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

[ajb5856]

  On 8/20/2013 at 8:03 PM, bball23 said:

I just have an honest question for all of you......some get on here and talk about how lousy game day is and how it needs to improve.

How? Why not voice your brilliant ideas to the UNL office. Its like that guy that sits in the crowd during a HS or College basketball game and bickers and moans about how awful something is, but if approaced to improve it would have ZERO idea of what to do. But they sure as heck don't have a problem bitching just to bitch.

Not going off on anybody by any means, just pointing it out. Its always easy to just sit there and go "this stinks!" but HOW would it be better?

I beleive Boehm said after the 1st exhibition they are going to ask fans for their opinions of how to make the game environment better...if you have a good idea, be sure to let them know. Maybe they use it, maybe they don't. But it at least gets the ball rolling. I think Boehm and NU know how important home court is going to be and we all know Miles does. So lets be sure to voice our ideas after that 1st exhibition.

Boehm said all the bells and whistles wouldn't be on display for the exhibition. They are saving it for the opener. I hope they have it all figured out by then.

[Silverbacked1]

I would offer some idea if I knew they will be looked at.

[hhcmatt]

In regards to crowd participation, what's been eluded to with the Volleyball and Class A stuff mentioned above, there really isn't a couple of standard cheers that we have to fall back on.  The call and answer "Go Big Red" that works for football doesn't really work with the pace of basketball.  

 

I think the focus of the Student section is on trolling the other team and having fun...not necessarily to get the rest of the crowd to participate.  That either has to come from cheerleaders, some sort of spirit squad, or magically come from the crowd itself.

 

Heck, if someone has a good idea for a Husker chant we can put that on the back of these shirts.  How about a drawn out monotone "CAN...YOU...FEEL....IT" for when we know we have a game won....ala Rock Chalk.

[Norm Peterson]

bball23, that's actually the point of the thread.  I'm asking for ideas.  Not just bitching to bitch (and I realize you weren't just pointing a finger at me but I want to make that clear to everyone.)

 

I want ideas.  I want suggestions. 

 

I like the idea of shuttles from the dorms but don't know if that's even possible.  Should be plenty easy, though.  It's a straight shot from Harper-Schram-Smith dorm complex down that new road that goes alongside the RR tracks right past PBA.  Maybe they could used the buses that go between City Campus and East Campus.  Don't know when the buses make their last run from East to City.  But it would be easy enough to have a pick-up point somewhere between Abel-Sandoz and Cather-Pound and all that new housing and then swing by H-S-S, then straight down that avenue to the PBA.

 

But, still, the crowd needs to get a little more creative.  We have to stop -- and I mean absolutely HAVE to stop -- doing the "left, right, sit down!" thing when someone fouls out.  The players have figured that one out and they sit down just as your own guy is getting ready to release his free throw shot.  Talk about counter-productive.

 

Anyway, I was hoping to get a discussion started. 

 

Does anyone know any of the current or recently former players?  Anyone know Brandon Ubel?  What did he see at other arenas that he thought made them difficult places to play in?  Down there on the floor, does the crowd noise seem any less intimidating at Nebraska than at other places in the B1G?  Or did Devaney seem like a morgue just  to me?

 

I tell ya, if we keep doing what we've been doing (and expecting different results?) then we should just nickname PBA "the Vault" because not only is a vault what they have in a bank but it's also where they drop caskets of dead people.

[Norm Peterson]

Dimes, I'm with ya.  I think the cheerleaders need to be leading more cheers, basically.  And it needs to be uniform stuff that people know and can join in with.  And I will repeat that we need to bring the guys back.  They just yell louder.  Don't know what it is.  Deeper voices probably.  (I mean that seriously about the deeper voices.  A mechanical engineering major explained it to me once.)

[Norm Peterson]

  On 8/20/2013 at 3:50 AM, The Coach said:

We need better organization/leadership from the student section. When I watch the Class A (and even some lower classes) State Tournament games, those student sections put ours to shame. They're loud, enthusiastic, organized, and come up with original/clever chants and traditions. 

