Crowd noise and fan-dom

[...]

Why do some of you people hate on the Buffalo crowds at Sabres games? Why do you equate fan-dom with crowd noise/activity? Why is it important to you that the crowds act like obnoxious fools, and when they don't, then you hate on them?

 

I've been going to Sabres games since I was a kid. Since I can remember, I don't recall Buffalo crowds ever getting outrageous like European crowds. I don't go to games to act stupid, I go to games to see the things in the game I can't see/hear/experience with TV feeds.

 

At home, when I watch games, I WATCH games. I do not like to chit-chat with people in the room, except, of course, during TV time outs. When they score, I usually yell, put my arms up, and yammer about the play, then I'm back to watching the game intently. I am no different at games. Does that make me a bad man to you; a poor example of a Sabres fan?

 

I'm a musician; been playing in front of people since I was a teenager. When I go to concerts, I like to watch and listen, not fight jerks who are there to get obnoxious, or dance around like a fool. Just like I like to LISTEN to music like people watch movies; it's not background, or ambiance, rather it's the primary focus. I study it and pay attention like old-skool audiences from the early 60's and earlier. Used to be, and it is still true for a lot of bands, that the music is supposed to be focus, not the "party" in the audience, and a lot of musicians find attention-deprived audiences offensive. Unless you're talking about mind-less, shallow music that is built around the idea of an attention-deprived audience, which, of course, only serves to distract from the fact that the music is mind-less, shallow, and of poor quality.

 

Back to the Sabres, when I'm at games, I notice the "dead" crowds are very similar to me - they WATCH the games. They're following the play, judging what's going on, reacting to stupid things, laughing or otherwise enjoying good play. They stand up and cheer during fights and goals, bitch and moan for bad calls. The crowds aren't stupid - the Sabres aren't brilliant enough to warrant the excited agitation of a crowd for an entire game. They blew the last two games with Tampa, after all.

 

I don't get this crowd noise = fan-dom equation. If the crowds were raucous for an entire game, for no reason other than to "party on", then I wouldn't go - and I'm sure a lot of other people wouldn't, either.

[dEnnis the Menace]

Why do some of you people hate on the Buffalo crowds at Sabres games? Why do you equate fan-dom with crowd noise/activity? Why is it important to you that the crowds act like obnoxious fools, and when they don't, then you hate on them?

 

I've been going to Sabres games since I was a kid. Since I can remember, I don't recall Buffalo crowds ever getting outrageous like European crowds. I don't go to games to act stupid, I go to games to see the things in the game I can't see/hear/experience with TV feeds.

 

At home, when I watch games, I WATCH games. I do not like to chit-chat with people in the room, except, of course, during TV time outs. When they score, I usually yell, put my arms up, and yammer about the play, then I'm back to watching the game intently. I am no different at games. Does that make me a bad man to you; a poor example of a Sabres fan?

 

I'm a musician; been playing in front of people since I was a teenager. When I go to concerts, I like to watch and listen, not fight jerks who are there to get obnoxious, or dance around like a fool. Just like I like to LISTEN to music like people watch movies; it's not background, or ambiance, rather it's the primary focus. I study it and pay attention like old-skool audiences from the early 60's and earlier. Used to be, and it is still true for a lot of bands, that the music is supposed to be focus, not the "party" in the audience, and a lot of musicians find attention-deprived audiences offensive. Unless you're talking about mind-less, shallow music that is built around the idea of an attention-deprived audience, which, of course, only serves to distract from the fact that the music is mind-less, shallow, and of poor quality.

 

Back to the Sabres, when I'm at games, I notice the "dead" crowds are very similar to me - they WATCH the games. They're following the play, judging what's going on, reacting to stupid things, laughing or otherwise enjoying good play. They stand up and cheer during fights and goals, bitch and moan for bad calls. The crowds aren't stupid - the Sabres aren't brilliant enough to warrant the excited agitation of a crowd for an entire game. They blew the last two games with Tampa, after all.

