Got my hands on student section Wisky season tickets...

[SouthCampusHero]

Can SU do something like this, please?


Throw the cold weather excuse out the window...tailgating in the cold is standard operating procedure. I often times tailgate without a ticket. The game day atmosphere is just that much fun. And the 5th quarter is fantastic (oh, thats right...bad traffic...better leave the dome early). And by the way...it wasnt always like this at Wisky. They sucked in football for many, many years. Barry Alvarez turned it around...and the rest is history. They have so much momentum that even Bret Bielema cant derail it. Yes, I know they made the Rose Bowl, but they had better talent...

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Can SU do something like this, please?


Throw the cold weather excuse out the window...tailgating in the cold is standard operating procedure. I often times tailgate without a ticket. The game day atmosphere is just that much fun. And the 5th quarter is fantastic (oh, thats right...bad traffic...better leave the dome early). And by the way...it wasnt always like this at Wisky. They sucked in football for many, many years. Barry Alvarez turned it around...and the rest is history. They have so much momentum that even Bret Bielema cant derail it. Yes, I know they made the Rose Bowl, but they had better talent...

Again, you can't compare college FB fans in the northeast to the Midwest or South. Totally different species

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[SouthCampusHero]

Again, you can't compare college FB fans in the northeast to the Midwest or South. Totally different species

Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk 2

Really? Minnesota is in the midwest. Indiana is in the midwest. Northwestern is in the midwest. Iowa is in the midwest. Michigan State hasnt aslways been a big draw despite their 75k capacity stadium...

Im all about fan experience. It is the reason I freeze my A$$ off at Camp Randall...and why I freeze my A$$ off at Lambeau Field. Maybe us midwesterners are just nuts...but we love our football...outdoors. There is a reason we call the Minnesota Vikings the "ViQueens"...they play inside...

 

[SouthCampusHero]

And one more thing...

Does the SU band divide itself and play around campus? When I was a student that didnt happen. I know B10 schools have bigger bands but it is a HUGE plus. Divide the band up and throw the drum crew down to south campus...throw another crew on Comstock...throw another crew somewhere else. Make them play 15 minutes well before kick off to excite the students and fanbase. Every B10 school does it. You cant tell me its too expensive to divide up the band and send them to different parts around campus. I havent been on campus for a football game in awhile so maybe TGD changed that?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

SUMB already does a show in front of Hendricks Chapel. Then they march around campus and end up at the Dome airlock approx 20 minutes before kick-off. From there they enter the Dome and go right out onto the field for the pre-game show.

When do you want them to "split-up" ... at 9 AM? They'll be nobody to excite.

 

[SouthCampusHero]

SUMB already does a show in front of Hendricks Chapel. Then they march around campus and end up at the Dome airlock approx 20 minutes before kick-off. From there they enter the Dome and go right out onto the field for the pre-game show.

When do you want them to "split-up" ... at 9 AM? They'll be nobody to excite.

Meh. Screw the Hendricks Chapel and march. Divide them up and throw them around off-campus student housing. With noon starts, no one cares about going to the Quad to see the band. Thats the point...send the band to the fans...not the other way around.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Just as long as the Tuba line gets assigned to the Fine lot.

 

[texascpa]

lol, even the visiting team got into it.

 

[SouthCampusHero]

lol, even the visiting team got into it.

Seriously. Its out of control. Ive seen 80 year old types try to do the Jump Around thing. Hey, anything to energize the fanbase.

And its not even that old of a tradition...1998 to be exact. Winning helps, I guess.

And indoor football is for vaginas.

 

[mountaincuse]

Really? Minnesota is in the midwest. Indiana is in the midwest. Northwestern is in the midwest. Iowa is in the midwest. Michigan State hasnt aslways been a big draw despite their 75k capacity stadium...

Im all about fan experience. It is the reason I freeze my A$$ off at Camp Randall...and why I freeze my A$$ off at Lambeau Field. Maybe us midwesterners are just nuts...but we love our football...outdoors. There is a reason we call the Minnesota Vikings the "ViQueens"...they play inside...

We freeze our ass off and love our football in Syracuse too - fan experience is about the fan making it happen. We tailgate on south and have a great time, so do those around us. The university doesn't do that for us, we do.

You're awfully negative for a fan but i guess that's typical for a SU fan.

Stop making excuses and make it happen.

 

[SouthCampusHero]

We freeze our ass off and love our football in Syracuse too - fan experience is about the fan making it happen. We tailgate on south and have a great time, so do those around us. The university doesn't do that for us, we do.

You're awfully negative for a fan but i guess that's typical for a SU fan.

Stop making excuses and make it happen.

