One thing we've grown accustomed to at Pitt games is a lack of atmosphere. We all get it, the tailgating situation sucks, the fans can be apathetic most of the time, and overall there seems to be just a general lack of interest. Now this isn't a problem just for the football team, when the Zoo isn't making noise, the entire arena seems dead. Luckily it is easy for 1200 students to make noise in a 12,000 seat arena. In football we have to deal with a student section that is not always filled, an open ended stadium, and a team that has struggled in the past. All of those factors mean that the noise level isn't the same. Before you think I'm just ranting about the fans keep reading.
I was at a meeting with Steve Pederson and Dave Wannstedt where they challenged myself as well as other student leaders to improve the gameday atmosphere. While others were arguing that free t-shirts and hotdogs were the only way to get people to come, I argued that making the in game experience better was the real key for improving attendance (other than winning of course). Some people on SGB and other organizations felt I was crazy. Luckily Dr. Kathy Humphrey, Chris Ferris, and some other fellow student leaders agreed.
During the conclusion of the meeting, I along with our SGB president and Program Council Lecture Director was placed in charge of trying to figure out ways to make the in game experience better. One thing we all agreed upon was that there doesn't seem to be anything engaging the fans to make them feel more included in the game. Sure we want to have a beach ball in the student section and to incorporate other ideas to make the entire stadium seem like one cohesive unit. However, we felt that there was one big thing that Pitt hasn't used to our advantage yet. We have that massive jumbotron that usually is one big advertisement the entire game. Have you ever notice how excited people get when the Heinz ketchup flows??? That is why we decided that one of the most effective ways to improve the atmosphere is to use the jumbotron to get the crowd involved. Have you ever been to a Pens game and seen how they use a small outdated jumbotron to get the crowd fired up? Well, why can't we use our state of the art equipment to get our fans fired up?
During my last week of vacation before the summer semester starts, I am working to create video's and such to get the crowd involved. Things like showing a blue alarm going off with an airhorn signaling Code Blue (yes I know it is the code for death but just roll with it) for when the crowd needs to get pumped up on a big play. Also bring back the Panther growling on big third downs to let the team know we need noise (remember when we did that during the WaHa years?). Little things like player highlight packages such as when a player gets the ball, so a little highlight of him after the play (Heinz Field becoming overcast a.k.a. Shady, or Mo "Money in the Bank" Williams"). Also since we don't have the worlds most educated fans, we can use the jumbotron to get the fans to shut up when we are on offense.
There are endless possibilities here, and I hope that we can use this to our advantage. That is why I am encouraging all Cat Basket readers to email, post, or discuss any ideas that you might have to improve our in game atmosphere to: 1. help our team and 2. improve the atmosphere so that people will come to the game even when the team isn't performing as well as we would like.
So please, if you have any ideas let us know. I understand if you don't want to post since our fan base loves to turn on each other, but if you do, don't be afraid to email us: TheCatbasket@gmail.com or dpj731@gmail.com.
Hopefully we can use this to help make the gameday experience better and to keep Heinz Field packed.
Showing posts with label Steve Pederson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Pederson. Show all posts
Monday, May 5, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Quick Spring Update
Hey everyone, I thought I'd just pass along some news here before I head out to Charlotte tomorrow.
The John Bachman experiment at center is not going well. Originally he was on the first team and was having difficulty snapping to Billy Stull. Just as the Cat Basket predicted, Robb Houser was bumped up to the first team and there were far fewer problems.
One of the players doing well in the few days we have been practicing is Aundre Wright. He is absolutely killing people with his speed and making a big impact on the field. While he is going to be held back by the depth we have at Wr, he is really proving that he deserves a shot to see the field. I still believe Kinder/Turner will be the starting 1,2 but with Porter, Wright, and Baldwin all waiting right behind them, any flaws in their game must be quickly addressed or they could be out of a starting spot very quickly. Hopefully we will play the best players and don't let the player's year in school impact how much they play.
Pat Bostick is doing his best to make me lose my bet with Brian Ising. He is in very good shape, he has improved his footwork, he has added distance to his long bomb, and has been more impressive than expected in camp. He has worked on correcting his throwing motion, so as of right now you will see a modified version of how he passed last year. He hasn't lost the hitch completely, but it isn't as significant as it was last season.
Lastly, I spoke with one of the coaches who is ready to call Elijah Fields the best player on the team. Thats right, even better than McKillop, better than Shady, better than Romeus. The belief is that with Elijah's super-human ability we can use him (get ready to smile yinzers) as a Troy Polamalu type. He is a superb blitzer for a defensive back, he has great closing speed, and he has arguably the best hands of anyone in our secondary. He is the type of player that will really impact how teams prepare for us. This is the first time I can remember that we have had a superstar on the DLine (Romeus), Linebacker (McKillop), and Secondary (Fields).
It might only be due to the Pitt basketball season ending, but I'm getting very excited for the football season.
We should have our recording equipment by next week, so when I return from Charlotte, look for the regular podcast updates.
Lastly, I want to give mention to our Pitt Women's basketball team. They will tip off here in about 30 minutes. Agnus has done a great job in her short time here. Stevie P, when you get into the office on monday and read this I have 2 jobs for you to do. 1st, give Jamie Dixon a long extension with a super huge buy out. Secondly, do the same thing with Agnus.
