That was a great game. But nothing like what the RAC was like 10 years earlier . Back then the chants and tormenting of opponents was nonstop for 40 minutes. And the noise was so loud that it was hard to even hear the buzzers.
Is it time to reconfigure the so-called Student section?
- Thread starter Mr_Twister
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That was a great game. But nothing like what the RAC was like 10 years earlier . Back then the chants and tormenting of opponents was nonstop for 40 minutes. And the noise was so loud that it was hard to even hear the buzzers.
Was watching some old highlights from the early Wenzel years the other day. It was absolutely crazy and deafening and, yes, the students in half of the sideline seats made a huge difference in that atmosphere. And the other fans in the rest of that side were generally the youngish alums and were very vocal and pretty nuts too. Remember that side behind the scorer's table was still those old molded plastic bleacher seats not the cushy seats we have now and it was actually more comfortable to stand. But once they put those cushy seats in and made them premium (donation required) seating you were never going to put students there again. Still, a real enthused end zone student section can still be a huge advantage and the acoustics of the RAC will take care of the rest. But the students have to be there and they have to be organized and into it. In the last 10 years or so even when students are there they sit on their hands and generally only a select few act like they've seen a college basketball game before. Everyone is too cool or something.
It's still the same people sitting in those seats. But now they're pushing 60.
How about viewing it as an investment in winning? Make a smaller profit and let the students sit closer where they can scream loudly at and harass opponents on the court. Could be worth a win or two at home with the loud crowd noise.
When the BIG 10 money kicks in it will make up for any small losses in revenue.
There was a lot of hand wringing when there was the mere suggestion that a few fans in the non premium section 118 might be displaced and you want to displace people in premium locations who have been financially and emotionally investing in this program for years for some non existent student fans? Again, will not happen. The RAC is not some sterile hockey arena. If students show up and are loud they don't need to be court side shouting obscenities from behind the bench where players families sit. The problem is not that students are not sitting court side during the game, it's that they're sitting in their dorms or apartments.
Appreciate the desire to ramp up the home court advantage but this isn't the answer.
Appreciate the desire to ramp up the home court advantage but this isn't the answer.
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And keep in mind that really wasn't that good of a team in 1989 either. They were 10-12 before they got hot down the stretch. Even after three years of the L-word, 10-12 isn't going to put too many fannies in the seats. A lot of those people were there because they wanted to see an RU alum succeed.
Have you been to many games over the past few years? The donors who sit in the 100 seats are there even when the student section is empty. You have lots of games with fewer than 20 students in attendance. And even when the student section has a 100 or so students in it, most of the time they are pretty quiet.
2 thoughts.
1) I think it a missed opportunity not to have larger fan section behind the now diminished 118. We've completely given the visiting team a 1st half pass on foul shooting. Not sure if a structural issue but I'd have put bigger section of (temp for now) seats up there and leaving room underneath for functions.
2) (and this part a bit more of a stretch)...but all the folks here including myself who want to complain about the other end..which I get. IF we're playing a tight game and nobody is sitting in student section. How bout all of us sitting further upstairs just move our butts into the end court 2nd half , partner with the students, and show em how its done?
1) I think it a missed opportunity not to have larger fan section behind the now diminished 118. We've completely given the visiting team a 1st half pass on foul shooting. Not sure if a structural issue but I'd have put bigger section of (temp for now) seats up there and leaving room underneath for functions.
2) (and this part a bit more of a stretch)...but all the folks here including myself who want to complain about the other end..which I get. IF we're playing a tight game and nobody is sitting in student section. How bout all of us sitting further upstairs just move our butts into the end court 2nd half , partner with the students, and show em how its done?
I see your argument potentially in the future. There is a reason why Pitt built Peterson for that purpose and Duke does it. I do believe when it gets turned around you get more revenue per seat based on exclusivity.
As has been stated the problem is the section on many nights would be completely empty and there would be no one in the current student section. revenue couldn't be made up because there is a fair amount of elasticity currently in premium seating. Getting on the NCAA bubble changes everything.
