UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

[Slasher7]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

As an outsider, the Whitt was a much more intimidating place to play in the early 2000s. Nowadays, it's not very loud and is sterile for the most part. I think it shows in their win/loss record at home. UNH was unbeatable (especially vs. my Eagles) until the last few years. Still a fun place to go, though.

[SteveF]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Its my understanding that Fitzy and Silky just dont want to be under the more talented Vecchiones shadow.

or they didnt like being sexted

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

or they didnt like being sexted

Tom Mutch works at UNH now?

[MagicCat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Then we have far different definitions of what constitutes a "regular basis."

So because some students have lives and enjoy taking some time off to relax and possibly go to a warmer climate, you look down upon them? The "body painters" as you call them go to every game they are on campus for and one of them is a close friend of mine. I'm sorry that they do not seem to fit your vision of the "true blue blooded fans", but they are.

The students would and will be fine if and when the hosers decide to step aside and move to the seat back section. Creative and witty cheers and signs do not make for a rowdy, tough to play in atmosphere. If the students are smart enough to get into UNH, then I'm guessing they can string together 3 words and claps to make a cheer.

Get over yourself.

[irishfan85]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

This has been driving me nuts for most of this thread:

EVERY poster on here agrees that the atmosphere at the Whitt is lacking.

SOME posters here are trying to plan and implement a change.

SOME posters on here explain why this or that won't work, or what has been tried before, or why whatever is a bad idea, or whatever. FERCHIRSSAKES!!! All we want to do is improve. Change means trying something new. Change means trying something again under different circumstances. Change means NOT STANDING IN THE WAY, CUTTING US DOWN, WITHOUT A STINKING BETTER IDEA!!!!



Quit telling us why whatever won't work. I don't care. THIS KIND OF THINKING IS part of WHY THE WHITT IS WHAT IT IS NOW. Don't you see that? If you can't come up with an idea about how to better the Whitt, then butt the heck out. ANYTHING we try is going to have SOME kind of effect, and we'll learn as we go what will work with this group of students/STHs.

I get the difference of thought on which would be more effective, organized or spontaneous cheers. Who says we can't work on improving both? But let's actually WORK on something, not just sit here, read what the ideas are, and cut them down!!!

When the anthem sign-up-sheet comes around next September, I, for one, will be contacting Amber re: my Big Screen Factoids idea, towards inspiring chatter depth. I'll even volunteer to do research for each home game, though most of you are much better at that kind of stuff than I am. But that's what I've proposed, and since no one here has offered help/advice on that, I'm just going to run with it.

That's my contribution for now. What will you contribute: an action, or a dissention?

NYARGH!!! so angry

Not a UNH fan, but I sure hope the atmosphere of the late 90s and early 00s can be reinvigorated at the Whittemore. It is a great new rink with an unbelievable atmosphere. I make sure and get to a few games at UNH each year because of how great the hockey team is along with the great atmosphere.

[bostonewe]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

That would imply that the UNH students want to take the initiative on such things. The argument people have been making is that while we would welcome the students to start cheers, the simple fact of the matter is that THEY DON'T.

As I've said, hockey has become a social thing. It's to be seen and to kill time before going to a party.

This year there was a group of "body painters." I never noticed this group of guys until the end of the season, and shortly thereafter the student newspaper did an article on them. These guys were self described "Best fans" of the hockey team.

And yet they can't be bothered to show up on time, often not arriving in the student section until the middle of the 1st. Not one showed up for the Hockey East quarterfinals. Sure, it was Spring Break, but one would think that the hockey team's "best fans" would put hockey first. I never went on a spring break trip during college BECAUSE I wanted to go to hockey. These guys also didn't show to Albany, and nobody ever saw them at an away game. Apparently the Whitt is far enough, and even that is sometimes too far.

So even when a small group of students organize, there is very little dedication and persistence.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes here, since I realize that UNH isn't my team per se, but I'm not sure this sort of negativity about the student section is helpful or productive. Maybe it's not that the students aren't taking initiative, but that they aren't sure what a good cheer might be (I know that sounds simple, but if the only cheers you know are led by other people, maybe you're worried that you might either do something at the wrong time or do something that is someone else's cheer). By meeting with a small group of students and encouraging them to be more vocal and in turn having the students meet with other students, that might make people more comfortable about cheering in the section.

Did you not party when you were on campus? I know I'm a fairly recent graduate, but hockey was absolutely something to do before a party. Once I learned about the game and the cheers, I was much more inclined to stay for the whole game and cheer in the student section. I know that we're all pretty hard core about the game, but I wonder how many people who show up for the game know anything about the game? I sure as hell didn't when I showed up on campus - we didn't have hockey where I grew up. I went to my first game because it's the thing to do at BU when you're a freshman. When I saw how cool our student section was, I wanted to be a part of it and kept going. If you work on generating a good atmosphere, I bet people will stay the whole game and join the section.

