The Compaq crowd ... sigh ...

Rocketablility, don't know if you realized this, but NBA games are mostly rich, corporate crowds. These rich ass people all sit in the lower prom and very rarely cheer for the home team. They come, talk on their phones, eat some expensive concessions, then leave early to midway through the 4th quarter. Decent tickets to an NBA game are hard to come by for your average Joe, that's why alot of the noise comes from the upper level. Even when the Rockets used to be in the playoffs, I remember empty seats during the 2nd round against Phoenix. Houston fans have always been lame for some reason.

If you want to see a loud, rowdy crowd, then go to a good college game. I remember the Erwin Center was rocking last year after we beat #3 Iowa St. And UT crowds are very tame compared to places like the Pit (UNM), UNC, Arizona, and Cameron (Duke).

 

Yes, it is too much to ask. Houston basketball fans suck. I was at a game with some friends last year, and it was so silent I just started yelling at people in my section. "Hey, why the hell are you people so quiet?" "Hey, why is everyone already leaving?" That was a fun experience. Very sad.

<sarcasm>It's not cool to yell when you make $100k a year and get tickets from your downtown firm. You're there to chill and mingle with the local elite.</sarcasm> Truly pathetic.

I've come to realize Houston is a football town. I went to an Oilers game in 1991 (contrary to media perception, Houston is an amazing football town when teams aren't leaving), and it was rockin'. Everyone was yelling, and we were WAAAY in the upper deck.

On another note, I'll bite. Why'd you quit your job?

 

Rockets vs. Phoenix Mother's Day Massacre game, right? I remember that one. It's a classic, hehe.

Honestly, I don't think it's fair to compare NBA crowds to college crowds. In college, you're playing for pride (and March Madness is the greatest sports spectacle in the history of the planet, except for Rockets Finals games. ). In the NBA, the players play for... money... endorsements... Gold Club freebies...

NBA crowds are awesome if there is a lot of winning involved (hence the Sacramento crowd now being considered so awesome...). In fact, the Lakers would be a case in point. Aren't their crowds known for being very lackadaisical? And yet they just go about their business and win.

 

Be patient, everyone. When the new arena opens, all those tight-ass corporate cadavers will move to the luxury boxes, and some real fans can sit in the lower prom for a change.

 

I only got to catch the last few minutes of regulation and Overtime, but the TNT announcers were saying how loud the crowd was and that they were all on there feet cheering. Granted I didnt see the whole game.

 

Don't be discouraged by this...when the Lakers come to MSG, there are a zillion Shaq and Kobe jersey's too.

But Baqui...while you are correct in saying that all the "corporate types" are sitting in the lwer seats sitting on their hands not cheering, I can tell you that there are a ton of corporate season ticket holders at MSG in the good seats and that place is always very loud.

 

You know, after having lived for houston some 20 years and then about 6 in the Northeast, I have had the chance to compare crowds across multiple cities.

With the exception of San Antonio, Houston might have some of the worst fans when it comes to venue atmosphere. Most places have corporate guys in the lower seats becuase corporations are the ones that can afford the prices. But you still hear loud crowds at most stadiums.

Of course, a lot of my perspective is from NY and Philly sports, two cities infamous for their fan support. However, when I have gone to other cities, I am quite shocked at the disparity in crowd participation between Houston and other cities.

 

I don't know what game you were at but I thought the crowd was very good...and there were still some empty seats in some of the upper sections. I can't remember the last time the crowd was that loud...with the exception of the Comets games.


Old School

 

or come to chat on game nights... I think we're louder than a sell-out crowd at Compaq Ctr!!

our new slogan:
"ClutchCity.net game time chat! We're louder than a sellout crowd at Compaq Center!"

rH

 

Okay, Rockets fans suck, but so do Astros fans. I know its baseball and not as fast-paced, but compared to other baseball fields, Enron is not a very intimidating place for visitors.

Houston fans just simply are not very loud. I don't know what it is. But when we won the championships I thought the support was incredible. The celebration in Houston was great, as opposed to LA fans who decided to start a riots when the Lakers won. So it hasn't always been bad. Yesterday would've been a good chance for the Rockets to show the crowd what they can do by beating the Lakers. Maybe people would have come back, but they probably just ended up leaving frustrated.

By the way, I've already gone to three Wizards games this season and the fan support isn't too great there either. There's a bunch of "Jordan-watchers" at the game. Of course it helps when the team doesn't play like garbage, but still...

 

What makes me so sick about those Laker fans is that they are just cheering for them just because they won back to back championships. I bet those same people cheered for the Bulls when they were winning every year. And you see alot of females with purple and gold on and I bet any kind of money besides Kobe and Shaq they can't name 2 other Laker players.

 

I wasn't at the game but on tv it looked like the only time the crowd would get into it was when the players pumped them up to cheer.Truly pathetic when the players have to beg the crowd for participation

 

Sacramento has always been known for having rabid crowds. They had a pretty impressive sellout streak going when they totally sucked. The reason they show up is because they don't have anything else going on in Sacramento except for the Kings.