Hulman Center atmosphere

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Revolution

Revolution

The Varsity Level
If we ever want to be "big time" something HAS to be done. Games are boring, crowd apathetic, time outs scripted, cheerleaders zombies, and the list goes on. If I worked for ISU, I'd watch the crowd pre/post tip off and never rest til there was electricity. It's a dang morgue with the exception of short bursts that are often times killed by "the script".

If you think things are fine, you are a part of the problem. Any casual observer from a BCS school or upper tier mid-major would openly laugh at the atmosphere in HC. That's a fact.

Something HAS to be done or we will NEVER get over the hump. EVER.
 

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I got lambasted for it in another thread after the Loyola Classic, but I'd like to see a SMALLER arena.

I look at a place like Gonzaga and think they got it right. When they decided they needed new digs, they went with a 6,000 seat facility in the McCarthey Athletic Center. Their previous facility (Charlotte Y. Martin Centre) only sat 4,000. Keep in mind, this facility was built during many of their great tournament runs, so they could have had a big head and went larger, but they created an atmosphere and demand with the smaller facility.
 
Jason Svoboda said:
I got lambasted for it in another thread after the Loyola Classic, but I'd like to see a SMALLER arena.

I look at a place like Gonzaga and think they got it right. When they decided they needed new digs, they went with a 6,000 seat facility in the McCarthey Athletic Center. Their previous facility (Charlotte Y. Martin Centre) only sat 4,000. Keep in mind, this facility was built during many of their great tournament runs, so they could have had a big head and went larger, but they created an atmosphere and demand with the smaller facility.
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Agree 100%
What's HC hold now? 10,200? Lower that by 3,000 or so and the crowd would feel & sound larger.
 
You're not going to pack the place by playing DII opponents at this point in the season. They were a quality DII opponent, but I thought the crowed was decent today for a DII opponent, especially with students preparing for finals.
 

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Maryville has nothing to do with it. Was the place packed for D1 Wisconsin-Green Bay? Nope, there are no promotions for the games, at least none I have heard of. I am a student and hear nothing on campus about the games. The atmosphere is horrible at the HC. Watching the IU right now and the student section is unbelievable (hate to admit that). We need to do something with the student season seating. In the old days we had the portable seating behind the baskets. I wish they could get a new version of those to make it feel more of the "bowl" feel.

And also, the "Blue Crew" thing ain't getting it done!! We need to put the effort in getting an organization for the students (The Forest or the Treehouse). Students pay $10 get an official student section shirt(s). Make them feel apart of the program. I would also like to see something like they did in the old days. When they passed out the baloons to wave in the endzone of the oppsing team for the second half.
 
Everyone wants to go bigger with everything at ISU wether it's the Hulman Center or Memorial Stadium but the simple truth is we will never consistently fill either venue. Regardless how good of a product we put on the court or the gridiron we won't get sell outs or even near sell outs. It doesn't matter if we are the defending champs, if we are playing a Div. II team or if we give out 1,000's of free tickets..it just won't happen at ISU. The student support isn't there nor is the community support. Alot of it has to do with ISU's marketing or lack of it but even with a top notch marketing campaign we are just not going to sell out games or get the "huge" crowds.
 
I check a lot of box scores throughout the year, and it seems that most schools are in our same boat or worse. Very few arenas are packed and crazy all of the time. I've been to many UofL games that were sold out and quite as can be. 5k for a 1:00 Saturday game against a DII school is pretty good. if we could get bigger names on our home schedule it would help a lot. I'm just telling you guys to start looking at attendance reports on box scores and you'll see the same kind of numbers and most schools have the same type of atmospher unless it's a big game on national tv.
 
Hulman Center was always packed back in the Bird era. It can be done. It takes consistent winning to put rumps in the seats.
 
The home games we get aren't attractive to the fans in the Terre Haute area. The HC is always packed when we bring in teams like Indiana, and Butler. We need more of those games to bring in the crowds. Look at the MSU game last year, big time game, with a big opponent and the crowd and the atmosphere was there. We need more of those games period.
 

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Wujboy39 said:
Hulman Center was always packed back in the Bird era. It can be done. It takes consistent winning to put rumps in the seats.
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True but these days with the economy the way it is and going to games isn't the "cool" thing to do anymore...these days there is the internet and social media sites to keep updated on games without going to the games.
 
jlandrus23 said:
The home games we get aren't attractive to the fans in the Terre Haute area. The HC is always packed when we bring in teams like Indiana, and Butler. We need more of those games to bring in the crowds. Look at the MSU game last year, big time game, with a big opponent and the crowd and the atmosphere was there. We need more of those games period.
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The thing with the IU,Butler and Purdue games are that half the crowd or more are their fans. Yes that equals a big crowd but not exactly the type of crowd we are wanting at games.
 
