UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

[cgoodwin]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I was avoiding the past issues with band cowbelling (sure, that's a verb), but that's what I was getting at when I said there would be designated people to lead the cheers. Meaning, I'd train them in advance and make sure they really understood what they needed to do and when.

I'm tiptoeing here because I don't want to sound like I'm putting down any of my students. When it's come to us in the past, the students didn't know in advance they'd be doing it (it went to whomever happened to have a cowbell) and, not to over-dramatize it, the pressure got to them. I know it sounds stupid, but I watched it happen (and crumpled a little inside). It's the sort of thing that seemed easy enough in their heads, so they didn't think about it. Then when it came time to actually do it, they tanked. Anyway, we don't really need to get into it, but I guess what I'm trying to say is if we officially took it over, that wouldn't happen.

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I think it is worth a try.

I just keep thinking:

1) Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

If it doesn't work I think you try something else.

What I can tell you is from somebody who spanned Snively to Manchester to the Whitt. It is currently broken.

I think the key is getting it back to the students, where it always was in the past.

 

[Verkligen]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I got so frustrated last weekend seeing Cornell's and RIT's fans, because I don't know what we can do to get that level of participation. As someone else mentioned, they weren't just their students! Yes, getting more people to the road games would help, but even at home we can't get everyone to chant "U-N-H!" together, let alone clap in different directions or perform cheers with more than 3 syllables.

YES! Not to mention what the kids at Wisconsin do... And it clearly was their band that had the students up, moving, and hollering throughout the game. The entire crowd cheered at times other than when the Badgers scored. (Of course, they did that plenty often.)

And YES! Promote the heck out of fight songs and cheers.

At one point, I asked someone why folks didn't stand, clap, and sing along with the songs. This is a huge part of the tradition at many schools all over the place... My folks taught me the Iowa State Fight Song when I was 3.

This someone responded, "We're New Englanders. We don't sing." I say, "The heck with that. Learn On to Victory and sing it loud!"

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

YES! Not to mention what the kids at Wisconsin do... And it clearly was their band that had the students up, moving, and hollering throughout the game. The entire crowd cheered at times other than when the Badgers scored. (Of course, they did that plenty often.)

There are some things you just can't steal. I love the hop thing the student do at Wisconsin but this is something that can’t be lifted. I don't know exactly how to describe it. At the frozen 4 in Milwaukie it seemed 80% of the building was doing it. Crazy fans, but that craziness is a learned behavior.

One of the other things you see at other school, everyone where school colors. Not really at UNH.

Look at Maine at the garden students and the band playing cheers off each other.

That is where UNH needs to be (again) but it is a culture change (back) that needs to be introduced. It must be taught to UNH students that never learned. Somewhere, somehow along the way it wasn’t passed on and that caused it to be lost. The students at UNH today probably can’t imagine the craziness of that weekend in the spring of 1999 at the Whitt, so we must figure out how to teach them.

The key when the Whitt opened was juniors and seniors that had been at Snively and knew. They “taught” (by the loosest meaning of the word) freshman and sophomores that had never seen it. The difference is there were a bunch of them (I was a junior the year the Whitt opened). Now I think we have been more than 4 years and need to figure out how to teach a student body that no longer just knows.

 

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

The Hosers do a great job in what they do and I don't expect any of them to change their seats or routine to fix the problems at the Whitt.

That said, the status quo is simply unacceptable. Somebody, either individually or as a group, needs to take the initiative to change the dynamic.

I am working with a few people on some ideas for just such a thing next year. We want to build off of what the Hosers and the Pep Band already do, and hope that others will want to come along for the ride. As I said, collaboration with the Pep Band is essential to what I have in mind.

I realize this is a bit vague, but we're still in the very early stages. Hopefully as the offseason progresses more will come of it.

 

[UNHKazooMonkey]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

The Hosers do a great job in what they do and I don't expect any of them to change their seats or routine to fix the problems at the Whitt.

That said, the status quo is simply unacceptable. Somebody, either individually or as a group, needs to take the initiative to change the dynamic.

I am working with a few people on some ideas for just such a thing next year. We want to build off of what the Hosers and the Pep Band already do, and hope that others will want to come along for the ride. As I said, collaboration with the Pep Band is essential to what I have in mind.

I realize this is a bit vague, but we're still in the very early stages. Hopefully as the offseason progresses more will come of it.

