Season tickets

Season tickets have been on sale for a week, and not a single post...

A lot of season tickets are not being renewed from what I hear.

Cop at Lynah
A lot of season tickets are not being renewed from what I hear.

Based on a quick scan, perhaps 10%-15% of the non student seats are still available. Season tickets are now including tickets for football and lax. I am unsure how this compares with prior years

Last year you could get women's season tickets for a dollar per game when you renewed. This year those tickets were included, as well as the football and lacrosse tickets. Does anyone know when the general public waiting list disappeared?

When they expanded Lynah I presume

Cop at Lynah
When they expanded Lynah I presume

Maybe, but I don't remember the Dept advertising season tickets for the general public in recent years.

Athletics has publically posted the names of every student line number holder for some reason: [cornellbigred.com]

There are a total of 190 returning undergrad and 76 returning grad ticket holders, holding numbers for a total of 355 tickets (less than 10% of Lynah). I have no idea how this compares to the past but it's not inspiring.

Chris '03
Athletics has publically posted the names of every student line number holder for some reason: [cornellbigred.com]

There are a total of 190 returning undergrad and 76 returning grad ticket holders, holding numbers for a total of 355 tickets (less than 10% of Lynah). I have no idea how this compares to the past but it's not inspiring.

Seems insanely low to me. I'd have expected numbers 3 or 4 times that.

Remember that this is the first year that Section D and E are general admission. The site indicates that new student tickets are general admission. So that would seem to mean that those students aren't included in the numbers. Still a pretty sad number, but maybe not as bad as it seems.

LGR14
Remember that this is the first year that Section D and E are general admission. The site indicates that new student tickets are general admission. So that would seem to mean that those students aren't included in the numbers. Still a pretty sad number, but maybe not as bad as it seems.

OK, that's better. Also a good decision on D and E.

They'r getting desperate now by offering a split season ticket package. Going to be awful difficult for the athletic department to handle the loss of revenue . Is this the result of high ticket prices and the atmosphere that has been created over the past few years or have people just lost interest in the program ?

Cop at Lynah
They'r getting desperate now by offering a split season ticket package. Going to be awful difficult for the athletic department to handle the loss of revenue . Is this the result of high ticket prices and the atmosphere that has been created over the past few years or have people just lost interest in the program ?

They're all contributing factors. Ultimately, they all feed on each other. A winning team would result in rising demand for tickets, justifying the ticket prices and bringing back the traditional Lynah atmosphere. But that atmosphere--when present--also usually contributes to the team's success. (That "extra goal a game" that is sometimes attributed to the Lynah Faithful would have come in handy last season.) How do we solve this problem? Hopefully, we can meet the team and coaches halfway on this: we all stay upbeat at games, keep on cheering, hopefully get all the people around us to do the same, and hope the team can net a few more goals this season.

Will

Cop at Lynah
They'r getting desperate now by offering a split season ticket package. Going to be awful difficult for the athletic department to handle the loss of revenue . Is this the result of high ticket prices and the atmosphere that has been created over the past few years or have people just lost interest in the program ?

They're all contributing factors. Ultimately, they all feed on each other. A winning team would result in rising demand for tickets, justifying the ticket prices and bringing back the traditional Lynah atmosphere. But that atmosphere--when present--also usually contributes to the team's success. (That "extra goal a game" that is sometimes attributed to the Lynah Faithful would have come in handy last season.) How do we solve this problem? Hopefully, we can meet the team and coaches halfway on this: we all stay upbeat at games, keep on cheering, hopefully get all the people around us to do the same, and hope the team can net a few more goals this season.

As for the atmosphere at Lynah, I find it rather immature to constantly be blaming these outside forces such as the gestapo ushers, poor team performance, etc.... The reality is, the atmosphere can be improved by simply changing from a reactive fanbase to a proactive fanbase... Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear. All of this other garbage is blaming outside forces for the current fanbase sitting on their hands far too much of the time....

Oh yes, get off their asses & get to the games on time!! Another not-very-difficult thing to do. But, takes a fanbase that cares.....

redice

Will

Cop at Lynah
They'r getting desperate now by offering a split season ticket package. Going to be awful difficult for the athletic department to handle the loss of revenue . Is this the result of high ticket prices and the atmosphere that has been created over the past few years or have people just lost interest in the program ?

They're all contributing factors. Ultimately, they all feed on each other. A winning team would result in rising demand for tickets, justifying the ticket prices and bringing back the traditional Lynah atmosphere. But that atmosphere--when present--also usually contributes to the team's success. (That "extra goal a game" that is sometimes attributed to the Lynah Faithful would have come in handy last season.) How do we solve this problem? Hopefully, we can meet the team and coaches halfway on this: we all stay upbeat at games, keep on cheering, hopefully get all the people around us to do the same, and hope the team can net a few more goals this season.

As for the atmosphere at Lynah, I find it rather immature to constantly be blaming these outside forces such as the gestapo ushers, poor team performance, etc.... The reality is, the atmosphere can be improved by simply changing from a reactive fanbase to a proactive fanbase... Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear. All of this other garbage is blaming outside forces for the current fanbase sitting on their hands far too much of the time....

Oh yes, get off their asses & get to the games on time!! Another not-very-difficult thing to do. But, takes a fanbase that cares.....

The customer has a choice and they are choosing. Berating them is not a way to sell tickets. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

redice
Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear.

This is important. In Lynah at its best the noise often precedes the action. Every game has dead spots in the action on the ice, and it was during these that the Faithful were unique, starting chants spontaneously, many of them original and clever.

I don't agree with most of the criticisms leveled at the current students, but the one thing that's true is our crowd now is far more reactive. Their intensity is determined by the team; the point is to do the opposite.

redice

Will

Cop at Lynah
They'r getting desperate now by offering a split season ticket package. Going to be awful difficult for the athletic department to handle the loss of revenue . Is this the result of high ticket prices and the atmosphere that has been created over the past few years or have people just lost interest in the program ?

They're all contributing factors. Ultimately, they all feed on each other. A winning team would result in rising demand for tickets, justifying the ticket prices and bringing back the traditional Lynah atmosphere. But that atmosphere--when present--also usually contributes to the team's success. (That "extra goal a game" that is sometimes attributed to the Lynah Faithful would have come in handy last season.) How do we solve this problem? Hopefully, we can meet the team and coaches halfway on this: we all stay upbeat at games, keep on cheering, hopefully get all the people around us to do the same, and hope the team can net a few more goals this season.

As for the atmosphere at Lynah, I find it rather immature to constantly be blaming these outside forces such as the gestapo ushers, poor team performance, etc.... The reality is, the atmosphere can be improved by simply changing from a reactive fanbase to a proactive fanbase... Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear. All of this other garbage is blaming outside forces for the current fanbase sitting on their hands far too much of the time....

