Ford Field draws mixed reviews for basketball setup

DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Field's dress rehearsal for next season's Final Four is drawing mixed reviews from fans.

The debate is about the seating and crowd atmosphere at the monstrous venue, the Detroit Lions football stadium transformed into a basketball site for this week's NCAA Midwest Regional. The same configuration is expected for the 2009 Final Four.

The NCAA has said the new setup will help more students get close to the action and keep prices reasonable for students and other fans attending Final Fours.

Most everything was fine for Mike Goode, a Davidson College employee who made the trip with hundreds of students from the North Carolina college. But he had snared one of the temporary, riser seats not too far from the court.

The Ford Field crowd was announced at a regional record of more than 57,000 on Friday. About 57,500 tickets were sold for Sunday's Davidson-Kansas matchup.

"Getting all the people here is pretty impressive," Goode said. "I understand how that speaks volumes."

The court was centered near the middle of what are the football fields at both Ford Field and Reliant Stadium in Houston, site of the South Regional, rather than tucked into one end zone as in previous regionals and Final Fours.

Kansas student Brandon Childres would have preferred the old style. He didn't like his seat, which would have been in a Ford Field end zone for a Lions game.

"It's an awful setup," Childres said. "We thought we were getting awesome seats. But we're 50 yards from the court, and we didn't know that would be the case."

The court was raised, perhaps giving some fans better sightlines but raising concerns about players who had to jump off the court or go down a few steps to reach their benches.

Shooters at Ford Field, including Davidson's Stephen Curry, were concerned about depth perception.

Atmosphere was another issue. Some fans complained they were too far from the court and that it's difficult to create intimacy at a basketball game played in a football arena.

The NCAA was fired up about the record-breaking attendance. More fans were expected to attend the regional sites -- Detroit, Charlotte, Houston and Phoenix -- than at any time in the event's 70-year history.

The previous record was set in 1999, when 207,456 fans watched games in East Rutherford, N.J.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Phoenix and St. Louis.

BACK TO CLASS: Ford Field became Davidson's Midwest campus this weekend. More than a third of the small North Carolina liberal arts college's 1,700 students were expected to be on hand for Sunday's regional final against Kansas.

The school paid for transportation, tickets and lodging for the Wildcats' first trip to the round of eight since 1969.

The downside: Classes resume Monday and students are expected to be there, despite the 13-hour bus ride back to campus located about 650 miles south of Detroit.

Freshmen Maddie Koch and Michelle Worley did homework on one of the buses the school arranged to transport students prior to Sunday's game. Both have classes at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

"I'm not sure who's going to make those early classes," Koch said. "But this has definitely been a good time for us here."

HOMECOMING: CBS play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson said he is working the NCAA tournament for a 13th season and for the first time, he was able to hang out with his parents because he's home.

Johnson graduated from University of Detroit Jesuit High School and later Howard University before rising up the media ranks, landing jobs with CBS and the New York Knicks as their radio play-by-play voice.

"It's always good to come home because home is where your strength is," Johnson said before calling the Davidson-Kansas game. "I was able to spend time with my parents, who still live on the west side of Detroit, and I've been able to see my high school football coach and all kind of other friends and family."

During Thursday's open practices, Johnson chatted with people in the front row and heard shouts from others in various sections at Ford Field. He set up about 10 family members and friends with tickets for the three games over two days.

"It's not hectic when it's your family," he said.

Johnson, however, will not get to stick around for the Detroit Tigers' opener next door on Monday at Comerica Park. He has to catch a flight to Milwaukee for a Bucks-Knicks game.

PRO POSSIBILITIES: Despite having more college eligibility, people already are talking about the future professional prospects of Davidson sophomore Stephen Curry.

At 6-foot-3, is he too short to be an NBA shooting guard? At a slender 185 pounds, would his body break down over the course of the physical, demanding schedule?

NBA All-Star LeBron James saw enough this weekend to become convinced Curry could follow in the footsteps of his father, former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry. James was still talking about Curry's Friday night performance against Wisconsin on Saturday, when his Cavaliers faced the Detroit Pistons.

Asked if Curry was too small to make in the NBA, James said "No way."

"If he can shoot the ball like he does, he can play in this league," James said. "Whatever team picks him is going to get a great shooter."

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