student section

Hey fellow Pilot fans,
Just wondering what your thoughts were on the student section at games this year. If you are like me you are not impressed but I was wondering if anybody in here had any suggestions for how we could up the enthusiasm. Thanks for any input.

PurpleMann

purplemann:
there has to be leaders who aren't afraid to step forward and establish some organisation a s well as leadership. It should be started in the dorms, at the pilot house, etc. and it takes some time, it woun't be a landslide overnite

Thanks for the post, PM12. UPsailor is right on... there needs to be leadership! And not just one person, but maybe a group... Some students standing up in the front row, as an example for everyone else.... and hopefully those people will have a keen sense as to when the various chants are appropriate... that key defensive stand, that opponent free throw, etc.

The students have been showing up in decent numbers this year, but they are dissappointingly silent as they seem to be sitting on their hands. The old folks across the floor are making much more noise. Right or wrong, the entire fan atmosphere builds from the students.

Building a strong student section can't be done last minute on game day... students need to know well in advance, be provided with some hints (signs from the leaders, chant lists, etc)... hopefully you can build something that everyone will WANT to be a part of.

Everyone here wants to help... I hope there is a lot of positive feedback given. Please let me know if I can help!

How about giving the students a program. There is nothing more embarrassing than hearing them heckle the other team by number instead of name.

I think the students have been good so far. Of course, we would prefer craziness every time out, but I've been very happy with the numbers thus far.

The biggest obstacle has been the schedule. The two games that happened on a weekend night (UC Davis and Kentucky) the students showed up in droves and were loud and rowdy.

Otherwise, the game times have been Friday at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 6 p.m.; Tuesday at 7 p.m.; and the Saturday of Thanksgiving.

And it doesn't get a lot better... during the break when students aren't around, games are the Wednesday before Christmas and the Monday after Christmas (both at 7 p.m.), and New Year's Eve at 4 p.m.

BUT... once it gets into the swing of Thursday/Saturday for WCC games, I think the students are going to be awesome. I really do. Especially with four ESPN games at the Chiles Center and two other ones broadcast live on Comcast.

Something tells me there's going to be A LOT of screen time for those teletubbies and the rest of the Pilot Riot crew.

Halftime keggers.

pilotram wrote:Halftime keggers.

Works for us old folks...(Pilot Club)

Thanks guys, I agree that the schedule does have a lot to do with it. I am guilty of not going to every game this year but it is mainly because of the schedule. I would say that the general turnout has been above average but I want to get the students involved. It means nothing if you go and sit there and make no noise. good suggestion on the programs, and if anyone wants to front the cash halftime keggers work for us as well.

PurpleMann

upsailor wrote:purplemann:
there has to be leaders who aren't afraid to step forward and establish some organisation a s well as leadership. It should be started in the dorms, at the pilot house, etc. and it takes some time, it woun't be a landslide overnite

So true. It would be great to have a group of 20-50 students decked out in purple sitting close to the court consistently yelling a little bit louder during the free throws. There are so many good programs out there to draw ideas from... I think that the students should mark the January 13th (at home vs LMU) and February 3rd games (at home vs. Gonzaga) onto their calendars since those will be on ESPN2, and we have a chance to give our team and the Chiles Center some national exposure. But, really every game is important...

Leaders are key. But they need to be leaders who are knowledgeable about the game and how and when to impact the game as fans. Heckling is all well and good, and a whole lot of fun when done well, but the crowd should also be able to affect the game by lifting up the team, giving them that last bit of energy they need to close out on a three point shooter or hustle to get the loose ball. They need to know when to have a reaction to a call or lack thereof. You can't cry wolf at every call that goes against our guys.

Honestly, that was what dissapointed me most about the students that made it to Vegas last year. They didn't seem to have the knowledge of the game. They were busy simply shouting obsenities at the refs and opposing players. Not effective stuff. There is the place for a well-timed
"horse$***!!", but not every stinking posession.

A good crowd is an extension of the team. You've got to know the game, have a gameplan, stay composed, and execute it.

This is a question I'm sure every struggling program has been trying to answer since the game was first played.
The flyers that greeted students last year were probably not helpful in this matter.

The student section has been getting the numbers over the past four or five years, but they have been lacking in the enthusiasm that had been there previously. I hate to repeat everyone else, but it starts with leadership. You've got to get people together before the game and head over as a group. The spirit has to originate before the game, starting in the dorms and off-campus houses. People aren't going to show up with a friend, see everyone else sitting, and suddenly get amped. You have to march in there with a posse and take over the place the moment you step in the door.

The students have always picked it up for conference play (and televised games), so I'm not worried.

Wear purple. Bring someone new every game. Always stand. Chant and yell. Best of luck.

P.S. What is the deal with the teletubbies? I just don't get it. Maybe I'm getting to far removed from the generation of students currently in college.