Oh yes, get off their asses & get to the games on time!! Another not-very-difficult thing to do. But, takes a fanbase that cares.....

Totally agree. The quote "Cornell Fans Made the Timbers Tremble" was from 1970. We didn't have to use profanity, or anything like that, to have made an impression upon the Boston Globe writer. Sure in 1970 we went in undefeated, but we fans were also there in 1966, when we got shafted out of going to the NCAAs. Fans traveled to away games, and were imposing. It doesn't take much to do that, enthusiasm and a loud voice will do it. Complain as much as we want, but if the fans wanted to have a good time, they could. I'm just hopeful that a resurgent team will ignite some of that.

Jim Hyla

redice

Will

Cop at Lynah
They'r getting desperate now by offering a split season ticket package. Going to be awful difficult for the athletic department to handle the loss of revenue . Is this the result of high ticket prices and the atmosphere that has been created over the past few years or have people just lost interest in the program ?

They're all contributing factors. Ultimately, they all feed on each other. A winning team would result in rising demand for tickets, justifying the ticket prices and bringing back the traditional Lynah atmosphere. But that atmosphere--when present--also usually contributes to the team's success. (That "extra goal a game" that is sometimes attributed to the Lynah Faithful would have come in handy last season.) How do we solve this problem? Hopefully, we can meet the team and coaches halfway on this: we all stay upbeat at games, keep on cheering, hopefully get all the people around us to do the same, and hope the team can net a few more goals this season.

As for the atmosphere at Lynah, I find it rather immature to constantly be blaming these outside forces such as the gestapo ushers, poor team performance, etc.... The reality is, the atmosphere can be improved by simply changing from a reactive fanbase to a proactive fanbase... Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear. All of this other garbage is blaming outside forces for the current fanbase sitting on their hands far too much of the time....

Oh yes, get off their asses & get to the games on time!! Another not-very-difficult thing to do. But, takes a fanbase that cares.....

Totally agree. The quote "Cornell Fans Made the Timbers Tremble" was from 1970. We didn't have to use profanity, or anything like that, to have made an impression upon the Boston Globe writer. Sure in 1970 we went in undefeated, but we fans were also there in 1966, when we got shafted out of going to the NCAAs. Fans traveled to away games, and were imposing. It doesn't take much to do that, enthusiasm and a loud voice will do it. Complain as much as we want, but if the fans wanted to have a good time, they could. I'm just hopeful that a resurgent team will ignite some of that.

it's a nice thought, but travel and entertainment options are just so different these days. Look at pro sports crowds to and it's the same changes.

Trotsky

redice
Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear.

This is important. In Lynah at its best the noise often precedes the action. Every game has dead spots in the action on the ice, and it was during these that the Faithful were unique, starting chants spontaneously, many of them original and clever.

I don't agree with most of the criticisms leveled at the current students, but the one thing that's true is our crowd now is far more reactive. Their intensity is determined by the team; the point is to do the opposite.

I feel like it's a lot easier to be proactive when you're not worried about being singled out by the ushers for being obnoxious or breaking poorly designed rules. It's all well and good to say that the fans should just cheer positively but it's easier when someone starts a chant that is at least a bit obnoxious.

That said, I agree with underskill. when half the fans have their faces buried in their phones half the time (seen this clip yet? [mediadownloads.mlb.com]) it's hard to proactively be loud at a sporting event.

KeithK

Trotsky

redice
Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear.

This is important. In Lynah at its best the noise often precedes the action. Every game has dead spots in the action on the ice, and it was during these that the Faithful were unique, starting chants spontaneously, many of them original and clever.

I don't agree with most of the criticisms leveled at the current students, but the one thing that's true is our crowd now is far more reactive. Their intensity is determined by the team; the point is to do the opposite.

I feel like it's a lot easier to be proactive when you're not worried about being singled out by the ushers for being obnoxious or breaking poorly designed rules. It's all well and good to say that the fans should just cheer positively but it's easier when someone starts a chant that is at least a bit obnoxious.

That said, I agree with underskill. when half the fans have their faces buried in their phones half the time (seen this clip yet? [mediadownloads.mlb.com]) it's hard to proactively be loud at a sporting event.

I've lamented this repeatedly here, but a friend of mine got threatened by an usher for being too loud/obnoxious back in 2007. He wasn't swearing, but had moved from section B to D to yell at the opposing goalie (one of us in D swapped with him so it's not like we had overstuffed the section). Started up a "hey, sieve, remember me!" routine and the usher came right over.

Certainly, there are a lot of factors. Phones are a problem. Too many other options for a Friday/Saturday night is a problem. A crowd that waits for something to happen is a problem.

But the efforts to reduce the Lynah atmosphere really bother me. We've got a storied hockey history, but we're really not THAT special. Sure, a player coming to Cornell will get a better education and a better-looking resume than a player going to, say, Colorado College. But plenty of other great schools play hockey. The one thing we have that's most unique is Lynah.

Lack of team success also hurts. But we were loud back in other dull stretches, right? Correct me if I'm wrong since I only started attending games in 2004.

Dafatone

KeithK

Trotsky

redice
Stop sitting on your hands waiting for the team to do something great, before you cheer.... Cheer to fire the team up. I know that sounds overly simplistic... But, that's the main difference between the Lynah today & the Lynah of yesteryear.

This is important. In Lynah at its best the noise often precedes the action. Every game has dead spots in the action on the ice, and it was during these that the Faithful were unique, starting chants spontaneously, many of them original and clever.

I don't agree with most of the criticisms leveled at the current students, but the one thing that's true is our crowd now is far more reactive. Their intensity is determined by the team; the point is to do the opposite.

I feel like it's a lot easier to be proactive when you're not worried about being singled out by the ushers for being obnoxious or breaking poorly designed rules. It's all well and good to say that the fans should just cheer positively but it's easier when someone starts a chant that is at least a bit obnoxious.

That said, I agree with underskill. when half the fans have their faces buried in their phones half the time (seen this clip yet? [mediadownloads.mlb.com]) it's hard to proactively be loud at a sporting event.

I've lamented this repeatedly here, but a friend of mine got threatened by an usher for being too loud/obnoxious back in 2007. He wasn't swearing, but had moved from section B to D to yell at the opposing goalie (one of us in D swapped with him so it's not like we had overstuffed the section). Started up a "hey, sieve, remember me!" routine and the usher came right over.

Certainly, there are a lot of factors. Phones are a problem. Too many other options for a Friday/Saturday night is a problem. A crowd that waits for something to happen is a problem.

