9781422285244

A fan walks into the Thunderdome—the Events Center on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB)—and sees a beautiful college sports arena. The court gleams, the lights shine brightly, and crews of smiling security and concessions workers abound. Some fans head to the hospitality rooms for special guests, while others seek help from ushers to find seats. Officials find their places set up and ready to go. The anticipation is in the air for another men’s basketball game, the most popular attraction at a campus centerpiece that is busy almost 365 days a year. Behind all the action that fans see, however, are hours of hard work by the sports arena and event management staff. Donnell Dixon, the public events manager at the Thunderdome (at left), is in charge at this game. Dixon is a former college basketball player who has been with UCSB for 30 years, including making the Thunderdome hum since 1990. He turns back the clock to go step-by-step through the process of making this game happen for fans and players alike. “Most games start at seven, but we have many hours of work before that game begins,” he says. “For a seven o’clock game, we have shootarounds here in the gym from eleven o’clock to two

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