Homefield Gamesmanship

[WMTribe90]

The "QB Situation" thread made me think of an interesting topic.

What measures does your program take to help give your team a competitive advantage when playing at home? I'm more looking for things unrelated to fan participation.

For example, UNH and VMI were notorious for cutting there grass four inches high before home games in attempt to compensate for their relative dearth of speed. Not sure if that's still the case.

WM has a tiny visitors locker room that is too small to fit the coaches, players and support staff at the same time. Its also has no AC and quickly turns into a sauna.

WM opponents technically take the "home" sideline because it faces into the afternoon sun.

You get the idea, how does your school use weather, the field, the stadium, and other intangibles to your benefit?

[89Hen]

Colgate pays the opponent's bus driver to get lost on the way to Hamilton. :p

I don't know of anything at UD. The visitors bench does face the sun.

[VictorG]

If the Griz win the coin flip they will make the visiting team defend the North end of the field. The is the area with the newest expansion and the Loudest part of the field. This is the home of the "North End Zone Crazies"!

This holds true for overtimes as well. The crowd noise at this end of the field will cause several false starts each game. I even remember one game where we must have gotten at least a half dozen when the opponent was on offense, inside their 25 yard line.

[Ronbo]

I like Iowa's way of getting into visiting teams heads. They paint the visiting locker room pink. I'd like the Griz to do that. LOL.

[goasu984Life]

Not in football, but in basketball when Buzz Peterson was Appalachian's head coach, he had the heat turned up in Varsity Gym during the week to get the player's used to it, then he turned it up for the game.

[AppGuy04]

I've heard people complain the our "field turf" is an advantage, I just think its necessary.

Also, Hell's Bells gets the crowd fired up alot

[Mr. C]

For example, UNH and VMI were notorious for cutting there grass four inches high before home games in attempt to compensate for their relative dearth of speed. Not sure if that's still the case.


You mean VMI was notorious for NOT cutting the grass. Alumni Field is one of the best pasture lands I've ever seen. You could have grazed cows on that field, the grass was so high. The only time I've been to Cowell Stadium was on Thanksgiving weekend for a first-round playoff game. There was no grass. It was dead and brown from the cold.

[MACHIAVELLI]

If we had a problem winning at home I would hope Coach Spears takes my suggestion to pipe in some Michael Bolton music to the visitors dressing room.

[AppGuy04]

If we had a problem winning at home I would hope Coach Spears takes my suggestion to pipe in some Michael Bolton music to the visitors dressing room.

That would do 1 of 2 things: put them asleep or make them pissed off and want to kick your ass, I wouldn't take the chance

[Golden Eagle]

Nothing, the OVC has very strict rules about being "hospitable" to visiting teams.

[chrisattsu]

I have only followed Bobcat football for just over a year now, so its hard to say what kinds of home-advantages we have. Some of the things that I have seen off hand are -

1. The trains, Bobcat Stadium is located right next to the train tracks and typically trains pass through at least once per game. When this happens its gets pretty loud, and on top of that the fans seem to respond to it as well.

2. Visiting team is placed on the light side (east side of the stadium). So as the sun is setting our players are in the shade of the pressbox while the visitors are backing in the Texas sun (mind you it can still be 90+ degrees at nightfall in late september around here).

3. The student section is located right behind the visiting bench. Yes the visitors are given a couple of rows on the 40 yard line, but the rest of the light side is filled with a rowdy student section taunting the players and coaches all game long.

[Mr. C]

Appalachian secretly plants patches of ice in strategic locations near the end zone to foil the quarterbacks of certain teams.

[goasu984Life]

Appalachian secretly plants patches of ice in strategic locations near the end zone to foil the quarterbacks of certain teams.

SHHHHHH!!!!! You're not supposed to tell our secrets!

