Letter from MetaEzra

MetaEzra

An Open Letter to the Lynah Faithful

Hockey games start at 7PM in the evening. Not at 7:10. Not 7:20. Section A should not be 75 percent empty when the puck drops, let alone when the starters are introduced or the Canadian national anthem is played.

I know I am sounding like a crotchety old alum, but part of the Lynah experience is being in the barn before the hockey game starts. If we're not going to win on the ice, at least we can win in the stands.

That said, I was pleased that most of you seemed to know the lyrics to My Old Cornell. The Yale fans that I was sitting with were impressed.
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I noticed this myself, pointing out the fact that the townie side was full, while the student side was yet to be filled as the puck dropped. No big deal, what they may lack in punctuality they more than make up for it during the game.

statenaurora
MetaEzra

An Open Letter to the Lynah Faithful

Hockey games start at 7PM in the evening. Not at 7:10. Not 7:20. Section A should not be 75 percent empty when the puck drops, let alone when the starters are introduced or the Canadian national anthem is played.

I know I am sounding like a crotchety old alum, but part of the Lynah experience is being in the barn before the hockey game starts. If we're not going to win on the ice, at least we can win in the stands.

That said, I was pleased that most of you seemed to know the lyrics to My Old Cornell. The Yale fans that I was sitting with were impressed.
----------------------------------

I noticed this myself, pointing out the fact that the townie side was full, while the student side was yet to be filled as the puck dropped. No big deal, what they may lack in punctuality they more than make up for it during the game.

I disagree, 10 min sooner with newspapers, etc. definitely adds to the Lynah experience. It's part of what makes going to games fun.

Hi everyone; longtime reader but first post here. I couldn't agree more with the Open Letter. I've been watching CU hockey at Lynah for a long time, and it makes me sad to look at a mostly empty section A when the team hits the ice.

Maybe section N should strike a deal with section A: We'll work on singing My Old Cornell with gusto if you'll arrive a bit earlier....

Time to go make a couple of hundred copies of my favorite CU fight song.

Yeah, there's a lot which can be said about this. I don't think Sec. A tickets even sold out this year, and a lot of the people who have seats there tend to move into B. Hardly any students show up to watch a substantial part of warmups. Attendance always dips a little during pledging/mixer season, and the relative mediocrity of this year's team compared to those of 4-7 years ago also plays a role. It wasn't a case this weekend, but the success of the basketball team has meant that traffic is horrendous before the game, so some people are probably delayed that way. And I'm sure there are some sports fans who have been choosing basketball games over hockey (although again, not a case this weekend).

Lynah Rink, and Cornell hockey fandom, just isn't what it was earlier in the decade.

ebilmes
Yeah, there's a lot which can be said about this. I don't think Sec. A tickets even sold out this year, and a lot of the people who have seats there tend to move into B. Hardly any students show up to watch a substantial part of warmups. Attendance always dips a little during pledging/mixer season, and the relative mediocrity of this year's team compared to those of 4-7 years ago also plays a role. It wasn't a case this weekend, but the success of the basketball team has meant that traffic is horrendous before the game, so some people are probably delayed that way. And I'm sure there are some sports fans who have been choosing basketball games over hockey (although again, not a case this weekend).

Lynah Rink, and Cornell hockey fandom, just isn't what it was earlier in the decade.

Holy crap! A mediocre team? We're tied for first in the league. We're top 10 in polls and bouncing between 8 and 15 in PWR depending on the night. I know you said "relative" but calling this team "mediocre" is just wrong.

If current Cornell students need an undefeated, #1 in the nation team in order to show up and cheer then Lynah has really lost it.

I hate to be one of those 'back in my day' people, but I finally made a trip back to Ithaca this weekend and took in the games from the "Townie" section for the first time in 4 years. Although I was back for a game two years ago as well, here is what stood out to me since I left in 2006:

-Sections F and part of G were student sections. I remember seeing arguments in section G when people in the top of the section would ask students to sit down - which is fair. This year, all of G and E were sitting.
-Section D and E didn't fill in on Friday. Section A was half empty on Friday until middle of the 1st. I remember them being packed from the anthems on most nights - most, not all.
-The townies can get really excited when they want to! A lot of energy in those sections but most of it is saved for the last few minutes.
-More merchandise hawking – got to make money somehow.
-Continuing apathy towards the awkwardly skating bear mascot. He should take a cue from the penalty box guy and bring candy – awesome move with the candy bar on Friday, btw.
-Pep band rocked it - really missed them at a couple of the away games.
-We pay attention to hockey much better than fans in Quinnipiac. Plenty of flying pucks and I didn't see anyone get carried out. We have very attentive and knowledgeable fans.

These aren't meant to be good or bad, just my observations that probably fluctuate game-to-game, crowd-to-crowd.

