Road Trip - The Galen Center at USC

The ETA VTA crew took a quick road trip down to Los Angeles Thursday night all in the name of Washington Husky basketball. My Dawgs faced off against the University of Southern California Trojans in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.

After years and years of playing at The Sports Arena, one of the biggest dumps that I have ever set foot into, USC finally has it's own facility to showcase it's forgotten men's basketball team. Welcome to the Galen Center...

First of all, the Galen Center is about as easy to get to as any arena I have ever been. Get off the 110 at Exposition Park, go straight through the light and make a right into the $7 parking garage and you are less than a block away from the doors and the beautiful brickwork resembling all the sports that will be played in the new arena (pictured above).

Unfortunately, the Galen Center isn't even close to being finished. The only things that are finished are the outside facade, the majority of the seating bowl and the court (above). Because it isn't finished, everything looks utilitarian and bland. Lots of exposed concrete, duct work, no directional signs anywhere and virtually no decoration make the arena seem uninviting and cold.

Above is the one concession stand I found that was open. Either none of the others have been completed or they chose not to open them. Either way, the one they opened was crowded, slow, relatively expensive and didn't offer anything particularly unique or interesting. Other than basic cleanliness, I didn't see much of an improvement over the Sports Arena's concession stands.

But since the Galen Center is unfinished, it's hard to get a good idea of what it eventually will look like or how it will run. Judging by the few decorations and embellishments that have already been installed, there is hope for it to be a warmer, more inviting facility. The lamps pictured above were really unique and gave the area that they were featured a nice, warm, loungy feel. If they can replicate that throughout the rest of the arena, then they will have something.

One huge improvement over the Sports Arena is the sound system, lighting and scoreboard which are all finished and featured prominently. In fact, I think the technology has gone to their head. College basketball shouldn't need a flashy light show and NBA like introductions (above).

But in the end, once the game tips off it's all about how well you can see the game and the atmosphere in the arena and this is where the Galen Center excels. I know it's a cliche, but there isn't a bad seat in the entire place and the sight lines are nearly perfect. It's a very loud arena amplifying a small crowd to near deafening levels. Except for the fact that it was an extremely late arriving crowd, the atmosphere at the end of the game was electric. If USC can keep winning and draw some fans the atmosphere is going to be rough on visiting teams.

Overall, the Galen Center is a massive improvement over the abysmal Sports Arena but is still a work in progress and right now isn't particularly impressive. If they ever finish up construction, the Galen Center is going to be a jewel and just one more thing that USC fans will never shut up about.

By the way, it pains me to report this because I hate USC with a passion, but that atmosphere was rough on my Huskies and they lost 86-79 in double overtime.