Crowd

[ripemupshocks]

The crowd had moments where it was very loud. If I was in charge there would be a few specific changes to game management:

1) stop whoring out the student athletes. David Kyles should be able to hear the crowd go nuts when he hits a three for the sixth time in the half without having to hear it interrupted by "this three is sponsored by...". Or a sick Carl Hall should be able to drink the crowd's enthusiasm without it getting drowned out by dancing Don Hall. Note I refuse to mention the sponsors - they should know better. I can't think of a more tacky way to be.

2) the videos should be short and to the point. I would rather have it off then to have the energy sucking pomp and circumstance that happens now. It is so boring and long. Not a single person I know likes it. My wife actually laughs at it.

3) under no circumstance should there be promos at the final officials time out. It is too important to keep the home court atmosphere going.

4) use the video to pump up the crowd. Shocker meter, TM, MTXE... We have the tools please use them.

I couldn't agree more proshox. Everywhere I go (games, work, here at ShockerNet) I keep hearing the same complaints. Bad video board, bad band, bad empty corporate seats, and the non-stop sponsorship by company X,Y, or Z of everything good that ever happens during the game. Everyone seems to feel all of these things are just killing the atmosphere. And it seems to be getting worse and worse. We don't understand how Sexton doesn't see it.

Edit: I said bad band, but that was not accurate. We don't feel the band is bad, just bad timing and sometimes bad song choices.

[Capitol Shock II]

Last nights game was one that I particularly wanted to win after getting abused their two seasons ago. But while I wanted the win the game lacked any real significance...I enjoyed the game but it wasn't too big a deal. I wish we had more games at Koch that meant something. However, with that said, I'm surprised at how well we draw night in and night out.

I did talk to a couple of different people that gave up their tickets with the recent price increase. Both of these families attended the Intrust Bank game surprisingly but they told me that they took advantage of the "Groupon" deal which I didn't see?

I expect a big following in St. Louis as those who gave up season tickets spend their money when each game matters.

[ShockTalk]

I couldn't agree more proshox. Everywhere I go (games, work, here at ShockerNet) I keep hearing the same complaints. Bad video board, bad band, bad empty corporate seats, and the non-stop sponsorship by company X,Y, or Z of everything good that ever happens during the game. Everyone seems to feel all of these things are just killing the atmosphere. And it seems to be getting worse and worse. We don't understand how Sexton doesn't see it.

Edit: I said bad band, but that was not accurate. We don't feel the band is bad, just bad timing and sometimes bad song choices.

Who says he doesn't. Money, money, money makes the world go round, the world go round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q

[H8KU]

At one point crowd was getting into it, than had to stop for some kids driving those small cars around cones???

^^This!!!!^^

The pregame and time out presentations are very mid-majory. I don't remember if it was PA music or the band playing after a big bucket, but the crowd was into it at the time out with 3 minutes left. Then some idiot made a conscious decision to stop the music and have the kids drive their toy cars set to the tune of the most rinkydink music ever played at a basketball game.

Regardless, I have to give last nights crowd a lot of credit. Despite KDOT's best effort to destroy the atmosphere, they got loud for the defense as soon as the whistle blew.

[SB Shock]

Sorry, I ordered Memphis nachos and it took a whole half to eat them and then I took a nap.

[owenc]

Chris, can you expound upon this? What exactly have they done to improve or change that policy?

They actually work it pretty hard. I mean ultimately it is impossible to put a butt in every seat unless you do things that would mean that you also turned away people who had tickets, but they do a pretty good job.

The biggies are:

1) They make it very easy to exchange tickets. They have a ticket marketplace like WSU but they also have a way to just transfer individual game tickets to another person and that person just picks them up at will call. Makes it really nice for example if you live in Wichita but need to get rid of a ticket last minute.

2) They allow season ticket holders to easily "donate" their own seats back to the university. You just go online and with a few mouse clicks you let them know you won't be using the ticket and then they will resell it to the public. This policy also means you can sometimes get _great_ seats at the ticket office right before the game. I took my sister once and her last minute seat was 20th row mid court.

