Getting off the throwing objects, I would like to voice my opinion at the
fans at U of Minnesota hockey games..
For a school of 40,000 students, there are very limited student seats
available, it is bad enough that tickets are $16 a game, and that most
fans remain quiet during the games.. The game that I really noticed this
at was the MN/SCSU game way back in the beginning of the season.. a
friend and I were setting in Section 16.. we were going nuts, having a
good time, and the people around us were absolutely shocked.. When I
looked at what they were wearing I realized why.. they were all dressed
up like they went to a nice dinner instead of a college hockey game and
they weren't really cheering at all, except for an occassional clap after
a goal.. This doesn't help home ice advantage when half the crowd doesn't
get loud to help the team..
 
*Gopher attendence isn't a gate count, just the number of tickets sold..
Example of this.. When the GOphs played Michigan Tech earlier this year
at home, the listed attendence was around 9,200.. which is supposedly
above seating capacity.. If you looked at all teh empty seats, you would
swear that only half this many were in attendence.. This means that many
with season tickets don't try hard enough to sell their tickets when they
can't attend a game, or they just don't want to watch the Gophs play a
lower caliber team.. Meanwhile you have students like me who have to hunt
for the scalper to get into games that are sold out, yet many seats
remain empty..
*Even Frank Mazzocco and Tom Reid of MSC have voiced their opinions about
this.. the fact that not many tickets are their for the student..
 
We need a student arrangement like they have in St Cloud, only 5 bucks a
ticket for students.. and sold for a single game, lose the season ticket
packages for students..
 
Ryan Bowman
Gophers!