SWSiouxMN Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 Since this topic has flammed up after the debacle of Montana, I figured this topic needs its own posting. If this needs to be combined somewhere else, Mods go ahead. This is a two part question. 1) In a vacuum, on a scale of 1 to 10, how have the students performed at the fooball games for the entire season. I am meaing actually showing up, staying, and making noise. 2) How can this be fixed? You can go pretty much anywhere with this. Improving the atmosphere at the Alerus, stuff on campus, etc. I'll wait for a few responses before giving mine. Quote
UNDColorado Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 5 There has been intention on their part but no follow-thru in that they are always gone at half. Geau Sioux has mentioned this but allow students to leave at half time...then allow them back in. Not a tough concept but the alerus can't seem to figure that out. Quote
ND Sioux Fan Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 The solution is to mandate football attendance in order to receive or get priority to lower bowl Men's hockey tickets. They should have the students check in AFTER the game ends to qualify for the hockey games. It has seemed to work for Saturday Women's hockey games. The students will probably b$#ch and moan, but if they are real fans of UND they will attend all the football and hockey games. What really gets me going is out of state students getting hockey tickets over those students who have been fans of UND for years before they even came to college. Most students complain enough already when getting hockey tickets is harder than going online at a specific time, If you are a real fan you will work hard to get tickets and there are too many whiners who think they are entitled to tickets without effort. They need to allow tailgating earlier and they need to let it last til after the game ends. Let the students come and go, and you cant force them to stay. If they are having fun you won't need to beg them to stay. 2 Quote
Siouxperfan7 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 Since this topic has flammed up after the debacle of Montana, I figured this topic needs its own posting. If this needs to be combined somewhere else, Mods go ahead. This is a two part question. 1) In a vacuum, on a scale of 1 to 10, how have the students performed at the fooball games for the entire season. I am meaing actually showing up, staying, and making noise. 2) How can this be fixed? You can go pretty much anywhere with this. Improving the atmosphere at the Alerus, stuff on campus, etc. I'll wait for a few responses before giving mine. 1) 3 - This last week was pathetic...but in he previous 4 home games there has been at least somewhat of an attempt by the students to fill their section. But as far as rating their "showing up, staying, and making noise....it has been awful. Sure there were times at the beginning of the Mines and Portland State game where the student section was pretty full. But after the kickoff...they pretty much just stood there with their hands crossed and only cheered on third downs. No enthusiasm whatsoever. Maybe in some of the students in the first couple rows, but overall they might as well been at a funeral! After halftime, the student section was half full..at best. 2) Being someone that has ripped on the student section and the overall fan support, I don't want to just compplain about the problem without offering solutions. Because it can be fixed. Here are a couple things I would suggest to improve the student attendance and overall student experience at football games. 1. Promote tailgating. I guess I am not sure if they charge students to tailgate or not....but they should give those tailgate passes away! The student tailgate lot is pretty big. Student government should be involved more in getting their organizations out there tailgating. Fraternities, Sororities, Basketball team, volleyball team, Med school, law school, etc. should have representation at the student lot. Maybe having a year long competition between student organizations throughout the year and the winner gets a prize. Say....use of the Engelstad suite for a hockey game or something!! 2. Better circulation of tickets for students. They should be handing out tickets to the game everyday the week before the game. Dorms, Dining halls, in the quad on campus....everywhere!! Get people excited about UND football and make it easier for them to obtain tickets. 3. One suggestion that has been brought up before is using 'Yell Leaders' that help the fans with cheers and chants during the game. Not cheerleaders, but students that can energize the crowd for the entire game!! As far as the atmosphere....students need to take ownership of the atmosphere they create at the game. Hanging more pictures in the concourse isn't going to get people to be more involved in the game. Students need to take pride in the fact that they are cheering for their University and their fellow classmates out there. the students need to decide if football is going to be a priority for them. they have already moved the student section down once. If the student attendance continues to go down, Don't be surprised if they move the student all the way to one side and sell the prime 50 yd line seats to the general public!! Quote
tnt Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 All I know is that the small crowd really took away the possibility of an unbelievable atmosphere at the Alerus with such an incredible game taking place. Probably would have rivaled the Cal Davis game if the crowd would have showed up an been more vocal. Quote
UNDBIZ Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 From the 2012 Attendance thread Allow underage drinking in the student section in the second half Even when we had good student attendance 5 years ago, the students were all either gone or ready to fall asleep in the second half. Quote
Cratter Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 We could probably just copy and paste from this thread Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted October 22, 2012 Author Posted October 22, 2012 Or this thread http://forum.siouxsp...football-games/ I just didn't know where to put this and I was too lazy to dust off an old thread. I figured if I made this specific enough that it would warrant a new thread. Quote