Not sure how to make people understand, but fan support at Lynah is the team's No. 1 recruiting tool. Without not just good support, but superior support/enthusiasm, the product on the ice will directly suffer. There's no way to separate the two, because it's simply a fact that this is what makes Cornell stand out to recruits much moreso than any other factor -- at least relative to its direct recruiting competition.

i.e. this is not just a 'fun factor'/aesthetics issue.

sockralex
I hate to be one of those 'back in my day' people, but I finally made a trip back to Ithaca this weekend and took in the games from the "Townie" section for the first time in 4 years. Although I was back for a game two years ago as well, here is what stood out to me since I left in 2006:

-Sections F and part of G were student sections. I remember seeing arguments in section G when people in the top of the section would ask students to sit down - which is fair. This year, all of G and E were sitting.
-Section D and E didn't fill in on Friday. Section A was half empty on Friday until middle of the 1st. I remember them being packed from the anthems on most nights - most, not all.
-The townies can get really excited when they want to! A lot of energy in those sections but most of it is saved for the last few minutes.
-More merchandise hawking – got to make money somehow.
-Continuing apathy towards the awkwardly skating bear mascot. He should take a cue from the penalty box guy and bring candy – awesome move with the candy bar on Friday, btw.
-Pep band rocked it - really missed them at a couple of the away games.
-We pay attention to hockey much better than fans in Quinnipiac. Plenty of flying pucks and I didn't see anyone get carried out. We have very attentive and knowledgeable fans.

These aren't meant to be good or bad, just my observations that probably fluctuate game-to-game, crowd-to-crowd.

As some know I used to give candy to the Bear to throw. However when I realized we again had a Bear, I offered to give him a bag of Snickers. Unfortunately he said he could not close his paw, thus not being able to hold the mini-Snickers and I'm not going to supply him with fistfuls of reg bars.

KeithK

ebilmes
Yeah, there's a lot which can be said about this. I don't think Sec. A tickets even sold out this year, and a lot of the people who have seats there tend to move into B. Hardly any students show up to watch a substantial part of warmups. Attendance always dips a little during pledging/mixer season, and the relative mediocrity of this year's team compared to those of 4-7 years ago also plays a role. It wasn't a case this weekend, but the success of the basketball team has meant that traffic is horrendous before the game, so some people are probably delayed that way. And I'm sure there are some sports fans who have been choosing basketball games over hockey (although again, not a case this weekend).

Lynah Rink, and Cornell hockey fandom, just isn't what it was earlier in the decade.

Holy crap! A mediocre team? We're tied for first in the league. We're top 10 in polls and bouncing between 8 and 15 in PWR depending on the night. I know you said "relative" but calling this team "mediocre" is just wrong.

If current Cornell students need an undefeated, #1 in the nation team in order to show up and cheer then Lynah has really lost it.

To be fair to Elie, he wrote 'relative' mediocrity. Not absolute. And it's a fair criticism of my original post. I was comparing Saturday night's experience to my own experience as a student from 2001 through 2005.

It was my first game at Lynah since I graduated, and hence my first game since the rink was renovated. I also happened to have seats on the catwalk, which could have also colored my impression of the crowd.

There are a bunch of other compounding factors at play, including, but not limited to: 1) the change in line policy, 2) ticket prices, 3) the success of the basketball team, 4) the renovation of Lynah, 5) changing undergraduate demographics, and, 6) my own memory and the tricks of nostalgia. So while I would like to plainly argue that student fandom was simply better in my day, there are definitely other variables at work.

mnagowski
5) changing undergraduate demographics

I'm interested in this effect, if it is indeed real. Are you asserting that there are less white students (in absolute numbers) now than there was some years ago and those minority factions are not as interested in school sports [note, I'm not accusing you of anything, I think it's a legitimate question]? I think the more important type of demographic shift here would be in student subculture membership. Bluntly speaking, are there more freshmen nerds (academic subculture), jocks/party animals (collegiate subculture), workaholics/career-oriented (vocational subculture), or rebels than there were some years ago? In reality, students can belong to several groups, but I would guess that it's the party animal-types that are on the decline.

imafrshmn

mnagowski
5) changing undergraduate demographics

I'm interested in this effect, if it is indeed real. Are you asserting that there are less white students (in absolute numbers) now than there was some years ago and those minority factions are not as interested in school sports [note, I'm not accusing you of anything, I think it's a legitimate question]? I think the more important type of demographic shift here would be in student subculture membership. Bluntly speaking, are there more freshmen nerds (academic subculture), jocks/party animals (collegiate subculture), workaholics/career-oriented (vocational subculture), or rebels than there were some years ago? In reality, students can belong to several groups, but I would guess that it's the party animal-types that are on the decline.

I'll let the poster speak for himself, but to me it read like a very general statement about the effect that time has on students and what's important to different generations of incoming classes. I didn't read "demographics" as race or cultural related - simply that the typical student's interest may have changed - apparently away from hockey in this case.

sockralex

imafrshmn

mnagowski
5) changing undergraduate demographics

I'm interested in this effect, if it is indeed real. Are you asserting that there are less white students (in absolute numbers) now than there was some years ago and those minority factions are not as interested in school sports [note, I'm not accusing you of anything, I think it's a legitimate question]? I think the more important type of demographic shift here would be in student subculture membership. Bluntly speaking, are there more freshmen nerds (academic subculture), jocks/party animals (collegiate subculture), workaholics/career-oriented (vocational subculture), or rebels than there were some years ago? In reality, students can belong to several groups, but I would guess that it's the party animal-types that are on the decline.