Send me the details? I think we all would love the Whitt to be rocking like its 1999. We've had flashes of it and I think we all miss it.

And Rob, don't take it as a personal attack. I still have love for ya . I just don't think the answer lies in sitting with the band. We've tried it in the past during regionals with very limited success. Yes there is strength in numbers but there can also be strengths by having two loud sections at regionals/frozen four. We are all in this together and need everyone's help to make the current student body drink the kool-aid

 

[UNHKazooMonkey]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I think the key is getting it back to the students, where it always was in the past.

I'm still younger than half of RIT's team.

 

[UNHhockey29]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

The key when the Whitt opened was juniors and seniors that had been at Snively and knew. They “taught” (by the loosest meaning of the word) freshman and sophomores that had never seen it. The difference is there were a bunch of them (I was a junior the year the Whitt opened). Now I think we have been more than 4 years and need to figure out how to teach a student body that no longer just knows.

You don't think I've tried to teach kids cheers. On 2 occasions one without the ADs help and one with I've handed out cheer sheets. I've also given them to the ENTRE arena. When the AD helped me they let me put ALL of the student cheers on them because they wanted the Whitt to be loud too. We have added new cheers and stuff to try and get people involved. You know what happens when we cheer Let's Go Blue! Someone feels the need to tell us that we aren't wearing blue. I have dedicated 9 friggin years of my life to this (that is 9 years of not missing a game at the Whitt and very, very few on the road). We do cheer when other people cheer, we welcome it and get excited because we didn't have to start a cheer (and I more students have started to do it).

The Hosers do a great job in what they do and I don't expect any of them to change their seats or routine to fix the problems at the Whitt.

Thanks. I'm not ready to be tossed aside yet, but I sure feel like that's what people want to happen.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Bobby Butler exchanges UNH Blue for Senators Red:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports...8/Photo+gallery+Sens+Canes/2754993/story.html

 

[unhpuckfan2001]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Thanks. I'm not ready to be tossed aside yet, but I sure feel like that's what people want to happen.

I'm with you on that, Darci. We left the student section this past year, because I felt it was time for some students to step up and do what I had been doing. But if nobody's going to step up, it will have to be us.

This discussion is sliding towards ugly; everybody, please, tread softly. It happens far too often; we're all passionate about the same thing -- our common ground is making noise at the Whit. Don't lose sight of that through our differing opinions as to how that's best accomplished.

Clearly, it hasn't happened; the kids who sit in 'my' old seats don't even stand up during the game . . . and you know things are bad when Wild E Cat calls you out during a game, in front of a whole section, and says, "go back to the student section!"

For starters, let's get rid of this division between "the Hosers" and "Keith B's contingent"; we used to be known as the "cowbell crew." There's no need for division with that -- Matt plays the bell, when he's not there, I'm happy to fill in, etc etc . . . (and Matt, just so it's not behind your back: you suck! )
And I get why some of Casey's bandees 'got nervous' under the pressure. I was petrified the first Adam handed it off to me; it takes some getting used to.

I'll end this post with this thought: we're on the right track, here. The trouble is, the people who are posting here are most typically already the fans cheering. We need to find ways to involve to rest of the 'hand-sitters' at the Whit -- and fighting amongst ourselves is not going to do that.

As far as sitting in a bandie's lap; who wouldn't want to? Especially Goodwin's . . .

 

[unhpuckfan2001]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Heck, there is even a facebook group with a few thousand members calling for students to play the bell.

There is?

Okay, FWIW it's not like there's an application process. In 2001, Adam was playing. As he attended fewer and fewer games, Matt and I covered. Matt started bringing his own bell, and he's sort of taken over.

If somebody was that worried about playing the cowbell, or, I dunno, why don't they STEP UP AND GO TALK TO SOMEBODY DOWN FRONT . . .

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

You don't think I've tried to teach kids cheers. On 2 occasions one without the ADs help and one with I've handed out cheer sheets. I've also given them to the ENTRE arena. When the AD helped me they let me put ALL of the student cheers on them because they wanted the Whitt to be loud too. We have added new cheers and stuff to try and get people involved. You know what happens when we cheer Let's Go Blue! Someone feels the need to tell us that we aren't wearing blue. I have dedicated 9 friggin years of my life to this (that is 9 years of not missing a game at the Whitt and very, very few on the road). We do cheer when other people cheer, we welcome it and get excited because we didn't have to start a cheer (and I more students have started to do it).