[Pard4Life]

Only last season... we made sure half of the field was nice and muddy vs. Harvard to slow down Dawson.. but, we had to deal with it too... thanks to the monsoon the week before. The field was destroyed. Even vs. Colgate a month later, the field was like the Dust Bowl in spots.

Outside of that... visitors facing the sun...

[WUTNDITWAA]

Not in football, but in basketball when Buzz Peterson was Appalachian's head coach, he had the heat turned up in Varsity Gym during the week to get the player's used to it, then he turned it up for the game.

And if it didn't work, at least the other team would catch cold on the way home.:cool:

[Eagle_77]

We play the majority of our home games at 1pm to take full advantage of the 90+ degree heat and 90+ percent humidity of South Georgia that seems to linger well into October. We also put the student section and band right behind the visiting teams bench. I have not been to a game yet where the players where not yelling into the crowd and paying more attention to the students than the game at times.

[GeauxColonels]

If we had a problem winning at home I would hope Coach Spears takes my suggestion to pipe in some Michael Bolton music to the visitors dressing room.
Aw come on, you don't think a little When a Man Loves a Woman would fire up those guys?!

[MYTAPPY]

2. Visiting team is placed on the light side (east side of the stadium). So as the sun is setting our players are in the shade of the pressbox while the visitors are backing in the Texas sun (mind you it can still be 90+ degrees at nightfall in late september around here).

Our visitor side is in the sun too. Granted it doesn't get too hot in Boone, but every once in a while an early September game can get toasty. Also the visitor side fans can't see thier team too well with sun bearing down on them.

Oh yea, and we have Hells Bells!!

[Go...gate]

Don't know of anything Colgate does other than order up at least a foot of snow and 35mph winds for all home post-season games :D :smiley_wi

[Lehigh Football Nation]

For Lehigh the only thing that I know of is choice of which goal to defend. When Goodman is packed, the south goal is generally populated by lots of fans in the "bowl area" and can cause problems with play calling, etc.

[GeauxColonels]

I have only followed Bobcat football for just over a year now, so its hard to say what kinds of home-advantages we have. Some of the things that I have seen off hand are -

1. The trains, Bobcat Stadium is located right next to the train tracks and typically trains pass through at least once per game. When this happens its gets pretty loud, and on top of that the fans seem to respond to it as well.

2. Visiting team is placed on the light side (east side of the stadium). So as the sun is setting our players are in the shade of the pressbox while the visitors are backing in the Texas sun (mind you it can still be 90+ degrees at nightfall in late september around here).

3. The student section is located right behind the visiting bench. Yes the visitors are given a couple of rows on the 40 yard line, but the rest of the light side is filled with a rowdy student section taunting the players and coaches all game long.
Those last 2 sound just like what Nicholls State does...but we don't have nearly the student population of TSU-SM OR fan support. :(

[GeauxLions94]

Those last 2 sound just like what Nicholls State does...but we don't have nearly the student population of TSU-SM OR fan support. :(

It'll be rocking on Oct. 7 when Southeastern comes to town :nod:

[GeauxColonels]

It'll be rocking on Oct. 7 when Southeastern comes to town :nod:
I think so. DEFINITELY, the addition of SLU to the SLC was one of the best things that could have happened for Nicholls State football because so many people now are interested in at least that one game each season. HOPEFULLY, and I think we're starting to see it down in Thibodaux, seeing that one game will bring more people back for the long-haul.

[Cap'n Cat]

The UNI-Dome gets very loud. And judging from this visitor from EWU's expression, the entire building can distract you.

http://www.easterneronline.com/vimages/shared/vslideshow/slide_images/small.slide_4387e611815ee9.27444942_4387.jpg

New visitors have said that the flat field creates an optical illusion. No crown, as there is outdoors. Gateway foes are pretty used to it.

[McNeeserocket]

The student section is located right behind the visiting bench. Yes the visitors are given a couple of rows on the 40 yard line, but the rest of the light side is filled with a rowdy student section taunting the players and coaches all game long.

