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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Joe McDufee has seen just about everything since he started attending Indiana Hoosiers games in 1949.Hes celebrated five national championships and an undefeated season, coped with the firing of Bob Knight, witnessed the rise and fall of the program under Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson, cheered for the resurgence of the Hoosiers under Tom Crean and will never forget the indelible image of that chair being flung across the floor.Yet when McDufee entered the newly renovated Assembly Hall for the first time in October, the 84-year-old Indianapolis resident was stunned.Its the same old place but its gotten a shine to it, doesnt it? he marveled. Really, really beautiful. The entryway out here just blows your mind.There may be no state in America that reveres basketball history more than Indiana. McDufee, like so many others around the Hoosier State, knew the 35-year-old arena needed a makeover long before an 8-foot metal plate broke away from the ceiling and fell into the seats just hours before Indiana and Iowa were scheduled to play in February 2014.What pragmatists noticed was that other schools were ditching their quaint, dark, sometimes historic arenas for bright, brand new palaces. They added more practice space, upgraded weight rooms and installed new amenities with hopes of attracting prized recruits and top dollars from donors who would embrace the improved fan experience.Assembly Hall, meanwhile, was widely viewed as a link to an Indiana history that should not be defaced or disturbed.Athletic director Fred Glass knew better.So when Cindy Simon Skjodt, an Indiana alum and the daughter of Mel Simon, the late Indiana Pacers co-owner, offered $40 million gift to give the arena a new look, Glass took it and began the quest of turning the hall into a basketball mecca for a whole new generation of Indiana fans.---Every Indiana community has a basketball story.The Big Tens career scoring leader, Calbert Cheaney, played high school basketball in Evansville. Purdues career scoring leader, Rick Mount, played prep ball in Lebanon, about 45 minutes southeast of campus. Before chasing college and pro championships, Oscar Robertson fought for playing time on a hard-clay court in Indianapolis known as the Lockefield Dustbowl. Larry Bird, of course, will always be known as the Hick from French Lick.Bill Garrett went from Shelbyville High School to Indiana, becoming the Big Tens first African-American to log regular minutes. Bobby Plump was the real-life star of the Milan Miracle, Damon Bailey of Bedford remains the boys high school career scoring leader and former Looggottee High School coach Jack Butcher won a state-record 806 games.Indiana has several unique venues. Athletic administrators often tap dance around history while trying to keep up with the Joneses.Butler athletic director Barry Collier faced that dilemma when he realized Hinkle Fieldhouse needed refurbishing. The former Bulldogs player and coach presided over a $36 million face lift on one of the oldest courts still used in Division I basketball. Hinkle hosted Indiana state basketball championship games from its opening in 1928 through 1971, served as a military barracks during World War II and was a movie set for Hoosiers.The project replaced wooden railings with Plexiglas, bench seats with seat backs, new scoreboards and a video board above midcourt that allowed fans to see replays. Administrators tried to leave the character of the building untouched.I dont think its lost anything at all, said 30-year-old Tyler Moore, who attended Colliers basketball camp at Butler. We talked about how much cleaner things like the bathrooms are now, and to be in the Big East and recruit the caliber of player you want, you need have a place like this.Former Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke faced the same task in 2007 when blueprints were drawn for the first major project at Mackey Arena in 40 years.When it opened in December 1967, Purdue hosted one of its most famous alums, John Wooden, and his powerhouse UCLA team. Mount made his college debut that day against reigning national player of the year Lew Alcindor. During the next several decades, the Boilermakers embraced coaches such as Gene Keady and Matt Painter, watched future No. 1 draft picks Joe Barry Carroll and Glenn Robinson and celebrated a three-year Big Ten title run.Burke found a way to add more comfortable seats, a more appealing ticket office and better practice facilities. Since completing the $82 million project five years ago, attendance has increased and Purdue has reclaimed its perch in the Big Tens upper division.As far as the recruits, its all about the show, said Trent Johnson, who graduated from Purdue in 1988 and has had season tickets for 20 years. When they play AAU ball, they already are traveling to Las Vegas, Orlando and Atlanta. They want a certain wow factor. They are pampered. If you dont do it, you risk losing kids to other schools who have upgraded facilities. You need the players to continue to draw the crowds.Not everyone agrees.A half century ago, six Indianapolis men pooled their money together to found the ABAs Indiana Pacers. Their first home court was Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, where fans were so close to the floor that former Pacers star player Darnell Hillman said he could hear their heartbeats.Over the years, the Pacers moved to Market Square Arena and eventually to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, a spacious NBA facility full of suites and restaurants. Hillman waxes nostalgic when he thinks about the renovated coliseum, which reopened in 2014-15 as the new home court for IUPUI.I think we have to find a way to hold on to that, Hillman said. Thats where the history of basketball lives. This is basketball country. They love the game. Theyre into it from the moment they get to the arena.