Fans & Stadium need to create an attitude
by riverscooby on Oct 18, 2009 9:58 AM PDT
30 comments
Lets go Bruins
I have been a season ticket holder for 10 years and do not understand our fan base. It should be rabid and unrelenting, but it is not. Some of this fault lies in the hands of the UCLA athletics department, Rose bowl stadium officials and score board operators.
Example # 1: Just after Cal scores a Touchdown we run the Stupid and boring football shuffle on the scoreboard, lame, lame, lame...
Example #2 same scenario we do the stupid quiz on the scoreboard that every body always gets right as the contestants are told the answer ahead of time,
Last is the B R U I N S spell out which gets very little support. I love Jeff but the 8 Clap should be done damn near every down (ala that annoying band south of us). I know some of this is sponsership driven, but lets change it up a bit. What happened to the players doing the 8 clap on video, that was great and gets the crowd pumped up. How about a little bit more of the band song in which it ends with bmm, bmm, bmm, Whooo !!! with the crowd all yelling (sorry not sure of the songs name). Just some ideas from a long time fan who is getting bored with the same ole same ole. I know that we are a far more fan friendly base then that stink hole in LA but we need to step it up a bit.
Bruin fan always FIGHT, FIGHT. FIGHT...... CJ in Chino Hills
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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As viewed on TV
it would help if fans, including students, were actually in their seats at kickoff. It’s pretty disconcerting to tune in and see literally thousands of empty seats as the game is about to start. You don’t see this at South Bend, Ann Arbor, Austin, or any of the other major programs around the country. One thing they do in Berkeley that’s effective is half the stadium yells Go and the other half responds with Bears just moments before kickoff. It’s deafening and gets the crowd pumped. Our Rose Bowl crowds need to get off their candy asses and act like they’re at a football game.
by portlandbruin on Oct 18, 2009 10:33 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
What I meant to say
Was that comparing the UCLA football fanbase to the schools you mention isn’t really a fair comparison. UCLA might not even
be the Pac 10’s second best program
historically after USC. Washington has more national titles, more wins, and a better all time
winning percentage. UCLA has two or three more Pac 10 titles, but is not anywhere near the all time great programs you mentioned above. Our fanbase is indicative of our
football program…above average, but far below the nation’s best.
by mdjohns4 on Oct 18, 2009 5:27 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
So Cal Fans
Like it or not its just the way of the SoCal fans. Show up late and Leave early. They also seem more concerned with what USC is doing vs. Notre Dame. The lack of intensity is just very fustrating. Your right they do need to get their Sushi eating candy asses up out of their seat. It is awesome to see the support in other stadiums across the nation. We have been to Alabama, South Bend and others. The support and passion is outstanding. I am very Jealous of those fan bases.
by riverscooby on Oct 18, 2009 10:48 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Have to Agree
I was at the game yesterday seated in Section 1-H behind our football team, and in particular, where Geoff Strand set up to fire up the crowd.
This Guy.
And, as much as I love the guy and all that he does for our school and football team, I couldn’t help but notice that he is terrible! He would call for and count us down to a “Defense!” chant when Cal’s offense was down on our side of the stadium, and then inexplicably stop us! He held up a “Not Yet!” sign then call on us to roar with a “But now!” sign. He effectively killed the momentum of our “Defense!” chant then waited too long to begin the roar so that we were repeatedly beginning our roar as Cal took the snap. Great timing Geoff.
THE DEN
I think the Student Body should be tapped to bring about change at the Rose Bowl. The Den has become a vocal and very visible part of UCLA games, but I think they could do more. Calling upon a small number of Den Members to act as Section leaders, and utiliizing coordination by Walkie Talkies we could easily create huge “Go! – Bruins!” and “U! – C! – L! – A!” chants in addition to the traditional “De! – Fense!” at every home game.
