Legitimate discussion - Since we complained about the Hump's atmosphere...

[onewoof]

I remember the year we were battling Shaq and LSU for the SEC West championship. We had a team full of guys that had to work hard to get to were they were. There were good players, role players but no superstars. Played hard and outworked and outsmarted the other team, who was often better talent wise.<div>
</div><div>Our fan base identifies with the underdog mentality which is not that different from any other fan base. When you see guys playing their very best with what God gave them, it inspires you. Thats one of the main reasons we watch college sports. And in basketball it happens most on defense. Defense shows how much heart you have.</div><div>
</div><div>This years team is different it two obvious ways. First, they are very talented. Second, you never know what you are going to get. So its kind of like, what are we going to see today? We will have a crowd to play Kentucky, but realistically, if our players play the way they can, we beat Kentucky. So most games, whether we cheer or not, it doesn't matter because on paper we should win every home game with the exception of Kentucky, which will take a great game on both ends of the court.</div><div>
</div><div>The best way to fire up the crowd? Pay the refs to make about 10 bad calls in a row against our own players. Second, have an opposing player taunt our crowd. Third best and most realistic? Have the team play much better defense and quit playing just good enough to win. Do we really want to try to go far in the tourney this year? If so I haven't seen any good defense since the Baylor game. At Ole Miss was sadly a new low. We quit too easy.</div><div>
</div><div>But seriously, I think moving the students down is a very good idea but the earliest that will happen is next year if even that soon. I don't think the announcer makes a difference either way. They say so little so who really cares. When Flick was the guy it was the same love/hate. The announcer is a wash. I do miss hearing Jack complain on the radio though, that got me fired up and made laugh too.</div><div>
</div><div>Bring the 96 team in for the Kentucky game. And let our team see the respect they still get.</div><div>
</div>

 

[hankp]

nfm

 

[GTAdawg]

that you have to put Legitimate discussion at the beginning of your post. Sign that the board IQ is heading the wrong direction??? It's a sad thing to see the sixpack be diluted like it is now. Needs a serious purge.

 

[Mutt the Hoople.buhoops]

After say, the 10:00 minute mark of the first half, allow fans to move to open seats down front. Make a big deal of it, so it'll fire the fan base up.

 

[dawgstudent]

[No message]

 

[saltslugs]

When a person puts on a Mississippi State jersey, he doesn't instantly become a good person. If you think that a person like Sidney did not act like a ******** last year, then you are an idiot. Have you not been following MSU basketball over the last few years? <div>
</div><div>It was Hanmudog that used the term "********" I was only following "suit".<div>
</div><div>Also, I was not being "pious", my head is literally not made of ****.</div></div><div>
</div><div>Also, 17 you.</div>

 

[saltslugs]

My ***. He made our school a laughing stock last year. He's been suspended on at least 3 different occasions. He gets by with very little effort. He's not a great person. I sure as hell hope we win the SEC and NCAA Championship, but I'd rather see a great person from Ole Miss succeed than a "family" member like Sidney.

 

[Hanmudog]

I think his point was that sometimes we have players that are screwups but then get their acts together before they leave. Dietric Slater and Charles Rhodes come to mind. Taking a negative stance toward our team just because of one player is not fair to the team that we have now which is made up of pretty good representatives for the school.

 

[saltslugs]

Just to be clear, I don't have a negative stance towards the team. I just don't have the same connection to the basketball team as I do with the football team and I'm guessing that's part of the problem with dead crowds. (I also think that the football resurgence has diminished the excitement over basketball)<div>
</div><div>Our new players are great, but the twitter problems and fights and everything else are hard for me to ignore. It always feels like we're a losing streak away from chaos.</div>

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

Sidney has been a huge contributor to our team this year. We have two or three fewer wins without him, not to mention how hard he has been working to maximize his contribution. If you cant' see that, you're a total dunce.
Sidney has not pistol whipped a fellow stuident.
He has not been arrested for selling dfrugs.
He has not fired a weapon on campus
he has not been involved in a fight with a non athlete or beaten up a "girlfriend"
He has not left our program after a single season.
He has not missed a game this season.
He has built a good relationship with coaches and teammates.
I think we owe him our support, or we ought to be cheering for a different school.
if you permanently judge a nineteen year old based on last season, then you are either childless or a hell-of-a-lot straighter teenager than I and my friends were. I find it pious and disgusting. I say you grow up and stop being right all the time about everybody. There may be "things goin' on that you don't know . . ."
And I do think it's totally wrong to call our players profanities behind the anonymity of your user name. i don't find it particularly admirable. In fact, I think it is pathetic, despicable, weak and trite.
So 17 you,

 

[WPDawg]

I had season tickets from '92 -2003 in 2nd row of section 203 or 204. The atmosphere was great. Of course based on what it was like when I was in school during the Bob Boyd days, maybe my base started lower. But I have a son who at State now and he says it is not as good as when he went with me during those season ticket years.