But the efforts to reduce the Lynah atmosphere really bother me. We've got a storied hockey history, but we're really not THAT special. Sure, a player coming to Cornell will get a better education and a better-looking resume than a player going to, say, Colorado College. But plenty of other great schools play hockey. The one thing we have that's most unique is Lynah.

Lack of team success also hurts. But we were loud back in other dull stretches, right? Correct me if I'm wrong since I only started attending games in 2004.

I guess the first question I would ask is why is there a presumption that fans HAVE to be obnoxious to be loud? I have been attending Cornell Hockey for almost 50 years.... I don't remember when the obnoxious part began... But, I can tell you that it was NOT always that way... And, without obnoxious, Lynah could & did ROCK!! And, we rocked proactively!! Bottom line: the crowd, students & townies alike, have become more passive in how they watch & cheer on their Cornell Hockey team. I dont think that's going to change. If the team scores more goals, Lynah will get a bit louder because there will be more (reactive) cheering for those goals. After the goal, the crowd will go back to whatever they were doing (not cheering)....

It IS what it is!!!

Ask yourself the following question:

You are a wet behind the ears Freshman, you have heard about Lynah and the faithful and are intreagued. But, being a Cornell student you decide to do a little research before plunking down what amounts to all your winter entertianment budget (plus that Chem book you don't really want to buy). You hear about elynah and visit these pages and see it is a bunch of cranky townies and alumnae bitching about what loosers the current crop of students are. Do you plunk down your money for tickets or take your business elsewhere?

If you actually wanted to help with the lack of ticket sales the true Faithful would be out extolling the virtues of becoming a member of this exclusive order of the rubber bisquit. If you want to hurt the program just keep up insulting the programs customers, they have a choice.

Towerroad
Ask yourself the following question:

You are a wet behind the ears Freshman, you have heard about Lynah and the faithful and are intreagued. But, being a Cornell student you decide to do a little research before plunking down what amounts to all your winter entertianment budget (plus that Chem book you don't really want to buy). You hear about elynah and visit these pages and see it is a bunch of cranky townies and alumnae bitching about what loosers the current crop of students are. Do you plunk down your money for tickets or take your business elsewhere?

If you actually wanted to help with the lack of ticket sales the true Faithful would be out extolling the virtues of becoming a member of this exclusive order of the rubber bisquit. If you want to hurt the program just keep up insulting the programs customers, they have a choice.

First of all, I never do this anymore, but - "intreagued"? That may be the most awesome (and, admittedly, understandable) misspelling I've seen in years.

I haven't seen any alumni or townies complain that the current crop of students are losers. I've seen the current crop of students complain that they're not allowed to support their team by being loud and obnoxious. The alumni and townies responding are saying you don't have to be obnoxious to be loud or effective as fans.

We've done something much, much better than go out to extol the Faithful's virtues. We've epitomized them. We've kept spending hundreds of dollars on season tickets, getting our butts into the seats, and supporting our team loudly, vigorously, creatively, and without getting thrown out by cogs in the totalitarian Athletics machine, for decades. You really think that a bunch of middle aged white men posting on this forum that Cornell hockey is the bee's knees is going to get freshman butts in the seats better than modeling the behavior for them?

Current students don't know about this forum. Students are reading blogs and listening to podcasts -- the apex of message board popularity was 6-7 years ago, and there has been a decline ever since - all over the Internet. Needless to say, this forum does not make or break the Lynah atmosphere.

What is more likely a factor is that students go to their first game - on time - and they realize that no one else is doing that. They also see how empty it is for the first period. Then, given that most new students are sitting in section D, they don't hear or learn any of the cheers. This means they stop coming - until the Harvard game, which thankfully has yet to disappoint.

If Athletics really wants to bring people back to Lynah, they should make the Exhibition games completely free: honor the season ticket holders and their seats (refund the money, too), but then let anyone else walk in and grab a spot in the stands - assuming they get there by 7 - to see what a game is all about. I guarantee that, if the game were to be pitched as an introduction to Cornell's hockey culture, you'd have the true devotees from B show up and lead the way.

Beeeej
First of all, I never do this anymore, but - "intreagued"?

We're the best in the Ivy Ligue.

Beeeej
You really think that a bunch of middle aged white men posting on this forum that Cornell hockey is the bee's knees is going to get freshman butts in the seats better than modeling the behavior for them?

I don't know about you, but my milkshake brings all the boys to the barn.

Trotsky

Beeeej
First of all, I never do this anymore, but - "intreagued"?

We're the best in the Ivy Ligue.

Not me, I'm a looser.

The hockey hotbed of Notre Dame is joining the list of schools giving students free hockey tickets.

Beeeej

Towerroad
Ask yourself the following question:

You are a wet behind the ears Freshman, you have heard about Lynah and the faithful and are intreagued. But, being a Cornell student you decide to do a little research before plunking down what amounts to all your winter entertianment budget (plus that Chem book you don't really want to buy). You hear about elynah and visit these pages and see it is a bunch of cranky townies and alumnae bitching about what loosers the current crop of students are. Do you plunk down your money for tickets or take your business elsewhere?

If you actually wanted to help with the lack of ticket sales the true Faithful would be out extolling the virtues of becoming a member of this exclusive order of the rubber bisquit. If you want to hurt the program just keep up insulting the programs customers, they have a choice.

First of all, I never do this anymore, but - "intreagued"? That may be the most awesome (and, admittedly, understandable) misspelling I've seen in years.

I haven't seen any alumni or townies complain that the current crop of students are losers. I've seen the current crop of students complain that they're not allowed to support their team by being loud and obnoxious. The alumni and townies responding are saying you don't have to be obnoxious to be loud or effective as fans.

We've done something much, much better than go out to extol the Faithful's virtues. We've epitomized them. We've kept spending hundreds of dollars on season tickets, getting our butts into the seats, and supporting our team loudly, vigorously, creatively, and without getting thrown out by cogs in the totalitarian Athletics machine, for decades. You really think that a bunch of middle aged white men posting on this forum that Cornell hockey is the bee's knees is going to get freshman butts in the seats better than modeling the behavior for them?

Cleary I should not post until AFTER I have finished my first cup of coffee.

Towerroad
Cleary I should not post until AFTER I have finished my first cup of coffee.

Dear god. That one is inexcusable.

