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Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

WiscDC said:
What's funny is that the band still has to pretend it's a neutral site. They'll play "On, Wisconsin" after goals, when a piped-in version would be played at a neutral site in their absense, but when the teams take the ice, the NCAA plays their own music, so we'll have to sing. It probably won't go as well as 2 years ago because that was a GOSH DARN good student section.
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Can't imagine what the NCAA's own music sounds like (!), but am using your post and the late hour to sneak in under the cover of darkness/nerves to defend the much-maligned (by Hockey East, primarily) Harvard band. They are great, or at least very entertaining, if you get a chance to actually hear them in what promises to be the controlled mayhem of a QF at LB. Like the team they've come to support (which is especially nice since they've been relatively AWOL at home this season), they will face superior numbers, will respond with ingenuity and unpredictable changes, and are especially good at turnovers. Naturally, they are at their best after a Harvard goal----listen for it!

Here's to a good game all around!!
 
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Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

tristarscoop said:
Because ticket sales would be better if they were playing in the Eagles' Nest???
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That actually isn't my point at all. I'm not even arguing that this game should be played at the Kohl Center, even if the WIAA tourney wasn't going on. I don't think ticket sales for this one particular game would be that much different if the venue was different.

My point is about the much larger impact that LaBahn is having on the long term fanbase for the team. Without rehashing all the reasons that have been discussed in the past, I've said for a while that I think the way they cheaped out on the rink is hurting their ability to grow the fanbase.

Hopefully, they'll still be able to get to a sellout, which I suppose will be just over 2,000 people, once you factor in the seats lost to the band. But this is a team that used to draw 3,000, 4,000, even 5,000 fans to a NCAA Quarterfinal, and with less than 24 hours before game time, you could still buy very decent seats on the blue line. I think that's disappointing, and while LaBahn isn't the only reason, I don't think it is a factor that can be ignored.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Hopefully, there will be a decent walk-up crowd to fill the place up. Factoring in the bands and family, there couldn't have been much more than 2,000 max tickets to sell.

In fairness, my situation is part of the problem. On a trip that was planned out months ago, I'm in Indy for the Big Ten men's basketball tournament with family. Didn't realize that there would be a conflict with the quarterfinal game until it was too late. Maybe would have come back to Madison this morning if the Badgers lost, but they rolled. If back, I would have brought my wife plus some nieces as I normally do for these games. Unfortunately, nobody back home is going without me handling all the logistics.

While the ticket price increase sucks, that has been the case for every NCAA game I can remember and is still a very good value. Not exactly sure why it has to be reserved seating though. They could rope off the areas for the bands, but I think the average fan would prefer general admission. Maybe I'm wrong..

Parking could be a major issue, but I swear that the Saturday WCHA game against Mankato went up against the State wrestling finals at Kohl and there was plenty of parking available. I parked just south of LaBahn in the business lots for free. Ultimately, that really shouldn't be reason that people stay home for a game this important.

I've never missed a home NCAA game and really wish I could be there, because it should be a great atmosphere no matter the crowd size. It's been kind of an odd year for the Badgers. Overall, they have a really good record and stayed in WCHA contention all the way to the last weekend. However, going 0-4 against Minnesota and getting bounced again by No Dak in the WCHAs has to be gnawing at the team. Winning today and advancing to the Frozen Four would go a long way to easing those frustrations (would for me at least as just a fan).

On Wisconsin!!
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Badger Booster said:
Hopefully, there will be a decent walk-up crowd to fill the place up. Factoring in the bands and family, there couldn't have been much more than 2,000 max tickets to sell.

In fairness, my situation is part of the problem. On a trip that was planned out months ago, I'm in Indy for the Big Ten men's basketball tournament with family. Didn't realize that there would be a conflict with the quarterfinal game until it was too late. Maybe would have come back to Madison this morning if the Badgers lost, but they rolled. If back, I would have brought my wife plus some nieces as I normally do for these games. Unfortunately, nobody back home is going without me handling all the logistics.

