How was the crowd tonight?

[husky429]

Because they are the ones attending the school?

And? No one said they can't go. I just don't understand prioritizing the student experience over others. Everyone is a fan and college basketball is a money-making business. This isn't Bristol Central HS where the only people going are students.

 

[kemba]

If you went to UConn, you'd know that the student experience at XL is awkward at best compared to Gampel where, if you get early enough, can be right on the court. Huge difference in venues for the students.

This is true but they generally suck in both places these days. I mean kudos for showing up to these games during break and they also get there early but during the game they’ve basically been just another section not acting like a student section. Last night there was a let’s go huskies chant late in the second half and that’s the first chant I remember hearing all game…not sure if students even started that one or not.

Don’t really get it, spending the entire game being over the top loud and crazy isn’t supposed to be an obligation it’s what makes sitting in the student section fun.

 

[Waquoit]

where's @Waquoit ? What did you think?

The XL crowd always has a buzz, an edge that Gampel doesn't. It was no difference last night. I still don't get the anti-XL agenda from those who don't go to games.

 

[husky429]

The XL crowd always has a buzz, an edge that Gampel doesn't. It was no difference last night. I still don't get the anti-XL agenda from those who don't go to games.

I'm giving it a like for the drama. It's not a post-game thread without complaints about XL/Gampel crowds.

 

[August_West]

The XL crowd always has a buzz, an edge that Gampel doesn't. It was no difference last night. I still don't get the anti-XL agenda from those who don't go to games.

How about from those who do?

 

[HuskyFich]

Why is the focus always on student experience for the games?

I swear it's a genuinely, not snarky (rare for me) question.

Students aren't buying season tickets or donating to the athletic department. Kids get excited when you win games--I'm not sure whether they win at Gampel or XL really matters.

I am probably wrong for some reason I can't foresee. But I really think undergrads on the whole are the biggest bunch of morons on the planet, so here we are.

Pretty bad take here dude.

You talk about the undergrads as pegs on a board.

You should be talking about them as diehard fans (many, not all) who have grown up watching their team play and finally have the ability to go to that school and support them.

They pay more per year to that school than most of us anyways.

Calling undergrads morons…do better bro. People could argue the same about some people who live on message boards…

 

[Waquoit]

How about from those who do?

I guess I don't understand that either, but there are far, far fewer. Last night the place was packed way before tipoff and ready to explode. Those that say the Gampel crowd is better these days are just lying.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Those that say the Gampel crowd is better these days are just lying.

Or maybe just an opinion? Personally, I'm pretty bad at lying and I think Gampel is a far superior experience.

Even though one of my favorite recent fan experiences was the UConn/Wichita State game at XL (snuck down to the bottom level, so close, where I was able to hear Erik Stevenson talk crap).

Let's make another poll!

 

[Vancat]

Season ticket holders to both venues for many, many years. I clearly remember those BE games in the 80s where the Civic Center got CRAZY LOUD. It's what got me hooked on UCBB. I know more people make more noise, but I'll take the Gampel noise any day. It's on campus. It's got the University vibe. It's a cool venue. It doesn't smell bad. You can be in the back row and still see just fine. And on. Gampel's just special.

 

[Waquoit]

Or maybe just an opinion? Personally, I'm pretty bad at lying and I think Gampel is a far superior experience.

It looks like it comes easy to you. I posted about the crowd and you changed it to experience to avoid agreeing with me.

 

[husky429]

Pretty bad take here dude.

You talk about the undergrads as pegs on a board.

You should be talking about them as diehard fans (many, not all) who have grown up watching their team play and finally have the ability to go to that school and support them.

They pay more per year to that school than most of us anyways.

Calling undergrads morons…do better bro. People could argue the same about some people who live on message boards…

You don't know UConn or the business side of universities (like our AD) if you think undergrads are anything more than pegs on a board. This is ALL business to them.

I am aware that undergrads become diehard fans. I grew up a diehard fan too. I still don't understand why that means some folks think prioritizing their fan experience over others is warranted. If the team is successful, those same people will become diehard fans. I'm not saying stick them in the nosebleeds... just why prioritize them over any other fan?

And I would imagine that even though very little of the $$$ they spend is actually going to athletics, it is something that will affect applications to the school. Good fan experience = excitement about bball = bigger reputation and more $$$ for UConn in the long run. I would imagine this is how the ADs around the country think of it.

Undergrads are morons. As are folks who live on message boards. It's certainly not mutually exclusive. You seem offended... which is odd. You do you, though.

 

[Rocktheworld]

It was quieter maybe because every time we were about to run away with game Nova hit a big shot or we missed a shot. If we had a run like Joey California did in Georgetown game the place would have been nuts. The crowd was loud just didn’t get a chance to prolong it.

Oh trust, we had the same thing happen with GTown as far as starting a run, Gampel getting loud, and then someone would hit some really difficult shot

 

[CTBasketball]

I guess I don't understand that either, but there are far, far fewer. Last night the place was packed way before tipoff and ready to explode. Those that say the Gampel crowd is better these days are just lying.

Much easier to booze up in Hartford. The streets were packed to the gills, bars were crammed, taps were flowing.

I love Gampel too but waiting 45 min to get a drink at Teds/Husky’s blows. And as I say that, I’ll be there at 8am for the Creighton game drinking a fine Miller Lite.

