Air Force Academy
The field house can have a foreboding appearance during the winter, sitting on a ridge, with snow all around and wind whipping into the faces of arriving fans. But once inside, the Falcons’ faithful bring tiny Clune Arena to life, helping make the formerly nondescript gym isolated on academy grounds into one of the toughest venues in college basketball.
Heading into Saturday’s game against Colorado State, the Falcons have won 29 consecutive home games – tied with BYU for longest in the nation – and 53 of their past 54 home games. The 5,834-seat arena has been awakened with the leather lungs of standing-room-only crowds to watch the 17th-ranked Falcons (22-4).
For most of its first 38 seasons, Clune Arena had the feel of a library more than a college arena.
“We started coming to the games nine years ago, and you could shoot a cannon off in here and not hurt anyone,” said Julie Bloom, a member of the booster club Friends of Air Force Basketball. “But look at this place now. You have to get here an hour early to get a parking place.”
Fans, appreciative of getting out of the winter elements while trudging to Clune, gather for refreshments on the concourse separating the arena and the hockey rink. The tiny gift shop at the far end of the lobby area is usually packed. Then, as tipoff nears, the fans funnel down to fill the arena, which is lined with wood bleachers and a few thousand theater-type seats near courtside.
Typical of the newfound faithful is Peter Babeu, who began attending Air Force games last year, just in time to witness the Falcons’ best season (24-7). On this day, he and his two young sons are decked out in blue hair.
“This is an exciting place,” Babeu said. “The structure really isn’t fan-friendly, but with the band playing, the cheerleaders, the crowd, everything really is positive.”
Oliver Niess and his wife, Naomi, sit on the west side of the arena. They add visual support, holding up signs during the game.
“This used to be a dead place for basketball,” Niess said. “That’s one of the reasons I started (the signs). It was to have some fun, make some noise and show the players some support.”
Dan Holder is a lineman on the football team, but during the basketball season he is part of what is called The Cadets of Section 8. They sit in the north section, make a lot of noise and frequently are mentioned as a major reason why Clune Arena has become such a terrific homecourt advantage.
Holder and other members of the football team usually take their shirts off and display “GOAFA” painted on their chests.
“We have the best seats in the house,” Holder said. “I think we’re louder than the fans at The Pit at New Mexico. This is too much fun. I think it’s here to stay.”
It hasn’t always been that way.
Joe Kahoe, an academy graduate in 1973, remembers once leaving a game against Notre Dame because the Falcons couldn’t compete.
“That was the basketball I remember as a cadet,” Kahoe said. “This was like a ghost town in here. But it’s electric in here now.”
Air Force followers can be sure the program has arrived when Clune Arena is being compared to some of the most well-known arenas in college basketball, such as Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas. Kenneth Buller played at Kansas in the early 1950s and is now an Air Force fan.
“The only difference is that Clune Arena doesn’t hold as many people,” Buller said. “It’s more intimate here and a lot more fun.”
If Kahoe thought it was difficult watching Air Force basketball before, he should talk to Don Barrett, who retired as the deputy of the academy’s library 10 years ago.
Barrett has had season tickets to Air Force basketball since the inception of the program in 1956, when the cadets played at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. The team moved to the Cadet Field House (renamed Clune Arena in 1993) for the 1968 season.
“We had a couple of NCAA bids early (1959-60, 1961-62) and from then on things went downhill,” Barrett said. “Our hopes were to just have a winning season. If we had 1,500 people to see a game, it was a big crowd. Enthusiasm like this never existed.”
And Air Force basketball has become more profitable. The past six games were sellouts, and the Falcons have averaged 4,999 this season, including a school-record 6,511 on Jan. 9 against New Mexico.
Doug Ware, a concessions manager, used to be in charge of the lone booth on the east side of Clune Arena. One booth cannot handle the traffic anymore in the narrow lobby area.
“It hasn’t been this busy since a Denver Broncos team came down here to play in a charity basketball game,” Ware said. “It was just before they went to the Super Bowl after the 1997 season.”
Most fans credit former coach Joe Scott with building the framework for the party that has become Air Force basketball.
When Scott was hired for the 2000-01 season, he said he wanted to make Air Force the Princeton of the West. His 2003-04 squad was 22-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 42 years. It was Air Force’s first winning record in 26 years.
“Success builds enthusiasm,” said Jim Head, president of the booster club. “It was pretty bleak here for basketball. All we were hoping for was a better opportunity to be competitive.”
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
THE TOP FIVE
College basketball’s most revered courts
Duke
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium
Capacity: 9,314
Year opened: 1940
Blue Devils’ home record: 689-144
Tradition: The Cameron Crazies, who are seated in rows right down by courtside, never sit down, choosing to bounce up and down when the visiting team has the ball.
Kansas
Arena: Allen Fieldhouse
Capacity: 16,300
Year built: 1955
Jayhawks’ home record: 593-106
Tradition: Waving the wheat – fans wave an arm to simulate the movement – when an opposing player fouls out. Also, the “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, K-U” chant.
Kentucky
Arena: Rupp Arena
Capacity: 23,000
Year built: 1976
Wildcats’ home record: 399-50
Tradition: The facility in downtown Lexington has a student standing-room-only area behind a basket known as the “eRUPPtion Zone.”
Penn
Arena: The Palestra
Capacity: 8,722
Year built: 1927
Quakers’ home record: 759-323
Tradition: The “rollout” message written on a banner starts at the top of the student section and travels to the front row, where it is easily available for the rest of the arena to see.
New Mexico
Arena: The Pit
Capacity: 18,018
Year built: 1966
Lobos’ home record: 581-138
Tradition: There isn’t a big tradition that has transcended generations, but players, coaches and officials will tell you walking up and down The Ramp to the court can get to you.