Our style of game is not helping as well. The NHL made a decision to increase scoring to increase fanbase. As much as I liked the Devils-Flyers games in the late 90's, that isn't how most young fans are accustomed to watching hockey. The fast offensive style that many of our rivals employ has captured the excitement that was formerly created by fighting and headshots on players staring at the puck.(RIP Eric Lindros) Not that I want to get into another argument about the effectiveness of "the system", but scoring 1 goal a game doesn't excite the fanbase, especially when you are losing. I am interested to see the expectations of the new class of students. The current students were not there to see the frustration that was the development of the freshman class of 2011.

cuhockey93
Our style of game is not helping as well. The NHL made a decision to increase scoring to increase fanbase. As much as I liked the Devils-Flyers games in the late 90's, that isn't how most young fans are accustomed to watching hockey. The fast offensive style that many of our rivals employ has captured the excitement that was formerly created by fighting and headshots on players staring at the puck.(RIP Eric Lindros) Not that I want to get into another argument about the effectiveness of "the system", but scoring 1 goal a game doesn't excite the fanbase, especially when you are losing. I am interested to see the expectations of the new class of students. The current students were not there to see the frustration that was the development of the freshman class of 2011.

You make an excellent point here.... This one may require a coaching change to effect it. The question will be: can we be win with an offensive style team? Because a high-scoring, but losing team will NOT excite the crowd or fill the arena.

redice
You make an excellent point here.... This one may require a coaching change to effect it. The question will be: can we be win with an offensive style team? Because a high-scoring, but losing team will NOT excite the crowd or fill the arena.

We had a high scoring losing team in the early 80s. I don't recommend it, but it excited the crowd and filled the arena.

Even those of us for whom the sun rises and sets on Mike should acknowledge that The System, at least the last 4 years' incarnation, sucks all the energy out of the building. That's part of what it's designed to do -- stop teams like the old Firewagon Yale squad from skating us out of the building. When we have an outstanding talent gap, as in the Silver Age (2002-10), that can produce excitement (especially when the rules allowing ahem "spirited" play were looser). But when you're even with the opponent, it's a grinding, technical style -- like watching the old compulsories in figure skating rather than the short program.

I love Cornell hockey and I love Mike, but I've been bored out of my skull for much of the last 4 seasons, and even from time to time during the salad days. It's not heretical to admit that.

Just win baby.

I'm coming to this thread a little late, but have some info that may be of interest.

Chris '03
There are a total of 190 returning undergrad and 76 returning grad ticket holders, holding numbers for a total of 355 tickets (less than 10% of Lynah). I have no idea how this compares to the past but it's not inspiring.

My daughter, who is a senior at Cornell this year, and has been going to games all her life, accepted a part time job with the athletics department this semester selling season hockey tickets to students. As of today they have sold over a thousand student season tickets. They hadn't sold over a thousand the last five years. Last year they sold about eight hundred student season tickets.

There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

My understanding is that one way or another, and possibly in modified form, some aspect of the cheer information is likely to be distributed at the first home game on Saturday.

I imagine the administration did not want to be seen as offering official approval to the information that might have been handed out. I'm not surprised at all. Then again, it's better to have these things done unofficially.

Good to hear that they've sold more tickets this year. It's a little sad that they would need to hirpeople to sell them, assuming you mean sell in the sense of salesmanship as opposed to ust doing the administrative work involved. Regardless, more tickets sold hopefully means more people in the rink which would be a good thing.

andyw2100
I'm coming to this thread a little late, but have some info that may be of interest.

Chris '03
There are a total of 190 returning undergrad and 76 returning grad ticket holders, holding numbers for a total of 355 tickets (less than 10% of Lynah). I have no idea how this compares to the past but it's not inspiring.

My daughter, who is a senior at Cornell this year, and has been going to games all her life, accepted a part time job with the athletics department this semester selling season hockey tickets to students. As of today they have sold over a thousand student season tickets. They hadn't sold over a thousand the last five years. Last year they sold about eight hundred student season tickets.

There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

My understanding is that one way or another, and possibly in modified form, some aspect of the cheer information is likely to be distributed at the first home game on Saturday.

This is great. I've always thought that the first couple home games should have a few people from Section B going over to D to lead the new students. I was in B for four years, but I was shocked when my friends came over from D and had no idea about "Screw BU" or some of the other less-prevalent cheers.

Also, the last time they did the seat selection in Lynah was Fall 2010. Since then, it had been held in the Ramin Room and was pretty low-key. But I remember in Fall 2010, the band was there, and the players had a skills competition. Made for a fun introduction.

andyw2100
There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

This actually resembles the old days of The Line more closely than one would assume. In Fall '81 we waited 48 hours outside (as freshmen, we basically had to to get in the building at all). There were both good parts to this (esprit de corps, memories for a lifetime, a fair amount of pairing off, talking to older fans and learning cheers) and bad parts (unpleasant temperatures at least one night, frat douches blatantly cheating and reserving whole blocs for brothers who showed up a few minutes before attendance, too many drunks in one place hence lots of dumb displays of testosterone) but the big takeaway (other than the uncomfortable ground) was constant cross-fertilization between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen learning cheers and traditions and stories of yore. By the time we got to the first actual game, we knew a whole helluva lot about Cornell hockey. I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

Trotsky
I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

I don't remember the baseball facility. But I definitely remember sleeping inside Lynah at least twice out of the three years '83, '84, and '85. One of those years was the "Elmo" year. (Anyone else remember Elmo?)

LGR14
This is great. I've always thought that the first couple home games should have a few people from Section B going over to D to lead the new students. I was in B for four years, but I was shocked when my friends came over from D and had no idea about "Screw BU" or some of the other less-prevalent cheers.

I had an idea along those lines that I passed along to my daughter. It was probably too complicated to be implemented without a lot more lead time, and perhaps just too complicated. (I think she deemed it too complicated to even attempt pitching it.) But I really think the idea has some merit.

We all know that the best way to introduce someone to Cornell hockey is to get them to a game. My idea was that for the first couple of games, when Lynah wasn't going to be sold out anyway, there could be a special promotion for student season ticket holders: they could bring a friend for free, as follows.

Student season ticket holders in reserved sections--I think that would just be A and B this year--would turn in their ticket to the game or games they wanted to bring a friend to (again--the promotion would probably be available for just the first two games) and be given two general admission tickets for the same game. Their really great seats in the middle of the student section could then be sold to students who wouldn't ordinarily get to experience a game from those sections.

This winds up having positive benefits on a few fronts. The students who get to sit in A and B get the real Lynah experience, and may well choose to purchase season tickets.

The students that the season ticket holder brought to the game will be introduced to Cornell hockey by a friend who is already excited about Cornell hockey, and may choose to purchase season tickets.

The season ticket holders who moved from their reserved seats to general admission seats for a game will certainly be vocal during the game, which will help the new students in the general admission sections learn the cheers, and learn what's what.