Call me when SU's fanbase is like Wisconsin's. Im not belittling the people that enjoy the game day experience...Im just saying the game day experience within the BE is pretty much JV. It could be better...and you know it. I think the ACC will help. Sorry, but I have no interest in SU vs UConn. SU vs, FSU or Miami...or Clemson...now we are talking. I might finally book a flight.

 

[Frozen]

I got to sit in the UW student section once. It was a great time. They know how to do it up.

 

[longislandcuse]

Ummm excuse me sir but we jingle our keys... Thank you very much. Wisconsin can jump around and Penn State can do zombie nation, but I dont wish to know the terror that grips opposing teams when they hear our keys jingle.

 

[SUMB]

Meh. Screw the Hendricks Chapel and march. Divide them up and throw them around off-campus student housing. With noon starts, no one cares about going to the Quad to see the band. Thats the point...send the band to the fans...not the other way around.

Hi, I'm the director of the SUMB and I just wanted to let you know what's in the works with some of this.

This season, we are going to start expanding where we play around campus. As another poster mentioned, we already do the Hendricks show and march around campus. I know you don't seem excited about the Hendricks show but it's a good, central location and we reach a lot of fans that way, especially as they're passing through campus on their way to the Dome. What we're going to start doing is sending small groups of kids to play at tailgates around campus (all of the Tubas will have to make at least one appearance at the Fine lot for sure). This will only work for non-noon games because we practice from 8-9 am in the Dome those mornings and the kids need to eat before a long day and there just isn't enough time to add the breakouts before we play on the Quad.

Off-campus isn't a possibility (we've looked into it) because there are issues with noise ordinances in the surrounding neighborhood. Neither is South Campus, at least currently, because we can't march down to it because Comstock Ave is open to live traffic and there isn't a sidewalk big enough to contain us to make this feasible. I'm working on trying to work something out where we transport the whole group en masse to Manley and Skytop to play for the tailgaters there because I absolutely agree with you that we must go to where the fans are. Money and logistics are the current issues in the way of that.

In any case, thanks for thinking about how we can make the fan experience better; know that we are always thinking about that too. Go Orange!

 

[Chip]

Again, you can't compare college FB fans in the northeast to the Midwest or South. Totally different species

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They also have about 3X the undergrad population.

 

[Chip]

Hi, I'm the director of the SUMB and I just wanted to let you know what's in the works with some of this.

This season, we are going to start expanding where we play around campus. As another poster mentioned, we already do the Hendricks show and march around campus. I know you don't seem excited about the Hendricks show but it's a good, central location and we reach a lot of fans that way, especially as they're passing through campus on their way to the Dome. What we're going to start doing is sending small groups of kids to play at tailgates around campus (all of the Tubas will have to make at least one appearance at the Fine lot for sure). This will only work for non-noon games because we practice from 8-9 am in the Dome those mornings and the kids need to eat before a long day and there just isn't enough time to add the breakouts before we play on the Quad.

Off-campus isn't a possibility (we've looked into it) because there are issues with noise ordinances in the surrounding neighborhood. Neither is South Campus, at least currently, because we can't march down to it because Comstock Ave is open to live traffic and there isn't a sidewalk big enough to contain us to make this feasible. I'm working on trying to work something out where we transport the whole group en masse to Manley and Skytop to play for the tailgaters there because I absolutely agree with you that we must go to where the fans are. Money and logistics are the current issues in the way of that.

In any case, thanks for thinking about how we can make the fan experience better; know that we are always thinking about that too. Go Orange!

How about band size, any hopes of that increasing? Would be nice if the band could fill that section, but I realize that will probably require some $.

New uniforms coming soon? Something more orange and less white?

 

[Rocco]

Wisky has about 4-5x times the students that SU has. It's hard to compare them. It would be a blast to do that, but I don't ever see it happening at SU.

 

[mountaincuse]

Call me when SU's fanbase is like Wisconsin's.

Apples to Zebras

I might finally book a flight.

Some Hero you are - I go to games to see SU, not because of who is visiting.

 

[Orange&Blue44]

Really? Minnesota is in the midwest. Indiana is in the midwest. Northwestern is in the midwest. Iowa is in the midwest. Michigan State hasnt aslways been a big draw despite their 75k capacity stadium...

Im all about fan experience. It is the reason I freeze my A$$ off at Camp Randall...and why I freeze my A$$ off at Lambeau Field. Maybe us midwesterners are just nuts...but we love our football...outdoors. There is a reason we call the Minnesota Vikings the "ViQueens"...they play inside...

I found the ignore function useful for FudgePacker trolls.

 

[SUMB]

How about band size, any hopes of that increasing? Would be nice if the band could fill that section, but I realize that will probably require some $.

