldhouse West.
Boise State and their "smurf turf" comes to mind. Eastern Washington is working on putting red turf on its field next year. http://www.goeags.com/sports/m-footbl/index. Lets hope this trend doesn't take off.
The Fan's Voice Awards (www.fansvoiceawards.wordpress.com) gave the K-State fans the highest grade of the night for their efforts last night: http://fansvoiceawards.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/fan-base-reports-ku-vs-k...
K-State's fans are great. They were when I covered Kansas State in the '70s, too.
This is about the nickname.
If it is not about the fans why do you have a problem with the nickname? It has nothing to do with the AD or the university, the nickname was started and hyped by fans three years ago. The University did not coin The Octagon of Doom. ESPN picked up on it because a fan educated Doug Gottleib before the A&M game and he took it back to Bristol. You want to get educated on the OOD visit goEMAW.com, the best KSU fan board out there. They will give you the history of "Octagon of Doom." Next time research and don't make assumptions.
That game in Bramlage where you stroked out to "MICHAEL BEEEEEAAAASSSLLLEEEYYY" the OOD signs were there then if you had been paying attention.
home court winning streak does not an Octagon of Doom make.
It has nothing to do with who came up with the nickname.
I just don't think it makes any sense at all.
It being a three-year-old nickname or one that you personally thought up while getting an autograph from Doug Gottlieb doesn't alter my opinion - and sir, that's what this is, an opinion of mine - that there is nothing to justify the OOD nickname.
So no, it isn't about the fans, and it isn't the short history of someone saying OOD.
The nickname, at this point, simply is not justified. Not in my opinion.
You really don't have to agree.
KSU fans can call it whatever they like, but from the outside it looks contrived and unearned.
Wow. What a concept.