Time for a New Arena thread

[Scersk '97]

The ticket prices for students are too high, plain and simple.

I agree, by the way. It's always about butts in seats. If there aren't enough butts in seats, lower the price.

Make the entire student section GA while you're at it.

Pretty simple.

[Rosey]

But this worship of mediocre spaces is just dumb.

The worship of mediocre spaces is what explains the aesthetic appeal of almost everything old.  Fenway is a dump, and it was a dump in 1980 and 1960 and 1940.  But the aging of a dump gives it charm, as long as it isn't in Uniondale.  Hell, even Shea felt wonderful at the end.

The prosecution rests. ::doh::

I admit that what I want is not to wreck the Lynah experience, and while that doesn't require Lynah itself, it does require staying away from the braying banality of modernity.  Large scoreboards, piped-in music, and advertising filling every available nook has pretty much destroyed the entire world.  Lynah is a place that has so far mostly escaped it.  That is worth preserving.  Someday, if humans become smarter (unlikely) or we slip the choke collar of commerce (more unlikely), there will be less risk of exchanging Lynah for a different atmosphere.  But currently the atmospheres on offer from new facilities are ghastly, and anything beating against that current is worth preserving.

This is a better argument. But I don't know that a new rink necessarily has to come along with all of that. (Though I do think replays on a large screen would be nice: I certainly benefit from them at pro games.) And frankly, I think Cornell could do most of what you're suggesting without replacing Lynah, yet they have chosen not to. But if the fans don't get off their phones and scream, or if the ushers don't pull the carbon rods out of their asses, even Lynah may need artificial noise at some point. There are a myriad of problems here, and I think the focus on Lynah-the-building is a distraction from the real issues.

[Dafatone]

Here's an argument too pithy and dumb to be easily countered:

We're talking about this on eLynah, not eCornellhockey.

[BearLover]

Do I need to remind everyone that Schafer himself said the crowds have sucked recently?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fncd5RP1d_8

How does this conflict with the premise that the crowd sucks when the team sucks?

Because if Schafer brings it up in a postgame interview then you know this isn't a typical circumstance.  Moreover, Cornell after the Harvard game this year hadn't sunk to its lowest level of 2015 suckage, and 2014 wasn't a bad year.  So I wouldn't say the effects of the team sucking on attendance were in full swing.  

The freshmen get their knowledge and enthusiasm for the hockey team from the upper classmen -- virtually nobody arrives on campus having even heard of college hockey -- and that varies directly with the team's fortunes.

I don't think freshmen really interact with upperclassmen much before hockey tickets go on sale.

During my four years on the hill, it felt like the demand for tickets decreased every year, regardless of how good we were the year before.  

And who is to say that students even care most about overall win %?  Maybe they care most about home win %, or excitement of home wins--the games are most memorable that way.  I don't think most students, even ones who attend the games, care much about the team's success on the road.  

Anyway, I've never doubted winning is important, but price is the number one easily controllable factor standing in the way of a louder Lynah.

And to echo what others have said, I would feel genuinely said and definitely attend fewer games if Lynah were replaced by some state of the art megarink.

[CUontheslopes]

I'm an '07 and '10 Law School grad and at the ripe old age of 30 it cracks me up to hear people talk about what is and what is not expensive for a student. $200 isn't that much to me at 30, but it was a lot to me at 19 or 20. Make people go through the line process again, but then give the tickets away for free (or nearly free, e.g. $50 for a season) and you'll get the attendance to rise. There's no question that in my 7 years on the hill the greek system's attendance fell off considerably. Get the fraternities and sororities involved again and you'll get the attendance and the energy back up.

[Dafatone]

A friend brought up a solid argument that the shift from the line to the lottery may have dampened some hockey enthusiasm by keeping out some of our more rabid fans.

Since we're not selling out, it's kinda moot, but that's something to keep in mind.

[Trotsky]

A friend brought up a solid argument that the shift from the line to the lottery may have dampened some hockey enthusiasm by keeping out some of our more rabid fans.

It worked another way, too.  The line created esprit de corps among the fans.  Other than a few of the frats who obviously cheated, the fans genuinely liked one another and had a shared monastic experience of "suffering" (well, the worst suffering privileged white teenagers from Long Island can be expected to endure, anyway).

The line was the first Cornell hockey experience for freshmen, and it set the tone that this was an identifying experience.  Plus it was fun and led to a tremendous amount of drinking and casual sex.  Students today are denied that experience (and even granting that students today seem incredibly boring and unimaginative, I assume they'd still perk up for that).

