WARNING! A Cyclone Alley Voting thread!
- Thread starter JUKEBOX
- Start date
I'm pretty biased, but when I was in school Fizer and Tinsley were running "the show," ISU was winning back to back titles and we rioted my freshman year when ISU beat UCLA in the Sweet 16. So yeah, great basketball, freaking loud atmosphere in Hilton. We made it a point to get in the other team's heads. Ex. 2001, the ISU-KU game...IMO the LOUDEST game I ever witnessed..Eric Chenawith, "Chen-a-worthless!" chant...I mean, my buddy who started that chant got the "old fogies" even chanting it during that electric game.(he never had a worse game in the league than he did that day when ISU won in a TOP 10 ranked teams battle.) It was just stuff like that, which made Hilton awesome.
But when we went to Hilton, it was first come, first served when students would pile in behind the hoops. That, in my opinion, is the best way to get the best/most rowdy type of students at the game. That is WHO I want leading the rest of the student body...the people that cared the most. (I remember standing outside, freaking freezing before they even opened Hilton up before a KU game...then eventually they opened the doors so we students could at least stand inside the concourse, then eventually pandamonium would ensue when they opened their doors to the Coliseum and rushed to find the closest seats to the floor.)
"Cyclone Ally" to me just doesn't have that "feel." Again, nothing against the kids now, plus there have been some "down years" of Cyclone basketball.... I am sure there are some "crazies/passionate" ones out there, but the system that is Cyclone Ally is ruining it or not allowing the most passionate ones to lead and be near the court. - It needs to become first come, first served again.
But when we went to Hilton, it was first come, first served when students would pile in behind the hoops. That, in my opinion, is the best way to get the best/most rowdy type of students at the game. That is WHO I want leading the rest of the student body...the people that cared the most. (I remember standing outside, freaking freezing before they even opened Hilton up before a KU game...then eventually they opened the doors so we students could at least stand inside the concourse, then eventually pandamonium would ensue when they opened their doors to the Coliseum and rushed to find the closest seats to the floor.)
"Cyclone Ally" to me just doesn't have that "feel." Again, nothing against the kids now, plus there have been some "down years" of Cyclone basketball.... I am sure there are some "crazies/passionate" ones out there, but the system that is Cyclone Ally is ruining it or not allowing the most passionate ones to lead and be near the court. - It needs to become first come, first served again.
The only reason I said destroy it was that the students will do fine without having to pay (or have mommy and daddy pay) the $30 membership fee for a t-shirt and crap props. They could sell the t-shirt as a fundraiser for $10-15, and probably make more money as some students who do not go to games will buy them. And yes, winning will solve these problems of complaining of loud/quiet students.
There is no fee. If you got student tickets before they sold out, it was included. The only people who didn't have a fair shot at season tickets were freshman with REALLY late orientation. Even then the $99 season tickets plus the $30 for Cyclone Alley still came out to the same amount I paid for my student tickets ($260 for basketball/football...$125 each + $10 service charge) and you get more with the $99 season tickets.
And it still is first-come first-serve. Show up early and you'll end up in the first couple rows. The last couple years the group I'd attended with was waiting an hour or more depending on the game for the doors to open and we always had seats in the first couple rows. Amazingly, just like football games, the earlier you show up, the closer you are to the court. Really is a novel concept. You mean you can't drink until tipoff and get into the first couple rows? Huh, just like the football games. This isn't a difficult concept to understand.
This is just a joke. Hilton was dead over winter break. Cyclone Alley did just fine last night, if any complaints should be made, its the fans only stood up when Babb directed them to and when Babb hit that big 3. I really hope 30 years from now when I'm old I'm not complaining about the student section when its what keeps Hilton rocking. Destroy Cyclone Alley? I can't believe this is a serious thread.
Can the Poll include "destroying McDermott"?
That turd is the reason Hilton Magic is nothing but a sweet memory.
That turd is the reason Hilton Magic is nothing but a sweet memory.
You guys can point the finger at the product on the floor all you want, but there is more to it than that. A couple other people have already shared similar experiences to my own in this thread, and the McDoormat and bad basketball argument just doesn't hold up to it.
I was a student ticket holder throughout the transition to CA in the mid 2000s. I attended games before CA. I attended games when one end was CA and the other was general students, and I attended when it was all CA. For the time that the student section was split, there was a noticeable difference in the sections. The general student section would arrive earlier, it would have better attendance in general, and it would be much more into the games. The general admission students just seemed to have more fun, and that translated into a rowdier student section in general.