Perhaps you think that your rude obnoxious home fans are something to be proud of, but it really has the opposite affect on your reputation. I travel to all McNeese games (no matter where we play), and I have to say that your place is the one I have enjoyed the least (whether we are winning or losing). Most schools want visiting fans to have a good impression of their visit and to speak well of their host to others. Though it is unfair to say that all of your fans are rude, drunk, and obnoxious, it is true that your visitors (both fans and teams) are made to feel unwelcome and treated worse than any other venue I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot of away football games). And for the record, I have visited your stadium 4 times now and it gets worse each time. Your security does nothing but encourage altercations and intimidations.

If it is your schools desire and/or mission to make other teams' fans think twice about coming to watch a game at your stadium then you should know that they have been very successful.

In contrast, your facilities are top notch. Your stadium, field and athletic buildings are really first class. But your fan numbers have never been anything to brag about, until the end of last year when you were winning more games than in previous years. However, even when you hosted McNeese last year, your fan numbers were still lower than they should have been given your location, student enrollment and winning record. For a school your size and location there should be 3 times the number of fans in the stands and your tailgating could also use some growth.

[Cocky]

Nothing, the OVC has very strict rules about being "hospitable" to visiting teams.

The conference made us make some changes to benefit the vistors.

[EKU05]

The conference made us make some changes to benefit the vistors.

The OVC does have, perhaps, the strictest sportsmanship policies in Division I. What specifically did JSU have to change? Was it band/student section positioning or something? I know our band at EKU is on the small side of the stadium with the visitors, but they are not directly behind the bench. Our students occupy the end of the large side as well as the berm ("the hill") that banks in one of the endzones.

[MR. CHICKEN]

You mean VMI was notorious for NOT cutting the grass. Alumni Field is one of the best pasture lands I've ever seen. You could have grazed cows on that field, the grass was so high. The only time I've been to Cowell Stadium was on Thanksgiving weekend for a first-round playoff game. There was no grass. It was dead and brown from the cold.

IFIN' ONE TEAM IS FASTER DAN 'NOTHERAH......WOULDN'T DEY BE FASTER ON SHORT GRASS....OR....HIGH GRASS?......:confused:......BRAWK!

[Tribe4SF]

IFIN' ONE TEAM IS FASTER DAN 'NOTHERAH......WOULDN'T DEY BE FASTER ON SHORT GRASS....OR....HIGH GRASS?......:confused:......BRAWK!

Fowl genius! How is it a chicken has never won a Nobel?:bow: :bow: :bow: :hurray: :hurray:

[TxState_GO_CATS!]

Perhaps you think that your rude obnoxious home fans are something to be proud of, but it really has the opposite affect on your reputation. I travel to all McNeese games (no matter where we play), and I have to say that your place is the one I have enjoyed the least (whether we are winning or losing). Most schools want visiting fans to have a good impression of their visit and to speak well of their host to others. Though it is unfair to say that all of your fans are rude, drunk, and obnoxious, it is true that your visitors (both fans and teams) are made to feel unwelcome and treated worse than any other venue I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot of away football games). And for the record, I have visited your stadium 4 times now and it gets worse each time. Your security does nothing but encourage altercations and intimidations.

If it is your schools desire and/or mission to make other teams' fans think twice about coming to watch a game at your stadium then you should know that they have been very successful.