 

I don't get this crowd noise = fan-dom equation. If the crowds were raucous for an entire game, for no reason other than to "party on", then I wouldn't go - and I'm sure a lot of other people wouldn't, either.

 

I never meant it to be interpreted as fan-om = crowd noise, but it's an edge during the game. think about it for a second, You're on the ice playing in front of your hometown crowd, you score a goal, you want the crowd to go nuts, and then if the crowd stays loud, it wears on the opposition. It's hard to even think if the crowd is going nuts. there's no incentive to play in front of a "dead" crowd.

 

I don't appreciate people being stupid at the games, but I do like the chanting, or the cheers, or even the jeers sometimes. It let's the players know that we as fans care about the game.

 

The greatest cheer I like is the counting one I mentioned earlier. After the team scores, you count up the goals "one! we want two!" or "Two, we want three!". The best is at RIT games when we chant it's all your fault afterwards while pointing at the opposing goalie. They hear it, they feel it, it get's in their head. Just ask the UConn goalie that quit after RIT got 7 by him (or was it 8). He even acknowledged us after the 4th one...or 5th...

 

I've tried getting the crowd to at least do something other than sit in absolute silence during play. To me, if you want to sit in absolute silence, and not cheer at all except for after a goal, and don't want to stand, except for a goal, stay home or get a box seat...that's JUST MY OPINION though.

[LabattBlue]

I already posted about this in the GDT from last night's game, but I have no problem with fans such as yourself. To each their own. If the arena is loud on a given night...great. If it is quiet on a given night....great.

 

 

That being said, if I have a choice between a fan that is loud, but is also a drunk obnoxious ######, and "quiet fan", I'll choose the latter every time.

[LabattBlue]

I never meant it to be interpreted as fan-om = crowd noise, but it's an edge during the game. think about it for a second, You're on the ice playing in front of your hometown crowd, you score a goal, you want the crowd to go nuts, and then if the crowd stays loud, it wears on the opposition. It's hard to even think if the crowd is going nuts. there's no incentive to play in front of a "dead" crowd.

 

Blame some of this on in game presentation and not the fans. Goal is scored, horn goes off, then everyone quiets down because of the RJ replay on the jumbotron(dumb idea to do the replay immediately after the goal).

 

Then during every stoppage in play, there is music blaring or some other distraction on the jumbotron. Fans then become conditioned to watch and listen instead of cheer.

[Weave]

From a watching-the-game point of view my ideal crowd would be quiet until events like fights, big checks, or goals/scoring opportunities came up. Then they would be loud as ####.

 

But I think dEnnis nailed it. Crowd noise goes hand in hand with home ice advantage. The team appears to feed off the energy of the crowd. At least the players and coaches seem to indicate that they do anyway. So a loud, boistrous fanbase should = more home advantage, right?

[dEnnis the Menace]

Blame some of this on in game presentation and not the fans. Goal is scored, horn goes off, then everyone quiets down because of the RJ replay on the jumbotron(dumb idea to do the replay immediately after the goal).

 

Then during every stoppage in play, there is music blaring or some other distraction on the jumbotron. Fans then become conditioned to watch and listen instead of cheer.

 

I'll give you this. I can definitely concur with that, sucks, but it's true.

[Weave]

Blame some of this on in game presentation and not the fans. Goal is scored, horn goes off, then everyone quiets down because of the RJ replay on the jumbotron(dumb idea to do the replay immediately after the goal).

 

Then during every stoppage in play, there is music blaring or some other distraction on the jumbotron. Fans then become conditioned to watch and listen instead of cheer.

 

 

I do miss the seemingly organic crowd reactions we used to get at the Aud.

 

1.... 2.... 3.... WE WANT FOUR!!!!

 

WE WANT RAY !! WE WANT RAY !!!

 

HARRIS IS A BUM !!

 

Goalie taunts

 

[insert name here] SUCKS !!

 

We don't here much of that anymore.