PS: I’m not as upset as you guys about people getting to their seats late. I was one of those people along with the 8 or so guys we mobilized out to the Rose Bowl. The simple fact is we lost track of time enjoying each other’s company in conjunction with Beers and Brats. And we wouldn’t have left early if our coaches and players gave us a reason to stick around to the very end. I suspect many more fans would stick around to the end if we had a decent chance of winning these games.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
by MexiBruin on Oct 18, 2009 10:57 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I've wanted to see Geoff get the boot since the first game I went to
He doesn’t inspire me, he starts cheers and encourages noises when we’re on offense regularly, his “not yet” stuff is a joke that tells people not to cheer and he is embarrassing. He’s so far over the top and makes no sense with little recognition of the game at times that I’m always embarrassed when fans from other teams ask me about him. I love enthusiasm and love how much he cares for the program, but somebody like that should not be on the field doing what he does. He should buy a seat and sit in the stands cheering like the rest of us.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 18, 2009 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've wanted him out
After seeing him in my first game as a freshman.
by Nestor on Oct 18, 2009 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Couple of things from someone (sort of) on the inside
the Bruin Shuffle and quiz are done the same time every game, so it’s not in the operating committee’s control who scores right before that timeout. The game as a whole is a highly scripted event due to the large number of moving pieces (ie band, halftime performances, advertisements, team entrance, etc.) so there is very little room for improvisation, if any.
I agree that maybe there should be a few more motivational videos here and there, but IMHO if our fanbase is indeed a good one they shouldn’t need a scoreboard to tell them when to cheer. As an example, Tennessee doesn’t do jack with their scoreboard, and we all know how tough that environment is. They just know when to get loud.
Bottomline, a lot of our fanbase, especially the older fanbase (not referring to you Fox or 66), just sits their in the shade of the press box. Getting them to make noise is like pulling teeth. If you want people to really be pumped every single down, then first and foremost you need to improve the play on the field. Everything else will follow from that.
Also one more thing. I hate that $C’s band doesn’t shut up. They play fight on (or whatever it’s called) after every play, and it gets old. It leaves no room for actual cheers, which they don’t have anyways. I never want to see their band go down that path.
by Sideout11 on Oct 18, 2009 11:22 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'd love to see our band get to play though
Bringing in high school bands to play with them sucks. If they want to do it in September when our full band isn’t there yet, fine, but it’s October now and I want to see our band put on a great halftime show, which they can do. Seeing the Cal band do their show, then us go out there with the high schools bands, not be able to do many new songs and have basically no choreography made us look like a high school band and it wasn’t the band’s fault.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 18, 2009 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Totally agree on that
we do too many stupid halftime collaborations.
by Sideout11 on Oct 18, 2009 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Card/Light shows
When I was a student we had the card(for night light shows).
by 10amla on Oct 19, 2009 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yep
the majority of our season ticket holders are not interested in the noise. At Tennessee, anyone who went to that game are just warped, but in a good way. PAC 10 football doesn’t have the same “pound your chest” swagger that EssEeeSee football does. I guarantee you if you asked 10 people on the press box side to name all of the conference’s schools, 3 (at the very least) couldn’t do it without pausing.
There's no one in the world that wants to beat UCLA more than _______.
by ucla13_usc9 on Oct 18, 2009 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Geoff Strand spends half the game telling people to be quiet
His not yet, not yet, now crap is ridiculous
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Oct 18, 2009 7:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
NOISE
It was VERY COOL seeing students handing out towels yesterday— some fans behind us even used them as “rally towels” yesterday… thought that was fun.
TOTALLY AGREE, there has to be more fan activity – esp. on the noise front. One thing I liked about University of Miami games is that U fans are encouraged by the announcer to repeat ques for things like first downs & D stops. Their music selection is great too. At Tennessee the Vols sang rock top all day, yet you never hear our fight songs- Hail to the Hills & Sons of Westwood. Places like ASU & U-Dub have large student sections that are typically very load- maybe we could expand ours toward the visitor section. I’ve been to my fair share of stadiums over the years and you see a lot more things like thunder claps, cow bells, & blow horns… all of which I think are banned at the Rose Bowl: http://www.rosebowlstadium.com/RoseBowl_rules.htm
That policy should change.
BTW: UCLA = HEART. You can hear from far and near the Mighty Bruin roar!
by Bruin4ver on Oct 18, 2009 1:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Totally agree.
Glad someone hit this up as a fanpost so I don’t have to. :) But yeah… both the fans and the stadium are terrible.
FANS: Not in their seats when the game starts. Haven’t sold out yet. The student section always seems uninterested in the game… sitting down a lot of times, not making noise when we’re on defense (and for some reason, making noise when we’re on offense), and most recently, leaving early. Ridiculously early. I know the 21 points Oregon scored in quick succession was bad, but is that any reason to leave a game with 10 minutes left in the third quarter??
