KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

There has to be a chance late in the game during a timeout for some kind of chant. I see it happening on TV.

Well, with only 2 home games left and the next one a big one regarding A10 standings, I would like to hear the Beastie Boy's "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" at least once.

I can remember when the fans used to sing the words to our fight song. The band would play it once, then they would play it quieter with the students/fans singing the lyrics. That always seemed to get the fans involved. Anyway, I found a website with college fight songs. Seems the words to ours has changed over the years.

Rhode Island
"Rhode Island Born"

We're Rhode Island born
We're Rhode Island bred
And when we die
We'll be Rhode Island dead.
We're here to play
And we're here to win,
And when we play
We play like sin.

For it's Rah! Rah! Rah! Rhode Island, Island,
Rah! Rah!, Rhode Island, Rah, Rah,
Rhode Island R.I. State.

What?

theblueram wrote:Well, with only 2 home games left and the next one a big one regarding A10 standings, I would like to hear the Beastie Boy's "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" at least once.

Great idea. I will talk to our music guy to see if we can get it worked in.

Rod- As far as who to bring your ideas to...it's easier said than done. There still isn't a replacement for Adam so many people have been wearing many hats to chip in and essentially do his job; including Daryl. I also know an array of people read this board regularly so your suggestion may have already been seen.

Billyboy78 wrote:I can remember when the fans used to sing the words to our fight song. The band would play it once, then they would play it quieter with the students/fans singing the lyrics. That always seemed to get the fans involved. Anyway, I found a website with college fight songs. Seems the words to ours has changed over the years.

Rhode Island
"Rhode Island Born"

We're Rhode Island born
We're Rhode Island bred
And when we die
We'll be Rhode Island dead.
We're here to play
And we're here to win,
And when we play
We play like sin.

For it's Rah! Rah! Rah! Rhode Island, Island,
Rah! Rah!, Rhode Island, Rah, Rah,
Rhode Island R.I. State.

That is certainly not our fight song

theblueram wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:I can remember when the fans used to sing the words to our fight song. The band would play it once, then they would play it quieter with the students/fans singing the lyrics. That always seemed to get the fans involved. Anyway, I found a website with college fight songs. Seems the words to ours has changed over the years.

Rhode Island
"Rhode Island Born"

We're Rhode Island born
We're Rhode Island bred
And when we die
We'll be Rhode Island dead.
We're here to play
And we're here to win,
And when we play
We play like sin.

For it's Rah! Rah! Rah! Rhode Island, Island,
Rah! Rah!, Rhode Island, Rah, Rah,
Rhode Island R.I. State.

That is certainly not our fight song

It is at the beginning. This is the site I found it on.

http://www.1122productions.com/fightsongs/r.html

They have apparently done away with the latter half of that (I've never heard that before, but I assume it was correct at some point).

http://www.gorhody.com/genrel/releases/061600aab.html

Yeah, when we were called Rhode Island State College. We became URI in 1951.

theblueram wrote:Yeah, when we were called Rhode Island State College. We became URI in 1951.

Could you imagine if we were still Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts?

A&M! Gig 'em!

There was also another song that used to be played,
that was associated with URI.
Haven't heard it in years.

Taylor Swift wrote:

theblueram wrote:Yeah, when we were called Rhode Island State College. We became URI in 1951.

Could you imagine if we were still Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts?

In the small minds of pc fans, we still are.

EZ thanks for the look behind the curtains. Much appreciated.

I love it when you lead both ends of the student sections in the "U-R-I" chant and the "Rhody Rhody Rhody" chant.

I look forward to your energy Weds night!

Nice write up.

Yeah, we get it. We're second fiddle. He doesn't have to say it more than once.

He also said that we have the best arena in the area. I thought the review was pretty dam good especially because there is still room for improvement on the game day presentation and overall fan experience.

I understand the need to raise revenue and to be family-friendly, but the timeout promotions really can take the energy out of the building. You can practically go a whole game without a Defense or Let's go Rhody chant. And while I applaud Ruckus for showing up and being loud, they weren't very creative this year. I gave up on the band a long time ago.

Iggy1979 wrote:I understand the need to raise revenue and to be family-friendly, but the timeout promotions really can take the energy out of the building. You can practically go a whole game without a Defense or Let's go Rhody chant. And while I applaud Ruckus for showing up and being loud, they weren't very creative this year. I gave up on the band a long time ago.

