Crowd on Saturday

[knapplc]

That may or may not be the case tschu, and I certainly can't tell you that's wrong, but I didn't get the impression that Hercules was voicing concern over the students and their reactions, I felt he was talking about the crowd in general (Greatest Fans, etc).

All of this is really academic. You, me and Herc will just have to shout louder if the stodgy old farts want to sit down and stay mum.

 

[tschu]

You, me and Herc will just have to shout louder if the stodgy old farts want to sit down and stay mum.

Now that we can agree on!

 

[Enhance]

I'm in East student section with mostly upperclassmen, and about 3/4 of East stadium just sits down with their head in their hands during the chant. Its just plain awful to begin with, and on top of that it feels like we're trying to "force" a new tradition or something. Just stop it.

I know traditions get started somewhere, but we already have a chant and it's Husker Power.

What exactly would you guys suggest as an alternative? You're right Enhance, we have a chant, but I think one main chant is kind of...well, pathetic. Think about the Cameron Crazies, off the top of my head I can think of at least 15 distinct things that they say or do during the course of a game, and everybody knows what they're doing and when to do it. Do you think all x-thousand amount of kids all decided the same thing one day at a game? Traditions become traditions because someone came up with an idea that people liked and committed to it; that is essentially the exact same thing as "forcing" a new tradition, just semantics.

You find Husker Power pathetic? Then what is the "Can't be beat, won't be beat"? I've never heard someone say they find husker power pathetic. It may not be flash, but it's been done for years.

The problem with the can't be beat chant is that a lot of people just don't like it, and I personally find it EXTREMELY easy to be thrown back in our face. The chant is absolutely ridiculous if we're getting our a$$ beat.

I applaud TBG and their efforts, but the can't be beat chant is just awful.

I'm watching the game as I have time and I'm up to the second TD in the 3rd quarter at this point, the one just after UDub muffed the kickoff - Rex's second TD in nine seconds.

As Taylor brings the team to the line, he's got his arms out, asking the crowd to quiet down.

If our QB wants the crowd to quiet down, we're doing OK.

Are you sure? I think he was trying to fly away.

 

[Ratt Mhule]

I'm in East student section with mostly upperclassmen, and about 3/4 of East stadium just sits down with their head in their hands during the chant. Its just plain awful to begin with, and on top of that it feels like we're trying to "force" a new tradition or something. Just stop it.

I know traditions get started somewhere, but we already have a chant and it's Husker Power.

What exactly would you guys suggest as an alternative? You're right Enhance, we have a chant, but I think one main chant is kind of...well, pathetic. Think about the Cameron Crazies, off the top of my head I can think of at least 15 distinct things that they say or do during the course of a game, and everybody knows what they're doing and when to do it. Do you think all x-thousand amount of kids all decided the same thing one day at a game? Traditions become traditions because someone came up with an idea that people liked and committed to it; that is essentially the exact same thing as "forcing" a new tradition, just semantics.

You find Husker Power pathetic? Then what is the "Can't be beat, won't be beat"? I've never heard someone say they find husker power pathetic. It may not be flash, but it's been done for years.

The problem with the can't be beat chant is that a lot of people just don't like it, and I personally find it EXTREMELY easy to be thrown back in our face. The chant is absolutely ridiculous if we're getting our a$$ beat.

I applaud TBG and their efforts, but the can't be beat chant is just awful.

I'm watching the game as I have time and I'm up to the second TD in the 3rd quarter at this point, the one just after UDub muffed the kickoff - Rex's second TD in nine seconds.

As Taylor brings the team to the line, he's got his arms out, asking the crowd to quiet down.

If our QB wants the crowd to quiet down, we're doing OK.

Are you sure? I think he was trying to fly away.

He said having only one chant is pathetic, not that the husker power chant is pathetic

 

[dbetz23]

For all the people moaning about how the Nebraska crowds have been weak lately, I thought that the crowd was actually really great on Saturday. However, some idiots in the student section are trying to get a bunch of new chants going. One of them being "Can't be beat" "Won't be beat". This stinks and has never worked. Stick with tradition. If you've never experienced a Husker Power chant, you are missing out. It gets me pumped every time.

That's one of those stupid Bring Back Gameday things that some of the students are doing. I'd rather play Hey Baby after the third instead of that chant.

It was pretty cool that we got the Husker Power chant going a couple times while they were reveiwing.

I was at the game and from what I remember when they did that chat, those words to the chant were appearing on the ribbon boards, just like when the Husker Power one broke out during the game.

 

[Hercules]

Which teams' fans fit into your mythical plurality, then?

The two loudest stadiums in college football are Washington and Oregon, which is a combination of the architecture of the stadium and the "crowd factor."

After that, Camp Randall is louder, Happy Valley is louder, Kyle Field is louder, and several SEC schools are louder (Tennessee, Florida, LSU). I'm sure there are others too. If you were to list the Top 10 most intimidating stadiums in college football, Nebraska wouldn't be on that list.

 

[tschu]

A lot of those schools are "louder" (esp the SEC ones) because they are consistently in bigger, more meaningful games than we are, at least lately. Besides the Texas debacle the only real big games we have had at home in the last 2 years have been Oklahoma in '09 and Missouri last year - both of which were loud.