Seems that by re-seating the Hump based on the almighty dollar, they gained revenue but lost the passion that made the place a great ticket and atmosphere. My philosphy is that fans with lower entertainment budgetshave less entertainment choices and so when they buy in to something they do it based on their passions. So by uprooting some of the long term season ticket holders and the student base, you not only moved them further away from the game, you reduced their passion by implying that very passion does not put money in the bank."Your allegiance to our basketball program is great but not worthy of being close to the court."

Whenthey broke up the seating charts on season ticket holders, they may have not only moved them higher up, they may have also broken up groups of people who had sat together for years. Some stayed low based on contributions, but other friends got bumped up when they decided not to give more.If you ever sat in any of these areas, you would notice that is a pretty big deal . Kinda of like breaking up their "basketball family". So now they dont have that same passion to go see the game while sitting amongst old friends.

So now to regain the passion, apparently they have tried adding louder music, a mic man, more activities during timeouts etc.....sounds like its becoming more NBAesque. Its become just another option for people to get together and...btw there is a basketball game going on. Nobody gets excited til the very end of the game.

My recommendations would be to put the students back to where they used to be. Where is faculty now? If they were moved, put them back also. Put the band back in play and give it that High School atmosphere again where you feel the players are playing for the love of the game and university and not worried about if they are NBA material or not.

Another thing you might could do next year, is to have 500 GA seats in the corner or next to the students. First come first serve. If you already have a season ticket, you can get there early and swap your season ticket for the GA and State can re-sell your ticket for that game. Allow for the more passionate fan to get closer to the court.

 

[saltslugs]

<div>"<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">Sidney has been a huge contributor to our team this year. We have two or three fewer wins without him, not to mention how hard he has been working to maximize his contribution. If you cant' see that, you're a total dunce."</span></div><div>
</div>I never said he wasn't a contributor.<div>
</div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"he has not been involved in a fight with a non athlete or beaten up a "girlfriend""</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Convenient to toss that "non-athlete" in there. He's been in at least 2 fights with teammates and you don't know if he hasn't been involved in more fights.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
</span></div><div><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12px;">"</span></font><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">He has not missed a game this season."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">No, but he's missed basically half of every game he's ever played in because he doesn't work very hard. He also missed the games in Europe and has been suspended at least three times in past years.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">
</span></div><div><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12px;">"</span></font><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">I think we owe him our support, or we ought to be cheering for a different school."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">It's not like I go out and heckle him or something. I route for him, but only because he's a Bulldog.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">if you permanently judge a nineteen year old based on last season, then you are either childless or a hell-of-a-lot straighter teenager than I and my friends were. I find it pious and disgusting. I say you grow up and stop being right all the time about everybody. There may be "things goin' on that you don't know . . ."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">He's 22, dubmass. Sorry to correct you.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">There may be "things goin' on that you don't know . . ."</span></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div>What are you implying? Do you know something we don't? </div><div>
</div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"And I do think it's totally wrong to call our players profanities behind the anonymity of your user name. i don't find it particularly admirable. In fact, I think it is pathetic, despicable, weak and trite."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">I was only following Hanmudog's lead. Being a Mississippi State player does not instantly make someone a good person. Wow, you are passionate about this for no apparent reason.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">
</span></div>

 

[Hanmudog]

My argument against your points:
<div>
</div><div>1) Basketball players have a much greater identity than football players. You can't help but notice the personality of basketball players and I think this, at the very least,subconsciouslyinfluences your response.</div><div>2) <font color="#cc0000">Our ******** basketball players</font> have been our stars in recent years. Football players with questionable attitudes usually don't receive much playing time.</div><div>3) I don't think we've had any shitheads on our football team in the last 3 years. If we have, casual fans didn't know about it.</div>

I was the one following your lead on the "********" commentsthere chief.

 

[saltslugs]

<div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="min-width: 0px; ">"I don't doubt that you are absolutely correct about the attitudes of fanstoward some of our players but ultimately that problem is up to us to fix. We have had plenty of shitheads on our football teams over the yearsyet we keep showing up and screaming our head off with football even during the late Sherrill years. This is a totally different basketball team and if we show up and sit their like stumps on a log then that is our fault for holding past grudges and not the coach or the player's fault. We need to get over it."</p><p style="min-width: 0px; ">
</p><p style="min-width: 0px; ">I was trying to compare apples to apples, or shitheads to shitheads in this case. Such an awesome word...</p></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">