Last XL game Thursday

[selles]

I was in the upper deck. I saw the suits stand a few times.

It was nice to see them spend forty seconds doing something the students were doing the whole game.

I'm sure watching the energy and enthusiasm of the students had nothing to do with it. It must have just been divine intervention.

I was in the upper deck too and nah, it had nothing to do with the energy and enthusiasm of the students. Seriously. It was a good crowd Saturday with a lot of good fans who were trying to will the team on to victory. I've been to plenty of games at Gampel and at the Civic Center, and for a money game nothing beats the decibel levels of Hartford.

 

[UConnDad]

Gampel isn't a better atmosphere because the fans there are better. The fans are mostly the same. Gampel is a better atmosphere because it's a better venue. Crowd is right on top of the court, not as spacious, more students close to the court.

Comparing the crowds this year when the 4 best matchups have been at XL makes no sense. And saying that "as usual" the XL crowds are better is bull . XL has the advantages of fitting more people and being easier to get to for people. For those reasons it's not going anywhere. So there is no need to make up any other advantages it has.

The biggest issue I have with Gampel is the bleacher seats. If you are older than say five there is simply inadequate space for a normal human. If you like knees in your back the entire game while trying not to do the same to the person in front of you then be my guest. Forget trying to get to your seat if its mid row. This should be the kids section! Put seats in.

 

[Waquoit]

So the truth comes out. You don't care about the atmosphere or really think the XL is better...you just don't want to lose YOUR seats.
It's about you, isn't it? That's all it is. Same thing for Waq...you have good seats and you'll be damned if anyone is going to take them.
It's fine if that's what it is. But don't pretend it's anything other than looking out for your own self interests.

Gee, it's bad enough when the on-air talent at ESPN play psych major. But you are just not honest. You dismiss the great atmosphere by the crowd just because it was in Hartford. You cite the UNH game as "soulless", while saying nothing about the Stony Brook game. That that crowd was in a coma. What is your angle? There is no hidden agenda to what I post about this. It's not about seats. Hartford being a dead place to play is an urban myth and when guys like you perpetuate the myth I'm going to react, or in this case get out in front of it. I will grant that Hartford has lower lows than Gampel, however it has higher highs and normals.

 

[diggerfoot]

The fact that we are contrasting the vast difference between highs and lows of fan support at both venues is telling. The schools with the most rabid fan support, such as the Cameron Crazies, do not have as great a difference between the highs and lows. The secret to this kind of success is to make it easy for students to develop a habit, a culture even, into attending games that sustains attendance even with the crappy opponents. UConn does almost everything the opposite of what would lead to a student habit for attending games, holding them at XL Center being just one of a few of these factors.

I'm not sure that always holding games at Gampel would rectify the vast differences our program has between the high and low fan support at either venue, since there are other factors involved as well that discourages student attendance from becoming a habit. However, it would be one necessary step towards having the more consistent support that occurs at other schools who actually try to make the habitual attendance of games by students easy.

 

[Brad Palmer]

I've been to Cameron Indoor for 2 games and while the student section is quite impressive, I honestly didn't think the fans in the remainder of the stadium were louder than many normal UConn crowds. I sat in the upper corner vs. Virginia and there many older fans who didn't do much at all in the way of constant cheering.

 

[Robertelamin]

Games will be t the XL Center, deal with it.

 

[BUHusky]

I was at the XL tonight (3rd game of the year) and it was especially awful. The crowd was completely dead for 38 minutes, the end zones of the upper deck were barren wastelands, and the student section was more than half empty. It was just a sad scene for most of the game. Outside of a couple games a year, the XL pretty much sucks.

I know they are going to stop using the XL, I just wish the administration would do two things (which of course they won't). 1) Play a majority of the home games at Gampel (which hasn't been the case in ages). 2) Play the marquee games at Gampel. The players and students deserve that much.

