The mob and student section

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on The Mob as an organization and the appointed leaders of our student section. Are they organized? Do they seem to really involve the other students at the game? I would have to say I cannot comment on their organization but as for involving the student body I think they need a ton of improvement. The whole point of having a student section is to have a loud crowd who brings intensity and help build momentum. I do not think the Rhody student section does this enough and I think it starts with The Mob. I also think something needs to be done about the way they section off the students. They are scattered everywhere from the 200 level to all different 300 level sections. A united student section, standing up and cheering is what URI basketball needs.

Optimistic · Unread post by **Optimistic** » 11 years ago

I was a member of the mob for my first two years here at URI but for the last two I have opted to just get regular student tickets. The main draw behind the Mob used to be guaranteed seating behind the opponent's bench, which are great seats. I was more than happy to pay the $25 dues for that alone. Then they moved the Mob section to behind one of the baskets, which gives you a really bad vantage point on an entire half of the court. Let the Mob sit behind the bench again!

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

Students unhappy with current set up, Dan Hurley agrees

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

I realize I say this for any attendance issue, but... You need to win, to attract both the general public and to attract a broader group of people to the Rhody Mob. When the group is popular enough to attract a larger pool of candidates, you can weed out the students who just sit on their hands during games. Demand creates competition for the tickets, and makes it easier to mold the crowd how you want to, since an interested crowd is easier to control.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

A good amount of students were there last night but the current set-up is terrible....also most of the students were sitting down the entire game which is just pathetic

spookydog · Unread post by **spookydog** » 11 years ago

Its being mentioned on twitter by Dan & Bob Hurley. Maybe there will be a change?

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 11 years ago

you'd hope so. they should just not sell individual or student tickets to the third level until the 2nd level is sold out.

at least on a national tv broadcast you could fake it.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 11 years ago

A representative, and a few MOB members were invited to the Alumni Lounge gathering and spoke saying they have a bit over 200 "signed-up" members and on any given game there are +/= 150. So, it appears they are organized to some degree. A some times visitor in the seat next to me asked me; 1) do they have to pay for tickets? 2) Are the students in general on campus provided any PR on the games, campus radio, coaches presence, etc? 3) why to they sit there? and how come there's not more attendance in general, not just students? I had little answers(my bad). I know we gots a ways to go yet, before the program represents a "tough ticket". Perhaps, in the second level of rebuilding the program the "to do list", the coaching staff will address these kinds of things going forward for year 2-3, but for now, I think they/re consumed with developing the skill sets and culture of the on the floor product....Overheard last nite, from an elderly fan;
"those boys should be required to shoot 50 free throws before breakfast.............."

urirx · Unread post by **urirx** » 11 years ago

did anybody have a screen capture of the scattering of students yesterday? President Dooley is speaking to a group of alum tonight, and I would like to make sure he sees it.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 11 years ago

I thought the student attendance last night was decent. We're all big basketball fans but there are a lot of students who don't care about sports and will never go to the games. There are others who will go once the team wins more and creates a buzz.
I'm more concerned about:
1. The season ticket holders who don't show up. Thank you for buying 4 or more seats but when you leave them empty that doesn't help that much.
2. Season ticket holders who hardly ever clap. My son and I were clapping and yelling the whole second half and at one point I looked at the section next to me and it was like they were in church.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Iggy, I agree that the # of students was decent, especially given the state of the program. I think what many are concerned about is the process of seating them. There were students who seemed to feel they had to sit up in the upper corners of the Ryan Center because the ticketmaster computer said so. There were plenty of seats down behind the north end zone in the 100s and 200s and no reason for any fans to be scattered that far away from the action when attendance is so low overall.

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 11 years ago

I thought there was a good turnout from the students last night. They were loud, and even had an organized chant down the stretch of the game. They also had baby pictures of one of the GM players, and I believe a picture of one of their girlfriends on large cardboard posters. They would hold them up when GM was shooting free-throws toward the students end in the 2nd half.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 11 years ago

1) we do and see around me show ups rather than empty...........
2) we do and others around me do...........