YELL CREW: Even worse, and possibly a reason the students aren’t into it. The only cheers they do are the 8-Clap and the Bruin spell-out, can’t seem to come up with anything else. All the yell crew students have soft voices and are uninspiring. Geoff Strand is over-the-top, but at least he’s got a good voice and actually gets people into it (since the fans are so out of it, over-the-top is needed). However his timing is embarrassing. He pretty much single-handedly caused a UCLA delay-of-game penalty in the 4th quarter by starting a cheer when we were on offense.
STADIUM: Also bad. Yes let’s do Bruin Shuffle and fan trivia at horrible points in the game. Let’s do the “which kid can cheer the loudest” when our offense is running plays on the field. Let’s play happy 80s music when we’re trying to fire the crowd up (if we’re going to pipe in music, we should be playing harder rock stuff, like the song we play to introduce the team when they run on the field at half; or maybe OUR FIGHT SONGS). And let’s not play happy music right after our QB throws a game-ending pick six. Feels like the stadium guys have no idea what’s going on.
All in all, very disappointing. I know the Rose Bowl isn’t conducive to making noise, and we can’t really do much about the Yell Crew or stadium tech guys, but the fans certainly can… I know it was hot, I was there the entire game suffering and getting sunburnt like the rest, but that’s no excuse to not cheer and make noise on defense. No wonder Bosworth is saying he’s happy to be on the road next game.
by Magnusblitz on Oct 18, 2009 1:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
the Bruin Shuffle is pure evil
And the pubescent munchkins who pass as our student “yell leaders” are ridiculous. They sound like they’re leading an AYSO halftime pep-talk for girls.
Sometimes I really hate the tone-deaf way UCLA does things. It’s up to the coaches to enforce some kind of taste in these operations so they don’t make UCLA football look like a Saturday afternoon ice-skating pageant.
by bluebland on Oct 18, 2009 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
while we're at it
Remember that infuriating “wave” that a moronic section started during the WSU game last year that went on for like 15 minutes in the crucial 3rd quarter?
Martial law has its uses.
by bluebland on Oct 18, 2009 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I believe that moronic section was actually made up of
the couple thousand “I’m Going to College” kids that wouldn’t stop doing the wave. What can you do?
by HailRover on Oct 19, 2009 12:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Look, here's a really simple solution
if you’re a fan and you want the Rose Bowl to be loud, make noise on every play. That way you are both doing your part and encouraging others to do the same. That also means that when Yell Crew (Bluebland please be respectful, you never know who’s reading) or whoever else comes around, maybe just maybe the other, non-participating fans, will be more encouraged to join in.
And most importantly if you feel embarrassed being the only one standing and yelling, I really don’t give a crap. Put your money where your mouth is. I say this because I know for a fact that no one who has been bitching on this thread actually makes noise every down (unless they happen to sit in the lower part of the Den). I know this because I am there every weekend, moving around the entire Rose Bowl, yelling every down. You want something done, don’t be afraid to do it.
by Sideout11 on Oct 18, 2009 7:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah I'm making noise on every down
I’m clapping or yelling or cheering or sometimes any combination of the three. I think it’s pretty tough for you to know for a fact what each person in the entire stadium is doing.
As for the Yell Crew, I’m not that impressed and yes, I know you are a member. The Yell Crew spends most of their time running around starting 8 claps or spell outs, but I think things like that create schisms within the stadium more than anything. People get the impression that they don’t need to cheer unless there’s a Yell Crew member leading a cheer and too often I see people staring at another sections doing some cheer. The best thing the Yell Crew could do is spread out across the stadium an encourage third down noise and general cheering. There are too many divides in the Rose Bowl instead of 60,000 Bruins all cheering together towards a Bruin victory.
In general, I’m just not really a fan of UCLA game production, football or basketball. I mean, the band JUST started staying on the field for the team’s run out. The videos they show aren’t very inspiring and are too rare. The music selection is awful and the gimmicks like the Bruin Shuffle and Bruin roars aren’t much better. They’ve had to rush through the ends of introducing championship teams because the time out is over. The band and sound system play over each other at times. It seems as if there are 10 departments all running small parts of the game production because everything is clashing with each other. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s what it seems like. They need to come together, establish what type of atmosphere they want and make everything work together towards that goal instead of “this sounds like fun” and “this sounds like a good idea” without considering how it all fits in the big picture.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 18, 2009 8:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
I used to have the same feelings as you when I was just sitting there in the student section yelling every down. Seeing the other side has definitely changed my perspective a bit. Not that i’m happy about everything that goes on, but us diehards just don’t constitute a majority, and for that reason the game production will never cater to what we would like. It also doesn’t help that the Rose Bowl does things like take away our microphones on the press box side. I would love to do stadium wide chants and stuff, but it’s just too damn hard to coordinate without a microphone. It honestly starts with tradition, which the SEC has and our football team doesn’t.
by Sideout11 on Oct 18, 2009 10:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Winning
would solve most of our crowd atmosphere issues. I remember how loud and crazy the Rose Bowl was during the 1997-1998 seasons, during the 2000 season when we beat #3 Alabama and #3 Michigan, and countless suc games during the 8 game winning streak.
