• Parking. Although the attendance for last night’s event was only around 200 people, I thought that the parking situation wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, in the pass card protected lot where I park there were an abundance of open spaces. I would imagine that if the pass card protected lots are opened up for major sporting events, concerts, and the like that there will be very minor parking issues.
• Acoustics. The acoustics in the MAC Center are wonderful. Through the combination of the brand new public announcement system and the design of the building itself, every word was heard clearly and crisply during the entire discussion. I’m sure that basketball games and other sporting events will only benefit from this setup.
• Guest Space/Flow. I’m not sure if “guest space/flow” is the right title for this observation, but I did want to comment on how easily it was to get to the MACE Award presentation once I was at the MAC Center. First, there is a large staircase that leads into the Leon Hess Hall of Champions, which is the area outside of the actual arena itself (I think that’s what they call it). Then, the track area inside of the arena is wide and spacious and allows for large groups of people to move around the lower bowl of the facility with no problem at all. The same goes for the area outside of the large staircase.

It’s clear that I like the MAC Center given the recent posts on my blog and my constant references to the building. Next Friday afternoon I head over to the university for seat selection for my season tickets – which should be pretty exciting.

Prior to tonight’s event being publicized a few weeks ago, I had no concept of Mr. Nantz and his accomplishments nor had I ever attended a MACE Award presentation. Going into tonight, I really had no idea what to expect. By the end of the night, though, I was very pleased that I decided to attend.

Mr. Nantz has a wonderful speaking voice which is in the style of your classic broadcaster. His voice is not overmodulated to any great degree and he knows how to use the tones in his voice to accentuate a story. Sitting and listening to him talk in a conversation-style format for about an hour wasn’t aurally aggravating in the least. In fact, the tone and scope of his stories were both appropriate and relevant to today’s college students (many of the audience members were current undergraduates at the university). I thought that the organizers of this event chose the perfect format for Mr. Nantz to discuss his career with young minds, his professional colleagues, and other members of the university and local business community.

The entire event was very well produced and it came off very professionally. Two videos were shown on the beautiful scoreboard in the new MAC Center (the scoreboard was lowered so as to avoid strained necks). The first video highlighted the Department of Communication at Monmouth University and I have to admit that I learned a great deal about the program from that brief informational piece. While I thought that there were one or two stiff performances on the video, I was very impressed with the diversity of viewpoints presented – from current undergraduates to recent alumni to current professors and more. It was a very well produced piece.

The second video was shown towards the end of the night and it was a highlight reel of Mr. Nantz’s career. I enjoyed watching that video because there were some great sports moments included (which I can now associate with Mr. Nantz). I think the video may have been produced by CBS Sports, but it was a great, comprehensive review of Mr. Nantz’s accomplishments in sports broadcasting.

At the very end of the night Mr. Nantz announced that he was making a donation to the Department of Communication to name a classroom in honor of one of his great friends. That friend is Eli Spielman – the gentleman who co-authored Mr. Nantz’s book, Always by My Side: The Healing Gift of a Father’s Love. I’m not sure if this was a planned move by the Department of Communication to generate more donations for the program, but it was definitely a classy move for Mr. Nantz. The announcement didn’t seem rehearsed at all so it could have very well been an act of benevolence on behalf of Mr. Nantz. In any event, it was a great way to end a very classy evening.

Monmouth University has, again, impressed me and Mr. Nantz was a great honoree with a great spirit. All in all the 2009 MACE Award presentation was a good, well-run event.

Update: Click here to download a PDF copy of the Asbury Park Press article regarding Jim Nantz winning the MACE Award.