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

URIGONZO wrote:I thought there was a good turnout from the students last night. They were loud, and even had an organized chant down the stretch of the game. They also had baby pictures of one of the GM players, and I believe a picture of one of their girlfriends on large cardboard posters. They would hold them up when GM was shooting free-throws toward the students end in the 2nd half.

Really you thought they were loud??? 90% of them were sitting down the entire game

Andrew · Unread post by **Andrew** » 11 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:There were students who seemed to feel they had to sit up in the upper corners of the Ryan Center because the ticketmaster computer said so. There were plenty of seats down behind the north end zone in the 100s and 200s and no reason for any fans to be scattered that far away from the action when attendance is so low overall.

Yeah, I don't understand this. If you have a student ticket (or a paid, regular ticket for that matter), and it's not sold out, then go sit wherever you'd like. I stand for most of the game, and have had people ask me to sit when sitting in 200 level... So I rarely sit there anymore. Finding a spot has never been a problem in Ryan, and if people are going to sit on their hands and be quiet, then that's not even fun to be next to. A huge part of games is celebrating with people around you.

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 11 years ago

Yes I thought they were loud. They may have been sitting down when URI couldn't score for the last 6 minutes of the first half and fell behind by 10 points. But as soon as they started making a run in the 2nd half the student section was up and the loudest section in the building.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

Can't speak much to this, but I can say that The Mob has an active Twitter account and they tweet often trying to promo games, get students to come out, etc. I think they do a good job, and given the demographic they're trying to attract, Twitter is a great platform to try and get the word out. I also thought The Mob was very loud for the Ohio St. game, but again, they were up in the nosebleeds so who knows if they could be heard around the arena. I happened to be sitting relatively close to them and they were loud and active all game.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

They were sitting the entire 1st half start to finish and most of the game...I think we have different expectations on how a student section should act...You said "they even had an organized chant down the stretch of the game", well no sh*t there should be chants the entire game

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 11 years ago

Andrew wrote:
ATPTourFan wrote:There were students who seemed to feel they had to sit up in the upper corners of the Ryan Center because the ticketmaster computer said so. There were plenty of seats down behind the north end zone in the 100s and 200s and no reason for any fans to be scattered that far away from the action when attendance is so low overall.
Yeah, I don't understand this. If you have a student ticket (or a paid, regular ticket for that matter), and it's not sold out, then go sit wherever you'd like. I stand for most of the game, and have had people ask me to sit when sitting in 200 level... So I rarely sit there anymore. Finding a spot has never been a problem in Ryan, and if people are going to sit on their hands and be quiet, then that's not even fun to be next to. A huge part of games is celebrating with people around you.

If anyone ever tells you to sit down during a basketball game, you turn around and tell them to go watch the game in their living room. Tell them that they're a bad person, a worse basketball fan, then stand taller and yell louder. That's why our building sucks. It's not a church. It's not your living room. Maybe they put the Cox deal in place so all the lame, quiet, sucky fans could just stay home.

Regardless, no student ticket should be ever in the 300 level. It's gone from the 100s, to the 200s now to the 300s. The mob never should have moved. That was the only thing I fought for when I was there, that we stayed behind the bench. You're louder on the court, you're louder during opposing time outs, you actually can cause some distractions.

ATP said it, and it's true - we have ourselves to thank when students stopped going to games and couldn't fill up the bottom sections. I think that's gonna change though.

The two games have sold enough student tickets to fill up more than that whole bottom section. There's no reason that we shouldn't go back to that if we can fill it up. Maybe next year, when we're expecting to be a better team, they re-seat those season ticket holders in 105 and 104, and open the entire 100 level to GA students, with the exception of the team seats in 106.

But putting the only people in the building who will make noise far away from the action, is downright stupid.

