A brick and rock exterior is the first thing you notice as you walk up from the parking lot. Glass windows allow you to catch a glimpse of the interior before actually entering. As you walk in, cheery, silver, and white walls are littered with pictures of all the great players and teams who have previously called this place home. At the heart of the building is a center stage like none you have ever seen before. Thirty-seven feet below you sits a giant silver and black UNM Lobo logo staring up at the incoming crowd. It makes its home at the center of a white, natural grain wood floor, fenced in on all sides by a cherry colored border. “Where are we?” you ask. Well, my friends, we are at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The year is 1966. The place is Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Pit has just finished being constructed. What started out as an “architectural experiment” by Joe Boehning would turn out to be one the most unique and exciting sporting venues in all of the United States (foxsports.com). The Pit’s depth is what makes it so unique; it sits thirty-seven feet below the ground. “It’s a truly unique place with a highly charged atmosphere,” says USA Today’s John Feinstein about The Pit. “When the players walk on to the court in The Pit, it’s like watching Roman gladiators emerging into a wall of sound.”
The Pit is home to one of the most historic basketball games in NCAA history. On April 4, 1983, North Carolina State, led by legendary coach Jim Valvano, took on powerhouse Houston, led by NBA legend and Hall-of-Famer Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, for the NCAA championship. NC State guard Dereck Whittenburg threw up a thirty foot heave as the clock ran out, all but assuring overtime. Out of nowhere, though, forward Lorenzo Charles jumped up and alley-oop dunked the ball as the clock struck zero, giving NC State the title and one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history (thelobopit.com). The image of Jim Valvano running wildly around the court in celebratory disbelief is one that any college basketball fanatic has burned into their brain. The thing many people might not notice, however, is that as he searches for someone to celebrate with he passes right over the University of New Mexico Lobo logo.
After forty-three years of existence, The Pit got a makeover that would make all celebrities green with envy. In 2009, $60 million were spent to renovate the building that originally cost just $1.4 million. Some people might think that a face lift like this would damage the reputation and pure essence of the arena, but it only made it better. All of the magic of the original Pit still remains with more of a high tech appearance. The Pit now measures 60,000 square feet with forty luxury suites and three-hundred club seats (golobos.com). With the new look, The Pit will only attract more people to come to home games and enhance the atmosphere within its walls.
The noise level and insanity inside The Pit is at the top of the leaderboards in all of college basketball. According to Sports Illustrated, the noise levels during basketball games are off the charts. They have been recorded at 125 decibels; the pain threshold for the human ear is 130 decibels. Foxsports.com lists The Pit as number six on its list of the top ten arenas in all of college basketball, stating that “Joe Boehning’s architectural experiment during the 1960’s has since produced one of the most hostile environments to play in over the last 40 years.” The atmosphere and environment inside The Pit alone are enough to make someone want to go watch a basketball, or even play the game, which is a lesson I learned first-hand
In 2002, at the tender age of nine years old, I attended my first basketball game at The Pit. It was during the first round of the NCAA tournament so the energy inside was so electric you could feel it running all throughout your body. The games scheduled for that day were Arizona vs. UC Santa Barbara and Wyoming vs. Gonzaga. I knew nothing of these teams so I thought it would be fun to watch but I wouldn’t really get that into it. But from the second the ball left the referees hand for the tip off I couldn’t have been more excited. The noise got my adrenaline pumping and I felt as if I had a family member playing for one of the teams. I was screaming my lungs out and jumping up and down every time a big play took place.
By the time the second half of the second game started I had already made a pretty big life decision; I was going to play basketball for the rest of my life. At the time I honestly thought that I could make it to the NBA, after all I was only nine, so I began to play all the time at my house and even during recess at school. My excitement for basketball only intensified as I got older. I worked my butt off for years, and finally my dream was coming true. My high school team had made it to the state championship game that was to be played at The Pit. We came up just short, losing by only three points, but at the end of the day I couldn’t have been happier. My dream that began as a nine year old boy had finally come true.
I owe all of it to my dad, brother, and cousin. If they had not invited me to go with them to that game my life I always try to spot parents who have brought their kids to the game with hopes that maybe they will feel the same about the game as I did nine years ago. The Pit is where I learned to dream, and it’s also where my dream came true. might be entirely different than it is today. Witnessing that game in The Pit and experiencing the pure insanity of the fans really turned me on to how incredible the game of basketball really is. Now, every time I go to a game there
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