[LabattBlue]

The team appears to feed off the energy of the crowd. At least the players and coaches seem to indicate that they do anyway. So a loud, boistrous fanbase should = more home advantage, right?

Chicken and egg. A stronger case can be made for the crowd feeding off what is going on during play...big hit, great chance, fight, etc... If you were at Tuesday's game, the reason the crowd was silent was that for almost 40 minutes of play the game on the ice was AWFUL.

[...]

From a watching-the-game point of view my ideal crowd would be quiet until events like fights, big checks, or goals/scoring opportunities came up. Then they would be loud as ####.

 

But I think dEnnis nailed it. Crowd noise goes hand in hand with home ice advantage. The team appears to feed off the energy of the crowd. At least the players and coaches seem to indicate that they do anyway. So a loud, boistrous fanbase should = more home advantage, right?

 

 

Well, then, perhaps they ought to play at home like they deserve the fan's encouragement? Just as in Labatt's theory where the fans have been conditioned to be quiet, the fans have ALSO been conditioned NOT to expect the Sabres to "wow" them for an entire home game.

 

There are the rare blow-outs, of course, and there are moments during games, but, honestly, it's been years since the Sabres have been consistent enough, and played well, enough, where fans should (or SHOULD) commit more emotion than they already do at home.

 

How about the players giving the fans a reason to commit more? Trust me, it sucks going to home games when they have been playing well on road, excited to to see a home win, only for the Sabres to totally suck and blow a game they should have won. When they turn that perception around, the crowds will respond.

[JKB1646]

Crowd response to game action is great but mindless chatter, chants, waves and music I could live without. I'm their to see a game. They don't pay me to be a part of it.....i wish they did.

[...]

I do miss the seemingly organic crowd reactions we used to get at the Aud.

 

1.... 2.... 3.... WE WANT FOUR!!!!

 

WE WANT RAY !! WE WANT RAY !!!

 

HARRIS IS A BUM !!

 

Goalie taunts

 

[insert name here] SUCKS !!

 

We don't here much of that anymore.

 

 

I hear that stuff EVERY game I have gone to. Last night the crowd behind Mason was yelling "MASON SUCKS!"

[LastPommerFan]

I do miss the seemingly organic crowd reactions we used to get at the Aud.

 

1.... 2.... 3.... WE WANT FOUR!!!!

 

WE WANT RAY !! WE WANT RAY !!!

 

HARRIS IS A BUM !!

 

Goalie taunts

 

[insert name here] SUCKS !!

 

We don't here much of that anymore.

 

It only takes one person to get it started. I've done it myself, as a teenager. The people will follow, they are generally sheep, that's why herding everyone into 2 escalators out of the 300 section works after games. (I had a comment about the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street protests, but I don't want to make EVERYONE mad.)

[dEnnis the Menace]

It only takes one person to get it started. I've done it myself, as a teenager. The people will follow, they are generally sheep, that's why herding everyone into 2 escalators out of the 300 section works after games. (I had a comment about the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street protests, but I don't want to make EVERYONE mad.)

 

:clapping: well put sir.

 

It all depends on the makeup of the crowd that night (as was stated earlier). I myself like to cheer. I'm not one of those drunk stupid @$$hats, but I like to cheer. I don't stand unless something big is happening (a breakaway, a goal, a great save, a fight...etc), but I will try to start some cheers, especially if the teams play is a little bland. It gets the crowd re-involved, and it gives to the idea that this should be home-ice advantage!

[LastPommerFan]

:clapping: well put sir.

 

It all depends on the makeup of the crowd that night (as was stated earlier). I myself like to cheer. I'm not one of those drunk stupid @$$hats, but I like to cheer. I don't stand unless something big is happening (a breakaway, a goal, a great save, a fight...etc), but I will try to start some cheers, especially if the teams play is a little bland. It gets the crowd re-involved, and it gives to the idea that this should be home-ice advantage!