Move all student tickets to GA at the 100 level except the visiting seats in 103, and the team/player seats in 106. If that doesn't cover the 1500, give the students 1/2 or all of 201 as well. Don't sell 300 level individual game tickets until none are available in the 200 level.

Problem solved, you're welcome.

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 11 years ago

Yes, and it's a big upgrade from the last 6 years when there hasn't been ANY student turnout. What do you expect? The team was god-awful last year. Upperclassmen are the only people who remember the days of Jimmy and Will Daniels (the last hint of success). You think URI hires a new coach after a 7 win season and all of a sudden the Ryan Center is going to look like Cameron Indoor? I think the student turnout was great last night considering the product they have been shown on the floor. I'm sure with more success the turnout will be greater as the team improves. But you have to be realistic with your expectations: If your a sophmore at URI right now, your basketball team has won 8 games in your 3 semesters at school.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

I said above last night that I thought their was a good turnout from the students...However other then the mob the student section did not slightly resemble a student section.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

Other then the t-shirts they were wearing which were not the right shade of blue

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

I just like the fact that the hurleys listen to the studntsvand want to change it, I've always said you're going to lose students when your ticket says general admission 201 or 301 (I had a student ticket last night I'll try to post it if possible)

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 11 years ago

What happened to the student section being on halfcourt behind the scorers table? It used to be there.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

Uri/Ryan center saw the $$$ from season ticket holders they could get and moved the students

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

I feel like sometimes whether it is at basketball games or football games they don't accompany the students as much as they try to accompany the other spectators.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 11 years ago

rhodyfan3 wrote:I feel like sometimes whether it is at basketball games or football games they don't accompany the students as much as they try to accompany the other spectators.

accomodate? and you're certainly right about that. They already have the student's money from athletic fees. I think it backfires though, because basketball fans would rather be in a crazy atmosphere than a quiet house.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

I feel like they (URI) don't realize their future season ticket holders are the kids currently sitting in those student sections and if they aren't happy now and stop showing up before they graduate they aren't going to buy season tickets

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

"Other then the t-shirts they were wearing which were not the right shade of blue"
Neither are our road uniforms. They're not Keaney Blue.
I think they got changed because they reminded Bobby of UNC.
Anyway, the students should be close to the floor, because they'll make
more noise than the swells sitting there now.
What also bothers me is the section in the 2's opposite where I sit,
has never been more than a third full all year.
That's a season ticket area, too.

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

Blue Man wrote:
rhodyfan3 wrote:I feel like sometimes whether it is at basketball games or football games they don't accompany the students as much as they try to accompany the other spectators.
accomodate? and you're certainly right about that. They already have the student's money from athletic fees. I think it backfires though, because basketball fans would rather be in a crazy atmosphere than a quiet house.

Yes accommodate I'm sorry. Posting from an iPhone. I would love to see the student section brought closer together. I would also like to see the section standing and cheering in unison and that's where I feel The Mob has to act like the leaders of the student section. In a way I feel people believe The Mob is supposed to cheer and be crazy and the rest of the students are more spectators. It's very separated, and I would like to see them turning around to the students who outnumber them and getting them involved and acting as one student section.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

rhodyfan3 wrote:I would love to see the student section brought closer together. I would also like to see the section standing and cheering in unison and that's where I feel The Mob has to act like the leaders of the student section. In a way I feel people believe The Mob is supposed to cheer and be crazy and the rest of the students are more spectators. It's very separated, and I would like to see them turning around to the students who outnumber them and getting them involved and acting as one student section.

Agree with this.

When the Ryan Center opened, there was a good number of the Fanatical Fans or Ryan Rowdies or whatever we/they were called, but they also did a great job at getting the more passive students to get involved. Remember the Tummy Time and the Kilt Man? Section 104 was standing the entire time, and we made some sort of chant/noise/stomping feet/kicking seatbacks ON EVERY POSSESSION, offense and defense.

