SU / Dome Staff are killing us.

[storange]

Dcuse went to the Friday night thing . Went to sit down in the stands . the usher would not let him sit side court anywhere between the. end lines. He thought they were reserved. NOBODY sat there , the Dome staff reserved the better seats for air. Something has to be done up there. I am still upset about the PA system destroying the fan atmosphere during the Clemson Football Game. Someone has to be spoken to.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Dcuse went to the Friday night thing . Went to sit down in the stands . the usher would not let him sit side court anywhere between the. end lines. He thought they were reserved. NOBODY sat there , the Dome staff reserved the better seats for air. Something has to be done up there. I am still upset about the PA system destroying the fan atmosphere during the Clemson Football Game. Someone has to be spoken to.

I was there too with a few buddies. It was reserved for students. They didn’t show up.

 

[690West]

I’ve always thought the “sports usher” paradigm is backwards. They are trained all over the country as law enforcement types, when they should be trained more as waitstaff

A waiter says “sir what can I do to make your night enjoyable?” A cop says “no you can’t!!”

Many ushers also derive self worth from this mini authority they are granted. Sometimes they don’t have this authority in their “real” life.

And some, of course, are just delightful. But overall, there’s a definite power play phenomenon at play with sports ushers

 

[Cusefan0307]

I’ve always thought the “sports usher” paradigm is backwards. They are trained all over the country as law enforcement types, when they should be trained more as waitstaff

A waiter says “sir what can I do to make your night enjoyable?” A cop says “no you can’t!!”

Many ushers also derive self worth from this mini authority they are granted. Sometimes they don’t have this authority in their “real” life.

And some, of course, are just delightful. But overall, there’s a definite power play phenomenon at play with sports ushers

One of the ushers/security guys is a guy i umpire with. He’s a good guy, but he’s been specifically trained for crowd control. They are not trained for customer relations. It’s an organizational problem.

 

[storange]

I was there too with a few buddies. It was reserved for students. They didn’t show up.

That would be a whole lot of seats. If they want my expertise , they can hire me I could have told them 7,000 students weren’t coming . Not an excuse . They need people who have a clue up there !!!

 

[690West]

One of the ushers/security guys is a guy i umpire with. He’s a good guy, but he’s been specifically trained for crowd control. They are not trained for customer relations. It’s an organizational problem.

I totally understand the need to be strict with regards to crowd control. But they should be empowered to make common sense decisions. If an entire section is empty, give them authority to let people down there without fear of getting in trouble

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I’ve always thought the “sports usher” paradigm is backwards. They are trained all over the country as law enforcement types, when they should be trained more as waitstaff

A waiter says “sir what can I do to make your night enjoyable?” A cop says “no you can’t!!”

Many ushers also derive self worth from this mini authority they are granted. Sometimes they don’t have this authority in their “real” life.

And some, of course, are just delightful. But overall, there’s a definite power play phenomenon at play with sports ushers

We saw Duran Duran last month in Boston. Bought floor seats because thats what I saw and we were going that night. Get there and we are sitting just left of the sound boards in the back of the garden. Still great seats but this is my wife’s favorite band. So she proceeds to sweet talk the usher into moving us up to the 12th row. Was a pretty great night.

 

[storange]

We saw Duran Duran last month in Boston. Bought floor seats because thats what I saw and we were going that night. Get there and we are sitting just left of the sound boards in the back of the garden. Still great seats but this is my wife’s favorite band. So she proceeds to sweet talk the usher into moving us up to the 12th row. Was a pretty great night.

So your saying Dcuse needs to learn how to sweet talk ushers ???? I’ve known him since 7th grade ( I’m 62 ). I’m not sure that will work .

 

[SmilinBob]

I’ve always thought the “sports usher” paradigm is backwards. They are trained all over the country as law enforcement types, when they should be trained more as waitstaff

A waiter says “sir what can I do to make your night enjoyable?” A cop says “no you can’t!!”

