If a Significant Early Season Game Happens and No One Is There, Did It Really Happen?

It's a question worth posing after Thursday's opening day of play in San Juan for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic. Georgia Tech and Dayton are both in the AP Top 25, but the game didn't even find its way to TV. More importantly, no one really appeared to be there for the early tip-off.

I count more empty seats than warm bodies in that photo. (Most of the warm bodies are players.) It begs the question: Why are we still playing these holiday tournaments in remote locations like Puerto Rico, Maui and Alaska?

Yeah, gathering in St. Louis isn't really a sexy trip in mid-to-late November -- as Memphis, Kansas, Louisville and Arkansas did -- but it makes sense. From a financial perspective, it has to be cheaper for schools. From a disruption perspective, a trip within the country has to create less chaos for those charged with rearranging academic schedules for players. For fans, a trip within the 48 contiguous has to be more accessible, right?

For four games in Puerto Rico, the first day of the tournament had a daily attendance of 5,073. That's a day that featured three top 25 teams (Georgia Tech, Dayton and Villanova) plus a mid-major mainstay (George Mason) and an SEC darkhorse (Ole Miss). Compare that with the attendance for Memphis vs. No. 1 Kansas on Wednesday, which drew 12,107 in St. Louis. (Louisville-Arkansas was also being played at the same site.)

Don't tell me about how it's a way to get away and take a vacation. Athletic departments, generally speaking, are bleeding money, and this is a way to cut back. Don't tell me it's a way to treat people to a way away from the cold weather. There are parts of the main land that are perfectly pleasant to visit this time of year. Like the lower-tier bowl games that no one attends, it's probably time to reconsider the location these things.

(Image found on the Dayton Basketball web site.)

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.