Maybe the "body painters" weren't around for the first part of the season? Or, at least, not as the "body painters". Maybe one guy was studying abroad and when he got back inspired the rest of his buddies. Maybe they decided to do it after Christmas break. Who knows, but I don't think denigrating their efforts is a good thing.

I can't speak for the on time thing, it's an issue at every school. The Spring Break, Albany, and away game thing might just be the result of being a student. If dorms are closed, which I was informed that they are, I imagine it's not easy to stick around on campus for hockey. If they don't live nearby, it might not be easy for them to get back for the quarters...or maybe they don't have a car. Maybe students wanted to go on Spring Break and relax...
As for Regionals, there is a thread here expressing concern about the cost of Regional tickets started by people who are out of school and have jobs, what college student can afford tickets, hotel (even split between friends), transportation, and food? That's an awful lot to ask of students, especially if UNH wasn't offering any help in the transportation or group rate for hotel fronts.

Away games? If you don't have transportation or solid student support/organization, you might not be able to get to games. Or maybe they don't know that UNH has a decent alumni/parent showing at away games (or at least at NU they did this year) and that they'd be welcome to join. I think most schools have significantly fewer fans that travel with them on the road than at home. Distance might be an issue too. BU fans travel well to some schools because it's only a T ride or commuter rail ride away: BC and NU cost $3.40 round trip, Providence, Lowell, and Merrimack cost only commuter rail fares plus a cheap cab, and UNH has an Amtrak stop on campus.

I think that the small groups should be encouraged and fostered and that they might be just the kind of fans that would be interested in doing more and becoming leaders with a little bit of help.

[MagicCat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I don't want to step on anyone's toes here, since I realize that UNH isn't my team per se, but I'm not sure this sort of negativity about the student section is helpful or productive. Maybe it's not that the students aren't taking initiative, but that they aren't sure what a good cheer might be (I know that sounds simple, but if the only cheers you know are led by other people, maybe you're worried that you might either do something at the wrong time or do something that is someone else's cheer). By meeting with a small group of students and encouraging them to be more vocal and in turn having the students meet with other students, that might make people more comfortable about cheering in the section.

Did you not party when you were on campus? I know I'm a fairly recent graduate, but hockey was absolutely something to do before a party. Once I learned about the game and the cheers, I was much more inclined to stay for the whole game and cheer in the student section. I know that we're all pretty hard core about the game, but I wonder how many people who show up for the game know anything about the game? I sure as hell didn't when I showed up on campus - we didn't have hockey where I grew up. I went to my first game because it's the thing to do at BU when you're a freshman. When I saw how cool our student section was, I wanted to be a part of it and kept going. If you work on generating a good atmosphere, I bet people will stay the whole game and join the section.

Maybe the "body painters" weren't around for the first part of the season? Or, at least, not as the "body painters". Maybe one guy was studying abroad and when he got back inspired the rest of his buddies. Maybe they decided to do it after Christmas break. Who knows, but I don't think denigrating their efforts is a good thing.

I can't speak for the on time thing, it's an issue at every school. The Spring Break, Albany, and away game thing might just be the result of being a student. If dorms are closed, which I was informed that they are, I imagine it's not easy to stick around on campus for hockey. If they don't live nearby, it might not be easy for them to get back for the quarters...or maybe they don't have a car. Maybe students wanted to go on Spring Break and relax...
As for Regionals, there is a thread here expressing concern about the cost of Regional tickets started by people who are out of school and have jobs, what college student can afford tickets, hotel (even split between friends), transportation, and food? That's an awful lot to ask of students, especially if UNH wasn't offering any help in the transportation or group rate for hotel fronts.

Away games? If you don't have transportation or solid student support/organization, you might not be able to get to games. Or maybe they don't know that UNH has a decent alumni/parent showing at away games (or at least at NU they did this year) and that they'd be welcome to join. I think most schools have significantly fewer fans that travel with them on the road than at home. Distance might be an issue too. BU fans travel well to some schools because it's only a T ride or commuter rail ride away: BC and NU cost $3.40 round trip, Providence, Lowell, and Merrimack cost only commuter rail fares plus a cheap cab, and UNH has an Amtrak stop on campus.

I think that the small groups should be encouraged and fostered and that they might be just the kind of fans that would be interested in doing more and becoming leaders with a little bit of help.

Ewe,

A majority of your points are spot on. The "painters" started doing it after winter break. Alot of students only ask to go to away games where there friends go to school, and can make a weekend trip out of it to justify the expense of the trip. Not going to games over winter or spring break seems very acceptable to me, I tried last year during winter break to make all the games and even living a short hour drive door to door made it tough after working from 7 until 4:30. With UNH become more and more out of state students, its going to be extremely difficult for the underclassmen without apartments to stick around.

[freak]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

This has been driving me nuts for most of this thread:

..........

