The Ralph Fan Engagement

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

14 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

But what if those of us up there already don't want to sit by you? 

 

 

Forgot to mention, moving up there is contingent on current upper bowl ticketholders being relocated to the parking lot 

[The Sicatoka]

1 minute ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Forgot to mention, moving up there is contingent on current upper bowl ticketholders being relocated to the parking lot 

My response to you is at the 14:20 mark here. 

[ophelia]

 

Get 5 students strategically placed with permanent tickets in upper bowl and 5 in lower. Have them start cheers. Buy them pizza and have them come to the Ralph and figure out some good chants to get their section going.  

Wondering what many of you mean by student cheers being policed. How is that happening? 

[Green Banner]

On 8/1/2022 at 4:15 PM, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Is the view from the suites that bad when the students stand?  I've been in a suite a dozen or so times in the last few years and I don't recall issues with sightlines when fans stood at the end of the game. 

How many people know there is a hockey game going on in the suites?

[Siouxperfan7]

Someone may have mentioned this before, but you need to have the 3rd period be corporate sponsered to be "commercial free".  Commericals and random announcements kill energy.  "The third period is brought to you add free sponsered by Rydell."  Have the Rydell logos on the facia board, but don't have any other adds.  Just chants, viseos on the screen to pump up the crowd, and the band.  Just imagine the old school atmosphere you could create!

[Blackheart]

8 hours ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Someone may have mentioned this before, but you need to have the 3rd period be corporate sponsered to be "commercial free".  Commericals and random announcements kill energy.  "The third period is brought to you add free sponsered by Rydell."  Have the Rydell logos on the facia board, but don't have any other adds.  Just chants, viseos on the screen to pump up the crowd, and the band.  Just imagine the old school atmosphere you could create!

You'll never get this again...

 

[brianvf]

A few notes from watching that vid:

David Hoogsteen standing next to Sweeney...hilarious!  Hoogsteen comes up to Sweeney's neck.   
How did someone get a live gopher into the arena and then hold onto it for 2.5 periods?   
Beautiful pokecheck by Goehring to breakup a great UMN chance at the 26min mark.
And that setup the gorgeous Panzer from Panzer 2-on-1 goal immediately after.
Debus made a few really good saves after it got to 3-3...it was all UND.
Kauk appearance at the 36min mark.   
Man, were Blake and the Panzer bros fun to watch...so fast and skilled.

[fightingsioux4life]

6 hours ago, Blackheart said:

You'll never get this again...

 

Nostalgia overload. 

[Langster019]

Probably going to be an unpopular take here. At what point did hockey games need to have fan engagement to keep you entertained? Aren’t we all there for the game? Why rely so much on students for chants? You’re adults. If you want chants, start them yourself. 
 

The commercial-less 3rd period is about the only thing stated that would be an improvement IMO. Beyond that, I go for the game. Don’t really care or let what music is playing or where the students are have an effect on my game experience. If they win, good. If they lose, not as good. Gimme a beer. A chair. And the game. Some of these gripes seem quite silly. 

[fightingsioux4life]

5 hours ago, Langster019 said:

Probably going to be an unpopular take here. At what point did hockey games need to have fan engagement to keep you entertained? Aren’t we all there for the game? Why rely so much on students for chants? You’re adults. If you want chants, start them yourself. 
 

The commercial-less 3rd period is about the only thing stated that would be an improvement IMO. Beyond that, I go for the game. Don’t really care or let what music is playing or where the students are have an effect on my game experience. If they win, good. If they lose, not as good. Gimme a beer. A chair. And the game. Some of these gripes seem quite silly. 

At what point did hockey games need to have fan engagement to keep you entertained? Around 7:05pm on Friday, October 5th, 2001 when our home games were opened up to a bunch of "non-fan" fans who probably don't know the difference between offsides and icing. The student section became neutered because a bunch of suits want it nice and quiet all the time. Which brings me to......

Why rely so much on students for chants? The student section has always been the heart and soul of the atmosphere at our home games. Silence them and you silence the entire arena. And that is why this thread exists in the first place. It's become all about stupid in-game promotions. For example, the Simba cam has got to go. If they ever do this up on the big screen for all the little kids to follow along with, I will walk out.

And finally, there was the whining about the "beer lady" being a bad influence on kids. The B.S. doesn't stop on this issue.

 

[CarpeRemote]

8 hours ago, Blackheart said:

You'll never get this again...

 

I lost count of how many times ear splitting piped in music would have been used to shut down the fun. 

[stoneySIOUX]

10 hours ago, Blackheart said:

You'll never get this again...

 

Blows me away we're going to be watching to spawn of one of the guys from this clip play on the ice for UND this season. 

[JohnboyND7]

On 7/26/2022 at 10:07 PM, SiouxForever said:

Off-season time killer.

What are a few things the Ralph needs for better fan engagement or production to be better or more elite than an NHL game/fan experience? 

I’ll start. 

1. Pregame tailgating. Not always available as an option, but should hold pre-party at the betty or olympic rink with music etc. 

2. Unified cheer to get all students and fans engaged. We used to have the let’s go Sioux chant that was electric and most would be involved in late 90s and 2000s. Name change ruined this. 

3. A green out and not a white out. White out is exclusive to the Winnipeg Jets. Take that green jerseys worn in Nashville and do a green out. 

4. More unique intermission/sponsor tv time out games or things, Update them.  Get creative, copy the most fun in the NHL/AHL even ECHL.  

Any ideas?