[Rosey]

The line was the first Cornell hockey experience for freshmen, and it set the tone that this was an identifying experience.  Plus it was fun and led to a tremendous amount of drinking and casual sex.  Students today are denied that experience (and even granting that students today seem incredibly boring and unimaginative, I assume they'd still perk up for that).

LOL at the idea that students today are missing out on casual sex because they didn't stand on line for hockey tickets.

[Trotsky]

The line was the first Cornell hockey experience for freshmen, and it set the tone that this was an identifying experience.  Plus it was fun and led to a tremendous amount of drinking and casual sex.  Students today are denied that experience (and even granting that students today seem incredibly boring and unimaginative, I assume they'd still perk up for that).

LOL at the idea that students today are missing out on casual sex because they didn't stand on line for hockey tickets.

That's not quite what I said, though now you mention it I assume the little bastards' phones get more action than they do. ::wank::

[The Rancor]

or it was (is) the coldest snowiest winter in 30+ years, and maybe people are a little less inclined to trek out to see a hockey game when it is -20f.

[Chuck Henderson]

One of the (few) advantages of extreme old age is having seen it all happen again and again... whenever the team has hit a protracted rough patch the fan support has gone into hibernation and everybody has knocked one another over in the scramble to find deep, systemic reasons for the Irreversible Decline of the Lynah Faithful.

And then we start winning and it all goes away.

From an even longer perspective than Greg's--from the day the rink opened--I'll agree that there have always been ups and downs.  But I think there may be a distinction between attendance and rink atmosphere. Changes in attendance in phase with winning seem clearer to me than does change in noise and enthusiasm. That, too, probably has some correspondence with winning but, I think, around an overall downward trend that doesn't really track wins and losses.

I, of course, think Lynah should stand forever and that any replacement would have a negative effect on atmosphere and its relation to recruiting.

I have a been a season ticket holder for 30 years.. the better the team , the more demand for seats , the higher the ticket price goes.. I agree price has cut down on attendance. if you dont think the fact the seating sucks has an effect on people attending games then you are not in touch with the townies.

Who are these dainty townies?

[Swampy]

A friend brought up a solid argument that the shift from the line to the lottery may have dampened some hockey enthusiasm by keeping out some of our more rabid fans.

It worked another way, too.  The line created esprit de corps among the fans.  Other than a few of the frats who obviously cheated, the fans genuinely liked one another and had a shared monastic experience of "suffering" (well, the worst suffering privileged white teenagers from Long Island can be expected to endure, anyway).

The line was the first Cornell hockey experience for freshmen, and it set the tone that this was an identifying experience.  Plus it was fun and led to a tremendous amount of drinking and casual sex.  Students today are denied that experience (and even granting that students today seem incredibly boring and unimaginative, I assume they'd still perk up for that).

I was in a frat at the time and used to let some of the brothers "cheat" for me by saving my place. In return, I'd do chores and similar things for them. But they never told me about the casual sex! Now that you tell me, I realize I really got a raw deal. ::doh::

[jtwcornell91]

A friend brought up a solid argument that the shift from the line to the lottery may have dampened some hockey enthusiasm by keeping out some of our more rabid fans.

It worked another way, too.  The line created esprit de corps among the fans.  Other than a few of the frats who obviously cheated, the fans genuinely liked one another and had a shared monastic experience of "suffering" (well, the worst suffering privileged white teenagers from Long Island can be expected to endure, anyway).

The line was the first Cornell hockey experience for freshmen, and it set the tone that this was an identifying experience.  Plus it was fun and led to a tremendous amount of drinking and casual sex.  Students today are denied that experience (and even granting that students today seem incredibly boring and unimaginative, I assume they'd still perk up for that).

To be clear, you're taking about a real line and not the artificial slumber party the university has organized in more recent years, right?

[jtwcornell91]

You cant even do things that get the crowd excited like the Forum does in montreal with the lack of equipment we have here..

I think Rich's head just exploded.

[upprdeck]

You cant even do things that get the crowd excited like the Forum does in montreal with the lack of equipment we have here..

I think Rich's head just exploded.

if anyone doesnt think the pregame video projection montreal does is not great for creating energy in a bldg they are crazy.

you cant rely on the students any more because they arent there until 10 min into a game.  the band is great for during the game