I'll let the poster speak for himself, but to me it read like a very general statement about the effect that time has on students and what's important to different generations of incoming classes. I didn't read "demographics" as race or cultural related - simply that the typical student's interest may have changed - apparently away from hockey in this case.

That is, kids these days are too busy texting naked pictures of themselves to each other to be interested in hockey.

sockralex

imafrshmn

mnagowski
5) changing undergraduate demographics

I'm interested in this effect, if it is indeed real. Are you asserting that there are less white students (in absolute numbers) now than there was some years ago and those minority factions are not as interested in school sports [note, I'm not accusing you of anything, I think it's a legitimate question]? I think the more important type of demographic shift here would be in student subculture membership. Bluntly speaking, are there more freshmen nerds (academic subculture), jocks/party animals (collegiate subculture), workaholics/career-oriented (vocational subculture), or rebels than there were some years ago? In reality, students can belong to several groups, but I would guess that it's the party animal-types that are on the decline.

I'll let the poster speak for himself, but to me it read like a very general statement about the effect that time has on students and what's important to different generations of incoming classes. I didn't read "demographics" as race or cultural related - simply that the typical student's interest may have changed - apparently away from hockey in this case.

All of the above. It was really just a blanket statement to cover all possible student "tastes and preferences" and their demographic correlations.

To provide just one example -- the number of undergraduate students on campus from New York State has fallen by roughly 2,000 since 1990. And New York State probably has more hockey followers, on average, than students from the South or California.

[dpb.cornell.edu]

So then you end up with a situation like Elie and I were talking about on Saturday, where a surprising number of students at the games don't know what an offsides or an icing call looks like.

The goal, I would think, would be to make certain the Lynah Faithful can welcome and accommodate these newbies to our sport.

I would consider the number of entertainment outlets competing for a student's attention as a main contributor to a perceived fall in support and no the quality of the team, which is quite high. Syracuse tries to fill in the empty seats by offering an incentive to their students.

The Athletic's student point system offers points for various athletic events attended by students throughout the year. Students would swipe their ID card and points will automatically be added to their account. At the end of each semester, the top 100 people will have a chance to win many great prizes.

The breakdown of points are as follows for the 2010 Spring Semester:

Men's Basketball - 5 points
Women's Basketball - 10 points
Men's Lacrosse - 10 points
Women's Lacrosse - 10 points
*Women's Ice Hockey - 20 points
*Softball - 20 points
*Tennis - 20 points

I think this is a waste of time and effort for a non-issue. I'd rather see a small section of "real fans" in attendance anyways than some interlopers looking for a prize. I'd hate see an artificial student section at Cornell.

General Admission.

Talking with a friend who went to Michigan for undergrad and is still a huge Michigan hockey fan, yet one who is now a member of the Lynah Faithful as a graduate student, his descriptions of the crowds at Yost remind me of what Lynah was like when I was a student between '95 and '98. Loud, raucous, and full of raw energy. Everyone making noise all the time. Extremely rare moments of silence. No one afraid of overbearing ushers or dictatorial rink management. Is it possible to get those things back?

Kyle Rose
No one afraid of overbearing ushers or dictatorial rink management.

Is this case now at Lynah?

statenaurora

Kyle Rose
No one afraid of overbearing ushers or dictatorial rink management.

Is this case now at Lynah?

Is the sun warm?

Hey you all:

1. A lot of us in Section N know ALL THE WORDS to all the songs!!! Even the former Yalie undergrad who sits in front of me!! He was wearing his Cornell colors last Saturday - way to go!!! You know who you are!
2. Message to all the undergrads - SHOW UP AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR NEXT TWO HOME GAMES!! Ken Dryden's and Joe Nieuwendyk's Cornell numbers will be retired right after the National Anthems. I don't care if you are for or against. This is a likely a once in a lifetime opportunity with two extraordinary Cornell athletes being honored. The next night, the NCAA Championship 29-0 team from 1970 will be honored. It looks like all but two of the players on that team will be in town. It's the 40th anniversary of the ONLY team in NCAA hockey EVER to go undefeated.

All of this is reason enough to show up ON TIME!!!

