Poor fan showing at Gampel

[JMick]

The complaints are amazing. I could care less if there is any production — laser shows, rock music, an involved PA announcer — at a basketball game. I’d trade it all to be 24-2 in ANY year.

The societal and regional complaints/observations are true. Our region is not as live or die for college sports as the south, and younger people’s attention to the game will forever be compromised by their worrying about theirs and others social media presences while they are there. That stuff all is what it is. What is not a given is that we’re 24-2 and yet so much of the fanbase seems miserable.

(And to be clear, I’m not imagining greatness that isn’t there. I frankly don’t think this team is playing well enough to make the Final Four. But I also didn’t think that in ‘11, ‘14 or ‘23. The goal is to win the game in front of you until you lose one you can’t and you don’t have more games. Which we are succeeding in doing.)

It was literally just an observation. Someone asked how it compared and I just happened to have the exact experience he was looking for yesterday

 

[Mr. French]

It feels like every time the crowd has actually rose to the moment this year, the opposing team would immediately hit a silencer three or draw a foul. It’s like a hex

I know that’s the case in the house. I’m lit off a 7-0 run then they give up a 6-0 run.

 

[Mets1432]

Along with everything in today's world, games have gotten to expensive for the middle class fans.

Me and my Dad would go to 3 or 4 games a year. Get a couple of decent seats for 75 bucks and spend another 20 or 30 on some beers and hotdogs.

Now a days, we couldn't go to a game for less than 250 bucks. At that price point, we rather sit on the couch and enjoy from home.

 

[bdbdbdbd]

Valentines Day
Saturday night
Uninspiring opposition
And I don't like getting home near midnight

I went to dinner, but gave my tickets away. If this was St John's, I'm there

One factor related to getting home near midnight:

For people who stay through the end of the game, it can take close to an hour to get out of the north parking garage (unless you do what I did and drive the wrong way down the empty entrance ramp and out the wide open In gate).

 

[JungleLobo]

Yes, some people love their spouse along with loving UConn basketball

So much so, they wait for a commercialized holiday to pick up some wilted flowers and the big Whitmans sampler at CVS before hitting Friendlys.

At least that’s what my friend did.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

One factor related to getting home near midnight:

For people who stay through the end of the game, it can take close to an hour to get out of the north parking garage (unless you do what I did and drive the wrong way down the empty entrance ramp and out the wide open In gate).

Last night we was the first time I parked at Towers, which was clutch.

Since my Airbnb was north of campus in Tolland, it was a rare spot on campus that is past every traffic light on 195 and has a nice, well-lit cut-through between the various places of worship. It's a bit of a walk, but I don't mind it and I'd much rather spend 10-15 minutes walking back to my car than sit in garage or stop light traffic.

 

[bdbdbdbd]

Last night we was the first time I parked at Towers, which was clutch.

Since my Airbnb was north of campus in Tolland, it was a rare spot on campus that is past every traffic light on 195 and has a nice, well-lit cut-through between the various places of worship. It's a bit of a walk, but I don't mind it and I'd much rather spend 10-15 minutes walking back to my car than sit in garage or stop light traffic.

Good idea. Avoids the jam on the way in as well.

 

[GetTheFacts]

The student section has been a major problem for years. In an effort to become more competitive in academics, I think we've sacrified a lot of the rowdiness that we had in prior eras of UConn Men's BB. When you're only accepting the top 10% of high-schoolers + international students, they're not going to do much outside of study. Outside of the students, UConn caters more to corporate sponorships than ever before because our athletic department needs the $. Another reason why we need to get out of the Big East ASAP.

The 'Basketball Capital of the World' moniker has always been cringe, too. I am a diehard UConn basketball fan but we cannot seriously claim to be the basketball capital of the world when Indiana/New York have always been bigger basketball markets.

 

[Stew Crew]

Success breeds complacency. I remember a similar situation in the early 2000s. I could not get season tickets at Gampel through the 90s. By mid-2000s, there were plenty of non-season tickets available.

The students need to drive the energy. Young, energetic, drunk, feeding off one another.