Rhody D · Unread post by **Rhody D** » 11 years ago

I'm with you. Bring back Kilt man. That dude was a ball of energy. He would run around the entire gym and get people pumped.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

you can't do that anymore, it's a safety hazard (their words not mine)

RhodyRam2011 · Unread post by **RhodyRam2011** » 11 years ago

I think something to remember on this board is that we are all very passionate about Rhody Basketball. However, that does not mean that students of the University need to be die-hards.

I graduated two years ago and up until the 2010-2011 season, the Ryan constantly was filled with students. For example, the 19-3 year when we lost to Richmond to start the horrid skid down the stretch, the place was filled even though there was a decent size blizzard going on. It was like that a majority of the time from 2007-2011.

You can’t just expect normal students to come to games of a team coming off a 7 win season that is currently 1-6. Sure they play hard every night, but that isn't going to get a bunch of kids in their young 20’s to go games. And a majority of these kids probably have no idea what kind of pedigree the Hurley’s have or what they are doing. Most people only care about wins.

I would love to see more students/fan in the Ryan for these games, but I don’t think that can be expected until we win. If we were 6-1 right now and no one was showing up, then I think there would be a serious gripe. That being said, when we do win, I think we all can agree the Ryan will be a great place to watch a basketball game for a very long time.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Twisted, I don't think he was being literal there. I think we all want more "characters" in the student section who do a great job in getting more passive fans to be actively involved in cheering on the team.

Issac · Unread post by **Issac** » 11 years ago

All of this is nice, but the truth is winning games (not having close games, or moral victories) leads to a show of natural enthusiasm. Canned enthusiasm is superficial and phony. The first half of the Mason game was as brutal as I hope it will ever get. The student section noticeably cleared out at the half. The second half was better, but the free throw misses certainly took the air out of the crowd. When you start to lose confidence in the team's capability in making big plays, enthusiasm and cheering become reduced.

Last year, the Rams won four games at home. So far zippo. So in the last two years to date we have won 4 out of 18 games. Overall the Rams are on a trajectory to suffer 50 losses over two years, a losing experience like no other in URI history. With this backdrop, no one should be surprised by the smaller crowds and lack of enthusiasm.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

ATP what i meant was that the Ryan Center seems anti fun and anything a student tries to do to get the crowd into it they get yelled out

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 11 years ago

Last game I was at, I noticed a lot of the students looking down, texting. They weren't even watching the game. Yes, there are some hard core student fans, but I think a lot of them are there just as something to do. They don't really care about the game. I never texted when I was a student, I watched the game. Then again, I had no choice, it was the 1970s. So, I don't think the only problem is that students don't go to the games because they don't care about or like basketball. I think a lot of them who GO to the games don't care either.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 11 years ago

OK, here goes, Would I pissed if in the re-seating of the RC, I lost and simply could not get two season tickets in 105?? YES. Would I recover knowing these sections were going (except 106)to students AND these sections would be full and creating a meaningful home court advantage going forward?? YES. I think there would be ample seats to my liking somewhere else, I used to sit in the 200/s. We had opportunity to move down and took those seats, I gotta say the 100/s behind the benches give a view and feeling you are part of the game, in addition to watching the game.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 11 years ago

I was pretty happy with the student turnout last night and they did turn up the noise when URI made its second half run. I'm more pissed to see the season ticket seats half empty. I expected the Auburn win and a decent opponent would attract a better crowd. I guess we need a few more Ws to keep the hoi polloi interested.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 11 years ago

twisted3829 wrote:ATP what i meant was that the Ryan Center seems anti fun and anything a student tries to do to get the crowd into it they get yelled out

Bahahahahahah you have no idea. Well I mean, you do, but really. It's sad.