Larry '72

sockralex
I hate to be one of those 'back in my day' people, but I finally made a trip back to Ithaca this weekend and took in the games from the "Townie" section for the first time in 4 years. Although I was back for a game two years ago as well, here is what stood out to me since I left in 2006:

-Sections F and part of G were student sections. I remember seeing arguments in section G when people in the top of the section would ask students to sit down - which is fair. This year, all of G and E were sitting.
-Section D and E didn't fill in on Friday. Section A was half empty on Friday until middle of the 1st. I remember them being packed from the anthems on most nights - most, not all.
-The townies can get really excited when they want to! A lot of energy in those sections but most of it is saved for the last few minutes.
-More merchandise hawking – got to make money somehow.
-Continuing apathy towards the awkwardly skating bear mascot. He should take a cue from the penalty box guy and bring candy – awesome move with the candy bar on Friday, btw.
-Pep band rocked it - really missed them at a couple of the away games.
-We pay attention to hockey much better than fans in Quinnipiac. Plenty of flying pucks and I didn't see anyone get carried out. We have very attentive and knowledgeable fans.

These aren't meant to be good or bad, just my observations that probably fluctuate game-to-game, crowd-to-crowd.

At least the bear si back!! Hoping for a performance on Senior night.

People are not dedicated to sports as they were decades ago. I asked fellow season ticket holders if they were interested in away games, and more than 9 out of 10 said no. I am not sure why - my guess is that it's a generational thing where people are more focused on personal achievements rather than extracurriculars that generate no substantive return. Many people are too focused on the material side of life that they stop doing things that make life fun.

Although this is the current state of affairs for Lynah fandom, I'm glad that many alums are still involved and it's a great incentive for me to go to away games. The weekend before as Princeton was fantastic! "It's all your fault" rang through Baker rink as if home fans were the visitors. I'm certain that turnout at Harvard this Friday will be equally encouraging. Rest assured, the Lynah tradition will not die as long as I'm in Ithaca. I'm sure there are creative approaches to induct incoming freshmen to the Lynah family and hopefully this is only a minor dim for the faithful.

LET'S GO RED!

ajh258
People are not dedicated to sports as they were decades ago. I asked fellow season ticket holders if they were interested in away games, and more than 9 out of 10 said no. I am not sure why - my guess is that it's a generational thing where people are more focused on personal achievements rather than extracurriculars that generate no substantive return. Many people are too focused on the material side of life that they stop doing things that make life fun.

Although this is the current state of affairs for Lynah fandom, I'm glad that many alums are still involved and it's a great incentive for me to go to away games. The weekend before as Princeton was fantastic! "It's all your fault" rang through Baker rink as if home fans were the visitors. I'm certain that turnout at Harvard this Friday will be equally encouraging. Rest assured, the Lynah tradition will not die as long as I'm in Ithaca. I'm sure there are creative approaches to induct incoming freshmen to the Lynah family and hopefully this is only a minor dim for the faithful.

LET'S GO RED!

I know what you mean, but things that make life fun are substantive return.

On the topic of a changing atmosphere at Lynah, I know that when I was there I saw a shift in usher enforcement. This was mostly in the 2006-2007 season. Me and my friends got told to tone it down a couple times in section D for yelling at the goalie. No swearing, just particularly ridiculous (think screaming at the top of your lungs repeatedly) shouting at the opposing sieve. Maybe we just had a bad usher. Is this still a problem at all?

I don't particularly mind the no swearing rule. If we can't get in someone's head without the f-bomb, we don't deserve to. But I was bothered by this trend.

Jim Hyla

ajh258
People are not dedicated to sports as they were decades ago. I asked fellow season ticket holders if they were interested in away games, and more than 9 out of 10 said no. I am not sure why - my guess is that it's a generational thing where people are more focused on personal achievements rather than extracurriculars that generate no substantive return. Many people are too focused on the material side of life that they stop doing things that make life fun.

Although this is the current state of affairs for Lynah fandom, I'm glad that many alums are still involved and it's a great incentive for me to go to away games. The weekend before as Princeton was fantastic! "It's all your fault" rang through Baker rink as if home fans were the visitors. I'm certain that turnout at Harvard this Friday will be equally encouraging. Rest assured, the Lynah tradition will not die as long as I'm in Ithaca. I'm sure there are creative approaches to induct incoming freshmen to the Lynah family and hopefully this is only a minor dim for the faithful.

LET'S GO RED!

I know what you mean, but things that make life fun are substantive return.

Absolutely. Unfortunately, some folks take longer than others to learn this lesson.

Dafatone
On the topic of a changing atmosphere at Lynah, I know that when I was there I saw a shift in usher enforcement. This was mostly in the 2006-2007 season. Me and my friends got told to tone it down a couple times in section D for yelling at the goalie. No swearing, just particularly ridiculous (think screaming at the top of your lungs repeatedly) shouting at the opposing sieve. Maybe we just had a bad usher. Is this still a problem at all?

I don't particularly mind the no swearing rule. If we can't get in someone's head without the f-bomb, we don't deserve to. But I was bothered by this trend.

I think you just got a bad usher, section E is becoming more and more "townie-like" although that area is meant for students. Due to this change, it gives ushers more sway when they decide that you are a bit too loud for that D/E area. There's still some pretty obnoxious facetimers down in section A this year so I wouldn't say that ushers are changing the atmosphere. In fact, they are some of the most dedicated fans I know, especially the lady who checks my ticket at the A/B door.

