The View From the Student Section

[Drew]

this is to go along with the "view from 241" thread already out there.

our students are WEAK man. We filled the section pretty well but there was zero and i mean zero energy in that place. My friends and I were all in the first row right behind the uprights, we actually made it onto the screen one or two times. We were consistently yelling (I have no voice today and neither do 60 other fraternity men) but other than us NOBODY wanted to get in on our chants. Maybe it was because they didn't tailgate like we did (we had our own bus take us and we got there pretty early) but I honestly think it's more to do with the fact that people got there and then just got on their phones and texted or instagrammed pictures.


The on the field play was embarrassing. The uniforms looked great but the stands were near empty on the top (to be expected on a Thurs. night). We actually had planned on staying the whole game but when we were losing at halftime with no real signs of life my friends wanted to go home and watch the "real" football games that were being played on TV.

The mood on campus today is awful. Students clearly had the wind taken out of their sails. I work in Student Activities and the employees here had the wind taken out of their sails. People who were too excited for Maryland 24 hours ago have no desire to even show up anymore.

Bottom line is something needs to be done before the students stop caring all together. That time might be sooner than some think.

 

[CTMike]

Appreciate the student perspective... Keep it up.

 

[Drew]

as for an actual evaluation of what happened on the field, the oline looked awful. Defense looked like it got worn down. I knew their RB was a beast but their oline pushed around our dline when we had to make a play. I didn't like how we seemed to go away from Davis after he had the big first half either. Weirder things have happened but the outlook for the next few weeks looks ugly.

I just can't get over how dead the students were. For those of you who think it was the students "buzz wearing off" i'd venture to just say that they never really had a buzz in the firstplace and therefore weren't overly into what was happening. There were a couple of girls two rows back discussing homework that they had to do when they got back to campus when Towson was answering our first TD. Crazy to me that that is even a thought during a football game.

 

[phillionaire]

I graduated this past May and I agree with you completely. Students come to the games and treat the action on the field like it's secondary. The student section empties at half time or the end of the third quarter most games, regardless of score.

 

[John]

I graduated this past May and I agree with you completely. Students come to the games and treat the action on the field like it's secondary. The student section empties at half time or the end of the third quarter most games, regardless of score.

I've wondered where the kids go when it empties out early - are the busses running continuously back to Storrs so they leave the area right away, or do they go out to the parking lots to party?

 

[phillionaire]

I've wondered where the kids go when it empties out early - are the busses running continuously back to Storrs so they leave the area right away, or do they go out to the parking lots to party?

The buses leave as they fill. There's really nothing in Storrs that is better than a college football game, even if we end up losing.

 

[BoatShow]

I was really happy to see the student section packed when I came in around 7:10. They were completely dead and looked like they weren't even paying attention though. I bet most of them couldn't describe what Towson's uniforms looked like.

 

[mike012]

Bring up an interesting thought about the Maryland game and "Real" football. The Alabama vs Texas AM game is at 330 that day. Probably best case over 630-7. I am currently more inclined to stay home and watch a real football game then see uconn lay an even bigger egg against Maryland.

 

[Drew]

Bring up an interesting thought about the Maryland game and "Real" football. The Alabama vs Texas AM game is at 330 that day. Probably best case over 630-7. I am currently more inclined to stay home and watch a real football game then see uconn lay an even bigger egg against Maryland.

believe me this has already been discussed throuroughly amongst a bunch of our guys

 

[Dooley]

We have one of the worst student sections in college football. Been saying that for years. They are supposed to be the lifeblood of any college athletic venue. In our stadium, our students show up late, leave games early regardless of opponent/score/gametime/weather/day/night, and don't generate much noise at all. To be fair, a good majority of our stadium is like this too and it will only get worse as we all sink aboard the S.S. Pasqualoni.