In contrast, your facilities are top notch. Your stadium, field and athletic buildings are really first class. But your fan numbers have never been anything to brag about, until the end of last year when you were winning more games than in previous years. However, even when you hosted McNeese last year, your fan numbers were still lower than they should have been given your location, student enrollment and winning record. For a school your size and location there should be 3 times the number of fans in the stands and your tailgating could also use some growth.

first off, how did this turn into a "bash texas state fans ONCE AGAIN" thread? dude, quit acting like your poo doesn't stink. i have been to McNeese twice (2002 and 2004) and i have been verbally harrassed (called MANY racial epithets) both times, yet you don't see me whining. do i think that our student section can be problematic at times? yes. but, we have taken steps to fix that situation (i.e. the "visitors section" on the 40 yd line). if you guys didn't try to sit in the middle of the student section then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have encountered the problems you did. to say that our security does nothing but "encourage altercations and intimidations" is extremely false. i've seen many students kicked out of the stadium for acting inappropriately, so our security, in stark contrast to your claim, enforces the rules. and if you truly think our fans are horrendous, maybe you should ask other visiting schools what they thought of our fans: Georgia Southern, Cal-Poly, UNI, hell even SHSU. There are bad apples at EVERY SCHOOL, not just Texas State.

In regard to our numbers, you have to realize that last year was the first year that Texas State was good in football since the 1980s. Everyone knows we sucked, so nobody went to the games. Once people (mainly non-students, because the student section is consistently at 80-90% capacity) figured out that we were good and in the running for a championship, then they showed up. Winning puts butts in the seats. If McNeese went on a 20 year drought of being horrible, I'm sure your attendance would suffer as well. It happens.xlolx Also, we can't have 3xs the attendance because, well, our stadium only holds ~15,000. If we had a bigger stadium (not 45,000, but bigger) the last four home games (SHSU and the playoffs), I'm certain we would have still sold out. But, before then, we hadn't shown the need for it. In regard to our attendance numbers reflecting our location, you just have to realize the dynamics of our student population and our community. Yes, you have the die-hard Bobcats who come to the games in San Marcos. But you also have some students and citizens who would rather watch other games on TV and you have some that attend UT games instead (about 30 miles away). When your own localstores carry alot of UT merchandise and very little Texas State merchandise, then the consumers are faced with a decision: Do I support the local team who has been less-than-mediocre the last 20 years or do I support the big, nationally known team in Austin that is on TV every week? I think you get my drift. Austin is virtually off limits to Texas State because, well, they're all brainwashed to worship UT (even more so since they won the I-A championship). SA could be a possibility, but you have to remember that one of our main rival schools, UTSA, is located in SA. I'm aware of the fact that they don't have football, but we're still rivals. Would SFA fans travel to SHSU to watch football games if SFA didn't have football? Don't think so.

Things are definitely getting better at Texas State. Tailgating probably wasn't worthy of bragging when you came here mid-season, but as the season went on (and people realized we weren't horrible), it got really good. (again, i encourage you to ask those who attended these games before making an overall judgment.) There was no reason for it to be spectacular before last season because, well, we lacked the fan support. Again, McNeese Football doesn't have a reputation for being bad and hasn't been horrible for 20+ consecutive years, so I don't expect you to understand how everything wasn't top-notch every week (i.e. fan attendance, and tailgating).

[MR. CHICKEN]

Fowl genius! How is it a chicken has never won a Nobel?:bow: :bow: :bow: :hurray: :hurray:

ANTI-CHICKENISM......AH GUESS....AH WANT REPARTATION$$$$$...AWK!

[Mr. C]

IFIN' ONE TEAM IS FASTER DAN 'NOTHERAH......WOULDN'T DEY BE FASTER ON SHORT GRASS....OR....HIGH GRASS?......:confused:......BRAWK!
You can't tackle a ball carrier, or a quarterback, if you can't find him hiding in the tall grass. You needed Bossy the Milk Cow as your team mascot when you played at VMI. Mow the grass for us, Bossy.

[Cocky]

The OVC does have, perhaps, the strictest sportsmanship policies in Division I. What specifically did JSU have to change? Was it band/student section positioning or something? I know our band at EKU is on the small side of the stadium with the visitors, but they are not directly behind the bench. Our students occupy the end of the large side as well as the berm ("the hill") that banks in one of the endzones.

Yes, we had to move to the vistors side of the stadium.