I would agree that the '06-07 season was the beginning of the crackdown. For my first Sucks game, freshman year, during the '05-'06 season, I and several others made shirts that said, HARVARD SUCKS on the front and LET'S GO RED on the back. My rink guard for section B gave me a big thumbs up for the shirt that year. The next year, I wore the same shirt and in Section A was told to turn it inside out or risk losing my season tickets. My group had made a point of not using any profanity on the shirts so as not to be overly offensive, yet we were given a stern warning for the second year of wearing the same exact shirt. I was even able to wear the shirt on ice to do the tricycle race between periods in Albany in '06, the Times Union Center people didn't seem to think it was too offensive.

One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

phillysportsfan
One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

That could also result from incoming freshmen's attitudes towards sports being more influenced by the national milieu where basketball is king rather the Cornell one, where it's hockey.

phillysportsfan
One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

That's definitely part of the equation. People want to some with me sometimes but they have a hard time finding tickets - then they'll just go to the basketball game which is next door and free. However, I think it's the high ticket prices that ensure people in the student sections are the most dedicated fans. Maybe the ticket office can start selling some standing room only tickets to students for not so popular games at face value. I know some freshmen who have season tickets but simply stopped coming.

ajh258
it's the high ticket prices that ensure people in the student sections are the most dedicated fans ... I know some freshmen who have season tickets but simply stopped coming.

This seems like a contradiction?

Fans come late / aren't involved / don't know the cheers / are sorority facetimers is an annual thread. Does anybody think it's become qualitatively worse, or is this the same lament? (At the few Lynah games I've been able to make the last few years, the crowd has actually seemed better than at any time since at least the mid-80's)

Trotsky
(At the few Lynah games I've been able to make the last few years, the crowd has actually seemed better than at any time since at least the mid-80's)

I completely disagree. When I was a student (first in D, then in A, then in B), we made a lot more noise a lot more often than these kids ("Get off my lawn!!" ) do today.

Why back in my day we had to walk 5 miles up hill to and from a game and we counted ourselves lucky if the team didn't drown in Beebe Lake. (Well to tell the truth we kind of hoped for it when we played Sucks)

If students have more choices that is a good thing. During my stay on the hill the Basketball team was a joke. With the cost of a CU education crossing the $200k line I suspect that a lot of them are spending more time in Uris and Mann trying to get good grades so they can get a job and pay off the student loans. I for one have been impressed with the students I have met recently.

Arriving late/student participation is one thing, but the center of section D has never filled in except for perhaps Harvard this year. There's a big, gaping hole during every game. Student season tickets didn't sell out, but I wouldn't have expected the unsold tickets to be in D, so I'm guessing it's more of an issue of people just not showing up.

CowbellGuy
Student season tickets didn't sell out

If student tickets did not sell out, do they sell them as part of the release on Thursday morning?

CowbellGuy
Arriving late/student participation is one thing, but the center of section D has never filled in except for perhaps Harvard this year. There's a big, gaping hole during every game. Student season tickets didn't sell out, but I wouldn't have expected the unsold tickets to be in D, so I'm guessing it's more of an issue of people just not showing up.

I dont understand how you can get season tickets and not go to the games as expensive as they are.

jtwcornell91

phillysportsfan
One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

That could also result from incoming freshmen's attitudes towards sports being more influenced by the national milieu where basketball is king rather the Cornell one, where it's hockey.

That's no different now than it was ten years ago, though, is it?

Josh '99

jtwcornell91

phillysportsfan
One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

That could also result from incoming freshmen's attitudes towards sports being more influenced by the national milieu where basketball is king rather the Cornell one, where it's hockey.

That's no different now than it was ten years ago, though, is it?

Ten years ago basketball sucked. Even if you come to Cornell caring about basktball rather than hockey, a dead arena and a lot of losing sucks the fun out of it.

Trotsky

ajh258
it's the high ticket prices that ensure people in the student sections are the most dedicated fans ... I know some freshmen who have season tickets but simply stopped coming.

This seems like a contradiction?

Fans come late / aren't involved / don't know the cheers / are sorority facetimers is an annual thread. Does anybody think it's become qualitatively worse, or is this the same lament? (At the few Lynah games I've been able to make the last few years, the crowd has actually seemed better than at any time since at least the mid-80's)

I didn't notice that when I typed it, but ya, I guess I'm wrong about the high ticket prices. Maybe Mitch was right in last year's article where he argued that Athletics should lower ticket prices and make tickets general admission so it's first come first serve. Ticket prices should react to fans' supple & demand and demand is definitely lower at this point. Someone start calling Andy Noel, I know I will tomorrow.

ugarte
Ten years ago basketball sucked. Even if you come to Cornell caring about basktball rather than hockey, a dead arena and a lot of losing sucks the fun out of it.

I think Homecoming should be made the weekend of the first home men's hockey series.

