GU vs. Wake

[guru]

So I tuned into this Duke/Wake game after watching the Hoyas gut out a win, and I'm struck again at how dismal the support of our team is.

I mean, look at the enthusiasm in Wake's building - at an off campus arena, no less. The schools aren't very similar, but they are close in enrollment size and they are both private. I realize Wake's program is at a different place than ours is right now, but my goodness you see an atmosphere like this and you realize how far we have to go, no matter how greatly JT3 improves the situation on the court.

Just a thought

[tboy]

no excuse but wake is the only game in town.

[CAHoya07]

Personally, I thought support for the team was pretty good tonight, but my viewpoint was from the front of the student section. Coordination of cheers from the student section must be better, different ones start at the same time and they cancel each other out.

There are two easy ways we can fix this:
1) The "Hoya Hollerz" from Hoya Blue need to take their megaphones and spread themselves throughout the student section, and coordinate cheers from there;
AND/OR
2) We need a giant whiteboard, then on possessions someone can hold it up so we know the right cheer.

A non-student section thing we can do is spread the cheerleaders out around the arena. I talked with some long-time season ticketholders and they said they wished the cheerleaders could lead cheers in other sections.

We have a long way to go before we have an atmosphere like Wake Forest, but at least we don't have to wear those hideous yellow and black tie-dye shirts. ;D

The problem, however, is COORDINATION, and it's something that Hoya Blue, the athletic department, and even Georgetown fans in general are not very good at. I, for one, want to make that change, I'm just not sure exactly how yet.

[TBird41]

How bout real cheer sheets? Like ones announcing that Bowman's 7 pts away from 1000? Or that have a cheer on them?

[nodak89]

TBird41 said:

How bout real cheer sheets? Like ones announcing that Bowman's 7 pts away from 1000? Or that have a cheer on them?

I kept waiting for a chant of "1000" or something....

[TBird41]

nodak89 said:

I kept waiting for a chant of "1000" or something....

The front rows got a "Brandon Bowman" cheer going-I don't know how well it caught on, but it went for pretty much the entire next possession-again, in order to do a cheer like "1000" you need some coordination, like a cheer sheet.

[lichoya68]

ca hoya oo7 i totally agree somebodys gotta talk to those cheerleaders and get them around to theother than students secitions to lead cheers throughout the game if anyone fills in the athletic dept survey on the games PLEASE put that one in its gotta change to get everyone involved ... .us old guys and gals seciont was almost silent we need leadership and the cheerleaders go hoyas go cheerleaders beat rutgers at the RAC dehorse the knights...make their faces scarlet etc etc

[DFW HOYA]

guru said:

I mean, look at the enthusiasm in Wake's building - at an off campus arena, no less. The schools aren't very similar, but they are close in enrollment size and they are both private. I realize Wake's program is at a different place than ours is right now, but my goodness you see an atmosphere like this and you realize how far we have to go, no matter how greatly JT3 improves the situation on the court.
Just a thought

Wake is smaller than Georgetown (4,000 undergrads) and the Joel Coliseum is closer to campus, the two big differences is 1) it's their building, and 2) Wake, like their neighbor down I-40 in Durham, places a priority on taking care of students.

Institutionally, I don't think Georgetown has ever figured out that investing in the student experience pays dividends for generations of alumni.

[SFHoya99]

DFW said:

Wake is smaller than Georgetown (4,000 undergrads) and the Joel Coliseum is closer to campus, the two big differences is 1) it's their building, and 2) Wake, like their neighbor down I-40 in Durham, places a priority on taking care of students.

Institutionally, I don't think Georgetown has ever figured out that investing in the student experience pays dividends for generations of alumni.

So, how do you invest in the student experience, aside from an on-campus arena? I can think of a few things, but curious to hear specifics from you.

[FLHoya]

CAHoya07 said:

Personally, I thought support for the team was pretty good tonight, but my viewpoint was from the front of the student section. Coordination of cheers from the student section must be better, different ones start at the same time and they cancel each other out.

There are two easy ways we can fix this:
1) The "Hoya Hollerz" from Hoya Blue need to take their megaphones and spread themselves throughout the student section, and coordinate cheers from there;
AND/OR
2) We need a giant whiteboard, then on possessions someone can hold it up so we know the right cheer.

The problem, however, is COORDINATION, and it's something that Hoya Blue, the athletic department, and even Georgetown fans in general are not very good at. I, for one, want to make that change, I'm just not sure exactly how yet.

I thought in numbers of students there, creativity of dress, and enjoyment of the experience by those who came, the section gets an A. (special thumbs up to the Senior Night thing, which drew a good solid crowd).

In terms of actual cheering...maybe a C. I think the general blahness of the game itself contributed somewhat (no big scoring runs, sloppy play, low scoring). But you also had quite a few people who filtered down to the front after the game started who...let's just say I don't think they cared about the basketball. Too many looooon lulls where no serious noise or cheering got going.

(The tape of the game tells me Darrell's favorite book is the autobiography of Oscar Robertson).

Coordination is key, and getting more people moved around to various parts of the student section helps. Someone knocked the band in the other thread, but honestly the band is the one thing that's making any effort at getting cheers unified--when the drummer keeps the beat of the cheer, it tends to fix the problem of two section chanting different things, b/c more people can here.

Here's the big part though--to have coordination like this, SOMEONE, whether it be Hoya Blue, the Hoya Hollerz, the cheerleaders, the people in the front row...SOMEONE has to step up and take one for the team and say "I'm going to give up having my favorite seat in the arena for the whole game tonight so I can get some cheers going. The view isn't bad from the back anyhow."

So who's it gonna be? Who feels like stepping up?

[DFW HOYA]

SFHoya99 said:

So, how do you invest in the student experience, aside from an on-campus arena? I can think of a few things, but curious to hear specifics from you.

This could be one of those long responses, so give me some time to put it together.

A brief analogy. In the past, I've told people that at a place like, say, Dartmouth, freshmen are constantly reminded how the many positive elements of their student life were the direct result of the efforts of those students that came before them, and that when they leave Hanover, it's up to them to return the favor to the next generation. Contrast that with Geogetown, where the unspoken attitude is often "You're on your own. We can't help."

And that's one big reason why 32% of Georgetown alumni give versus nearly 50% at Dartmouth.