There's not any real cost in lost ticket sales if the game wasn't going to sell out anyway, and there's a chance of increased revenue if more of the A and B tickets can be sold than general admission tickets would have been sold.

The real revenue increase comes from increased season ticket sales that result from the students exposed to Cornell Hockey who wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to it.

If I had infinite resources I'd endow free buses and lodging to road games. Going to home games made me a Lynah fan, but it was the first road trip that made me a lifelong Cornell hockey fan.

Trotsky
If I had infinite resources I'd endow free buses and lodging to road games. Going to home games made me a Lynah fan, but it was the first road trip that made me a lifelong Cornell hockey fan.

This. In recent years, as a person living near the geographic center of the league who can go to a lot of road games easily, it's very obvious that students (outside of the pep band) just don't travel anymore. To be fair, our futuristic technological paradise allows easy access to road game video without the cost, hassle, or mind-numbing excitement of driving through such locales as Greater Gouverneur or Schoharie, NY, but it still saddens me not to have a wild pocket of undergrads marching in and taking over Meehan. In a little piece posted on the ECAC website, they have a Q&A with the winner of the Lynah t-shirt design contest:

Q: What Cornell hockey games have you attended? (e.g. MSG, away games, years of undergrad tickets)

A: I've been to both MSG games and I plan to go again. It's quite exciting to see the Big Red play at such a big venue. Last year, I went with my friend from Penn State who had never seen a hockey game in her life. Now she's a huge Penn State hockey fan! I've never been to an away game, but it's definitely on my list of things to do, especially the Harvard away game. This is my third year as a season ticket holder and I've only ever missed a handful of games.

Trotsky

andyw2100
There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

This actually resembles the old days of The Line more closely than one would assume. In Fall '81 we waited 48 hours outside (as freshmen, we basically had to to get in the building at all). There were both good parts to this (esprit de corps, memories for a lifetime, a fair amount of pairing off, talking to older fans and learning cheers) and bad parts (unpleasant temperatures at least one night, frat douches blatantly cheating and reserving whole blocs for brothers who showed up a few minutes before attendance, too many drunks in one place hence lots of dumb displays of testosterone) but the big takeaway (other than the uncomfortable ground) was constant cross-fertilization between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen learning cheers and traditions and stories of yore. By the time we got to the first actual game, we knew a whole helluva lot about Cornell hockey. I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

In '69 and '70 we camped in Barton Hall.

David Harding

Trotsky

andyw2100
There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

This actually resembles the old days of The Line more closely than one would assume. In Fall '81 we waited 48 hours outside (as freshmen, we basically had to to get in the building at all). There were both good parts to this (esprit de corps, memories for a lifetime, a fair amount of pairing off, talking to older fans and learning cheers) and bad parts (unpleasant temperatures at least one night, frat douches blatantly cheating and reserving whole blocs for brothers who showed up a few minutes before attendance, too many drunks in one place hence lots of dumb displays of testosterone) but the big takeaway (other than the uncomfortable ground) was constant cross-fertilization between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen learning cheers and traditions and stories of yore. By the time we got to the first actual game, we knew a whole helluva lot about Cornell hockey. I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

In '69 and '70 we camped in Barton Hall.

In the mid 60s we were outside.

Jim Hyla

David Harding

Trotsky

andyw2100
There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

This actually resembles the old days of The Line more closely than one would assume. In Fall '81 we waited 48 hours outside (as freshmen, we basically had to to get in the building at all). There were both good parts to this (esprit de corps, memories for a lifetime, a fair amount of pairing off, talking to older fans and learning cheers) and bad parts (unpleasant temperatures at least one night, frat douches blatantly cheating and reserving whole blocs for brothers who showed up a few minutes before attendance, too many drunks in one place hence lots of dumb displays of testosterone) but the big takeaway (other than the uncomfortable ground) was constant cross-fertilization between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen learning cheers and traditions and stories of yore. By the time we got to the first actual game, we knew a whole helluva lot about Cornell hockey. I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

In '69 and '70 we camped in Barton Hall.

In the mid 60s we were outside.

And in the mid 10's, you're old.

Well, so am I, just to a different degree. I'm kind of glad things change: it makes noticing the passage of time easier.

Kyle Rose
I'm kind of glad things change: it makes noticing the passage of time easier.

So does a bad back.

In 1976 I had to wait outside for my season tickets but the difference is....I still have them! Remembering my undergrad years [68-72], I knew townie tickets would be a hot item so I dragged my non-alum spouse to Teagle Hall sometime before dawn to wait until the ticket office opened at 9:00 a.m. My memory is that we arrived about 5:00 a.m. and I was psyched that we were 4th in line. We got great tickets in Section N back when Cornell was on offense for two periods at the closed end of the rink. We enjoyed those seats occasionally but more often than not, we would arrive early to claim spots on the rail. What I miss most about the new rink design is the elimination of standing room in Lynah Rink.

Kyle Rose

Jim Hyla

David Harding

Trotsky

andyw2100
There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

This actually resembles the old days of The Line more closely than one would assume. In Fall '81 we waited 48 hours outside (as freshmen, we basically had to to get in the building at all). There were both good parts to this (esprit de corps, memories for a lifetime, a fair amount of pairing off, talking to older fans and learning cheers) and bad parts (unpleasant temperatures at least one night, frat douches blatantly cheating and reserving whole blocs for brothers who showed up a few minutes before attendance, too many drunks in one place hence lots of dumb displays of testosterone) but the big takeaway (other than the uncomfortable ground) was constant cross-fertilization between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen learning cheers and traditions and stories of yore. By the time we got to the first actual game, we knew a whole helluva lot about Cornell hockey. I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

In '69 and '70 we camped in Barton Hall.

In the mid 60s we were outside.

And in the mid 10's, you're old.

Well, so am I, just to a different degree. I'm kind of glad things change: it makes noticing the passage of time easier.

Gee thanks, not like I (and everyone else) don't know it. But I'm old enough to have seen 2 NCAA Championshipsand that little thing of an undefeated season.

Jim Hyla

Kyle Rose

Jim Hyla

David Harding

Trotsky

andyw2100
There had been plans to distribute some information, including some cheer information and pointers about arriving early and not leaving before the end of game salute, standing for the Alma Mater, etc. at "Line Night." For those that may not be familiar with "Line Night", it's all that's left of the hockey line Lynah sleep-in. One Friday night a couple of weeks ago the students showed up at Lynah, at a designated time, based on their line number, to select their seats. The players were there, giving out pizza. The original plans were for the band to be present as well, and for the cheer information to be distributed, and with the band's assistance, to some extent, "taught" to some of the new season ticket holders. For some reason the administration did not allow this.