Kyle Rose

ugarte
Ten years ago basketball sucked. Even if you come to Cornell caring about basktball rather than hockey, a dead arena and a lot of losing sucks the fun out of it.

I think Homecoming should be made the weekend of the first home men's hockey series.

Or just invent a new weekend, "winter homecoming".

mnagowski

Kyle Rose

ugarte
Ten years ago basketball sucked. Even if you come to Cornell caring about basktball rather than hockey, a dead arena and a lot of losing sucks the fun out of it.

I think Homecoming should be made the weekend of the first home men's hockey series.

Or just invent a new weekend, "winter homecoming".

Can the team skate out of a giant inflatable bear head too?

Chris '03
Can the team skate out of a giant inflatable bear head too?

HAHA. Kill me now. If we resort to that or thunderstix then I will cry myself to sleep after every game.

sockralex

Chris '03
Can the team skate out of a giant inflatable bear head too?

HAHA. Kill me now. If we resort to that or thunderstix then I will cry myself to sleep after every game.

Oh god... thunderstix... winter homecoming... questionable use of mascot... sounds like Quinnipiac to me. All we need is to spend $30 mil on a new stadium with crazy lights and annoying PAs - then we'll really fit in!

ajh258

sockralex

Chris '03
Can the team skate out of a giant inflatable bear head too?

HAHA. Kill me now. If we resort to that or thunderstix then I will cry myself to sleep after every game.

Oh god... thunderstix... winter homecoming... questionable use of mascot... sounds like Quinnipiac to me. All we need is to spend $30 mil on a new stadium with crazy lights and annoying PAs - then we'll really fit in!

Don't forget the video of a giant brown bear rampaging through Cambridge.

(I know, different school. But still.)

ugarte

Josh '99

jtwcornell91

phillysportsfan
One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

That could also result from incoming freshmen's attitudes towards sports being more influenced by the national milieu where basketball is king rather the Cornell one, where it's hockey.

That's no different now than it was ten years ago, though, is it?

Ten years ago basketball sucked. Even if you come to Cornell caring about basktball rather than hockey, a dead arena and a lot of losing sucks the fun out of it.

Granted, but that wasn't JTW's point.

Josh '99

ugarte

Josh '99

jtwcornell91

phillysportsfan
One thing I am curious about with attendance is if freshman season ticket holder numbers are down this year because the basketball team is less likely to sway upperclassmen who have had tickets before. But for freshman, basketball makes a great case considering it is free, general admission, they are good, and the ushers dont bother us at all except for Matt Coats occasionally throwing someone out for cursing

That could also result from incoming freshmen's attitudes towards sports being more influenced by the national milieu where basketball is king rather the Cornell one, where it's hockey.

That's no different now than it was ten years ago, though, is it?

Ten years ago basketball sucked. Even if you come to Cornell caring about basktball rather than hockey, a dead arena and a lot of losing sucks the fun out of it.

Granted, but that wasn't JTW's point.

We disagree. I think that was the context of JTW's point.

statenaurora

CowbellGuy
Student season tickets didn't sell out

If student tickets did not sell out, do they sell them as part of the release on Thursday morning?

Inquiring minds (who need tickets to the RPI game) want to know!

ajh258

Trotsky

ajh258
it's the high ticket prices that ensure people in the student sections are the most dedicated fans ... I know some freshmen who have season tickets but simply stopped coming.

This seems like a contradiction?

Fans come late / aren't involved / don't know the cheers / are sorority facetimers is an annual thread. Does anybody think it's become qualitatively worse, or is this the same lament? (At the few Lynah games I've been able to make the last few years, the crowd has actually seemed better than at any time since at least the mid-80's)

I didn't notice that when I typed it, but ya, I guess I'm wrong about the high ticket prices. Maybe Mitch was right in last year's article where he argued that Athletics should lower ticket prices and make tickets general admission so it's first come first serve. Ticket prices should react to fans' supple & demand and demand is definitely lower at this point. Someone start calling Andy Noel, I know I will tomorrow.

They definitely need to go general admission. General admission makes the basketball student section a good one because all the cheers start in the first 4 or 5 rows. If all these devoted fans were not near each other it would probably be much harder to get any chants going

Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

ebilmes

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

Well... heh. Then you would have been pissed when we did it at the end of the second. But hopefully you can excuse a couple of washed-up alums. We also did the 'Saturday night... you can't score' taunt, but not until the handshakes.

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

Well... heh. Then you would have been pissed when we did it at the end of the second. But hopefully you can excuse a couple of washed-up alums. We also did the 'Saturday night... you can't score' taunt, but not until the handshakes.

No hard feelings. But doesn't it seem a little silly to do Black Hole when Richter had stopped 23 of 24 shots?

ebilmes

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

Well... heh. Then you would have been pissed when we did it at the end of the second. But hopefully you can excuse a couple of washed-up alums. We also did the 'Saturday night... you can't score' taunt, but not until the handshakes.

No hard feelings. But doesn't it seem a little silly to do Black Hole when Richter had stopped 23 of 24 shots?