Welcome to my world, its kinda like a guy in my college days showing up in Star Wars outfit, he woulda left the arena in his under wear....without their teletubbies, regardless of how man y security personnel/cops tried to stop us...& if the AD WOULD have tried something we would have stuffed him in the largest trash can on campus...we probably would have stopped the maham if Rev or some little ol 80 yr old person asked us to, lol...or when they started throwin or sprayng tear gas/ pepper spray....most of the p layers realize UP students are flackey, selfish,& self centered.....plus its hard to support a program before Rev was a perpetual losing deal.....wish the students could pull their selfish "heads out of their a@#&" but since Stoney and his crew of Mattywizz DTR, etc, etc...student support is dismal as a whole....

You flatter us Mesa, but yeah it's good they are showing up in numbers, but basketball isn't supposed to be like Wimbeldon Centre Court...

It's been said already several times but the art of a good student section requires leadership and organization. You can't just have people show up and expect them to know what to do and when to do it, it requires a bit of an education. Rev scouts the other team and how they play, it's the students job to scout the other players as well. Look up their histories, scour student newspapers and websites to see if there is anything you can poke fun at. It can be done easily without resorting to vulgarity (although as R54 contends, there's nothing like a well placed old-timey swear.) Or it can even be as simple as noticing their footwear, or something they might be wearing (e.g. NBA socks) or a questionable tattoo.

And also it helps a lot to gather before the game elsewhere to get organized and get excited (You can decide HOW to get people riled up, there are different ways , some direct, some a bit more, um, liquid.) Just yelling in people's faces at the game to "stand up and yell" is just going to anger people half the time and encourage them to not come back to the game, you have to invite them in and make them feel like they are a part of something. It requires is a good core of leaders dedicated to making it a fun environment all while supporting the team in both a positive and exuberant manner. It isn't a hard thing to do at all, you just have to do it.

DaTruRochin wrote:You flatter us Mesa, but yeah it's good they are showing up in numbers, but basketball isn't supposed to be like Wimbeldon Centre Court...

It's been said already several times but the art of a good student section requires leadership and organization. You can't just have people show up and expect them to know what to do and when to do it, it requires a bit of an education. Rev scouts the other team and how they play, it's the students job to scout the other players as well. Look up their histories, scour student newspapers and websites to see if there is anything you can poke fun at. It can be done easily without resorting to vulgarity (although as R54 contends, there's nothing like a well placed old-timey swear.) Or it can even be as simple as noticing their footwear, or something they might be wearing (e.g. NBA socks) or a questionable tattoo.

And also it helps a lot to gather before the game elsewhere to get organized and get excited (You can decided HOW to get people riled up, there are different ways , some direct, some a bit more, um, liquid.) Just yelling in people's faces at the game to "stand up and yell" is just going to anger people half the time and encourage them to not come back to the game, you have to invite them in and make them feel like they are a part of something. It requires is a good core of leaders dedicated to making it a fun environment all while supporting the team in both a positive and exuberant manner. It isn't a hard thing to do at all, you just have to do it.

This is a nominee for post of the year!

one suggestion, you mite take a look at the Villa Drummers..They're organized come onto the field as a group and know what they're going to do while the game is going on. In other words they hve a plan before the action starts. Of course they have been at it for years, but get together with theeir leaders and see if they have suggestions that fit in with your Chiles Center efforts. Maybe it will work.

So-

Why do the drummers hibernate during Basketball season?

Is it the band?

You'd be surprised how unoriginal Villians get when you take away their noisemakers...

In our original PP heyday, the leadership group had people coming from almost every dorm, and when we "recruited" we made sure to send people out to every dorm so the group had an all campus (and off campus) feel to it.

[quote="DaTruRochin"]You'd be surprised how unoriginal Villians get when you take away their noisemakers...

In our original PP heyday, the leadership group had people coming from almost every dorm, and when we "recruited" we made sure to send people out to every dorm so the group had an all campus (and off campus) feel to it.[/quote

Just saying ......I used to attend a current plrs HS games at Dobson & the 15-17 children had more school spirit and inguennity than these"nerdy" current sit on your hands half the game PEEUU (formerly known as UP) students could learn from them....didnt hurt I guess that alot of the games had the star plyr at Cal, St Marys, and three other regulars who play at UP, UNLV, U of AZ..on floor the same time.... s, ha

I blame it all on X box, cellphone texting,& Nintendo, lol...Warping the empty headed" EH" gen, no original idea generation one text and game at a time....

I have all the latest electronic toys and even make a couple of my own. I still yell incoherently at games.

That can't be it. Just tell 'em they are playing new game on their Kinect box.

Purplegeezer wrote:So-

Why do the drummers hibernate during Basketball season?

Is it the band?

