Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: Happy 50th Murphy Center!
12/11/2022 3:52:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, BRAA
On “Murphy Magic” and a Glass House that’s a second home for so many Blue Raiders
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — I'm often struck by how the most innocuous quotes from my interviews are often the ones that stick with me the most. I had a great example of that this week, when I sat down with Deputy AD for External Affairs Lee De León for one of our final interviews on the Murphy Center 50th anniversary documentary.
These past two months or so have been a blast for me, getting to talk to so many major figures in the Murphy Center's history, from Coach Jimmy Earle, to Track and Field All-American Tommy Haynes, to former Director of Student Programming Harold Smith, who brought countless concerts to the Glass House in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.
De León was one of the final pieces to the documentary's puzzle, a quick person to check in with the future of the Build Blue project's plans for the future of Murphy Center. But I always liked to ask all of the folks we've talked to for this story some background questions, because I never know what might come out.
Early in the interview last week, the Deputy AD was responding to one of those general questions when he described learning, during his first few weeks on the job last fall, how much preparation was going to be needed for the Murphy Center's 50th Anniversary the next year. His response, I thought, was a natural one as an outsider learning the ropes.
Really?
De León went on to explain how at many of the schools he's worked at in his career, the team's basketball arena hitting a major milestone would not have been a big deal. Speaking from my far less experienced perspective, but also as an outsider to the mid-state community myself, I tended to agree with him.
But as he got to know the people of Murfreesboro and the people of Middle Tennessee State University (and attended several home wins in the 2021-22 season for both the Blue Raiders and the Lady Raiders), De León got it.
The Murphy Center wasn't just a home arena for Middle Tennessee basketball or even a hub for the entire MTSU community. It was a place where everyone in the mid-state, maybe everyone in the state of Tennessee itself, had a story to tell about a game, a concert, a track meet, a graduation that they had attended.
And 50 years ago today, the Glass House opened its doors to the public for the first time, hosting a game between Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt in Men's Basketball, with a reported attendance of 12,000 fans. The Commodores, ranked No. 13 in that day's AP Poll after starting the season 5-0, beat the Blue Raiders 69-57.
There's so much I've learned in reporting on the anniversary of that game. How the Murphy Center had color coded seats and exits, for instance, with the hope that fans would use the doors that corresponded to their tickets to prevent bottlenecks. How an electrical fire during construction nearly delayed that milestone. How the Murphy Center itself was a product of huge success in drawing crowds of thousands at the Alumni Memorial Gym under head coach Ken Trickey.
Mostly, though, talking to so many folks about their memories in the Murphy Center has only reaffirmed what I learned in person last year: there's some sort of magic held in between those glass walls.
It's a tremendous basketball facility, not a bad seat in the house, made better by the fact that the audience that watches basketball there knows what they're talking about. It holds a buzz better with 3,000 people than many arenas do with 10,000. And when the crowds get big, whether it be for a Lady Raiders' postseason game, a Blue Raiders' division title clincher or a TSSAA semifinal that every kid in the school is getting to miss class for, there's honestly few places that compare.
But more than just basketball, the Murphy Center is a great place for the people of Murfreesboro to get together. Whether it's the seemingly endless high school graduations after MTSU is done in May or the chance encounters you might find walking the track at the concourse level, the Murphy Center has been a place for everyone in the mid-state to celebrate with each other.
In a different timeline, one where Jerry Stackhouse's Vanderbilt team perhaps wasn't so...respectful of the team Nick McDevitt has put on the court in Murfreesboro, the Blue Raiders might very well be playing the Commodores on the Murphy Center court tonight. Instead, we'll celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Glass House a few days later against Chattanooga, on December 15.
I hope I'll see all you there, as well as at the Lady Raiders' game against Houston the night before on December 14. To celebrate the community of Middle Tennessee and capture some more of that Murphy Magic.
These past two months or so have been a blast for me, getting to talk to so many major figures in the Murphy Center's history, from Coach Jimmy Earle, to Track and Field All-American Tommy Haynes, to former Director of Student Programming Harold Smith, who brought countless concerts to the Glass House in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.
De León was one of the final pieces to the documentary's puzzle, a quick person to check in with the future of the Build Blue project's plans for the future of Murphy Center. But I always liked to ask all of the folks we've talked to for this story some background questions, because I never know what might come out.
Early in the interview last week, the Deputy AD was responding to one of those general questions when he described learning, during his first few weeks on the job last fall, how much preparation was going to be needed for the Murphy Center's 50th Anniversary the next year. His response, I thought, was a natural one as an outsider learning the ropes.
Really?
De León went on to explain how at many of the schools he's worked at in his career, the team's basketball arena hitting a major milestone would not have been a big deal. Speaking from my far less experienced perspective, but also as an outsider to the mid-state community myself, I tended to agree with him.
But as he got to know the people of Murfreesboro and the people of Middle Tennessee State University (and attended several home wins in the 2021-22 season for both the Blue Raiders and the Lady Raiders), De León got it.
The Murphy Center wasn't just a home arena for Middle Tennessee basketball or even a hub for the entire MTSU community. It was a place where everyone in the mid-state, maybe everyone in the state of Tennessee itself, had a story to tell about a game, a concert, a track meet, a graduation that they had attended.
And 50 years ago today, the Glass House opened its doors to the public for the first time, hosting a game between Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt in Men's Basketball, with a reported attendance of 12,000 fans. The Commodores, ranked No. 13 in that day's AP Poll after starting the season 5-0, beat the Blue Raiders 69-57.
There's so much I've learned in reporting on the anniversary of that game. How the Murphy Center had color coded seats and exits, for instance, with the hope that fans would use the doors that corresponded to their tickets to prevent bottlenecks. How an electrical fire during construction nearly delayed that milestone. How the Murphy Center itself was a product of huge success in drawing crowds of thousands at the Alumni Memorial Gym under head coach Ken Trickey.
Mostly, though, talking to so many folks about their memories in the Murphy Center has only reaffirmed what I learned in person last year: there's some sort of magic held in between those glass walls.
It's a tremendous basketball facility, not a bad seat in the house, made better by the fact that the audience that watches basketball there knows what they're talking about. It holds a buzz better with 3,000 people than many arenas do with 10,000. And when the crowds get big, whether it be for a Lady Raiders' postseason game, a Blue Raiders' division title clincher or a TSSAA semifinal that every kid in the school is getting to miss class for, there's honestly few places that compare.
But more than just basketball, the Murphy Center is a great place for the people of Murfreesboro to get together. Whether it's the seemingly endless high school graduations after MTSU is done in May or the chance encounters you might find walking the track at the concourse level, the Murphy Center has been a place for everyone in the mid-state to celebrate with each other.
In a different timeline, one where Jerry Stackhouse's Vanderbilt team perhaps wasn't so...respectful of the team Nick McDevitt has put on the court in Murfreesboro, the Blue Raiders might very well be playing the Commodores on the Murphy Center court tonight. Instead, we'll celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Glass House a few days later against Chattanooga, on December 15.
I hope I'll see all you there, as well as at the Lady Raiders' game against Houston the night before on December 14. To celebrate the community of Middle Tennessee and capture some more of that Murphy Magic.
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