YaneA Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Does anyone here in GF tape the games off channel 23? Did anyone else suffer technical difficulties on Friday night's broadcast? When I rewound the tape, the video was impossibly fuzzy and the audio seemed to be from channel 3 instead of 23. No problems with taping Saturday's game, however. Just wondering whether it was my screwup or if everyone else experienced the same problem. Also, did anyone catch Zach's remarks on the post-game with Hennen Saturday night? He seemed very upset by the crackdown on student fan activity, from standing to swearing. I believe he even called the policies "stupid," adding that the Ralph is a college hockey rink, not a museum and that college kids should be allowed to have fun there. He said the players need to feed off fan energy but couldn't find much sustenance this weekend. I thought the atmosphere was fine Friday night but there was definitely no energy in the arena after the first period on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickgraham Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 There were many times in the Old Ralph, with the Sioux down by 2 or more goals to start the 3rd period, that the crowd got on their feet and raised the roof to try and get the team jump started . That hasn't happened in the New Ralph, and sure didn't Saturday night! I thought I was in a library. Where in the H-ll is that famous rocken Sioux fan enthusiasm that visiting players used to talk about in the old building. Is the new building too soft? Are we not drawing the hard core hockey fan anymore? What gives? DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaneA Posted February 17, 2004 Author Share Posted February 17, 2004 I think there are numerous factors combining to deflate fan ethusiasm in the new Ralph, some of which you touched on. I am just about the only fan in my section who is on her feet at a time other than right after the Sioux score. My optometrist, who sits in the row behind me, told me, "You're the first one to cheer in our section" and I thought, "and the last one and sometimes the only one." There are definitely people in the arena whose purpose is to run down a business deal, rather than to get involved in the game. I don't want to underestimate the impact of the new policies on the students. Their standing doesn't intimidate anyone; it just presents the image that they are involved in the game but they block the view of the suite holders so they were told to sit instead. On Friday night, everyone in the arena got the anti-swearing policy statement containing the draconian threat of invalidating the offender's ticket for the season. So the students didn't swear this weekend or do much of anything else. Roger Thomas commented that this was an improvement but I can't go along with that. We've already posted threads here containing alternative chants and catcalls that don't rely upon profanity for their "punch." But it's up to the students to adopt them. Until the students fill the no- swearing void with something else, there isn't going to be much noise in the arena. BTW, one of my signs got censored at the front door because of this heightened sensitivity about inappropriate fan behavior. In order to get the sign approved I had to change "Welcome to the Ralph: Home of Banners, Not Manners" to simply "Welcome to the Ralph, Home of Banners." I saw, however, that a student had sneaked in a sign that said "We Swear Because We Care" which I thought was a lot cheekier than the sign I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 BTW, one of my signs got censored at the front door because of this heightened sensitivity about inappropriate fan behavior. In order to get the sign approved I had to change "Welcome to the Ralph: Home of Banners, Not Manners" to simply "Welcome to the Ralph, Home of Banners You have got to be f***ing kidding me (profanity added for emphasis). I am in favor of cleaning things up a bit, but this is simply ridiculous. I think signs should be censored for profanity or obvious bad taste, but to remove the "Manners" phrase is way over the line. Who do these guys think they are? Alums should seriously consider contacting the athletic department to express their feelings. IMO, the message should be: I understand and agree with the objective of cleaning up fan activity, but you should take care to preserve a passionate arena atmosphere in the process. In fact, take new steps to encourage fan participation throughout the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaneA Posted February 17, 2004 Author Share Posted February 17, 2004 Security at the front door apologized for the scrutiny to which they subjected the signs while security in the student section came over to see what we'd come up with this week. The officer there was very complimentary about the clever nature of the signs and the work/thought that goes into them. One problem with the censorship is that there are no standards in place at all. What one officer will let go, another will forbid. Not the first time this has happened. During the SCSU series, the "Fix the Huskies" sign with a picture of a puppy with a band aid between his highlegs was approved one night and disapproved the next. Roger Thomas & Kupchella keep saying they want to students to be clever, rather than profane but the students with the signs are getting limited Dak time and don't get on TV much lately, either. That doesn't look like positive reinforcement to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 I heard Zach's comments after saturday's game also and was very surprised he was so outspoken. I bet RT was cringing when he heard those remarks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Also, did anyone catch Zach's remarks on the post-game with Hennen Saturday night? He seemed very upset by the crackdown on student fan activity, from standing to swearing. I believe he even called the policies "stupid," adding that the Ralph is a college hockey rink, not a museum and that college kids should be allowed to have fun there. He said the players need to feed off fan energy but couldn't find much sustenance this weekend. DB was interviewed after ZP and when told of the comments, he said the team didn't give the fans anything to cheer about on Saturday, which was a factor in the lack of atmosphere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinnesotaNorthStar Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Hennen mentioned it to Parise as well...and Parise said that they did on Friday night and it was still dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Hennen mentioned it to Parise as well...and Parise said that they did on Friday night and it was still dead. The atmosphere wasn't very good on Friday, but it was certainly better than it was on Saturday. I suspect that part of the reason the atmosphere wasn't good throughout the game on Friday was because all of the Sioux goals were scored early in each period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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