The product on the floor was the same, the product on the floor in the previous years was the same. The weather was the same, the location of the seats were the same, the generation of the students was the same, etc. This is a perfect experimental setup. All other factors are equal, and we have a group of general students (our control group), then a group that is the new CA. The general students outperformed CA in all the areas that I would want to see from a student section. Other members of this board who were students during this transition have said the exact same thing. Can any of the CA backers explain this?
To me, the answer is simple. The existence of CA runs counter to the idea of a good student section. CA creates a feeling of order, organization, and compliance (some real, some imagined) in a situation where mayhem and chaos is desirable. If you want a loud, intimidating, over the top student section you don't get that by creating a dress code, scripting cheers, or distributing a code of conduct (yeah, that happened in my time in CA).
Other than the fact that the all red look is sort of nifty, CA has done nothing to change the student section or the gameday environment for the better. We are a school that many think of as a basketball school with a basketball venue known for its atmosphere, yet we are now to the point where many people will make the case that the students do a better job at football games. CA is not innocent in this transition, and I think it is past time to pull the plug on this experiment.
I was a student ticket holder throughout the transition to CA in the mid 2000s. I attended games before CA. I attended games when one end was CA and the other was general students, and I attended when it was all CA. For the time that the student section was split, there was a noticeable difference in the sections. The general student section would arrive earlier, it would have better attendance in general, and it would be much more into the games. The general admission students just seemed to have more fun, and that translated into a rowdier student section in general.
The product on the floor was the same, the product on the floor in the previous years was the same. The weather was the same, the location of the seats were the same, the generation of the students was the same, etc. This is a perfect experimental setup. All other factors are equal, and we have a group of general students (our control group), then a group that is the new CA. The general students outperformed CA in all the areas that I would want to see from a student section. Other members of this board who were students during this transition have said the exact same thing. Can any of the CA backers explain this?
To me, the answer is simple. The existence of CA runs counter to the idea of a good student section. CA creates a feeling of order, organization, and compliance (some real, some imagined) in a situation where mayhem and chaos is desirable. If you want a loud, intimidating, over the top student section you don't get that by creating a dress code, scripting cheers, or distributing a code of conduct (yeah, that happened in my time in CA).
Other than the fact that the all red look is sort of nifty, CA has done nothing to change the student section or the gameday environment for the better. We are a school that many think of as a basketball school with a basketball venue known for its atmosphere, yet we are now to the point where many people will make the case that the students do a better job at football games. CA is not innocent in this transition, and I think it is past time to pull the plug on this experiment.
So, where did all the non-CA people go when Hilton switched to all CA? Did they stop showing up to games entirely?
You've got your perfect experimental data from when there was still a choice, and I accept it. Fact is, there is no choice now, so the majority of students are now in CA, including the crazy ones who would have normally been in the general student section in that era. The experiment is not valid for the current setup.
Were you at the game last night? Our group had a hard time finding an open spot in the lowest section when we walked in at 6:05, 55 minutes before tipoff. Doors opened at 6:00.
Again, this does not happen anymore. We all wear the same color t-shirt, that's it. I have never been given a code of conduct or scripted cheer in 4 years. The only thing stifling our activity was the cop standing behind us for the entire first half who asked us at halftime what all the yelling was about. I'm pretty sure CA has no control over that.
THere are a lot of older people sitting along side the court that just don't do anythign anymore. Royce got that dunk last night and while it was loud, it wasn't off the hook. Lot of people in the lower bowl still sitting on their *****. Some of them standing, but a dunk like that, in game like that, really should have blown the lid off more than it did.
Same a couple years ago, Dendy got a big dunk agasint Texas when they were number 1 and it was crickets in there.
It just isn't going to be as loud as it used to be for a lot of reasons. Nice home court advantage, but our days of having one of the best home courts is probably over for now. It is good and a bit above average, but certainly no longer great.
Same a couple years ago, Dendy got a big dunk agasint Texas when they were number 1 and it was crickets in there.
It just isn't going to be as loud as it used to be for a lot of reasons. Nice home court advantage, but our days of having one of the best home courts is probably over for now. It is good and a bit above average, but certainly no longer great.
