Final Four banner stolen at AMC

The basketball teams opened their seasons at the Coliseum Nov. 9 in front of thousands of fans, but one thing was missing: a banner hanging from the ceiling marking the 2004 Final Four appearance of the men's team.

The banner, which reads "NCAA Final Four - National Finalist 2004," was reported stolen on the morning of Nov. 4 by Doc Hill, a facility manager at the Coliseum. According to the police report, Hill noted that the banner had been present on Friday night, and no signs of forced entry were found.

The banner is one of many hanging from the ceiling at the arena, and they are all only physically accessible from a ceiling catwalk. But the only banner targetted by the apparent thief was the one commemorating the 2004 season, in which Tech's men's basketball team went 28-10 en route to its first and only national championship apperance before losing to Connecticut.

"We're going to do everything we can to continue to stress security [at the Coliseum]," said Wayne Hogan, director of public relations for the Athletic Association.

"We've had other problems there through the years, [due to] the fact that there are so many doors, so many entry points, and so many keys," Hogan said.

The police report assessed the value of the banner at $550. Hogan said that the AA is not going to immediately purchase a replacement.

"We have not discussed a replacement of the banner yet. I think we need to let the investigation run its course and see if by some miracle the banner turns up somewhere before we spend money to replace it," Hogan said.