Marquee still missing after first anniversary

FROM BEHIND THE LENS By RYAN SMITH

The Save Mart Center celebrated the week of its one-year anniversary hosting two basketball season-openers and three big concerts.

To honor the occasion, both the men’s and women’s teams actually won, Avril Lavigne showed up to complain about boys, Toby Keith made an appearance to advocate “kicking ass” and Korn stumbled in to sing about…well, come to think of it, I didn’t even know Korn was still playing music.

However, regardless of your feelings about Korn, if you made it to this sentence without second-guessing whether all of these events actually happened at the SMC this past week, it’s apparent that you didn’t know that the Korn concert was held at Selland Arena.

And, chances are this is probably not the first time you have either confused the location of an event with Selland Arena or you’ve missed an event at the SMC completely.

Though only in its first year of existence, it has been hailed as a huge success, being recognized as a top ten ticket-selling arena in the country.

Yet, despite all its accomplishments, the absence of a marquee throws a monkey-wrench in the whole operation.

A large patch of grass on the south side of the SMC is perfect for the harvesting of a marquee.

Shaw Avenue is one of the busiest streets in Fresno and without a marquee, the SMC is missing one of its most important advertising tools.

After all, Bulldog Diamond has a marquee, and despite the stadium’s continuous near-capacity crowds, it is chump change compared to what the SMC rakes in. And, just on the other side of the street there is another marquee—for what though, that’s another question.

It looks more like a billboard for Armadillo Advertising than a marquee for Bulldogs sports.

By the way, kudos to Armadillo because its advertising worked—I can remember their logo better than I can remember what sporting event is happening on any given week.

So, what is Fresno State waiting for?

I can’t be the only who can’t stand looking at Larry A. Shehady’s name plastered shamelessly all over the clock tower.

If I’ve got to sit in a 20-minute traffic jam out at the corner of Shaw and Chestnut, I at least deserve to know who is holding me up, wasting my gas.