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


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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay have a question, I sit in the front row of section 322. There will be nobody in front of me or to my side. I have the ,ledge in front of me. Was thinking about what I could do up there.

It came to me, on this is where you all come in. I want to make up. cards that have the number 3 on them and hang them from the bottom cord of the railing. It won't be in anybodies line of vision. I am thinking about bringing something tonight so I can get some feedback on size.

I do worry that they ( stuffy shirted high ups) won't let me do it. I also worry that it might just be too lame, like if we are down 15 or more.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

 

 

I don't think I've said enough times on here how much I love VCU's pep band.

I think if I had to do it all over again, I'd attend VCU, on the strength of the Peppas alone. Who cares if they do/don't have a major I would've been interested in?!?

 

 

Yep.  Me too.

 

(Of course, at the time I would have wanted to be a member of the band...but I digress...)

 

They are not on a different level, they're on a different planet!  A planet of awesome!

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lol..anyone notice that "Husker Power" isn't in any of the top 5 lists? I'd think there could be something a bit better. I would have also liked to have seen Nebraska bring back the yell squad. The girls are pretty to look at and all...but they aren't really inspiring in the cheers and getting the fans involved.

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  • 3 years later...

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 or created an intimidating environment.

 

Some lessons learned:

 

  • The various tiers create structural barriers at PBA that make it difficult to get the whole crowd involved in sustained cheering. 
  • When they announce on the big screen that it's time to "MAKE SOME NOISE," you just get about 30 seconds of the crowd yelling nothing in particular.
  • Unlike in Devaney where the crowd would generally exit to the main concourse and it wasn't so evident when people started leaving, at PBA it sticks out like a sore thumb, probably demoralizes the team a bit, makes us look bad when the game is televised, and kinda pisses the die-hards off a bit.

 

Our crowd needs help.

 

I think we desperately need to bring back the yell squad.  I think we need dudes on the sidelines with megaphones getting the crowd to start chanting things in unison.  This would tend to negate the effects of the various tiers of seating that somewhat prevent the whole crowd from becoming involved.  It would also solve the "30 seconds of the crowd yelling nothing in particular."  If the yell squad started the place chanting "DEEE-FENSE (clap clap) DEEE-FENSE (clap clap)" there would be organization and structure to the cheering and it would have a greater tendency to last a bit longer but also a greater tendency to reach the rafters (as with the "HUSKER POWER" chant at the beginning of the game.)

 

Second, we need to notify fans in the lower bowl that the tunnel in the southeast corner of the court will NOT be available for fans to exit until the game is over.  That, instead, they can use the main concourse to depart if they leave before the game ends.  Offer some BS reason like fans walking out courtside before the end of games blocks the view of fans who wish to stay until the end.  You wanna leave?  Climb the steps instead, buddy.  And get security over there to point people to the steps and not allow them out that tunnel.  If the powers-that-be don't enact this one little change, then they are idiots who are trying to bring about the destruction of this program.  No other way to say it.

 

Anyone else want to chime in with anything?

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3 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

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 or created an intimidating environment.

 

Some lessons learned:

 

  • The various tiers create structural barriers at PBA that make it difficult to get the whole crowd involved in sustained cheering. 
  • When they announce on the big screen that it's time to "MAKE SOME NOISE," you just get about 30 seconds of the crowd yelling nothing in particular.
  • Unlike in Devaney where the crowd would generally exit to the main concourse and it wasn't so evident when people started leaving, at PBA it sticks out like a sore thumb, probably demoralizes the team a bit, makes us look bad when the game is televised, and kinda pisses the die-hards off a bit.

 

Our crowd needs help.

 

I think we desperately need to bring back the yell squad.  I think we need dudes on the sidelines with megaphones getting the crowd to start chanting things in unison.  This would tend to negate the effects of the various tiers of seating that somewhat prevent the whole crowd from becoming involved.  It would also solve the "30 seconds of the crowd yelling nothing in particular."  If the yell squad started the place chanting "DEEE-FENSE (clap clap) DEEE-FENSE (clap clap)" there would be organization and structure to the cheering and it would have a greater tendency to last a bit longer but also a greater tendency to reach the rafters (as with the "HUSKER POWER" chant at the beginning of the game.)

 

Second, we need to notify fans in the lower bowl that the tunnel in the southeast corner of the court will NOT be available for fans to exit until the game is over.  That, instead, they can use the main concourse to depart if they leave before the game ends.  Offer some BS reason like fans walking out courtside before the end of games blocks the view of fans who wish to stay until the end.  You wanna leave?  Climb the steps instead, buddy.  And get security over there to point people to the steps and not allow them out that tunnel.  If the powers-that-be don't enact this one little change, then they are idiots who are trying to bring about the destruction of this program.  No other way to say it.

 

Anyone else want to chime in with anything?

