State Farm Center

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#226      
Alma 19
My simpleton take. The atmosphere is literally just a function of how many students you have and how close you can get them to the court. Look at Duke, or look at how easily Nebraska surpassed us.

No amount of student hype is going to dig us out of this hole. It's the design. You need more of them, you need them to stand closer together, and you need to bring them to the court.
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Yes, it's primarily this, but it's also the Orange Krush functioning like a club instead of like an arena seating section. Sorry to sound like a meatball but clubs are for nerds and that's who's showing up
 
#227      
Curbelo Fanboy
Chase321 said:
I don’t buy that the students care less or transfer portal reasons. There are still plenty of examples of students sections being awesome at games.
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By no means the biggest factor. I'm sure it matters for a piece of the potential fanbase. The casuals if you will. If I care nothing about basketball but I've been in classes with some of those people for 3 years I'm a whole lot more invested in something I otherwise care nothing about.

TBH the Krush decline is probably a lot of little things adding up to a bigger issue. Some may be easy to fix, some much harder to fix.
 
#228      
MikeTisdale
By no means the biggest factor. I'm sure it matters for a piece of the potential fanbase. The casuals if you will. If I care nothing about basketball but I've been in classes with some of those people for 3 years I'm a whole lot more invested in something I otherwise care nothing about.

TBH the Krush decline is probably a lot of little things adding up to a bigger issue. Some may be easy to fix, some much harder to fix.
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I'm cool with just blaming all socio issues with that ~18-24 year old group on that weird 12-18 months all those kids had during COVID where they couldn't go to school and just had to stay home all the time.

Once they're out, Krush will be good again (maybe... probably not - I think it's as simple as giving those courtside seats across from the benches back to the Krush, then the court is pretty much circled and those seats would be taken first by the most committed kids).
 
#229      
21ChampaignSt
Curbelo Fanboy said:
TBH the Krush decline is probably a lot of little things adding up to a bigger issue. Some may be easy to fix, some much harder to fix.
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This is absolutely the case. There's no single magic lever we can pull to completely restore it. We need to identify the one move that will make the biggest impact.

I wish it were as easy as "The Krush needs to be louder." But they have to actually want to be loud. How can you make being loud and rambunctious something they desire for themselves?

Most culture changes need to start from the top down. So perhaps it's some kind of leadership committee of Krush Kaptains who "get it" and are willing to take ownership of a section and ensure everyone is staying engaged?

Just like the players, cheerleaders, and band, how can we establish the expectation that the Krush is there to perform a job. No one else is taking a play off to text or yell insults at the opposing bench, so why does the Krush think it's ok for them to? (Answer: because they're not there on scholarship...but still.)
 
#230      
Curbelo Fanboy
21ChampaignSt said:
This is absolutely the case. There's no single magic lever we can pull to completely restore it. We need to identify the one move that will make the biggest impact.

I wish it were as easy as "The Krush needs to be louder." But they have to actually want to be loud. How can you make being loud and rambunctious something they desire for themselves?

Most culture changes need to start from the top down. So perhaps it's some kind of leadership committee of Krush Kaptains who "get it" and are willing to take ownership of a section and ensure everyone is staying engaged?

Just like the players, cheerleaders, and band, how can we establish the expectation that the Krush is there to perform a job. No one else is taking a play off to text or yell insults at the opposing bench, so why does the Krush think it's ok for them to? (Answer: because they're not there on scholarship...but still.)
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A secondary factor to all of the tangible stuff is our "decade in the wilderness" of college hoops relevance from like 2010 to 2020. A few generations of student cycles ran their full course of 4 years without ever being exposed to a top 10 type of team. Outside of year 1 of Groce Illinois was nonexistent on the national stage from 2010 or so until the covid season.

So there was no handoff of traditions from the outgoing Krush group that had experienced great basketball to the next group, to the next, etc. And in the midst of that dormant period was a remodel that took a lot of the Krush courtside seats away & shoved em into the far reaches of the building.
 