It is not that you haven't tired, and I certainly don't discount your efforts. I think the problem is there aren't enough of you.

Two things have clicked in my head.

1) Critical Mass. There needs to be enough students that know the way so that the rest follow along. If the participation is big enough not doing it isn't cool, where the inverse is also true. The problem you have had is not a large enough critical mass. The Band can help but I think the real effort maybe RAs or some other form of getting people together. When the Whitt opened more than 1/2 the students knew what to do, the Juniors and Senior remembered Snively and were the ones high on hockey and therefore a larger portion of the crowd.

2) I never remember UNH's band being a big part of the atmosphere at Snively or the Whitt. I think it is a good change. Many schools with the great fan participation use the band, Wisconsin, Cornell, Michigan, Maine. The songs key cheers and keep the fans together. Plus they are a critical mass all their own.

 

[unhpuckfan2001]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

At my place of employment, when tasked with leading a discussion team to solve a problem, I try to leave the meetings with clearly defined "action items".

So, after talking with Casey . . .

When the band travels, they are limited to 25 seats.

That leaves 30 seats open on a normal coach bus.

Action Item: Contact Amber R at UNH Athletics Marketing and Promotions. The band does not mind sharing a bus with other passengers -- in fact, they welcome the energy brought by other UNH Fans.

Since athletics is already paying for this trip, it could be offered to students for free. Combined with the discounted ticket prices for students for games at the VWA ($5 student tix for Maine and Dartmouth), this could be a huge first step towards re-establishing the traveling fanbase. I already checked this out with CGoodwin, and she's all for it. They used to have fan bus sign ups, and it should be easy to start it up again. The best thing is, you're not paying anything extra, so it's a no-lose situation, since the band will attend either way.

I'm not real high up on Amber's people list right now, so if anybody else here has an established report with her, I'd say go for it. If not, I'll e-mail her as we get closer to get September, and the start of Hockey Season.

Comments / thoughts?

 

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Send me the details?

Check yer facebook.

 

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I'm not real high up on Amber's people list right now, so if anybody else here has an established report with her, I'd say go for it.

I've worked well with her for the past 5 years on the women's side.

I can contact her if you'd like, although I think hearing from both Casey and I at the same time might be more productive.

 

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Okay, FWIW it's not like there's an application process. In 2001, Adam was playing. As he attended fewer and fewer games, Matt and I covered. Matt started bringing his own bell, and he's sort of taken over.

Actually, I was given an old bell after it cracked. I had a friend weld it (kinda killed the sound, but it was good enough at the time), and it became the backup bell.

I don't remember really being nervous when I started playing; at least, not about the rhythm. I did stare intently at the bell as I played, as I was nervous about missing it, but I'd heard the rhythm so many times by that point that it was ingrained into my head.

Combined with the discounted ticket prices for students for games at the VWA ($5 student tix for Maine and Dartmouth), this could be a huge first step towards re-establishing the traveling fanbase.

The Dartmouth game typically occurs during winter break. I don't think a fan bus is going to help with that.

 

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Wow, there sure is a lot of vitriol going around here. Perhaps that comes along with the time of year, but I will do my best to tread lightly nonetheless. My idea to have the bell played and the cheers led by students seems to have struck a chord and I probably should have been more sensitive to the commitments many have made over the years. My thinking was that off all the great student sections I could think of (BU, Maine, Wisco, NU last year), it did not appear to me that any of them were led by non-students. What I learned when I entered school in 2006 was that the section was led by a group of former students and that was the way it was. The point has been made a lot in this thread that it is important to teach incoming students about the traditions. This is what the students are learning today, and that is the reason nobody has taken real action as far as approaching them to take the bell away.
I still do feel, though, that if a group of enthusiastic young students was offered this opportunity (along with plenty of guidance), it would go along way. However, the question is who this group is.
As Keith nicely stated, we are all on the same side of this argument, searching for a solution to recent dull Whittemore Center crowds. Hopefully, we can get something accomplished during this offseason. I know the team would like a better atmosphere at their games and I hope we can get it for them.

 

[WILD E WOLVERINE]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Bobby Butler exchanges UNH Blue for Senators Red:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports...8/Photo+gallery+Sens+Canes/2754993/story.html

Looked pretty good (in the pictures at least) - almost got one as well.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Looked pretty good (in the pictures at least) - almost got one as well.