When the team is playing poorly and especially if the offense is struggling, I think those who are involved in the Yell group and game production feel they have to do something extra to make up for the lack of entertainment.
I’m so frustrated! This team cannot flame out the rest of the season because many season ticket holders will not renew their tickets. The talk is over, the guys need to produce consistently.
Some in the media don’t see the Bruins winning more than 2 games the rest of the season. I hope CRN and Bruins have some surprises for us.
by UCLA Championships Made Here on Oct 18, 2009 9:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
At the end of the day, it's the fans...
Like most of the other visitors to this board, I’m a big UCLA fan and I, too, would love to see a much more vocal UCLA crowd at the Rose Bowl (and everywhere else, for that matter). There’s a lot of finger-pointing as to why the experience at the Rose Bowl is not as intense as at some other places, but I just wanted to add a couple notes because I think that it’s really an organic problem and not something that can be fixed, per se.
First, having gone to home games for the last 20 years (since I was a kid), I have seen the ups and downs of fan excitement, and the unfortunate reality is that when UCLA is doing well (like when we were in the middle of that great 20 win streak in 97-98), the whole stadium really does get into it. I vividly remember how insane the Rose Bowl was during that time – the game against Stanford on Halloween 1998 stands out in particular – so the potential is there. But, the team has been less-than-stellar for nearly a decade now and while I personally still cheer as much as possible, I can understand when folks don’t want to go all out. In the end, when UCLA starts to win again, the fans will be loud again, which is sad, but that’s how most LA sports fans are. (I see now that UCLA Championships Made Here has just made the similar point.)
Second, go easy on the Yell Crew – they try hard. I was the mascot for a year and worked closely with the Yell Crew and the cheerleaders/dance team and the task of getting a crowd riled up is dependent far more on the action on the field than anything that they do. If fans are not inclined to cheer, there’s not going to be much cheering, no matter how charismatic a yell leader may be. Heck — I remember having UCLA fans (almost always alums in their 50s or 60s) curse at me while I was walking around in the Joe Bruin suit when passing by them.
My solution? Like Sideout says, we all should just make sure to be as loud and unabashedly vocal as we can. Enthusiasm encourages more enthusiasm. If you don’t want to stand up, that’s cool – just sing along to the fight songs (you all know the words, right?) and do the eight claps, or even better, start your own eight claps! Be the fan that you want others to be.
by JoeBruin9900 on Oct 18, 2009 9:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
My criticism isn't of the Yell Crew members
as much as it is of organization of them and how it meshes with the rest of the game production. The members themselves do the best they can at what they are asked to do, but I’d like to see their directions, as well as a host of other things changed. It’s a criticism of those in charge, not those out there carrying out what they’ve been told.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 18, 2009 10:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Your criticism is heard
We the students on Yell Crew have actually been brainstorming about how to get greater involvement and more stadium wide stuff. There is just so much red tape to go through (most of it in the athletic department) that doing something on a grand scale, like say a video from a famous alum leading a chant, is extremely difficult. Doesn’t mean we won’t stop trying though.
I’d actually love to hear any suggestions you or anyone else has, especially regarding new cheers because those ore the most difficult to come up with
by Sideout11 on Oct 19, 2009 12:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If you can't make the game...
represent online! Last weekend there were hardly any fellow UCLA alums/fans in the Zammee.com UCLA room. Cal’s turnout was huge and it shows what kind of fans they had/have. Same with the Stanford vs Arizona game. Lots of turnout for both sides, but especially more on the Arizona side (close to 700 hundred!). They’re expected to turn out in droves (online) again for this weekend’s game. If you are a Bruin fan that’s not going to the game, make sure to hit up the Zammee.com site and represent!
by ohdannyboy13 on Oct 23, 2009 12:07 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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