Filling the Ralph

[TrueSioux2000]

2 hours ago, Sioux>Bison said:

It didn’t matter who we were playing that the lower bowl wasn’t fun.... 

I purposely never ever ever sat in the lower bowl as a student.  The concept of a student section in my eye was to be rowdy and obnoxious and distract the opponent.  Standing the whole game was all I knew from middle school in CT to UND! But the lower bowl at the REA paid lots of money sooooo they have to sit? Not a fan.  Let the kids be kids.  Let them get rowdy.  College sports enthusiasm stems from the students.  Having said that, at the end of the day UND is doing great in attendance and I don't see that going down.  The teams are competitive, the atmosphere is still great, and Da Forks is a special place.

[sprig]

10 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Free Grinders???

with hugo's buns

[FightingSU]

7 hours ago, TrueSioux2000 said:

I purposely never ever ever sat in the lower bowl as a student.  The concept of a student section in my eye was to be rowdy and obnoxious and distract the opponent.  Standing the whole game was all I knew from middle school in CT to UND! But the lower bowl at the REA paid lots of money sooooo they have to sit? Not a fan.  Let the kids be kids.  Let them get rowdy.  College sports enthusiasm stems from the students.  Having said that, at the end of the day UND is doing great in attendance and I don't see that going down.  The teams are competitive, the atmosphere is still great, and Da Forks is a special place.

Da Forks!!!!

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

10 hours ago, Sioux>Bison said:

Or the Ralph needs to quit baby sitting the students and squashing all the fun. Most of the things other student sections do is not allowed in the Ralph anymore. It’s not like what we did was necessarily bad but if you couldn’t do it in church you couldn’t in the Ralph.

What specifically were you not allowed to do that other student sections are allowed? That surprised me as I've heard some loud "F*** The Gophers" chants.

[Vegas_Sioux]

10 hours ago, Sioux>Bison said:

Or the Ralph needs to quit baby sitting the students and squashing all the fun. Most of the things other student sections do is not allowed in the Ralph anymore. It’s not like what we did was necessarily bad but if you couldn’t do it in church you couldn’t in the Ralph.

Pam was the worst usher, Don't know why they kept her in the student section.  She wouldn't let students in at door open time for the  game unless we were as quiet at church mice.  Hence why I refer to it as St. Ralph's Cathedral.  First one down the steps to tell you to sit and it's not an appropriate time to cheer or stand.

[WiSioux]

33 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

What specifically were you not allowed to do that other student sections are allowed? That surprised me as I've heard some loud "F*** The Gophers" chants.

I once got a five minute lecture about banging on the glass complete with instructions on what to do should the glass shatter and get embedded in my skin

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

22 minutes ago, WiSioux said:

I once got a five minute lecture about banging on the glass complete with instructions on what to do should the glass shatter and get embedded in my skin

You must have really been goin at it!   But were there certain chants or anything that were off limits?  I think we need a more coordinated student section with designated leaders to pump the crowd up, get the chants started.  All of the chants could be distributed to students as they enter the arena so everyone is on the same page.  Maybe I need to re-enroll as a 31 year old freshman to make sure this gets done right 

[Siouxperfan7]

8 hours ago, TrueSioux2000 said:

I purposely never ever ever sat in the lower bowl as a student.  The concept of a student section in my eye was to be rowdy and obnoxious and distract the opponent.  Standing the whole game was all I knew from middle school in CT to UND! But the lower bowl at the REA paid lots of money sooooo they have to sit? Not a fan.  Let the kids be kids.  Let them get rowdy.  College sports enthusiasm stems from the students.  Having said that, at the end of the day UND is doing great in attendance and I don't see that going down.  The teams are competitive, the atmosphere is still great, and Da Forks is a special place.

The REA and UND screwed up by putting the student section where they did in the lower bowl.  In the old Ralph, the students had half the arena.  Obviously they couldn't do that at the new Ralph, but they wanted to make sure the students still had great seats in the lower bowl and not just put all the seats in the upper bowl.  They really should have done what most college hockey arenas do and put the students at the end we shoot at twice.  Also, splitting up the students and having some in the upper bowl and some in the lower killed the vibe as well.  Not sure there is much you can do about it now.  

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

1 minute ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

The REA and UND screwed up by putting the student section where they did in the lower bowl.  In the old Ralph, the students had half the arena.  Obviously they couldn't do that at the new Ralph, but they wanted to make sure the students still had great seats in the lower bowl and not just put all the seats in the upper bowl.  They really should have done what most college hockey arenas do and put the students at the end we shoot at twice.  Also, splitting up the students and having some in the upper bowl and some in the lower killed the vibe as well.  Not sure there is much you can do about it now.  