#231      
aaeismacgychel
21ChampaignSt said:
This is absolutely the case. There's no single magic lever we can pull to completely restore it. We need to identify the one move that will make the biggest impact.

I wish it were as easy as "The Krush needs to be louder." But they have to actually want to be loud. How can you make being loud and rambunctious something they desire for themselves?

Most culture changes need to start from the top down. So perhaps it's some kind of leadership committee of Krush Kaptains who "get it" and are willing to take ownership of a section and ensure everyone is staying engaged?

Just like the players, cheerleaders, and band, how can we establish the expectation that the Krush is there to perform a job. No one else is taking a play off to text or yell insults at the opposing bench, so why does the Krush think it's ok for them to? (Answer: because they're not there on scholarship...but still.)
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Have a Krush generation game to celebrate the Krush legacy inviting back and honoring all the past Krush captains from the prior decades and let them fully prep and lead the Krush and show them how it's done one final time. Play a highlight video pregame of the craziest Krush moments from the past decades to recreate the sound and energy, and then let them go at it for 40 straight minutes.
 
#232      
awkwardpenguin
I really appreciate you going to the games and you doing your part, but this excuse about "wanting to be in it" and then listing an accurate description of things that happen in a basketball game.
I don't know if you ever played organized sports, but after something goes haywire, you don't sulk, you get right back after it. I wish our fans had this attitude.
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I absolutely see where you are coming from. To try to wrap this up. To summarize:

- I am not proud by the situation in state farm center
- I am not proud by how easily emotionally swayed I am (or the fans are)
- But people need to realize how much human nature is playing into this. (And the specifics of the Wisconsin game don't help.)
- To expect that fans have the mental fortitude of players is unrealistic (otherwise SFC would have been sold out every game, every year, especially bad years? fans are emotionally invested and their interest swings based upon results. Again, not happy about it, but that's reality) And I sure don't see every player (on the bench or floor) showing the same energy when a game is going poorly compared to when the game is going well.
- I am not sure continually bashing fans online will make the fanbase actually better
 
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#233      
Fighter of the Nightman
21ChampaignSt said:
This is absolutely the case. There's no single magic lever we can pull to completely restore it. We need to identify the one move that will make the biggest impact.

I wish it were as easy as "The Krush needs to be louder." But they have to actually want to be loud. How can you make being loud and rambunctious something they desire for themselves?

Most culture changes need to start from the top down. So perhaps it's some kind of leadership committee of Krush Kaptains who "get it" and are willing to take ownership of a section and ensure everyone is staying engaged?

Just like the players, cheerleaders, and band, how can we establish the expectation that the Krush is there to perform a job. No one else is taking a play off to text or yell insults at the opposing bench, so why does the Krush think it's ok for them to? (Answer: because they're not there on scholarship...but still.)
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This brought up an interesting thought, and that is that we need to effectively communicate / articulate to Krush that their current setup IS a sort of mini scholarship. Just like with a scholarship, we are not making them pay the "market" price for seats in that location, and their end of the deal is to help improve our home court advantage. There is no way around it that they are free loading and actively taking advantage of the DIA if they take up that space simply to not be a student section.

aaeismacgychel said:
Have a Krush generation game to celebrate the Krush legacy inviting back and honoring all the past Krush captains from the prior decades and let them fully prep and lead the Krush and show them how it's done one final time. Play a highlight video pregame of the craziest Krush moments from the past decades to recreate the sound and energy, and then let them go at it for 40 straight minutes.
Click to expand...
My family came to town for the game vs. #11 Arizona in December 2021 for my (late) 30th birthday present, and SFC had a genuinely great atmosphere for that game. I would love if someone could confirm this, but IIRC the students were on break and there were signs up in the Hyatt welcoming Krush alumni members ... in other words, I think the student section for that game was filled with former Krush members. I can't find the full game on YouTube anymore and the highlights don't do it justice, but I remember thinking that the student section seemed so much more active ... it was sort of the first time I really realized that the current Krush had totally stopped doing all of the little things to prevent awkward / dead silences like the "Goooo, Illini, GO!" or "De-FENSE!" chants. Does the current Krush even do a single chant per game?! Good grief.