 

The Red Zone die-hards need to have a meeting or party of some sort, and invite every student they know to brainstorm the chants and traditions they had in high school, decide what they want to do, and then practice.

 

Oh and actually having players who can make exciting plays would help too.

Ahhhhh, yeeeessssss.  High School cheer sections.  That's a great idea.

 

Maybe we could get the Red Zone to do this (complete with the dance routine) during opponents' free throw attempts ...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoXORtIibwQ

[leonidas]

A friend that goes to almost all of the games used to say that the student section should yell "Got it." after 3-pointers a la Pavelka's emphatic call.

[uneblinstu]

Norm, I've been to a couple other arenas and I'd say that it's definitely a different kind of loud, if that makes sense.  The Devaney Center could get loud.  Very loud at times, but, take Allen Fieldhouse for instance, when KU got on one of their famous runs, their fans didn't just get loud, they got suffocating.  I don't really know how to describe, it, but it was a case where all 16,000 fans were in full throat together and most of the time the opponent would just wilt.  NU can get loud on a decibel meter, but it's a different kind of loud than what the Bob was.  No TV broadcast has ever fully portrayed what i heard at AFH.  It was worse than any football game I've ever been to.

 

Part of it is just having an arena full of people that are engrossed in the game and want to be a part of it.  It's (for the most part) not a social event in Lawrence, people aren't there to socialize, they're there to watch basketball and do their part to help the Jayhawks win.  It's a party, not a gathering.

[Norm Peterson]

That's right, uneblinstu.  We don't seem to sustain noise very well or very long.  We don't get other teams to wilt because of the crowd noise (and I know that happens in other places as well, not just KU.)

 

I just don't want us to get out-yelled by another ISU-type crowd at our own place ever again.  And I don't want us to fall into a complacent attitude where immediately go back into old, quiet habits.

[Norm Peterson]

  On 8/20/2013 at 9:11 PM, leonidas said:

A friend that goes to almost all of the games used to say that the student section should yell "Got it." after 3-pointers a la Pavelka's emphatic call.

Excellent, Leonidas.  That's the spirit.

 

Any other ideas?

[cipsucks]

I really don't have anything to add to this thread, I just figured my odds were pretty good on getting a +1 if I posted.  Good day, everyone! 

[49r]

  On 8/20/2013 at 9:11 PM, leonidas said:

A friend that goes to almost all of the games used to say that the student section should yell "Got it." after 3-pointers a la Pavelka's emphatic call.

 

I like this suggestion too, and it would be pretty easy to do.

 

Also, I think the "HUSKER!"  "POWER!" cheer is pretty effective too.  I remember back in the Big XII days we won more than one game by doing this cheer when the opponent was shooting free throws.

[49r]

  On 8/20/2013 at 10:30 PM, cipsucks said:

I really don't have anything to add to this thread, I just figured my odds were pretty good on getting a +1 if I posted.  Good day, everyone! 

 

You got mine, cip.  

[uneblinstu]

 

We need more guys like this.

[tcp]

  On 8/20/2013 at 12:28 PM, HB said:

 

  On 8/20/2013 at 11:46 AM, tcp said:

AD can solve most of this. Do you go for the maximum buck per seat or do you sacrifice and spend on student accommodation and experience, creating a basketball-affectionate culture on campus? So far, the AD's office has chosen profit maximization at virtually every turn. Unless and until that changes, the environment at games is unlikely to change.

 

Get rid of donor requirements entirely for basketball outside of the suites. Make each game an event for students--easy access to the arena (dorm shuttles), lots of fun things to do before and after the game, and make absolutely sure they get the most effective seats in the house. Cubs fans know this really well: if the experience itself is fun and an event, then winning becomes less important of a catalyst to creating the home court of one's dreams.

 

Traditions will eventually emerge if hoops games become student-centric, like football used to be back in the day. But if this remains an accounting exercise, don't hold our breath for any major changes in the environment.