 

I cant up arrow this enough... however... be prepared for the "It's not the crowd, it's the team" haters.  I can here all the "give us something to cheer about," or, "Don't lose then." Comments coming.

 

I agree though... not organization, crowd is lackluster.  Yeah yeah... we fill an arena with a team with a losing record.. yada yada.  

 

However, I would rather have a half full, screaming crowd that intimidates opposing teams than a full of nothing crowd.  There are times when the crowd can alter certain aspects of a game.  I believe that we could really take advantage of these.  

 

We need to stop comparing us to other teams.  I'm tired of the "well this team only has such and such number of fans tonight," and, "See, it's also dead in this arena tonight."  Let's be ourselves, let's be unique, let's be a place where no one wants to play.  It could happen.

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1 minute 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.

 

"However, in the unlikely event of a fire, fans will be allowed to use the southeast tunnel for egress purposes prior to the game clock reaching 0:00."

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OK, you're prepared:

Quote

In this second season with the Cornhuskers, Miles led to the Huskers' first spot in the NCAA men's basketball tournament since 1998 (but would remain winless as a program in NCAA tournament play, losing to Baylor in the first round). However, in the following three years under Miles, Nebraska's struggles would continue, doing no better than finishing 11th (out of 14) in conference play with no more than 6 wins.

And yet still the fans come. I agree that NU does not do a good job of getting the crowd engaged. And the lower level probably has an average age of 70. But the main problem is the team has done nothing to be excited about. Losses to crappy opponents. Blowouts. Last-second losses. And still we show up. So nobody thought the crowd was good for the Iowa game? I beg to differ.

 

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18 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Anyone else want to chime in with anything?

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.

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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, IDK, there might have been a different reason, but the atmosphere there wasn't as good as it was in Lincoln. Their fans weren't engaged for the most part until they made their last push to put NU away. Their student section was virtually non-existent. When the yell squad shouts into those mega phones, it's just a couple of dudes yelling a couple of words and it's more awkward than it is motivating. Frankly, the crowd at PBA, based on my small sample size, was significantly better than the one at Carver-Hawkeye.

 

I started paying attention to crowds at other places. If it was a big game, like when Kansas went somewhere, or the Duke/UNC game, the crowd was obviously great from start to finish, but I watched the Kentucky/Georgia game and the UK crowd was listless. Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconin, Penn St...none of them were anything special. None of them sustained anything for more than a few possessions. And, believe it or not, there were a lot of empty seats at the end of just about every game I watched, unless it was a close game.

 

All this to say, the crowd at PBA gets a bad wrap. I don't think we know how good we really have it. It's, at worst, a pretty typical college basketball crowd. If the team lives up to it's potential, I think the crowd will, too.

Edited by uneblinstu
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12 minutes ago, uneblinstu said:

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, IDK, there might have been a different reason, but the atmosphere there wasn't as good as it was in Lincoln. Their fans weren't engaged for the most part until they made their last push to put NU away. Their student section was virtually no existent. When the yell squad shouts into those mega phones, it's just a couple of dudes yelling a couple of words and it's more awkward than it is motivating. Frankly, the crowd at PBA, based on my small sample size, was significantly better than the one at Carver-Hawkeye.

 

I started paying attention to crowds at other places. If it was a big game, like when Kansas went somewhere, or the Duke/UNC game, the crowd was obviously great from start to finish, but I watched the Kentucky/Georgia game and the UK crowd was listless. Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconin, Penn St...none of them were anything special. None of them sustained anything for more than a few possessions. And, believe it or not, there were a lot of empty seats at the end of just about every game I watched, unless it was a close game.

 

All this to say, the crowd at PBA gets a bad wrap. I don't think we know how good we really have it. It's, at worst, a pretty typical college basketball crowd. If the team lives up to it's potential, I think the crowd will, too.

+1,000,000,000,000,000

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I agree with both sides.  Overall crowd is good given the product on the court.

 

But the exiting early crowd needs to be politely encouraged to go UP instead of down.

 

Put an announcement on the screen, have the PA guy repeat it. Not when we are down 20 with 8 minutes to go but maybe during a break early second half of every game before they toss shirts or something, until it sticks.

 

Other easy option is, nobody can set foot on the arena floor unless they are student section or courtside.  Go to any NBA game - you aren't allowed to just come down from row 20 and mill around all the way down to the court level - they have people or a wall blocking the path.

 

This type of stuff would fall under Boehm's jurisdiction.  He is tone deaf so wouldn't be surprised if nothing ever changes.

 

 

 

 

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To add, even the fact that we have side and endcourt areas with 10-15 feet between the first row of non-courtside seats for herds of people to even use is unacceptable.

 

Again, NBA analogy.  Watch any NBA venue and you will notice voids like that don't exist - they actually put (gasp) ROWS OF SEATS in those huge areas as opposed to using them as expressways for losers to leave early.

 

If anybody with a brain was configuring Nebraska's seating alignment, they would not be leaving such valuable real estate void.

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