Also, one more relatively minor complaint. The Krush does the same thing every time we hit a three where they wait a second, do some motion and then shout something as they throw their hands down. I know I'm just being a crochety 34-year old, but it isn't just kind of lame ... it literally prevents one of the coolest things a student section can do in college hoops, and that's letting the loud cheer after a made basket naturally flow into being loud on the next defensive possession. Why would we intentionally build in a cheer that literally kills that cheering momentum? Lol. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, here is a good example from last year's Tennessee game:

#1 Tennessee at Illinois

1:08:45 | Ben passes it to Tre White, who hits a 3-pointer
1:08:49 | Initial loud cheer from the crowd
1:08:54 | Krush can be seen doing this weird cheer, temporarily dimming the loud cheering
1:08:58 | When they should be letting the emotions from the initial cheer turn into jumping up and down and cheering on defense, they effectively have to "start over," and it leads to a super watered down and lame crowd effect ... a total momentum killer...
 
#234      
IlliniFan42
Fighter of the Nightman said:
This brought up an interesting thought, and that is that we need to effectively communicate / articulate to Krush that their current setup IS a sort of mini scholarship. Just like with a scholarship, we are not making them pay the "market" price for seats in that location, and their end of the deal is to help improve our home court advantage. There is no way around it that they are free loading and actively taking advantage of the DIA if they take up that space simply to not be a student section.


My family came to town for the game vs. #11 Arizona in December 2021 for my (late) 30th birthday present, and SFC had a genuinely great atmosphere for that game. I would love if someone could confirm this, but IIRC the students were on break and there were signs up in the Hyatt welcoming Krush alumni members ... in other words, I think the student section for that game was filled with former Krush members. I can't find the full game on YouTube anymore and the highlights don't do it justice, but I remember thinking that the student section seemed so much more active ... it was sort of the first time I really realized that the current Krush had totally stopped doing all of the little things to prevent awkward / dead silences like the "Goooo, Illini, GO!" or "De-FENSE!" chants. Does the current Krush even do a single chant per game?! Good grief.

Also, one more relatively minor complaint. The Krush does the same thing every time we hit a three where they wait a second, do some motion and then shout something as they throw their hands down. I know I'm just being a crochety 34-year old, but it isn't just kind of lame ... it literally prevents one of the coolest things a student section can do in college hoops, and that's letting the loud cheer after a made basket naturally flow into being loud on the next defensive possession. Why would we intentionally build in a cheer that literally kills that cheering momentum? Lol. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, here is a good example from last year's Tennessee game:

#1 Tennessee at Illinois

1:08:45 | Ben passes it to Tre White, who hits a 3-pointer
1:08:49 | Initial loud cheer from the crowd
1:08:54 | Krush can be seen doing this weird cheer, temporarily dimming the loud cheering
1:08:58 | When they should be letting the emotions from the initial cheer turn into jumping up and down and cheering on defense, they effectively have to "start over," and it leads to a super watered down and lame crowd effect ... a total momentum killer...
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Linked to time
 
#235      
IlliniFan42
I'm no sociology expert, but when you replace the image of the Chief with nothing (or a squirrel, otter, or bird depending on what their astrology chart says), you sort of expect the student section to go from what we had before to what we have today.
 
#236      
Da88
Robert had to play the role of peacemaker at MSU. An (allegedly) drunk Sparty fan verbally attacked Doug Altenberger as he prepared to call the game up there. Rosenthal, who was seated in the press area, had to intervene to keep said fan from Doug.
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I've found that Sparty fans aren't nearly as tolerable as I used to find them.
 
#237      
JoseCuervo
What are you guys talking about people doing krush for their resumes?? I would think ever so slightly less of a candidate if they had that on their resume. You might as well just list "i like sports". if you're a leader of the club by all means put it but the other thousand members aren't doing it for resume filler.
 
