[jimflamesfan]

Actually we did in 97 I think...they had some games in '97 on FTN when we still had Rutugliano...and then in '98 some were on FTN and something like SPIKE TV sometimes, which they would show in L-burg on WDRL..I still have some on tape from way back when...light blue uniforms and red helmets and all, pre-Karcher.

I think Rutugliano even did some kind of football show on the Liberty channel for one year.

[ludeal]

i am a huge fan, i love supporting our team, however i have a major problem with how our games are conducted, here are a few things that i think need major improvement.............

1.) the jumbotron is great but........ i hope that in week three we can use it to unify the croud with chants, and fight song lyrics, lu trivia, big hit replays, put the jumbotron into good use,

2.) our team entrance is improving week after week but, last week the guy had us standing and cheering 3 minutes before the team thought about coming out, and there was an interruption by the visiting team, and it was just cheesy to have a guy yelling at us to yell louder, USE THE JUMBOTRON!!!

3.) band- without being a terrible person and losing my salvation i will say............. they are a concert band in the stands........... much improvement is needed..... starting with uni's, shirts look terrible, change their location, and lets learn some new songs, i understand the hours that goes into the halftime show, but how long would it take to learn some other songs......

4.) cheerleaders- i really dont know what they do....... but i feel that they could do more to improve the crowd togetherness......... with that many students in one place, we really could have an advantage if we were all saying the same thing at the same time, we were loud but with unification we would be much louder.....

5.) What is our TD celebration....... hokie bird does bench press reps, the long horn cheerleaders do backflips ( thats for SLY), what do we do, come on sparky, light seven candles or something.........

Our game time atmosphere has grown leaps and bounds but a few small things would make a HUGE difference, especially if we keep winning, our games would not just be a social event..... but a great competitive environment.




5.)

[SuperJon]

1.) the jumbotron is great but........ i hope that in week three we can use it to unify the croud with chants, and fight song lyrics, lu trivia, big hit replays, put the jumbotron into good use,

You have to remember, we got this thing on VERY short notice. With three weeks to plan, the St. Francis game should be better in this aspect.

2.) our team entrance is improving week after week but, last week the guy had us standing and cheering 3 minutes before the team thought about coming out, and there was an interruption by the visiting team, and it was just cheesy to have a guy yelling at us to yell louder, USE THE JUMBOTRON!!!

I agree completely that it looked cheesy. The first time his mic wasn't on, and the second you could barely hear him. Not to mention he offended some of the people at our tailgate when he came over before the game telling us what he was doing, but we won't get into that.

3.) band- without being a terrible person and losing my salvation i will say............. they are a concert band in the stands........... much improvement is needed..... starting with uni's, shirts look terrible, change their location, and lets learn some new songs, i understand the hours that goes into the halftime show, but how long would it take to learn some other songs......

Right there with ya, kid.

4.) cheerleaders- i really dont know what they do....... but i feel that they could do more to improve the crowd togetherness......... with that many students in one place, we really could have an advantage if we were all saying the same thing at the same time, we were loud but with unification we would be much louder.....

We've complained about this for a while. I love what Wake does with their cheerleaders. At the front of their stands they have room for the cheerleaders to stand. They spread the cheerleaders out on one side and the dance team on the other. There's a cheerleader or two in each section so that they're not in the way but they can still lead the cheers.

5.) What is our TD celebration....... hokie bird does bench press reps, the long horn cheerleaders do backflips ( thats for SLY), what do we do, come on sparky, light seven candles or something.........

It's supposed to be the fight song and all of that, but most of us can't hear the fight song until they're 2-3 lines in. Also, Dallas and his guys do the pushups in the stands that seem to be really catching on. The only problem is it's during the fight song, so while we're supposed to be singing the fight song, people are counting how many times Dallas gets thrown into the air.