[El_Cid_99]

Our old coach Ellis Johnson insisted that we wear white even as the home team a few seasons ago. We also schedule early season games for 2:00 pm kickoffs to take full advantage of the sweltering Charleston, SC heat in September.
I have no doubt that our strategy helped us beat Delaware in '02 or 03' (can't remember which). Their players in those dark blue jerseys looked absolutely miserable, and their defense had nothing left on the last drive of the game when we went 80+ yards for the winning TD.

[McNeese75]

None that I am aware of. No pink dressing room, no substandard visitor dressing room (at least on purpose). The Visiting fans sit on the same side as their team. The McNeese Students sit behind the Pokes and are well away from any visitors. There are a few bad apples (we all have em) that sit near the visitors and the visiting team but that's not gamesmanship, thats usually Liquor xlolx Most of the time any heckling done is good natured but it if starts to get out of hand, secuirty is usually pretty quick to remedy the situation.

[McNeese72]

first off, how did this turn into a "bash texas state fans ONCE AGAIN" thread? dude, quit acting like your poo doesn't stink. i have been to McNeese twice (2002 and 2004) and i have been verbally harrassed (called MANY racial epithets) both times, yet you don't see me whining. do i think that our student section can be problematic at times? yes. but, we have taken steps to fix that situation (i.e. the "visitors section" on the 40 yd line). if you guys didn't try to sit in the middle of the student section then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have encountered the problems you did. to say that our security does nothing but "encourage altercations and intimidations" is extremely false. i've seen many students kicked out of the stadium for acting inappropriately, so our security, in stark contrast to your claim, enforces the rules. and if you truly think our fans are horrendous, maybe you should ask other visiting schools what they thought of our fans: Georgia Southern, Cal-Poly, UNI, hell even SHSU. There are bad apples at EVERY SCHOOL, not just Texas State.



Rocket speaks the truth. The Texas St. students are the worst I've ever seen in I-AA and it "ain't" nothing to be proud of. Go ahead and stick you head in the ground and ignore that you guys have a problem. One of these days there is going to be a brawl there.

Doc

[GannonFan]

Our old coach Ellis Johnson insisted that we wear white even as the home team a few seasons ago. We also schedule early season games for 2:00 pm kickoffs to take full advantage of the sweltering Charleston, SC heat in September.
I have no doubt that our strategy helped us beat Delaware in '02 or 03' (can't remember which). Their players in those dark blue jerseys looked absolutely miserable, and their defense had nothing left on the last drive of the game when we went 80+ yards for the winning TD.

Nah, we blew that year (2002) - our d gave up quite a few drives late in games - the Cid game was only one of many.

As for UD, I don't think we do anything particularly special for home field advantage. The visiting team faces the sun but we play half the games at night so that doesn't matter and when it's real cold in November or December that could be an advantage really. Obviously having 22k in a fairly close stadium is probably advantage enough, though.

[TxState_GO_CATS!]

Rocket speaks the truth. The Texas St. students are the worst I've ever seen in I-AA and it "ain't" nothing to be proud of. Go ahead and stick you head in the ground and ignore that you guys have a problem. One of these days there is going to be a brawl there.

Doc

I'm not "sticking my head in the ground and ignoring it." I acknowledge that there is a problem, but some of you McNeese people are acting like your fans are angels.

They most certainly are not. Great fans don't refer to our school as "[Mexican explitive] State University", and great fans don't call visiting, elderly black fans "monkeys" and...well, you get my drift. And those are just two of the incidents I've encountered my WHOPPING two visits to McNeese. There could have EASILY been many brawls at McNeese too.