I have a friend whose daughter goes to Oklahoma. There, the head coaches meet with student body representatives in order to brainstorm ways to enhance the gameday experience for their students. I wonder if anything is done like this at UCONN. The very first thing I'd do is cut back on the number of busses that leave during a game. One bus per quarter, I'd say. Have a guy count off students at the exit gate and if you don't make the cut, you go back to your seat. THey can provide emergency transport to students who are sick or injured or whatever that absolutely have to leave on a case by case basis. But UCONN really has to figure out how they can keep more students at the games longer and more engaged. Its becoming quite an issue (on top of our coaching issue) and will only be passed along to future student bodies.

 

[Drew]

We have one of the worst student sections in college football. Been saying that for years. They are supposed to be the lifeblood of any college athletic venue. In our stadium, our students show up late, leave games early regardless of opponent/score/gametime/weather/day/night, and don't generate much noise at all. To be fair, a good majority of our stadium is like this too and it will only get worse as we all sink aboard the S.S. Pasqualoni.

I have a friend whose daughter goes to Oklahoma. There, the head coaches meet with student body representatives in order to brainstorm ways to enhance the gameday experience for their students. I wonder if anything is done like this at UCONN. The very first thing I'd do is cut back on the number of busses that leave during a game. One bus per quarter, I'd say. Have a guy count off students at the exit gate and if you don't make the cut, you go back to your seat. THey can provide emergency transport to students who are sick or injured or whatever that absolutely have to leave on a case by case basis. But UCONN really has to figure out how they can keep more students at the games longer and more engaged. Its becoming quite an issue (on top of our coaching issue) and will only be passed along to future student bodies.

without getting into a huge debate over this because its already been beaten to death, putting the stadium 45 minutes away from campus will most of the time result in students leaving the games early. Its not just because the stadium is far away but putting it out there sort of gives students the mindset of "we didn't build this for you, we built this for the fans in Hartford" mentality. Its the same reason that XL center student sections almost never are as rowdy/packed as Gampel. Students have plans for the night (especially if on a thursday, i had to skip a class yesterday to make the game) that they feel are more important because the university never seems to make football a priority.

Think about it this way, they marketed our season this year around everyone else except for us. "Best home schedule ever!" "Come see Michigan!" Not "Come see a rebranded team with new conference mates and a challenging out of conference schedule". There's almost a feel that its not important to the university administration, so why should it be important to us?

*DISCLAIMER* Nobody get mad at what I just posted. This is an honest view from a current student responding to a point made by another poster. If you don't like/agree with this reasoning then join the club but I'm telling you why people do what they do.

 

[Dooley]

I"m not mad at what you said Drew. Not at all. I would love to see an on-campus stadium (would cherish the opportunity to get back on campus a few times a year!) but we have what we have and we all need to figure out how to make it the best experience for everyone. At the end of the day, we are all there to support the players who put "UCONN" uniforms on, regardless of whether they play on or off campus. If we can figure out how to get the student sections more engaged into games, then the rest of the stadium will follow suit. But this point is moot this year I'm afraid, until we pull the plug on the sinking Pasqualoni.

 

[Doggie Style]

Drew, we appreciate the input. There have been many threads over the last few years discussing the lack of passion the students seem to have nowadays, and it seems to be getting worse. Many of on the Yard are Alums and I can only speak for myself when I say the students lack of passion just pi$$es me off! Keep doing what you're doing, keep your friends interested and the the rest is up to the team. I appreciate your input though. Just to share a personal experience from the game last night. My wife's cousin is a Junior @ Uconn and has been going to the FB games for years. She came over to our seats last night to visit our kids and to say hi. The entire time she was with us she was texting her friends in the student section and then she admitted that when she got to the game she walked around the stadium twice bcuz she couldn't find the student section! I just shook my head and it became clear to me many student could care less.....

 

[Hoophound]

Give the students something to be excited about for God sake. Touchdownhusky has been beating this drum for years and I've always backed him. You can't make non-football fans into fans by trying to hook them with boring, losing football.

These poor kids need to be hooked and this garbage isn't going to rope them in.