There also might be a bias because generally when we see, say, Florida's atmosphere, it is because we are watching them on TV in primetime in a matchup of 2 ranked SEC teams. Any stadium would rock pretty hard under such circumstances. We don't get to see the Swamp when they are playing FIU in a meaningless game; I imagine it is much quieter.

 

[Landlord]

I think the difference in opinion here is simple; some people realize that our stadium and fan support are pretty darn good (knapp), and are happy with it. The rest still understand that it's good, but expect and desire it to be elite.

Herc is right, we aren't even close to a top 10 list for most intimidating or difficult venues to play in, and we could be. Unfortunately, it's not just that fans don't want to; the athletic department has forsaken the students (all of the listed schools are dedicated to treating their student fans right), our stadium doesn't hold sound as well as a lot of those places, etc. but really, people are criticizing the TBG people when the real ones that need to be criticized are the ones that don't give a crap about it. Those students care about the team and the environment and are trying to do something about it while the rest look at them and call them stupid or whatever.

Lastly, our stadium will never be the hardest place to play in if we have continued success. Too many old people in the fanbase as compared to other schools - just the way it is. The other all-time great programs have the same problem, so it's not like we're doing something wrong - we're doing something consistent with what's around us. Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State, etc. aren't anywhere close to the loudest venues either.

 

[knapplc]

Which teams' fans fit into your mythical plurality, then?

The two loudest stadiums in college football are Washington and Oregon, which is a combination of the architecture of the stadium and the "crowd factor."

After that, Camp Randall is louder, Happy Valley is louder, Kyle Field is louder, and several SEC schools are louder (Tennessee, Florida, LSU). I'm sure there are others too. If you were to list the Top 10 most intimidating stadiums in college football, Nebraska wouldn't be on that list.

Camp Randall is as loud/quiet as Memorial Stadium, not more so. Further, it depends entirely on who they are playing. My cousin has access to tickets and has been to many, many games at Camp Randall. Half the time against the scrub teams the place isn't even 2/3 full.

Happy Valley is not louder than Memorial Stadium, especially against Directional State University, which is your whole point (that we're not loud enough against every team). Last year when PSU beat Kent State 24-0 in a crummy game, you really think it was "2009 Oklahoma" loud the whole game? It wasn't even close. People were sitting around, unhappy they weren't blowing out the weak team, murmuring more than cheering.

Kyle Field is not louder, at least not recently when A&M has been losing. Sure, they get up for Texas and Oklahoma and Nebraska, but against Louisiana Tech last year when they were 6,000 tickets below capacity, and the upper sections of the stands were nearly empty after halftime, you want to assert that they are louder than Nebraska? No. They are the same as Nebraska, minus the sold-out stadiums. In 2009 when A&M beat a bad Iowa State team 35-10 and they were 11,000 tickets below capacity, it wasn't even close to as loud as Memorial Stadium in our first two games this year.

Tennessee isn't louder than Memorial Stadium. Florida is when they're winning but when they aren't they're as mum as we are. Tiger Stadium down in Baton Rouge may be as good as it gets, so that's one.

You don't think Nebraska's Memorial Stadium is in the top ten most intimidating places to play in college football?

These guys do.

These guys think we're #16.

These guys, at an SEC forum, think we're in the top ten.

 

[Hercules]

I think the difference in opinion here is simple; some people realize that our stadium and fan support are pretty darn good (knapp), and are happy with it. The rest still understand that it's good, but expect and desire it to be elite.

This.

 

[knapplc]

No, not that. I think we're elite. So there.

So does Peter Smits, Fresno VP.

 

[Hercules]

No, not that. I think we're elite. So there.

So does Peter Smits, Fresno VP.

Landlord and I aren't talking about the overall experience though - we're not talking about applauding the opposing team as they leave the field or any of that stuff that Peter Smits is talking about (He compliments us on wearing red, being polite, being early, being polite again, being respectful, not being drunk, being polite AGAIN, the sellout streak, cheering Fresno when they played well, and cheering Fresno as they left the field).

At no point did Peter Smits talk about how our crowd affected the game by disrupting Fresno State - and that's what Landlord and I are talking about.

 

[Hercules]

These guys think we're #16.

Also, I win. Because I got knapplc to cite Bleacher Report in support of his argument.

 

[knapplc]

I know what Smits was talking about. I just didn't feel like starting another new thread for yet another article like that.

You seem to equate "loud" with "good." But Autzen and Huskie Stadium aren't loud all the time. I have family that goes to Camp Randall and they prefer coming to Memorial Stadium because the fans are more into it, know more about the game and aren't there just to be loud and rowdy. Loud for the sake of loud means nothing. Uneducated football fans don't help their team.

Show me a dry stadium that is loud for EVERY SINGLE GAME and your argument has validity. When you can't, you have to recognize how unrealistic it is to expect the crowd to be fired up for some podunk school.

Answer me this - would you be as excited if I microwaved you a Lean Cuisine as you would if I bought you dinner at Misty's? It's the same thing.

 

[tschu]

So I think we've reached a conclusion: start selling alcohol at Husker games!

(just waiting for someone to go all blue-hair on me about 'values' or something)