 

TCP, I agree with doing everything possible to make the Arena "student-centric", but to get rid of donor requirements entirely outside of the suites seems a bit extreme.  How would you fund the programs?  For many boosters, there has to be incentive to give the higher amounts.  Donations would decline significantly.  Perhaps attendance would also.  If I can't buy better seats (because I choose to spend my hard-earned $$ that way), I'm staying home rather than sit in the Norm Rafters.  I'd like to allocate a lot of great seats for students--but that still leaves a lot of Arena to allocate among fans who are willing to contribute.

 

 

It's not so extreme. It's returning what is collegiate back to college. What was extreme is turning a college basketball game into a revenue race like NU was subject to the pressure of an IPO. *That* was extreme.

 

I'm saying return the game to the students if they're willing to take it back up. You're basically responding about your needs and what you would like in order to spend money. Don't take this as an attack or anything, because it's not, but I'm only saying that your money shouldn't be the primary target of the AD's office, but so far, it has been, and this is where it's gotten us. A largely generic, unimaginative entertainment experience that's as compelling to casual fans as a bikini wax in January.

[HB]

  On 8/21/2013 at 12:31 AM, tcp said:

 

  On 8/20/2013 at 12:28 PM, HB said:

 

  On 8/20/2013 at 11:46 AM, tcp said:

AD can solve most of this. Do you go for the maximum buck per seat or do you sacrifice and spend on student accommodation and experience, creating a basketball-affectionate culture on campus? So far, the AD's office has chosen profit maximization at virtually every turn. Unless and until that changes, the environment at games is unlikely to change.

 

Get rid of donor requirements entirely for basketball outside of the suites. Make each game an event for students--easy access to the arena (dorm shuttles), lots of fun things to do before and after the game, and make absolutely sure they get the most effective seats in the house. Cubs fans know this really well: if the experience itself is fun and an event, then winning becomes less important of a catalyst to creating the home court of one's dreams.

 

Traditions will eventually emerge if hoops games become student-centric, like football used to be back in the day. But if this remains an accounting exercise, don't hold our breath for any major changes in the environment.

 

TCP, I agree with doing everything possible to make the Arena "student-centric", but to get rid of donor requirements entirely outside of the suites seems a bit extreme.  How would you fund the programs?  For many boosters, there has to be incentive to give the higher amounts.  Donations would decline significantly.  Perhaps attendance would also.  If I can't buy better seats (because I choose to spend my hard-earned $$ that way), I'm staying home rather than sit in the Norm Rafters.  I'd like to allocate a lot of great seats for students--but that still leaves a lot of Arena to allocate among fans who are willing to contribute.

 

 

It's not so extreme. It's returning what is collegiate back to college. What was extreme is turning a college basketball game into a revenue race like NU was subject to the pressure of an IPO. *That* was extreme.

 

I'm saying return the game to the students if they're willing to take it back up. You're basically responding about your needs and what you would like in order to spend money. Don't take this as an attack or anything, because it's not, but I'm only saying that your money shouldn't be the primary target of the AD's office, but so far, it has been, and this is where it's gotten us. A largely generic, unimaginative entertainment experience that's as compelling to casual fans as a bikini wax in January.

 

 

I don't even disagree about your views on the money, expressed in your first paragraph above.  But we can't unilaterally disarm.  Unless the whole system changes, we have to keep up and raise the money.  And if they take away all of the donor requirements, there goes a bunch of the money, and quite a few butts in the seats.   We can still allocate a bunch of student tickets in good spots, if they'll take them.  But even back in the day when students had to get there early to get a seat in the lower level bleachers at the Bob, students only had 2000 of the almost 15,000 capacity.  And that was before any donor seats. So putting the "collegiate back to college" would only go so far anyway.

[Jadler]

Oh hell you guys were productive today. So, to start with, Norm I'll be in the Red Zone this year as well as on the "committee" that works with some of the marketing department.(A few of them actually lurk here so I'm not going to be surprised when some of these come up in our first meeting.) 

The shuttles should be happening. When we first met with Boehm at the end of the 2011-2012 season that was one of the first things they asked us about. Seeing as how the walk will be quite a bit farther for campus students we're all for it.