JohnboyND7 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 The only way to get student attendance up that I can think of is winning. Doing some dumb "hockey ticket incentive" would be embarrassing as far as I'm concerned. 1 Quote
UNDBIZ Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 The only way to get student attendance up that I can think of is winning. Doing some dumb "hockey ticket incentive" would be embarrassing as far as I'm concerned. I actually agree with Johnson here. Also, it's much easier to do the preferred hockey seating incentive for bball and vball games as they take place in the adjoining building. Quote
UND-FB-FAN Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 Lets just stick to winning our games and seeing the results. For example, if we had beat Cal Poly and Northern Arizona, I'm sure we would've seen 11,000 + at the Montana game. Quote
darell1976 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 How about location, location, location. The Alerus is a good walk from campus, and then of course pay the 5 bucks for parking (if they drive). Memorial Stadium had it where at halftime you can walk into the game and find a seat for free plus free parking and it was on campus (walking distance from frats, sorities (sp), and UND housing. Maybe opening up the game at halftime for free with free parking will get more people in the second half. Only problem is all the seats are reserved maybe they can stand behind the endzones. I think building it off campus and (in 2001) building it in the middle of nowhere was a mistake. At least the REA is right there on campus (even though not owned by UND) and is in walking distance to housing (frats, etc.) But since you can't pick up the Alerus and move it the next best thing would be to reduce student seating or threaten to and open it up to the public. Let the kids know if you aren't going to use the seats we are going to reduce it and let the public sit there. I sat with the Montana fans and they started chanting Montana and a few sections over the other Montana fans yelled Grizzlies, I turned to my dad and said, "if I stood up and yelled North, would the other half of the stadium yell Dakota" he started to laugh. There is no crowd participation unless its either a bad call, a UND score or its third down. The crowd needs to be into the game and yelling and screaming when the opponent has the ball on EVERY down not just third. Quote
UNDBIZ Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 I sat with the Montana fans and they started chanting Montana and a few sections over the other Montana fans yelled Grizzlies, I turned to my dad and said, "if I stood up and yelled North, would the other half of the stadium yell Dakota" he started to laugh. There is no crowd participation unless its either a bad call, a UND score or its third down. The crowd needs to be into the game and yelling and screaming when the opponent has the ball on EVERY down not just third. Just realized there aren't/haven't been many Sioux Yeah Yeah!! cheers in the Alerus (regardless of the current nickname situation) Quote
Siouxperfan7 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 How about location, location, location. The Alerus is a good walk from campus, and then of course pay the 5 bucks for parking (if they drive). Memorial Stadium had it where at halftime you can walk into the game and find a seat for free plus free parking and it was on campus (walking distance from frats, sorities (sp), and UND housing. Maybe opening up the game at halftime for free with free parking will get more people in the second half. Only problem is all the seats are reserved maybe they can stand behind the endzones. I think building it off campus and (in 2001) building it in the middle of nowhere was a mistake. At least the REA is right there on campus (even though not owned by UND) and is in walking distance to housing (frats, etc.) But since you can't pick up the Alerus and move it the next best thing would be to reduce student seating or threaten to and open it up to the public. Let the kids know if you aren't going to use the seats we are going to reduce it and let the public sit there. I sat with the Montana fans and they started chanting Montana and a few sections over the other Montana fans yelled Grizzlies, I turned to my dad and said, "if I stood up and yelled North, would the other half of the stadium yell Dakota" he started to laugh. There is no crowd participation unless its either a bad call, a UND score or its third down. The crowd needs to be into the game and yelling and screaming when the opponent has the ball on EVERY down not just third. Give me a break. The Alerus is to far away?!!! Come on!! It's on and a half miles away from Wilkersson Hall. And it's not like Grand Forks is a big city!! If you drove your car from campus you would hit what...3 stop lights!! I am not going to let anyone get away with the fact that the Alerus is too far away. People drive downtown to the bars, to the southend of town to Target, ...they can drive to the Alerus. Heck...if they don't want to drive...there are shuttles going from the Chester Fritz to the Alerus all game day morning!!! Also...your telling me a college kid doesn't have 5 bucks to park their car? Get in a car with 4 other people from your dorm and that's one dollar a person!! Quote
darell1976 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 Give me a break. The Alerus is to far away?!!! Come on!! It's on and a half miles away from Wilkersson Hall. And it's not like Grand Forks is a big city!! If you drove your car from campus you would hit what...3 stop lights!! I am not going to let anyone get away with the fact that the Alerus is too far away. People drive downtown to the bars, to the southend of town to Target, ...they can drive to the Alerus. Heck...if they don't want to drive...there are shuttles going from the Chester Fritz to the Alerus all game day morning!!! Also...your telling me a college kid doesn't have 5 bucks to park their car? Get in a car with 4 other people from your dorm and that's one dollar a person!! 3 lights and a damn train which I did have to wait for before getting to the Alerus. How long is it to walk from say Univeristy and Columbia to the Alerus...its more than a mile and a half. There are kids that live on the east side of Columbia about a block or two from Memorial Stadium. From the furthest Sorority (305 N. 25th St, (right next to University Park) to the Alerus is 2.2 miles but you walk to 42nd St then down to S. 11th St in 40 degree weather with lots of wind. Its not fun and students aren't going to walk that far. Plus if the train is going through you have to stand and wait some more. I think the location sucks! Quote