This actually resembles the old days of The Line more closely than one would assume. In Fall '81 we waited 48 hours outside (as freshmen, we basically had to to get in the building at all). There were both good parts to this (esprit de corps, memories for a lifetime, a fair amount of pairing off, talking to older fans and learning cheers) and bad parts (unpleasant temperatures at least one night, frat douches blatantly cheating and reserving whole blocs for brothers who showed up a few minutes before attendance, too many drunks in one place hence lots of dumb displays of testosterone) but the big takeaway (other than the uncomfortable ground) was constant cross-fertilization between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen learning cheers and traditions and stories of yore. By the time we got to the first actual game, we knew a whole helluva lot about Cornell hockey. I missed '82. '83 was the first time they pulled the Line indoors on camp out night, in the indoor baseball practice facility, and the long administration march to destroy the tradition began.

In '69 and '70 we camped in Barton Hall.

In the mid 60s we were outside.

And in the mid 10's, you're old.

Well, so am I, just to a different degree. I'm kind of glad things change: it makes noticing the passage of time easier.

Gee thanks, not like I (and everyone else) don't know it.

Hey, the alternative is much worse. So I hope we all get there.

But I'm old enough to have seen 2 NCAA Championshipsand that little thing of an undefeated season.

That would certainly be nice.

My strongest memory of Cornell hockey is the 1996 quarterfinals, almost 20 years ago: being in the rink for a complete rout like that was a new experience for me, and new generally correlates with strong when it comes to memories.

I have no way of knowing this for sure, but I suspect those days for me with respect to Cornell hockey are over: it's unlikely to get enough better than what I've already experienced for it to make a huge impression on me. I want new experiences, not repeats of the same thing.

i know its all about lynah tradition but at some point of tradition is not enough i hope someone puts up the money and creates a new arena. when the old timers are the only ones who remember what the tradition used to be like. cornell tradition with a new rink is not a bad thing

upprdeck
i know its all about lynah tradition but at some point of tradition is not enough i hope someone puts up the money and creates a new arena. when the old timers are the only ones who remember what the tradition used to be like. cornell tradition with a new rink is not a bad thing

The arena didn't seem to be an issue in New Haven, Schenectady or Providence. Have you ever been at a game in Schenectady? It's was a fun atmosphere until the fans got to be such asses. But it sure is a cheap piece of...

I don't see how a new rink will draw more fans at Cornell. If were at all bigger, then it might be emptier.

marty
If were at all bigger, then it might be emptier.

I worry it would also be worse. I'd say let's wait for the next generation of rinks; the present model, which is copied endlessly, is just awful.

But it's really just an ulterior motive for them to wait until I'm dead.

marty

upprdeck
i know its all about lynah tradition but at some point of tradition is not enough i hope someone puts up the money and creates a new arena. when the old timers are the only ones who remember what the tradition used to be like. cornell tradition with a new rink is not a bad thing

The arena didn't seem to be an issue in New Haven, Schenectady or Providence. Have you ever been at a game in Schenectady? It's was a fun atmosphere until the fans got to be such asses. But it sure is a cheap piece of...

I don't see how a new rink will draw more fans at Cornell. If were at all bigger, then it might be emptier.

As I said last year, the rink isn't the problem with the Lynah atmosphere. OTOH, I also don't think replacing it would be as bad as many predict: I mostly think it wouldn't matter that much.

The issues driving the poor atmosphere are myriad: cellphones, other options for Friday/Saturday night entertainment, the repressive "family friendly" mandate, and the team's recent mediocre performance. I don't even think winning by itself would have that great an impact on the atmosphere: it would get better (the place would sell out, if not actually fill up), but students would still be late, would still be staring at their phones during stoppages in play (and during play: let's not kid ourselves), and would be afraid of getting tossed out for drawing too much attention to themselves. So it might get loud again during stretches, but I don't think it's possible to recapture that really inventive, hyper-intense atmosphere of continuous noise in which fans are willing to prioritize putting everything else aside for 6 hours every weekend, and feel safe enough in a crowd of other complete nuts, to scream themselves hoarse for the team.

I think we've seen the golden age of Cornell Hockey fandom come and go. I'm very glad to have been a part of it, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to recapture the magic. If current students don't care, and I'm not there, then I'm not sure I really care all that much, either.

winning will bring back some people. but if you dont think crappy seating, bad crowd control, poor food, no replay board, bad sound system dont add up to people not coming out more often then you are not talking to the townies. i think you can fix the student issue but its the townie side that brings in the money. And i dont think more seats is the answer. I would make it smaller, louder, brighter ,

upprdeck
winning will bring back some people. but if you dont think crappy seating, bad crowd control, poor food, no replay board, bad sound system dont add up to people not coming out more often then you are not talking to the townies.

I think we may be talking past each other. The atmosphere from Lynah that I remember was created almost entirely by the students. The townies added some volume, but the interesting cheers and antics originated with the student section (including the pep band). Bringing in more townies is not the way to get back there. I'd argue there really isn't a way back there, realistically.

Kyle Rose
I'd argue there really isn't a way back there, realistically.

Cell phone jammers in Lynah Or maybe a city wide jammer that runs from 7pm until 9:30 every game night?

i wish we could back 20 years and bring that atmosphere back too.. i have no idea why the kids dont turn out other than not winning as much or the crack down on what they used to do. recruits want new toys too so a newer building cant hurt.

upprdeck
i wish we could back 20 years and bring that atmosphere back too.. i have no idea why the kids dont turn out other than not winning as much or the crack down on what they used to do. recruits want new toys too so a newer building cant hurt.

I think it's all the factors we've talked about here. Personally, I'd blame smartphones/social media/more weekend night options and the crackdown on atmosphere primarily, since the team's gone through mediocre stretches in the past and Lynah was still Lynah, and since it's not like Schafer teams ever played exciting, high-offense hockey.

But all that factors in.

As to a new rink, I'd hate to lose the small, cozy feel of Lynah. I'd be scared we'd get some sort of big, empty, minor-league looking monstrosity. If Lynah were rebuilt to have the same feel and more modern facilities, I'd only be sort of crushed.

The other thing that needs to happen (separate from the possibilities of new facilities) is for this website -- and most specifically, the Cheers page -- to increase its exposure. I don't think most students even know that ELynah exists. The cheers page hasn't been updated in a long time. And I think adding highlights and media to the proper places would show new fans how exciting Lynah can be (the recent Harvard games, the 2014 Clarkson game, Lynah East, Colgate, etc.)