No. He's still a worthless sieve.

One cheer that did bother me was "season's over" as Harvard was skating off. I just don't think you need to rub it in then. They know their season is over, let it be. You show your strength when you can be a gracious winner.

ebilmes

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

Well... heh. Then you would have been pissed when we did it at the end of the second. But hopefully you can excuse a couple of washed-up alums. We also did the 'Saturday night... you can't score' taunt, but not until the handshakes.

No hard feelings. But doesn't it seem a little silly to do Black Hole when Richter had stopped 23 of 24 shots?

Not when he let in 5 shots the night before.

One cheer that did bother me was "season's over" as Harvard was skating off. I just don't think you need to rub it in then. They know their season is over, let it be. You show your strength when you can be a gracious winner.

I see this in a little bit different light. I'm the type of person who really dislikes any swearing, but this is the type of "all in good fun" cheer that will give the Harvard players nightmares the next time they come to Ithaca. It's not being mean, per se, just helping to point out the obvious. It is what makes the Lynah atmosphere intimidating.

And it certainly pales in comparison to the 'go jump off a bridge' chant I have heard from Harvard students at Lynah East. We can still be a gracious winner by not engaging in personal insults or trying to jump the other team's fans (a la RIT did in 2007).

Jim Hyla
One cheer that did bother me was "season's over" as Harvard was skating off. I just don't think you need to rub it in then. They know their season is over, let it be. You show your strength when you can be a gracious winner.

I disagree: they're still fair game as long as they're in our barn, and fan ruthlessness is part of the Lynah mystique. I wouldn't say anything but "good game" to them if I encountered them outside the rink, though.

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

Well... heh. Then you would have been pissed when we did it at the end of the second. But hopefully you can excuse a couple of washed-up alums. We also did the 'Saturday night... you can't score' taunt, but not until the handshakes.

No hard feelings. But doesn't it seem a little silly to do Black Hole when Richter had stopped 23 of 24 shots?

Not when he let in 5 shots the night before.

One cheer that did bother me was "season's over" as Harvard was skating off. I just don't think you need to rub it in then. They know their season is over, let it be. You show your strength when you can be a gracious winner.

I see this in a little bit different light. I'm the type of person who really dislikes any swearing, but this is the type of "all in good fun" cheer that will give the Harvard players nightmares the next time they come to Ithaca. It's not being mean, per se, just helping to point out the obvious. It is what makes the Lynah atmosphere intimidating.

And it certainly pales in comparison to the 'go jump off a bridge' chant I have heard from Harvard students at Lynah East. We can still be a gracious winner by not engaging in personal insults or trying to jump the other team's fans (a la RIT did in 2007).

We will probably continue to disagree, but to me "all in good fun" is done to a friend, such as you're working with a Harvard grad and you come back to work smiling and chanting it. To say it to the team that just lost, isn't the same "good fun". As for giving the Harvard team nightmares, two seasons of 9-16-6 & 9-21-3 should do that quite well.

Kyle Rose

Jim Hyla
One cheer that did bother me was "season's over" as Harvard was skating off. I just don't think you need to rub it in then. They know their season is over, let it be. You show your strength when you can be a gracious winner.

I disagree: they're still fair game as long as they're in our barn, and fan ruthlessness is part of the Lynah mystique. I wouldn't say anything but "good game" to them if I encountered them outside the rink, though.

To me, when the game is over, the game is over. Even if they are fighting, once the horn sounds the end of the game, the teams shake hands. We should do the same.

Jim Hyla

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski

ebilmes

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

That cheer comes out almost every game in the A/B area. It pisses me off when people do it when the score is 0-0 or 1-0 or something like that.

Well... heh. Then you would have been pissed when we did it at the end of the second. But hopefully you can excuse a couple of washed-up alums. We also did the 'Saturday night... you can't score' taunt, but not until the handshakes.

No hard feelings. But doesn't it seem a little silly to do Black Hole when Richter had stopped 23 of 24 shots?

Not when he let in 5 shots the night before.

One cheer that did bother me was "season's over" as Harvard was skating off. I just don't think you need to rub it in then. They know their season is over, let it be. You show your strength when you can be a gracious winner.

I see this in a little bit different light. I'm the type of person who really dislikes any swearing, but this is the type of "all in good fun" cheer that will give the Harvard players nightmares the next time they come to Ithaca. It's not being mean, per se, just helping to point out the obvious. It is what makes the Lynah atmosphere intimidating.

And it certainly pales in comparison to the 'go jump off a bridge' chant I have heard from Harvard students at Lynah East. We can still be a gracious winner by not engaging in personal insults or trying to jump the other team's fans (a la RIT did in 2007).

We will probably continue to disagree, but to me "all in good fun" is done to a friend, such as you're working with a Harvard grad and you come back to work smiling and chanting it. To say it to the team that just lost, isn't the same "good fun". As for giving the Harvard team nightmares, two seasons of 9-16-6 & 9-21-3 should do that quite well.