[JDUB]

1.) the jumbotron is great but........ i hope that in week three we can use it to unify the croud with chants, and fight song lyrics, lu trivia, big hit replays, put the jumbotron into good use,

i'm expecting to see that happen, like jon said they just need a little time to put something together

2.) our team entrance is improving week after week but, last week the guy had us standing and cheering 3 minutes before the team thought about coming out, and there was an interruption by the visiting team, and it was just cheesy to have a guy yelling at us to yell louder, USE THE JUMBOTRON!!!

i didn't do anything until jeff barber started raising his hands.. its pretty stupid to pump up the crowd for the other team to run out
i could tell they weren't about to run out when he started running around, so i just watched the entrance and waited. you can tell when there about to run out.
agreed that that would be a good time to use the jumbotron to pump up the crowd

3.) band- without being a terrible person and losing my salvation i will say............. they are a concert band in the stands........... much improvement is needed..... starting with uni's, shirts look terrible, change their location, and lets learn some new songs, i understand the hours that goes into the halftime show, but how long would it take to learn some other songs......

shirts are ridiculous, don't know why they can't play in the stands... of course they may have, i doubt i would have heard them anyway. in my opinion they are a wasted section in the stands. they obviously only care about halftime, so why not just sit them out of the way until then? let some people who can cheer and wear school colors sit in student section instead of teal coastal freaking carolina green wearing quiet band members

4.) cheerleaders- i really dont know what they do....... but i feel that they could do more to improve the crowd togetherness......... with that many students in one place, we really could have an advantage if we were all saying the same thing at the same time, we were loud but with unification we would be much louder.....

seriously, is it too much to ask for a cheerleader to lead a cheer? everytime i look to see them (which requires me hanging over the rail to look all the way down towards the endzone) all they are doing is flips and stuff, which is good i guess, but i guess i'm asking too much to expect them to lead an LU cheer or something. maybe us fans that start the cheers that the alums hear the students chanting should get a scholarship? just a thought

5.) What is our TD celebration....... hokie bird does bench press reps, the long horn cheerleaders do backflips ( thats for SLY), what do we do, come on sparky, light seven candles or something.........

umm.. i think i've heard the band play the fight song? who knows, i can never hear what there playing.
as far as an "official celebration" i have no idea. i guess we need to start a new tradition

[PeterParker]

..maybe us fans that start the cheers that the alums hear the students chanting should get a scholarship?

That was funny.

[SuperJon]

Cheerleaders aren't on scholarship I don't think.

[thesportscritic]

I can attest to the Wake Cheerleaders. I was at the Nebraska vs Wake Forest game this past Saturday and they did a great job of getting the crowd involved in the Game. The Atmosphere was awesome.

[Knucklehead]

did the L on one side U on the other thing work?

[SuperJon]

Didn't have anyone to lead it. We did it in the students though.

[Schfourteenteen]

Didn't have anyone to lead it. We did it in the students though.

Joe the Fireman thats all you need

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS(No I dont like them but its REALLY cool when they do that)

[ludeal]

it is just disappointing to see that we have the goods in place to make a great atmosphere, tons of students, cheerleaders, a band, jumbotron, good football team,
i just think that JB (though i have a huge man crush on him) could make a few minor tweaks in the way that we use our goods, and our atmosphere would change ten fold. i am not asking for Kerr's head on a platter, nor am i suggesting that we get new cheerleaders, i just think that they should re evaluate their jobs on game day. These are all things that could be done by ST. Francis game day, and it would have a huge impact, IMO

[JDUB]

i agree that we have everything in place to have a great atmosphere. i think what we are missing is planning and coordination. we have around 8000 students ready to scream there heads off, but we need someone leading them telling them what to yell. more than once last game there were several chants going on at once. this is where i think the cheerleaders/band/jumbotron could really help by coordinating what the students are chanting/yelling or whatever. but for that to happen the cheerleaders and band are going to have to reposition where the students can see/hear them

[LUconn]

as long as it's not coordinated before the game. Ultra lame.

[qkslvrsrfrboy]

i stated earlier that i was going to the ND @ Penn state game this week, and it was the white out night. It looked amazing and although on a much smaller scale, cant wait to see Williams packed out in Red. This has nothing to do with band but this topic is going off topic anyway. I think that we could very easily mimic alot of what Penn state does as far as cheers and who leads the cheers. I particularly liked the "We Are Penn State!" that could easily convert to "We Are L. U.!"