I'd be more than willing to exchange my seats behind the net for center ice seats. The only issue I see with this idea is where do the students in the upper bowl go if you move them to the end we shoot twice at?  The bar gets in the way so do you split the students in the upper on either side of the bar? I feel like that could lessen the effect.

[Cratter]

Just give students 1/3 of the lower bowl (behind the goalie).

I just increased student attendance and the atmosphere with one stone....BOOM!

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

10 minutes ago, Cratter said:

Just give students 1/3 of the lower bowl (behind the goalie).

I just increased student attendance and the atmosphere with one stone....BOOM!

And push champions club season ticket holders to the upper bowl? That'll go over well 

[Cratter]

7 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

And push champions club season ticket holders to the upper bowl? That'll go over well 

I guess people only really want to give lip service then to fixing issues.

[Siouxperfan7]

6 minutes ago, Cratter said:

Just give students 1/3 of the lower bowl (behind the goalie).

I just increased student attendance and the atmosphere with one stone....BOOM!

They initially should have given the students 103, 104, 105, and 106.  Opens up 108 and 108 to Diamond Club members.  they make more money off of those seats.  Plus, 306A, 307, 308, 309, 310, 310A they could either sell as season tickets or have as seats they sell to the general public.  

Unfortunately, like I said before, the majority of people in 103, 104, 105, and 106 aren't giving up those seats.

[streetsahead]

5 minutes ago, Cratter said:

I guess people only really want to give lip service then to fixing issues.

Well the reality is you would definitely receive push back from the people who would be displaced from those sections.  Those people also generally happen to be pretty big donors. So it's kind of a catch 22.  The opportunity to do that was prior to the arena opening.

[petey23]

13 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

They initially should have given the students 103, 104, 105, and 106.  Opens up 108 and 108 to Diamond Club members.  they make more money off of those seats.  Plus, 306A, 307, 308, 309, 310, 310A they could either sell as season tickets or have as seats they sell to the general public.  

Unfortunately, like I said before, the majority of people in 103, 104, 105, and 106 aren't giving up those seats.

I originally had seats in 110 for a couple years and then switched to 106....would trade for identical seats in 111 or 114 if I had to but I wouldn't trade them for any other seats in the arena unless they were the Club Seats on the bar rail for same price.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

12 minutes ago, streetsahead said:

Well the reality is you would definitely receive push back from the people who would be displaced from those sections.  Those people also generally happen to be pretty big donors. So it's kind of a catch 22.  The opportunity to do that was prior to the arena opening.

You're 100% correct, do it before the arena opens. To change it now you'd be losing donations from people that are paying for champions club for the lower bowl. And to be honest, upper bowl at center ice is nothing to sneeze at for students.  I've sat next to the student section and it's not like you're in the nosebleeds of an NHL arena, the view is good from anywhere. And the reason the students are where they are is because ralph wanted the students to have the "best seats" in the arena. 

[streetsahead]

1 minute ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

You're 100% correct, do it before the arena opens. To change it now you'd be losing donations from people that are paying for champions club for the lower bowl. And to be honest, upper bowl at center ice is nothing to sneeze at for students.  I've sat next to the student section and it's not like you're in the nosebleeds of an NHL arena, the view is good from anywhere. And the reason the students are where they are is because ralph wanted the students to have the "best seats" in the arena. 

My seats are in 301 row J and I love them.

[tnt]

15 minutes ago, streetsahead said:

Well the reality is you would definitely receive push back from the people who would be displaced from those sections.  Those people also generally happen to be pretty big donors. So it's kind of a catch 22.  The opportunity to do that was prior to the arena opening.

Yeah, we went the cheap route when we transferred to the new Ralph, picking one of four sections that didn't require a Fighting Sioux club membership.  It frustrates me that a year after the transfer, everybody was required to be a FSC member.  Thanks a lot, if we would have known that, we would have picked better seats to begin with, as we had a relatively early appointment to pick out seats at the new Ralph.   Wish there were more opportunities to move now.  

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

2 minutes ago, streetsahead said:

My seats are in 301 row J and I love them.

