<p>For those who go to Stanford or have seen the basketball teams play, how is this arena? I read an article on ESPN.com the other day saying it was one of the best college arenas in the country. Can anyone validate this?</p>
<p>Maples made its name in having one of the most unique floors in any gymnasium anywhere. A standard gym floor has an underground foundation of several overlapping grids of different types and thicknesses of wooden beams. Maples had these grids as well; however, the grids were all offset from each other, which meant that the floor actually bounced more when you jumped off of it. As a result, Cardinal Basketball has had one of the highest records of winning at home - as well as injuries at home. Stanford decided to remove this unique gym floor due to the unusually high number of injuries this floor causes. These injuries result from a player landing when the floor is still wobbling (slight, but noticeable). The human body’s senses are usually good at anticipating what time it’s going to hit the floor after jumping off, but because the altitude of the floor varies after impact, the player can get injured from too much impact or incorrect landing.</p>