Student Section

[Nukem2]

The BC is fine.  The problem Saturday simply was poor student turnout and students sitting on their hands.  This year's student crowd is way behind recent years.  Sad but true. 

[TallTitan34]

Isn't 75%-80% of the Bradley Center non-students?  We can cheer too you know.

By moving students closer to the court, you take away seats from big donors.  Not feasable.

Though a few years age, before Craig Pintens left us, he considered doing a bowtie with the student section putting students on either end behind the backboards.  I liked that idea but it never went through.

[MU gimp ONE]

i agree with strokin 3's... the first half was even depressing how quiet the students and FANS were.  everyone was quiet and it was embarrassing.  if the regular fans are sitting on their hands, it's the students job to make the place loud.  this year they have been awesome showing up in larger numbers than all years before... but Saturday was a joke.  lots of students and still no noise.

my favorite part of the game... the "jump around guy" calling out the student section for being so lame. 

let's get our act together and get a winning streak going again.

[bs4173]

The BC is fine.  The problem Saturday simply was poor student turnout and students sitting on their hands.  This year's student crowd is way behind recent years.  Sad but true. 

This year's team is way behind recent years. Sad but true.

Isn't 75%-80% of the Bradley Center non-students?  We can cheer too you know.

+1

[tower912]

Sorry, but the team gave no reason for the students to cheer in the second half. And don't say "it's your duty to cheer at all times for your team...when they're down is when they need you."

it's tough to cheer when your team blows, your coach is making stupid decisions, you're exhausted from projects and exams (finals week is next week, but a ton of professors bump theirs up a week). besides, way too many alums act all high and mighty as if they were a deafening presence at every single game they went to. at least student attendance is respectable; with the exception of the Final Four year, attendance is as high as it it has ever been.

I was there straddling the Majerus and Dukiet years.   You have no idea what bad basketball looks like.    My memories of my time in the student section include booing the alumni who wouldn't get off their butts,  having someone I knew spill beer on Digger , and having friends from high school ask me if I was that _______ they saw on WGN during the DePaul/Dayton/ Notre Dame game.   Then having to confess in front of my parents that it was.       While doing projects, taking finals, working 20 hours a week, etc.    
I feel your pain, but sometimes you have to cowboy up even when your team is so bad you are worried about losing to the likes of Niagara, Fordham, Siena

[Hards Alumni]

Saturday afternoon games were the hardest for me to find time to get to (unless it was a bigger conf game) since I used the afternoons to study so I could enjoy my Saturday evenings...

Think about it, if you pregame for the Saturday afternoon games you are not going to be studying Saturday night and most likely still hungover that half your Sunday is shot, not to mention the desire to watch NFL games...

School ended for me after my last class on Friday, and began either, late Sunday night, or during my first class on Monday.

Missing a basketball game was out of the question.

[Brewtown Andy]

Let's be honest here: With a 2pm Saturday start for the biggest non-conference game on the schedule, there was no reason for the top half of the upper deck to be empty with 1:22 left before tipoff.

http://twitpic.com/sa7am

[larryt4]

Could they have been any worse for this game?  Seriously, no noise at all coming from this area.  The BC felt like the driest dullest place to ever watch a basketball game.  Nobody made any sort of noise and specifically I am referencing the first half when MU was winning.  Seriously students, wake up, get a clue.

I'm sure when you went to school every single game was packed to the max, with every person yelling their heads off the entire time. I'm also sure it was full despite having to walk 10 miles in blizzards for every game going uphill both ways. Im sure you were such a good cheerer that opposing teams never ever made a free throw. Seriously, get a clue.

[muhoosier260]

Could they have been any worse for this game?  Seriously, no noise at all coming from this area.  The BC felt like the driest dullest place to ever watch a basketball game.  Nobody made any sort of noise and specifically I am referencing the first half when MU was winning.  Seriously students, wake up, get a clue.

Yes, they could be worse. They showed it tonight.