Many ushers also derive self worth from this mini authority they are granted. Sometimes they don’t have this authority in their “real” life.

And some, of course, are just delightful. But overall, there’s a definite power play phenomenon at play with sports ushers

I remember learning about the Syracuse Usher study in college. It got crazy.

 

[Dcuse]

So your saying Dcuse needs to learn how to sweet talk ushers ???? I’ve known him since 7th grade ( I’m 62 ). I’m not sure that will work .

I must have that face that screams “ THREAT TO CROWD CONTROL!”
Seriously though…one more story from the “ event” on Friday. First of all, no buzz at all, very few people and I felt like any attempt to show excitement would be met by a “ Crowd Control Attendant” asking me to leave.( slight exaggeration). Maybe this was due to a paranoia over the free event events of I think last year where we had the violence. Anyway, a friend of mine ,who is a big time autograph collector, made up a bunch of player cards of all members of both the mens and womens basketball teams and attached to a big poster board. They set up about 6 or 7 stations in the backcourt for autographs after the event. He went through each line to get the cards signed and the players all seemed to love that he did this. He had one line left to hit and went to get his last signings. A “ Crowd Control Attendant” stopped him and said they were shutting down and he couldn’t get any more autographs. There were only 4 or 5 people left in the line at this station. I told this guy that my friend went through the trouble of creating all these cards and just had these last 3 to sign. The guy was totally rigid and said no. There was still a number of people still milling around and my friend snuck around to the side to get this last few. Just as he got to the players, this attendant got up in the face of my friend to remove him but the players intervened and said it was ok and signed. They told my friend how cool they thought what he did was. My friend went to the attendant after to apologize for going around and thank him for allowing him these last few and extended his hand. He was met with a cold stare and a “ get out of my face” look. I’m sure there will be some here to defend this guy but frankly,the event staff at this Tip Off thing did nothing but detour any casual fan that might have been there from wanting to come to any future game.
Rant over.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I remember learning about the Syracuse Usher study in college. It got crazy.

Was that the one where half the students were "ushers" and the other half were "fans"?

Fans were forbidden from standing up and cheering. They were forced to eat crappy nachos and cold Dome Dogs. Beer sales were randomly cut off. Only a few fans had access to WIFI, and those who did were accused of being in cahoots with the ushers.

The fans revolted. Brutality ensued.

 

[storange]

Was that the one where half the students were "ushers" and the other half were "fans"?

Fans were forbidden from standing up and cheering. They were forced to eat crappy nachos and cold Dome Dogs. Beer sales were randomly cut off. Only a few fans had access to WIFI, and those who did were accused of being in cahoots with the ushers.

The fans revolted. Brutality ensued.

No I think that was the one where the fans had electric shock collars and the ushers were told to keep increasing the shock until the needle said “ extremely dangerous “ and the ushers hit the button without question. ( You psych majors will get it )

 

[littlereg]

Ushers are in the same universe as parking attendants and bar security guards. They’re all the same ego.

 

[Eric15]

I totally understand the need to be strict with regards to crowd control. But they should be empowered to make common sense decisions. If an entire section is empty, give them authority to let people down there without fear of getting in trouble

But then you run the risk of one usher saying one thing and another usher telling people the exact opposite. There has to be some supervisor or decision-making authority that is coordinating all this. Preferably someone smart and not the same person who purchased our audio system or was responsible for designing Roosevelt Bouie's jersey.

 

[SmilinBob]

Was that the one where half the students were "ushers" and the other half were "fans"?

Fans were forbidden from standing up and cheering. They were forced to eat crappy nachos and cold Dome Dogs. Beer sales were randomly cut off. Only a few fans had access to WIFI, and those who did were accused of being in cahoots with the ushers.

The fans revolted. Brutality ensued.

That's the one OX.

