The Barn atmosphere

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Just wondering how you think the Barn compares to other home courts in the Big Ten in terms of overall atmosphere and liveliness. Is it difficult to win at Minnesota because of the rowdiness? How does the student's section compare? I noticed the Nebraska fans were crazy (at least to start) against Indiana.

Every time I've gone to a game at Minnesota (dozens of time) it's been pretty decent, but I don't think it's the toughest place to play in the B1G. But it's not the easiest either.
 

I'd rate it towards the middle/bottom tier as far as noise, at least this year. MSU, Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois much more rowdier. Michigan was crazy vs. MSU last night, but that was a rivalry game.
 

maliksealy said:
I'd rate it towards the middle/bottom tier as far as noise, at least this year. MSU, Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois much more rowdier. Michigan was crazy vs. MSU last night, but that was a rivalry game.
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I would definitely agree with this. It is a place that could be much louder, but the student section almost appears to get disinterested throughout the game. So, I would say we are also towards the middle/bottom.
 

As a student, there have not been very many opportunities to get others excited with the exception of the Virginia Tech game this season. The two Big Ten games that have been at home were both during Christmas break and a good amount of students still came back. Sunday will be much different with the campus full of kids again and a Big Ten game at home.
 

The U needs cheerleaders

that actually get the crowd to do cheers. And the MinnesotaNice folks just need to let their hair down for a couple hours; especially the over 60 crowd.
 




Block M said:
that actually get the crowd to do cheers. And the MinnesotaNice folks just need to let their hair down for a couple hours; especially the over 60 crowd.
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I was going to say.....before we point any fingers at the students let's look at the average age of the premium seats around the court. Maturi has priced those seats out of the reach of any fans below the age of 50 and I don't see any of those fans making the Barn rowdy.

The students are the ones doing chants and standing up. The old geezers are the ones sucking the energy out of the place. Related note: Give the students better seats ala MSU and IU.

/thread
 

PeanutButterTubbyTime said:
The students are the ones doing chants and standing up. The old geezers are the ones sucking the energy out of the place. Related note: Give the students better seats ala MSU and IU.
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Yes, it is compltely logical to rip out all the charir backs around the rest of the bottom level of the arena to make them bleachers for the students.... IU has students behind the hoop.
 



PA just referenced this thread! I agree with Babu. Spot on for the atmosphere.
 

The issue is consistency. The Barn during the Wisconsin games the last few years was amazing, but it waxes and wanes against other opponents.
 

Overall, with students in session, arenas with a better game-day Big Ten atmosphere than Williams, in alphabetical order:

Illinois
Indiana
Michigan State
Ohio State
Purdue
Wisconsin

Even Crisler appears to be closing in on Williams, but not ready to put Michigan ahead of Minnesota yet.
 

my opinion

I feel I can weigh in on this having been to almost every big ten basketball arena (not Neb or Iowa).
Williams and Assembly Hall (Indiana) definitely have the most character, although Mackey is cool too.
The best atmosphere, unquestionably, is also Assembly Hall. I went there last year and two years ago when the Hoosiers sucked and the 18,000 seat arena was still packed and the students were still loud. This year, it was even louder. But, oh, so much sweeter to be wearing my Minnesota jersey amongst enemies.
I wouldn't agree with a previous poster that Crisler is a better atmosphere than the Barn. It's also kind of a lame arena, no character or distinctive qualities. Value City arena is like this too, except VCA is very nice. The atmosphere at the Breslin Center is better than Williams too.
 



I feel like it is somewhere near the middle of the conference. Like mntwinsfreak said, the student section hasn't needed to get into it with the exception of the Va tech game. I have been to every game but the ones over the winter break and I am hoping the student section will be a little more rowdy this sunday.
 

Another factor is a lot of tickets are Corporate and may go to people who are not passionate about the Gophers. However, I think the biggest factor is the poor quality of basketball we've seen during the past decade. One or two good games is not going to change the atmosphere.
 

The atmosphere in Williams Arena today is calm compared to what I remember from 20 years ago. It will be interesting to see if the atmosphere changes when the reseating kicks in next season. Will there be more of a mixed age group in the lower level seats that actually get up and cheer? It will be interesting to see.
 

