KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Right, he should pronounce OUR players 100% accurately and 90+% for the away team. At least make it look like you did a little prep and practice before showing up and sitting in front of the PA mic.

I've been able to get some clarification on a few In-Game Experience items:

Existing Scoreboard Issues (missing/incorrect on-court player data)

During the exhibition and to a lesser extent the home opener vs. Maine, there have been periods of time when the on-court player information boards were either down completely or displayed incorrect information. Primary reason for the boards going down was failing laptops which had been in use since the Ryan Center opened. New laptops are now in use as of the Maine game. Secondary reason for inaccurate data is the boards have a new operator. It is expected that the player data boards will stay operational and provide timely accurate data going forward.

Sound System

The general inconsistency in sound levels from one area of the Ryan Center's seating to another is not a result of an outdated or inadequate sound system. In fact, the sound system was completely upgraded a few seasons ago at a cost of approximately $500k.

Many are aware of "adjustments" to the Ryan Center's design to keep costs within the budget, the most obvious being the lowering of the roof which has resulted in some obstructed views of scoreboards. Another feature that was never implemented was sound "treatments" to the facility's infrastructure. Such treatments would control distracting audio interference (noise) which can be more noticeable when many seats are not occupied.

To address this, the Athletics Dept and Ryan Center are working with the sound consultant who designed the new system to identify the necessary treatments to eliminate this issue and provide an improved, consistent fan experience.

The sound consultant determined a new optimized location for the sound board operator. Better positioning will allow the operator to manage the audio mix more easily. This is set to take effect in the coming months.

Also, early each season, the mixing levels of each audio element (PA, Video, Band, etc) are tweaked to find the right mix. Expect this to improve with each game as it has been given high priority.

PA Announcer

PA Announcer, Dan Yorke, is working with the Athletics Dept to perfect his delivery. Sponsors and fans have generally provided positive feedback on his performance. Dan also attends post-game pressers to gain content for discussion during his day job. The cross-promotional aspect is invaluable and a great bonus. Player name pronunciations aren't incorrect, but rather a result of inconsistency between multiple groups (coach, media, PA, etc).

When will they turn out the lights?!

The dimming controls are still in the process of being installed and tested. The obvious target is to have this completed in time for December 5th when the Friars grace us with their presence. Once operational, expect this new dimming feature to be utilized for all future games (not just special ones).

The lights being dimmed for intros had better be thoroughly tested and ready for the PC game, can't risk having this not perfect for the PC game.

Thanks for the insider info, ATP and Smarty!

Very much looking forward to seeing an improved Ryan Center experience these next few years. It's amazing how quickly new arenas/stadiums can become outdated (see Atlanta Braves moving out of a 17 y/o stadium), but it's nice to see that the University is willing to make the necessary upgrades - albeit not as quickly as many here would like to see.

Because this question comes up frequently, especially when we have great quality intro and hype videos now, I will re-post the info regarding NEXT-seasons planned video system / scoreboard upgrades:

For NEXT year, progress is being made on a complete refresh of the Ryan Center digital signage and video system. The bid for enhancements targeted for next season has been won by AJP, one of the world's top firms specializing in stadium/arena video. They have a very impressive portfolio and have designed the AV upgrades for Xavier's Cintas Center which should give you a general idea of what URI would like to do with the Ryan Center.

I thought this was pretty funny ....

That was actually pretty cool haha

When is the instructional video coming out for students on how to sneak alcohol into the arena?

They need an instructional video for that? Never needed one before.

We need this guy at the Ryan Center!

Easily the best part of my day so far.

Can someone tell the announcer to SHUT UP when the ball is in play. Telling us who is subbing in WHILE we are dribbling the ball up the floor, or correcting himself regarding fouls WHILE we are in the middle of shoot free throws is bush league.

that's his job IEP, don't get the problem...

There were several times when we were in our half court offense and he was just getting around to say who came in or who went out. At one point he was correcting himself regarding who fouled JR while he was in the middle of his free through. He just seems to have zero awareness.

Watched both the live stream and listened to a bit of the game on radio tonight. Both Jageler and McDonald had to keep correcting themselves on fouls. Said things like "I believe that's his second, but the scoreboard is saying it's his first." Not their fault at all; the board was having them doing double-takes and second-guessing their own score sheets. Not a good look.

Scoreboard has been wrong every game so far. Wrong players on court. Stats wrong. Pretty weak. Dan Yorke is not good period....

Athletics officials read these comments. I can assure you they are working to improve these issues.

URI_IEP wrote:Can someone tell the announcer to SHUT UP when the ball is in play. Telling us who is subbing in WHILE we are dribbling the ball up the floor, or correcting himself regarding fouls WHILE we are in the middle of shoot free throws is bush league.

I think Dan is getting better, and he doesn't have a ton of experience doing this. The one thing I would say is that the PA guy is not a play-by-play guy and really should be a minimalist in terms of what he is "announcing."

Awesome, 74. Thanks!

The volume of the music really needs to be turned down I can't even talk to people next to me during timeouts.

