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Message: [QUOTE="Vorony, post: 1323204, member: 1579"] Hello folks, I've been in Los Angeles for business the past few weeks, and decided to take in a UCLA game tonight at the legendary Pauley Pavilion. Very cool arena, especially after it went through a major renovation a couple years ago. Was a great experience being in the house of John Wooden. Just some takeaways that I had while comparing the experience to a game at the Dome: 1) While I love the Dome because of the amount of people that it can hold, a lot can be said for a "basketball only" arena. Seats are obviously closer to the court, and it's nice to have ACTUAL seats instead of a bench. I think the smaller atmosphere contributes to the crowd being way more into the game. 2) Speaking of crowd - not many actual butts in the seats tonight... maybe 10,000-15,000. But they were LOUD. You can hear a pin drop in the Dome at times. The crowd out here stayed loud through most of the game. Even while UCLA had a substantial lead. 3) Students - I'm sorry, but the UCLA student section puts ours to shame. I know a lot of discussion has been had on this board regarding our dwindling student section, so this just adds fuel to that fire. But these students packed the place. They're on the sidelines, they're behind the hoop, they're up in the rafters. Just an awesome turnout. Lots of creative chants throughout the game. At the start of the 2nd half, the student section behind the basket was handed long blue and yellow balloons to distract the USC free throw shooters. Which brings me to my next point... 4) Why do we have our opponents shoot towards the student section in the 1st half? Besides Towel Guy, the other section behind the hoop gives us ZERO home court advantage in the 2nd half of games. Doesn't it make more sense for our opponents to shoot towards the students in the 2nd half? 5) The game experience - Again, I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but our gameday experience is just dreadful compared to other colleges. I truly felt like I was attending a college game tonight. The UCLA band played during nearly every timeout. The annoying sponsorship ads were minimal and actually had a purpose - they sponsored contests instead (for example, a car dealership sponsored a contest where a fan would win a BMW if they sunk a half court shot). It wasn't Mr. Excitement reading a canned advertisement message at every break in the action. There was always something going on to keep the crowd in it. And it worked. The contests also involved mostly students... another incentive for them to attend games. Overall, I had a great time. I know it sounds like I'm being harsh on the Syracuse experience, but I've been in the camp that thinks it needs to be revamped. UCLA clearly makes it known that they're trying to appeal to the fans. Syracuse makes it clear that it's focused on sponsorships. Nothing beats the Dome when 30,000+ are packed in there, but that only happens a couple times a year. The other 18 games need a refresher. I'm curious to know others' thoughts on this... [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?