Ryan Center In-Game Experience - Issues and Upgrades

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

We don't have to worry about our pep band trying to be trendy and playing something like "Sweet Caroline."

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 10 years ago

The band should be renamed the Big Blue Blob because all they do is sit there showing a creative index of ZERO.

zporiri · Unread post by **zporiri** » 10 years ago

to the band's defense, they seem to care about the outcome of the game a lot more than the majority of the students at the game

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

zporiri wrote:to the band's defense, they seem to care about the outcome of the game a lot more than the majority of the students at the game

True. Besides recruiting basketball players, I think we need to recruit basketball fans. Maybe we'll have some interested fans in the incoming freshman class...

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

If the team is good the students will be interested. The basketball team needs to become a "thing" and then it will draw plenty of students.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 10 years ago

TP is right, it's pretty simple. Make it an "event" and the students will show up. Delight the shit out of them while they are there, and they will become passionate die-hards and root harder and harder with each passing Win. The same way most of us that post on this stupid board are about this team, because at one point or another that happened to us. Some of these students have never even seen a great Rhody win. Losing by 5 or winning 58-57 isn't going to attract Joe College Kid. I see that changing very quickly, so my advise to the current students are get your tickets now! And to the school, move them to a more engaged and involved location, at least a few sections of them.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 10 years ago

Big Apple makes sense. These kids expect hoopla, dancing dogs, Jumbotron foolishness. The T-shirt toss is much bigger than the game on many nights. I hate all this stuff.
I am pushing 60. We went to game, watched it, saw the Ramettes dance and that was the "event" those days are long gone in D1 college sports.
If URI can bring in top teams and beat them, it might refocus things. But I don''t see UCONN and Kentucky heading to the RC in my lifetime.
I knew things had changed about 10 years ago when Indiana had trouble getting rid
Of their student tickets. Yes, Indiana.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

The big ass video board will be to the students' liking.

URI_IEP · Unread post by **URI_IEP** » 10 years ago

RR, I think you're missing BAR's point. If the Rams WIN the students will show up. All the other stuff is and will always be secondary. If URI starts to win, the students will start to show up, and it won't be because of the big heads or the t-shirt toss.

And, as a side note, Indiana was HISTORICALLY bad 10 years ago. Again, they weren't WINNING. It shouldn't be considered strange that people don't show up to watch a crappy product. Basketball is entertainment, not the end-all be-all of existence. If people aren't enjoying what they are seeing then they won't pay money for the privilege.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

Even during the PC game last year, in which for the most part it was a great atmosphere and a tight, tense game, there were still tons of kids glued to their phones most of the game. I'll believe it when I see it. Kids can't survive without the damn phones. I know, I have a teenage daughter. Just leave the phones back at the dorms or in your cars just once. Believe me, you will survive!

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 10 years ago

And those damn students better get off the Ryan Center lawn too!!!!!

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

What's worse, the students staring at their phones during the game or grown men staring at students during the game? Getting them in the building is job #1. They will figure the rest out in time. If demand for tickets surpasses supply, the students who care the most will be the ones in the seats.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

Seriously, TP? Staring at them? Wow, Rod is right. You are something else.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

What?! I just used the word "staring" because you did. My point was obviously that you can't look at the students and the game at the same time, just like they can't look at their phones and the game at the same time. No idea how you could take offense to that, or how that makes me "something else."

Way to ignore my bigger point and latch onto one meaningless word (which I only used because you did). No wonder you think "Rod is right." You have apparently adopted his posting philosophy.

