Spur: AT&T Center Crowd Lame

[DarrinS]

I blame it on the AT&T Center. That place is one of the most poorly designed arenas in the league. The acoustics are terrible, and the seating arrangement makes no sense. Honest to god, why are there a thousand separate sections on the lower level? Then there's those terribly placed box seats about 15 rows up from the court that are hardly ever occupied. The Hemisfair used to rock, the dome would rock, this place is pathetic. How can you expect crowd camaraderie when the seats are divided up like they are? Look at all the "loud" arena's compared to ours. The AT&T Center was/is a big disappointment. I've been to many different events in that building, with the craziest of fans, and the place still doesn't rock like most other places. You put Golden State fans in our building and they wouldn't have nearly the same effect on the game they're having now. They would have to work twice as hard to generate the same level of noise they get in their building. I was at game 7 back in 2005 where the fans were standing and screaming the entire game, and Al Michaels didn't even have to raise his voice on TV to speak over the crowd noise.

I completely agree. And the location of the AT&T center sucks ass.

[T Park]

god, i could never work in public relations.

people in this world about the stupidest i've ever seen.

Now free noise makers given out are bad?


GOD!!!

[T Park]

And the location of the AT&T center sucks ass

Why is the location bad?

Cause its on the "east side"

Could've been downtown but thank the genius city managerial staff for that.

[Sec24Row7]

Thank mayor Ed Garza for where the AT&T center is... not having it downtown costs the city MILLIONS of dollars a year in lost revenue... and hurts downtown...


Oh well... i guess they will have a chance to fix it in 25 more years when they build the next one.

The crowd last night was pretty damned rowdy... It was no Golden State crowd, but then again... we have been there before... we just arent in the same situation Golden State is in...


Spurs should call the Crowd at AT&T "lame" more often... they came to yell last night.

[emmo]

Now free noise makers given out are bad?

not bad, just ill conceived or as i put it... lame. free doesn't give you a free pass from constuctive criticism.

and about the pr dept, i think they do an ok job. i actually attended the game with a former pr dept employee. he was the one who actually commented on the lame noise maker.

all in all, great atmosphere, great fans and great game!

[spurschick]

But here is the question, would you rather the crowd look unified, a.k.a. black t-shirts, or be loud? I'm personally tired of thundersticks, but the clackers from last night and some of the other noisemakers they've handed out (except for the crickets) have actually helped in the loudness department. IMO, I would much rather have a loud crowd than one all in black that sits there and does nothing.

[Dro210]

The Spurs crowd in the AT&T suck, but Spurs FANS are the best fans around... With years and years of winning comes the negative of selling season tickets to rich bandwagoners, and then the die-hards don't get to do to the games, and definatly don't get to sit lower level. Golden State probably doens't sell too many season tickets since they usually suck, which means more tickets for the real fans, and not the front-runners.... that's why you're seein so many true fans in there and goin crazy.

[Dro210]

But here is the question, would you rather the crowd look unified, a.k.a. black t-shirts, or be loud? I'm personally tired of thundersticks, but the clackers from last night and some of the other noisemakers they've handed out (except for the crickets) have actually helped in the loudness department. IMO, I would much rather have a loud crowd than one all in black that sits there and does nothing.

Definatly... I couldn't stand it yesterday, we started making our run towards the end of the 1st half, and if you couldn't see 'em, you wouldn't even know anybody was sitting in the stands.... They've gotta get loud and get excited and help our boys out. Why go to the games if it doesn't mean anything to you?

[efrem1]

Thank mayor Ed Garza for where the AT&T center is... not having it downtown costs the city MILLIONS of dollars a year in lost revenue... and hurts downtown...

Arco Arena is out in Natomas away from downtown. It brings the businesses to it. The Maloofs wanted a downtown arena, but they were so greedy that the whole thing fell though. I don't think the AT & T being away from the center of town is a bad thing.

[AnkleBreaker21]

That means step it the up AT&T.



Take notes from Golden State.

thats stupid, how long has golden state been out of the playoffs. then they beat dallas, of course there going to be in loud.

[Buddy Holly]

Thank mayor Ed Garza for where the AT&T center is... not having it downtown costs the city MILLIONS of dollars a year in lost revenue... and hurts downtown...

Garza? He wasn't even in office when the site of the arena was selected/

WTF?

[BigBeezie]

Last night the AT&T Center had a crazy crowd. The only thing that compares is Game 7 in 2005. It was almost that loud!!!

[Marcus Bryant]

So you want the crowd to be like the Bums of the Hemisfair days but you place the Bums 40 rows up from the floor? Hey, it's today's NBA, I guess.

So much noise at NBA games is manufactured anyways.

[T Park]

another rip that i dont understand "Well the bums arent close to the floor"


So if you owned the Spurs, youd give up those 2 and 3 hundy seats to the bums fans?

Youd say "Yeah, I dont want the 20 or 30 grand in ticket revenue"

Give me a break. Ideally? Yeah it would happen, but lets live in friggen reality world please.