I listened to the game over Ottawa's internet feed and he "sounded" pretty good as well. On that play, which was captured in one of the pictures, the announcer said that the pass to Bobby was too far ahead of him for him to convert it into a goal. The announcers also commented positively on Butler's speed and hand/eye coordination. The Senator's coach must have seen something positive as well since he moved Bobby up from the fourth line to an improvised line in the third period. The announcers speculated on whether he would be the fourth shooter in the shootout. Unfortunately, the shootout ended on the third Senator shot.

 

[ClOuD 9]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Apologies for being late to the party, I've been in bed sick since my last posting.

Darci didn't choose to sit with the band, the athletic department chose to put the band behind our seats. Honestly, if she's at regionals and spending $81 to see the games, let her sit wherever the heck she wants. I wasn't going to move up with the band either.
I know for a fact that we (UNH fans) were loud on Friday night against Cornell. We received several text messages from those watching the game at home stating so. I would agree that Saturday was a different story but the majority of those who made it for both nights barely had voices. I don't think sitting with the band would've changed that.

What you missed here was the context of the discussion, i'zonprize's op (which Darci replied to) was regarding replicating the atmosphere RIT created in Manchester next year, even if the school sent 3 buses of students (they wouldn't be in the lower bowl like RIT's were) it will all be for not if no one is going to engage them and get them involved. This is also the largest problem you run in to at the Whittemore Center imho, but more on that later...

didn't you give up on the team after their come from behind win against UND and their outplaying national champion BU in the regional because you didn't like the direction of the team?

The first game you came down to the section was the Maine game and then we barely saw you until the final month of the season. I'm not trying to make this a personal attack but I think you are going after the wrong people in regards to the noise in the building.

Also completely misses the post he quotes, which read in part "If we spent as much time organizing and cheering as we do in disputes like these, the RIT Corner Crew would be our *****. Unfortunately things that should be simple, like getting the loudest people together instead turn in to bickering." and instead of providing some deep insight on organizing or cheering he instead goes for more bickering (including making statements that simply aren't true). I missed 4 home games all season, the ones during the week due to school, Sunday games due to work - hardly "giving up". Beyond this, your post also carries no relevance to anything being discussed, whether I was at the Whittemore or in Indo-China the lack of organization (where you should be focusing your time instead of on me) kills the game time atmosphere. You then quite ironically stop to mention that you're not trying to make it personal while trying to attach statements ("bad fans", "evil") to people that never said them.

If anything, standing on the rail for half a season provided me the opportunity to see the same thing that Casey (and others) have posted here, that whether right or wrong the Hosers are seen as a clique and a lot of the stuff they do is not spreading, a greater attempt needs to be made to be inclusive. You may recall that this was the idea behind Blue/White, to engage the other half of the student section and get them involved, instead this cheer has since deteriorated in to a Hoser vs. the Band cheer and if anyone else decides to join in, good for them. The attitude is no longer "how can we can get people involved", it's "we're doing the cheer and if people join good" - this (imho) is the wrong approach. As things are at the moment 6 people in the front two rows (Jeff, Scott, Matt, Darci, Irish, or myself) start 99% of the chants in the student section and 97% of the cheers in the building - you need to find a way to get more people involved, and not just on your side of the student section. Having the band start more "U-N-H", "Let's Go Cats!", and "Go! Cats! Go!" chants is a good start as they are higher up and their voices will carry more; I also like the idea of putting plants through out the section, though I'm skeptical on how well this will work because the people that would make the best plants aren't going to want to leave the front rows. Chants ending in *clap clap* *clap clap clap* currently run 4x through and then end, this should be extended to 6x or 8x as the other side of the student section often doesn't pick it up until the 2nd or 3rd time through (when it's practically over). Holding up small signs when cheers such as "the Hex", "We're all behind you", "Hey scorekeeper", etc. are about to start would also get more people involved, but this will only help the people behind you - the only suggestions I can think of toward getting both sides of the student section on the same page you won't want to hear (moving the Hosers next to the goal judge so they can communicate with the students on the other side who would also have these signs).

You've got a good base to work from and new blood that is interested if you give them the chance, the best thing you could do in my opinion is hold some sort of "fan summit" with the other members of the student section (not just your half) and the band and figure out where to go from here, the only thing holding you back at this point is yourselves. Best of luck with whatever you guys decide to do.