Careful, you'll get a lot of hateful responses from people here, and they'll hold it against you forever and hound you on every post. But I agree - I only realized this when I started going to sporting events in other cities. In fairness, i think the crowds did make a lot of noise near the end of the Hakeem era...but it appears to have reverted back.
In high school, I've been both cheered and booed on court. My remembered heights of athletic glory come with the soundtrack of a crowd cheering (for the other guy, natch,but it still spurred me on). Similarly, I've been heckled before onstage, and I absolutely agree that the crowd affects the performance. So, on the JV/hack level (which, with a few notable exceptions on this site, I think is likely the common point of reference), I can relate to multimillionaire basketball players' experiences. Absolutely the crowd affects performance. But I didn't give a rat whether that heckler was standing or sitting, just that, while doing so, he was making some rather trenchant observations about my not belonging on stage, my mother's poor judgment vis a vis her position on Roe v. Wade, etc.. Similarly, I don't remember if that one person I made laugh (perhaps imagined) was sitting or standing while doing so. I just dug the sound. We're largely in agreement. I think "standing" is irrational, and doesn't affect the game. Cheering/clapping/booing/refraining from the above, obviously can and will affect the players on the court. A few diehards in the nosebleeds refusing to sit unto penalty of death when asked (again, it does matter if they were politely asked), not so much. An air horn / Sacramento Kings cowbell works just as well sitting or standing. Same as me clapping. I don't think T-Mac, eschewing the timeout with ten seconds left, dribbling the length of the court, was all that bothered that, way up in Row 30, Grandma Millie's bursitis was acting up, and she had the gall to want to be able to see the action on the court. He's got great court vision, but it's not that good. I do think he could pick up the relative level of collective noise / cheering / energy. I think ovations are deserved when the play merits it, standing ovations deserved when the play merits it. Standing for no reason other than some sense of proper fandom, the few out of many, is not merited. Refusing to sit when it infringes on others' enjoyment of the game (and note that two such examples have specifically mentioned the elderly were the ones making the requests), is not merited. Or, what ChuckieBrown said.
aghast i'm not quite sure what you're making me out to be. but i'm just saying that it cost an arm and a leg to go to NBA basketball games not only with the tickets but beverages, food and beer. if i want to stand up and cheer my team i'm going to do it. i don't cuss and make threats, i might get critical sometimes (i consistently rode Kelvin Cato while he was here, but his overpaid and underproducing behind deserved it), but i want to see the rockets win. if t-mac posterizes shawn bradley i'm getting on my feet, i really don't care what a 70 yr. old who falls asleep during the 4th quarter says.
All this talk of fans standing and screaming takes me back..... 1996 playoffs, Game four at The Summit against the Seattle Sonics. The Rockets are down 0-3 in the series and look lifeless throughout the first three periods of game four. The crowd has been dead since the start of the game because the Rockets haven't done a thing. I think they were down by 18 points at the end of the 3rd period. Then Turbo came out with a sign that said "Do You Still Believe? The place went wild. The entire arena got up and went wild. To the point that later even Bill Walton wrote that he was impressed. The crowd got loud and crazy to the point that you could actually see the Rockets become inspired. The crowd stayed standing and screaming the entire 4th quarter. Horry, Cassell, Drexler became possessed. They ended up tying the game on a last second shot by Cassell. Lost in overtime, but a good example of how a crowd can provide a pick-me up to the team. The most draining game ever to me as a fan though was game six against the Spurs in the 1995 WCF. That game the crowd was wild from beginning to end. I slept well after that night at The Summit.
Understood. But I don't understand why someone can't do all the above (pay out the nose for tix, hot dogs, beer, yell their heads off, stomp their feet, call out Cato, etc.), but do it while sitting when the guy behind you requests you to do so. After all, our hypothetical 70 yr. old Rockets fan also had to afford the tix/food/beer (off of Social Security no less), and he finds it a little hard to stand for two-and-a-half hours at a time with two hip replacements. I just don't get the f*** the other guy attitude that's apparently pretty prevalent on here, on what seems to me to be a pretty trivial and easily-accomplished accomodation.