3) They require students to arrive 30 minutes early or they will resell those tickets too. At the 30 minute mark they will open up all those seats to GA and sell them. They are actually kind of brutal about this. I once saw some students turned away at the 25 minute mark. I happened to have 2 unused tickets that I gave them or they'd have been watching it from the dorm.

4) For games where the students will all be on break turnout is usually less so they will actually pre-sell those tickets as GA tickets based on past attendance. So for the next 4 games they will likely sell a thousand GA tickets just based on the assumption that student turnout will be lighter.

Of course all these things assume there is pent up demand but over all they do a pretty good job. I'll bet they sell anywhere between 17,000 and 18,000 tickets for a 16,000 seat building for some games. Maybe even more for a late December game on a Tuesday.

I'm sure it is more art than science but they manage to fill up the place while not getting caught overselling too bad. Every once in a while the student/GA sections will be full enough I'm sure the fire marshal wouldn't approve but generally they get it pretty much right.

[pie n eye]

Whoever is in charge of in game production needs to do all the fans a favor and burn every last copy of Jock Jams in Koch Arena. That music is so cheesy and grade schoolish that I often blush when it's played.

Instead of Let's Get Ready to Rumble at tip off, how about let the band play the fight song then immediately let the drummer start the slow clap leading up to tip? That worked pretty well in the past and doesn't make us look like we're stuck in the 1990's.

I've said it before but playing loud hand clap/techno music does not equal electric atmosphere. It is a stretch to play We Will Rock You once during the game let alone at every media time out. Give Darude a break for once, the guy's been stuck in a Sandstorm for 15 years!

How is Everybody supposed to Freeze but also Clap Their Hands at the same time? It's stupid and they really need to stop playing that.

The list goes on and on...

That being said I do enjoy the minute to win it challenge with the ping pong balls and cups, Amanda furniture shoot out is not the worst thing in the world, nor is making fun of two fools who can't shoot free throws to save their lives. At least I don't have to worry about deafness brought on by crappy music during those promos.

As far as sponsoring dunks and 3 pointers during the game I think it it's a slippery slope. How long until they're sponsoring rebounds, steals, farts and every other event during a basketball game? They really need to figure out a less amateur way of advertising those things.

Obviously I'm just some fan on a message board but my advice to whoever is in charge of in game production is 1) If you want to do the thing right, do your research. Go to some games of other schools who are touted for their home court atmosphere. Take notes, copy and modify what you need. 2) Less is more.

[pie n eye]

Also, before I started writing that post I had no idea who (wrote?) the techno song you hear 3 or 4 times at every game. So I went to google and searched "du du du du du du du du du du du du du du du du du techno song". Lo and behold it found the song I was looking for.

[InWuWeTrust]

a couple of things:

1) i like the marshall speech during the intro, but its a bit too long.

2) nix batwu

3) the kdot thing is gay, but i'm sure they advertise, so theres not much to be done with it

4) miss the noise-meter and the x-man telling the old fogies to get off their asses and cheer

5) at halftime the new LED board showed stats.. then once play started it went away. can't we use it to show stats during the game?


gotta say, after visiting tulsa on wednesday, our production is MUCH better than others than i've seen.

[pie n eye]

In the past I've always maintained that if you win the student section will take care of itself but I think it's fairly obvious at this point that we can't expect the students to fill up GA by themselves. The athletic department needs to recognize that, due to apathy, busy schedules, lack of information, whatever, the students need some help showing up to the basketball games. I tried to brainstorm a few wasy they might accomplish this.