[wyoMUfan]

Larry his post was related to the nc state game.
read the post date before freakin' out. the nc game was pretty sad for a saturday afternoon

[muPARTY]

my time at MU (02-07) the student section was pretty goood.  obviously it grew to amazing through the 02-03 season.  was strong till the end of the following seaon (NIT).  had its moments early on 04-05 (AZ, WI games) but was dead by the end when the team was bad and diener was out.  The Amigos (and this guy named Novak for a year) along with the Big East rejuvinated the students to make the Bradley Center rocking.

just a few observations...
* student tickets have almost doubled in price, $55 my freshman year in '02
* i think the print at home ticketing has taken something away.  i loved it when i got an book of student tickets for that season being able to give them away or trade.  something about physically having it
* no camping out in line overnight at the BC anymore (well couldnt when i graduated, would assume no now)
* lack of innovatoin at the games (introduced the heads, the barrel that launches balls, and that noise meter all within like 2.5 seasons, nothing since)
* Annex have raised their prices for pitchers of beer by almost $2 since its management was outsourced this summer
* lack of the school getting behind its identity.  Get people behind the Golden Eagles.  half the student section chant was Let's Go Warriors, the others dont know what to say.
* lack of any kind of "pep rallyish" activity prior to games.  they really had gone into such an anti-drinking mode, i think they fear anything they do will (indirectly) encourage drinking.  i never understood why the annex didnt have some cheep beer/food/bowling special hourse before games.

if you can't get them in seats, let alone loud and active for UWM and NC St, then what hope is there for break games: North Florida and Presbyterian (which isnt even on local tv)

[ChicosBailBonds]

The BC is fine.  The problem Saturday simply was poor student turnout and students sitting on their hands.  This year's student crowd is way behind recent years.  Sad but true. 

Why do you think that is?  Not enough cultivation of the students by the athletic department?  No buzz about the team?  Low expectations?

[PaintTouches]

I'm a student right now and as much as I'd like to defend myself and the student section I can't. It's pathetic right now. I went on the Depaul trip last year and the 40 or so of us made more noise at the Allstate Arena than the 1500 or so regularly showing up at the Bradley Center. We were told to sit down by a group of girls behind us today. I think that pretty much sums up the student section this year.

As for possible reasons why: it's early and expectations are low. Like it or not, out of the 8,000 or so undergraduates only 1,000 or so will be actual fans that will support the team win or lose. Everyone else is of the fair weather variety so in order to get them to the BC and loud, there needs to be a little hype. There needs to be a bandwagon for people to jump on. Everyone knew about the Big Three last year and the high rankings only helped.

As the calender turns and the match-ups become more appealing, more people will show up and the noise level should improve. I hope.

[MUrugger]

Some sense seems to be creeping back into this thread but what's with the shots to the alums??  This umbrage was never part of MU when I was there. Who TF is some MU undergrad to take shots at an alum who came before him?  Who raised the little snot-nosed whiner?

Rather than crab about "walking through snow drifts both ways" and other made up garbage I'd be happy to tell the young precious how it was.

We played games at the 10,000 seat MECCA and every game was sold out.  It didn't matter if it was Wisconsin, Notre Dame or North Dakota State.  We cheered our ass off, before finals, after finals and during finals. We stood in line for two days at the beginning of the semester for the privilege of getting tickets and felt lucky when we did.  We drank though all of the above.  I'd say that roughly 7000 of the 8000 or so undergrads did really care about the team and well, yeah, we were pretty good.  A guy named McGuire was the coach.

The school didn't participate in ten NCAA intercollegiate sports.  I don't think we had men's or women's soccer, the women's bball team didn't have much of a team or following and the Rugby Club I participated in was banned and officially unrecognized by the University.  (Something about excessive drinking, nudity, I forget...)

We didn't have i pods, Madden, Twitter or graphics with guys burning their crotch on message boards.  We didn't have message boards. Blogs??

The excuses for a lack of vocal support are just that...excuses.  Sure a lot of things have changed in 30+ years, but I don't get how cheering for the basketball team by those lucky enough to be there should be one of them.