Dimes hit the nail on the head. One of our jobs is to troll the opposing team. We don't spend hours in class Twitter stalking players and making information sheets for no reason. We also have discussed mixing up our noise this year and using less white-noise (OOOOOOOOOOOO) and more chants. 

We met with Ubel last year and asked him what was the thing that would distract them the most. He answered with things that are random. Giant heads of things you would never expect, signs that make you bust out laughing, essentially, things that you can't ignore. He even said the whale would have been amazing had it not been banned. 

I just skimmed the posts so if you have more questions/suggestions post them up and I'll catch back-up/read-in-detail later tonight or tomorrow. 

Edit: As for now, I see students as having a perfect amount of seats in a good place. We could barely fill the 500 some floor seats in the Bob. Color me impressed if we fill up the sideline seats for 75% of nonconf. When it comes to basketball the students need to earn more seats before we can get them.(Football is a different case)

However, I think the University should be overselling the student section. The student basketball tickets have been sold out for months, but I guarantee you most tickets go unused. It's been a running joke/bet for years. We'd all take a guess on how many tickets would be unclaimed by the time Conference games started. I won the 2011-2012 bet. I would love to see them oversell by 250-500 and the students that show up early get in. If you don't you're SOL.

[Silverbacked1]

Keep up the good work jadler.

It ain't easy but it very much appreciated.

[NUdiehard]

A few thoughts:

 

1.  Jadler - I would strongly encourage you NOT to get rid of the "OOOOOOOOOO" chant.  Although I might agree that it may not be the most distracting chant for the opponent to handle, I can tell you unequivocally that as a NU fan in the crowd, it gets me pumped up every time.  It makes me want to chant as well, and it brings energy to the entire arena IMO.  I think that energy then rubs off on our players.  It is the extra jolt that OUR players need when they are tired and feeling weary.  I always lament the home games when students are on break.  There is no energy and no noise.  The "OOOOOOOOO" chant is a huge part of bringing that energy every game.  That energy that it brings to all the other fans in the building, as well as our own players, is MUCH more valuable than maybe distracting the opponent on occasion.

 

2.  Last year for the first few games, just before introducing the NU starting lineup, some of the band members would come out onto the floor playing their drums (that were lit up in red lights BTW) along with the intro music.  I thought this was one of the coolest ideas I had seen in awhile at the NU games.  I know it got me pumped up.  I cannot tell you how frustrating it was as a fan to see it disappear by about the 5th game of the season.  Just like the NU administration to not know a good thing when they finally find one.  Bring that back, or at least some variation.

 

3.  We had a thread on ways to improve the gameday environment about 2 or 3 years ago (maybe even more, time flies).  Maybe somebody can find it.  There were a lot of different ideas in that thread, some better than others, but it seems we might be trying to regurgitate a lot of what has already been said and discussed.

 

4.  The sound board person must be aware of time and circumstance when making selections.  No more "school announcements" or "statements from the AD or any other player or administrator" when the game is tight and the crowd is jacked.  Keep the momentum going, don't kill it.  If the NU Admin. absolutely must promote something, then do it early or during timeouts when the energy is down a bit.  Again, time and circumstance.  

[Jadler]

1. Not planning on getting rid of it. We would just like to see more chanting during the first half of the shot clock. We've noticed if we start a Defense chant it lasts for a while then dies down to people doing the OOOOOO. However if we start with OOOOOOO it dies down to just the few people in the front two rows doing it. 

2. The drums were for one game; the game that Tai visited. We are asking the marketing gentlemen to ask the band director to attend a few of our meetings. I believe to get the drummers more often they'll need to add a few members of the drumline to Big Red Express.

3. I have that thread bookmarked actually. 

 

4. We know and hate this. It was a bit better last year but still in need of serious work. 

[Silverbacked1]

I also agree we need to get rid of the left, right..

In big games the other player doesn't care or even hear it, most likely.

But in games that are either over or we are getting killed the other player makes the crowd look stupid with the fake sit.