~ DPJ ~
The John Bachman experiment at center is not going well. Originally he was on the first team and was having difficulty snapping to Billy Stull. Just as the Cat Basket predicted, Robb Houser was bumped up to the first team and there were far fewer problems.
One of the players doing well in the few days we have been practicing is Aundre Wright. He is absolutely killing people with his speed and making a big impact on the field. While he is going to be held back by the depth we have at Wr, he is really proving that he deserves a shot to see the field. I still believe Kinder/Turner will be the starting 1,2 but with Porter, Wright, and Baldwin all waiting right behind them, any flaws in their game must be quickly addressed or they could be out of a starting spot very quickly. Hopefully we will play the best players and don't let the player's year in school impact how much they play.
Pat Bostick is doing his best to make me lose my bet with Brian Ising. He is in very good shape, he has improved his footwork, he has added distance to his long bomb, and has been more impressive than expected in camp. He has worked on correcting his throwing motion, so as of right now you will see a modified version of how he passed last year. He hasn't lost the hitch completely, but it isn't as significant as it was last season.
Lastly, I spoke with one of the coaches who is ready to call Elijah Fields the best player on the team. Thats right, even better than McKillop, better than Shady, better than Romeus. The belief is that with Elijah's super-human ability we can use him (get ready to smile yinzers) as a Troy Polamalu type. He is a superb blitzer for a defensive back, he has great closing speed, and he has arguably the best hands of anyone in our secondary. He is the type of player that will really impact how teams prepare for us. This is the first time I can remember that we have had a superstar on the DLine (Romeus), Linebacker (McKillop), and Secondary (Fields).
It might only be due to the Pitt basketball season ending, but I'm getting very excited for the football season.
We should have our recording equipment by next week, so when I return from Charlotte, look for the regular podcast updates.
Lastly, I want to give mention to our Pitt Women's basketball team. They will tip off here in about 30 minutes. Agnus has done a great job in her short time here. Stevie P, when you get into the office on monday and read this I have 2 jobs for you to do. 1st, give Jamie Dixon a long extension with a super huge buy out. Secondly, do the same thing with Agnus.
~ DPJ ~
Monday, March 10, 2008
Pryor and Stevie P
Hello All!
I hope you have enjoyed the first Cat Basket podcast. We will be recording another one shortly and hopefully getting uploaded to several other sites.
For those of you who were able to catch the Pitt/Depaul basketball game yesterday, I'm sure you saw Stevie P sitting with Jason Jones and I. I had given Steve a Zoo shirt earlier and the season and he had promised to spend a game with the Zoo. Much to our surprise, our buddy in the athletics department, Chris Ferris, told us we would be having a special guest in the Zoo. It was fun being able to be with Steve for the game. We talked about all sorts of issues. He was clearly talking about football the most. He said that season ticket sales were ahead of where he expected them to be. He also is very excited about the new pre-game festivities that will be occurring on Robinson St. before the games. I guess that means the end of the awful Panther Zone at PNC Park. I think letting athletics run this event and making sure that the Pitt Program Council stays out of it will be the best way for the event to succeed. Sorry Tom Miserableaca, Stevie P is running the show and he won't deal with your garbage ideas.
The other big part of the game was that Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch was a guest of Dr. Jimmy Barber. Usually the only Steeler that he brings is Jeff Reed, but while ol' Skippy is out of town, Charlie was kind enough to come to the game. Many people came over to talk to Charlie (including everyone sitting in the front row courtside seats $$$). Two of the people who met him immediately was Coach Wannstedt and Chris Lasala. Do you think that might have been planned????
Anyways, stay tuned for our next podcast. We're in the process of getting interviews lined up (players, coaches, and friends of the program), but the next one should be focusing on the defensive side of the ball as well as other random topics that will be introduced by Jason Jones.
~ The One and Only ~
I hope you have enjoyed the first Cat Basket podcast. We will be recording another one shortly and hopefully getting uploaded to several other sites.
For those of you who were able to catch the Pitt/Depaul basketball game yesterday, I'm sure you saw Stevie P sitting with Jason Jones and I. I had given Steve a Zoo shirt earlier and the season and he had promised to spend a game with the Zoo. Much to our surprise, our buddy in the athletics department, Chris Ferris, told us we would be having a special guest in the Zoo. It was fun being able to be with Steve for the game. We talked about all sorts of issues. He was clearly talking about football the most. He said that season ticket sales were ahead of where he expected them to be. He also is very excited about the new pre-game festivities that will be occurring on Robinson St. before the games. I guess that means the end of the awful Panther Zone at PNC Park. I think letting athletics run this event and making sure that the Pitt Program Council stays out of it will be the best way for the event to succeed. Sorry Tom Miserableaca, Stevie P is running the show and he won't deal with your garbage ideas.
The other big part of the game was that Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch was a guest of Dr. Jimmy Barber. Usually the only Steeler that he brings is Jeff Reed, but while ol' Skippy is out of town, Charlie was kind enough to come to the game. Many people came over to talk to Charlie (including everyone sitting in the front row courtside seats $$$). Two of the people who met him immediately was Coach Wannstedt and Chris Lasala. Do you think that might have been planned????
Anyways, stay tuned for our next podcast. We're in the process of getting interviews lined up (players, coaches, and friends of the program), but the next one should be focusing on the defensive side of the ball as well as other random topics that will be introduced by Jason Jones.
~ The One and Only ~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)