For my part, I was responding to Saetia22, who was ASKING if we had a group like at BU/NU, who engaged in certain types of activities. I merely said that we did not, and that it would require students to take the initiative to create such a group. Thus far, they've showed no such desire to take the initiative.

As for my contribution to a concrete change, there are several people who are aware of my "plan" for next year. Keith, Cloud, Ambrose, and several of the Hosers. I am still in the initial planning stages, however, so I haven't widely put out more information.

[mcfarljd]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Sorry to break up the hate fest over here, but just curious if anyone can confirm whether or not UNH is making the trip to Oxford next season. I know Enrico said that there was a trip coming back, not sure if it was this or next season though.

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

So because some students have lives and enjoy taking some time off to relax and possibly go to a warmer climate, you look down upon them? The "body painters" as you call them go to every game they are on campus for and one of them is a close friend of mine. I'm sorry that they do not seem to fit your vision of the "true blue blooded fans", but they are.

Get over yourself.

I said for a group of supposedly great fans of the team, you would think they could be bothered to show up for playoff games. You'd think they could be bothered to make it to a few away games. Instead of making a "grand" entrance sometime in the 1st period, just maybe they could make it there before the puck drops. For a group that supposedly starts so many cheers, they were surprisingly invisible until the middle of the year.

I don't care where they go for Spring Break.

But if you're going to point to the body painters as proof of the students being willing to take charge to better the atmosphere, then we're going to have to resign ourselves to the fact that it will just be for home games which don't require students to give up something to cheer on the team.

Hey, any cheering is good from my perspective. In fact, my attitude is that we have to move AWAY from having one group to lead cheers, except for the traditional stuff. Outside of that, I'd rather see 20 separate groups making a ton of noise.

But color me skeptical that the atmosphere is going to spontaneously occur if the Hosers move to the chairbacks.

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I don't want to step on anyone's toes here, since I realize that UNH isn't my team per se, but I'm not sure this sort of negativity about the student section is helpful or productive.

I'm not trying to be negative. I'm just calling it as I see it, and there is very little initiative on the part of many students. As I said, every game I see students showing up late, leaving early, and generally not really getting into the game.

Maybe it's not that the students aren't taking initiative, but that they aren't sure what a good cheer might be

It really isn't that hard. Get a group of friends and start screaming. Who cares if it sounds "stupid"? Of course you'll have cheers that are out of line... one group tried to start a "Vetri has herpes" chant a few years ago...but by and large, any cheer is good. Noise matters.

Did you not party when you were on campus? I know I'm a fairly recent graduate, but hockey was absolutely something to do before a party.

Absolutely. But I pre-gamed only so long as I could still make it to the rink on time, and I stayed for the whole game before going to the party.

When I talk about students "killing time" until a party, I'm talking about the kids who leave in the mid-2nd or 2nd intermission, telling others that they have to get to a party.

Maybe the "body painters" weren't around for the first part of the season? Or, at least, not as the "body painters".

I never noticed them as the "body painters" early in the season. Later, they were obvious as they often showed up after puck drop, as if it were a grand entrance. As for how much they cheer, I'll just say from my vantage point where I can scan the whole student section, they don't stand out to me in that regards.

I understand the problems that might occur with Spring Break, but truly dedicated fans find a way to do it. It goes back to my belief that most students just don't care about hockey like they used to. And sure, part of that is the relative decline in the team, and the excitement surrounding the program.

I think that the small groups should be encouraged and fostered and that they might be just the kind of fans that would be interested in doing more and becoming leaders with a little bit of help.

Agreed. Although as I said, there should be less emphasis on "leaders." A leader by definition implies he/she is followed. This produces less innovation and initiative. Have someone...Band, students, Hosers, whoever...lead the traditional cheers. But we need to get away from trying to organize everything. Back in the early 00s, the organized cheers were just PART of the game. From what I gather, the same is true of the late 90s, and the Lively Snively days. Fans were just louder overall. That general volume needs to return, not just more organized cheers.

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

The students would and will be fine if and when the hosers decide to step aside and move to the seat back section.

THIS right here is the problem.

Exactly why must the Hosers move from the GENERAL ADMISSION section for the students to take some initiative?

Nobody forbids them from starting cheers now. They just DON'T.

I don't see where student cheering will just happen once the Hosers move.

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

THIS right here is the problem.

Exactly why must the Hosers move from the GENERAL ADMISSION section for the students to take some initiative?

Nobody forbids them from starting cheers now. They just DON'T.

I don't see where student cheering will just happen once the Hosers move.

I agree with this, if the hosers moved, you really think others will start cheers?

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Sorry to interrupt from the fan discussion, but does anyone have any idea on a tentative schedule for next year?

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Sorry to interrupt from the fan discussion, but does anyone have any idea on a tentative schedule for next year?

27 HE games, a bunch of OOC games (1 against DC), and hopefully some playoff games.

I've heard rumors about 2 @ Miami of Oxford, and 1 @ Cornell.