We can bitch and moan about the awful attendance in regards to both alumni and students. However, that's far from the only problem when it comes to the atmosphere in GIA. This stupid segment we do where we have the players draw the opposing team's mascot is a complete vibe killer. It sucks out any energy in the room and it's not at all funny or entertaining. I don't remember if we started it before the GTown game, but we've done it for both GT and WSU now, and to be honest, it's kind of embarrassing. Especially when that opponent kicks your ass on your own court.
The next problem I have is that we have no one interacting with the students trying to get them riled up. So they stand there all game with their hands in their pockets, waiting for the team to string together 3-4 good plays before they even think about cheering. Opposing teams have done a great job of calling timeouts whenever our crowd gets loud, and once we return from the timeout the crowd forgets the plays we made prior to the timeout and goes back to standing there with hands in their pockets.
I shouldn't have to worry about the person behind me getting mad at me for standing. I shouldn't be louder than the students. 15 years ago we would have a decibel reader on the screen during timeouts to encourage the fans to get loud. Now we have the damn kiss cams and simba cams. We currently have no home court advantage whatsoever, yet there was a time not too long ago when we could call ourselves the rowdiest arena in the country. But now I'm not even sure if we can claim to be the rowdiest arena in the county as I hear the Lazy J can get pretty rowdy when the rodeo is in town.
TL;DR: Even the fans that show up still suck.
The next problem I have is that we have no one interacting with the students trying to get them riled up. So they stand there all game with their hands in their pockets, waiting for the team to string together 3-4 good plays before they even think about cheering. Opposing teams have done a great job of calling timeouts whenever our crowd gets loud, and once we return from the timeout the crowd forgets the plays we made prior to the timeout and goes back to standing there with hands in their pockets.
I shouldn't have to worry about the person behind me getting mad at me for standing. I shouldn't be louder than the students. 15 years ago we would have a decibel reader on the screen during timeouts to encourage the fans to get loud. Now we have the damn kiss cams and simba cams. We currently have no home court advantage whatsoever, yet there was a time not too long ago when we could call ourselves the rowdiest arena in the country. But now I'm not even sure if we can claim to be the rowdiest arena in the county as I hear the Lazy J can get pretty rowdy when the rodeo is in town.
TL;DR: Even the fans that show up still suck.
