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OK, so shiny new arena, practically new team, nearly new coach ...

Norm Peterson

By Norm Peterson
in The Haymarket Hardwood

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uneblinstu
uneblinstu

So, I'm gonna stand up for the crowd a bit.   I went to the Iowa game in Iowa City. Perhaps it was because it was Super Bowl Sunday. Or maybe it was because NU's not a big name opponent. Or,

Norm Peterson
Norm Peterson

OK, after 4 seasons at PBA, I bump this thread to announce ... our crowd pretty much sucks.  Except for no-sit Sunday against Wisconsin.  But, except for that one game, we haven't been very remarkable

cipsucks
cipsucks

Isn't he your best friend?

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, HuskerCager said:

Actually, yes.  Improving on a .500 (or whatever it is) home winning percentage will work wonders for fan participation.  Those folks on no-sit Sunday weren't standing all day because of a superior yell squad, great halftime entertainment, or even clean restrooms.  They were standing because their team was hot and playing for something meaningful in the month of March.

Fan apathy isn't all on the fans or atmosphere off the court.  I'm guessing I won't get any argument from you, Norm, on this.

 

So we should just be cool with  having lousy atmosphere just because our team is under .500? 

 

I will disagree with you. My experiences at Devaney tell me we don't automatically have crappy crowds just because we have a mediocre team.  We can have a mediocre team and have much better crowd involvement. 

 

Even when we are doing well and have something to play for, the crowd is typically docile at best. 

 

At times when it would be natural and obvious for the crowd to be on their feet and yelling, it doesn't happen at PBA. 

 

It is inexcusable for an opponent's  fans to come into our arena and drown us out with their noise. And I have seen that happen too often. 

 

If you are satisfied attending games in a mausoleum that's up to you. But I don't get your rationale. 

HuskerCager

HuskerCager

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

So we should just be cool with having lousy atmosphere just because our team is under .500? 

 

I will disagree with you. My experiences at Devaney tell me we don't automatically have crappy crowds just because we have a mediocre team.  We can have a mediocre team and have much better crowd involvement. 
 

Even when we are doing well and have something to play for, the crowd is typically docile at best. 

 

At times when it would be natural and obvious for the crowd to be on their feet and yelling, it doesn't happen at PBA. 

 

It is inexcusable for an opponent's  fans to come into our arena and drown us out with their noise. And I have seen that happen too often. 

 

If you are satisfied attending games in a mausoleum that's up to you. But I don't get your rationale. 

Norm, I just read through this and conclude that you are really bagging on the fans.  If you are going to characterize 14K folks as "crappy" and "docile at best" for having the audacity to buy tickets, drive to Lincoln from who knows where, but not stand on their feet at all times (or whatever you consider involved), we're going to have to agree to disagree.  Yes, there are a few bad apples, but I don't think it's fair to generalize the way you did above.
 

People have made all kinds of excuses for the team being tired at the end of the season, and just excuse the losses that way.  Shouldn't fans get the same leeway?  Forgive me if I didn't stand on my feet all 2nd half of the Michigan game, waving my arms wildly, trying to change the karma of a 40 point blowout.

All in good fun, Norm.  No offense intended.   B)

trickey

trickey

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, 49r said:

Not sure you can force folks to not use an exit...effectively closing it as a means of egress.  Seems like that would be a major fire code violation.

 

Not to mention shutting the exit would require closing the concessions stand by the escalators/stairs since nobody could conveniently reach it

.

HuskerCager

HuskerCager

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, Chuck Taylor said:

While I disagree vehemently with general criticism of the crowd, I do despise the people who leave early. Are fans are no worse than others in that regard, they're just more apparent because of the arena setup.

Agree - never understood people leaving at the 4 minute mark or whatever.  It's a bad vibe.  

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted
7 minutes ago, HuskerCager said:

Norm, I just read through this and conclude that you are really bagging on the fans.  If you are going to characterize 14K folks as "crappy" and "docile at best" for having the audacity to buy tickets, drive to Lincoln from who knows where, but not stand on their feet at all times (or whatever you consider involved), we're going to have to agree to disagree.  Yes, there are a few bad apples, but I don't think it's fair to generalize the way you did above.
 

People have made all kinds of excuses for the team being tired at the end of the season, and just excuse the losses that way.  Shouldn't fans get the same leeway?  Forgive me if I didn't stand on my feet all 2nd half of the Michigan game, waving my arms wildly, trying to change the karma of a 40 point blowout.

All in good fun, Norm.  No offense intended.   B)

 

I think people are being deliberately obtuse about this.  I'm not bagging on the fans.  I'm bagging on the fan experience and suggesting it could be better.  I'm saying it has nothing to do with how well the team is or isn't doing.  Even if the team was doing great, the structural things I'm describing would still impair crowd involvement.

 

I think there are some people who, predictably, want to bag on the team/coaches/record/etc. whenever anything like this comes up.  Miles sucks, the team sucks; therefore, if anyone complains about crowd support ...

 

But those aren't the things I was talking about.

 

Let me ask you something:  Aside from the "HUSKER POWER" cheer during opponent intros, when was the last time you heard the crowd cheer something in unison?

 

I can't recall any during the time we've been at PBA.

 

Back at Devaney, when we used to have a yell squad, even though we were mediocre as a team, you'd still get the crowd to join in the "DEE-FENSE (clap clap) DEE-FENSE (clap clap)" cheer.  Have you heard that at PBA ever?  I've tried to start it many times with no luck, because people don't even seem to know it anymore.  I've tried to start a "GO! BIG! RED! (clap) GO! BIG! RED! (clap) cheer.  People don't seem to remember that one either.  Back in Devaney, you'd get people started on it and others would join in and pretty soon the whole crowd is doing it.

