Obligatory visiting fans rant

[ubercat]

Great WR atmosphere last night, like a high school supersectional. Which means we've got a long way to go to get more purple people in seats. It would have been hard to tell (for a disinterested observer) who was the home team, at times.

In section 220 in the row behind us there are always opposing fans, of the drunk obnoxious variety. The last two games especially brought out the dregs of PU/IU fandom. Nearly called security on Sunday; and last night witnessed a verbal altercation between some in our purple row and the red row behind us. The only redeeming result was our gloating at game's end.

I don't so much fault the visitors; there'll always be idiots who will buy what's available on the secondary market. I do blame those who originally buy the season tickets and then make them available on said market. (I'm looking at you, Turk). It's time for the tickets/events staff to identify which season tickets consistently end up in enemy hands. And then act on it.

End of rant.

 

[wildcat229]

I have to say I was struck by the number of Indiana fans in attendance. Every section, with few exceptions were majority IU fans. Rows 2-5 in my section were all IU.
I would expect a lot of fans from schools like Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Iowa but not like yesterday.
Is our season ticket base that small?
Do Indiana fans buy season tickets en masse just to go to the game and sell the rest?
As you said, there is a long way to go.

 

[EagerFan]

I suspect there's a decent chunk of rival teams' fans that buy up tickets at NU because it's the only way they can reliably and affordably see their own teams play. tbh, the number of IU fans at the game last night seemed pretty typical to me. What wasn't typical was the massive outpouring of NU students, bless their hearts.

Being surrounded by rival fans has always been a part of my experience at conference games. Not so much vs. PSU or the farther out schools, but then they haven't been in the conference that long either.

 

[loyolacat]

These hordes of visiting fans have a certain pompous arrogance about them,,,feeling all superior as they take over the gym. Wish we could change it but 2nd best option...WIN BABY WIN

 

[winnetkat]

Is our season ticket base that small?

There's some truth to this. At one point a decade or so back, NU had a "season ticketholder of the game" promotion. They dragged me out on the court to celebrate me (give me a modest goody bag) twice in a three year period.

I am a great fan, but I suspect they chose me because they couldn't think of anybody else!

Go 'Cats!

 

[ubercat]

Our season ticket numbers should go up next year. The issue is: will they be brokers or Northwestern fans.

 

[iubaseball]

I have to say I was struck by the number of Indiana fans in attendance. Every section, with few exceptions were majority IU fans. Rows 2-5 in my section were all IU.
I would expect a lot of fans from schools like Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Iowa but not like yesterday.
Is our season ticket base that small?
Do Indiana fans buy season tickets en masse just to go to the game and sell the rest?
As you said, there is a long way to go.

You only seat 8,000. A lot of high school gyms in Indiana seat more than that. i think you have the smallest facility in the Big Ten, Rutgers a tiny bit bigger I thing. One thing that other schools fan base buying up tickets, when NU puts their tickets for season on, does is fill up your arena. Purdue and IU do not need other schools fan bases buying up tickets to fill their arenas,

 

[iubaseball]

Meant think after Rutgers a tiny bit bigger I think, not thing

 

[Hungry Jack]

You only seat 8,000. A lot of high school gyms in Indiana seat more than that. i think you have the smallest facility in the Big Ten, Rutgers a tiny bit bigger I thing. One thing that other schools fan base buying up tickets, when NU puts their tickets for season on, does is fill up your arena. Purdue and IU do not need other schools fan bases buying up tickets to fill their arenas,

IU and PU do a great job of filling their arenas with whiny conspiracy theorists who act like 5-year olds when the ball doesn't bounce their way.

 

[StreamCat]

You only seat 8,000. A lot of high school gyms in Indiana seat more than that. i think you have the smallest facility in the Big Ten, Rutgers a tiny bit bigger I thing. One thing that other schools fan base buying up tickets, when NU puts their tickets for season on, does is fill up your arena. Purdue and IU do not need other schools fan bases buying up tickets to fill their arenas,

It must have been humiliating losing in a high school gymnasium.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

It must have been humiliating losing in a high school gymnasium.

Doesn’t really matter where they play, they always lose to NU.

 

[GatoLouco]

Purdue and IU do not need other schools fan bases buying up tickets to fill their arenas,

This is a 100% meaningless statement. There is no demand for other fan bases to buy tickets in Bloomington and West Lafayette.

 

[wildcatpn]

You only seat 8,000. A lot of high school gyms in Indiana seat more than that. i think you have the smallest facility in the Big Ten, Rutgers a tiny bit bigger I thing. One thing that other schools fan base buying up tickets, when NU puts their tickets for season on, does is fill up your arena. Purdue and IU do not need other schools fan bases buying up tickets to fill their arenas,

I love when Indiana fans make fun of our home attendance. IU has 100 times more alumni in the US than NU and their football stadium is half filled most of the time. I’ve never seen a school that’s so over the top obnoxious about their basketball team but couldn’t give a sh!t about their football team. And it’s not because their basketball team has had so much more recent success than the football team. I get it’s a basketball school but to act like it’s weird for other fans to be needed to fill up an arena when half the state of Indiana is made up of IU grads and you can’t fill your small football stadium is hilarious.