 

It's not like football, where crowd noise can actually effect the communication of plays, penalties, and the use of timeouts. I look at it more like College Basketball. There is a reason Duke and Michigan State put their student sections 360 degrees around the court right at the front. It affects the Chi of the game. Where I went to college the student pep group handed out Jeer cards to the student section with cheers to get under the skin of the other team. We had the best home record in the Big East while I was there, and we were certainly not the best team. The crowd can make a difference.

[dEnnis the Menace]

It's not like football, where crowd noise can actually effect the communication of plays, penalties, and the use of timeouts. I look at it more like College Basketball. There is a reason Duke and Michigan State put their student sections 360 degrees around the court right at the front. It affects the Chi of the game.

 

correct, but you would hope the crowd being into a game would inspire the players to play a little harder, no?? hope being the keyword there... <_<

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Going to a hockey game now is more like going to a baseball game in my opinion.

 

There is no tension in the game now until the playoffs. Twenty five years ago it was north american players....in tight, longstanding division rivalries where you play each other 8 times.....where the physical aspect of the game was a big part of things and guys made realistic and tame salaries. Players held each other accountible, be it your teammate or opposition.

 

Now you have expansion run wild, a giant European influence, rivalries are diluted as teams move and schedules balanced, rules catered more towards offense and gameflow, suspensions being handed out for clean hits, 85% of the league wearing visors, and guys making so much money it turns regular season games into mini-all star games in terms of animosity.

 

Excitement is all about the buildup and release of tension. When things flatline....who cares? Some will call me a dinosaur, but as the NHL gets less and less physical, I feel as if I might as well watch basketball or soccer. I used to love hockey. Like almost anything else, it's gone corporate and PC.

 

I used to think that the reason the arena was quiet was because the Sabres became the "in" thing to attend, and the Chet and Muffys were now coming, but I sat in the 300's the other night with a pretty Buffalo looking crowd. There was no electricity whatsoever. I was sort of shocked given the hooplah going into the season.

 

I don't know....maybe people's mouths say one thing but their gut tells them another.

[dEnnis the Menace]

Going to a hockey game now is more like going to a baseball game in my opinion.

 

There is no tension in the game now until the playoffs. Twenty five years ago it was north american players....in tight, longstanding division rivalries where you play each other 8 times.....where the physical aspect of the game was a big part of things and guys made realistic and tame salaries. Players held each other accountible, be it your teammate or opposition.

 

Now you have expansion run wild, a giant European influence, rivalries are diluted as teams move and schedules balanced, rules catered more towards offense and gameflow, suspensions being handed out for clean hits, 85% of the league wearing visors, and guys making so much money it turns regular season games into mini-all star games in terms of animosity.

 

Excitement is all about the buildup and release of tension. When things flatline....who cares? Some will call me a dinosaur, but as the NHL gets less and less physical, I feel as if I might as well watch basketball or soccer. I used to love hockey. Like almost anything else, it's gone corporate and PC.

 

I used to think that the reason the arena was quiet was because the Sabres became the "in" thing to attend, and the Chet and Muffys were now coming, but I sat in the 300's the other night with a pretty Buffalo looking crowd. There was no electricity whatsoever. I was sort of shocked given the hooplah going into the season.

 

I don't know....maybe people's mouths say one thing but their gut tells them another.

 

I see what you're saying, but I have a question. Maybe it's because I'm younger, but what is this chet and muffy reference that keeps appearing?

[X. Benedict]

I don't think Buffalo is particularly loud.

 

Generally, there is always a lot of intellegent Hockey chatter wherever you sit. More than most buildings.

 

I would love to hear the clears on the PP get more response.but I have no desire to do the wave. FWIW I stood up for both fights last night.

[Weave]

There is no tension in the game now until the playoffs. Twenty five years ago it was north american players....in tight, longstanding division rivalries where you play each other 8 times.....where the physical aspect of the game was a big part of things and guys made realistic and tame salaries. Players held each other accountible, be it your teammate or opposition.