 

[kemba]

You don't know UConn or the business side of universities (like our AD) if you think undergrads are anything more than pegs on a board. This is ALL business to them.

I am aware that undergrads become diehard fans. I grew up a diehard fan too. I still don't understand why that means some folks think prioritizing their fan experience over others is warranted. If the team is successful, those same people will become diehard fans. I'm not saying stick them in the nosebleeds... just why prioritize them over any other fan?

And I would imagine that even though very little of the $$$ they spend is actually going to athletics, it is something that will affect applications to the school. Good fan experience = excitement about bball = bigger reputation and more $$$ for UConn in the long run. I would imagine this is how the ADs around the country think of it.

Undergrads are morons. As are folks who live on message boards. It's certainly not mutually exclusive. You seem offended... which is odd. You do you, though.

How are we prioritizing students though? We play half our home games in a dump of a hockey arena half an hour from campus with an awful setup for a student section. We play football half an hour off campus as well. Even in gampel the student seats aren’t as good as several other top tier programs that give them at least some sideline seats.

I’m not saying we need to do more for them but I feel we do a lot less to prioritize students than other schools. So if you’re not suggesting stick them in the nosebleeds, what are you suggesting?

 

[UDann]

Oh trust, we had the same thing happen with GTown as far as starting a run, Gampel getting loud, and then someone would hit some really difficult shot

True but the Georgetown had a sustained run where we made shot after shot. That didn’t happen last night. When XL us rocking with all those people it’s louder than Gampel. Last years Villanova game was amazingly loud. Last night never got that chance. Credit Villanova

 

[CTBasketball]

How are we prioritizing students though? We play half our home games in a dump of a hockey arena half an hour from campus with an awful setup for a student section. We play football half an hour off campus as well. Even in gampel the student seats aren’t as good as several other top tier programs that give them at least some sideline seats.

I’m not saying we need to do more for them but I feel we do a lot less to prioritize students than other schools. So if you’re not suggesting stick them in the nosebleeds, what are you suggesting?

Here comes the ole’ “let’s move everything on campus” post again.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

It looks like it comes easy to you. I posted about the crowd and you changed it to experience to avoid agreeing with me.

Darn, you figured out my strategy all along, I'm toast.

 

[Kemba Time]

15,564 people are louder than 10,167 people, period. End of discussion, not even worth debating. If you think otherwise you are either delusional, bad at math or a moron. It doesn’t really matter which, so go ahead and diagnose yourself.

If you play the same game in a sold-out Gampel or a sold-out XL, Hartford will be louder every single time because there are 5,000 additional screaming mouths in the building. Especially because, get this, it’s the same fan base. Fans who attend games in Hartford are former students and diehard UConn fans who grew up and are still huge UConn fans enough that they pay to support the team, many of whom are such big fans because the extra 5,000 seats allowed them to attend more games over the years.

Now, the venues and their locations? That is a very different subject than the crowds who pack them, with myriad reasons for individual preference dictated by everything from on-campus vibe, ease of travel and proximity to bars to which overcrowded concourse you like to spend halftime navigating.

But stop telling the 15,000+ who show up, scream like hell and support the heck out of this team that it’s somehow an inferior crowd because you prefer to see dorms and a student union than a strip of bars and restaurants when you walk out of the building.

 

[BlueMAB]

They eliminated a large section of season tickets above the bar in order to add seats for students.

 

[husky429]

How are we prioritizing students though? We play half our home games in a dump of a hockey arena half an hour from campus with an awful setup for a student section. We play football half an hour off campus as well. Even in gampel the student seats aren’t as good as several other top tier programs that give them at least some sideline seats.

I’m not saying we need to do more for them but I feel we do a lot less to prioritize students than other schools. So if you’re not suggesting stick them in the nosebleeds, what are you suggesting?

You're not wrong. Makes me wonder if it's more talk the talk than walk the walk from the AD. I hear a lot of people on here echoing stuff about "improving the student experience!!" and was primarily responding to that.

I think the student experience is fine at every venue.

 

[kemba]

Here comes the ole’ “let’s move everything on campus” post again.

Literally said in that post “I’m not suggesting we do more for students” but do you

 

[GlastonTim]

The crowd will respond to how the team plays and how the opponent shuts them up. My wife’s Apple Watch had readings of 122 peak the last 2 games(Georgetown and Nova). If we had a Calcaterra run last night the XL would have exploded! Each game had its own personality. Still great both places!

 

[UConnSwag11]

Because they are the ones attending the school?

15,000 other fans aren’t students

 

[CL82]

This is true but they generally suck in both places these days.

TMI

 

[CL82]

Here comes the ole’ “let’s move everything on campus” post again.

The state will never rebuild the arena, and has only shown limited interest in renovating it. Eventually, the state will recognize at its annual deficit isn’t generating sufficient facility or even community revenue to keep it open.

In the meantime, though, I wish the CDRA, would not charge confiscatory lease, venue fees and ticket surcharges. All that serves to do is shift some of the CDRA’s annual operating deficit to the UConn athletic department. That is my primary beef with playing at the XL, it is a money, losing proposition for us, except in the case of sellouts, where it is pretty much breakeven.

Still, last night sounded pretty good to me on TV. As the season progresses, and games become even more meaningful, the crowd will be better about sustaining intensity.