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 10 years ago

Its not like the students at the big basketball schools are there to break down x's and o's and analyze matchups, they're there because its the thing to do. The dressing up, chants, props, dancing, etc., its not cool when its just a few kids but when its a few hundred of them, its fun. Winning and everything that comes with that (national TV games, ESPN highlights, etc.) is what makes it the thing to do, that's when the students will come. I personally think the lack of interest from non-students especially young alumni has always been more concerning.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

The word "staring" does not appear in my post. And it's pretty easy to see students sitting on their asses not watching the game when you are sitting in section 214 and they are right below you.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

Fair enough. I guess I could have said you were glued to the students, but that seems even less appropriate. (That was a joke)

Anyways, this is a silly thing to argue about. I wouldn't worry too much about the students. I think that to whatever extent there is a problem with student interest, it will solve itself as the team improves.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

TruePoint wrote:Fair enough. I guess I could have said you were glued to the students, but that seems even less appropriate. (That was a joke)

Anyways, this is a silly thing to argue about. I wouldn't worry too much about the students. I think that to whatever extent there is a problem with student interest, it will solve itself as the team improves.

Well, I hope you're right. Dan has stressed how important it is for the students to get involved to help the program grow.

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 10 years ago

Rhode Island Athletics Seeking Applications for Fan Experience Focus Groups

http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/ ... 07165bvtax

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 10 years ago

My kids would go on a hunger strike before shutting off their phones.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 10 years ago

Why would you want students to shut off their phones when you can use them to your advantage? If you have prizes for a student tweet your seat type competition and every student who's at the game is on Twitter saying they're at the Ryan Center it's going to seem like the place to be and more and more people will want to be where the action is.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

Good point, RhowdyRam02.

This year's team will have enough on-court exciting action to keep the students involved. We have plenty of talent that can finish on the break above the rim.

Alley-oops and dunks should be WAY up this year between Hare, Hass, JT32, EC, Earl, Biruta, Iffy, JR and Biggie.

I don't think we've ever had a roster so full with talent -- all able to finish strong.

URI_IEP · Unread post by **URI_IEP** » 10 years ago

(Selfishly) I like cheap tickets and a quiet atmosphere

Hopefully we'll be complaining soon about ticket price increases and not enough parking...

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

ATP. I think you should look up the 1978 roster,
lead by All American Sly Williams, with Jimmy Wright and Phil Kydd
sitting on the bench.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

The '78, '88 and '98 teams all had pretty good talent. I don't know that we can declare this group on the level with those yet, but definitely our most talented group in quite a while and reason enough to be excited.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

It's nice to have a team with talent 1-12 or 13, but the great teams have some great players. Penders hardly used his bench at all in his NCAA run. He didn't need any depth behind Garrick and Silk.
The program will return to those days if EC and Hassan develop into all-conference players and Terrell and Garrett also become very good players.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

To be clear, I'm not knocking this team. It's exciting to have this
type of talent level. One we haven't had in ages.
It's just that on those three teams, we had truly great players
leading them.
While we have great promise in EC, Hassan and company, we have to see
if someone emerges to greatness.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

Totally agree. I feel the same way. The potential is there for this team to enter that pantheon. We haven't been able to say that for a while. But there is a lot to accomplish before that happens.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 10 years ago

Agree with the above opinions, I think the depth of talent we have now is "potentially" something we haven't seen in a while or ever, but it is yet to be seen if we have those 1-2 truly special players that carried those teams.

luke · Unread post by **luke** » 10 years ago

What I saw from EC at the end of last season tells me he will be a great player for the next three seasons, assuming he doesn't end up in the NBA before that. Hassan may become a great player too. He showed the potential at the end of the year too. I'm not sure about Hare, and I haven't seen any of the three new recruits at all. If we are going to see greatness, it will have to come from EC, Hassan, Terrell or Garrent. I hope if Hare can maintain his focus on the court game in and game out, maybe he could be very very good. Onyekaba has potential to be at least a good player, Biruta is a good player. I don't think JR will be better than an average player, but if he can gain a little more confidence his shooting could improve. I hope the new players can bring us the same level of talent as last years new class. If they can, it will be special.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

Glorious!

Also, a great close shot of the navy paint job and sound dampening material they placed under the "Balcony/Fence" area under the main video board. That will really cut down on the reverb issues that distorted the sound for many patrons.