The timeouts just kill all momentum so badly

Hell, I tried to get a thank you seniors chant going after the game every time it seemed like there would be a lull in the noise. Then there would be another announcement and another announcement until everyone left the court. Nothing is allowed to happen organically in there. I know he's a well regarded member in here, but the MC position is the most obvious part of the problem. He was out vs. St. Bonaventure and everything went just fine. We need to scale things back and realize sometimes that less is more.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Hell, I tried to get a thank you seniors chant going after the game every time it seemed like there would be a lull in the noise. Then there would be another announcement and another announcement until everyone left the court. Nothing is allowed to happen organically in there. I know he's a well regarded member in here, but the MC position is the most obvious part of the problem. He was out vs. St. Bonaventure and everything went just fine. We need to scale things back and realize sometimes that less is more.

Is EZBuckets himself responsible for game presentation? I kind of think he's following someone's orders.

BTW, was it just my aging ears or did the music get louder as Saturday's game went on? In the overtime I felt like I was sitting in front of the stacks at a Deep Purple concert.

I'm not commenting specifically on his performance, not worth getting into from my vantage point when I think the position itself is a problem. That position should be done away with. There was a noticeable, and pleasant, difference during the St. Bonaventure game.

Iggy - I can count on one hand the number of possessions each game where the Ruckus isn't chanting Defense or Let's Go Rhody. Although the rest of the crowd hardly ever jumps in, it's definitely happening. I also agree that we need new chants. I tried getting some new ones worked in, but it needs more work next season.

Rhowdy - This is an open forum. I just finished my 9TH season in my role...just because I post her sometimes doesn't mean you should censor yourself. I'm a big boy; I can take the criticism. Every single season a thread or post goes up complaining about timeouts, me, and the announcements and every time my reply is the same; at the end of the day URI basketball is a business. Sponsors who pay big money require a certain number of announcements and promotions during the games. The isn't unique to Rhody. Go to any sports arena in the country and it will be the same experience. With or without me, it's going to happen.

Scroll back in this thread for my previous responses; I have zero input into what happens. I am a hired gun and follow a script given to me 90% of the time. The other 10% is me doing my best Braveheart impression motivating the crowd at the end of the game.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:I'm not commenting specifically on his performance, not worth getting into from my vantage point when I think the position itself is a problem. That position should be done away with. There was a noticeable, and pleasant, difference during the St. Bonaventure game.

I actually completely disagree. I used to feel that way, but that St. Bonaventure game was super laid back and there was no energy in the arena even with the large crowd. There was a noticeable void without EZ that definitely made things pretty dull that game.

-Turn down the PA or at least roll off the treble.....

-please tell Yorke he is a PA announcer not EZ Buckets troll.

Otherwise hard to find anything for me to complain about.

Rhody hoops is a big league show now.

(Let's please remember to freeze that LED banner when we toe the line to shoot foul shots!!!!)

Any update on drop down ceiling scoreboard/ entertainment kiosk?

rhodysurf wrote:

RhowdyRam02 wrote:I'm not commenting specifically on his performance, not worth getting into from my vantage point when I think the position itself is a problem. That position should be done away with. There was a noticeable, and pleasant, difference during the St. Bonaventure game.

I actually completely disagree. I used to feel that way, but that St. Bonaventure game was super laid back and there was no energy in the arena even with the large crowd. There was a noticeable void without EZ that definitely made things pretty dull that game.

I agree with you rhodysurf. EZ Buckets does a great job and there was definitely a noticeable lack of energy against St. Bonaventure. We need that voice as part of the game day experience. Besides all the on-court work EZ does he also initiates probably 90% of the Ruckus chants. The Ruckus is great, but sometimes they get lost in the moment. EZ is always there to get them up and loud and chanting something. They need that one consistent person to conduct the orchestra if you will.

......put appropriate game action replays on the big board.....do other DI venues do that....??...I don't get out much....!!

RoadyJay wrote:

rhodysurf wrote:

RhowdyRam02 wrote:I'm not commenting specifically on his performance, not worth getting into from my vantage point when I think the position itself is a problem. That position should be done away with. There was a noticeable, and pleasant, difference during the St. Bonaventure game.

I actually completely disagree. I used to feel that way, but that St. Bonaventure game was super laid back and there was no energy in the arena even with the large crowd. There was a noticeable void without EZ that definitely made things pretty dull that game.

I agree with you rhodysurf. EZ Buckets does a great job and there was definitely a noticeable lack of energy against St. Bonaventure. We need that voice as part of the game day experience. Besides all the on-court work EZ does he also initiates probably 90% of the Ruckus chants. The Ruckus is great, but sometimes they get lost in the moment. EZ is always there to get them up and loud and chanting something. They need that one consistent person to conduct the orchestra if you will.

I agree as well. I was at the St. Bonnies game and I specifically remember saying to my buddy - where is our MC because it was noticeably more laidback without him.

The issue is that we need EZ Buckets. He does a very good job but the students should have more energy or whoever runs the Ruckus should take more control. It's embarrassing how quiet some of the students are.

