State Farm Center

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#126      
Redbull
hooraybeer said:
i see a lot of people saying that the crowd at SFC needs to do better… but what do all of you suggest as solutions? move the perceived “quieter”/higher paying and loyal season ticket holders higher up (and ultimately lose the DIA money)? ban season ticket purchases by senior citizens? pass out stimulants to the krush? pump in fake audio?

i want people to come to me with problems, but really admire when they also come with possible solutions
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Our cheerleaders are uninspiring. Tumbling routines don’t get the crowd involved. The orange crush used to seem more organized and vocal. Luxury boxes and a standing bar area don’t help raise the roof
 
#127      
lstewart53x3
Redbull said:
Our cheerleaders are uninspiring. Tumbling routines don’t get the crowd involved. The orange crush used to seem more organized and vocal. Luxury boxes and a standing bar area don’t help raise the roof
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Robert’s mentioned before that over the past couple of years, Krush has transitioned from “try to be as loud as possible” to “try to be as mean as possible”.

To the point that last year in particular, not only would Krush hurl insults at opposing players and coaches, but at times, they would hurl insults at our own coaches and players.
 
#129      
mattcoldagelli
My read is that the current vibe of the building is that the fans feel owed a good performance/result, and then they start to get nervous if that payoff seems in doubt.

That needs to be flipped - you owe the players a desperate effort to positively impact the outcome of the game.
 
#130      
aaeismacgychel
illini80 said:
The arena eats noise. If it echoed like many others, it would much more intimidating. It takes 16000 yelling to really get loud. Not news I know, but we just will never have that. Still a great place to play and watch a game.
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The problem I keep having with this argument is that we did have that. For decades. It's only a relatively recent thing that we haven't. Assembly Hall was extremely loud, rocking, and intimidating even during bad seasons where we were not having the same success the team is now. I mean one needs to go full defeatist for this to be true and basically say nobody really cares that much about the basketball program anymore and don't really care even if they're a National Championship contender. And I just don't think that's true.

There's an argument to be made our fanbase is going the way of Iowa- used to be raucous and one of the toughest places in the conference to play and then mellowed out and went to sleep with the fanbase going through the motions aside for that occasional big game. But I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet
 
#131      
aaeismacgychel
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I promise you an actual post tomorrow, but I agree with others that it starts with the students (in their current numbers and placement) being better. And my first idea to get to that solution is so simple … have the DIA communicate to Krush leadership that there is room for improvement.

If someone from the DIA (higher up, the better!) had a meeting with representatives from Krush, I think it would do a lot more than some might assume. A gentle reminder that the DIA gives up a lot of potential premium ticket revenue to give the students some of the best seats in the house BECAUSE this placement is expected to improve our home court environment? Such a soft “warning” and an ensuing relaying of that message from Krush leadership to the rest of the students would have a lot more bored looking Krush members worrying that they need to prove they deserve their seats!
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Along similar lines, one thing I have noticed with Brad compared to prior coaches is that he does at least appear to be by far the most hands off/distant with the Krush and student section. Self, Weber, and Groce all seemed to focus more energy on outreach to the students either through the media or press conferences, or events. There just seemed to be a lot bigger attempt to appeal to them, get them ready and out there, and revved up. Now perhaps that's not the actual case, but it does come off to me that Brad could do a bit more here. I do feel that the student section tends to follow the coach. A couple arm pumps, a little pregame motivational pep talk, a few look overs and screams as well as having Krush and student engagement I feel go a long way.

And for practical example purposes- in the Cheeze-it-Bowl, Bret letting Beamer know what he thought and Beamer reacting was the catalyst to firing up what had been a just happy to be there and sit in their seats Illini crowd, to an absolute raving tempest that was on their feet for almost the entirety of the game after that. Little things go a very long way. I think if Brad plays to them a bit more, they'll follow.
 
#132      
sitka
Our cheerleaders are uninspiring. Tumbling routines don’t get the crowd involved. The orange crush used to seem more organized and vocal. Luxury boxes and a standing bar area don’t help raise the roof
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Absolutely right redbull
 
#133      
illini80
aaeismacgychel said:
The problem I keep having with this argument is that we did have that. For decades. It's only a relatively recent thing that we haven't. Assembly Hall was extremely loud, rocking, and intimidating even during bad seasons where we were not having the same success the team is now. I mean one needs to go full defeatist for this to be true and basically say nobody really cares that much about the basketball program anymore and don't really care even if they're a National Championship contender. And I just don't think that's true.

There's an argument to be made our fanbase is going the way of Iowa- used to be raucous and one of the toughest places in the conference to play and then mellowed out and went to sleep with the fanbase going through the motions aside for that occasional big game. But I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet
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I don’t mean to sound defeatist and it absolutely could be better. I just think due to the design of the building it wasn’t ever like the atmosphere of some buildings where the crowd is on top the court.
 
#134      
Bucktown
lstewart53x3 said:
Robert’s mentioned before that over the past couple of years, Krush has transitioned from “try to be as loud as possible” to “try to be as mean as possible”.