If I recall correctly, we were not allowed to bring in noisemakers into an indoor arena per NCAA regs. I wouldn't imagine that this has changed. Take away the kilts, too, and we look just like any other dorm's residents.

VillaGorilla wrote:

Purplegeezer wrote:So-

Why do the drummers hibernate during Basketball season?

Is it the band?

If I recall correctly, we were not allowed to bring in noisemakers into an indoor arena per NCAA regs. I wouldn't imagine that this has changed. Take away the kilts, too, and we look just like any other dorm's residents.

Not an excuse. There are the chants, and you aren't allowed noisemakers at outdoor venues either.

But if you get sanctioned by your school and follow simple rules( take your turn during timeouts, etc) you can do your thing, same as they do during soccer games in the tournament.

The whole Villa Drum squad thing wouldn't work for a couple of reasons. First of all, the leaders of the drum squad have been contacted the past few years, at least while I was helping out with everything and they hadn't produced a consistent number of people to take charge of anything. On top of that, basketball is a way different sport than soccer in terms of being a fan, especially at the college level.

I haven't been to a game this year, so I'm not sure how everything is but this topic seems to be brought up every year and let me just say that there are people who care. There is a core group that want to be those people its just there isn't that respect yet for the basketball team to gain that widespread fan following. I know that we have been successful over the past couple of years with a few well timed big wins, but we've also been inconsistent and haven't backed anything up. We've had postseason appearances but tell most people that we've made it to the CIT tournament, and they won't have any idea what your talking about. On top of that, both appearances have been away, so most of the fans haven't even seen them play in the post season.

It may sound easy to get people to go to games but its actually difficult. At least over the past two years it was an environment that encouraged standing and cheering. My sophomore year, Clay and I were hounded numerous times by our own students for standing. From the time I started working on getting people to come til I graduated we had grown the student section from 2 people who were really into it, to about 20-30 consistent participants that included the party crowd (now named Pilot Riot) and the non-drinking crowd.
I know its easy to say give them some beer and people will show up but sometimes that's not the best way to go about things. The student section got into a little trouble last year because there were a few belligerent students who yell stupid, inappropriate things. It's somewhat embarrassing when parents have to leave because they don't want their kids to hear what the students are saying.
So to end my little rant, just be patient. There will always be students who care. It will just take time for a student section to grow.

purplepride13 wrote:I know that we have been successful over the past couple of years with a few well timed big wins, but we've also been inconsistent and haven't backed anything up.

Over the past two years we're 30-4 at home with wins over University of Washington, University of Oregon, a ranked Saint Mary's (yes Patty Mills got hurt the game before but they were still ranked). We also had a home contest against a cross-town rival when we were ranked. I just don't know if you can make the argument that fans aren't coming out because we've been inconsistent.

Maybe inconsistent isn't the right word. I was pointing out that over the past few years, every time we've beaten one of those teams we have stumbled shortly thereafter. Here's what I mean:
Nov 15 2008 we beat Washington; Next game Nov 18 we lose to Portland State
Nov 29 2008 we beat a quality Nevada team; Next game Dec 3 we lose to Eastern Washington at home
Jan 31 2009 we beat Saint Mary's; Next game we fail to show up at Gonzaga (granted it was a difficult place to play and all but the game was never even close.)
That year we lose the last two by not showing up at WCC against Saint Mary's and a loss to Pacific in the CIT.
After beating Oregon, UCLA, Minnesota back to back to back, we lose to West Virginia (understandable), Portland State as a ranked team, and a 20 point defeat to an Idaho team we beat by 30 two weeks later.
We beat Saint Mary's at home in OT, but lose the next week to LMU (they were streaking at that time I know but these are wins we needed to have)
We end the season once again getting destroyed by Saint Mary's at WCC and getting beat by Northern Colorado.

My point is that we are at a point where we are getting quality wins once in a while, which is great, but we have yet to back any of it up. We haven't been that team that people can fall in love with. Gonzaga was just a small jesuit school until the runs in the late 90's. I remember my sister (a GU alum who worked for the basketball team during that span) telling me about the crazy fans known as the Kennel Club. They were small back then and you could get to a game if you wanted. But after the run in 99 and return trips to the sweet 16 later on, the city and to some extent the country fell in love with the zags creating the atmosphere they have now. It wasn't created over night. They were close many times but until they consistently competed with top talent and beat those teams their following was small similar to most mid-major teams. A majority of the students don't really care about Pilot athletics. They don't sit at their computers for away games just to see if their team is winning. There isn't that atmosphere around Pilot Basketball YET. It's easy to tell that by just seeing how many students participate on this site. I know there are a few, and probably a few more who read but don't contribute, but the fact of the matter is that that passion is still growing in a lot of students and it takes time and continued success. If it were easy to build a student section, it would already be done.