While the ticket price increase sucks, that has been the case for every NCAA game I can remember and is still a very good value. Not exactly sure why it has to be reserved seating though. They could rope off the areas for the bands, but I think the average fan would prefer general admission. Maybe I'm wrong..

Parking could be a major issue, but I swear that the Saturday WCHA game against Mankato went up against the State wrestling finals at Kohl and there was plenty of parking available. I parked just south of LaBahn in the business lots for free. Ultimately, that really shouldn't be reason that people stay home for a game this important.

I've never missed a home NCAA game and really wish I could be there, because it should be a great atmosphere no matter the crowd size. It's been kind of an odd year for the Badgers. Overall, they have a really good record and stayed in WCHA contention all the way to the last weekend. However, going 0-4 against Minnesota and getting bounced again by No Dak in the WCHAs has to be gnawing at the team. Winning today and advancing to the Frozen Four would go a long way to easing those frustrations (would for me at least as just a fan).

On Wisconsin!!
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state wrestling draws 1/3 the crowd that the BB tourney does...just got back from downtown and theirare ppl all over the place.....and parking is going to be a massacre with championship Saturday being played in madison
 
Badger Booster said:
It's been kind of an odd year for the Badgers.
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No matter what happens for Wisconsin in the tournament, I think this season should be viewed as a positive. Last year, you only had one marquee skater, and she graduated. That you were able to take several steps forward in spite of that is a good sign, as is the emergence of several players that will be back. Ammerman is much more of a threat than she was as a sophomore, when she was more of an opportunist rather than someone who can create offense to the degree that she can now. Turnbull is much, much better in terms of what she can provide game to game. Burke's game grew, and you can count on her to be in the top four in the league on the blue line over her final two years, and given she shares a league with Ramsey, McMillen, the Schmitt sisters, Lacquette, Stalder, Krzyzaniak, and Herschey and several others, that isn't meant as a light compliment. Nurse will be a star, no doubt. I expect others like Channell and McKibbon will take big leaps forward in their second year. Then you add a lot of impact in your freshman class, and I think next year, your team will be back closer to where you expect it to be. Yes, you lose Rigsby, but I doubt anyone is too worried about Desbiens. We'll have to wait to see how next year unfolds as to who is the team to beat, but you'll definitely be one of the frontrunners when the season starts. Seasons after the Olympics are tough to call because some stars integrate back into their college team more effectively than others, so it seldom goes the way we expect.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

DoorCtyBadger said:
state wrestling draws 1/3 the crowd that the BB tourney does...just got back from downtown and theirare ppl all over the place.....and parking is going to be a massacre with championship Saturday being played in madison
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On the news this week, when they talked about parking for the BB tournament, they would always mention that there are shuttle buses running from Alliant EnergyCenter/Dane County Coliseum. So if you really don't want to deal with parking on the isthmus, you could always park at the Coliseum and shuttle-bus over.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

While the ticket price increase sucks, that has been the case for every NCAA game I can remember and is still a very good value. Not exactly sure why it has to be reserved seating though. They could rope off the areas for the bands, but I think the average fan would prefer general admission. Maybe I'm wrong..
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Since they had to come into the game expecting it to be a sellout, and a real sellout where you don't have hundreds of season ticket holder no-shows, I think reserved seating really becomes a necessity. With GA, You'd just end up with too many open, single seats, and people not being able to sit together. I think $10 is still a very fair price, I just think its interesting that UW raises ticket prices while UM actually lowers them. Like Timmy, I was under the impression the NC$$ had something to do with it.

I really can't ever see a parking problem even if both Kohl and LaBahn were filled to capacity. I have never had to park more than a few blocks away, even at sold out concert events, that hold more than basketball (and I hate paying for parking!). There's more than enough parking in downtown Madison to deal with at most 20,000 people at Kohl/LaBahn.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

For the long term and the overall health and growth of the program, this season and this group are good for Wisconsin for all the reasons ARM listed above. Hard cores and fans of the game know and understand that.

However, in the short term, they are not exciting or excitement-inducing and that hurts the ticket sales for the game today. Those of us that understand the game enough to understand why this team is good and special don't fill one section. So to fill the rest, you need to bring in new fans.

