sky
Junior
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Post by sky on Oct 19, 2018 17:32:57 GMT -5
After 10 years my upper level were changed to the bottom, still good seats but less leg room. I have my season tickets in 105 but with 2 artificial knees I can no longer sit in them so I sit in the upper level. I think it was about 15 years ago that they put new seats in the lower section and I have been uncomfortable since. I have found an additional advantage to the upper level. As a basketball fan as well as a Siena fan you get an entirely different perspective of how the game is being played when you look down onto the court vs looking out. It may not be as exciting watching a slam dunk from up above but having a better perspective of how the movement was leading up to it is just as enjoyable.
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Post by hockeyguy on Oct 19, 2018 23:36:11 GMT -5
Sky. regarding your second point, spot on. Being able to watch patterns, both offense and defense, by both teams, in place of the once or twice a game "highlight play", that if you are lucky, happens on your end of the court and you get to see without being obstructed by a player (from either team) is a huge plus to "upstairs". Thinking about it, maybe we should trade the advantages of the TUC and the Jumbotron for "bingo light" small school scoreboards at each end of the arena, kind of like Rider for instance. If an open upstairs was good enough for Fran and Paul Hewitt and Louis Orr.... all of whom moved on to bigger things, and why when interest and attendance were declining over the past three years was it okay, and now that interest is rising again, do we need to make this small mentality move? Someone help me understand? Do fans in the lower level get to take three pointers or something?
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Post by goldsaint17 on Oct 20, 2018 0:49:39 GMT -5
Having a mostly empty upper level doesn’t make you big time. Having the ability to sell 2-3 times the number of tickets than you actually sell doesn’t make you big time. Winning makes you big time. Iona plays in the equivalent of Shaker’s gym and has beaten us for 8 years.
Jamion’s teams at Mount St. Mary’s played in a tiny gym that he drummed up interest for and got people out to the games. They packed Knott Arena. Fans were far too spread out at the TUC the last several years. Pack the lower bowl, make people excited about getting a ticket to a Siena game. Make people plan to go to the game, not decide on a whim and treat it like the Valleycats... a mode of hanging out and having a beer with friends while a sporting event plays in the background.
Siena basketball isn’t an event to much of this town unless Siena is winning. Then, the place goes crazy. Lets get this program back to where it’s an event, then open up the necessary seating and pack the TUC. Until then, it does Siena no good to spread 750 of the 4000 that actually show up on a 6000 attendance night up to the upper bowl and make the place seem more dead than it is. Plus, promotional materials will look better, etc.
Sorry to the few here who enjoyed sitting up there, but to me this is a non-issue. I have had seats in 117, 101, and 123 and enjoyed the view from there. The true behind the basket seating isn’t great, though students and cheap $5/giveaways are usually getting those.
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SIENA1971
Assistant Coach
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Post by SIENA1971 on Oct 20, 2018 6:59:24 GMT -5
Working hard in the ticket office to fill those 7200 seats
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OneIndian
Associate Head Coach
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Post by OneIndian on Oct 20, 2018 7:53:17 GMT -5
Having a mostly empty upper level doesn’t make you big time. Having the ability to sell 2-3 times the number of tickets than you actually sell doesn’t make you big time. Winning makes you big time. Iona plays in the equivalent of Shaker’s gym and has beaten us for 8 years. Jamion’s teams at Mount St. Mary’s played in a tiny gym that he drummed up interest for and got people out to the games. They packed Knott Arena. Fans were far too spread out at the TUC the last several years. Pack the lower bowl, make people excited about getting a ticket to a Siena game. Make people plan to go to the game, not decide on a whim and treat it like the Valleycats... a mode of hanging out and having a beer with friends while a sporting event plays in the background. Siena basketball isn’t an event to much of this town unless Siena is winning. Then, the place goes crazy. Lets get this program back to where it’s an event, then open up the necessary seating and pack the TUC. Until then, it does Siena no good to spread 750 of the 4000 that actually show up on a 6000 attendance night up to the upper bowl and make the place seem more dead than it is. Plus, promotional materials will look better, etc. Sorry to the few here who enjoyed sitting up there, but to me this is a non-issue. I have had seats in 117, 101, and 123 and enjoyed the view from there. The true behind the basket seating isn’t great, though students and cheap $5/giveaways are usually getting those. Well said.