#239      
Ramrod2010
mattcoldagelli said:
This gif has really stuck with me. Do these people know they are watching a top-ten team in a three-point game?
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Seriously, it's incomprehensible. I'm standing in my living room nearly 200 miles away.

And to be fair to Krush, they are hardly the only culprits in this specific instance. It's clearly a significant portion of all in attendance.
 
#241      
jumpingjack
Fighter of the Nightman said:
This brought up an interesting thought, and that is that we need to effectively communicate / articulate to Krush that their current setup IS a sort of mini scholarship. Just like with a scholarship, we are not making them pay the "market" price for seats in that location, and their end of the deal is to help improve our home court advantage. There is no way around it that they are free loading and actively taking advantage of the DIA if they take up that space simply to not be a student section.


My family came to town for the game vs. #11 Arizona in December 2021 for my (late) 30th birthday present, and SFC had a genuinely great atmosphere for that game. I would love if someone could confirm this, but IIRC the students were on break and there were signs up in the Hyatt welcoming Krush alumni members ... in other words, I think the student section for that game was filled with former Krush members. I can't find the full game on YouTube anymore and the highlights don't do it justice, but I remember thinking that the student section seemed so much more active ... it was sort of the first time I really realized that the current Krush had totally stopped doing all of the little things to prevent awkward / dead silences like the "Goooo, Illini, GO!" or "De-FENSE!" chants. Does the current Krush even do a single chant per game?! Good grief.

Also, one more relatively minor complaint. The Krush does the same thing every time we hit a three where they wait a second, do some motion and then shout something as they throw their hands down. I know I'm just being a crochety 34-year old, but it isn't just kind of lame ... it literally prevents one of the coolest things a student section can do in college hoops, and that's letting the loud cheer after a made basket naturally flow into being loud on the next defensive possession. Why would we intentionally build in a cheer that literally kills that cheering momentum? Lol. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, here is a good example from last year's Tennessee game:

#1 Tennessee at Illinois

1:08:45 | Ben passes it to Tre White, who hits a 3-pointer
1:08:49 | Initial loud cheer from the crowd
1:08:54 | Krush can be seen doing this weird cheer, temporarily dimming the loud cheering
1:08:58 | When they should be letting the emotions from the initial cheer turn into jumping up and down and cheering on defense, they effectively have to "start over," and it leads to a super watered down and lame crowd effect ... a total momentum killer...
Click to expand...
That Arizona game was LOUD. It did help that Kerr Kriisa was very easy to boo, played the villain to a t.
 
#242      
jumpingjack
I will point out that even though we're a materially better road team this year, those of us at road games have been noticeably quieter than my experiences the last five years generally. I'm as obnoxious as usual, but I want to hear I L L I N I callbacks from the rafters when we pick up a road kill. Not polite applause!
 
#243      
Fighter of the Nightman
jumpingjack said:
I will point out that even though we're a materially better road team this year, those of us at road games have been noticeably quieter than my experiences the last five years generally. I'm as obnoxious as usual, but I want to hear I L L I N I callbacks from the rafters when we pick up a road kill. Not polite applause!
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I agree. I’ve attended games in Evanston in 2019 (we were terrible), 2020 (we were starting to get good again), 2022 (solid top 20 team), 2025 (hard to describe) and this year. This year was one of our better turnouts as far as crowd makeup / pure numbers, but I was sort of struck by how NOT loud we were. :(
 
#244      
OrangeBlue98
Ramrod2010 said:
I wasn't gonna add this because I made a comment in the game thread about it, but this was as the announcer is exclaiming, "Are you not entertained?!"

View attachment 47449

/and the crowd goes mild

That moment would have blown the damn roof off in the not so distant past.
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Honestly, fans should watch this clip and walk away with one instruction.

Be as excited about the game as John Fanta was.
 
#245      
Fly Illini Fly!
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I agree. I’ve attended games in Evanston in 2019 (we were terrible), 2020 (we were starting to get good again), 2022 (solid top 20 team), 2025 (hard to describe) and this year. This year was one of our better turnouts as far as crowd makeup / pure numbers, but I was sort of struck by how NOT loud we were. :(
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I remember all of these.