So you can go ahead and say/keep believing that McNeese doesn't have a problem. I know that you guys have a reputation for being good hosts. Common sense would say that there are more than a few bad fans everywhere.:twocents:

[McNeeserocket]

[QUOTE=TxState_GO_CATS!]first off, how did this turn into a "bash texas state fans ONCE AGAIN" thread? dude, quit acting like your poo doesn't stink. i have been to McNeese twice (2002 and 2004) and i have been verbally harrassed (called MANY racial epithets) both times, yet you don't see me whining. do i think that our student section can be problematic at times? yes. but, we have taken steps to fix that situation (i.e. the "visitors section" on the 40 yd line). if you guys didn't try to sit in the middle of the student section then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have encountered the problems you did. to say that our security does nothing but "encourage altercations and intimidations" is extremely false. i've seen many students kicked out of the stadium for acting inappropriately, so our security, in stark contrast to your claim, enforces the rules. and if you truly think our fans are horrendous, maybe you should ask other visiting schools what they thought of our fans: Georgia Southern, Cal-Poly, UNI, hell even SHSU. There are bad apples at EVERY SCHOOL, not just Texas State.QUOTE]

First off, I am not a dude. I am a dudette. Secondly I have no desire to berate Texas State as I am sure it is a fine institution and a sister conference member. It was not my aim to bash Texas State or their fans. However, your original post made note of how your students enjoy harassing visitors' fans and team. I simply responded that the kind of treatment you outlined toward your visitors at your school's football game should not be a thing you are proud of. I understand that every school (and I mean every school) has inconsiderate, rude and/or drunk fans who can leave visitors with a soured impression. But most schools are not proud of that kind of behavior and try very hard to minimize the number of incidents by increased security and penalties for students/fans who continue such behavior. Perhaps your administration is trying to curb the problem, and if that is true than I am hopeful that future visitors will not feel reticent to visit your stadium.

You mentioned that visitors should not sit in the middle of the student section, but how are visitors to know where that section is? Many visitors get to the stadium before students do and sit in areas that are general admission without trying to sit in the middle of where students sit. If your school's officials let it be known the best place for visitors to sit then I am sure that the vast majority would be happy to sit where they are less likely to incur the unwanted attention of your "few" bad students/fans."

I have no idea what age you are, but I can tell you that older fans are less able to cope with outright hostility, rudeness and antagonistic behavior. I have personally observed that the older visiting fans seem to be the favorite target of your inconsiderate rowdy fans. I don't believe that you want your visitors to feel threatened and harassed (at least I hope not) but perhaps if you were to try to picture your mother, father, or grandparents sitting where your visitors sit you might have a different perspective on what it feels like to be a visitor.

I don't doubt that there are visiting fans that enjoyed themselves at Texas State. In fact I hope that it is true. Perhaps the teams you mentioned were treated well because they were non-conference foes. If that is true (and I have no reason to disbelieve you) than I am relieved, as your school represents the Southland Conference while playing out of conference teams. Perhaps the unwanted behavior I noted is only applied to conference rivals, but all teams and fans deserve your best!

Finally, I think I can speak for 99% of McNeese fans in saying that I am very sorry you were treated the way you said you were at McNeese the times you visited. If you let me know ahead of time that you are coming this year to our game, I will do my best to meet you and introduce you to our tailgating fans who always try to treat our visitors like family.

[McNeese75]

[QUOTE=TxState_GO_CATS!]first off, how did this turn into a "bash texas state fans ONCE AGAIN" thread? dude, quit acting like your poo doesn't stink. i have been to McNeese twice (2002 and 2004) and i have been verbally harrassed (called MANY racial epithets) both times, yet you don't see me whining. do i think that our student section can be problematic at times? yes. but, we have taken steps to fix that situation (i.e. the "visitors section" on the 40 yd line). if you guys didn't try to sit in the middle of the student section then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have encountered the problems you did. to say that our security does nothing but "encourage altercations and intimidations" is extremely false. i've seen many students kicked out of the stadium for acting inappropriately, so our security, in stark contrast to your claim, enforces the rules. and if you truly think our fans are horrendous, maybe you should ask other visiting schools what they thought of our fans: Georgia Southern, Cal-Poly, UNI, hell even SHSU. There are bad apples at EVERY SCHOOL, not just Texas State.QUOTE]