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gorvy
Associate Head Coach
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Post by gorvy on Oct 20, 2018 9:15:23 GMT -5
Spin it all you want but Siena is not in a position to turn away new fans or alienate existing ones. It’s small time thinking. You said it yourself, the key to building the program is winning, not pointless gimmicks. The building will be just as dead all huddled up if they continue to lose.
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Post by loudonville9 on Oct 20, 2018 11:14:44 GMT -5
Having to decide between turning people away or opening up upper-level sections to accommodate the last-minute walk-up sales is a problem I’d like to have this season.
I want as many fans as close to the court as possible. I would like the court pushed all the way to one end with fans seated in a “U” around the court and a wall of bleachers at the open end for the band and students. That would require more student participation... I’d also support a configuration with the court at its current center location and walls of bleachers on both ends. Too much dead space at each end now.
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Post by hockeyguy on Oct 20, 2018 12:48:06 GMT -5
Having a mostly empty upper level doesn’t make you big time. Having the ability to sell 2-3 times the number of tickets than you actually sell doesn’t make you big time. Winning makes you big time. Iona plays in the equivalent of Shaker’s gym and has beaten us for 8 years. Jamion’s teams at Mount St. Mary’s played in a tiny gym that he drummed up interest for and got people out to the games. They packed Knott Arena. Fans were far too spread out at the TUC the last several years. Pack the lower bowl, make people excited about getting a ticket to a Siena game. Make people plan to go to the game, not decide on a whim and treat it like the Valleycats... a mode of hanging out and having a beer with friends while a sporting event plays in the background. Siena basketball isn’t an event to much of this town unless Siena is winning. Then, the place goes crazy. Lets get this program back to where it’s an event, then open up the necessary seating and pack the TUC. Until then, it does Siena no good to spread 750 of the 4000 that actually show up on a 6000 attendance night up to the upper bowl and make the place seem more dead than it is. Plus, promotional materials will look better, etc. Sorry to the few here who enjoyed sitting up there, but to me this is a non-issue. I have had seats in 117, 101, and 123 and enjoyed the view from there. The true behind the basket seating isn’t great, though students and cheap $5/giveaways are usually getting those. Goldsaint17, My particular situation is far from common in that I live 2 hours away from the TUC. Yes, often decisions are made more or less last minute as I am not about to commit to season tickets for that long a drive in the snowy northeast. To drive that far only to find that the only seats available are in the endzones is not an appealing prospect. Why does having fans sitting upstairs do Siena "no good"? I assure there is not a "whispering only" policy up there and and the fans are just as vocal as they would be sitting in the lower level. The place seems dead because of a dull "walk the ball up the court" style of play, followed by a lot of pointless passing and missed last second desperation shots. I like the idea of JC's concept of mayhem but fail to see how having fans in crappy seats helps that out. When Fran was here the place was pretty loud and exciting, yet he rarely put more than an "announced" 7,800 fannies in the seats, and the same "numbers games" were going on then as they are now and the upper level was open. Winning makes all the difference. Happy fans beget more happy fans who might not otherwise come. If you need a gimmick to make something seem like more than it really is, you are going nowhere. DREAM BIG!
