How our home fans look

[Fairfield_1st]

This may sound idiotic for a post, but we have some of the least passionate looking fans around. On TV you can't tell if they're there for a UConn game or Disney on ice. Is it that hard to wear some National Flag Blue and White. If not for needing donor money, I'd move the students to mid-court in a heartbeat. They're always in blue and energetic. I thought maybe UConn could sell an official game day shirt for $10 and then you receive discounts on concessions when you purchase something with the shirt on, give them an incentive to wear it every game.
This may be a stupid topic, but I have very little to complain about with the game so I'm going after how we appear on TV.

 

[jleves]

Grammar and spelling are too good to be HFD. Perhaps a better educated brother?

 

[FeedTheDove]

While most people will probably roast you for this thread, I agree 100%. It was almost embarrassing at the Indiana game. Every single Indiana fan there had red on or even those obnoxious red/white pants. I had UConn fans behind me that I didnt even realize were UConn fans because they didn't have anything on relative to the school. You see people going to UConn games in suits, sweaters, button downs. Its annoying. It's NOT hard to bring a blue UConn shirt to wear to the game after you get out of work. Instead I see brown, green, yellow, red all scattered around Gampel.

 

[imno1]

This may sound idiotic for a post, but we have some of the least passionate looking fans around. On TV you can't tell if they're there for a UConn game or Disney on ice. Is it that hard to wear some National Flag Blue and White. If not for needing donor money, I'd move the students to mid-court in a heartbeat. They're always in blue and energetic. I thought maybe UConn could sell an official game day shirt for $10 and then you receive discounts on concessions when you purchase something with the shirt on, give them an incentive to wear it every game.
This may be a stupid topic, but I have very little to complain about with the game so I'm going after how we appear on TV.

How many games have you been to this year?

 

[Fairfield_1st]

How many games have you been to this year?

I have been to 0 basketball games which is why my point of reference is the TV. My sporting dollars go into season tickets for football. For football I have an XXL UConn footnall jersey that easily fits outside whatever winter clothes I'm wearing. I am not one of the people I'm complaining about.

 

[Palatine]

This is not the fault of the fans. The university should have established a wear blue culture long ago. This falls into a quasi-marketing type thing. But itnis something that should come out of the athletic director's office in an official or unofficial way.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

This falls into a quasi-marketing type thing. But itnis something that should come out of the athletic director's office in an official or unofficial way.

That is why with my post I made a suggestion on how to rectify this that would include the marketing dept. I won't give fans a completely free pass as every fan knows to wear their team's colors to events. Some of these same folks may wear Giants or Pats jerseys to thos games. even my wife knows to wear a Red Sox jersey to Fenway. It's something we should just know to do.

 

[jreider]

I agree. They should sell an affordable priced navy blue t-shirt that encourages fans to wear it to games. Lots of schools have "official gameday" shirts for each year.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Since we're heading down this cobra hole again, who ever the ticket holders are that sit behind the UConn bench, please stop showing up five minutes in to the game.

It's the same group of seats every time. They're in the seats midway through the first half but almost never before the opening tip.

It's very odd to see the most highly-prized seats in the house not filled 10 minutes before the tip.

 

[Montaleno]

Fairflield 1st, You are right, and you will take some heat, because becuase alot of people on this board believe if you donate money that makes you a diehard, but there's more to it. The biggest donors are closest to the court and vocally are the worst fans. They don't cheer. The best fans(Loudest) are in the second level, and behind the basket at Gampel(students). I believe all the students should all be in the lower level at Gampel. This would create a great home court atmosphere and would be great for the players and recruits who attend the game.

 

[Marat]

This is probably the only way it will work at UConn. Put a t-shirt on every seat before game.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

Hopefully we can white out Louisville , seems like it would be the time to have such thing

 

[tykurez]

Unfortunately, we just don't have colors that are conducive to the "look" you're going for. I would love to have a white out every game, but it's just not happening.

 

[CTBasketball]

I was always a huge supporter of signs and banners, but the athletic department bans any signs being brought into the arena.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

In case anyone noticed the empty seats were the student section on the side of the UCONN bench. The rest of Gampel was filled. I realize students were on break, I also resize that I'd imagine at least 50 percent of the student body is within an hour of Gampel.

Crowds have been fine and for a big game very few places are as electric as Gampel.

 

[storrsroars]

Even if just the student section all wore the same thing it would go a long way. Not to keep bringing up Pitt as an example, but the students all have Oakland Zoo shirts and they're on camera often. The rest of the crowd is just showing up with whatever (including the ubiquitous Steeler jerseys and Pens sweaters - although now you might find a Cutch uni).

 

[Marat]

I was always a huge supporter of signs and banners, but the athletic department bans any signs being brought into the arena.

I found that out at the XL when going with my daughter a few years back. Had to throw out the sign. I think yhey should allow tasteful signs into the arena.