I am totally expecting/hoping in the next 3-5 years a reshuffling of the seating deck at the RAC and know I will be forced to pay more to keep my seats.
When I watch the game at home in in Columbus the cameras always face the benches from the other opposite side of the court. When there is an exciting play, like the Nigel Johnson steal and dunk I saw a bunch of golf claps coming from all the fans sitting behind the benches.....most games I have watched From other teams you have very loud fans in those sections.
I would prefer to see fans jumping up and screaming.
I would prefer that potential recruits watching to see that as well.
I would prefer that recruits siting behind the bench during game visits to be surrounded by screaming fans.
I would prefer that people from all over the country watching a Rutgers BTN conference game to see those screaming fans, dressed in red shirts to create a sea of Rutgers red..... harassing the opposing team and pumping up the home team.
When Pikiell gets this thing going very soon......these changes are necessary. Very Difficult decision for those currently in those seats...but necessary.
I would prefer to see fans jumping up and screaming.
I would prefer that potential recruits watching to see that as well.
I would prefer that recruits siting behind the bench during game visits to be surrounded by screaming fans.
I would prefer that people from all over the country watching a Rutgers BTN conference game to see those screaming fans, dressed in red shirts to create a sea of Rutgers red..... harassing the opposing team and pumping up the home team.
When Pikiell gets this thing going very soon......these changes are necessary. Very Difficult decision for those currently in those seats...but necessary.
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So at age 44, in my 28th year as a season ticket holder, I should give up my ticket for a student body that can't be bothered to show up the majority of the time? That makes perfect sense to me. Sign me up. Maybe I can buy them some snacks at the concession stand before I go.
As many Riot Squad members as possible show up, consistently, game after game. Unfortunately, we can't fill the section by ourselves because attendance can't be made mandatory to go see terrible basketball. Good, loud crowds have happened in recent years. See: Seton Hall, Michigan State Blackout. The problem? The team was terrible. Here's what needs to happen.
There needs to be a concerted marketing push to get students out to a game.
There needs to be a good game, that students enjoy themselves at. Winning needs to either happen, or be a decent possibility.
Buzz will spread.
The people in the 100 level seats do not, in my opinion, get to complain about people not making noise. They're welcome to complain about people not showing up. But they don't get to complain about a lack of noise when they can barely be bothered to join in on an R-U chant.
There needs to be a concerted marketing push to get students out to a game.
There needs to be a good game, that students enjoy themselves at. Winning needs to either happen, or be a decent possibility.
Buzz will spread.
The people in the 100 level seats do not, in my opinion, get to complain about people not making noise. They're welcome to complain about people not showing up. But they don't get to complain about a lack of noise when they can barely be bothered to join in on an R-U chant.
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decades of crappy basketball..... and you expect the fans to be consistent?..... it ain't happening till we win a bunch, and
then play a bigger time team...
This discussion must be a joke. Most games the students don't even attend and you want to move loyal fans & alumni that have had their seats for a long time and pay a premium for them to give them to students. More often than not the empty seats will be seen loud and clear on TV. Students do show up every once in a while but for the most part they are usually not there. I'm sure if we ever got really good they would show up but if we are only .500 or so they will not. What is wrong with just moving the band back in the center of the student section and the students surrounding them.
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this discussion comes up every year.... I understand the idea of having the students down low, mid court, to maximize noise
during a game..... I think schools like Duke might have been doing this.... you are right, it is never going to happen, if they wanted it that way they should have started it when the RAC was built.
I have mid court seats and if I was moved because a student was put there , I would consider not renewing there after....you don"t risk losing paying, long term customers, as few as there are now, and give a student That ticket, he graduates, and is gone.
Would love to see us get a rivalry going with Maryland. They usually have a pretty good BB team and they are not that far away for fans to travel
If memory serves me I think the RAC was voted - at one time - the loudest and hardest place to play when we were in the Big East
I don't think most of the people in this thread are "complaining" about the students not showing up or not making enough noise. I think they are just observing that the lack of student attendance, and the fact that most students are quiet when they are there, is a reason to not move them to courtside seats.
