From TV it looked like our fans travelled but could it also be that alot of people are pulling for us? Gonzo will most likely have the crowd tomorrow but i gotta think we will have alot of supporters there.
Question about the crowd
- Thread starter Mr Wickerpark
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Don't think the casual fan or a fan from another school would be dressed in NU purple attire. Just heard on the SCORE that t NU fan support was the best of the tournament thus far. Think you'll see a lot of Purple come Saturday.
Can confirm from the ground that we had the best fan turnout of any team in SLC so far and by a good margin. But, in addition, many non NU fans approached me and said they were rooting for NU. It's too much of a feel good story to not jump on. So cool!
There were thousands of NU fans at the game, spanning several decades. It was truly impressive. The only downside is that a lot of fans, myself included, could only stay for the first game. We'll still have a good turnout on Saturday, but it won't be the same as Thursday. Man that arena was LOUD!
IMO, I think the crowd will be mostly pro-NU. The media darlings that you are, coupled with the fact that the neutrals love to root for an upset. There'll be a couple thousand zag fans there, but your fans have shown a lot more life. Ours mostly sat on their hands on Thursday.
I could only attend Thursday but am still immensely glad I did. The experience of seeing a city with purple on every street and a real home court advantage is one I'll never forget. Several people on planes and the streets offered high-fives or "Go 'Cats!" We are on the way to becoming a basketball school. I bet it's a little more even tomorrow than it was Thursday, but it will be a pro-NU crowd and as the previous poster said, our mania is unmatched.
Obviously K-State fans stopped en route to Sacramento to cheer for the sentimental favorite....
But seriously, your nice NCAA crowd reminds me of our bowl crowds. Big difference: NCAA doesn't make your MBB team play in Dayton because of poor regular season attendance. The bowls have done that to our FB program (2012, 2013). Stupid football postseason.
Plus Gonzaga isn't a very big school to begin with, and eastern WA isn't densely populated. I live in Seattle and you see Zags gear a fair bit but fourth behind UW, WSU, UO. My impression is some in the Puget Sound area adopt them as a feel-good story etc. but wouldn't care enough to travel to SLC.
That said I'm surprised the fans would be passive, since this is supposed to be Gonzaga's big year.
I think the Fan base has a bit of a wait-and-see attitude. If we get to San Jose, more should come out of the woodwork.
Based on what I saw around town, I'd say that NU had far and away the largest crowd, followed by Arizona then Gonzaga. The locals were definitely pro-NU, though they were also pro-great game, and got loud when Vandy went on a second half run and ccc called time.
I would guess that the crowd for Saturday is roughly 30-20-50 NU-Zags-Observers, with the Observers (including Arizona fans) strong NU leans at the start.
Understandably (distance, regularity of berths, likelihood of length of run), Vanderbilt was the least represented that I noticed, perhaps even with VCU.
I would guess that the crowd for Saturday is roughly 30-20-50 NU-Zags-Observers, with the Observers (including Arizona fans) strong NU leans at the start.
Understandably (distance, regularity of berths, likelihood of length of run), Vanderbilt was the least represented that I noticed, perhaps even with VCU.
Ouch
Well, heaven knows I've no room to bash other programs for losing as a favorite lately. Just affirming that I can imagine people waiting for the regional. Plus travel isn't free, the Bay Area is a more popular tourist destination, Gonzaga has already been to regionals but not to a F4, and the regional games are supposed to be more evenly matched. (Not slighting NU who will likely give the Zags all they can handle, just following seedings.) I'd probably hold out for the regional too.
Yeah, I was there yesterday but am already back home, and I saw a lot of NU folks at the SLC airport flying out this morning. I hope we have some coming in to replace us, but it might be a smaller crowd for us tomorrow.
I talked to people from various other schools yesterday (other than Vandy), and all said they were happy to see us win. I sat next to Michigan State fans who were actively rooting for us.
Tomorrow the non-Gonzaga crowd should be on our side. The St. Mary's crowd will definitely be on our side.
Don't be so sure of that. Because we're in a small conference, we root for each other outside of conference play. We don't get a lot of money from the NCAAT so we need every team that is in our conference to do well when they get there
For those staying for tomorrow - does anyone know which side our bench will be? I still need to get tickets and would like to be (way) behind the bench in the lower section if possible.
Vandy is similar to NU in that we both have widely scattered alums all over the US and the world. Our bowl game attendance is also excellent, better in a relative sense than our average home game attendance.
Don't be surprised if NU sends even MORE fans on Saturday. Some of us work during the week and had to join NU Watch parties in some bar. Three day weekends are much more feasible, especially if you can get in a couple days of skiing to boot.
Sorry for your loss, and for the terrible swag selection at the arena. But I'm glad you and your kid made it to the game. It's surreal watching our guys represent our school in the tourney.
Sorry to hear that. Haven't had either my parents for some time now, and it blows. Hopefully your dad had a good life and that you are doing the best you can possibly do given the circumstances and hope you enjoyed the game.
Thanks NUEra. It was a really uplifting day spent with lots of purple people. And you're right the selection of swag was terrible. Just generic NCAA crap. I'm going to do their survey and tell them so. (Oh and to send better refs next time).
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