Also they don't allow noise makers. I was sitting a few rows from the court for an XL game and started using this noise maker which was taken away for the rest of the game (given back at end).

The AD should get involved and improve the home games atmosphere's one way or another.

 

[Chin Diesel]

This is probably the only way it will work at UConn. Put a t-shirt on every seat before game.

When you look at the still shot of the video, look behind the UConn bench. Empty seats. Almost half that section is empty.

 

[HuskyHawk]

A few points on this. First, it was better before. I was at the first ever game at Gampel, had the coveted Gold Ticket, and during that era, people wore blue and white and you saw fewer suits at the game, especially at Gampel. I don't know what students wear on campus now, but then, the blue or grey UCONN hoodie/sweatshirt was daily attire for many, along with blue and white striped rugby shirts. Something has changed for the worse.

Second, I went to Kansas for three years of law school and this was never a problem. Hell, on game day, everyone in town is in crimson and blue, at the supermarket, at bars, at Wal-Mart, Taco Bell, let alone the people actually entering Allen Field House. From what I can see, it is very consistent still.

So they need to do something, including moving students down low (at least behind both baskets...insane not to do that). Maybe find some incentive to get people to wear blue/white. They also need to find a way for people to get tickets to those who want to attend. Some kind of ticket exchange so that seats don't go empty.

 

[weo777]

Give free tees out to some decent looking women as well.

 

[BoatShow]

Considering the opposite basket from students now are fairly cheap its pretty dopey to stick them in the second deck. To counter that, there are times (like last game) when there very few students in that second section. People always say season ticket holders who can't make the game should be able to donate their seats to students but that goes both ways. I've been
noticing during a lot of games lately that student sections have been totally barren (trust me, our Harvard and UCF crowds are in about the 90 percentile for student break attendance). Places like Duke however stick random people in "The Cameron Crazies" and obviously the atmosphere isn't the same but looks better. Today a buddy was telling me he couldn't find seats to UCF and I'm pretty sure the university sold all the seats or at least advertised on Friday or Thursday there was less than 200 availible. Stubhub only had singles for days before the game. Meanwhile the through the door attendance was like 9500 meaning about 700 (not all them being students) didn't use their tickets. Of course once they're sold the school doesn't really care if you show up but people would have used those seats!

Rant over.

 

[uconnng8]

Considering the opposite basket from students now are fairly cheap its pretty dopey to stick them in the second deck. To counter that, there are times (like last game) when there very few students in that second section. People always say season ticket holders who can't make the game should be able to donate their seats to students but that goes both ways. I've been
noticing during a lot of games lately that student sections have been totally barren (trust me, our Harvard and UCF crowds are in about the 90 percentile for student break attendance). Places like Duke however stick random people in "The Cameron Crazies" and obviously the atmosphere isn't the same but looks better. Today a buddy was telling me he couldn't find seats to UCF and I'm pretty sure the university sold all the seats or at least advertised on Friday or Thursday there was less than 200 availible. Stubhub only had singles for days before the game. Meanwhile the through the door attendance was like 9500 meaning about 700 (not all them being students) didn't use their tickets. Of course once they're sold the school doesn't really care if you show up but people would have used those seats!

Rant over.

yea, its really annoying that the school doesn't try to make any accommodations for seating when students are on break.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

For everyone bitching and moaning, just go to the damn game Saturday and realize there likely aren't ten better college basketball atmospheres in America and be grateful for what we have.

You realize the " our fans suck" is a recurring topic on almost every message board in America?

UConn crowds can be as lame as anyone in America, but at our best in Gampel or XL very few places come close.

 

[Dave Carlson]

I haven't even the vaguest idea why it would matter to anyone what fans wear to games as long as they're not wearing the colors of the opposing team. I pay exactly no attention to this.

I am amused that there are people running some sort of a school spirit dress code competition in their heads that would cause them to see grown men at MSG wearing red and white clown pants and instead of thinking "are you going to get shot out of a cannon at half time?" feeling that UConn fans have somehow failed to measure up. If we all dressed in white (or blue), would opposing players say to themselves "I was confident before I got here, but now I'm not so sure about our chances because i see that the UConn fans really got their color coordination together today"? Or is this some sort of meta thing where we want fans from other teams who are also running a school spirit dress code competition in their heads to give us respect? "Oh no, a Syracuse fan found a whole section of people at Gampel not wearing color coordinated gear! The shame!"

This is really stupid even by Boneyard standards.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

You realize the " our fans suck" is a recurring topic on almost every message board in America?

Just to be clear, this was not started as an "our fans suck" thread. For the most part we have good basketball fans. It was merely commentary on how we visually come off on TV. For me to comment on the fans I think I would have needed to be at the game, which I wasn't. This was directed to a degree at UConn Marketing to come up with an idea and to put a lottle ownus on the fans to look at how they dress prior to leaving the house/office. As we all know, perception is everything.