Crowd For Tomorrow

[uconnsox23]

I'm in 111 too, row 15!

I was in the 7th row with all those drunk hooligans. Hope we didn't disturb you too much.

 

[huskypantz]

Abso-freaking-lutely.

As soon as Shabazz Napier graduates.

Probably would be best if it was a conference game

 

[UconnDon]

A version of the UConn band was there and they were outstanding as always. The "BC" hardly played nor could be heard. ESPN has to focus on BC as they are their team.

However, at the Maryland game, no band and no cheerleaders. Md. had both. We were definitely outnumbered by Terps in Brooklyn.

 

[upstater]

However, at the Maryland game, no band and no cheerleaders. Md. had both. We were definitely outnumbered by Terps in Brooklyn.

It was a home game for Maryland.

 

[UconnDon]

It was a home game for Maryland.

Yeah, I keep hearing that reply. I don't know of any MD. campus in Brooklyn. Because Maryland presumably designates a Brooklyn venue as a "home" game, that prevents UConn from taking the band and cheerleaders some 100 miles to the game?? No doubt, the Terp crowd was probably larger, and certainly louder than UConn presence.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I was at the game. I thought it was nearly even UConn-Indiana. The red color of their clothes make it easier to see. The loud cheering at the end for BC was the Indiana fans. The BC fans overall were few in number and quiet. The UConn student section didn't show up until midway through the first half. Other than the student section, the UConn fans as well were muted in their enthusiasm. The tone of the game, with so many foul calls disrupts the fans as well as the players.

spot on. they actually showed someone with a red uconn shirt on the big screen. doubt there where many of those, but the red shirts definitely stand out.
And, the IU fans were much louder. at the end, when both fan bases were into it, the noise and energy was pretty even.
If anything, it seemed the IU fans were more organized. Like one large voice against several different pockets of uconn fans.

 

[Marty Jackson]

That BC band was reading sheet music for the alma mater. Someone on BCs site said they were a local HS band.

when they were leaving, they all put on jackets that said Columbia Band.
wasnt' sure why at the time, now it makes sense.

Is there anything underhanded or deceitful BC won't attempt? the eagle even cheated in one of the little TO contests...

 

[Marty Jackson]

Tonight will be an away game. The IU fans will be louder.

Our pep band is awesome though!

The Uconn Band was louder, more spirited, and overall head and shoulders above any of the other bands.
Kudos for 'bringin' it to MSG'... Great job on their part.

 

[upstater]

Yeah, I keep hearing that reply. I don't know of any MD. campus in Brooklyn. Because Maryland presumably designates a Brooklyn venue as a "home" game, that prevents UConn from taking the band and cheerleaders some 100 miles to the game?? No doubt, the Terp crowd was probably larger, and certainly louder than UConn presence.

Yes, when you have a home game somewhere, you control the arena. The public address announcer even was all Maryland. When you look at the boxscore on ESPN, it counts as a UConn road win and a Maryland home loss. Maryland controls the tickets, etc.

 

[Marty Jackson]

The number of fans was not that close to being even in terms of pure numbers. IU outnumbered us pretty easily. Thanks to the Hardbody Huskies in section 111 (i.e. RRV17A) it may have seemed like it was even. You're welcome UCONN.

i was definitely surprised by the number of IU fans. I think the numbers were pretty close.

If you were in the section that had 10 husky fans booted and escorted out in the 2nd half, that's just a great visual for the fan base. Thanks.

 

[willie99]

Abso-freaking-lutely.

As soon as Shabazz Napier graduates.

you're going to be better than what the national pollsters think at this moment, a solid squad

 

[uconnsox23]

i was definitely surprised by the number of IU fans. I think the numbers were pretty close.

If you were in the section that had 10 husky fans booted and escorted out in the 2nd half, that's just a great visual for the fan base. Thanks.

No that wasn't us. We were well behaved just loud.

 

[specialisthusky]

The atmosphere last night was wonderful. As others have alluded IU outnumbered us, but I disagree that it was by a wide margin. A lot of business casual UConn fans and the volume of the fanbases was pretty even dispite the sea of red in some sections. My section was predominantly UConn fans, and the majority of them not wearing UConn gear, which is something I will never understand with our fanbase.

The IU fanbase I interacted with both nights were great. Really love their hoosiers and basketball in general. They seemed to really respect our program, which is refreshing considering some of the trash we have seen thrown our way from fanbases due to the APR/conference realignment stuff. It would be great to see another series started with IU. I was able to make it out to Assembly Hall a few years ago when we had the last home and home and it was a great experience.

