Next season's Atmosphere

RamboRowdy

RamboRowdy

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Hate to bring it up again but it needs to be.

Ok so its been a year now since the seating arrangement and we have had that year to attempt to adjust. Granted, most will point out the atmosphere was lower on certain games that are normally insane (ODU, GSU-Maynor's last game, and some others). I have heard the thunderous UAB game from NIT being mentioned many times. The games with impressive atmospheres this year would include GMU(black out) and NU. Next year we have one of the best OOC schedules we could ask for. That means things should be different and hopefully will be taken up a notch. However, we must still ask ourselves one question. What do we have to do to get our atmosphere back to what it was?(please don't say change the seating back because we all know it probably won't happen).

I figure its the off season and it might be nice to discussion how to help things next season.
 
I think some of the big OOC games will help generate a "rowdier" crowd from the jump.

Mainly, I hope there is a t-shirt giveaway of sorts for the Oklahoma game...that way you get gold shirts in the hands of the fans right from the get go (also a great way to get freshmen onboard for the rest of the season).

I also think the Rowdy Rams generally need to get more organized. We need them/you guys to organize cheers, maybe get some of those dizzying spinning free throw distraction things...stuff like that.

AND, I will do my best to see if we can help Mike Voyack throw together some video stuff for the games. I liked our intro a lot this year, and I think if they can work with our boy Michael Hagan (does our video, also makes commercials for comcast and is a heck of a film maker)...we can get some really high quality video pieces going throughout the game.
 
Natty said:
I think some of the big OOC games will help generate a "rowdier" crowd from the jump.

Mainly, I hope there is a t-shirt giveaway of sorts for the Oklahoma game...that way you get gold shirts in the hands of the fans right from the get go (also a great way to get freshmen onboard for the rest of the season).

I also think the Rowdy Rams generally need to get more organized. We need them/you guys to organize cheers, maybe get some of those dizzying spinning free throw distraction things...stuff like that.

AND, I will do my best to see if we can help Mike Voyack throw together some video stuff for the games. I liked our intro a lot this year, and I think if they can work with our boy Michael Hagan (does our video, also makes commercials for comcast and is a heck of a film maker)...we can get some really high quality video pieces going throughout the game.
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Well the only thing about Spirals is that ODU uses them. I was hoping to find something VCU could call its own. I tried a eye jitter earlier this year that worked pretty well. If you use two colors like Black and yellow or Black and white that really clash it makes your eyes shift. Only thing is we would need about 5 large ones in the endzone to really screw with them. That or have lots of medium sized ones printed for the endzones.

Jitter record- missed FTs
GSU 4-4
ODU vs HU 2-4 (I was sitting right behind ODU's student section :lol: )
VCU women's game- 2-4

Anyway I think one of the keys is having everyone involved. Namely the West Side student section. We saw them get involved a few times this year but if we're to trap our opponent we will need the west side. When we had the side sections we trapped our opponent pretty well but since those sections are gone we need another strategy. Problem is sending Rowdies to West Side to get things going takes away from the East Side and cheerleaders yell at them anyway.
 
I like what Wake Forest does where all the students in the fan section wear the same black and yellow shirt. I don't know what they do exactly, I believe they just have them on the chairs when the students arrive. Maybe we could do something like this and just have all the student seats have these shirts, and have them be a style different enough that would stand out so students would just return them at the end of games, or leave them on the chairs. I would hope most students, if given this option, would respect the deal and return the shirt and not take advantage of the system. Whoever washes the gym towels for the student gym could just wash the shirts after game day.
 
RRR said:
Anyway I think one of the keys is having everyone involved. Namely the West Side student section. We saw them get involved a few times this year but if we're to trap our opponent we will need the west side. When we had the side sections we trapped our opponent pretty well but since those sections are gone we need another strategy. Problem is sending Rowdies to West Side to get things going takes away from the East Side and cheerleaders yell at them anyway.
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I think that this is key to bettering the atmosphere at the SC. It seems that the only thing the majority "greek" section is concerned about is getting to sit on the couch during the game or making funny faces during the Delta Dental kiss cam. Now I know there are a few die hards that sit in that section, but for the majority, it is pretty week compared to the other end.
 