The PA guy continues to be a joke, not seeing any improvement.

The ramettes new uniforms are a step in the right direction.

I think I speak for all of us in attendance tonight when I say I want to see more musical chairs!!! Bahahahahaha man I really do feel for that injured kid but it was funny.

As for the PA; look Bob Shepard and Kurt Gowdy are not available, last time I checked. For those that have a less than favorable review of Dan Yorke; please offer what you want to hear from the PA.....and don't offer Mancuso, that ship has apparently sailed.....he was good....

Yeah, Dan Yorke is the guy. He's open to constructive direction and will improve.

Mike Mancuso was awesome and worked hard because he was trying to make a name for himself. Now he's earned time on TV in addition to his PA jobs. Good for him. The PA position needs a consistent voice, so Mike's not an option.

Other than what was mentioned about "talking over" the action with low-importance "corrections" etc, Yorke has been getting better. I totally agree he needs to go to a more minimalist delivery style to prevent his voice distracting from the action on the floor. My season tix are to watch/hear the action from my RI Rams, not he PA guy.

Yes, we know athletic officials read these comments.
As for the Ramette's, Milan came down to say hello,
and pointed out that the real Ramettes wouldn't be caught dead
wearing flat shoes.
Very true.
I wish there was a way to show you younger fans, what the real Ramettes
looked and performed like. People didn't leave their seats at half time,
until their routine was finished.

If URI folks are reading:
1. Turn the music down a tad
2. Tell Yorke less is more
3. Tell Yorke to get it right the first time, which will help with #2.
4. A wrong scoreboard is worse than no scoreboard. Fix whatever is wrong
5. Send copy of "Ramettes Gone Wild" DVD to Rod and Milan

I wish there was a way to show you younger fans, what the real Ramettes
looked and performed like. People didn't leave their seats at half time,
until their routine was finished.

The above is true.

section(105) wrote:As for the PA; look Bob Shepard and Kurt Gowdy are not available, last time I checked. For those that have a less than favorable review of Dan Yorke; please offer what you want to hear from the PA.....and don't offer Mancuso, that ship has apparently sailed.....he was good....

Replacing y for the rams is x

Rhode Island foul on y

That is the 7th foul on the xxx team or that is 10th foul on the rams

Shooting 1 and 1 for Rhode Island is z

Rhode Island basket by w

3 point basket by m

Whatever the program wants pushed or advertised during the break or necessary announcements.

That is about it, otherwise act professionally and don't embarrass us.

Not difficult!

hrstrat57 wrote:I wish there was a way to show you younger fans, what the real Ramettes
looked and performed like. People didn't leave their seats at half time,
until their routine was finished.

The above is true.

I'm not sure if you know this, but there are now many more pictures of naked ladies available on the Internet. Like, the ability to look at attractive females is at an all-time high.

SGreenwell wrote:

hrstrat57 wrote:I wish there was a way to show you younger fans, what the real Ramettes
looked and performed like. People didn't leave their seats at half time,
until their routine was finished.

The above is true.

I'm not sure if you know this, but there are now many more pictures of naked ladies available on the Internet. Like, the ability to look at attractive females is at an all-time high.

The Ramettes in the 70s were great. They were not naked. They were classy and very good.

Thank you, Billy Boy.
The people who never saw them, can never understand
why we were so drawn to them.
It has nothing to do with looking at silicone babes on the net.

SG: hilarious!

rodfromcranston wrote:Thank you, Billy Boy.
The people who never saw them, can never understand
why we were so drawn to them.
It has nothing to do with looking at silicone babes on the net.

There hasn't been a resulting explosion in the popularity of dance shows amongst men since then though, so I'm guessing there also wasn't a lot of analyzing of base, spotter and flyer techniques, and the cohesion of routine with music.

Look, since you don't know what we're talking about, how about
it if you drop the snarky comments and let it go?

rodfromcranston wrote:Look, since you don't know what we're talking about, how about
it if you drop the snarky comments and let it go?

+1 on the snarky comments.

Guess the history lesson isn't appreciated Rod. Folks can't understand that at times Keaney was showtime......

Remember when Washington came in and got blown out in the 70's? Or the BC game....Temple game in 88? Our new venue has potential but at times the old place was electric.

Back to Dan Yorke and scoreboard talk.

hrstrat57 wrote:

rodfromcranston wrote:Look, since you don't know what we're talking about, how about
it if you drop the snarky comments and let it go?

+1 on the snarky comments.

Guess the history lesson isn't appreciated Rod. Folks can't understand that at times Keaney was showtime......

Remember when Washington came in and got blown out in the 70's? Or the BC game....Temple game in 88? Our new venue has potential but at times the old place was electric.

Back to Dan Yorke and scoreboard talk.

And the main reason it was electric is that the entire lower sections on both sides and the stage were full of students for every game. The RC is a beautiful arena, but doesn't give us the home court advantage that Keaney did. That place was not a fun place to be for opposing teams.

