SLPYBEAR WEEKLY POLL -- WEEK#4 -- Can fans SIGNIFICANTLY impact a game?

[slpybear the bullfan]

This Week's Poll...

This week Slpybear would like to know if you believe that spectators in the stands can have any SIGNIFICANT impact on a 3A Texas High School Football game. I would define significant for this poll as "the ability to influence the outcome."

I enjoyed this poll last year, especially because so many folks posted to back up their positions.

I would especially like to hear from players who feel like a game's outcome was affected by fans in the bleachers.

Polls should close on Friday.


Last Week's Poll...

Well, I have to tell ya... last week I was happy to see the results and the great posts. I am a big believer in keeping my best 11 on the field and it looks like most everyone else is too. 49 of 67 folks who responded said put the boys out there. That is pretty overwhelming. As always, complete results are linked below...

For complete week 3 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18431)
For complete week 2 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18150)
For complete week 1 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17852)
For complete week 0.2 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17671)
For complete week 0.1 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17546)
For a Summary of the 2003 Poll Results, click here.... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17444)


As always, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

Slpybear

[Keith7]

Yes.. look at some home records for major colleges, and they are totally dominant

[slpybear the bullfan]

That's great for college's Keith... But I am talking about TX HS Football.

I agree that some stadiums can be so loud as to disrupt a team's ability to get of a play. Lots of arenas like that in College and Pro... How many in 3A Texas Ball?

:thinking:

[Keith7]

understandable.. The most intimidating stadium i played at was Celina's.. the fans are really right up on u.. did it impact the game? I dont know.. I didnt play much

[SintonFan]

Lately, I've seen a very organized Burnet crowd root like there was no tomorrow. Did it affect the game? I don't know because their team was pretty darn good.
I saw a ravenous Port Isabel crowd cheer their team to a 5 OT victory. I think both the crowd and players have to both want it. If the crowd is too hungry then don't those cheers turn to BOOs quickly?
I've also seen Sinton crowds way too conservative. (ie. two years ago against Hondo) Then again another Sinton crowd at Buc stadium last year might have helped keep the game closer than it could have been( final 42-21 :( ).
Utimately, a team has to want it as much as the fans do IMHO.
I've seen my share of good games and crowds cheering them on, too...:thinking:
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Slpy, another excellent topic!:cool: :cool: :cool:

[slpybear the bullfan]

Good point about the boos. I have watched players on the field go into a funk as the boos shower down around them. Does it keep them down longer than they would have been if those boos were cheers instead? I don't know. I do know that the average 16 or 17 year old HS athelete can get "up" very quickly and get "down" just as quick.

On a different topic... I KNOW that fans can impact a HS Basketball game... any HS refs out there who can chime in on that one?

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by slpybear the bullfan:

I have watched players on the field go into a funk as the boos shower down around them.
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I've seen that too.:o
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I've been to one HS basketball game in my life slpybear, so I can't help you there.:doh:

[Keith7]

man i've been to tons of basketball games.. and many important ones deep deep deep into the playoffs for consecutive years, and crowds can definently keep shots from falling

[LH Panther Mom]

Fans cheering gets the kids pumped up, the ones on the sidelines particularly. They need it just as much as the players on the field. It shows them that we're behind them.

I can't remember that I've ever heard our fans boo the players collectively - there may be one or two with comments, but the booing is reserved for what most fans have taken as an idiotic call on the refs part.

[PPHSfan]

Anyone who would boo their team from the stands should be taken out behind the bleachers and shot.

[Underwater Basketweaver]

I don't think fans make a significant impact on the game as far as crowd noise and such, but I don't think anyone would want to play a game without anyone there. The whole idea is to put on a show, from the band to the cheerleaders, to the players. Basically, it's entertainment, and I'm not sure what kind of motivation there would be if no one came to see it.

