 |
| (above) Welcome to Madness Arena |
 |
| (above) PioNation bringing Swagger to college hockey |
 |
| (above) Ten goal games are lots of fun in the student section |
 |
| (above) D-Rah |
 |
| (above) Mega-Boone floats above the student section |
photo credits: duinternalphotos
See More Homecoming Photos
8 comments:
Far from "ruling".
It is always nice to see the student section full . The pep band adds alot to the games.
It was not full Saturday.
To be fair, the entire student section is rarely, if ever, completely "full".
However, comparing the student section this past weekend against the student section from opening weekend in, say, 2008; it's obvious that there has been a marked improvement in both attendance and enthusiasm.
It's unfortunate in many ways, but DU will always struggle to draw consistently large student crowds. The school's proximity to the mountains means that it attracts a student body that doesn't always have intercollegiate athletics on the top of its "time away from studying" list.
I mean, hell, I know several professors at DU that have given up even trying to hold classes on Fridays, because the Thursday night "flight to the mountains" makes it a complete waste of time.
That, combined with a "young" metro area replete with night life specifically engineered to entice kids in their early 20s (and those with fake IDs) away from campus on Friday and Saturday nights means that there are lots of distractions competing for DU student dollars and attentions.
The thing is, these things don't...can't change overnight. A culture of school spirit is one that needs time to develop. DU's made great strides here in the last few years, but everyone is just gonna have to come to the realization that "religious attendance at hockey games" will likely never replace "going skiing as many weekends as possible" as the winter activity of choice at DU.
Again. The situation is, perhaps unfortunate, but Denver isn't Grand Forks...and I, for one, am more than a little thankful for that.
RoF brings up great points.
It is possible to get up up early, ski all day and make it back in time for the hockey. So if the games are fun enough for the students, that's an option.
And no matter how many go skiing, there are still thousands of students who don't head up to the hills.
So as long as the games become an inexpensive, fun experience for the students the momentum should continue to grow.
There were probably 700 students on Friday and 500 on Saturday, which was an excellent turnout. The total crowds of 5900+ were about 100 short of a full sellout, which is very good.
All in all, I am very pleased with the upward progress in spirit, and have been watching it grow year by year.
DU will never be Grand Forks or Ann Arbor or Madison, but it is certainly forming its own home ice advantage.
Skiing, is that why you can’t seem to make it to the game before the
2nd period? I always thought you were having wine and cheese with the alumni group.
Boston University is probably most similar team to Denver n terms of a private school playing in large city, but stuck behind a lot of pro teams and other colleges, but still driven by hockey as a flagship.
Hockey attendence is pretty similar at both schools. BU is a bigger school with a less transient population and a deeper local hockey culture, while DU has less college compeition, and it still pretty even...
In other words, we do well considering what we are, where we are and who we compete with for fans...
Post a Comment