UND-FB-FAN Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 The location of the Alerus didn't matter in the early 2000s when we were annually in the playoffs....... 3 Quote
darell1976 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 The location of the Alerus didn't matter in the early 2000s when we were annually in the playoffs....... Losing games makes it for a colder walk... especially walking home. Quote
82SiouxGuy Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 3 lights and a damn train which I did have to wait for before getting to the Alerus. How long is it to walk from say Univeristy and Columbia to the Alerus...its more than a mile and a half. There are kids that live on the east side of Columbia about a block or two from Memorial Stadium. From the furthest Sorority (305 N. 25th St, (right next to University Park) to the Alerus is 2.2 miles but you walk to 42nd St then down to S. 11th St in 40 degree weather with lots of wind. Its not fun and students aren't going to walk that far. Plus if the train is going through you have to stand and wait some more. I think the location sucks! Buses go back and forth from the Chester Fritz Auditorium to the Alerus all day on game days. That is much less than a mile from any point on campus. Besides, the Alerus Center wasn't built just for UND football. There are usually 6 home football games and more than 400 other events held at the Alerus Center each year. The building is in a fine location. Students don't have any problems getting to the games if they want to go, and they get in for free. Your argument is a cop out. Quote
darell1976 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 Buses go back and forth from the Chester Fritz Auditorium to the Alerus all day on game days. That is much less than a mile from any point on campus. Besides, the Alerus Center wasn't built just for UND football. There are usually 6 home football games and more than 400 other events held at the Alerus Center each year. The building is in a fine location. Students don't have any problems getting to the games if they want to go, and they get in for free. Your argument is a cop out. When UND moves out the Alerus what will that building be besides empty. Not too many concerts going there to keep it in the black. Quote
Siouxperfan7 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 3 lights and a damn train which I did have to wait for before getting to the Alerus. How long is it to walk from say Univeristy and Columbia to the Alerus...its more than a mile and a half. There are kids that live on the east side of Columbia about a block or two from Memorial Stadium. From the furthest Sorority (305 N. 25th St, (right next to University Park) to the Alerus is 2.2 miles but you walk to 42nd St then down to S. 11th St in 40 degree weather with lots of wind. Its not fun and students aren't going to walk that far. Plus if the train is going through you have to stand and wait some more. I think the location sucks! Are you seriously gonna go with the argument of 3 stop lights and a train that you MIGHT have to wait for maybe 5-15 minutes?!!! Come on!!! The students that live off campus can get to the game! How many of these students living on campus don't have cars? Really? If you don't have a car and want to go to the game...take the FREE shuttle!! You are acting like the Alerus is located out by the Air Port!!! Everywhere in Grand Forks takes what 15-20 minutes to get to? Seriously. This is by far the WORST excuse for why people can't come to the game!! People (students included) have no problem getting to the mall, the grocery store, the bars downtown, the movie theater, their favorite restaurant, Target, Walmart, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. The Alerus is no exception. No one is making these kids walk. Take your car!! They all have one....or know someone that does. Saying that a college kid can't drive a mile and a half and come up with 5 bucks (less if you have other people in your car) is beyond ridiculous Come on Darell.....you know better than that to give them that sort of ridiculous cop out!!! Quote
geaux_sioux Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN and improve tailgating and in game crowd participation and team intro Quote
darell1976 Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 Are you seriously gonna go with the argument of 3 stop lights and a train that you MIGHT have to wait for maybe 5-15 minutes?!!! Come on!!! The students that live off campus can get to the game! How many of these students living on campus don't have cars? Really? If you don't have a car and want to go to the game...take the FREE shuttle!! You are acting like the Alerus is located out by the Air Port!!! Everywhere in Grand Forks takes what 15-20 minutes to get to? Seriously. This is by far the WORST excuse for why people can't come to the game!! People (students included) have no problem getting to the mall, the grocery store, the bars downtown, the movie theater, their favorite restaurant, Target, Walmart, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. The Alerus is no exception. No one is making these kids walk. Take your car!! They all have one....or know someone that does. Saying that a college kid can't drive a mile and a half and come up with 5 bucks (less if you have other people in your car) is beyond ridiculous Come on Darell.....you know better than that to give them that sort of ridiculous cop out!!! I am just thinking like a college student(devils advicate). I know I am not one but if I had a choice to walk to a game the REA is a hell of a lot closer than the Alerus. I like I am in walking distance to the Fargodome, and growing up I walked to the Hyslop, Memorial Stadium and the Ralph. I used to ride bike all over GF (ahh the 80's). Quote
The Sicatoka Posted October 22, 2012 Posted October 22, 2012 The two correct answers are (in no particular order) The solution is to mandate football attendance in order to receive or get priority to lower bowl Men's hockey tickets. They should have the students check in AFTER the game ends to qualify for the hockey games. and WIN Quote
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