First off, I am not a dude. I am a dudette. Secondly I have no desire to berate Texas State as I am sure it is a fine institution and a sister conference member. It was not my aim to bash Texas State or their fans. However, your original post made note of how your students enjoy harassing visitors' fans and team. I simply responded that the kind of treatment you outlined toward your visitors at your school's football game should not be a thing you are proud of. I understand that every school (and I mean every school) has inconsiderate, rude and/or drunk fans who can leave visitors with a soured impression. But most schools are not proud of that kind of behavior and try very hard to minimize the number of incidents by increased security and penalties for students/fans who continue such behavior. Perhaps your administration is trying to curb the problem, and if that is true than I am hopeful that future visitors will not feel reticent to visit your stadium.

You mentioned that visitors should not sit in the middle of the student section, but how are visitors to know where that section is? Many visitors get to the stadium before students do and sit in areas that are general admission without trying to sit in the middle of where students sit. If your school's officials let it be known the best place for visitors to sit then I am sure that the vast majority would be happy to sit where they are less likely to incur the unwanted attention of your "few" bad students/fans."

I have no idea what age you are, but I can tell you that older fans are less able to cope with outright hostility, rudeness and antagonistic behavior. I have personally observed that the older visiting fans seem to be the favorite target of your inconsiderate rowdy fans. I don't believe that you want your visitors to feel threatened and harassed (at least I hope not) but perhaps if you were to try to picture your mother, father, or grandparents sitting where your visitors sit you might have a different perspective on what it feels like to be a visitor.

I don't doubt that there are visiting fans that enjoyed themselves at Texas State. In fact I hope that it is true. Perhaps the teams you mentioned were treated well because they were non-conference foes. If that is true (and I have no reason to disbelieve you) than I am relieved, as your school represents the Southland Conference while playing out of conference teams. Perhaps the unwanted behavior I noted is only applied to conference rivals, but all teams and fans deserve your best!

Finally, I think I can speak for 99% of McNeese fans in saying that I am very sorry you were treated the way you said you were at McNeese the times you visited. If you let me know ahead of time that you are coming this year to our game, I will do my best to meet you and introduce you to our tailgating fans who always try to treat our visitors like family.

That pretty much sums it up :thumbsup:

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

For Lehigh the only thing that I know of is choice of which goal to defend. When Goodman is packed, the south goal is generally populated by lots of fans in the "bowl area" and can cause problems with play calling, etc.

The band is notorious for playing while the other team is on offense, something i don't agree with doing. I remember them getting a warning from the ref a couple years back about it but they still continue to do so.

[MR. CHICKEN]

Our old coach Ellis Johnson insisted that we wear white even as the home team a few seasons ago. We also schedule early season games for 2:00 pm kickoffs to take full advantage of the sweltering Charleston, SC heat in September.
I have no doubt that our strategy helped us beat Delaware in '02 or 03' (can't remember which). Their players in those dark blue jerseys looked absolutely miserable, and their defense had nothing left on the last drive of the game when we went 80+ yards for the winning TD.

LITTLE EL.......'02.......WE WERE GASSED ON YER FINAL SHOT.......ELLIS...SHOULD BE DREAMIN' UP TORTURE PROCEDURES....FO' OURAH MILATARY INTERAGATORS...............:(.........BRAWK!

[MR. CHICKEN]

Our old coach Ellis Johnson insisted that we wear white even as the home team a few seasons ago. We also schedule early season games for 2:00 pm kickoffs to take full advantage of the sweltering Charleston, SC heat in September.
I have no doubt that our strategy helped us beat Delaware in '02 or 03' (can't remember which). Their players in those dark blue jerseys looked absolutely miserable, and their defense had nothing left on the last drive of the game when we went 80+ yards for the winning TD.