I'd love to see, for example, something worked out with Big Red Sports Network or even just the various Cornell Facebook groups where this site could be promoted a bit more. I remember as a pre-freshman stumbling upon it, and I think those main pages really add to the mystique.

marty

upprdeck
i know its all about lynah tradition but at some point of tradition is not enough i hope someone puts up the money and creates a new arena. when the old timers are the only ones who remember what the tradition used to be like. cornell tradition with a new rink is not a bad thing

The arena didn't seem to be an issue in New Haven, Schenectady or Providence. Have you ever been at a game in Schenectady? It's was a fun atmosphere until the fans got to be such asses. But it sure is a cheap piece of...

I don't see how a new rink will draw more fans at Cornell. If were at all bigger, then it might be emptier.

This has already happened AFAICT. The last renovation, which pushed the capacity over 4000, basically spelled the end of regular sellouts. (Both by increasing the number of seats and by bumping up the price of tickets.)

andyw2100
The players were there, giving out pizza.

OH GOD WE'VE BECOME COLGATE!

French Rage

andyw2100
The players were there, giving out pizza.

OH GOD WE'VE BECOME COLGATE!

Not by a long shot!

Colgate had to give out pizza to get their students to come to actual games.

Cornell was giving out pizza in an attempt to make the pretty boring process of coming to Lynah and waiting around for your chance to pick your seat a little less boring.

So not even close!

andyw2100

French Rage

andyw2100
The players were there, giving out pizza.

OH GOD WE'VE BECOME COLGATE!

Not by a long shot!

Colgate had to give out pizza to get their students to come to actual games.

Cornell was giving out pizza in an attempt to make the pretty boring process of coming to Lynah and waiting around for your chance to pick your seat a little less boring.

So not even close!

But this is how it starts! When I was a student we didn't need no pizza to get us to wait in line! Damn kids!

French Rage

But this is how it starts! When I was a student we didn't need no pizza to get us to wait in line! Damn kids!

Well, from that standpoint I agree things are bad, but not because of the pizza.

As I mentioned, my daughter was involved in selling season tickets. All the students who were purchasing the tickets had the process explained to them, and should have understood that they'd need to come to Lynah at the appointed time to actually select their seats. I believe the students were also sent email messages explaining the process. Apparently not only did a huge number not bother to do that (resulting, of course, in students with lower seniority getting better seats than they did), but many still had not selected their seats by the Red/White game!

half of section A was empty for Niagara on Saturday night. And don't try to make excuses for the kids today by saying it was Halloween. My son was happy to go with us to the game because the parties wouldn't even be starting until after the game was over.

andyw2100

French Rage

But this is how it starts! When I was a student we didn't need no pizza to get us to wait in line! Damn kids!

Well, from that standpoint I agree things are bad, but not because of the pizza.

As I mentioned, my daughter was involved in selling season tickets. All the students who were purchasing the tickets had the process explained to them, and should have understood that they'd need to come to Lynah at the appointed time to actually select their seats. I believe the students were also sent email messages explaining the process. Apparently not only did a huge number not bother to do that (resulting, of course, in students with lower seniority getting better seats than they did), but many still had not selected their seats by the Red/White game!

All of the evidence keeps coming back to the same unpleasant (to us) truth: Cornell Men's Hockey is just Not that important to today's students!!

nshapiro
half of section A was empty for Niagara on Saturday night. And don't try to make excuses for the kids today by saying it was Halloween. My son was happy to go with us to the game because the parties wouldn't even be starting until after the game was over.

If you counted the number of newpapers during Niagara's introduction you would have needed to borrow one hand, maybe another finger or two.

redice
All of the evidence keeps coming back to the same unpleasant (to us) truth: Cornell Men's Hockey is just Not that important to today's students!!

Just. Win.

Trotsky

redice
All of the evidence keeps coming back to the same unpleasant (to us) truth: Cornell Men's Hockey is just Not that important to today's students!!

Just. Win.

I truly believe that it will take more than just winning.... I believe they just don't care....... Winning would likely make little difference...

redice

Trotsky

redice
All of the evidence keeps coming back to the same unpleasant (to us) truth: Cornell Men's Hockey is just Not that important to today's students!!

Just. Win.

I truly believe that it will take more than just winning.... I believe they just don't care....... Winning would likely make little difference...

Win and test the hypothesis.

redice

Trotsky

redice
All of the evidence keeps coming back to the same unpleasant (to us) truth: Cornell Men's Hockey is just Not that important to today's students!!

Just. Win.

I truly believe that it will take more than just winning.... I believe they just don't care....... Winning would likely make little difference...

Yeah, I agree. Winning would definitely improve attendance and crowd volume relative to where these things would be without winning, but the "magic" of Lynah that was the constant noise and rink-wide clever cheers in-unison isn't coming back.

We can't know that it will never come back. Probably after a few decades of the little numb nuts fellating their smart phones there will be a reaction against it by their kids.

why is section a the one thats the most empty?

Someone appeared to make newspaper dispersal a priority before tonight's game. 3rd star worthy...

ithacat
Someone appeared to make newspaper dispersal a priority before tonight's game. 3rd star worthy...

I sit in C, on the aisle with D.

D was far and away the best it has been in a long time tonight. The students were louder than they have been of late, they all had paper before the game, and they actually stood for the Alma Mater!

andyw2100

ithacat
Someone appeared to make newspaper dispersal a priority before tonight's game. 3rd star worthy...

I sit in C, on the aisle with D.

D was far and away the best it has been in a long time tonight. The students were louder than they have been of late, they all had paper before the game, and they actually stood for the Alma Mater!

Mind you, they were probably looking up the lyrics in their cell phones

ithacat
Someone appeared to make newspaper dispersal a priority before tonight's game. 3rd star worthy...

I'll take credit for that. Sec. D is supposedly (second hand info) a general admission All-Freshman section. Some of the students I talked to didn't even know the tradition. Partially I blame the start of Sec. C for that. It's tough when you break up the student sections. When you're in D, B is not obvious to you. Having said that, I was impressed at how enthusiastic the "freshman' were. We can hope, after as exciting a game as it was, that we have captured a few of them.

Jim Hyla

ithacat
Someone appeared to make newspaper dispersal a priority before tonight's game. 3rd star worthy...

I'll take credit for that. Sec. D is supposedly (second hand info) a general admission All-Freshman section. Some of the students I talked to didn't even know the tradition. Partially I blame the start of Sec. C for that. It's tough when you break up the student sections. When you're in D, B is not obvious to you. Having said that, I was impressed at how enthusiastic the "freshman' were. We can hope, after as exciting a game as it was, that we have captured a few of them.

Great job, Jim!

C should go back to the students, and I say that having had seasons in C for 2 decades after graduating. It was very different when A-E were a solid wall of students in sync.