And absolutely, the people in the 100-level seats are mostly quiet, for the same reasons that the students are mostly quiet: there hasn't been much to cheer about.
There are about 20 students (I assume the Riot Squad) plus the band who make noise on a regular basis. That's it. And while I give them credit for cheering. I have to note that they've only been doing this for 3 years max. Four years ago it was a different set of 20 students and band members cheering. But the paying fans in the 100 levels have been through 10 years of misery since Fred Hill Jr and Bob Mulcahy killed our basketball program.
Hopefully Pike bring life back to the program. But it is too early to tell now and too early to see the results. I expect no students tonight or Friday (yes,I know it is Thanksgiving and students are on break, but that didn't stop students from showing up 15 years ago), and I expect the people in the 100-level to be mostly quiet. As usual.
I've been doing this for 18 years, and you will see at least one student tonight. Can't guarantee anything Friday though, I have work.
"No students" was hyperbole. I expect about 15 students, plus the band.
The marketing department in Athletics is not getting the job done. To start, the marketing head is Geoff Brown who came from a tiny minor league baseball team, the Lakewood Blueclaws. Hobbs needs to bring a successful sports marketing person with real NYC experience. We need some who understands how to sell our experiences against all the other options in our area.
The changes this guy made to the game experience in football and basketball are ridiculous. To start with, what other B1G programs have DJs? This is a waste of money.
Funny you mention the DJ since the B1G hired Rutgers' own DJ to do it for the B1G Championship game and other conferences have inquired about it too.
I am a season ticket holder FOR FOOTBALL for 25 years. This is my first season for Basketball. I am one of those guys that sit in the "100s" sections. I can't believe how blasie the people around me are. Compared to football, it's almost embarrassing. We cheer for a 2-8 football team but not for a 5-0 basketball team. I don't get it.
I AM COMMITTED TO BRINGING MY SECTION TO LIFE. I totally get it that people compare us to a funeral procession. We need students to show up but more than that we need people close to the court to get excited. Students or no students....WE SHOULD CHEER! Please follow my lead people...
I AM COMMITTED TO BRINGING MY SECTION TO LIFE. I totally get it that people compare us to a funeral procession. We need students to show up but more than that we need people close to the court to get excited. Students or no students....WE SHOULD CHEER! Please follow my lead people...
The team stat display board should show a running count of Student Passes (student tickets?) scanned at the RAC entry doors. If it beats the final student total from the previous game, certificates for free hot dogs are issued in the student section that are good at the next home game.
I like your idea here. Some version of this could work nicely to get more students in the stands. Today's light turnout was probably due to students going home for thanksgiving.
No offense but I find it comical that you think THAT game was loud. Not even close my friend, not even close, to what THE RAC truly has to offer!
It was one of the loudest games during my era. I'm sure it wasn't close to the level that place can get to (It probably wasn't even sold out) but it just shows if you play competitive ball against a good team the students will bring it.
Either way the RAC will come back to life this season. I'm fairly confident the student section will be full and we will have a legit home court advantage once January hits the way this team is playing.
As a kid in the 80s.. the student section side was just a bigger version of that pull-out bleacher on the opposite end. The band sat directly behind the baskets going down to the floor.. the front row players could stand up and lean over and touch the basket support. The student fans to the left of them were spitting distance to the foul line. Not only could the players shooting hear every nasty word.. so could their coaches.. many of them did not appreciate that.
To see what the student section looked like then.. check this out.. starts with a nice "Duckett face"... give it 10 seconds to see the foul shot (BTW.. from the comments on this video looks like Jelly put it up)
And, iirc, even this was giving more room along the baseline than usual... at least from 5 years prior.
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cant believe that the RAC has got smaller and smaller. That configuration from the PSU game was the best. To lose at least 1000 seats since then is blasphemy
The RAC between 89-91 had some of the loudest games ever, those who think the games in the 2000s were loud should know games against PSU, UNLV, Missouri and Seton Hall were twice as loud
The RAC between 89-91 had some of the loudest games ever, those who think the games in the 2000s were loud should know games against PSU, UNLV, Missouri and Seton Hall were twice as loud