I know I am going to sound like an old poop when I say this, but back throughout the '70s when I was a student, the student GA section was the entire balcony. The bell would ring an hour or so before tipoff, we'd get our ticket punched, and run like hell up the stairs. I seem to remember a lot of noise at all the games even though us rowdies were so far away from courtside. Of course our teams in the '70s gave you reason to be loud and imposing.
 

gophertime said:
One or two good games is not going to change the atmosphere.
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Amen. I love Gopher hoops and will always go to the games (didn't PT Barnum say there was a sucker born every minute??)... however, the atmosphere has been poor for some time. Debate whether Jan, Clem or Dan killed the atmosphere.. but the scandal killed it. I remember going to a few early years Clem games when I was young and it was rocking. Then moved away and finally came back in Clems final year..the 1998 season. I remember those early games..OUTSTANDING. I believe the Cinic game was that year..as was Oregon. Wow, those were awesome game. Pryz as a freshman and Q lighting it up... the crowd was loud, student section packed, even the band was better. Then the slow death started..not fully dying until the final two monson years. Tubby provided a shot in the arm and the atmosphere, while not Clem like, was improved and trending. Then fast forward to San Juan.. the team explodes and beats West Virginia and UNC. Hope is high, talk of S16 runs.. and bam, Nolen's bum boot and Devoe's attitude and penchant for 420 doom us.. followed by a gamble that didnt pay off for Tubby (Blake at point). The spiral killed any momentum and hope for better atmosphere. Its officially prove it first mode for most fans now. I love going and cheer lound. My son who is 7, attends a lot of games with me and does the Rouser (of course) loudly and actually crosses his fingers during our free throws in hopes they go in.. so hope is alive. However, until the Gophers start pulling more Indiana like wins at home, the crowd won't come back. Plus, we need more than one or two.. we need a season worth of big wins... hopefully that can be this year, but I doubt it, though I am pulling for it.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Overall, with students in session, arenas with a better game-day Big Ten atmosphere than Williams, in alphabetical order:

Illinois
Indiana
Michigan State
Ohio State
Purdue
Wisconsin

Even Crisler appears to be closing in on Williams, but not ready to put Michigan ahead of Minnesota yet.
Click to expand...

I would generally agree with this, but the Kohl Center always seems fairly quiet to me. I think if the Gophers won as much as the Badgers have over the past decade then the Barn would come out ahead. Value City Arena also doesn't really do it for me. I guess I picked out the paint by numbers multipurpose arenas here so I probably am biased against them.
 

PeanutButterTubbyTime said:
I was going to say.....before we point any fingers at the students let's look at the average age of the premium seats around the court. Maturi has priced those seats out of the reach of any fans below the age of 50 and I don't see any of those fans making the Barn rowdy.

The students are the ones doing chants and standing up. The old geezers are the ones sucking the energy out of the place. Related note: Give the students better seats ala MSU and IU.

/thread
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I agree with this comment. Many of the top programs have student sections that run along the sidelines and are the best seats in the house. There's nothing like seeing the student section rocking along the sidelines and it looks great on TV.

At Maryland, the student section is the first five or so rows surrounding the entire court. This is the way it should be. Let the students have the courtside seats and create the atmosphere. When you watch Gophers games, you see a stale, older crowd on the sidelines and you only get to see the Barnyard on free throws. Boring.
 

mnfaninmd said:
I agree with this comment. Many of the top programs have student sections that run along the sidelines and are the best seats in the house. There's nothing like seeing the student section rocking along the sidelines and it looks great on TV.

At Maryland, the student section is the first five or so rows surrounding the entire court. This is the way it should be. Let the students have the courtside seats and create the atmosphere. When you watch Gophers games, you see a stale, older crowd on the sidelines and you only get to see the Barnyard on free throws. Boring.
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Too late guys. The time for weighing-in with this has come-and-gone. (And I agree with you.) The premium seating plan is in place and it's over - no change for students. Not gunna happen.

Let's hope the shake-up (-down) next year results in a little more enthusiasm in the lower level non-student seating. I wouldn't hold my breath.
 

The student section needs to be consistently full before they can even think of asking for court side seats.
 