Jim Hyla

ithacat
Someone appeared to make newspaper dispersal a priority before tonight's game. 3rd star worthy...

I'll take credit for that. Sec. D is supposedly (second hand info) a general admission All-Freshman section. Some of the students I talked to didn't even know the tradition. Partially I blame the start of Sec. C for that. It's tough when you break up the student sections. When you're in D, B is not obvious to you. Having said that, I was impressed at how enthusiastic the "freshman' were. We can hope, after as exciting a game as it was, that we have captured a few of them.

Well done. Thanks.

Jim Hyla
I'll take credit for that. Sec. D is supposedly (second hand info) a general admission All-Freshman section. Some of the students I talked to didn't even know the tradition. Partially I blame the start of Sec. C for that. It's tough when you break up the student sections. When you're in D, B is not obvious to you. Having said that, I was impressed at how enthusiastic the "freshman' were. We can hope, after as exciting a game as it was, that we have captured a few of them.

It is general admission, but I'm reasonably certain they are not all freshman. (I'll check with my daughter to confirm.)

The cheer tip sheet that she had been asked to create, but then was not allowed to distribute WAS distributed by some group--possibly the band--with some modifications at the first game. "Paper during introductions" was covered, so the students you spoke to who knew nothing about it either weren't at the first game or didn't get the sheet or didn't read it.

LGR14
The other thing that needs to happen (separate from the possibilities of new facilities) is for this website -- and most specifically, the Cheers page -- to increase its exposure. I don't think most students even know that ELynah exists. The cheers page hasn't been updated in a long time. And I think adding highlights and media to the proper places would show new fans how exciting Lynah can be (the recent Harvard games, the 2014 Clarkson game, Lynah East, Colgate, etc.)

I'll admit I've been horrible at adding and revising content here, but I'm not sure it would matter much. We're at around 1500 unique visitors a week. About 1000 followers on Twitter, most of whom probably overlap. That's about where it's been the last few seasons (and obviously WAY down from its heyday. Is it worth trying to advertise? I've considered buying a dasher board ad in the past, but it would cost more than all the donations I've ever received and it's not like I generate any revenue from the site. (Note: This is not a plea for donations; just stating the facts)

If I did make an advertising push, I think the whole site would need a complete overhaul since my focus has shifted away from photos and original content. But without more eyeballs, I'm not sure it's worth it. Ye olde chicken and egg.

CowbellGuy

LGR14
The other thing that needs to happen (separate from the possibilities of new facilities) is for this website -- and most specifically, the Cheers page -- to increase its exposure. I don't think most students even know that ELynah exists. The cheers page hasn't been updated in a long time. And I think adding highlights and media to the proper places would show new fans how exciting Lynah can be (the recent Harvard games, the 2014 Clarkson game, Lynah East, Colgate, etc.)

I'll admit I've been horrible at adding and revising content here, but I'm not sure it would matter much. We're at around 1500 unique visitors a week. About 1000 followers on Twitter, most of whom probably overlap. That's about where it's been the last few seasons (and obviously WAY down from its heyday. Is it worth trying to advertise? I've considered buying a dasher board ad in the past, but it would cost more than all the donations I've ever received and it's not like I generate any revenue from the site. (Note: This is not a plea for donations; just stating the facts)

If I did make an advertising push, I think the whole site would need a complete overhaul since my focus has shifted away from photos and original content. But without more eyeballs, I'm not sure it's worth it. Ye olde chicken and egg.

I think it is worth trying to advertise -- but not on the dasher board (students can't see most of them anyway, and the only one that sticks out is Boatyard). I think just sharing the link on Facebook - getting the Cornell sports page to post it every once in awhile, or teaming up with BRSN, would do wonders for the traffic.

Even something as small as putting up a piece of paper with "elynah.com" and a short description around campus or at Lynah would at least get more people viewing the site.

I have no idea how much of the current traffic is from current students, but I'd be willing to bet that there is very little from the group of kids currently going to the games.

It's my guess that if some of these steps were taken, you'd be able to find a couple interested students who would be willing to provide some original content and put up some videos, articles, pictures, audio, whatever. I know there is a group called "Ezra's Army" that's a sort of fan-club of all Cornell sports. There's also the Cornell Marketing Group. The ILR Sports Business Society. All of these groups have students that would love to get people back to Lynah and to educate the new fans.

andyw2100

Jim Hyla
I'll take credit for that. Sec. D is supposedly (second hand info) a general admission All-Freshman section. Some of the students I talked to didn't even know the tradition. Partially I blame the start of Sec. C for that. It's tough when you break up the student sections. When you're in D, B is not obvious to you. Having said that, I was impressed at how enthusiastic the "freshman' were. We can hope, after as exciting a game as it was, that we have captured a few of them.

It is general admission, but I'm reasonably certain they are not all freshman. (I'll check with my daughter to confirm.)

I did check with my daughter.

Section D is mostly (but not entirely) first time season ticket holders. But many of those students may have been regular attendees of games in the past, and even unofficial season ticket holders themselves, since students can purchase two season tickets each, so they could have had another student purchasing their season ticket for them.

CowbellGuy

LGR14
The other thing that needs to happen (separate from the possibilities of new facilities) is for this website -- and most specifically, the Cheers page -- to increase its exposure. I don't think most students even know that ELynah exists. The cheers page hasn't been updated in a long time. And I think adding highlights and media to the proper places would show new fans how exciting Lynah can be (the recent Harvard games, the 2014 Clarkson game, Lynah East, Colgate, etc.)

I'll admit I've been horrible at adding and revising content here, but I'm not sure it would matter much. We're at around 1500 unique visitors a week. About 1000 followers on Twitter, most of whom probably overlap. That's about where it's been the last few seasons (and obviously WAY down from its heyday.

What were the numbers in its heyday, out of curiosity? And when was its heyday?

BearLover
What were the numbers in its heyday, out of curiosity? And when was its heyday?

I'll go out on a limb and guess that the highest traffic numbers were March of 2003.

Edit: Not sure if the metrics are the same, but from this thread [elf.elynah.com]
the number of unique visits must have been on the order of 33k per month or 8k per week back in the 2002-03 season.

KeithK

BearLover
What were the numbers in its heyday, out of curiosity? And when was its heyday?

I'll go out on a limb and guess that the highest traffic numbers were March of 2003.

Edit: Not sure if the metrics are the same, but from this thread [elf.elynah.com]
the number of unique visits must have been on the order of 33k per month or 8k per week back in the 2002-03 season.

Yeah, probably around that time. I think back then I was using a script to crunch the logs and I use Google Analytics now. I can run a history and see when the best numbers in GA were.