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 10 years ago

It doesn't matter if you're playing in Madison Square Garden or Curry Hicks Cage, it doesn't matter what your game presentation is or what kind of music or bands or giveaways or anything, if you want to put @sses in seats and get them excited the formula is the same as it ever was: win. That and get the home games off Cox.

neil · Unread post by **neil** » 10 years ago

Part of the reason for the three ncaa teams was chemistry. We have a great deal of talent coming in this year as well as returnees. Many of the players want minutes. As mentioned, minutes were not an issue with the Penders squad. I'm confident that Dan will get that chemistry - and as Red mentioned, winning will also help

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:It doesn't matter if you're playing in Madison Square Garden or Curry Hicks Cage, it doesn't matter what your game presentation is or what kind of music or bands or giveaways or anything, if you want to put @sses in seats and get them excited the formula is the same as it ever was: win. That and get the home games off Cox.

Red, even if fans in the seats will only improve based on winning, with which I largely agree, to win you need talent.

Having a top quality arena is what gets top recruits excited.

From what I heard and read, when he came for his Spring 2014 visit (after being released from OKST) Terrell wanted to see the improvements to the Ryan Center that were implemented last season (LED lighting and video board on scorer's table as well as the floor).

You want the wins, you need talent. Kids with talent have lots of options and they like things like flashy arenas, training areas (SADC), and dorms in addition to loving the coaches and players.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 10 years ago

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:That and get the home games off Cox.

Even more specific, I wondered why schools didn't block those stations on game days, 1 hour before, 1 hour after. Don't give people the various excuses. Guess it's questionable ethics, PC was accused of this last year when FS1 went out for a game. The school apologized immediately and said it was an unintentional outage. Too bad, they had full fan support of the action.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

I've said for year, that they're giving away the product.
I was told that it gave the program "exposure".
That you do with away games.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:I've said for year, that they're giving away the product.
I was told that it gave the program "exposure".
That you do with away games.

This isn't the NFL and we shouldn't be blacking out local networks when the Ryan Center isn't full. URI does need all the exposure it can get both in-state and nationally as the program rises back to prominence. Getting the games on TV locally is important to build that awareness of the good things happening on the court -- of course winning is necessary.

But I simply cannot agree with the sentiment that providing home games on local TV is hurting attendance overall. Assuming the team is doing well and winning games, that news reaches the public first via local news and media. Those fans may have their interest piqued and then decide to catch the next game on TV (unlikely that they'd go straight from ignoring the team to buying tickets).

Our best season ever for URI basketball home attendance was 2007-08. We didn't have all of our home games televised, but here were the attendance figures for the home games that WERE televised. I think it will show that when the team is good, fans will show at the Ryan Center even if the game is available locally on TV.

2007-08 URI Men's Basketball Regular Season TV Schedule
4300 Nov. 28 Northeastern 7 p.m. Cox
7657 Dec. 4 Providence 7 p.m. Cox
5512 Jan. 13 Duquesne 2 p.m. Cox
7008 Jan. 23 George Washington 7 p.m. Cox
5835 Jan. 30 Richmond 7 p.m. Cox
7657 Feb. 2 Dayton 2 p.m. Cox
7657 Feb. 18 Xavier 7 p.m. Cox/CSTVR
7657 Feb. 21 Massachusetts 7 p.m. ESPN
6834 Feb. 24 Saint Joseph's 4 p.m. Cox/CSTVR

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 10 years ago

that PC number was higher, that was when the students (myself included) rushed the doors and they just let everyone in. I never received a ticket for the game

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

It is a backwards way of thinking to want to get URI basketball off of TV.

ElmCityRhody · Unread post by **ElmCityRhody** » 10 years ago

But what about press row seats in the lower bowl.. Pretty atrocious.. No ?!?

That's all I got.. Can the season start already ?!???

