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Re: Fire Mike Eaves?
since we're talking attendance
the move to the KC was great in terms of shiny new amenities but it was horrible for atmosphere. Anyone who was a season ticket holder or even an interloper will tell you the games at the Dane County Colesium had an aura about them, particularly from 1995 and back (in other words when they were consistently great!)
the cheers were numerous (Rumble Rink, "Hi Gary" or whomever was the big penalty taker for UW, the chants when the opposition scores etc), the banners added an element of hominess (Canadian Club et al) and the band was right on the glass (until around 92-93???). and the students were nuts. there was one guy I recall who reminded me of John Belushi, he was at all the games in the late 80's at the Dane, yelling his face off and it was mostly hilarious.
it was an intimidating atmosphere for opponents and fun for fans. Also, you had alcohol and it made it seem like a friggin Blackhawks game.
today they play in the KC where:
- students can't bring in banners like Canadian Club
- students can't bring in gopher's on a stick or huskies or whatever
- the blue line club was eliminated (and don't underestimate how popular that was with a segment of fans)
- students can't even bring in signs unless they're so small you can fit them in your pocket
- the admin wants to remove the championship and wcha banners (btw were the ncaa appearances and wcha banners up last night?)
- cost of parking increased
- cost of tickets increased to $24
add those up and throw in this...the hockey team was the king of the UW campus from the late 60's or early 70's through about 1992-3 when football and basketball began to win consistently. suddenly Hockey has to compete with winning teams in sports more people recognize and let's face it more people love (and that makes me puke but it's the truth). at the same time from 1995 to the present Wisconsin has not been a college hockey power. they've been up and down.
up w/Heatley for 2 seasons after about 5 consecutive sub-par seasons then down again, up w/Eaves for 04-06 then down and up and down and up. That's 18 years of UW not being a national power but more of an interloper on that stage. That will shake up the fanbase whether we like it or agree with it or not.
I know I myself have become less interested in the team over the past 3-4 years myself. part of it is life (getting busier) and part of it is all of the above.
and the final thing is something that I know people on this board shoot down but I've spoken with many alumni who feel this way: the game (today's UW) isn't as fun to watch, period. Go back and watch a UW hockey game under Sauer or Johnson. Run and Gun, almost the entire game. there are teams that still play that way today (BC, MN, Michigan to name a few). Those teams were incredibly fun to watch.
anyway, .02
Originally posted by WiscDC
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the move to the KC was great in terms of shiny new amenities but it was horrible for atmosphere. Anyone who was a season ticket holder or even an interloper will tell you the games at the Dane County Colesium had an aura about them, particularly from 1995 and back (in other words when they were consistently great!)
the cheers were numerous (Rumble Rink, "Hi Gary" or whomever was the big penalty taker for UW, the chants when the opposition scores etc), the banners added an element of hominess (Canadian Club et al) and the band was right on the glass (until around 92-93???). and the students were nuts. there was one guy I recall who reminded me of John Belushi, he was at all the games in the late 80's at the Dane, yelling his face off and it was mostly hilarious.
it was an intimidating atmosphere for opponents and fun for fans. Also, you had alcohol and it made it seem like a friggin Blackhawks game.
today they play in the KC where:
- students can't bring in banners like Canadian Club
- students can't bring in gopher's on a stick or huskies or whatever
- the blue line club was eliminated (and don't underestimate how popular that was with a segment of fans)
- students can't even bring in signs unless they're so small you can fit them in your pocket
- the admin wants to remove the championship and wcha banners (btw were the ncaa appearances and wcha banners up last night?)
- cost of parking increased
- cost of tickets increased to $24
add those up and throw in this...the hockey team was the king of the UW campus from the late 60's or early 70's through about 1992-3 when football and basketball began to win consistently. suddenly Hockey has to compete with winning teams in sports more people recognize and let's face it more people love (and that makes me puke but it's the truth). at the same time from 1995 to the present Wisconsin has not been a college hockey power. they've been up and down.
up w/Heatley for 2 seasons after about 5 consecutive sub-par seasons then down again, up w/Eaves for 04-06 then down and up and down and up. That's 18 years of UW not being a national power but more of an interloper on that stage. That will shake up the fanbase whether we like it or agree with it or not.
I know I myself have become less interested in the team over the past 3-4 years myself. part of it is life (getting busier) and part of it is all of the above.
and the final thing is something that I know people on this board shoot down but I've spoken with many alumni who feel this way: the game (today's UW) isn't as fun to watch, period. Go back and watch a UW hockey game under Sauer or Johnson. Run and Gun, almost the entire game. there are teams that still play that way today (BC, MN, Michigan to name a few). Those teams were incredibly fun to watch.
anyway, .02
(actually hell, they can maybe put 4k more people in there if they do that!)
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