Whoooosh said:
I like what Wake Forest does where all the students in the fan section wear the same black and yellow shirt. I don't know what they do exactly, I believe they just have them on the chairs when the students arrive. Maybe we could do something like this and just have all the student seats have these shirts, and have them be a style different enough that would stand out so students would just return them at the end of games, or leave them on the chairs. I would hope most students, if given this option, would respect the deal and return the shirt and not take advantage of the system. Whoever washes the gym towels for the student gym could just wash the shirts after game day.
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If we are going to go that route, just have everybody pay 5 bucks for a shirt or just join the Rowdy Rams( if that is even a recognized group) or say members of the SRAF get to sit in this section but must wear a certain T shirt.

I don't think the AD will go this route, but it would be nice to see all gold shirts in the student section for a change.
 
the same shirts will happen when a sponsor buy them and give them out.
Maybe its just me but I think the best support grows organically w/o being contrived.
I like it when individuals or small groups come up with something themselves like the cavemen or the banana or the yellow ninja.

I have found the longer the students have to wait to get in the louder the support once in the SC - so have bigger OCC games where there is great demand for tickets. That will come with time.
 
BigE said:
the same shirts will happen when a sponsor buy them and give them out.
Maybe its just me but I think the best support grows organically w/o being contrived.
I like it when individuals or small groups come up with something themselves like the cavemen or the banana or the yellow ninja.

I have found the longer the students have to wait to get in the louder the support once in the SC - so have bigger OCC games where there is great demand for tickets. That will come with time.
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Bring more well-known teams into the Stu and they will come in droves. The common fan doesn't care for Longwood or UMES. Get em hooked early with good OOC opponents at home. That will keep them coming throughout the season. Also keeps the casual student fan interested as well. Oklahoma and Alabama are games that will do that. We are slowly improving our schedules which will help us in the future.
 
Not every game is going to be like the UAB game or the NU game this past year. In those games we were down big early on and the crowd realized that the team needed a boost. Many of the fans don't get loud until the game is on the line. I think the biggest thing that each of us could do is to help fill the stu for every game. Encourage your friends and family to come to the games. Even if they sit on their hands the first time out, you never know who is going to have a great time and come back again and again. I have brought many different people to games with me, and they are usually always quiet the first time out, but after a few games some of them now will not miss a game and get just as loud as everyone else.
 
ODU is one of probably 100 colleges that have used spirals behind the basket in the past year. It's not copying anyone.

There isn't any type of promotion on campus that would get your average student to come to basketball games. Hardly anyone outside of freshman live in dorms, and the athletic department should try to do a little more to get the word out and promote outside of emails before the games.

Whoever is president or officially in charge of SRAF or Rowdy Rams should look at what other schools are doing to get successful, non-embarrassing and effective student support that appeals to a broader base.
 
david coxxx said:
ODU is one of probably 100 colleges that have used spirals behind the basket in the past year. It's not copying anyone.

There isn't any type of promotion on campus that would get your average student to come to basketball games. Hardly anyone outside of freshman live in dorms, and the athletic department should try to do a little more to get the word out and promote outside of emails before the games.

Whoever is president or officially in charge of SRAF or Rowdy Rams should look at what other schools are doing to get successful, non-embarrassing and effective student support that appeals to a broader base.
Click to expand...

Agreed...its gonna take a heck of a lot of effort but the reward is worth it. Especially if every game at Siegel was a sellout including the exhibitions!! ;)
 
Maybe on the billboard on I-95 where we were advertised this past season they can post a home schedule. Tons of people pass that sign daily and it would be an easy way to get word out about home games.
 
Coach Smart should spend some time in the student commons with the team, get them more visible in their everyday roles as regular staff and students.

Yes, their time is valuable and is best spent in Franklin Street Gym, but the people we're talking about are not in the dorms. They're in the commons between classes.
 
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