NY2Rhody · Unread post by **NY2Rhody** » 11 years ago

last year the mob moved behind the north side basket because jim baron had been asking for it for years (that is not speculation. its fact. he also was the one who requested the big-heads) the mob last year had much bigger numbers, and initially filled up the entire bottom and a little more than half of the 200 section above. this year, the mob's numbers are way down. part due to last year's and this year's records. the mob isn't even filling up the bottom. the ryan center had to move about 20 kids from their seats above to the bottom where the mob sits last night. The $25 for mob dues isnt really worth it when they open up the exclusive section to everyone else. i think it should be like football where you have a general student section. I think most students would feel awkward standing for a whole game if they weren't sitting with the mob. (totally the wrong attitude)

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 11 years ago

1) Moving the Mob behind the basket was a bad idea.
2) I saw students with blue T-shirts on...I assume mob members?....up in the end zone seats in the 300 level when the other end zone of the 200's was empty...WHY? They should never be placed in the 300's unless the place is sold out with thousands of students in attendance.
3) The mob hardly chants anymore. The only time I heard them chant "defense" or "URI" was after a certain lone person/alumni from the 200's started to yell "defense" or "let's go rhody" from the stands. Now I know some of you are probably thinking "well that's because the team hasn't been doing well" but it doesn't happen in the beginning of the game either.
4) Ryan Center needs to lighten up on their policies concerning students and their enthusiasm to help with #3 (above).
5) Since when did the Mob start charging dues from crappy seats??? ATP and I "stood"** in (**correction made, ATP) 104 and it was free (if I recall correctly...I don't remember paying anything). They were just happy to have the students attend the games.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 11 years ago

With all due respect to Blue Man, Kilt Man was an original and will go down in URI lore. Wonder where he is? Things started to go the wrong way when they grounded Blue Man. thorr should have fought that and I told him that.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 11 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:With all due respect to Blue Man, Kilt Man was an original and will go down in URI lore. Wonder where he is? Things started to go the wrong way when they grounded Blue Man. thorr should have fought that and I told him that.

So, who was responsible for stopping Blue Man?

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

Ryan Center and most likely under the direction of Gregg Burke

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 11 years ago

Thorr forwarded me to woman in charge of RC, said it was their call. She said it was for the safety of the crowd. I told her I never felt unsafe and didn't want her to think she needed to protect me from Blue Man.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Correction. The Dude, we STOOD in 104.

EasyEdBrown · Unread post by **EasyEdBrown** » 11 years ago

I was in 104 back then too..Our seats were 4th row right behind the opposing bench. I was called an asshole once by Skip Prosser for saying he was a glorified AAU coach, and classless by Steve Lappas because I reminded him its tougher to win without paying players like at Nova. As far as I know, Prosser is still the only dead man to call me an asshole.

My friends and I talked ourselves out of dressing up like the Grim Reaper for Temple games.

But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised given Dan and Bobby Hurley's twitter reactions, if you saw more students lower down, and maybe even back to in 104-105. It will only help atmosphere.

My only question is when you balance the atmosphere with having to generate revenue. Those seats would be $35 each next year for the PC game (if they keep the prices the same and if they make it a premium game like they have in the past).

The one thing that's hilarious to me is the backlash today, considering this is the 2nd game this year there has been a major student crowd, in the 2nd year since they moved the students into one end zone. It's typical of URI students (and was true when I was there too), to complain about something much after the fact only because that's when they decided to give a shit.

EasyEdBrown · Unread post by **EasyEdBrown** » 11 years ago

Also, the Tummy Time guy (whose name I think was Jay) played against us in intramural softball one year, and I generally pitched. I remember facing him 4 times.

1. He crushed a ball to deep center that still hasn't landed.
2. He crushed a ball to deep center that passed the first ball.
3. He hit a ball right back through he box, that if not for a clever piece of agility by me would have ended our family name.
4. He a ball right back at me that if I didn't toss my glove up at the last second would have easily made me look just like Bryce Florie.

Big fat kid, with a big fat ability to scare the hell out of me in intramural softball.

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