BruisedOrange
Well... known member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2013
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The idea that anyone, even over a 3 hour period, could play a selection of music broad enough for each fan to hear at least one song that they enjoyed hearing is foolhardy. And chances are, only a narrow demographic will hear more selections they like than dislike.
I assume the concept is to maintain a level of emotional excitement. Well, whether you're accessing cutting edge psychological research, or just taking your cues from Alfred Hitchcock, the way you maintain the level of an audience is by releasing it periodically. I haven't heard that level of sophistication at any arena, but surely someone smart is doing it. And you can't just program that build/release pattern, because the game on the field is doing much of that for the crowd. So to successfully pull off that kind of crowd manipulation, with the flexibility required, is as much art as science.
But... rather than making the goal to "create an experience" wouldn't we be better served if the focus was on creating an adverse experience for our opponents? Why not make the tech-extras be about the game instead of a distraction from it?
Obviously, encourage noise when our opponent has the ball, and silence the crowd when our offense is calling signals. But we should be bringing more than just noise against our opponents--and without lowering ourselves to the near nihilistic personal abuse associated with the Duke crazies.
Instead, do things with music, sounds, and video that are clever--even funny. Distract our opponents on the sideline, by making them laugh or point things out to each other. Juxtapose a picture of the opposing coach, their team mascot, or uniform with an ironic song selection--and even better if it's a song people can join-in singing "to" the opponent.
Heck, suggestions for those songs and images could be a weekly thread on VolNation.
Add fun to the stadium experience, but make the fun a part of helping our Vols on the field, not an experience separate from the game.
I assume the concept is to maintain a level of emotional excitement. Well, whether you're accessing cutting edge psychological research, or just taking your cues from Alfred Hitchcock, the way you maintain the level of an audience is by releasing it periodically. I haven't heard that level of sophistication at any arena, but surely someone smart is doing it. And you can't just program that build/release pattern, because the game on the field is doing much of that for the crowd. So to successfully pull off that kind of crowd manipulation, with the flexibility required, is as much art as science.
But... rather than making the goal to "create an experience" wouldn't we be better served if the focus was on creating an adverse experience for our opponents? Why not make the tech-extras be about the game instead of a distraction from it?
Obviously, encourage noise when our opponent has the ball, and silence the crowd when our offense is calling signals. But we should be bringing more than just noise against our opponents--and without lowering ourselves to the near nihilistic personal abuse associated with the Duke crazies.
Instead, do things with music, sounds, and video that are clever--even funny. Distract our opponents on the sideline, by making them laugh or point things out to each other. Juxtapose a picture of the opposing coach, their team mascot, or uniform with an ironic song selection--and even better if it's a song people can join-in singing "to" the opponent.
Heck, suggestions for those songs and images could be a weekly thread on VolNation.
Add fun to the stadium experience, but make the fun a part of helping our Vols on the field, not an experience separate from the game.