They made a big push for Fill the Bowl and played on the residuals of Olympic excitement and that game did nothing to convince non-fans that this was a team worth getting out of the door for. With the WIAA basketball tourney and presumed parking difficulty (imagined or not), the lackluster feel for this team and the men's basketball playing in the BT tourney just beforehand, this isn't a game I see people running out to get tickets for. Hell, I'm a big fan and other than the fact that it's playoff hockey, I'm not super excited for it - I don't expect it to be a great display of hockey. It's going to be very defensive. It's two teams struggling to score. There's just not a lot about this game, on the surface, that gets people rushing out to go watch it. Additionally, NCAA games are free streaming. There are those that might have made the trip from further afield that don't have to and can watch from the comfort of home. Those aren't huge numbers of folks or anything, but all of these things count when you're talking 2,000 people.

I wouldn't be surprised by a late walk-up crowd that's totally dependent on both the men's hockey game, which starts at 3, and then men's bball game, which starts at the same time. If both of those end in a timely manner, folks might decide to head out.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

UW is a little underpowered this year, but the gals had been ranked #2 most of the year and it is an NCAA tourney, so I thought that would be enough juice to get the place pretty full. I think more than anything the older crowd is put off by whatever perceived parking problems there may be and we'll see way less families with young kids who generally come for the cheap event out of the house. This will be a hard core crowd and my 7 will be part of that. We will have fun either way.

For the record, Hawvawd's official color is crimson or maroon and not red, correct?

Let's go RED!
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Timothy A said:
UW is a little underpowered this year, but the gals had been ranked #2 most of the year and it is an NCAA tourney, so I thought that would be enough juice to get the place pretty full. I think more than anything the older crowd is put off by whatever perceived parking problems there may be and we'll see way less families with young kids who generally come for the cheap event out of the house. This will be a hard core crowd and my 7 will be part of that. We will have fun either way.

For the record, Hawvawd's official color is crimson or maroon and not red, correct?

Let's go RED!
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Crimson. Hence the moniker I believe.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Your insider fun fact - this isn't actually the Harvard band. As my bf put it, they hired scabs. This is the Concordia band dressed in Harvard gear, masquerading as the Crimson band
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

tristarscoop said:
Your insider fun fact - this isn't actually the Harvard band. As my bf put it, they hired scabs. This is the Concordia band dressed in Harvard gear, masquerading as the Crimson band
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Good news then for those attending the game. The Harvard "band" is probably the worst group of musicians I've ever heard assembled in an arena.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Hux said:
Good news then for those attending the game. The Harvard "band" is probably the worst group of musicians I've ever heard assembled in an arena.
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They weren't THAT bad. They weren't good...but they weren't that bad.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

That was the best atomosphere I've been a part of at LaBahn arena since it opened.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

WiscDC said:
That was the best atomosphere I've been a part of at LaBahn arena since it opened.
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That is exactly what I wanted to hear. Packed house, great win and on to the Frozen Four. Only wish I could have been there to take it all in. I'm sure it was a h-ll of a lot more entertaining than what I had to watch with the men's basketball team in Indy.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

robertearle said:
I enjoyed the standing ovation afterwards. Senior, final home game, and middle-of-the-game standing O.
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That was just amazing. It's right up there with the Connelly save and the Rumpel save from last year. The Rumpel and Rigsby saves were season savers for sure. The ovation was just incredible that followed. The crowd was almost a sellout from the looks of it and they were really into the game. Scoring in the 1st period really got the crowd juiced up.

I'd love to see that other mad scramble 3rd period deal when the puck popped in the air and somehow it didn't end up in the back of the net.

UW dominated the 1st 2 periods, Hawvawd played way better in the 3rd period and obvious could have won had Rigsby not been amazing.

Cool parking sidenote, the lot by the tracks was very empty and when we pulled in there was a guy selling parking tickets. We told him we were there to see the hockey game and not the bb game, so he gives us a UW parking tag and tells us to just go in and park. What a great guy.
 
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