Letter from MetaEzra

[Rosey]

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?

[statenaurora]

No one afraid of overbearing ushers or dictatorial rink management.

Is this case now at Lynah?

[CowbellGuy]

No one afraid of overbearing ushers or dictatorial rink management.

Is this case now at Lynah?

Is the sun warm?

[Larry72]

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

[marty]

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.

[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!

[Jim Hyla]

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.::banana::

[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.

[KeithK]

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.::banana::

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

[ajh258]

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.

[munchkin]

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.

[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

[jtwcornell91]

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.

[ajh258]

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.

[Trotsky]

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)