 

That doesn't happen anymore because my section ends a few rows in front of me and then there's this cliff.  So, we're sort of isolated from other parts of the arena.  As they are from us.

 

But, if there was a yell squad, maybe, just maybe, we could get the crowd to join in and start yelling things in unison.  Like, y'know, crowds at Devaney used to do.

 

PBA is great in a lot of ways, but it doesn't facilitate crowd involvement.  If anything, it stifles it.  (See point #1 in my first post in this thread today.)

 

Nothing I said in that first post could even remotely be construed as complaining about our fans or inviting discussion about whether our team is worthy of being cheered or not. 

 

It was all about what we can do to facilitate getting the fans involved. 

 

I think people want to cheer; there's just not much about the fan experience that facilitates getting people involved.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
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Posted
34 minutes ago, trickey said:

 

Not to mention shutting the exit would require closing the concessions stand by the escalators/stairs since nobody could conveniently reach it

.

 

It would certainly be available during halftime and before the game.  Which is when most people go there anyway.

HuskerCager

HuskerCager

Posted
Posted

I'll agree with you on the yell-squad observations, Norm.  We don't have "Rock-Chalk" or whatever chants they do 150 miles south of here, and would love to see some of those things implemented here, one way or another.

That said, audience participation isn't on the top of my list of concerns for the program right now.  I'm more worried about what the staff and the A.D. are or are not getting done between now and next year.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, HuskerCager said:

I'll agree with you on the yell-squad observations, Norm.  We don't have "Rock-Chalk" or whatever chants they do 150 miles south of here, and would love to see some of those things implemented here, one way or another.

That said, audience participation isn't on the top of my list of concerns for the program right now.  I'm more worried about what the staff and the A.D. are or are not getting done between now and next year.

 

Winning and the team improving are obviously at the top of the list. 

 

But those things are not incompatible with doing some things to help fan involvement.  It's not either/or.

 

It's not like if you go to the opera with your girlfriend tonight, you won't be able to go watch the NCAA tourney with your buddies.  That situation, it's one or the other.  But not both.

 

The things I'm talking about are really not tied to nor dependent upon the things you would be concerned about.

 

See, that's the great thing:  We can work on BOTH! 

Edited by Norm Peterson
Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I might be wrong about this, but this is my understanding.

 

When we had a yell squad with dudes, they did lifts and stuff where they threw the lightest girls up in the air and would catch them when they came down.

 

Except for that one time when they didn't catch her and she broke her neck.

 

And, after that, the university decided for "liability purposes" to ground the yell squad and not let them do lifts.

 

Which, if you're not doing lifts, what's the point of having guys on the yell squad, right?

 

Well, the point of having guys on the yell squad is to have big, booming voices yelling through megaphones into the crowd to start some sort of in-unison cheer that gets the crowd involved, behind the team, and hopefully gets momentum on your team's side.

49r

49r

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, HuskerCager said:

I'll agree with you on the yell-squad observations, Norm.  We don't have "Rock-Chalk" or whatever chants they do 150 miles south of here, and would love to see some of those things implemented here, one way or another.

That said, audience participation isn't on the top of my list of concerns for the program right now.  I'm more worried about what the staff and the A.D. are or are not getting done between now and next year.

 

We don't have "Rock-Chalk" but maybe we could steal a page out of our other 150-miles-to-the-south neighbor's book and play Sandstorm at every opportunity while the crowd chants "F*** K-U!" in unison.

 

 

Edited by 49r
nebrasketball10

nebrasketball10

Posted
Posted

I think I've said this before on here, but I think HuskerVision could do a much better job... but I think part of the problem is that we're trying to squeeze sponsor gimmicks in first and foremost. 

 

I used to go to UNO hockey games more often, but I thought their video/sound crew did a great job of creating an atmosphere. 

 

Not to be nostalgiac for The Bob, but we had some videos there (Chees, Tommy Boy, etc.) that would beat most of what we do now. 

hskr4life

hskr4life

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 3/17/2017 at 3:24 PM, 49r said:

 

We don't have "Rock-Chalk" but maybe we could steal a page out of our other 150-miles-to-the-south neighbor's book and play Sandstorm at every opportunity while the crowd chants "F*** K-U!" in unison.

 

 

 

Jean would have a heart attack!  Love how they tried to hide it with the K S U though haha!

Edited by hskr4life
Ron Mexico

Ron Mexico

Posted
Posted
On 3/17/2017 at 3:24 PM, 49r said:

 

We don't have "Rock-Chalk" but maybe we could steal a page out of our other 150-miles-to-the-south neighbor's book and play Sandstorm at every opportunity while the crowd chants "F*** K-U!" in unison.

 

 

Jean WOULD NOT APPROVE!

Marv

Marv

Posted
Posted
On 3/17/2017 at 2:21 PM, trickey said:

 

Not to mention shutting the exit would require closing the concessions stand by the escalators/stairs since nobody could conveniently reach it

.

The wonderful folks at SMG start closing the concession stands at PBA anywhere between the 18:00-16:00 minute mark shortly after halftime anyway.  

Silverbacked1

Silverbacked1

Posted
Posted
On 3/17/2017 at 2:21 PM, trickey said:

 

Not to mention shutting the exit would require closing the concessions stand by the escalators/stairs since nobody could conveniently reach it

.

 

 

WHAT?????   NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! 

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