There is also a bit of a Pavlov's dog thing going on. I sit in the section behind the UConn bench. It seems like a lot of fans are waiting for Hurley to start waving his arms wildly before standing up.

Outside of the student section on the west side of GP, the place was pretty full last night. To the person with the "wine and cheese" comment, it was the upper bowl fans primarily rushing for the exits when UConn went up 7 with a few minutes left.

 

[Hamms30]

People told Silas Demary's family to sit down during the Providence game at Gampel. We really do have some clueless fans.

Where do they sit? I guess I always assumed they all sat together behind the bench and not amongst the normies

 

[Vuce]

Where do they sit? I guess I always assumed they all sat together behind the bench and not amongst the normies

They sit directly across from the UConn bench at Gampel in the first couple rows and on the aisle

 

[HuskiesFourLife]

The student section has been a major problem for years. In an effort to become more competitive in academics, I think we've sacrified a lot of the rowdiness that we had in prior eras of UConn Men's BB. When you're only accepting the top 10% of high-schoolers + international students, they're not going to do much outside of study. Outside of the students, UConn caters more to corporate sponorships than ever before because our athletic department needs the $. Another reason why we need to get out of the Big East ASAP.

The 'Basketball Capital of the World' moniker has always been cringe, too. I am a diehard UConn basketball fan but we cannot seriously claim to be the basketball capital of the world when Indiana/New York have always been bigger basketball markets.

I think the title is more in reference to 18 combined national championships and legendary players. But I agree, the atmosphere has been disappointing lately

 

[JB75]

I do agree the fans have been pretty weak this year but last night was a tough one -Valentines night. I went to Capitol grill with wifey. Recorded the game. Got home late after a few stops at the west Hartford bars Didn’t check my phone and finished watching the game this morning. Unless your wife is cool as hell, or you’re at the game or you’re single or you’re 80 years old , kinda hard to spend a Saturday night watching Uconn Georgetown on Valentine’s Day. But overall XL center has been better than Gampel for sure past couple years. Let’s see how crowd is Wednesday. Stuffy old Rich crowd filling up lower bowl doesn’t help either.

 

[superjohn]

The student section has been a major problem for years. In an effort to become more competitive in academics, I think we've sacrified a lot of the rowdiness that we had in prior eras of UConn Men's BB. When you're only accepting the top 10% of high-schoolers + international students, they're not going to do much outside of study. Outside of the students, UConn caters more to corporate sponorships than ever before because our athletic department needs the $. Another reason why we need to get out of the Big East ASAP.

The 'Basketball Capital of the World' moniker has always been cringe, too. I am a diehard UConn basketball fan but we cannot seriously claim to be the basketball capital of the world when Indiana/New York have always been bigger basketball markets.

Yeah, I'm not buying this. UConn isn't the University of Chicago. There's schools who are considered far superior to UConn who have rabid fanbases at the games.

 

[Windham4th]

It is my dream to win Powerball for 1 billion.

Then, I will buy out the first 10 rows at Gampel and Peeps. Only students and rabid fans will be allowed to sit in those seats (for free). It will be set up in my trust and will for perpetuity. I will have a carefully selected arbitor to ensure that appropriate loudness/rabid fan metrics are maintained in those seats.

That's when they quickly announce a new arena is being built and slide all that into the new building account... so they can put in more seats and charge more per.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I think the title is more in reference to 18 combined national championships and legendary players. But I agree, the atmosphere has been disappointing lately

Even Hurley poked fun at the “basketball capital” moniker last night. Said something to the effect of, “Who named us that? The school?”… Truth is the name does not apply to the atmosphere anymore. Maybe for the women’s team it does but it’s easy to fill crowds when you win by 40 each game until the final four.

 

[uh-no]

Would things be different in a better Conference? 8 pm on a sat student's should of been out in full force..what happened?

Playing uninspiring basketball against bad teams is not a fan favorite.

 

[BigTenFan]

Gampel is typically never ranked in the top 20 for best home court advantage. Despite that- Uconn continues to pile on Championships.
Maybe having a vibrant student section not super important to the University

 

[Cheddie]

There have been empty seats in the lower bowl all season. A ton of those are available on the secondary market and don’t sell.