 

[huskyjawz]

Interesting. Has any compared UConn’s attendance figures with that of the national average? I know attendance is down across the board for almost all teams, which is due to in part to the economy, rising ticket prices, time (I swear everyone works a lot more hours than we all did before the recession), etc. If UConn is at or above the national trend, especially after last year’s nightmare, the Huskies should be OK from that perception.
I bet part of the reason can also be attributed to weakening fan interest due to the loss of so many traditional, regional rivalries. I wonder how much PC, Hall, St. John’s will be hurt financially without UConn and to a lesser extent Syracuse fans invading their arenas once a year?.
Lastly, for CT UConn fans, Metro North sucks (the NJ Transit lines that go head south and west from Penn Station via the Portal Bridge and Newark are just as bad) and I-95 is a freaking joke 20 of the 24 hours in any given day. I can see why folks, especially families, don’t want to make the trip to MSG. Thankfully, I live in Northern Jersey and can drive 10 minutes to the train station, which gets me to either Hoboken (from there the PATH train, which ends a block away from MSG) or transfer trains in Secaucus and arrive right under MSG in less than an hour if the express trains are running or 90 minutes if not.

How exactly does Metro North suck? If you live near a train line, it could not be any easier to get to the Garden.

 

[huskyjawz]

Second level was all UConn. This might be the best attended preseason MSG UConn game in history. Looks like a lot of UConn fans there.

Players need to play with a bit more savvy.

Olander is much better than Phil Nolan so far.

Brimah needs some seasoning.

The second level was 99% empty.

As we suspected they didn't sell tickets up there.

 

[whaler11]

The second level was 99% empty.

As we suspected they didn't sell tickets up there.

Yes that was a funny comment.

 

[huskyjawz]

It's not cool that they close off the cheaper sections, and then force you to buy the more expensive seats. If they are going to only sell tix in the lower bowl then they should still have the full range of price choices for seats available. Whatever the poorest seats that are being sold are should be sold for what the cheapest seats go for, if those sections were available.

This allows people to attend that can't afford expensive seats.

 

[upstater]

The second level was 99% empty.

As we suspected they didn't sell tickets up there.

I'm not referring to the upper level. I'm talking about the second level.

 

[rs2905]

It looks like they started selling upper level tickets only a couple days before the game. I bought mine in 219 yesterday morning, but beforehand had not seen any sold up there. Agree that it was mostly UConn fans though.

 

[upstater]

Yes that was a funny comment.

No, it wasn't. RuffRuff sat in the 200s as did other posters commenting below.

 

[whaler11]

No, it wasn't. RuffRuff sat in the 200s as did other posters commenting below.

There were pictures flying around on twitter. It was all but empty upstairs.

 

[upstater]

There were pictures flying around on twitter. It was all but empty upstairs.

2nds or 3rds?

The only shot I caught was an early 3 by Napier where they showed the second tier behind the basket. This was on the IU bench's side of the court. Behind the basket was full of fans, and while you saw a ton of red shorts below the second level, the second level flipped out and jumped when Bazz's 3 went through. Look at the replay.

Now it may be that the 2nd level center was empty (thoigh people are posting that they sat there) but behind the basket looked full.

 

[whaler11]

2nds or 3rds?

The only shot I caught was an early 3 by Napier where they showed the second tier behind the basket. This was on the IU bench's side of the court. Behind the basket was full of fans, and while you saw a ton of red shorts below the second level, the second level flipped out and jumped when Bazz's 3 went through. Look at the replay.

Now it may be that the 2nd level center was empty (thoigh people are posting that they sat there) but behind the basket looked full.

They published attendance of 10,051 capacity is 19,821. Doesn't that answer the question?

 

[Husky Dynasty]

We had MSG rocking last night -- the atmosphere was tremendous. As others have pointed out, there were a number of UConn fans wearing business casual last night, while the Indiana fans really stuck out with their red 'candy-striper' circus looking ensemble. I thought that the crowd was actually split rather evenly between the the two fan bases. That being said, at least from my vantage point (section 110), it seemed as if the UConn crowd was much more engaged/boisterous throughout the game, while the IU fans (whom seemed respectable enough) primarily sat on their hands and only really exploded after a couple of select plays.

Either way, I thought the UConn fan base really rose to the occasion, and despite the hand-wringing on the Boneyard prior to the game, really acquitted themselves quite well. Also, couldn't complain about the outcome of the game either...

 

[Rico444]

Sounded to me, from my vantage point in section 112, that there were more Indiana fans. During a select few stretches, they got pretty damn loud, louder than we did all night. Don't think we were far behind though; and more consistent. Crowd was great on both sides, Indiana fans were great.