I know, I saw the game on TV and never saw anything like it. It got me all teary eyed. How a crowd could inspire a team like that...they could have booed, but so appreciative of what that team did over the years, how much they loved those players, they cheered them on even when they were getting shalacked. Man was that an emotional game to watch. This is clear proof how the crowd influences a game. They don't call the crowd the 6th man for no reason. Teams don't battle for home court advantage for no reason. The NBA isn't baseball. There's a reason why certain teams have much better home records then road...imagine what this team could do if the crowd was more supportive and louder.
Great example Saint Louis! That's exactly what home court advantage is about. It DOES make a difference... and yes, standing increases the intensity of the crowd. The noise level will never get to a fevered pitch if everyone is sitting. That atmosphere gets the home team juiced up and the opponents rattled. I can't believe we have some of our very own ClutchFans arguing for fans to sit down at a playoff game. Stand up and cheer your heads off fanatics. Glad to hear this.
if it were a regular season game i would probably sit down. but not playoffs. it has been a long time since we've even been to the playoffs (of course we did last year but it has still been a long and suffering time for real rockets fans) so i'm going to get off my butt to support the rockets. i just don't see how another person can get mad and ask for security for someone who loves their team. i think most people want to have fun and show support at ball games. that's all i'm trying to do. i don't go overboard so if someone has a problem i would suggest that they move to somewhere where people really don't care and just sit down all game, because i'm going to stand up and cheer when waranted.
One of the most beatuiful sporting events I have ever been lucky enough to attend. It was like the crowd was giving a send-off to the championship squad. Really emotional game. Kenny Smith and Chucky Brown wearing their shooting shirts backwards on the bench, dancing on the chairs. Just wonderful.
Every Rockets fan should be standing up throughout the forth quarter in tomorrow's game...no excuses (I know I will be). If security or the people sitting behind you have a problem with that well then @*#$ them.
Just wanted to add one more thing... If someone is standing in your view then they paid more for the tickets so why should they have to sit when they shelled out the cash for their seat? Sit courtside and you wont have any problems Oh, unless you want to tell the ref to sit down too..
My suggestion is to attend an alternate event such as tennis or golf. Take a wrist brace so you don't sprain anything during those golf claps.... I'm a lifelong Rockets fan stuck in California and was appalled by the lack of fan excitement when the TNT cameras panned through the crowd. The Rockets need to decide and clearly state the policy. I've attended games (regular season) in other cities and Houston by far has the weakest crowd. It's no wonder our home record is terrible....
I was in the lower seat (2nd row from the court). In the last 3 (out of 12) minute of 4th quater, I kept standing and cheering and never sat down. I actually looked back from time to time worrying that someone might told me to sit down. Luckily no one did, otherwise with those "rich corporate suit" I might have got thrown out of the stadium.
I don't know. I now that I have been to games and have had people behind me get mad simply because I was standing and they didn't want to stand.
Yeah, that was my first thought. I absolutely will not take my children to go see ANY 'professional sporting event' because there is inevitably some rude obnoxious moron drunk off his A$$ trying to make himself the focus, instead of the game. I am sure the ones who love to go to games as an excuse to get publicly trashed, they think this is just dandy. But some people actually go to the game to watch the GAME, not some idiot and his 6 beers. There are appropriate times to stand and cheer, and there are times when you should sit your stupid drunk butt down and shut up. And, big hint: if you are standing up in front of some elderly people who are sitting, then the polite thing to do is not continue to block their view any longer than necessary. It's called 'being considerate to others'. And to get in the face of the elderly man who complained, well, sorry but that shows the immaturity of the person who got in his face. I guess they should print a warning on the ticket: 'If you're not an alcoholic, don't bother coming to the game if you don't love being surrounded by people who are.'
Wow. One of the most telling posts I have seen on the subject. A perfect mix of beer, resentment of the price of said beer, hostility towards anyone who might not like his behavior, and a sense of entitlement. Just one question though: Has it ever occurred to you that others might not LIKE watching you in your druinken obnoxious behavior, whether you are 'cussing' or not? (and seriously, if you're drunk, resentful and hostile, there is about a ZERO chance that you are not also cussing).
It is a sporting event. It is the playoffs. OUR team is trying to win a championship. If someone has a problem with fans STANDING UP and screaming then they should not be there. I am not saying that person is not entitled to sit there like his hands are stapled to his ass, but I am saying if he can sit and do nothing then the fan has just as much right to do something. It is called a choice! If they don't like it they can CHOOSE to stay home! It is the fans that are up and screaming on the team that should be complaing not the other way around!!! If it were a Texans game... Come on now!
