Ben Gross: So Chris, have you heard what some people call the Convocation Center?

Chris Dertz: Wait, enough people know the Convocation Center exists for it to have its own nickname?

BG: Oh yeah, they call it “The Tomb.” You know, because it’s so dead in there.

CD: I have to admit, I have felt myself doze off at times during those early afternoon games, and I’m sure some noise in there would help. The only problem is there are never any people there to make it.

BG: While I think the Convo’s distant location from the dorms, all two blocks, and atmosphere, smoke-free, are reasons why the number of fans are low, I don’t think it’s the main reason. Winning is the key factor for attendance.

CD: Well, of course winning is important, but I don’t think there is any more important factor than its location. Every student I’ve ever spoken with about why they don’t go to basketball games gives me the same reason: it’s just too far.

BG: And how many people have you spoken to? I bet your sources are imaginary, just like your friends.

CD: Hey now, they are real to some people, and you have to remember that basketball is in the winter.

In DeKalb, the average temperatures in November, December and January never rise above 32 degrees, and the lack of any wind block whatsoever around the Convo makes for a frigid two-block walk, especially when there is snow on the ground.

BG: I’ll give you that, but opinions are just that – lacking any facts whatsoever. Let’s look at the facts.

CD: Well how about the fact that your Neanderthal hair and epic beard make the walk seem like a summer stroll for you?

BG: Hey, I’m an Eagle Scout: our motto is be prepared. The facts show that winning is more important than location. Last year the men’s basketball team went 6-22 and 5-7 at home. The average home attendance was 1,700.

During the 2000-2001 season, which was at the Chick Evans Field House, NIU was 5-23 and 4-9 at home. The average home attendance was 1,537. See any similarities?

CD: The only similarity are the years that you are citing and the years that you’ve been going to school here; it’s not something to brag about.

Look at what even the women’s team is doing this season. While women’s basketball is never going to draw the same kind of crowd as a men’s game, they are having one of the most successful conference seasons in recent memory. Their attendance numbers have not even been comparable to those teams you are referring to, however, hovering right around 600-700 a night.

BG: True, but my stat boy (when you’ve been here that long, you get one) didn’t get me the numbers on women’s attendance. So let’s look back at the men’s.

When NIU is winning there’s even a similarity between the Field House and the Convo. During the 1999-2000 season, at the Field House, NIU was 8-4 at home with an average attendance of 2,172. In 2005-2006, at the Convo, the Huskies had a 10-3 home record and an average attendance of 2,330. That’s the fact, Jack.

CD: To a point, I think you’re right, but I think what’s more important to attendance than a venue is tradition.

When you look at the perennial programs that sell out every game every year, it’s because those teams have a long tradition of success; something that NIU basketball has never really had.

Students aren’t going to stand up and pay attention to a team that has a good year when it’s five or six games above .500, then drops off the very next year.

BG: I’ll give you that – call it an early Christmas present. But that’s the point. Fans can’t blame low attendance on the location of the games. The data shows the opposite.

Look at even middle-of-the-road seasons. At the Field House in 2001-2002 NIU was 12-16 and 6-6 at home – the average attendance: 2,263. Three seasons later, in the Convo, the men went 11-17 and 5-8 at home – the average attendance: 2,330.

I’ll agree the Convo’s got no atmosphere, no life and no fans. But the lack of fans is more about the lack of winning and not the location of the game.

CD: Two thousand people is still only a fifth of the Convo’s capacity, which looks just as pitiful as the economy these days.