Lighter Than Usual Turnout For Hockey Campout

(above) DU students pitch their tent in front of Magness Arena on Friday afternoon

From: DU Clarion
by Meagan Brown

Compared to previous years the campout for hockey tickets was minimal, most students chose to see Swollen Members on Driscoll Lawn instead of pitching their tents by the box office Friday night.

"I was shocked at how low the turnout was this year," said sophomore Liz Glissmeyer. "Everybody was really into it last year but I think the concert was a big distraction."

Though more students attended the concert than the campout, a few die-hard fans braved the rain and stuck it out through the night. Freshman Matt Bick waited all day and night for the season tickets.

"I got here at two thirty this afternoon," said Bick. Most other people showed up around eight that night. "I've been here all day but its still been pretty fun," said Bick who passed the time playing cards with friends and reading magazines.

While last year the tents stretched toward the lacrosse field, this year they barely made it down the Ritchie Center steps by the ticket office. The music and sounds of college students laughing and enjoying themselves were not found at the campout as they have in years past. This year the music was coming from a different part of campus, Boone Stock on nearby Driscoll Lawn.

Some said it was only poor timing that resulted in a weak turnout, not lack of interest from fans.

Tickets will be available to students on the Monday prior to each home game this season.

"We have an awesome home schedule, including the Hall of Fame game against Notre Dame," said Erich Bacher, Director of DU Athletic Media Relations. Other home games this season include Wisconsin, Colorado College, Minnesota and Ohio State.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was there for a little bit and it was lame. Even my sister who is a freashmen this year compared the campout to a high school party. She was really disappointed in it.

dggoddard said...

I guess i"m a little surprised because there seemed to be way more pre-event hype due to the concert. Maybe the concert needed to be near the campsite?

Anyway, thanks for the feedback & I'll pass it along.

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like the concert killed the campout. Perhaps in the future, they could move the concert to the lacross stadium so they would be closer to each other. The other soultion would be to have the concert indoors at Magness to entertain the students, and then after the concert, organize a "ticket sleepover" in the arena concourse, rather than outside with tents. That way, everyone who wants a ticket stays dry, and no one has to go very far to get in line...

Anonymous said...

Maybe if you could beat Air Force and CC more people would come.

The Mommyhood Project | Cortney Galster said...

Yaaaaaaaaaaay Minnesota :)

(Just had to throw that out there)

-your Minnesota hockey friend

TigerPride said...

shoulda let Liz be the spokesman, I'll bet people would go just cuz she was there ;)