I've always loved that area below and near the pressbox. When I have friends that have never been to a UND game I'll get their early with them, grab a beer, and go stand in that area to give them a good view of our awesome arena.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

Secondary market too expensive?!? Show some balls and ask for a lower price or just show patience and get them on facebook, craigslist, Bisman a day before the game or even out front right before the games. Ignore what every prideful fan says about the demand, there are ALWAYS way more tickets available than there are buyers (outside of goof series). People list them high originally but I guarantee you can get Lowerbowl tickets for under $25 apiece and Upperbowl tickets for under $15-20 a piece if you shop around and actually barter a little bit. I've ALWAYS had a tough time selling tickets but absolutely no problem buying cheap tickets. I usually have to choose between 4-5 options I find when shopping around. Demand is way down whether UND hockey fans like it or not. So things being too expensive is not a problem, unless people are stupid and make it their own problem. 

Hell, I've seen people hand out extra free tickets right before puck drop multiple times 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

My top reasons for empty seats would be-

1. Many social "fans" stand in the hallways and bars during the game

2. MATCHUPS- I love the NCHC to death, but it's honestly hard to get super excited about yearly Western-Michigan series, Miami series, Omaha series and even CC series IMO. On top of that, the non-conference games could be a lot more exciting. Drop Canisius, Niagra, Mankato, both Alaska teams, St. Lawrence etc. It might be tough but I would love to have a few BC, BU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Harvard, Maine, Providence games mixed in more often. Look at the success of the Wisconsin series. The union series had me more interested than normal as well. 

3. Missing superstar goal scorers recently

4. Too strict of rules for Student Section

5. Too expensive food and drinks

6. Parking (fix #2 and people will fight through this problem) 

7. More music and crowd activities and less ADs.  

[tnt]

1 hour ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

My top reasons for empty seats would be-

1. Many social "fans" stand in the hallways and bars during the game

2. MATCHUPS- I love the NCHC to death, but it's honestly hard to get super excited about yearly Western-Michigan series, Miami series, Omaha series and even CC series IMO. On top of that, the non-conference games could be a lot more exciting. Drop Canisius, Niagra, Mankato, both Alaska teams, St. Lawrence etc. It might be tough but I would love to have a few BC, BU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Harvard, Maine, Providence games mixed in more often. Look at the success of the Wisconsin series. The union series had me more interested than normal as well. 

3. Missing superstar goal scorers recently

4. Too strict of rules for Student Section

5. Too expensive food and drinks

6. Parking (fix #2 and people will fight through this problem) 

7. More music and crowd activities and less ADs.  

   Never quite understood why when Ralph was initially willing to build a 15,000 seat arena with the extra material costs involved, why they didn't shift those savings to better parking.  If they would have dug down a level around the whole arena, they could have had a second level right on site without losing the aesthetic appeal of the building.   That certainly would have made it an even more World Class facility.   I don't know how many times I found a parking spot, only to have it become off limits.  I think the hassle with that, especially in the cold winter has made it more inviting for some people to just stay home, rather than having to get there an hour or so before the game lest you have to walk a country mile to find a parking spot.  I know we are spoiled with parking being cheap, but I think you could make a lot more money by charging for a yearly spot right on site, rather than still having to walk a ways while paying  what for Grand Forks is a bit for parking.  I think the Ralph people need to look into a lot of reasons why attendance is not quite up to par, but parking is certainly one of them. 

[iluvdebbies]

2 hours ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

The REA and UND screwed up by putting the student section where they did in the lower bowl.  In the old Ralph, the students had half the arena.  Obviously they couldn't do that at the new Ralph, but they wanted to make sure the students still had great seats in the lower bowl and not just put all the seats in the upper bowl.  They really should have done what most college hockey arenas do and put the students at the end we shoot at twice.  Also, splitting up the students and having some in the upper bowl and some in the lower killed the vibe as well.  Not sure there is much you can do about it now.  

Most schools, if they have end seating,have the student section at the end the opposing team shoots twice.

[Big Green]

Top two reasons for me Parking and Cost in that order.  Granted I still go to about 10 games a year.  I wonder if lower salaries and high cost of living lead to people not having the disposable money willing to spend $50/ticket on a hockey game.  I turned down free tickets for Saturday simple because by the time I get to the hockey game once football in done I will be parking far away.  With the game being on TV I plan on planting by butt on the couch from Start of Football game til the end of the Hockey game.

Parking is a joke.  There should be a big parking ramp next to the Ralph.  I have no interest on jumping on a bus to and from the game.

I realize you can purchase tickets outside the arena most of the time for under face value.  Problem is you take the risk of parking, walking up to the arena, not being able to get a ticket and having to walk back to your car.  

[franchise]

15 minutes ago, iluvdebbies said:

Most schools, if they have end seating,have the student section at the end the opposing team shoots twice.

Yep.  Chirp the goalie for 2 periods.