Also something I noticed against Davidson was that students seemed louder when we were on offense, not defense...doesn't make sense to me. Maybe part of URI 101 should be teaching students how to support a team at a sporting event.

section(105) wrote:......put appropriate game action replays on the big board.....do other DI venues do that....??...I don't get out much....!!

The last I knew there are no in game replays because our new scoreboard is not compatible with our old software that we use to run the scoreboard. How and why new software wasn't included when we got the new boards, I don't know. Hopefully that's fixed soon, but we're going on what, three years now with the new boards? So don't hold your breath.

josephski wrote:The issue is that we need EZ Buckets. He does a very good job but the students should have more energy or whoever runs the Ruckus should take more control. It's embarrassing how quiet some of the students are.

Also something I noticed against Davidson was that students seemed louder when we were on offense, not defense...doesn't make sense to me. Maybe part of URI 101 should be teaching students how to support a team at a sporting event.

Maybe the students would lead if they were allowed to lead instead of having a chaperone? All of us came up as fans during different eras but still were somehow able to figure out how to cheer on the team. Perhaps these students should be allowed to handle things themselves as well.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

section(105) wrote:......put appropriate game action replays on the big board.....do other DI venues do that....??...I don't get out much....!!

The last I knew there are no in game replays because our new scoreboard is not compatible with our old software that we use to run the scoreboard. How and why new software wasn't included when we got the new boards, I don't know. Hopefully that's fixed soon, but we're going on what, three years now with the new boards? So don't hold your breath.

.....Thinking Bigger-We Kinda Do....and invest in this kinda upgrade......wanna run with the big dogs; gotta get off the porch....no?

I don't think there is any technical limitation at this time preventing game action replays.

Stayed up last night to watch a replay of the Davidson game (unfortunately dvr cut out after 1 minute of OT), and was very surprised how loud the Ryan sounded on TV. I was at the game, and although it was loud, I was pleasantly surprised how great it sounded on the tube. Definitely showed what a great atmosphere the Ryan can be.

Less PA music, more band. They've got to improve the band presence for basketball. Last I knew the kids who play at bball games don't get credits for any rehearsal or performance time (unlike football's marching band) and the faculty bandleader doesn't get paid for leading rehearsals, arranging music, and conducting (again, unlike football) and whatever the hell else band people have to do.

This is the chince-y shit that kills me, like with the piss poor stream quality. How much would this really cost? It's such a critical little detail for the experience of games and honestly for how we are perceived by outside observers. We spend all this money and energy and can't pony up a couple grand for a faculty member who spends five months basically teaching a class? We're on national TV one week and the next you tune in to MyRITV and see the fucking playbar on the streaming player at the bottom of the screen, like its been done by some fucknut who doesn't know how to work his laptops TV output? Gotta fix that stuff.

Also, I'm with the people saying that we should sing the song more. I'm always shouting it after wins.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

section(105) wrote:......put appropriate game action replays on the big board.....do other DI venues do that....??...I don't get out much....!!

The last I knew there are no in game replays because our new scoreboard is not compatible with our old software that we use to run the scoreboard. How and why new software wasn't included when we got the new boards, I don't know. Hopefully that's fixed soon, but we're going on what, three years now with the new boards? So don't hold your breath.

This continues to be the bane of my existence at the Ryan Center. Everywhere else has replays. Every arena. PC they at least just play the live game feed. When they play the replays on TV, the replays also play on the jumbotron. No replay equipment is needed there. We have supposedly the top of the line videoboards on the level with TD Garden. I would think a simple aux cable input jack was included.

I understand that there may be technical limitations to "in house" replay. If that is a thing I honestly don't expect us to need that. Replays are usually done in a video truck during television production. That's very common.

HOWEVER, you cannot tell me that we do not have the technology to take the screen that is being broadcast around the country, or what is being broadcast to the officials during a replay on the bench, and plug that video feed into an aux output and put it on the jumbotron.

I can put a god damn youtube video from my phone wirelessly to my television. You cannot sit there an tell me that it is an impossibility to just show the television broadcast on the jumbotron. I refuse to buy that.

If my communication studies major taught me anything at URI, and we can certainly debate how much I absorbed, I know for a FACT that technology existed 9 years ago when I was in school. Don't tell me we can't do something that simple.

I've gone off on this subject in the past. The band needs to either improve or there should be no band at all. I am not one to usually be critical of things like this but the band, right now, is truly a huge embarrassment.

I agree, the lack of replays are a joke. I thought it had been a technology issue. ATP says if that existed it shouldn't be a concern anymore. So I don't know what the problem is at this point, but it needs to be fixed.

......regarding the replays, broadcast feed on big video board, the band, the students reseated in 104, PA announcer etc. etc, I wonder who is the decider on this stuff, the RC management company with inputs from Athletics or something else??

section(105) wrote:......regarding the replays, broadcast feed on big video board, the band, the students reseated in 104, PA announcer etc. etc, I wonder who is the decider on this stuff, the RC management company with inputs from Athletics or something else??