BTW, I notice the Warrior's yellow shirts have a sponsor.

How greedy of that owner...........

[SpursWoman]

So if you owned the Spurs, youd give up those 2 and 3 hundy seats to the bums fans?

Youd say "Yeah, I dont want the 20 or 30 grand in ticket revenue"

Then they would only get 10-15K, then....they aren't totally free.

[Marcus Bryant]

another rip that i dont understand "Well the bums arent close to the floor"


So if you owned the Spurs, youd give up those 2 and 3 hundy seats to the bums fans?

Youd say "Yeah, I dont want the 20 or 30 grand in ticket revenue"

Give me a break. Ideally? Yeah it would happen, but lets live in friggen reality world please.


BTW, I notice the Warrior's yellow shirts have a sponsor.

How greedy of that owner...........

Uh, that's part of the point. The other is that you shouldn't expect the same level of crowd intensity as you had back in the day when the upper crust dominates the lower bowl (a fan probably couldn't get away with dousing opposing players with beer either). Today "Baseline Bums" is such a misnomer. "Street Level Bums" is more appropriate.

[BigBeezie]

My father-in-law was telling me a pretty funny story. His best friend threw beer in the coach of the Celtics face back in like 1986 or something like that. The coach got ejected and the guy doused him with beer. It made me laugh.

[bringBAKElie]

Three friends and myself were lucky enough to get sixth row tickets to game two of the 03 finals. By the third quater we were being asked to sit down for the second time and warned that if we didnt we would be escorted out. In the fourth the usher came over and told us it was our last warning. We lost the ing game. Im fairly young and dont know how it used to be but the crowds declined greatly, even since the 99 finals. I think its a ing joke that we were asked to sit down duing a finals game, just my input

[Dro210]

another rip that i dont understand "Well the bums arent close to the floor"


So if you owned the Spurs, youd give up those 2 and 3 hundy seats to the bums fans?

Youd say "Yeah, I dont want the 20 or 30 grand in ticket revenue"

Give me a break. Ideally? Yeah it would happen, but lets live in friggen reality world please.


BTW, I notice the Warrior's yellow shirts have a sponsor.

How greedy of that owner...........

True.... but the true fans are gonna be there getting rowdy, helping the team win. Wins = more playoff games, more playoff games = alot more than 20-30k... and a championship, even just a WCC brings in millions in merchandise sales. It's the true fans buyin that stuff, not the execs sittin in the 100 sections. (No offense to any true fans in the 100 section.... as long as you get loud that is)

Ok, that may be a stretch... but in all honesty...

Us true fans really would more than make up for the losses in ticket sale revenue, with all the beer, merchandise, and souvenires we would buy.

[T Park]

Us true fans really would more than make up for the losses in ticket sale revenue, with all the beer, merchandise, and souvenires we would buy.

so people that are sitting down there arent true fans?

[Dro210]

so people that are sitting down there arent true fans?

IMO.... Most of 'em.... No

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I have to say that regular season 2003 the crowds were a lot rowdier than regular season 2007... I had wonderful seats near the court this time, but the fact that half of the charter seats are empty until mid way through the third really pissed me off. There wasn't nearly as much atmosphere in the AT&T as there was in 2003.

I'm not going to say we're a spoiled fan base, I don't know why people aren't as into it now as they were 4 years ago*, but through my anecdotal observations they aren't and that's a pity.

*maybe it's because in 2003 we only had 1999, and many non-Spurs NBA fans detracted from that championship because of the lockout, so we were still hungry to win another championship and assert our team as one of the enduring greats. Today, with 3 in the bag, this era is already the most storied in Spurs history, so maybe the desire for more has waned in some people... but not me! GET OUT, GET LOUD AND BE PROUD!!! Are you ready to make some noise..?

[Dro210]

I was really young when I went to games in the Hemisphere, but my dad always tells me the fans were great back in his day... especially nack in the ABA days and shortly after.

But I can speak on the Alamodome, and in the Dome, where there were more seats, and mainly more cheap seats available to the real fans.... It got LOUD in there. I mean LOUD.... and that was sound filling what's basically a football arena capable of holding probably 70-80+ thousand, with only about 42,000 in there.

42,000 strong... I loved it

[romsey31]

haaa... try a game in indiana if you wanna see lame.

[FromWayDowntown]

haaa... try a game in indiana if you wanna see lame.

Having been at Conseco for the Spurs/Pacers game on April 1, I'll vouch for that. My buddy and I got to sit courtside -- literally first row near half-court -- and noticed that most of the uppers were empty that night and that "fans" were far more interested in insulting Jamaal Tinsley than they were in cheering him (at least until Tinsley hit the game winning layup).

I was disappointed in Indy fans. There was much, much more enthusiasm for a struggling Hoosiers team a couple of years ago than there was that night for the Pacers taking on one of the league's elite.

Of course, the night before the game, I heard a local Indianapolis sportsguy say something like "Now the Pacers, but I'm not sure why we even care anymore."