 

[techtim72]

A $125 mil high school gym with beer. Of course, Carmel, IN high school might match that less the beer.

 

[GatoLouco]

What never ceases to amaze me is how condescending the IU fan always seems to be. They can’t help themselves.

This is not even about basketball it’s just basketball adjacent. And yet we’re being explained the dynamics of tickets sales in Evanston by an IU fan.

And I'm not a grammar nazi but explained with poor grammar.

 

[iubaseball]

I love when Indiana fans make fun of our home attendance. IU has 100 times more alumni in the US than NU and their football stadium is half filled most of the time. I’ve never seen a school that’s so over the top obnoxious about their basketball team but couldn’t give a sh!t about their football team. And it’s not because their basketball team has had so much more recent success than the football team. I get it’s a basketball school but to act like it’s weird for other fans to be needed to fill up an arena when half the state of Indiana is made up of IU grads and you can’t fill your small football stadium is hilarious.

Hell, you don’t fill your shitty stadium, and it is one of the smallest in all of power 5 football.

 

[wildcatpn]

Hell, you don’t fill your shitty stadium, and it is one of the smallest in all of power 5 football.

Which is way less embarrassing than IU not filling their small stadium with the huge amount of alumni they have. Your basketball program is the equivalent of ND football with less success. Arrogant fans that live in the past and don’t give a shit about the other revenue sport.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Some poster here aptly drew a parallel between Nebraska football and IU basketball: two programs whose fans are still living in the past

 

[StreamCat]

Hell, you don’t fill your shitty stadium, and it is one of the smallest in all of power 5 football.

You mad, bro?

 

[Bwm57]

This is a really dumb conversation.

 

[zbag51]

Great WR atmosphere last night, like a high school supersectional. Which means we've got a long way to go to get more purple people in seats. It would have been hard to tell (for a disinterested observer) who was the home team, at times.

In section 220 in the row behind us there are always opposing fans, of the drunk obnoxious variety. The last two games especially brought out the dregs of PU/IU fandom. Nearly called security on Sunday; and last night witnessed a verbal altercation between some in our purple row and the red row behind us. The only redeeming result was our gloating at game's end.

I don't so much fault the visitors; there'll always be idiots who will buy what's available on the secondary market. I do blame those who originally buy the season tickets and then make them available on said market. (I'm looking at you, Turk). It's time for the tickets/events staff to identify which season tickets consistently end up in enemy hands. And then act on it.

End of rant.

We bought 2 tickets in section 220 a few weeks ago, hope to be next to some Cat fans! I spent the entire Purdue game surrounded by Purdue fans (had a great time, though!)

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

You mad, bro?

This clown comes around after every IU/NU contest.

 

[kreggk]

Hell, you don’t fill your shitty stadium, and it is one of the smallest in all of power 5 football.

We have plans to build an even smaller one. But not very shitty.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

This is a really dumb conversation.

I've generally had much better experiences with Purdue fans (obviously), but state-of-Indiana people just tend to be kind of ironically dumb and uneducated when it comes to hoops, actually. They don't know shlt about anything outside their state, and they generally overrate everything IN their state.

An Illinoisan who is proud of our high school basketball tradition in this state (home of the original "March Madness," after all) would still be extremely aware of the great tradition in the state of Indiana; the opposite would never be true, because they only know about their own state. Indiana fans actually think people all across the nation view their program in some elite light (like they do), which is honestly sad and hilarious.

 

[GatoLouco]

I've generally had much better experiences with Purdue fans (obviously), but state-of-Indiana people just tend to be kind of ironically dumb and uneducated when it comes to hoops, actually. They don't know shlt about anything outside their state, and they generally overrate everything IN their state.

An Illinoisan who is proud of our high school basketball tradition in this state (home of the original "March Madness," after all) would still be extremely aware of the great tradition in the state of Indiana; the opposite would never be true, because they only know about their own state. Indiana fans actually think people all across the nation view their program in some elite light (like they do), which is honestly sad and hilarious.

I am not a native but have lived in IN for 4 years. My experience is that this is quite accurate.

It's a weird hubris of "we love the game more than you, therefore we know it better than you".

 

[CappyNU]

Vonnegut had people from Indiana pegged 60 years ago in Cat's Cradle.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Vonnegut had people from Indiana pegged 60 years ago in Cat's Cradle.

Like Pineys, but without the accent?

 

[SmellyCat]

I am not a native but have lived in IN for 4 years. My experience is that this is quite accurate.

It's a weird hubris of "we love the game more than you, therefore we know it better than you".

This is basically the way Cardinals fans think, which is why everyone hates the cardinals.

 

[TheC]

This is basically the way Cardinals fans think, which is why everyone hates the cardinals.

Thank you!

 

[Hungry Jack]

This is basically the way Cardinals fans think, which is why everyone hates the cardinals.

(I'm a Cards fan too)

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

This is basically the way Cardinals fans think, which is why everyone hates the cardinals.