[LH Panther Mom]

PPHSfan, is this what you had in mind? http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/alles_moegliche/mixed-smiley-016.gif

[HornetMom]

Originally posted by PPHSfan
Anyone who would boo their team from the stands should be taken out behind the bleachers and shot. I agree. On the crowds, I do think they can impact a game, especially the band. I know I do my part in the crowd noise. :cheerl: :thumbsup:

[theyoefnshow]

I'll be brutally honest on this one. Being down there playing the game, if your head is into what you are doing (the game) you pretty much shut out everything else. When I played, we didn't worry about the crowds and in a sense couldn't hear them or the band....or we just shut them out. Sure it's fun to jeer w/ them when something big happens like a big hit or td but for the most part we just focused on the task at hand. I say this and Cameron fans are some of the most rabid in the world. If you can get by without those folks distracting you, you're pretty well focused lol

A fan isn't going to win or lose a game for ;you but you appreciate each and every one of them that has paid their money to see you perform. If they cheer you they can, if they boo you they can. THey paid their money so they have the right to do as they wish.

[Bulldog_12]

Burnet's fans were pretty intimidating last year, while they were ahead. That sea of green was awesome at Kyle Field, and they made some noise, until the bulldogs jumped ahead. But still, for that time, they were pretty good.

[dawgmom]

I know my sons have told me that they are aware of the crowd, but the noise doesn't get to them. However, they also say that they are glad to have stands full of people yelling support rather than just sitting there and screaming at them what to do! I believe the players "feed" off of the crowd. Why else would there be so many players out on the field flapping their arms to get the crowd to make noise? No matter what, I will be in the crowd, big or small, making A LOT of noise. I want my team to know I am behind them all the way, win or lose! :clap: :clap:

[slpybear the bullfan]

I played ball every year I could through my senior year. I did see some full stadiums. And I totally agree with those comments about the crowd is pretty much tuned out. I started one way and play sporadically the other. Even on the sidelines, it was rare to hear much of what the crowd was doing. I know they were doing a lot, its just that when you are staring across the line eye-to-eye and smelling that opposing player... hanging on every flinch of the quarterback to fire off and hit'em... then going full bore until the whistle blows... (and sometimes later ;) )... yeah, its easy to tune even the coaches out, much less the crowds.


As always, just one humble, drowsy bear's opinion. What about yours? :)

slpybear

[DFHM]

As a player in the heat of the battle, I hear nothing. The only think I hear is the opposing team's QB yelling autibles and such. But I do say the crowd plays a part in the game. I mean when you run through that run-through sign at the begining of the and seeing the stands fulls, it gets a team ready. Then when it gets tough, like the game Cuero vs. Wharton, the crowd stands out.

The only down side is when it gets to loud, it is hard to hear on the field.

[handNthedirt]

I think a team's sideline is the 12th man, not the crowd in the bleachers. I don't remember being able to hear the crowd in the stands when I was on the field, it was my teammates that got me up.

[big daddy russ]

They affect everything big-time when the momentum changes. That's where they come in. Whenever the other team has been down for a while and can't get anything going... and then complete a miracle 25-yard pass and follow it up with a huge run up the middle... that's when the crowd goes wild. That's when a part of you knows you're in trouble. No matter what I said whenever I played, I knew they were there.

[Gobbla2001]

They sure can have an impact in a negative way... Cussing out a ref face to face on his way off of the field for halftime starts your team off in the 3rd qt with a 15-yard penalty (many things could do this)...

I agree, sometimes you do not hear anything you're so tuned in to what's going on, yet, you still know when you're not hearing anything...

A crowd can 'let you down' quicker than you can the 'crowd' if they stop yelling/showing up etc... Not the most comfy feeling thinking you are worthless to your town, being depressed is no way to play...

[Sirsnagsalot]

I think the croud had a big effect on the Cuero-Wharton game at the beginning of the second half.

[3afan]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
They affect everything big-time when the momentum changes. That's where they come in. Whenever the other team has been down for a while and can't get anything going... and then complete a miracle 25-yard pass and follow it up with a huge run up the middle... that's when the crowd goes wild. That's when a part of you knows you're in trouble. No matter what I said whenever I played, I knew they were there.

of course players know the crowd is there ..... but the crowd doesnt make them play any harder, or differently - if it does then they're probably not very good IMO

[LHMom]

My boys have also told me they tune out most of what is going on anywhere other than the field and the sidelines, but there are times that they know.

i think the key here is the word "Significantly." Yes, fans/spirit can have some influence. SOME. but they are not going TO significantly change it.