[Flamesfanva]

I'll throw my 2 cents in and agree that the lack of any interaction with the crowds from the cheerleaders in leading cheers, was disappointing. There are a few things still that could be done to increase the excitement and bring a more "big league" type of atmosphere to the games. We have come along nicely though and just need to continue to make improvements and the crowds will continue to turn out. After all, a Flames football game is a nice entertainment option for Lynchburg.

[pbow]

I particularly liked the "We Are Penn State!" that could easily convert to "We Are L. U.!"

I pray to God that we do not start doing that cheer.

[SuperJon]

I don't think chants and stuff on the screen would be a good idea. The thing I hate most at pro games is when everyone's sitting around and then the screens tell them to yell something and they do. I like the way we do it now where the students come up with stuff themselves. It makes it more "raw" and gives it a spontaneous feel. Sure, there were a couple chants going on at the same time a couple times on Saturday but that's gonna happen even with the stuff on the screens. The students aren't going to follow the cheerleaders because cheerleading cheers are pretty lame. It all comes down to the students. We start something and hope it catches on. Anything planned more than that comes off as fake and, well, planned.

[TallyW]

SJ have you ever been to a pro game? (not being sarcastic. just asking b/c my experience at a pro game is what stands out as the opposite of your above post)

At least for the Ravens... The entire crowd has "planned" reactions to EVERYTHING.

1st downs, Turnovers, Touchdowns, Field Goals... on and on. The jumbotron starts chants of D-fence and so on.... It's most definitely organized and it most definitely doesn't suck. I'm positive there are people watching the crowd and making good decisions on when to use things like the speakers or jumbotron... but it adds to , not takes away from... the game experience.

Granted... I do give you the fact that we're having problems (as it sounds) with some basics as discussed above... so I can appreciate some skepticism toward anything being planned at this stage. I suppose I'm just speaking in terms of environment as a whole.

As I'm typing I think of Notre Dame's "walk" where the entire ND community lines up as the team marches across campus prior to a home game. That's a planned activity but still has a very raw feel. I'd say it's better for the University to augment the crowd for sure... but being honest... many other places are established and the crowds are trained. Ours aren't at this stage... so I can see where organizing a few things would benefit the atmosphere.

[SuperJon]

Yes, I've been to pro games. I wouldn't reference it if I hadn't. I don't like the fact that fans have to be dumbed down to know when to chant defense and all of that. I hate it. Half the time, especially at our level, the screens are behind so we would be chanting stuff while we had the ball, etc. If we play "Celebrate" after we throw an INT, do you really think our screens would be the best thing to do for the chants? I'd much rather take 8000 kids who have been in the entire game, been loud, etc, and let them come up with their own crap than have someone who's been sitting around two hours on their hands be told to chant defense. The stuff the kids come up with is a lot more creative and entertaining.

[thepostman]

It would be nice to have the whole student section unified...but at this point its not going to happen...in time it probably will and some good traditions will come from it...right now though they student section is more alive and more creative then I have ever seen....I know improvements need to be made....but things are getting better...

I am with SJ on this one...the creativeness of the student body is much more entertaining then some lame chant on the screen

[bigsmooth]

the cheerleaders are key. at wake forest back in the day they had a dude in a tuxedo with a microphone that led cheers and everyone in the stadium could hear it. it really helped the atmosphere and the students got into it. as all of you have said, minor modifications is all it takes.

[SuperJon]

We have some of the most creative students I have ever seen in my life, and I'm not just talking about sports. The stuff some of our kids come up with in games is downright hilarious. Maybe the screens are needed for a large amount of the Baptist side and if it'll get them being into the game like some of our posters over there, then I'm all for it.

[prototype]

My only two cents:

Everything is being done great at the games now!! The Band needs to wear school colors!!!!! The student section looks awesome - then there is our band in teal shirts. Red Shirts!!!!!

[LUconn]

speaking of cheerleaders, did anybody notice that Shipp brought like 30 of them to the game?

[Fumblerooskies]

Perhaps if they don't have red by the next game...the students can chant "RED SHIRTS RED SHIRTS" during their performance.