Lets gooooooooooooo

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Why is it "backwards thinking"?
People in winter can sit on their butts watching it.
Why should the average "fan' go out, travel to Kingston,
buy tickets, pay high concession prices, buck traffic for an hour, when he can sit home?
Human nature at work, duh!
This isn't the Pats or Sox with sold out seasons.

3wisemen · Unread post by **3wisemen** » 10 years ago

No. No, no, no, no, no. URI doesn't want to follow this example.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/sport ... .html?_r=0

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

A very large percentage of this area are PC fans. Getting us local exposure by putting us on TV isn't going to change that. The students need to fill the building. That's the only way we will ever consistently sell out the RC.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Great! Now we're the Chicago Blackhawks!
Any more dissimilar examples? Blackhawks had a couple of down attendence years but have filled the place since.
Why BECAUSE THEY'RE A WINNING TEAM!
Funny, they lead the league in attendence
when they had Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita in the 60's and a Stanley Cup winner and
perrenial contender.
When they stunk, fans shied away. Simple.
You gain generations of college basketball fans by WINNING
consistently.
PC did that with very few TV games and it passed from generation to generation,
with most of those having zero direct connection with the school.
Of course a healthy student body interest would go a long way towards helping.
Another problem is the large percentage of out of State studentsat URI lately.
Until winning becomes the norm, you're giving away a product that few want to watch
or care for.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 10 years ago

Definitely do not take us off TV. Assuming we start winning, if a fan decides he would rather sit on his couch than go to a live game than he likely wasn't going to show up anyhow. Are there exceptions to that, yes of course, but a small number. More likely Joe Average fan enjoys us on TV a few times in exciting games, sees a great atmosphere, and decides he wants to attend a game. TV is a marketing tool for us and we know our tool box is not very big to begin with. No way it should be scaled back. I feel its pretty undeniable that EC and Hassan are gonna put butts in the seats in the year(s) to come. Students and a winner will pack the place very soon.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:You gain generations of college basketball fans by WINNING
consistently.
PC did that with very few TV games and it passed from generation to generation,
with most of those having zero direct connection with the school.

So we agree that winning is the #1 driver for sustained strong attendance anywhere.

Why, then, is anyone worried about whether or not the games are on TV locally? Does blacking out TV in RI help the team win?

There is, however, a lot to having a local TV partner televise all your games for FREE including online media and employing experts like Chris DiSano to create A10/URI content we all enjoy. You are saying this is all a waste?

We are trying now to behave like a big time winning program even if the wins haven't come yet. The best A10 programs have all their games on TV. URI is one of the few programs that can say that. Between better A10 national TV deal and URI's expected improvement, we should see more and more national TV coverage -- including home games.

So much has been done to invest in game presentation for both fans in-house AND for fans/non-fans on TV. The floor, lighting, scorers table, video boards and ribbon (there are more) not only improve the fan experience in the building, but also deliver the notion via TV that URI Basketball is a major program with a hot coach and young stars and great facilities.

Tell me the recruits don't latch onto that and eventually improve our chances of... WINNING.

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 10 years ago

I think a TV blackout would do two things - prevent casual fans from watching, and upset hardcore fans who can't make a game but who can watch on TV for whatever reason. It's also probably not a coincidence that only the very worst NFL franchises (Jacksonville) ever really use the blackout, and contrast that with MLB. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Braves and Cubs were abnormally popular at times despite relatively poor teams because they both had regular semi-national TV games, thanks to TBS and WGN. It's also certainly helped Notre Dame football.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

So, how has national TV helped ND and the Cubs on the field?
ND hasn't been relevant since Lou Holtz left, really.
The best TV contract in college football has not translated to much on the field.
The Cubs? Please.
ND, much as I love their football program, and have for life, are going on past
history,
The Cubs are lovable losers operating out of a museum of a stadium, which is as big an attraction as
the team they put on the field.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 10 years ago

they were in the national championship game 2 years ago