New uniforms coming soon? Something more orange and less white?

Hi Chip,

The Band size seems to be holding steady right around 200. When I got the Band in 2005 we had 155; our highest since then was 204 in 2010. It looks like we might go slightly over that this year but we're right in the middle of recruiting season and we won't know until mid-July. I'll update you then. As a frame of reference, the SUMB saw its highest numbers in 1999, and that was 224.

As for filling that section, I'd actually like to move to the corner near the tunnel so we can be close to the student section. I think we're the only Div. I-FBS stadium that seats its band off in the middle of nowhere closer to away fans than home fans. This really detracts from the atmosphere and home-field advantage. I'm working on this, but there's a lot of resistance to moving us.

I want to break through and get to 250-275, but we don't offer scholarships like a lot of programs in the Big East and many in the ACC (there aren't $$ for this. If there were, we would have more Tubas than we'd know what to do with!), and the University actually ties our hands with recruiting; we aren't allowed to contact all incoming students directly. The reasons for this are a bit silly and we're working with the upper administration to fix it, but it's slow. As for scholarships, until we can get some kind of base funding it won't happen, but that's the quickest way to grow the Band.

Uniforms! Yes. These are in dire need of replacement, if for no other reason than our current set is falling apart. A typical life cycle for uniforms is 10 years; the set we have now was first used in 2005. The current design was introduced in 1995 and is admittedly very dated. We are currently working on a replacement design for 2015. We know what it'll look like: more orange and navy, and only a little bit of white. It's a really nice design that's contemporary and a little bit traditional at the same time (although if this platinum thing catches on we're going to have to revisit). What we don't know is where the $$ will come from to buy them (about $200,000). Again, we're working on that, too.

Our biggest challenge is getting the University to invest in the SUMB. We're working on organizational and funding models from the early 1990s! We're starting to get traction on all of these things but as you might imagine it's hard to make it to the top of the priority list when there are so many other pressing needs. We are optimistic that the move to the ACC will help.

 

[jr4750]

Hi Chip,

The Band size seems to be holding steady right around 200. When I got the Band in 2005 we had 155; our highest since then was 204 in 2010. It looks like we might go slightly over that this year but we're right in the middle of recruiting season and we won't know until mid-July. I'll update you then. As a frame of reference, the SUMB saw its highest numbers in 1999, and that was 224.

As for filling that section, I'd actually like to move to the corner near the tunnel so we can be close to the student section. I think we're the only Div. I-FBS stadium that seats its band off in the middle of nowhere closer to away fans than home fans. This really detracts from the atmosphere and home-field advantage. I'm working on this, but there's a lot of resistance to moving us.

I want to break through and get to 250-275, but we don't offer scholarships like a lot of programs in the Big East and many in the ACC (there aren't $$ for this. If there were, we would have more Tubas than we'd know what to do with!), and the University actually ties our hands with recruiting; we aren't allowed to contact all incoming students directly. The reasons for this are a bit silly and we're working with the upper administration to fix it, but it's slow. As for scholarships, until we can get some kind of base funding it won't happen, but that's the quickest way to grow the Band.

Uniforms! Yes. These are in dire need of replacement, if for no other reason than our current set is falling apart. A typical life cycle for uniforms is 10 years; the set we have now was first used in 2005. The current design was introduced in 1995 and is admittedly very dated. We are currently working on a replacement design for 2015. We know what it'll look like: more orange and navy, and only a little bit of white. It's a really nice design that's contemporary and a little bit traditional at the same time (although if this platinum thing catches on we're going to have to revisit). What we don't know is where the $$ will come from to buy them (about $200,000). Again, we're working on that, too.

Our biggest challenge is getting the University to invest in the SUMB. We're working on organizational and funding models from the early 1990s! We're starting to get traction on all of these things but as you might imagine it's hard to make it to the top of the priority list when there are so many other pressing needs. We are optimistic that the move to the ACC will help.

Thanks for posting... Great perspective. Honestly, having a loud and energetic band, truly empowers the whole atmosphere at the Dome. It would be great for the University to put some of that new ACC money into the band!

 

[Chip]

Hi Chip,

The Band size seems to be holding steady right around 200. When I got the Band in 2005 we had 155; our highest since then was 204 in 2010. It looks like we might go slightly over that this year but we're right in the middle of recruiting season and we won't know until mid-July. I'll update you then. As a frame of reference, the SUMB saw its highest numbers in 1999, and that was 224.

As for filling that section, I'd actually like to move to the corner near the tunnel so we can be close to the student section. I think we're the only Div. I-FBS stadium that seats its band off in the middle of nowhere closer to away fans than home fans. This really detracts from the atmosphere and home-field advantage. I'm working on this, but there's a lot of resistance to moving us.