 

I think the bolded part has the single biggest influence. And don't forget the impact that a division-based playoff system had. I HATED Boston, Montreal, Hartford, and Quebec. 8 times in the regular season followed up by a guaranteed meeting with two of them in consecutive playoff rounds. Man, THAT breeds emotion.

 

I think 1st round playoffs being divisional would go along way to building up fan emotion, at least when division rivals are in attendance.

[Weave]

I see what you're saying, but I have a question. Maybe it's because I'm younger, but what is this chet and muffy reference that keeps appearing?

 

Chet and Muffy is a euphemism for what the crowd changed into when the team moved out of the Aud. The Aud seemed to have a very blue collar crowd. Very vocal. Very quick to get on the refs and opposing team. And for most of it's time you could even purchase standing room only seats for cheap. There weren't any waiters, the food choices were basic, the beer vendors plentiful. There were few amenities. When the Sabres moved into their new digs the prices went up considerably and so did the amenities. And the arena staff seemed to frown on the emotional exchanges that you heard in the Aud. And the crowd changed. It seemed like the Sabres were gearing their games to a more upper middle class, bring the kids along type of customer. Chet and Muffy refers to the wine and cheese crowd that showed up kids in tow that seemed to start outnumbering the blue collar types that were in the great majority at the Aud.

[LastPommerFan]

Chet and Muffy is a euphemism for what the crowd changed into when the team moved out of the Aud. The Aud seemed to have a very blue collar crowd. Very vocal. Very quick to get on the refs and opposing team. And for most of it's time you could even purchase standing room only seats for cheap. There weren't any waiters, the food choices were basic, the beer vendors plentiful. There were few amenities. When the Sabres moved into their new digs the prices went up considerably and so did the amenities. And the arena staff seemed to frown on the emotional exchanges that you heard in the Aud. And the crowd changed. It seemed like the Sabres were gearing their games to a more upper middle class, bring the kids along type of customer. Chet and Muffy refers to the wine and cheese crowd that showed up kids in tow that seemed to start outnumbering the blue collar types that were in the great majority at the Aud.

 

This also coincided with the end of the dismantling of most of the Blue Collar industries in Buffalo.

[darksabre]

Chet and Muffy is a euphemism for what the crowd changed into when the team moved out of the Aud. The Aud seemed to have a very blue collar crowd. Very vocal. Very quick to get on the refs and opposing team. And for most of it's time you could even purchase standing room only seats for cheap. There weren't any waiters, the food choices were basic, the beer vendors plentiful. There were few amenities. When the Sabres moved into their new digs the prices went up considerably and so did the amenities. And the arena staff seemed to frown on the emotional exchanges that you heard in the Aud. And the crowd changed. It seemed like the Sabres were gearing their games to a more upper middle class, bring the kids along type of customer. Chet and Muffy refers to the wine and cheese crowd that showed up kids in tow that seemed to start outnumbering the blue collar types that were in the great majority at the Aud.

 

This. All of it.

 

I hate the fact that I can't go to a game, after paying a ton of money, and be raucous. I want to be in the experience, not watching it go by. This seems to be what HSBC crowds want to do. It's no wonder Bandits crowds are better. The tickets are cheap enough for blue collar fans to afford.

 

Blue collar fans spend their money and want every cent worth. That's why they're louder and more animated. I always feel like I leave Sabres games having been robbed blind, because the experience is...well...sanitized and boring.

[FolignosJock]

I remember back in the Drury Briere days they werent all that loud either. But I felt like every time i went to the new years day games it was like a playoff atmosphere and I always made sure to buy tickets to those. For about 4 or 5 years those were the best games but then I went to one either last year or the year before and it was dead quiet I cried a little inside.... But I took a really hot college volleyball player so after the game she cheered me up GREATLY

[SDS]

But I took a really hot college volleyball player so after the game she cheered me up GREATLY

 

by kissing her lesbian SO?

[FolignosJock]

by kissing her lesbian SO?

 

 

hahaha she was one of the straight ones I can promise you, however we did hang out with one of the girls from her team and I would have loved to watch them kiss