[larryt4]

well the point is, he probably picked the wrong medium to relay his message. The undergrads who frequent this board are probably not the one's skipping games because of finals and snow. Also, we are probably the loudest and most intense at the games.

I am envious of your experiences at MU, I wish I could have witnessed the Al era, but you must understand that coming on here and criticizing us, when us on this board are as die-hard as you were, may strike a wrong note. I don't think I would spend hours on this site and others reading MU basketball, and not be grateful for the games and experiences. I attended every game last year, and plan on it this year as well.

[MUsoxfan]

My freshman year (99) there was hardly a student section to speak of.   The casual student wants to see winning basketball and won't waste their time if expectations are low.  Win some games...they'll be there and they'll be loud.    I think it's unfair to expect a raucous crowd for every game.   We're not a school with a huge enrollment.  When half the students at the school have tickets you'd have to expect a sizable percentage are there for the social aspect, not so much the basketball aspect. 

[PE8983]

As soon as you get married, have kids, a job 6 hours from Milwaukee, and would kill for an NC State game in Milw on a weekend, you may appreciate it a little more.  Some of you who have season tickets and live in the area will only appreciate it after you move away and don't have the opportunity to go.

I watched the game last night on TV, and I heard nothing from the student section.  However, it appeared that a fair amount showed up.  There were some shots of the students during play, and many didn't even look like they were watching the game. 

My question is, if you're going to make the effort to get down there thru the weather, take time from your other activities or studies, why not get rowdy and show some support?  You're already there - you may as well make it worth while.

[radome]

We played games at the 10,000 seat MECCA and every game was sold out.  It didn't matter if it was Wisconsin, Notre Dame or North Dakota State.

I think the venue did change things a bit.  During my four years, you could only get half season tickets.  As much fun as it was at the MECCA, I think that letting the students in to all games at the Bradley Center, even with some games lightly attended, is a much better option.

[Brewtown Andy]

I watched the game last night on TV, and I heard nothing from the student section.  However, it appeared that a fair amount showed up. 

If by fair amount, you mean less than 50 people in the upper deck section.

[4everwarriors]

Why do you think that is?  Not enough cultivation of the students by the athletic department?  No buzz about the team?  Low expectations?

I know. Crean is gone so all the rah-rah, Gold, 6th man, pizza give aways, family bullshit left with him.

[PE8983]

You can never see the upper deck student turnout on TV.

[goldeneagles09]

I graduated from MU last year, so I was there for all 4 years of the three amigos. My freshman year the student section started out decent. We cheered, but it didn't seem like a special experience. All that changed January 2nd, 2006. Big East Opener. Huge underdogs against #2 UConn, and we just learned Wes Matthews would be out for a while. A lot of people were excited to see such a big game, but never would have expected the results. The young team with its senior leader went off and crushed UConn. New students learned that Marquette basketball was special and the fan base was completely changed for the next 4 years.

I think once Big East season hits and we win some of those games we aren't supposed to win (esp at home) the entire fan base will be reenergized, and the student section will learn just how special it is to be at games. Yes it's a shame that a large part of the fan base (student section and otherwise) is less enthusiastic. Once the BEast season hits there needs to be tons of promotion, students need to realize how huge these games are, and with those wins I bet we'll get back to that electric atmosphere.

[ESPN540]

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[hdog1017]

Way back when I was a freshman in 98 (the last year of the Mike Deane era), the student section was completely empty.  I had season tix and I would get there at tip-off and I would sit in the first rows easy.  As time went on, the team got better and the student section got fuller.  With the anticipated drop-off that the team had coming into this year, I fully expected the student section to drop-off as well.  Not saying that its right, but the student section over the past few years probably had its share of bandwagon fans.  

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Way back when I was a freshman in 98 (the last year of the Mike Deane era), the student section was completely empty.  I had season tix and I would get there at tip-off and I would sit in the first rows easy.  As time went on, the team got better and the student section got fuller.  With the anticipated drop-off that the team had coming into this year, I fully expected the student section to drop-off as well.  Not saying that its right, but the student section over the past few years probably had its share of bandwagon fans.  

this.