To the point that last year in particular, not only would Krush hurl insults at opposing players and coaches, but at times, they would hurl insults at our own coaches and players.
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It sounds like they have some bad leadership there. Maybe it is Illini Pride in general? After all wasn't it the Block I leader that said it wasn't worth going to the games if Illinois wasn't in the playoff hunt?

If it's the same as it used to be leadership positions roll mid-year. Maybe they'll be a change.
 
#135      
Perry Range's Van
aaeismacgychel said:
Along similar lines, one thing I have noticed with Brad compared to prior coaches is that he does at least appear to be by far the most hands off/distant with the Krush and student section. Self, Weber, and Groce all seemed to focus more energy on outreach to the students either through the media or press conferences, or events. There just seemed to be a lot bigger attempt to appeal to them, get them ready and out there, and revved up. Now perhaps that's not the actual case, but it does come off to me that Brad could do a bit more here. I do feel that the student section tends to follow the coach. A couple arm pumps, a little pregame motivational pep talk, a few look overs and screams as well as having Krush and student engagement I feel go a long way.

And for practical example purposes- in the Cheeze-it-Bowl, Bret letting Beamer know what he thought and Beamer reacting was the catalyst to firing up what had been a just happy to be there and sit in their seats Illini crowd, to an absolute raving tempest that was on their feet for almost the entirety of the game after that. Little things go a very long way. I think if Brad plays to them a bit more, they'll follow.
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Lots of truth here.. But if this just isn't Brad's thing that's fine. Delegate to an assistant to go address Crush from time to time. Isn't Tyler supposed to be auditioning for a HC position anyway? Let him demonstrate he can do more than Xs & Os
 
#142      
Alma 19
1 add student seating farther up the baseline to increase capacity
2 remove barriers to entry for orange krush. you shouldn't need to belong to an RSU to attend the games.
3 provide free chicken nuggets during the game at an off-site location to deter students for whom that is a legitimate motivation
 
#143      
Alma 19
Illinois fans are not inherently less rowdy than, say, Maryland fans, and the Assembly Hall is not inherently a weak facility. Therefore the problem is solvable. In my opinion this is JW's only glaring failure. Start with the above; I'll pay for the nuggets.

edit: I'm only really addressing the students here but I think that's where it starts
 
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#144      
awkwardpenguin
As someone who has been in SFC a lot this year, and was present for the Wisconsin Game, the crowd WANTED to be in it. There were some AMAZING moments (like when Ben hit the three at the end)

But anytime we had momentum 1 of three things happened:
1: Wis hit a three (and drained all the energy with it
2: Mirk Turnover
3: missed Free throw.

As someone in the stands, I couldn't sustain the energy when we presented a C game to watch
 
#145      
blackdog
awkwardpenguin said:
As someone who has been in SFC a lot this year, and was present for the Wisconsin Game, the crowd WANTED to be in it. There were some AMAZING moments (like when Ben hit the three at the end)

But anytime we had momentum 1 of three things happened:
1: Wis hit a three (and drained all the energy with it
2: Mirk Turnover
3: missed Free throw.

As someone in the stands, I couldn't sustain the energy when we presented a C game to watch
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I just home and have to completely disagree about the crowd wanting to be in it. Its a one possession game with 1:30 left and half the crowd in the 200s is sitting firmly in their seats. The game was rough but honestly the lack of excitement hurts so much more. I was literally the ONLY person in the entire section standing and yelling. It makes for a pretty miserable game experience for those who care.
 
#147      
Chase321
As someone who has been in SFC a lot this year, and was present for the Wisconsin Game, the crowd WANTED to be in it. There were some AMAZING moments (like when Ben hit the three at the end)

But anytime we had momentum 1 of three things happened:
1: Wis hit a three (and drained all the energy with it
2: Mirk Turnover
3: missed Free throw.

As someone in the stands, I couldn't sustain the energy when we presented a C game to watch
Click to expand...

You clearly don’t understand what the role of fans is supposed to be. Lordy.
 
#148      
Alma 19
1 add student seating farther up the baseline to increase capacity
2 remove barriers to entry for orange krush. you shouldn't need to belong to an RSU to attend the games.
3 provide free chicken nuggets during the game at an off-site location to deter students for whom that is a legitimate motivation
Click to expand...
* RSO typo
 
#149      
OrangeBlue98
We have the worst home environment in the conference outside of Northwestern (almost always a home neutral game for the visiting team) and Penn State.

Quite simply, it’s embarrassing.
 
#150      
TampaToo
awkwardpenguin said:
As someone who has been in SFC a lot this year, and was present for the Wisconsin Game, the crowd WANTED to be in it. There were some AMAZING moments (like when Ben hit the three at the end)

But anytime we had momentum 1 of three things happened:
1: Wis hit a three (and drained all the energy with it
2: Mirk Turnover
3: missed Free throw.

As someone in the stands, I couldn't sustain the energy when we presented a C game to watch
Click to expand...
That’s pretty lame. Those are the exact moments the team needs that energy from the fans. It was a six man rotation in an OT game last night. Fans need to bring it. Church is on Sundays.
 
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