Crowd Control
First off, many congratulations to the Seattle Storm for winning the WNBA World Championship Series against the Connecticut Sun. You gals rock!
Sweetie and I got to catch the 2 home games (of a best of three series) this last week. Key Arena was sold out for both events. The noise and energy in that place was off the hook. I had forgotten how intense it can be in an enclosed arena for a sporting event. The energy feeds you and get you going in a way that does not happen at an outdoor sports venue.
The last time I experienced such a large, crazy crowd at an organized sporting event was in the Portland Winterhawks run to win the Memorial Cup in 1998. I caught at least one game of each series they played toward their WHL Championship. WNBA basketball and Jr. League hockey attract very different crowds. The teenage girls at a WNBA game aren't puck bunnies.
There are three things that really struck me this time around, and two of them you won't get at Safeco or Qwest Fields.
1. Why is it the guy sitting a few rows in front of you always insists on standing up for every stupid thing, forcing you to stand for the entire event so as not to miss something? (This isn't necessarily applicable only to indoor events, but I really noticed it the other night).
2. There is a common knowledge created through the energy of the crowd that allows you to know what's going on in the game, even if you don't really know anything about the game. I found myself cheering for things that I knew were cheer-worthy, but I don't really know what happened and I don't really know why it was cheer worthy. But there were 17,000 other people there that let me know it was cheer worthy, and so I cheered. If you experience this effect long enough you will intuitively learn the ways of the game. I don't feel so guilty about dragging Kaphine along to some of those WHL games back in 1998 now.
3. At outdoor venues the sound person is a puppet-master. They play the music to make you clap in a rhythmic pattern, and you will clap in that rhythmic pattern as long as they play the music. The music stops, you stop. The sound person has major control over the cheer patterns of the crowd. At the indoor venue the sound person is merely pushing down the first domino in the chain. They may start that first person clapping, but from there it is an organic event that they can try to shape, but do not have ultimate control over. The energy just bounces of the ceiling and creates a never-ending loops of cheers and claps.
I'm looking forward to going into Key Arena in a years time and seeing the banner for chicks hoops hanging from the rafters next to the Sonics and Thunderbirds retired jerseys. Maybe it will cause a few more people in this fine city to pay attention to the game.
Sweetie and I got to catch the 2 home games (of a best of three series) this last week. Key Arena was sold out for both events. The noise and energy in that place was off the hook. I had forgotten how intense it can be in an enclosed arena for a sporting event. The energy feeds you and get you going in a way that does not happen at an outdoor sports venue.
The last time I experienced such a large, crazy crowd at an organized sporting event was in the Portland Winterhawks run to win the Memorial Cup in 1998. I caught at least one game of each series they played toward their WHL Championship. WNBA basketball and Jr. League hockey attract very different crowds. The teenage girls at a WNBA game aren't puck bunnies.
There are three things that really struck me this time around, and two of them you won't get at Safeco or Qwest Fields.
1. Why is it the guy sitting a few rows in front of you always insists on standing up for every stupid thing, forcing you to stand for the entire event so as not to miss something? (This isn't necessarily applicable only to indoor events, but I really noticed it the other night).
2. There is a common knowledge created through the energy of the crowd that allows you to know what's going on in the game, even if you don't really know anything about the game. I found myself cheering for things that I knew were cheer-worthy, but I don't really know what happened and I don't really know why it was cheer worthy. But there were 17,000 other people there that let me know it was cheer worthy, and so I cheered. If you experience this effect long enough you will intuitively learn the ways of the game. I don't feel so guilty about dragging Kaphine along to some of those WHL games back in 1998 now.
3. At outdoor venues the sound person is a puppet-master. They play the music to make you clap in a rhythmic pattern, and you will clap in that rhythmic pattern as long as they play the music. The music stops, you stop. The sound person has major control over the cheer patterns of the crowd. At the indoor venue the sound person is merely pushing down the first domino in the chain. They may start that first person clapping, but from there it is an organic event that they can try to shape, but do not have ultimate control over. The energy just bounces of the ceiling and creates a never-ending loops of cheers and claps.
I'm looking forward to going into Key Arena in a years time and seeing the banner for chicks hoops hanging from the rafters next to the Sonics and Thunderbirds retired jerseys. Maybe it will cause a few more people in this fine city to pay attention to the game.
posted by Swankette at 11:05 PM
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