Bloodyyank threw down the hammer yesterday and I really can't disagree with anything that he said. Hoya Suxa also enlightened the Nunes board about the fans of Syracuse. Figured I'd give my two cents.

I, for some reason, have always been drawn to analyzing crowds. And at Cuse, I've mostly been disappointed. My first year at Cuse in 2004 I thought I was heading into a school where there would be die-hard fans for basketball and football rocking the Dome at all times. While there were definitely some highlights, a lot of the time I was disappointed. It seems to me that there are about 25-30 thousand good fans that will show up no matter what. But a lot of these fans are passive, and have difficulty making much noise. Granted, the four years i was at Cuse were absolutely awful sports wise. But the problem is, with some fairweather fans, it's not going to get completely better without fan support. Current players feed off the fans, opposing teams can be rattled by the fans, and recruits want to play in front of energized buildings. This isn't a new development either. I was so disappointed by the fans when I was at school that I repeatedly called them out in my column that I wrote for the Daily Orange. In case you want to read an article from 2006, here you go:Ways to Improve the Student Section

I think what everyone has said has been on the money. The locals could definitely improve, but that will come with added student support and, unfortunately, a team that is more respectable under HCDM. 

So we've beat the issue to death. Now my question is, what can we do about it?

Interestingly, I'm usually pretty impressed by Cuse fans on the road. I'm down in DC now, and when Cuse played the Hoyas, Orange was everywhere and exceptionally loud. Our alumni seems to be passionate. I wonder if it's simply returning to central new york that dissuades some of them from attending football games.

Syracuse should really market the hell out of Homecoming a whole lot more. The game day atmosphere could definitely also be improved. How about shutting down Euclid Ave to cars to allow parties a la mayfest and tailgating galore. This alone would draw back at least 1,000 drunks looking to relive their collegiate glory.

But how about the everyday fans, what can they actually do? I don't have that many ideas, but I think we need to start coming up with some solutions as we are the most passionate and intelligent Cusians on the interweb. One thing that seemed to work when I was in the student section was simply being an enthusiastic drunk. I would strategically position myself near the commoners section. Then I would meet and great down the aisle and tell them that I would be expecting their support and wanted hysteria. During the game I would run up and down the aisle, high fiving and screaming at those who were not loud enough. Sounds stupid. It was. But that might just be the way to do it. Win over a section one at a time.

Extremely long fan post, but what do we think? What can everyday fans do to improve the overall atmosphere in the Dome?