I want to break through and get to 250-275, but we don't offer scholarships like a lot of programs in the Big East and many in the ACC (there aren't $$ for this. If there were, we would have more Tubas than we'd know what to do with!), and the University actually ties our hands with recruiting; we aren't allowed to contact all incoming students directly. The reasons for this are a bit silly and we're working with the upper administration to fix it, but it's slow. As for scholarships, until we can get some kind of base funding it won't happen, but that's the quickest way to grow the Band.

Uniforms! Yes. These are in dire need of replacement, if for no other reason than our current set is falling apart. A typical life cycle for uniforms is 10 years; the set we have now was first used in 2005. The current design was introduced in 1995 and is admittedly very dated. We are currently working on a replacement design for 2015. We know what it'll look like: more orange and navy, and only a little bit of white. It's a really nice design that's contemporary and a little bit traditional at the same time (although if this platinum thing catches on we're going to have to revisit). What we don't know is where the $$ will come from to buy them (about $200,000). Again, we're working on that, too.

Our biggest challenge is getting the University to invest in the SUMB. We're working on organizational and funding models from the early 1990s! We're starting to get traction on all of these things but as you might imagine it's hard to make it to the top of the priority list when there are so many other pressing needs. We are optimistic that the move to the ACC will help.

Good info, thanks for the response SUMB. Here's to hoping you get what you wish for in the ACC (275 count and new uniforms at least, the corner seats will probably be a tougher sell if they project full student attendance at some point).

 

[PhatOrange]

They also have about 3X the undergrad population.

That's the bottom line.

When 4 generations of family alumni all reside within a 3/4 hour drive to the stadium it's not to hard to pack them in. That's why they have a billion fans and awesome tradtions, it almost becomes genetic.

When I lived in Michigan people by and large either went to Michigan or Michigan State and everybody went to the games on Saturday. We used to laugh at the girl who's Dad absolutely forbade her to get married on a gameday.

 

[BlackKnight76]

Good info, thanks for the response SUMB. Here's to hoping you get what you wish for in the ACC (275 count and new uniforms at least, the corner seats will probably be a tougher sell if they project full student attendance at some point).

They would put students on both sides of the band. We were trying to get this done for this past season. Glad to hear it still has momentum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sutomcat]

Hi Chip,

The Band size seems to be holding steady right around 200. When I got the Band in 2005 we had 155; our highest since then was 204 in 2010. It looks like we might go slightly over that this year but we're right in the middle of recruiting season and we won't know until mid-July. I'll update you then. As a frame of reference, the SUMB saw its highest numbers in 1999, and that was 224.

As for filling that section, I'd actually like to move to the corner near the tunnel so we can be close to the student section. I think we're the only Div. I-FBS stadium that seats its band off in the middle of nowhere closer to away fans than home fans. This really detracts from the atmosphere and home-field advantage. I'm working on this, but there's a lot of resistance to moving us.

I want to break through and get to 250-275, but we don't offer scholarships like a lot of programs in the Big East and many in the ACC (there aren't $$ for this. If there were, we would have more Tubas than we'd know what to do with!), and the University actually ties our hands with recruiting; we aren't allowed to contact all incoming students directly. The reasons for this are a bit silly and we're working with the upper administration to fix it, but it's slow. As for scholarships, until we can get some kind of base funding it won't happen, but that's the quickest way to grow the Band.

Uniforms! Yes. These are in dire need of replacement, if for no other reason than our current set is falling apart. A typical life cycle for uniforms is 10 years; the set we have now was first used in 2005. The current design was introduced in 1995 and is admittedly very dated. We are currently working on a replacement design for 2015. We know what it'll look like: more orange and navy, and only a little bit of white. It's a really nice design that's contemporary and a little bit traditional at the same time (although if this platinum thing catches on we're going to have to revisit). What we don't know is where the $$ will come from to buy them (about $200,000). Again, we're working on that, too.

Our biggest challenge is getting the University to invest in the SUMB. We're working on organizational and funding models from the early 1990s! We're starting to get traction on all of these things but as you might imagine it's hard to make it to the top of the priority list when there are so many other pressing needs. We are optimistic that the move to the ACC will help.

How can we as fans of SUMB help? What is the best way to tell administration we care about the band? Who should we contact about this?

What is the best way to make a donation? I wish there was an option to earmark dollars for SUMB on the season ticket holder renewal form. That would be the ideal solution (hint hint whoever is responsible for that).

Is there any way you could add some code to the SUMB web site to allow people to support SUMB financially? I think if there was a way to make it relatively easy for fans to make donations, you would get some of the financial support you need to accomplish your goals.