As a Cardinals fan, I can confirm this.
Lets call it a justified superiority complex.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I am not a native but have lived in IN for 4 years. My experience is that this is quite accurate.

It's a weird hubris of "we love the game more than you, therefore we know it better than you".

Indiana is the only state who thinks it has an elite high school sports experience just because they care and not because they’re good.

High school football in Texas is elite. It’s bigger than life itself and produces mega stud athletes that play at ridiculous levels in high school games. Minnesota High School Hockey is elite. It’s the biggest event in town every March, produces NHL talent like crazy, and features a couple dozen teams every year who roll 14 skaters deep with a quality of play and skill superior to many D2 college teams. Maryland lacrosse, same deal. High school baseball lots of California, same.

Indiana basketball is just popular. It doesn’t produce great players or great play. They just like it. Nobody cares about that one Gene Hackman movie, Indiana

 

[TheC]

As a Cardinals fan, I can confirm this.
Lets call it a justified superiority complex.

And I so wanted to like you..... oh well

 

[clarificationcat]

Indiana is the only state who thinks it has an elite high school sports experience just because they care and not because they’re good.

High school football in Texas is elite. It’s bigger than life itself and produces mega stud athletes that play at ridiculous levels in high school games. Minnesota High School Hockey is elite. It’s the biggest event in town every March, produces NHL talent like crazy, and features a couple dozen teams every year who roll 14 skaters deep with a quality of play and skill superior to many D2 college teams. Maryland lacrosse, same deal. High school baseball lots of California, same.

Indiana basketball is just popular. It doesn’t produce great players or great play. They just like it. Nobody cares about that one Gene Hackman movie, Indiana

It’s better than most states given its size. Most of Purdue’s roster through the years comes from Indiana. Their starting backcourt is two kids that played high school basketball in Indiana last year.

Throw in Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson and Scott Skiles and Barnhizer, and you’ve got some fantastic history.

But agreed that states with larger urban areas produce a lot more players.

 

[drewjin]

It’s better than most states given its size. Most of Purdue’s roster through the years comes from Indiana. Their starting backcourt is two kids that played high school basketball in Indiana last year.

Throw in Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson and Scott Skiles and Barnhizer, and you’ve got some fantastic history.

But agreed that states with larger urban areas produce a lot more players.

Don't forget Shawn Kempf.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

It’s better than most states given its size. Most of Purdue’s roster through the years comes from Indiana. Their starting backcourt is two kids that played high school basketball in Indiana last year.

Throw in Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson and Scott Skiles and Barnhizer, and you’ve got some fantastic history.

But agreed that states with larger urban areas produce a lot more players.

THey think they're basketball mecca, not "decent little state that punches above its weight."

 

[StreamCat]

Indiana basketball is just popular. It doesn’t produce great players or great play. They just like it. Nobody cares about that one Gene Hackman movie, Indiana

You had me until the end.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Until Clint Eastwood makes a movie about Indiana basketball, it is dead to me.

 

[SmellyCat]

You had me until the end.

HOOSIERS has a lot to do with why people think Indiana is all that. The fact that I'm pretty sure the word "Hoosiers" was never spoken in the movie (it's a better title than "Hickory Huskers" I guess), and that coach Dale opens the door to his first game with "welcome to Indiana basketball" has about as much to do with why people think Indiana basketball is a religion than any other reason. Plus their high school tourney used to involve all levels, and not just schools of similar size, so that added to the charm.

My dad was in high school in Indiana when Big O was and still talks about Robertson's Crispus Attucks teams, even though their schools were nowhere near the same size. Sure, not every state has Robertson or Bird in their histories, but I'm guessing a lot of people's dads in other states can reminisce about the great players and high school teams,. yet Indiana is revered for its HS basketball for some reason at the expense of other states. Why?

Because of Jimmy Chitwood.

 

[NUCat320]

HOOSIERS has a lot to do with why people think Indiana is all that. The fact that I'm pretty sure the word "Hoosiers" was never spoken in the movie (it's a better title than "Hickory Huskers" I guess), and that coach Dale opens the door to his first game with "welcome to Indiana basketball" has about as much to do with why people think Indiana basketball is a religion than any other reason. Plus their high school tourney used to involve all levels, and not just schools of similar size, so that added to the charm.

My dad was in high school in Indiana when Big O was and still talks about Robertson's Crispus Attucks teams, even though their schools were nowhere near the same size. Sure, not every state has Robertson or Bird in their histories, but I'm guessing a lot of people's dads in other states can reminisce about the great players and high school teams,. yet Indiana is revered for its HS basketball for some reason at the expense of other states. Why?

Because of Jimmy Chitwood.

Bird’s such a unique story, too, and classic Indianacana. The national interest in the Final Four. The fact that he and Magic continued into the NBA, and started the emergence of the NBA as a major, major sport. The fact that the Celtics were winning a championship when Hoosiers was released.

I saw Bloomington South play Bloomington North when all-American Jordan Hulls was a senior before enrolling at IU. It was a fun time. Great crowd.

Also, some real Hoosiers true believers have lovingly built up the Hoosier Hysteria Wikipedia page.

Hoosier Hysteria - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org