Season tickets

[Jim Hyla]

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 Championships::banana::and that little thing of an undefeated season.:-D

[Rosey]

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 Championships::banana::and that little thing of an undefeated season.:-D

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.

[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

[marty]

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.

[Trotsky]

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.

[Rosey]

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.

[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 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 ,

[Rosey]

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.

[KeithK]

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?

[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.

[Dafatone]

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.

[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'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.

[jtwcornell91]

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.)

[French Rage]

The players were there, giving out pizza.

OH GOD WE'VE BECOME COLGATE!

[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!