1. Tailgating makes any activity more fun. 

2. It's really hard to artificially create cheers.  NDSU tried it my freshman year. It was cringe.  Needs to be organic. 

 

3. When you say "white out", Winnipeg is not and never will be the image that pops into someone's head. 

 

4. I'd go for a collegiate experience. People are there to watch a college hockey game. Not the Wild or the Jets. UND can have a great experience without being a pale imitation of a professional team. 

As is the case with all college venues, atmosphere comes from the student section. They'll need to take the lead on that. 

[SiouxHawkGuy]

11 minutes ago, JohnboyND7 said:

1. Tailgating makes any activity more fun. 

2. It's really hard to artificially create cheers.  NDSU tried it my freshman year. It was cringe.  Needs to be organic. 

 

3. When you say "white out", Winnipeg is not and never will be the image that pops into someone's head. 

 

4. I'd go for a collegiate experience. People are there to watch a college hockey game. Not the Wild or the Jets. UND can have a great experience without being a pale imitation of a professional team. 

As is the case with all college venues, atmosphere comes from the student section. They'll need to take the lead on that. 

White outs aren’t bad at the Ralph 

[Irish]

5 hours ago, CarpeRemote said:

I lost count of how many times ear splitting piped in music would have been used to shut down the fun. 

You can see the difference compared with the commercial crap we have now.  Whoever runs the game day at the Ralph should be forced to watch this.

[stoneySIOUX]

I understand the desire for some of the old. The Old Ralph was a special, special place. However, the REA has been nothing but a massive positive for UND and the hockey program. I'd love to hear it louder, consistently, but I think people are mistaken to think that place hasn't been earsplittingly loud on many, many occasions nor is it not one of the loudest barns in the country with an incredible atmosphere.

[90siouxfan]

a while back I saw a goalie getting taunted "you fat bastard" , I think that crowd also yells "wanker" after each opposing player introduction.. Have fun

[ToDaClub]

4 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I understand the desire for some of the old. The Old Ralph was a special, special place. However, the REA has been nothing but a massive positive for UND and the hockey program. I'd love to hear it louder, consistently, but I think people are mistaken to think that place hasn't been earsplittingly loud on many, many occasions nor is it not one of the loudest barns in the country with an incredible atmosphere.

I think the loudest I heard the Ralph was when the gophers lost in overtime to Holy Cross. That was priceless.  That is one of my best memories.  I know there were a lot of other great times.  But that was just the best.  

[stoneySIOUX]

12 hours ago, ToDaClub said:

I think the loudest I heard the Ralph was when the gophers lost in overtime to Holy Cross. That was priceless.  That is one of my best memories.  I know there were a lot of other great times.  But that was just the best.  

One of my favorites was a game against Denver. Down 3-0 and started a comeback that I believe began late in the second. Andrew Kozek ended up with a hatty and when he scored the fourth goal, for his hatty, the place went nutty.

[N of GF]

17 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I understand the desire for some of the old. The Old Ralph was a special, special place. However, the REA has been nothing but a massive positive for UND and the hockey program. I'd love to hear it louder, consistently, but I think people are mistaken to think that place hasn't been earsplittingly loud on many, many occasions nor is it not one of the loudest barns in the country with an incredible atmosphere.

First thing I think of is the game late in the season when UND had to kill off a late PP against St. Cloud (it was 5x3 for a full two, IIRC). UND was trying to clinch the season title and maintain #1 PWR. The roof had to be jumping for what felt like five minutes of hockey. It was loud, and every time a UND player blocked another shot the fans found another notch on the volume knob (it went past 11 that night). Didn't Mark Mac take a shot to the lower leg during that kill that ended his season? I seem to recall everyone holding their breath watching him limp around, concerned for Mark of course, but also wishing he could just get the hell off so someone else could jump on.

[streetsahead]

2 minutes ago, N of GF said:

First thing I think of is the game late in the season when UND had to kill off a late PP against St. Cloud (it was 5x3 for a full two, IIRC). UND was trying to clinch the season title and maintain #1 PWR. The roof had to be jumping for what felt like five minutes of hockey. It was loud, and every time a UND player blocked another shot the fans found another notch on the volume knob (it went past 11 that night). Didn't Mark Mac take a shot to the lower leg during that kill that ended his season? I seem to recall everyone holding their breath watching him limp around, concerned for Mark of course, but also wishing he could just get the hell off so someone else could jump on.

I was just going to talk about this! Yes Mark Mac got hurt blocking a shot on that 5x3 PK. That place got very very very loud during that.

[stoneySIOUX]

I was wrong. It was 4-1 late in the second, but you get the gist. That was a solid pop from the crowd.

Goodness he could shoot

 

[siouxforeverbaby]

On 8/9/2022 at 3:22 PM, ophelia said:

 

Get 5 students strategically placed with permanent tickets in upper bowl and 5 in lower. Have them start cheers. Buy them pizza and have them come to the Ralph and figure out some good chants to get their section going.  

Wondering what many of you mean by student cheers being policed. How is that happening? 

From the end of when I was in college and what current students have told me...they are told to do Athletic Dept approved cheers or risk their season tickets being revoked if they get told to knock off other cheers too many times.

[fightingsioux4life]

1 hour ago, siouxforeverbaby said:

From the end of when I was in college and what current students have told me...they are told to do Athletic Dept approved cheers or risk their season tickets being revoked if they get told to knock off other cheers too many times.

[gfhockey]

On 7/27/2022 at 9:38 PM, SIOUXFAN97 said:

semrau leaving?

Who even took his job?