Something will come up soon. Have an idea but is kind of stupid.

Have the band, if they can you know if the B1G says it is okay, play something like " Happy Trails" I know kind of lame but we need something different.

I also like when a school does something strange or different that others don't understand or like. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" is a good example. Hate it but Kansas people go nuts for it.

[The_Vault]

  On 8/21/2013 at 3:05 AM, Jadler said:

1. Not planning on getting rid of it. We would just like to see more chanting during the first half of the shot clock. We've noticed if we start a Defense chant it lasts for a while then dies down to people doing the OOOOOO. However if we start with OOOOOOO it dies down to just the few people in the front two rows doing it. 

2. The drums were for one game; the game that Tai visited. We are asking the marketing gentlemen to ask the band director to attend a few of our meetings. I believe to get the drummers more often they'll need to add a few members of the drumline to Big Red Express.

3. I have that thread bookmarked actually. 

 

4. We know and hate this. It was a bit better last year but still in need of serious work. 

We needa get the student section renamed to "The Vault". That'd be baller

[uneblinstu]

  On 8/21/2013 at 3:11 AM, Silverbacked1 said:

I also like when a school does something strange or different that others don't understand or like. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" is a good example. Hate it but Kansas people go nuts for it.

 

That said, there's you KNOW you're defeated when you hear it.  They almost never do it too early and when you're in Allen Fieldhouse and it happens, it's the most hauntingly beautiful thing you've ever heard...and I've heard it a lot as a Nebrasketball fan.  I'd love for NU to have something like that.

 

  On 8/21/2013 at 1:29 AM, Jadler said:

He even said the whale would have been amazing had it not been banned. 

Wait, what?  The whale?

[Jadler]

  On 8/21/2013 at 3:24 AM, jhill396 said:

We needa get the student section renamed to "The Vault". That'd be baller

Problem with "The Vault" is what happens when they rename X many years down the road? We lose all reference unless a bank buys the name rights.

 

 

  On 8/21/2013 at 6:04 AM, uneblinstu said:

 

 

  On 8/21/2013 at 1:29 AM, Jadler said:

He even said the whale would have been amazing had it not been banned. 

Wait, what?  The whale?

 

We did a Beach Party night for the USC game two years ago. I bought a big inflatable orca whale to bring to the game to crowd surf through the student section during free throws. During warm ups the players were getting a kick out of it and Mike Fox asked if we could crowd surf someone on it. We put our tiny roommate on it, lifted him up, and hilarity ensued. Pretty soon your friendly neighborhood campus cops were all over us threatening to throw us out. They ended up confiscating my whale and giving me my one warning before the game even started. I got it back after the cop made me wait 30 minutes after the game. He then informed me if we ever brought it back he'd knife it and escort me out.

[ajb5856]

  On 8/21/2013 at 6:40 AM, Jadler said:

  On 8/21/2013 at 3:24 AM, jhill396 said:

We needa get the student section renamed to "The Vault". That'd be baller

Problem with "The Vault" is what happens when they rename X many years down the road? We lose all reference unless a bank buys the name rights.

  On 8/21/2013 at 6:04 AM, uneblinstu said:

  On 8/21/2013 at 1:29 AM, Jadler said:

He even said the whale would have been amazing had it not been banned.

Wait, what? The whale?

We did a Beach Party night for the USC game two years ago. I bought a big inflatable orca whale to bring to the game to crowd surf through the student section during free throws. During warm ups the players were getting a kick out of it and Mike Fox asked if we could crowd surf someone on it. We put our tiny roommate on it, lifted him up, and hilarity ensued. Pretty soon your friendly neighborhood campus cops were all over us threatening to throw us out. They ended up confiscating my whale and giving me my one warning before the game even started. I got it back after the cop made me wait 30 minutes after the game. He then informed me if we ever brought it back he'd knife it and escort me out.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. What's wrong with an orca? Is there a rule against inflatables? I would've gone straight to Tim Miles and told the authorities that Coach said I could have it.