Rant

[Gato78]

This is not the first time I have mentioned it and it will not be the last. This relates to the douche nozzle fans who never get to their seats for the beginning of the second half. Yesterday, in his post game presser, Jay Wright credited Villanova's win to the stretch at the beginning of the second half pointing to two factors: 1. Arcidiacano hits two threes; and, 2. "...before the fans could get into it". Now opposing coaches are noticing that the beginning of the 2nd half at the BC is a good time to get it going. I actually mentioned this same phenomenon to Mrs. Gato at half: in the past several games we play pretty well in the first half but the beginning of the second half seems to be the breaking point--of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with fatigue, it is our goofy fan base that thinks it is a good time to talk to their friends rather than before and after the game. The place is a morgue at the beginning of every second half. This does not happen at Kentucky or Louiville or Duke (of course, the Kohl Hole has its own morgue -like qualities). I also want to add that I miss at least one good play (by one team or the other) because some fan thinks its OK to walk in front of me during play when back from the half time tea party.

[Smitty]

Maybe it's a double edged sword. Love having alcohol at a college game but does it keep people from going back to their seats? See the same thing at MSG for BE tourney, from all schools.

[MUAlphaBangura]

This is not the first time I have mentioned it and it will not be the last. This relates to the douche nozzle fans who never get to their seats for the beginning of the second half. Yesterday, in his post game presser, Jay Wright credited Villanova's win to the stretch at the beginning of the second half pointing to two factors: 1. Arcidiacano hits two threes; and, 2. "...before the fans could get into it". Now opposing coaches are noticing that the beginning of the 2nd half at the BC is a good time to get it going. I actually mentioned this same phenomenon to Mrs. Gato at half: in the past several games we play pretty well in the first half but the beginning of the second half seems to be the breaking point--of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with fatigue, it is our goofy fan base that thinks it is a good time to talk to their friends rather than before and after the game. The place is a morgue at the beginning of every second half. This does not happen at Kentucky or Louisville or Duke (of course, the Kohl Hole has its own morgue -like qualities). I also want to add that I miss at least one good play (by one team or the other) because some fan thinks its OK to walk in front of me during play when back from the half time tea party.

I miss the first 5 minutes of the second half where I sit because of the stragglers. Personally, I think our woes at the start of the second half have more to do with our lack of talent, as the other teams get reamed out by their coaches and actually start playing to their own levels in the second half as opposed to playing down to our level.

I know Ted has been on the empty seat bandwagon also. The problem is, it takes so much time for all of the people on the opposite side of the Courtside Club to get there and back in a short amount of time. What they need is a Courtside Club on the east side of the BC also. And then they need to penalize the stragglers by not allowing them back in til the first tv timeout in the 2nd half. It probably won't completely eliminate the problem, but it certainly would help.

[TedBaxter]

I don't get to games anymore and watch on TV and what really pissed me off yesterday was seeing fans leaving, via the court level, about a minute before halftime. MU played one of it's better halves and you are leaving early?

I would suggest that if anybody gets pissed off about this, contact Bill Scholl.

[Gato78]

The key to my rant is Jay Wright noticing the phenomenon and taking advantage. I agree with AlphaBangura that the opponents likely get reemed out and adjust but that is the point, the opposing team will come out of the gates fired up while we give away our home court advantage for the first four minutes of the second half of every damned home game. It happens all the time and it has happened very noticably this year when we really need 40 minutes of total focus. I've been on this for years--both because of the competitive disadvantage and how bad it looks on television. Take a look at any game you have DVR'd and see how empty it is at the beginning of the second half. I do not think there is a singular answer other than the fanbase needs to be more interested in the game and its outcome than having 90 second conversations with 10 different people. It is our version of the Badger fans who are more interested in the band and the scripted 40 year old cheers than the game being played right in front of them.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Jay Wright "taking advantage?" Come on Gato - I get the frustration with the empty seats to start the half but Archiediacano bombing deep treys to start the half had nothing to do with our fans or lack there of in their seats. Jay wright did nothing different than he would normally do.

[IrwinFletcher]

First, this happens any place that serves beer. Going back to the Creighton game last week that I attended, we had seats that allowed us to go the the Club reserved for our section. Beautiful bar area with a bunch of TV sets showing games etc. As we were going back to our seats just as the second half was starting, the place was still packed with Creighton fans. And Creighton fans are acknowledged to be great fans.

Secondly and most importantly, to think that Villanova or any team goes on a run to start a half because fans aren't in their seats is a bit silly. If our players are mentally weak to the point they can't focus or play well because fans aren't in their seats, we have a major issue above and beyond talent.

Lastly, fans leave early all the time. My wife and I went to the Stevenson/Simeon game last night. Crazy game. Intense. Place was packed to the point the Fire Marshall should have kicked people out. And with 2 minutes to go in a tight game, people were leaving to beat the rush. I couldn't believe it.

I get you gripe Gato, but I think you are making more out of it than needs to be.

[TedBaxter]

Looks horseshit on TV and that doesn't help recruiting.

[Nukem2]

The BC was really very noticeably empty as the 2nd half started...that does have an impact on the vibes and electricity in the building. Does that affect play ... who know? Also, the student crowd ended up very nice though it took most of the first half for the upper deck to fill out with the last few rows empty. But, it looked like a lot of students did not come back in for the second half and the upper deck was rather empty with 8-10 minutes to go in the game.

[kneelb4zerg]

Looks horseshit on TV and that doesn't help recruiting.

Neither does our record.