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IndianSaint
Associate Head Coach
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Post by IndianSaint on Oct 20, 2018 13:35:06 GMT -5
Having a mostly empty upper level doesn’t make you big time. Having the ability to sell 2-3 times the number of tickets than you actually sell doesn’t make you big time. Winning makes you big time. Iona plays in the equivalent of Shaker’s gym and has beaten us for 8 years. Jamion’s teams at Mount St. Mary’s played in a tiny gym that he drummed up interest for and got people out to the games. They packed Knott Arena. Fans were far too spread out at the TUC the last several years. Pack the lower bowl, make people excited about getting a ticket to a Siena game. Make people plan to go to the game, not decide on a whim and treat it like the Valleycats... a mode of hanging out and having a beer with friends while a sporting event plays in the background. Siena basketball isn’t an event to much of this town unless Siena is winning. Then, the place goes crazy. Lets get this program back to where it’s an event, then open up the necessary seating and pack the TUC. Until then, it does Siena no good to spread 750 of the 4000 that actually show up on a 6000 attendance night up to the upper bowl and make the place seem more dead than it is. Plus, promotional materials will look better, etc. Sorry to the few here who enjoyed sitting up there, but to me this is a non-issue. I have had seats in 117, 101, and 123 and enjoyed the view from there. The true behind the basket seating isn’t great, though students and cheap $5/giveaways are usually getting those. Goldsaint17, My particular situation is far from common in that I live 2 hours away from the TUC. Yes, often decisions are made more or less last minute as I am not about to commit to season tickets for that long a drive in the snowy northeast. To drive that far only to find that the only seats available are in the endzones is not an appealing prospect. Why does having fans sitting upstairs do Siena "no good"? I assure there is not a "whispering only" policy up there and and the fans are just as vocal as they would be sitting in the lower level. The place seems dead because of a dull "walk the ball up the court" style of play, followed by a lot of pointless passing and missed last second desperation shots. I like the idea of JC's concept of mayhem but fail to see how having fans in crappy seats helps that out. When Fran was here the place was pretty loud and exciting, yet he rarely put more than an "announced" 7,800 fannies in the seats, and the same "numbers games" were going on then as they are now and the upper level was open. Winning makes all the difference. Happy fans beget more happy fans who might not otherwise come. If you need a gimmick to make something seem like more than it really is, you are going nowhere. DREAM BIG! If I were in a position where I didn’t have season tickets {internal thought: stop right there because that’s be a lie in my case but in any case} and I had to drive 2 hours to the event; I wouldn’t leave home w/o first purchasing a ticket to the game in the seat/section I wanted and it’d be waiting for me at the will call counter - before I started my drive to the arena. Just saying what I’d do in that situation. I wouldn’t take my chances driving all the way there to then find out only crappy seats left.
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Post by greengold4ever on Oct 20, 2018 16:12:02 GMT -5
Goldsaint17, My particular situation is far from common in that I live 2 hours away from the TUC. Yes, often decisions are made more or less last minute as I am not about to commit to season tickets for that long a drive in the snowy northeast. To drive that far only to find that the only seats available are in the endzones is not an appealing prospect. Why does having fans sitting upstairs do Siena "no good"? I assure there is not a "whispering only" policy up there and and the fans are just as vocal as they would be sitting in the lower level. The place seems dead because of a dull "walk the ball up the court" style of play, followed by a lot of pointless passing and missed last second desperation shots. I like the idea of JC's concept of mayhem but fail to see how having fans in crappy seats helps that out. When Fran was here the place was pretty loud and exciting, yet he rarely put more than an "announced" 7,800 fannies in the seats, and the same "numbers games" were going on then as they are now and the upper level was open. Winning makes all the difference. Happy fans beget more happy fans who might not otherwise come. If you need a gimmick to make something seem like more than it really is, you are going nowhere. DREAM BIG! If I were in a position where I didn’t have season tickets {internal thought: stop right there because that’s be a lie in my case but in any case} and I had to drive 2 hours to the event; I wouldn’t leave home w/o first purchasing a ticket to the game in the seat/section I wanted and it’d be waiting for me at the will call counter - before I started my drive to the arena. Just saying what I’d do in that situation. I wouldn’t take my chances driving all the way there to then find out only crappy seats left. IndianSaint, just to be fair, and we understand your logic of buying tickets prior..................the point HGuy is making, he could decide last minute to attend based on his driving distance (and perhaps to an even greater degree the weather) and in past he could grab what could be deemed a "better angle" ticket in the upper deck because no way in heck those are sold out (unless perhaps it is the UA game)..........yet now, he doesn't have that option and could be in lower level in what would be a less than stellar "view" of the action...........I have terrific seats but I can feel for those who had options/seats taken away................time will tell whether this is the best approach by the school, but this decision does come with some negative aspects amid what is a new direction the program wants to take at this point in time..............