Added thought; maybe some sort of focus type group, representative fan committee, consumer group needs to be considered to get these things brought before the deciders.....maybe that already exists in some form....??

I thought the Davidson Game was one of the all time greatest games and most enthusiastic environments I have experienced ever at the Ryan Center. Not much I would change.

section(105) wrote:

section(105) wrote:......regarding the replays, broadcast feed on big video board, the band, the students reseated in 104, PA announcer etc. etc, I wonder who is the decider on this stuff, the RC management company with inputs from Athletics or something else??

Added thought; maybe some sort of focus type group, representative fan committee, consumer group needs to be considered to get these things brought before the deciders.....maybe that already exists in some form....??

We had something like this a few years ago now, I attended one of the evenings. As far as I know they never followed up with anyone to see what they thought after that meeting and haven't had any other groups like this since.

Bands not bad but always room for improvement. Replays NEED to happen, gets the crowd into it more too with reactions. Can we get the crowd to sing the fight song for once? It's pretty easy. This isn't the Allen Field house but still.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

section(105) wrote:

section(105) wrote:......regarding the replays, broadcast feed on big video board, the band, the students reseated in 104, PA announcer etc. etc, I wonder who is the decider on this stuff, the RC management company with inputs from Athletics or something else??

Added thought; maybe some sort of focus type group, representative fan committee, consumer group needs to be considered to get these things brought before the deciders.....maybe that already exists in some form....??

We had something like this a few years ago now, I attended one of the evenings. As far as I know they never followed up with anyone to see what they thought after that meeting and haven't had any other groups like this since.

Seems like there was a solid effort by Athletics to form a Fan Forum a few years back....perhaps the Rhody Pub was one result of the groups input....maybe the effort fell by the wayside with Adam/Truesom leaving.....perhaps after our run in the NCAA the effort could be brought forward again?

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

section(105) wrote:

section(105) wrote:......regarding the replays, broadcast feed on big video board, the band, the students reseated in 104, PA announcer etc. etc, I wonder who is the decider on this stuff, the RC management company with inputs from Athletics or something else??

Added thought; maybe some sort of focus type group, representative fan committee, consumer group needs to be considered to get these things brought before the deciders.....maybe that already exists in some form....??

We had something like this a few years ago now, I attended one of the evenings. As far as I know they never followed up with anyone to see what they thought after that meeting and haven't had any other groups like this since.

I was part of this forum as one of the student reps. It was a very productive meeting, but I was disappointing when there wasn't any sort of follow up. However, since then there have been many improvements to our program/the RC, so I am by no means saying no progress has been made.

BUT, it should 100% become an annual sort of forum.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Hell, I tried to get a thank you seniors chant going after the game every time it seemed like there would be a lull in the noise. Then there would be another announcement and another announcement until everyone left the court. Nothing is allowed to happen organically in there. I know he's a well regarded member in here, but the MC position is the most obvious part of the problem. He was out vs. St. Bonaventure and everything went just fine. We need to scale things back and realize sometimes that less is more.

Also, I couldn't disagree more here. The MC does a phenomenal job. Not only is he promoting info that is a large part of the program's revenue stream, he is a huge draw for those looking for an all around experience. I usually am all for an old fashion experience where its all about the game, but that is not the case for College basketball of today...More fans in the seats = better atmosphere = more wins/better recruits. That's not scientific, but we all know its true, and the MC is a big reason for that. The under 4 Media timeout, when the RI logo ball blaster and t-shirt toss occurs, almost always revitalizes the crowd. To say you would prefer having no MC and that he is part of the problem is, with all respect, blatantly false and ridiculous.

All the promotional things were still done with him out against St. Bonaventure. No contracts were torn up, we didn't lose any money, and no fans walked out of the building. There is zero proof that people walk into the Ryan Center for the MC.

I've come to appreciate the job EZBuckets does in getting the students going. Then PA starts blasting music at ear-bleeding volume and completely drowns them out. It's impossible to hear human voices -- even thousands of them -- over what's coming out of the sound system.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:All the promotional things were still done with him out against St. Bonaventure. No contracts were torn up, we didn't lose any money, and no fans walked out of the building. There is zero proof that people walk into the Ryan Center for the MC.

Hey man, I'm really sorry I haven't thrown you a t-shirt. Let me know where you sit and I'll hand deliver one at the first home game next season.

Seriously though, no one is suggesting that they come to games to see me...not even my own mother. I'm paid to do a job during timeouts. I'm truly sorry that you feel my presence is unnecessary and negatively impacts your experience.

The good news for you is that I've decided that next season will be my last. The bad news is that I'll likely be replaced by someone younger & more annoying.