 

[sutomcat]

I must have that face that screams “ THREAT TO CROWD CONTROL!”
Seriously though…one more story from the “ event” on Friday. First of all, no buzz at all, very few people and I felt like any attempt to show excitement would be met by a “ Crowd Control Attendant” asking me to leave.( slight exaggeration). Maybe this was due to a paranoia over the free event events of I think last year where we had the violence. Anyway, a friend of mine ,who is a big time autograph collector, made up a bunch of player cards of all members of both the mens and womens basketball teams and attached to a big poster board. They set up about 6 or 7 stations in the backcourt for autographs after the event. He went through each line to get the cards signed and the players all seemed to love that he did this. He had one line left to hit and went to get his last signings. A “ Crowd Control Attendant” stopped him and said they were shutting down and he couldn’t get any more autographs. There were only 4 or 5 people left in the line at this station. I told this guy that my friend went through the trouble of creating all these cards and just had these last 3 to sign. The guy was totally rigid and said no. There was still a number of people still milling around and my friend snuck around to the side to get this last few. Just as he got to the players, this attendant got up in the face of my friend to remove him but the players intervened and said it was ok and signed. They told my friend how cool they thought what he did was. My friend went to the attendant after to apologize for going around and thank him for allowing him these last few and extended his hand. He was met with a cold stare and a “ get out of my face” look. I’m sure there will be some here to defend this guy but frankly,the event staff at this Tip Off thing did nothing but detour any casual fan that might have been there from wanting to come to any future game.
Rant over.

They did the same thing after the spring football game. LeQuint Allen was the last player signing autographs. He was determined to sign for everyone who wanted one.

An usher decided this was unacceptable and jumped in and told tue kids they had to go. The event was over.

LeQuint intervened, god bless him, and told the usher/security guy no, I am going to sign for everyone. He would not back down.

The guy reluctantly backed down.

How sad.

 

[dollarbill44]

Ushers are in the same universe as parking attendants and bar security guards. They’re all the same ego.

Don't forget HOA board members.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

Basketball kickoff has never had the MOJO at Cuse as other places. Midnight Madness as far as I know wasn't a thing in Syracuse when it was at its peak

 

[Eric15]

Basketball kickoff has never had the MOJO at Cuse as other places. Midnight Madness as far as I know wasn't a thing in Syracuse when it was at its peak

The one at Manley prior to Jonny Flynn's freshman year in 2007-08 was great I thought (the only one I've ever been to). Putting it in Manley was just a more fun/cozier atmosphere than the sprawling Dome.

 

[hoopsupstate]

SU needs to stop doing this event. It’s getting embarrassing. There’s no interest or excitement. They would be better served to go to Utica and Rochester. Smaller arenas and something a little different.

 

[Eric15]

SU needs to stop doing this event. It’s getting embarrassing. There’s no interest or excitement. They would be better served to go to Utica and Rochester. Smaller arenas and something a little different.

I would put it at OCC or maybe even rotate it amongst local high schools.

 

[PhatOrange]

They have their marching orders.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I remember attending one at Manley that was actually at Midnight.

During the Moten era?

 

[Sherman20]

SU needs to stop doing this event. It’s getting embarrassing. There’s no interest or excitement. They would be better served to go to Utica and Rochester. Smaller arenas and something a little different.

The problem is that it’s not marketed or promoted well. And the university is paranoid about making it free, adding any entertainment or promoting it because of the stabbing that took place at the Midnight Madness event at the Dome 10+ years ago (can’t recall the exact year). This event can be done right with the right marketing and promotion but our AD is often lacking in those areas. Hopefully Coach Red and staff take an active interest in making it a great event again once they get settled into the job in the next couple of years.

 

[Cusefan0307]

SU needs to stop doing this event. It’s getting embarrassing. There’s no interest or excitement. They would be better served to go to Utica and Rochester. Smaller arenas and something a little different.

They are going to Rochester this week.

Once we have successful winning season this year the interest will pick up. Fans are skeptical.