 

[Ts5034]

It seems like this is an endless argument we have about 6 times a year. Im all for more games being at Gampel but im not exactly an XL center hater. Ive been to plenty of loud and electric games in Hartford over the last 15 years like ND 04, Indiana 05, Syracuse and UL this year were really loud even without a sellout. With that said, nothing compares to a big game at Gampel. The two most electric games ive been to at Gampel were Texas in 2010 and Syracuse for gameday last year. No question Gampel is a better environment and a harder place for the opposition to win.

I will guarantee that if you ask any UConn player since 1990 when Gampel opened where they like playing better...100% say Gampel over Hartford. If you ask them which place has the better fan support...100% say Gampel over Hartford.

 

[alexd]

Can't believe how average the student support was last night. Tons of empty seats. Must have been some good parties on campus to attend last night.

 

[phillionaire]

Can't believe how average the student support was last night. Tons of empty seats. Must have been some good parties on campus to attend last night.

It was pretty pathetic. Looked like it was less than half full.

 

[Marat]

It was pretty pathetic. Looked like it was less than half full.

It was also pretty empty during last Saturday's game vs Nova.

 

[Matt (Chicago)]

It was also pretty empty during last Saturday's game vs Nova.

I'm sorry but no way. That was the $15 ticket game, and it was packed to the top, especially in the center sections.

 

[Marat]

I'm sorry but no way. That was the $15 ticket game, and it was packed to the top, especially in the center sections.

True - those seats were filled, but the floor seats by the band were pretty empty.

 

[Matt (Chicago)]

i see... so because those were "pretty empty" the whole place was "pretty empty." got it.

 

[Jerry1714]

Gee, it's bad enough when the on-air talent at ESPN play psych major. But you are just not honest. You dismiss the great atmosphere by the crowd just because it was in Hartford. You cite the UNH game as "soulless", while saying nothing about the Stony Brook game. That that crowd was in a coma. What is your angle? There is no hidden agenda to what I post about this. It's not about seats. Hartford being a dead place to play is an urban myth and when guys like you perpetuate the myth I'm going to react, or in this case get out in front of it. I will grant that Hartford has lower lows than Gampel, however it has higher highs and normals.

As someone who has had season tickets since 1987 I could not disagree with this statement more. It is flat out wrong.

The highs are Hartford are great, not at the same levels as the highs at Gampel though and the "normal" Hartford crowd is a mile away from the "normal" Gampel crowd.

 

[GlastonTim]

11,100 at the game last nite

 

[tykurez]

11,100 at the game last nite

Place was dead, and it was a pretty poor performance by the ones that were there (myself included.) But the entire place was standing for the last 8 minutes. That was fun.

 

[alexd]

11,100 at the game last nite

There's no way that number is correct. The Courant was saying a few days ago that 3,000 itckets remained.

The large groups of empty seats were high up on the ends and upper corners. If capacity is 16,284, I would guess it was 13,000 last night...but that's just me. There's no way the place was one third empty.

 

[Marat]

i see... so because those were "pretty empty" the whole place was "pretty empty." got it.

It just that those floor seats are the ones everyone notices since they stand out.

 

[BUHusky]

There's no way that number is correct. The Courant was saying a few days ago that 3,000 itckets remained.

The large groups of empty seats were high up on the ends and upper corners. If capacity is 16,284, I would guess it was 13,000 last night...but that's just me. There's no way the place was one third empty.

Both upper level ends were almost completely empty, and there were plenty of empty seats scattered throughout the lower bowl. We moved down to right near the student section with no problem at all and there were still a ton of empty seats all around us.

I can easily see last night's crowd being only 11,100.

 

[Adios]

It didn't look like 11,100. I was surprised when I saw the box score.

I did my best to go crazy. 7 rows on the aisle back from the basket that UConn attacked twice (2nd half and OT). Dude next to me told me to get out of my seat when I had a ticket for my seat. Told him to ask to see a ticket next time before he says anything like that. He wanted to fight. Somehow, we made up. He was sitting with someone who is a friend of a UConn football player. Kept holding up that stupid "UConn" banner when our players would come towards the basket or shoot free throws (also was yelling for Tyler to pass the damn ball). Was tempted to give kudos to Andy Katz for being "disloyal". Only basketball game I went to all season but sure was memorable.