That's why I sit in the second tier. I'm the same exact age as Hurley. My days of acting like a nutjob are nearly half a lifetime behind me now.

There are a lot of students in the crowd at the Ryan, but they are mostly girls. Don't get me wrong, girls are great. It's definitely not a sausage fest.

But girls are not rowdy. They come in packs and sit together to check out the guys, and half watch the game. The Ramettes don't go to the baseline after their halftime performance like they do at other schools, they head for the stands near the band, and are, again, a large pack of attractive girls who sit and watch quietly.

It's a different era, for sure.

The negativity in this thread stinks and it stinks and it sucks. Pat Mastors is not walking through that door fans. And if you expect her to walk through that door she's going to be wearing a sensible pant suit. What we are is young, exciting, hard working, and going to improve. People don't realize that. And the sooner they realize that Pat Mastors isn't coming through that door the sooner the Ryan Center will be better for all of us. Because there are Ramettes on that squad dancing their asses off.

That wasn't a knock on their dancing. At least not by me, I speak for myself.

I just meant that, in the year 2013, girls that age are not going to do anything that is even going to remotely embarrass themselves in anyway. Hence, they "observe" when they are sitting in the crowd. They are just as much interested in being seen, than anything they are actually seeing.

If you are looking for them to get up, get excited, get loud, do anything for that matter... that they don't want to do... good luck. It ain't happening.

One of my good friend’s sister was a Ramette (circa 1977). As a freshman she was a nice enough girl, fairly attractive, your basic co-ed. After she made the squad in her sophomore year the guys on campus surrounded her like bee’s to honey. No affront to today’s Rametts but back in the day they were campus diva’s and, as Rod pointed out, no one left their seats until they finished their halftime routine

As an aside, it’s kind of funny that when performing in Keaney they depended on a boom box for the dance music.

I like our current ramettes. Think they do a great job. I liked how they were at all the section exits after the game. I just think they need a better wardobe. Last game was a start.

Their costumes are fine. The nude on nude stockings on dance shoes isn't a bad look. An older cousin of mine was a Falconette and then a Ramette in the late 80's, with the go go boots, etc. The girls nowadays are trying to emulate the NBA dancers, it's not exactly the same function.

The other thing is, girls across the board are changing, they aren't the same as they were 20 and 30 years ago. Even if you put them in those uniforms from the 70's and 80's, people would still complain that they aren't as tall, as skinny, etc. There are all sorts of explanations, like the hormones in milk and the food we eat. Girls that would have had nothing up top 20 or 30 years ago are now at least a B cup if not a C cup, without any extra enhancement. These girls are dancers, but you can tell they have multidisciplinary backgrounds: dance, gymnastics, etc. You can see the muscles in their legs, they are more of an athlete than they were back then.

My cousin is a teacher in Jersey now. She looks nothing like that. Granted, she is older than me, but back then they had to have the dance background, of course, but you could tell she pretty much starved herself to do that stuff. The emphasis was on being thin, at all costs, like a model. I don't think they do that anymore, to be honest.

What the hell has this thread become?

very weird

Iggy1979 wrote:If URI folks are reading:
1. Turn the music down a tad
2. Tell Yorke less is more
3. Tell Yorke to get it right the first time, which will help with #2.
4. A wrong scoreboard is worse than no scoreboard. Fix whatever is wrong
5. Send copy of "Ramettes Gone Wild" DVD to Rod and Milan

Some updates on the above...

Music has been turned down during breaks. I know my friends in 205 noticed it.
I haven't really noticed Yorke lately, so that's an improvement right there.
Player detail info board is not going blank anymore (new laptops) and it seems to be accurate.
Not sure we can confirm #5 is complete.

Plus this, in my best Emperor Palpatine voice...

Oh, I'm afraid the dimming LED lights will be quite operational when our Friar friends arrive.

I think the NIT as some influence on the expected role of the PA....as well as the other in-game stuff usually seen at the RC(not exactly a news flash)....which leads me to regular season games.....where's the pizza man....hopefully in retirement.....whatever we do for the game with the saints from smith hill, better be spot on.....including two halves of the best we can be hoops....

Hey all, UMass fan here. Probably coming down for the game on February the 9th. Was wondering which sections are behind the visitors bench? And if not there where's the best spot to watch the game from? Any other info that visitor should know would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all!

UMassHoops15 wrote:Hey all, UMass fan here. Probably coming down for the game on February the 9th. Was wondering which sections are behind the visitors bench? And if not there where's the best spot to watch the game from? Any other info that visitor should know would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all!

Welcome! Congrats on a fine season and promising postseason ahead.

104 is directly behind the visitor bench.

Best sections to be near the Umass bench are 103, 104, 203, 204, 205 (low seat numbers).

You can choose your specific seats by purchasing tix direct from gorhody.com or theryancenter.com

UMass fans are best served by sitting in section 409

Ramulous wrote:UMass fans are best served by sitting in section 409

That's what I would have said...or that it's sold out.

We need to go back to announcing the pot size of the 50-50 raffle. I want to know how much the winner took home/what I missed out on.