 

[Drew]

Drew, we appreciate the input. There have been many threads over the last few years discussing the lack of passion the students seem to have nowadays, and it seems to be getting worse. Many of on the Yard are Alums and I can only speak for myself when I say the students lack of passion just pi$$es me off! Keep doing what you're doing, keep your friends interested and the the rest is up to the team. I appreciate your input though. Just to share a personal experience from the game last night. My wife's cousin is a Junior @ Uconn and has been going to the FB games for years. She came over to our seats last night to visit our kids and to say hi. The entire time she was with us she was texting her friends in the student section and then she admitted that when she got to the game she walked around the stadium twice bcuz she couldn't find the student section! I just shook my head and it became clear to me many student could care less.....

this is actually a good point doggie, theres no signs or anything outside the student section marking it as the "Student Section". Maybe a big sign above it that says DOG POUND ENTRANCE or something with ushers standing and checking student tickets would help.

As far as the lack of passion from the students I will just repeat myself in saying that students still feel like they got gipped when the stadium was put in EH and there seems to be a general lack of care because of this feeling. I 100 percent agree the team needs to be supported no matter where it is but I cannot put enough emphasis on how terrible of a choice it was to put the rent there. 18-22 year olds want whats simple and easy to them, and access to our football team/players and the actual games themselves isn't easy to get. There's no PP walking into the union and shaking hands and giving out tshirts or magnets. Theres no Whitmer coming to late night in the union and singing a song with davis and saying stuff like "can't wait to see y'all at the game this week!" or anything. Good programs know how to get students motivated so they look past stuff like having to drive 45 minutes to and from. They also shouldn't make you pay four dollars for a bus ticket. If anything include it in the price of season tickets and give all student season ticket holders access to busses. If you make things EASY AND FUN students will come. But when you shield your players and coaches away from the rest of the student body, make it hard to get to games, and we lost by 15 to Towson, can you really blame the students for not wanting to stay and instead going to watch UNC/SCAR?

Last but not least I can't tell you how many times I heard our students say last night "can you imagine what it would be like to go to a real football school?" This IMO is the one quote over everything that shows that whatever the current Athletic Department administration is doing needs to be completely overhauled. In order to be big time you have to make it feel big time. We are awful at that (although we're a young D1 program and still learning). There needs to be free ticket giveaways at latenight, autographs in the union during lunch, pictures with pasqualoni. ANYTHING that puts the football team in the middle of the student body and makes them feel like they are apart of it too.

 

[Drew]

For example, I don't think basketball is incredible at this by any means but Ollie eats lunch in the U all the time and the players are always in there. People always point them out and it gets people talking about basketball. Its really not hard

 

[bigAbruns]

this is actually a good point doggie, theres no signs or anything outside the student section marking it as the "Student Section". Maybe a big sign above it that says DOG POUND ENTRANCE or something with ushers standing and checking student tickets would help.

As far as the lack of passion from the students I will just repeat myself in saying that students still feel like they got gipped when the stadium was put in EH and there seems to be a general lack of care because of this feeling. I 100 percent agree the team needs to be supported no matter where it is but I cannot put enough emphasis on how terrible of a choice it was to put the rent there. 18-22 year olds want whats simple and easy to them, and access to our football team/players and the actual games themselves isn't easy to get. There's no PP walking into the union and shaking hands and giving out tshirts or magnets. Theres no Whitmer coming to late night in the union and singing a song with davis and saying stuff like "can't wait to see y'all at the game this week!" or anything. Good programs know how to get students motivated so they look past stuff like having to drive 45 minutes to and from. They also shouldn't make you pay four dollars for a bus ticket. If anything include it in the price of season tickets and give all student season ticket holders access to busses. If you make things EASY AND FUN students will come. But when you shield your players and coaches away from the rest of the student body, make it hard to get to games, and we lost by 15 to Towson, can you really blame the students for not wanting to stay and instead going to watch UNC/SCAR?

Last but not least I can't tell you how many times I heard our students say last night "can you imagine what it would be like to go to a real football school?" This IMO is the one quote over everything that shows that whatever the current Athletic Department administration is doing needs to be completely overhauled. In order to be big time you have to make it feel big time. We are awful at that (although we're a young D1 program and still learning). There needs to be free ticket giveaways at latenight, autographs in the union during lunch, pictures with pasqualoni. ANYTHING that puts the football team in the middle of the student body and makes them feel like they are apart of it too.