Yeah. We'll just have to disagree. I would think that chanting 'season's over' to a friend at work the next day is a lot more inappropriate than when the team is still on the ice. Once they get off the ice, the tone should go to "good game" and "we won't look forward to playing you next year". I know that's how I converse with my colleagues who attended other ECAC schools.

But when the team is still on the ice, we want to make certain that they know that they are at Lynah.

Jim Hyla
To me, when the game is over, the game is over. Even if they are fighting, once the horn sounds the end of the game, the teams shake hands. We should do the same.

Does this mean we should not cheer "winning team, losing team" after the buzzer?

It's clearly not good if, for example, fans boo an opponent during the award ceremony in Albany. That's classless. But one final cheer just moments after buzzer seems like a continuation of the passion of the game -- the good-natured assholery of Lynah's winking hooliganism. By all means, if you see them after the game go out of your way to shake the opposing player's or fan's hand and wish them well, to underscore that it's all in fun.

There are various issues with chant discipline among the people in section A and B this year because no one really stops the facetimers. The dynamics have changed, even from the beginning of the year when there was a kind of restraint and selection when starting chants.

One that bothered me in particular was the "We want Carroll" chant throughout the game. To be fair, Richter made 29 saves out of 31 shots, Harvard had 4 penalties while we had only 1, and both goals he missed were during our PP. If it wasn't for some outstanding goal-tending by Scrivens, it could easily been a 3-2 game.

In that sense, I do agree with Jim that it's distasteful to rub it in, especially when the opposing team put up a descent fight. In conjunction with the new "this is where we hold them" chant from section A, I can't help but think of hockey fans in Potsdam. I hope this is not the direction that we are headed to next year.

mnagowski
Last night I sat in Section F with a couple of other recent alums. Said the townie in Section G: "I haven't heard the black hole cheer in years."

Dude. You rock. That was me. I'm sort-of a townie - I graduated in 2002 and live in Owego now, and am a former pepband member.

This year was my first year holding season tickets - I was on the waiting list for 3-4 years, long enough that I had forgotten I placed myself on it.

My observations from this season - Section E suffers from SEVERE clock drift. They don't seem to understand that cowbell has a tempo and you're not supposed to clap faster and faster throughout it. They also seem to want to rush their clapping during Gary Glitter too - I have to look at section A to make sure my clapping is on the beat.

It's really tough being an ex-pepbander in Section G and being unable to stand.

As to Black Hole - I know it's being done every game, however, with the exception of the final "YOU JUST SUCK", it's inaudible to anyone in G, as are most of the cheers. I don't know if this is different from history or not, as my only previous perspective was from the back of A...

Crackdowns on language started waaay back in 1999-2000 or so when I was an undergrad. They keep on trying to crack down on suck/sucks, but always fail, at least for the crowd. I'm always nervous about doing it as an individual, since I can't benefit from "Because they can't arrest us all!". In Section G, I'm even nervous about sieve-taunting with things that have no profanity at all, because doing so makes me stand out like a sore thumb in G... (Except for Friday evening when the horde of drunken fratboys got booted for "fucker", "faggot", etc, in addition to sneaking friends in, and the people sitting next to me suspected they also had sneaked beer in. People like them lead to a general crackdown on lesser offenses by the rest of us...)

Andy Dodd
Crackdowns on language started waaay back in 1999-2000 1981-82 or so when I was an undergrad.

FYP

Andy Dodd
My observations from this season - Section E suffers from SEVERE clock drift. They don't seem to understand that cowbell has a tempo and you're not supposed to clap faster and faster throughout it. They also seem to want to rush their clapping during Gary Glitter too - I have to look at section A to make sure my clapping is on the beat.

That's been going on for years. I've had the same problem, watching A, from L. No offense, but I think C is the problem, the clapping has to jump from B to D. Yes, some in C clap, but not as much.

Trotsky

Andy Dodd
Crackdowns on language started waaay back in 1999-2000 1981-82 or so when I was an undergrad.

FYP

Meh. There may have been crackdowns in the early 80's but enforcement was lax in the early 90's.

ajh258
the new "this is where we hold them" chant from section A

Josh '99

ajh258
the new "this is where we hold them" chant from section A

confused.gif

My guess is a 300 reference.

Edit: Or Kenny Rogers?

French Rage

Josh '99

ajh258
the new "this is where we hold them" chant from section A

confused.gif

My guess is a 300 reference.

Edit: Or Kenny Rogers?

If you haven't seen 300, there's the scene. Very faint chant, I doubt you will hear it beyond B but there's like 30 people in A who were doing it.

ugarte

Trotsky

Andy Dodd
Crackdowns on language started waaay back in 1999-2000 1981-82 or so when I was an undergrad.

FYP

Meh. There may have been crackdowns in the early 80's but enforcement was lax in the early 90's.

I've still got a knot on my head from Mrs. Laing Kennedy's umbrella. Don't tell me that was lax.

(And I don't blame her a bit. I totally deserved it. Section C has its standards.)