This argument is pointless as there will always be people saying "back in the day" or something of that nature and current students who weren't lucky enough to be a student during that time but still show up today and do what they can to cheer for the team. I didn't see many cyclone alley members leaving with 3 minutes left as I did see a ridiculous amount of general admission leaving early. Now of course, (most students) aren't having to get out of the parking lot, but still. If you think that it was so much better in the past (which it probably was for multiple reasons related to and unrelated to cyclone alley) what good is it going to do to throw it in in the final 3 minutes? Or for that matter, if you say back in your day you stood and yelled the entire game and it was so much better, then do it now, nobody is stopping you. Do I think the student section could do better? Absolutely. But it goes both ways.
I also think the Hilton staff has hindered the student section just as much as anyone thinks the Cyclone Alley organization has. They no longer allow anyone to run to their seats (not that they can really stop everyone) and they do a very good job of ******* everyone off by the doors waiting to come in at the hour before tip mark. My group (and many before us) got in line at least 45 minutes to an hour before the gates opened and we lined up at the doors in good position. So when the time comes to let everyone in they only bring 2 people over to scan our cards, at the opposite end of where the early (and more dedicated students get there) meaning the kids that showed up just in time for the gates to open get in before people there an hour before them. (End staff rant).
Point is, neither demographic (young or old) is right in this argument. The older fans have been luckily enough to see some GREAT bball in a great environment, while the younger fans have seen less than stellar basketball while under an organizations 'control'. If I had a choice, I wouldn't necessarily jump at killing the organization, I'd just look for some way to get the tickets to the students who actually care before the tickets run out. Too many of the students got the tickets before the deadline that got the tickets pretty much just to get them. I hope the magic comes back, but arguing about whether cyclone alley is the reason or not is pointless. There are a lot more people in that arena than just in the student section.
So lets ALL bring back the magic.
I also think the Hilton staff has hindered the student section just as much as anyone thinks the Cyclone Alley organization has. They no longer allow anyone to run to their seats (not that they can really stop everyone) and they do a very good job of ******* everyone off by the doors waiting to come in at the hour before tip mark. My group (and many before us) got in line at least 45 minutes to an hour before the gates opened and we lined up at the doors in good position. So when the time comes to let everyone in they only bring 2 people over to scan our cards, at the opposite end of where the early (and more dedicated students get there) meaning the kids that showed up just in time for the gates to open get in before people there an hour before them. (End staff rant).
Point is, neither demographic (young or old) is right in this argument. The older fans have been luckily enough to see some GREAT bball in a great environment, while the younger fans have seen less than stellar basketball while under an organizations 'control'. If I had a choice, I wouldn't necessarily jump at killing the organization, I'd just look for some way to get the tickets to the students who actually care before the tickets run out. Too many of the students got the tickets before the deadline that got the tickets pretty much just to get them. I hope the magic comes back, but arguing about whether cyclone alley is the reason or not is pointless. There are a lot more people in that arena than just in the student section.
So lets ALL bring back the magic.
Can you explain your reasoning behind disliking CA? As others have explained, there are no "organized cheers" other than the free throw arm wave (which looks pretty good IMO), the shirt policy only requires you to wear it to get into the section (a lot of people wear something else during the game), and no one has ever told me not to cheer or hinted that my obscenities were out of place. I think the only problem is that CA costs $30 extra, which really should not be that big of a deal. If there is something else, please enlighten me.
If this is the only thing that CA does (charging, which is BS in its own way), then it's drastically different than it was just 3 years ago.
The only way CA affects our game experience is the shirt that we wear, and the direction we move our arms during a free throw. It may have been worse in past years, but it's really not a big deal now.
I don't think there would be any real difference between the current CA and a general admission student section, but I do think the solid color (cardinal or gold) looks pretty good.
I say get rid of it. My reasoning is because I was a student for several year before it and a few after it. Couple that with growing up in Ames and Hilton truly seemed more insane without it.
This was so obvious when they first started (when student were on one side and CA students were on the other) and the general non CA side was always more insane that CA.
It wasn't a bad idea. Trying to get more energy into the coliseum is always a good thing - but if the reason for it was a better environment then I think we can all agree that it has failed. IF that wasn't the reason for starting it then what was?
This was so obvious when they first started (when student were on one side and CA students were on the other) and the general non CA side was always more insane that CA.
It wasn't a bad idea. Trying to get more energy into the coliseum is always a good thing - but if the reason for it was a better environment then I think we can all agree that it has failed. IF that wasn't the reason for starting it then what was?