1) Go directly to the source. If the students aren't willing to visit the Heskett Center, RSC, or ticket office to pick up their free tickets then go visit them at their classes. Print out 2000 or more tickets and just start handing them out between classes, at the RSC, at Greek houses, anywhere students may be. Chances are every person who receives a ticket won't show up but you're more likely to hit 1000 seats. I understand this will cut into the bottom line because it will reduce the amount of GA tickets sold but the tickets are free to students for a reason and they ought to be the ones filling the seats. And it's the athletic departments job to help them. Plus there is the added bonus that more than 1000 might show up and some students are turned away. Everyone knows college kids are intrigued by exclusive events. Maybe next time they pick up their tickets and show up to the game earlier which also helps build the atmosphere.

2) If that doesn't work, is not acceptible to the financial side of the AD, or any other reason then I suggest selling tickets to the general public for $10 rather than $20. I honestly can't understand why they haven't tried this yet. To me they're just being greedy trying to sell a ticket for $20 that has, correct me if I'm wrong, already been paid for by student fees or else already budgeted for as a free ticket. Cutting the price to $10 is advantageous for 2 reasons. You're probably going to sell more tickets at that price which means more butts in the seats and by selling more you reduce the impact of the smaller profit margin @ $10. Which, again, they're making absolutely nothing off empty seats in terms of dollars or improved atmosphere.

3) If it's too much of a burden on the budget to cut the price that low for the general public then keep the $20 dollar tickets for non Shockers and sell 1/2 price tickets to either A) former students with a shocker ID or B) Former students with a shocker ID who are part of the alumni association. These people paid their due to the university at one point in time and not everyone has become successful enough yet to afford season tickets so throw them a bone. It builds loyalty to the university and might just spawn a few future season ticket holders after the economy improves.

Obviously every game is different and this approach can be adjusted for the type of opponent but to a casual observer I think we can do better than the status quo. Also, these types of things will need to be backed off once we are consistently winning the Valley, ranked, going to NCAA tournaments, etc..

[1972Shocker]

Try all the vidoe board gimmicks you like, but IMHO by far the biggest factor impacting crowd noise and involvement is the play on the floor and the game situation. Generally, you will not get a great effort from the crowd if you team is putting out a half-baked effort on the court. I think the crowd does sense when it is needed to try and get the team going, but again that is usually only sustained if the team responds. But at least that response is spontaneous and not forced.

Outside of that the #1 thing that gets me going outside the play on the floor is the pep band. The more pep band we get the better I like it. The cheerleading squad could probably be put to better use than rebounding the shooting contests and tossing out T-Shirts and Mini-Balls. I guess throwing the T-Shirt and Mini-Balls into the crowd does create a little noise, but it is not anything sustainable nor is it really related to the game.

All-in-all though I think Shocker fans generally deliver when they need to. Impossible to have everygame be a Florida State effort.

I doubt we will have great crowd performance vs Chicago State or Newman either. However, I fully expect the crowd to be totally energized for the Creighton game.

[WuDrWu]

@owenc: thanks for the detailed answer. A follow up: @pie n eye: suggests reselling the GA tickets at a lower price, and I also have been frustrated at the inability to fill these seats. My question is what does KU sell the leftover/resell GA tickets at during the 30 minutes prior to gametime?

Let me add I like this discussion towards finding new and better ways.

[WuDrWu]

Actually I went to the KU ticket site and I see GA tickets range from $20-$75 when they are pre-purchased. Does that price remain the same 30 minutes prior to tipoff?

[owenc]

Actually I went to the KU ticket site and I see GA tickets range from $20-$75 when they are pre-purchased. Does that price remain the same 30 minutes prior to tipoff?

I think so or at least they did in the past. The price varies by game but I don't think by time. Yesterday's GA tickets were $100 but I doubt there were very many available.

Now this year I think we are in new territory so I can't say that won't change. I'm pretty sure season ticket sales were down this year so they've gotten more creative this year. Before last year, all tickets were the same price so GA tickets cost just as much as reserved ones. This is the first year they've really had to promote single game tickets.

Chris

[shockmonster]

In the old days, they sold Standing Room Only tickets. Can't do that anymore. I'm glad to see that everyone agrees on the things that they need to change and tweak to make it better. This just shows that it isn't an easy job.