LITTLE EL..99....'02.......DUH HENS WERE GASSED ON YER FINAL SHOT.....ELLIS SHOULD BE DREAMIN' UP TORTURE PROCEDURES.......FO' OURAH MILATARY INTERAGATORS...........DON'T MAKE ME GO INTA DUH DETAILS O' DUH...'03 SCRIMMAGE....DOUGH.......: smh :.......BRAWK!

[flexbone]

We have South Georgia GNATS. If you are not use to them they will DRIVE YOU CRAZY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[McNeeserocket]

The band is notorious for playing while the other team is on offense, something i don't agree with doing. I remember them getting a warning from the ref a couple years back about it but they still continue to do so.

According to the rules, the band is prohibited from playing during play on the field. I have seen teams given a warning and after that a penality if it occurs again (unsportsman like conduct penality). If your opposing team was smart they could ask the refs to stop the band from playing during play on the field and if the band continued then your team should be flagged and penalized!

[ngineer]

Visitors at Goodman have to face into a tough sun setting in the west. However, in November, it can actually be a blessing for the fans as they're 20 degrees warmer than the those on the home side in the shade.
The Marching 97 have, on occasion, been silenced by the referees, but generally I don't recall that happening very much.

[GannonFan]

The band is notorious for playing while the other team is on offense, something i don't agree with doing. I remember them getting a warning from the ref a couple years back about it but they still continue to do so.

Yes, as another poster has said, that is technically against the rules. Heck, why just have the band play - how about piped in music too? Shame on Lehigh. :nono: Of course, we never seem to play up there anymore so that'll be a problem for other teams. :nod:

[GeauxColonels]

According to the rules, the band is prohibited from playing during play on the field. I have seen teams given a warning and after that a penality if it occurs again (unsportsman like conduct penality). If your opposing team was smart they could ask the refs to stop the band from playing during play on the field and if the band continued then your team should be flagged and penalized!
Technically, the band can play up until the offense breaks the huddle. Once the snap occurs, the band can then begin playing again. I know, I was in the Nicholls State band when we got an unsportsmanlike penalty called for playing when the QB was under center. The game was in Thibodaux against Jacksonville State (I think in 1998). The only problem is....we were never warned by the refs.

In the following years, we received several warnings and then stopped playing when the QB went under center.

[R.A.]

-Used to be that the HBCU bands would play as loud as they could during the pre-snap, but now they throw the flag quick for that. But many bands will still play softly during pre-snap, then immediately after the ball is snapped, they'll start booming again while the play is being ran, so I guess it somewhat distracts players.

-Also, it was said that when Hampton loss at Delaware State a few years ago, that the field was watered down to slow down the Pirate speedsters i.e. Jerome Mathis. The quicker you go on a wet surface, the easier it is to slide, slip, and fall, so supposedly wet grass levels the playing field for the slower players against the faster ones because everyone needs to go slow to keep traction. So the fast ones go slower, and the slow ones remain slow. Since the slow players are already used to going slow, they have the advantage on a wet field.

[TxState_GO_CATS!]

If you let me know ahead of time that you are coming this year to our game, I will do my best to meet you and introduce you to our tailgating fans who always try to treat our visitors like family.

Will definitely do if I make the trip this year. I'm about to graduate, so I don't know what my weekends are looking like just yet, but I'll defintely send you a message if I'm comin down.

[Husky Alum]

As Delaware Fans will attest, Parsons Field in Brookline (NU's home "Field") is in and of itself is gamesmanship.

Between the high school-esquq nature of the place and the dearth of fans, it makes for an interesting game day experience.

[WMTribe90]

I agree Husky, NU has the best homefield advantage in the A10 even over UD. Visiting players love to play at UD and often feed of the atmosphere and home crowd. At Parsons any motivation to play inspired must come from within. Somehow the Husky players have no problem getting fired up in the "atmosphere" of Parsons and have caught many an opponent flat-footed.