This fan base starts with the students, if the students aren't interested, no one will be interested. I would love to see the students come up with something at the next game to get the attention of the school Admin/Athletic department. I said this in another thread about everyone on here wearing paper bags during the game, perhaps the whole student section should wear paper bags over their heads too. At least it would be funny to see.

 

[Jimdish255]

I graduated this past May and I agree with you completely. Students come to the games and treat the action on the field like it's secondary. The student section empties at half time or the end of the third quarter most games, regardless of score.

What "action" on the field are you referring to?

 

[CTBasketball]

Manuel kind of put a hold on student section fun. He banned signs at basketball games and will only let school-made signs in. Don't know if its the same for football.

Before he got there the student sections were always fun, at least from my point of view.

 

[UconnWitt]

believe me this has already been discussed throuroughly amongst a bunch of our guys

I was a brother in a fraternity while at Uconn...after last nights showing, it makes perfect sense to cue the game up at whatever house you party at, invite everyone, and have that flow into a rip. It can be your pregame. Why waste a Saturday night in September in East Hartford for this team??? The powers that be deserve to lose the students...never thought I would say that...

 

[UconnWitt]

Manuel kind of put a hold on student section fun. He banned signs at basketball games and will only let school-made signs in. Don't know if its the same for football.

Before he got there the student sections were always fun, at least from my point of view.

I thought Hathaway instituted that rule, and the university just ran with it after he "retired?" While we're on the subject, can we quit it with this family-oriented basketball "supershow" that JH instituted and bring back Midnight Madness? I want the current undergrads to have the same great experience that I and many other alumni had years ago...

 

[kemba]

Give the students something to be excited about for God sake. Touchdownhusky has been beating this drum for years and I've always backed him. You can't make non-football fans into fans by trying to hook them with boring, losing football.

These poor kids need to be hooked and this garbage isn't going to rope them in.

That's really what it's all about.

Some of these marketing ideas might be good, but at this point it's really only a tiny part of the problem. When we were ranked in the top 25 and beating good opponents, students were loud, energetic, and there were some great atmosphere's, even during terrible weather at times. Now, we've sucked for what looks like it will be a 3rd year in a row, and a program that is competing against not just basketball, but against a number of pro sports for attention can't afford that.

So yea, maybe they could make bus tickets free, and run a few promotions. May get a few more people to the games. But it's still going to be people who arrive late, and leave early, and generally aren't very loud. Because you can't force people to be passionate or to care, only thing that is going to do that is to win and give people a reason to be excited about the team beyond tailgating.

 

[sportsart]

Bring up an interesting thought about the Maryland game and "Real" football. The Alabama vs Texas AM game is at 330 that day. Probably best case over 630-7. I am currently more inclined to stay home and watch a real football game then see uconn lay an even bigger egg against Maryland.

As much as I am pained by our situation my plan is to keep going to games. When it looks like the players have quit then I will stop going.

I have had too many good times over the past 10-12 years to walk away. That way when we pull the occasional upset at least I will have been there to enjoy the moment.

 

[John]

What "action" on the field are you referring to?

Emily Noonan.

 

[J187Money]

I was a brother in a fraternity while at Uconn...after last nights showing, it makes perfect sense to cue the game up at whatever house you party at, invite everyone, and have that flow into a rip. It can be your pregame. Why waste a Saturday night in September in East Hartford for this team??? The powers that be deserve to lose the students...never thought I would say that...

There have been magical moments at the Rent. Sometimes when they were least expected. That's why people who love live games go to live games. Frat parties are great, but most of them are the same and they can happen any day really. And looking back, I remember about 2 or 3 that were legendary.

Most students are marginal fans. The marginal fan doesn't care. Nor should they. Students are generally bandwagon fans at most campuses. If you don't make it a great experience for them they will lose interest.