---At Indiana, the three-story entryway looks more like the entrance to a mansion than a basketball arena with its shiny escalators and elevators and all those open windows. Theres a presidential suite behind the student section, trophy cases on both sides of the lobby, even touch screen technology to learn more about Hoosiers history in all sports.On the north end, the feature attraction is the hanging midcourt section from the playing floor used at Assembly Hall from 1976-95. Look around and fans will find the scoreboard that hung above center court from 1983-2005 and the double-sided stanchions that were once a signature part of Indiana basketball.Inside, all the seats are crimson-and-cream and a new large videoboard can be seen from every corner of the court.I think its fantastic, said Dan Caldwell, a 37-year-old Bloomington resident. I love the mix of the new and the old and I think theyve kept that home-court advantage just with the way the crowd is right on top of the floor and everything. And theyve kind of brought it into the next century so to speak, so yeah, I love it.McDufee believes Indiana made the right call by making renovations to the building he calls home rather than tearing it down and starting over.If they could have built one that seated about 24,000 or 25,000 so all the people that could wanted to be in could be in, that would have been good, he said. But I dont know, theres a lot, a lot of history here and tradition and I love the place. Nike Shoes Black Friday 2019 . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Nike Shoes Black Friday Online .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. 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In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Mariners rookie leadoff hitter Brad Miller put on an impressive power display for his hometown fans. Miller homered twice to help Seattle send the Tampa Bay Rays to their sixth straight loss with a 5-4 victory on Tuesday night. Around 50 family members and friends were present to see Miller, who is from the Orlando, Fla. area, play for the first time at Tropicana Field. "It was awesome," Miller said. "Before the game, getting to see, like, every coach Ive ever had since I was 5, and my best friend, my parents. And then to go out there and get things going and finish it off with a win, that was perfect. That was a lot of fun." Miller has four home runs this season, which have come in a pair of two-homer games. He connected for his first two big league homers on July 19 at Houston. "You could hear them, a lot of Miller fans up there," acting Seattle manager Robby Thompson said. Tampa Bay also got two homers from its leadoff hitter, Ben Zobrist. According to the Rays, it is just the third time since 1916, when records are available, that both leadoff hitters had multihomer games. The others were June 5, 1994 (Minnesotas Chuck Knoblauch and Tony Phillips of Detroit) and July 8, 1965 (Houstons Joe Morgan and Felipe Alou of the Milwaukee Braves). After Justin Smoak ended Chris Archers night with a leadoff single in the sixth, Dustin Ackley gave Seattle a 5-4 lead on a triple off Wesley Wright. "That was a big turning point, especially with our bullpen," Ackley said. Zobrist got the Rays even at 4 on his second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the fifth against Erasmo Ramirez (4-0), who allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. Danny Farquhar pitched the ninth for his fifth save. The Mariners bullpen allowed one hit over 3 2-3 scoreless innings. Smoak had a two-run single through a defensive shift as the Mariners went ahead 3-2 in the fourth. "Thats what happens when youre losing," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "You get plays likee that going in their favour against us.dddddddddddd When you talk about good baseball luck and bad baseball luck, it really exists and right now were getting some very bad baseball luck." Millers second homer of the game, a fifth-inning shot, made it 4-2. According to STATS, Miller is the third player in the divisional era (1969) to record his first four homers on two, two-homer games, joining Torontos J.P Arencibia (2010-11) and Carlos May (1969) of the Chicago White Sox. Archer (6-5), who left his previous start last Wednesday at Arizona after 1 2-3 innings due to right forearm tightness, gave up five runs and nine hits over five-plus innings. "Honestly, Ill take full responsibility for that loss, because if I execute a couple pitches in a couple of key situations, those are the games that we win," Archer said. "We score four runs, we win because we have good pitching." Miller opened the game with his first leadoff homer and the Mariners eighth this season, which extended the team record. Zobrist tied it at 1 in the bottom of the first on his first career leadoff homer and 100th overall in the majors. The Rays took a 2-1 lead later in the inning on James Loneys RBI single. It was the first major league game since Aug. 31, 2011, when St. Louis Rafael Furcal and Milwaukees Corey Hart did it, where both teams hit leadoff home runs, according to STATS. It last occurred in the AL on Aug. 17, 2006, in games between Baltimore (Brian Roberts) and New York (Johnny Damon), and Kansas City (David DeJesus) against Chicago (Pablo Ozuna). NOTES: Tampa Bay RHP Alex Cobb is expected to make his first big league start Thursday night since getting hit in the head by a liner on June 15. ... The Mariners plan to look at Ackley in centre. "Were trying to see what we have out there with Ackley," Thompson said. ... Rays CF Desmond Jennings (broken left middle finger) could start dry swings with a bat in the next few days. ... Tampa Bay optioned RHP Josh Lueke to Triple-A Durham. ' ' '