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Post by hockeyguy on Oct 20, 2018 18:11:57 GMT -5
If I were in a position where I didn’t have season tickets {internal thought: stop right there because that’s be a lie in my case but in any case} and I had to drive 2 hours to the event; I wouldn’t leave home w/o first purchasing a ticket to the game in the seat/section I wanted and it’d be waiting for me at the will call counter - before I started my drive to the arena. Just saying what I’d do in that situation. I wouldn’t take my chances driving all the way there to then find out only crappy seats left. IndianSaint, just to be fair, and we understand your logic of buying tickets prior..................the point HGuy is making, he could decide last minute to attend based on his driving distance (and perhaps to an even greater degree the weather) and in past he could grab what could be deemed a "better angle" ticket in the upper deck because no way in heck those are sold out (unless perhaps it is the UA game)..........yet now, he doesn't have that option and could be in lower level in what would be a less than stellar "view" of the action...........I have terrific seats but I can feel for those who had options/seats taken away................time will tell whether this is the best approach by the school, but this decision does come with some negative aspects amid what is a new direction the program wants to take at this point in time.............. Thank You G&G, you said it a little more clearly than I did. For my money, after the lower level season ticket seats are gone, they are all relatively pretty crappy, no matter when you buy the ticket. I haven't sat in every section (by choice) but at various events I have had to settle for "corner seats and one year for the NCAA "frozen four" I ended up in the "endzone" (I have had better experiences). Someone explain to me the advantage to the guys on the floor, of having fans crammed into the lower level. Any of you guys still on campus who know and can talk honestly with players, ask them how much this will matter to them. Ask them what they are paying attention to when they are on the floor (not the bench). They are concentrating on the guy across from them that they are guarding, or the guy in front of them and how they are going to get around him, looking for the open teammate to pass to, where to spot up to box out.... I will bet you a dollar on a dime that they give a crap if the crowd is upstairs or downstairs, and they are the guys playing the game. Move past small time college ball. Having the TU and using it this way is like having a Maserati and using it for a pizza delivery vehicle.
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IndianSaint
Associate Head Coach
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Post by IndianSaint on Oct 20, 2018 19:15:44 GMT -5
No, no, I totally get people being upset with regards to where they have to sit now. Whether they’re displaced or want upper deck center section vs lower bowl corners/end zone.
Just like last 8 years when fans put down my favorite team, I tend to respond and defend. The put down now is Siena’s short sightedness, wrong decision, potentially turning away fans, etc..
I understand people may not be happy with this but I highly doubt Siena did this with the intention of pissing people off, that’s all.
HG, can still make his last minute decision to attend or not based on weather; can call TU or look in-line for available seats and decide before he sets out in his journey to Albany if he wants those seats or not.
If I was a hugh Siena fan and didn’t already have season tickets; I’d want to be inside the building regardless of where it was just for a chance to watch them live. Others may not find that enough for them and that’s ok. I’m just expressing my positive by like others.
I know not everyone has my enthusiasm and that’s ok. But still nice we all have our opinions I’ll continue talking defend my favorite team.
I prefer it when all Siena fans are united and only complain about other teams or use our negative energy towards the opponent rather than against our side - that’s all.
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SIENA1971
Assistant Coach
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Post by SIENA1971 on Oct 20, 2018 21:34:35 GMT -5
IMO ... Basically these are the same arguments made when Albany wanted to have the Siena game at the SEFCU Arena every other year ... denial of access of Siena fans ability to watch ... now the shoe is on Siena’s foot
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Post by hockeyguy on Oct 20, 2018 22:15:46 GMT -5
IMO ... Basically these are the same arguments made when Albany wanted to have the Siena game at the SEFCU Arena every other year ... denial of access of Siena fans ability to watch ... now the shoe is on Siena’s foot I see his very differently, my convenience or inconvenience be damned, it is the small school, small time thinking. My enthusiasm for a significant return to relevance has been tempered by small school thinking. You don't get there by dreaming small. DREAM BIG!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2018 5:17:33 GMT -5
My boomerang came the other day - very clever. Unfortunately, in my case, I'm planning on buying tickets only for the games I will actually go to. The last painful stretch of years resulted in my wife and I heading to Florida during the season; initially for one week and that has grown into the entire month of February. Prior to MB's last year, I would not schedule ANYTHING during the season UNTIL the Siena schedule (home and away) was set in stone! It took several not-so-much-fun years to alter my planning. Still a huge fan of whomever wears a Siena uni and very optimistic about the coaching change but I'm a walkup now. With the flushing of the bowl that may change. I think I'll send Siena a monkey wrench.
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