And I love the atmosphere and volume at Gampel but I have to admit it’s down a bit this year.

I think the renovations plus associated increase in prices have exacerbated the “wine and cheese” rich guy problem. Too many people buying those seats only because it’s the trendy thing to do and a status symbol.

Used to be many of the lower seats were corporate purchases, not by "fans." Also many people buy seats to "scalp" them. We bought tickets to a sold-out game earlier this year at a multiple of what the ticket holder paid.

 

[Stew Crew]

Used to be many of the lower seats were corporate purchases, not by "fans." Also many people buy seats to "scalp" them. We bought tickets to a sold-out game earlier this year at a multiple of what the ticket holder paid.

Based on the seat reallocation last year, approximately 1000 lower bowl seats are corporate or controlled by the Athletic Dept. At least a dozen seats in my row and the row in front of me are controlled by the Athletic Dept. We've had women's players, former players, scouts sitting around us all year.

I don't buy that "many" people regularly scalp their lower bowl seats. If you look at Seat Geek, the official scalping site of UConn, most of the resale seats are upper level bleachers, followed by upper bowl chairbacks. I wouldn't be surprised if those seats were controlled by season ticket holders that bought extra tickets for the purpose of reselling. Upper bowl bleachers are relatively cheap but can command good prices for marquee games.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Totally agree with this. When I was there students entered a lottery for season tickets. They weren't expensive but cost something. Then they kept a certain amount of tickets available for students for single game. Kids absolutely claim them and don't go. My daughter whi is there said some of her friends couldn't get tickets when they tried to claim then because they were all taken. But I thought you could transfer student to student ?

If the issue is to ensure that the students who attend the games are those whom are really into the team, and into winning, and doing whatever they can during a game to make the win happen...Then UConn needs to remove any, and all, online claiming of student tickets. Make students stand in line to get tickets, with the best choice of seats going to those first in line. Any student who's willing, and wanting, to stand in line during winter, to get tickets to a BB game, are students who WANT to be at the game and will be the most fanatical during the game.

Second point is about where the students get seated. At Gampel, all student seating should be in the lower level, and in the nearest rows to the court. And, student seating should circle the ENTIRE court, not just be behind the baskets. (Hate Duke, but they've got this right). Students should NEVER be seated in the upper levels. A side benefit of putting students in the best rows, nearest to the court and encircling the entire court, is that'll force the monied patrons out of these prime seats. They don't show up anyway unless a game is big-time (and even then, still sit on their hands) so moving them behind the students will lessen the negative impact they have on what should be a rabid, college game day atmosphere.

 

[J187Money]

Is any basketball fan really concerned about Valentines Day? When it's a week night, then people complain about getting up for work. Now it's Saturday night...

When people have wives they do. Mine never goes to the games. I negotiated to take her out Friday and to the game Saturday but she is a reasonable person.

(ultimately she was sick yesterday so I had to give the tickets up but at least my seats were filled)

 

[John]

The student tickets should not be 100% free. Add a nominal cost, like $5-10 and only studnets who really want to go will buy them.
What is hapenning now is kids are logging in, getting their free ticket in case they want to go and then not going. Students tickets are also currently non transferable even between students. makes no sense.

The kids pay exorbitant fees for the right to get those free tickets. I believe those particular fees might be the most expensive in the region but cannot remember where I read that.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

The kids pay exorbitant fees for the right to get get those free tickets. I believe those particular fees might be the most expensive in the region but cannot remember where I read that.

Ironically the students would benefit financially if they bought ST like the old days and resold when the demand is high in October.

 

[Icehawk]

The yellowjackets will not allow you to sit in empty seats after halftime. Dumb policy.

Very dumb. As a physically distant fan it's a bummer to see the lower bowl with large amounts empty. I went to a Heat game a long time back and it was maybe 25% full - they asked everyone to move on down, that way on-camera it looks like the arena is full (since they don't pan out/show wide shots). Ever since that game, I've noticed this phenomenon more times than I can count. It's to everyone's advantage for the venue to look full.

Did this feel like the longest/slowest game in forever outside of OT games? I swear the broadcast was like 2:30hrs (it was 2:05).