A few of us here remember the Arena in its early years. It was loud; it was usually full and overflowing; it was a hard place for visiting teams to play. The list of visiting coaches whose teams played in the Arena reads like a Hall of Fame roster--Arad McCutchan, John Wooden, Gene Bartow and Tony Hinkle to name just a few.

Although at the time it seemed enormous, it in fact seated just over 5,500 according to ISU archives. In it you would find very good basketball, a very good band, very good cheerleaders, very good Sparkettes, and some of the best fans in Indiana. Seats were hard to come by for students. Yes, tickets were free, but there just were not enough of them at times. We sometimes stood in groups outside in the cold (we all know it gets cold and windy in Terre Haute don't we?) and took turns going to Burger Chef to get coffee and meet the call of nature.

I wonder what the atmosphere inside the Hulman Center would be if students knew seating was limited, if they knew there was good hoops being played, if they knew the band gave good performances, if they knew the cheerleaders did a good job and that the Sparkettes gave performances that alone were worth the trip to the game? Honestly the cheerleaders and Sparkettes now don't meet the standards set by '60s groups, but the band is good and so is the basketball.

We have had crowds in the past few years that would fill a 6,000 seat facility. If only 6,000 seats were available would the desire to get to the games be greater? Would the atmosphere be better? I would certainly think that is a possibility, but I'm not foolish enough to guarantee it.
I watched some of the Ball State/Butler game today. They said that BSU blocks off 2,000 seats because of small crowds. The recently announced refurbishing of Hinkle will reduce the seating by a few thousand.

I could see advantages to eliminating a few thousand seats at the Hulman Center, if logically done, and dedicating the space to other uses. Maybe a nice permanent location for the Varsity Club or luxury boxes along with space for honoring ISU athletes that could be visited by fans would be possible.

What do you think? Is this workable and reasonable? Hey, if it's a good idea all it takes is money. RP will verify that.
 
You're all missing the point (most are). This isn't about who is there, it's about the atmosphere/production/entertainmentwhile there. Read my original post.

The fact is, Jim Norton, back in the early 2000's under Andi Myers got it. Things were much more fun then. Go back to the early 90's. The place was electric and we sucked! Put on a show! Make it an event! Games now are BORING!!!!!
 

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What was really nice about the Arena is that it was COZY...no chairbacks, just bench seats that acted as a stimulus to stand up because of a sore butt. Usually the "oldtimers" sat on the eastside & students the westside. One thing I noticed about HC when it 1st opened in '73 was that the cushioned chairbacks made fans lazy - yes, too 'friggin lazy to stand up & cheer. We're now into the 38th yr. of this "Prep H" psyche.
 
The non-conference schedule this year hasn't been real attractive,start times have been unusual.We've still had decent crowds for most of the games as compared to recent years.The product on the floor will dictate the size and intensity of the crowd,hopefully both will improve as time goes on.Hulman center is a big buiilding and has never felt as cozy since they took out the seats on both ends of the floor.Moveable seating should be possible and that would get more people closer to the action including the students.Some type of suites could be constucted on the east side without changing the buildings'structure too drastically.Once again,we do have an aging fan base that aren't going to be as loud as some might be.I see a lot of people older than me who have been loyal fans for years.We're not attracting the younger crowd to augment the steady older fans.Whether this is lack of promotion or just a sign of the times I'm not sure.People have to have a reason to leave the house and attend the games,it does take a constant effort,at least at ISU,It's not the first thing on most peoples' list as far as entertainment goes.As far as attendance in the Bird era,I don't think there were that many sold out games until late in his junior year.Tickets were still available for most games.Personally I come to watch the game,I don't feel the need to be entertained for every minute I'm in the arena.I guess that's just my OFC status coming out.
 
How are the sparketts? Last home game I was at, they wore clothes that some grandmothers or nuns had put togather. Just cause i'm a ofc member, I still like to see some skin like back in the day...
 
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nwi stater said:
How are the sparketts? Last home game I was at, they wore clothes that some grandmothers or nuns had put togather. Just cause i'm a ofc member, I still like to see some skin like back in the day...
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Mr. President, some of their bodies are so-oo bad you wouldn't really WANT to see their skin. With the Sparkettes and the cheer squad "under new management" this season, I had hoped that they would been revitalized. Unfortunately, I rarely see any spark in their routines and they tend to only be a little better than last year's group, that I considered then to below average.
 
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