2019 — AJ Turner of NW hits a 3 off an OREB. Trent misses at the buzzer.

2020 — Alan Griffin game

2022 — DaMonte tip slam

2025 — birth of the Humbrickhouse moniker; loss in OT

This year — phenomenal 2H from Keaton; big threes from Tomi at the end. Oh, and the Boswell flex after the Martenelli steal.
 
#247      
Ryllini
Altuve27 said:
I’m sure this has been answered so I apologize for the repeat question. The Alabama game at United Center had a FANTASTIC environment. Why such a big difference in crowd involvement?
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It was a great environment. I'm guessing the majority of the attendees got to live watch one of the best teams in the country and it was not lost on them to not take it for granted.
I've lived in both areas of the state and things/people are a little more lively up here. When the Bulls are good, granted not often, it is a great environment for 41 games. Definitely not to the Illini/Bama level, but it's good. I hate the Cubs, but the place is electric for 81 games and the Sox can be the same way.
I think the Orange Krush probably has terrible leadership. They don't understand the assignment. Even look at the football games, they bail at the first chance and that's if you even get them to come in from the tailgates and bars.
 
#248      
RollChief
I’ve done some thinking on this and wanted to provide some thoughts. I’ll preface that this may be a bit more out there and cosmic than other ideas about the Wisconsin game/SFC issue.

I think arena set up across CBB provides marginal gains for creating advantageous college basketball environments for home teams.

I think the issue lies with fans’ response to stimulus more so than anything. If you look at fans across the board, from the orange Krush to the rich folks in the 100 level and suites, to all other fan bases, there is one thing in common. Everyone is being slammed with information and exciting things via their phones and through current technology much more so in the past, when folks here were Krush members in its glory days.

Everyone, not just the new generation, is addicted to watching exciting things on there phones and are exposed to events throughout the day that trigger a response that only a rare environment like a in-conference college basketball game should deliver. I think the bar for stimulus has gotten so high that people simply don’t respond to home crowd environments like they once did.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt because I’m a soap box anti social media guy, but I think folks (on the whole) are a bit too fried from getting blasted by there phones all day to really put their heart and souls into games like fanatics on this board would.

Just my two cents, but I think amazing environments for college sports are simply more rare than they once were.
 
#249      
blackdog
RollChief said:
I’ve done some thinking on this and wanted to provide some thoughts. I’ll preface that this may be a bit more out there and cosmic than other ideas about the Wisconsin game/SFC issue.

I think arena set up across CBB provides marginal gains for creating advantageous college basketball environments for home teams.

I think the issue lies with fans’ response to stimulus more so than anything. If you look at fans across the board, from the orange Krush to the rich folks in the 100 level and suites, to all other fan bases, there is one thing in common. Everyone is being slammed with information and exciting things via their phones and through current technology much more so in the past, when folks here were Krush members in its glory days.

Everyone, not just the new generation, is addicted to watching exciting things on there phones and are exposed to events throughout the day that trigger a response that only a rare environment like a in-conference college basketball game should deliver. I think the bar for stimulus has gotten so high that people simply don’t respond to home crowd environments like they once did.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt because I’m a soap box anti social media guy, but I think folks (on the whole) are a bit too fried from getting blasted by there phones all day to really put their heart and souls into games like fanatics on this board would.

Just my two cents, but I think amazing environments for college sports are simply more rare than they once were.
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I could almost believe that except we can see other schools still having tremendous atmospheres and engagement from fans.
 
#250      
The Sprouting Divot
blackdog said:
I could almost believe that except we can see other schools still having tremendous atmospheres and engagement from fans.
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But do those other schools also include all (or an equivalent amount) of those many other various hurdles and impediments that we've collectively identified?

I think phones and social media and how our brains are all ruined is probably a factor somehow, but it's pretty far down the full list.
 
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