I hate to say it but they need to do SOMETHING, soon.
 


I think the complete lack of winning is largely responsible for the Barn's decline. Under Clem, I would have been confident that they would beat a team like Ohio State or Michigan State this year in the Barn (to be fair, I also would have been concerned that the'd lose at Penn State) and I would have been absolutely shocked if the Gophers lost home games to the squads Iowa and Purdue put on the floor. We go in to this game at Northwestern, and I think most think the Gophers will win, but nobody would be shocked if they lost. The students who are currently at the U did not spend much of their life watching a Gopher team that was expected to win virtually every home game it played and most of them were not even basketball fans when the Gophers last won a tournament game. The Gopher basketball crowd starts appearing more and more like the Gopher football crowd in that it largely consists of people who were fans the last time the Gophers were competitive. Under Tubby, the Gophers have done their best work at neutral sites and then their most unexpected wins seem to occur on the road. I don't believe the Gophers pulled a single upset at home all last season and the last game I can recall them winning as underdogs at home was the Ohio State game when Turner came back . It's been a long time since the product on the floor has given the fans something to be excited about. Obviously, it would help if the fans tried to provide the atmosphere to make more exciting things happen (and I believe they did try through the early Monson years).
 

Yesterday's 'announced attendance' was 12,219.

How was the atmosphere?

Thanks in advance.
 

This plays a factor in the atmosphere...

William Area Seating Capacity by Era
1928-1950: 14,100
-- building divided into separate sections for bball and hockey...assuming 2nd deck was added at this time --
1950-1971: 18,025
-- ?? --
1971-1987: 17,500
-- ?? --
1987-1993: 16,434
-- benches ripped out and replaced with seats --
1993-1997: 14,321
-- boxes added --
1997-now: 14,625

Found this statement on a website:

Seating for Williams Arena has fluctuated throughout its history. From 1950 to 1971 it Williams Arena seated 18,025 but now the seating is a smaller 14,321, giving Williams Arena a more personal college basketball feel.
 

brucekaupa said:
This plays a factor in the atmosphere...

William Area Seating Capacity by Era
1928-1950: 14,100
-- building divided into separate sections for bball and hockey...assuming 2nd deck was added at this time --
1950-1971: 18,025
-- ?? --
1971-1987: 17,500
-- ?? --
1987-1993: 16,434
-- benches ripped out and replaced with seats --
1993-1997: 14,321
-- boxes added --
1997-now: 14,625

Found this statement on a website:

Seating for Williams Arena has fluctuated throughout its history. From 1950 to 1971 it Williams Arena seated 18,025 but now the seating is a smaller 14,321, giving Williams Arena a more personal college basketball feel.
Click to expand...

From Wiki; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Arena

Seating capacities
1928–1950 14,100
1950–1971 18,025
1971–1987 17,500
1987–1993 16,434
1993–1997 14,321
1997–present 14,625
From 1950 until the opening of Marriott Center at Brigham Young University in 1971, it had the largest capacity of any collegiate basketball arena in the country. Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University also was constructed in 1928, and held the honor of being the highest capacity arena until the remodeling of Williams Arena in 1950.

If I remember correctly, during that era up until 71, MN and Kentucky were #1 and #2 in the country in attendance for many years
 

station19 said:
Yesterday's 'announced attendance' was 12,219.

How was the atmosphere?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Extremely disappointing. We start out 11-0, and we got polite applause after each basket. We went on a few runs that would've had the place shaking 15 years ago but did nothing yesterday. People don't come wanting to be rowdy anymore; it's more of a theatre crowd. I know people have some legitimate concerns about Tubby, but coming from Kentucky he must be wondering what the hell is wrong with us.

Coleman's steal and dunk got people going a little, and when he got that second steal and breakway right away I thought that was finally going to create some noise. But the airball layup ended that.
 

From the Barn said:
The student section needs to be consistently full before they can even think of asking for court side seats.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. Just like at football games, there's a committed core of great students who are into the games, doing chants, etc, but there are too many empty seats, and too many students in the back just standing around to warrant expansion. That's not to say that the rest of Williams is any great shakes. But it's not like they're dead quiet. My section in the upper deck is usually fairly loud.
 

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