Can We Talk About The Home Crowd / Lack Of Home Field Advantage?

Look I know it's a touchy subject and I hate to bring it up but I do in hopes something will change. I try to go to as many games as possible but it's gotten to the point where I won't even consider a 1 oclock because of how boring I know the atmosphere is going to be. It's sad they had a better advantage in St Louis and San Diego than home. Those fans got loud in St Louis and were able to help cause the Rams to false start late in the game. San Diego it came down to the final play and everybody stayed to the end. Yesterday... Steelers were one play from winning the game and the stadium had already cleared out.

Thoughts?

 

when the fans are there
they are loud at the wrong time too
I know I saw Ben trying to quiet them down a couple of times yesterday and a few games earlier this season
Hey crowd! Let the offense do their thing without the noise
AND
try to be a hell of a lot louder when the other team is deep in their own end

 

I was at the game and it was plenty loud. It helped the defense out a bunch yesterday. You don't scream you lungs out when they are on offense.

 

I'm not one to throw stones, as I'm not big at going to games, due to the cost, traffic hassles, etc. Example, I live in CT and am a huge UConn Huskies fan and can spit on the XL Center from my office. Yet, haven't gone to a regular season game in years.

If fans decide not to pay to go to games, sit quietly or decide to leave to beat traffic, etc. I have no problem with it. Fans show many different ways in supporting their teams.

Yes, fans may be louder at away games as it may be their first experience in years, so they're more excited. I think that's natural and should be expected.

 

It's the false hope this team and coaches continue to give Steeler Nation in reaching another championship. This yo- yo syndrome that Pittsburgh can't seem to shake has demanding paying fans distraught not to mention myself. You can only absorb so much negativity then it tends to rattle your faith in a team that was once feared with dominance.

 

I was at the game too, I'll second this.

Tunch and Wolfe wanted to praise the Bengals for a "gritty" win today, but the truth is the crowd was getting to Dalton in the second half. If the Steelers offense could have scored just one more time we could have won and they would have been saying how Dalton still hears footsteps.

 

The announced attendance was pretty much stadium capacity. The Steelers report actual gate attendance, so I don't know what the problem is. It's been said before that it looks bad because the fans are all standing somewhere other than the seats. I've heard the rotundas are good for viewing and are really close to the "refreshments" and bathrooms.

I've been to a game there and we were in the bleacher seats. I found the view from there acceptable and didn't notice anyone migrating from there to the walkways.

 

Home Field advantage ended for the Steeler's the day they imploded Three Rivers Stadium. I went to many games there when the stadium literally shook your bones to the core. Remember one time where the entire lower stadium people were jumping up and down so hard that I intentionally stopped moving in order to try and gauge how much those bleachers were bouncing up and down. It was for certain at least a couple inches. Heinz Field is like watching a Barry Manillo concert whereas TRS was comparable to seeing Iron Maiden.

 

Yeah there were multiple false starts yesterday. There's no doubt though that the "away" fans come across as much more passionate on tv. I honestly just think it's because they don't get to go to as many games and don't sorta "take the Steelers for granted" and stuff like that. Also nowadays a lot of season tix are held by a bunch of corporate people that use them to woo potential clients and it's not like they're going to games to get rowdy and make some noise for their team. My dad was friends with a dude that had a box for the Colts when Manning was there and my dad said I could go to a game with them and sit in that box if I wanted but I "couldn't wear a bunch of Steelers stuff and talk trash like I normally do because they're there on business". I said "Well then I'm not going". LOL!

 

I feel like the stadium doesn't contain the sound well at all.

There's a good atmosphere at games (been a few years since I've been), but we could use some of the Seattle engineers to amplify the energy we're pumping out.

 

Run toooo the hillllls! Run for your liiiiife!

 

This may be unpopular to some but maybe they could shelve the Renegade song and play that!

 

The thing about Renegade that makes it so effective is that it actually builds. I have literally tried like crazy, just for fun, to think of a better "fight song" and I just can never do it.

 

Speaking of which whats up with Thunderstruck before games now? Seems a bit cliche imo.

 

Yeah Thunderstruck is overused in a lot of ways. I live in a very little town in East TN and used to do backyard wrestling and would go to small wrestling events around Knoxville. One in our county was held in a basement/garage and it was basically a trailer park get together and literally EVERY wrestler walked to the ring to Thunderstruck. LOL!!!

 

It wasn't very effective yesterday but then again they played it when the Offense was taking the field if I recall correctly. Should be reserved for Defense.

 

I'm partial to Roy Jones "Can't be touched", but it is a little vulgar. Maybe get a radio edit that doesn't have all the epithets in it?

Warning has some bad language and racial terms. NSFW!

 

I agree that it's more of a defensive song. I always think it should be during a timeout before like a 4th down play.

 

when I see the crowd on tv I see people waving the Terrible Towel and not necessarily making noise. The towel is neat to see being waved in mass numbers but when it comes to false starts and the other team hearing signals it's noise that is needed - not the Terrible Towel.

being the stadium is pretty new it should have been built to contain the noise.

 

I mentioned during the game how embarrassing it was that the stadium was nowhere near full in near the end of the 3rd quarter with the Steelers up 10-6. Earlier this season during the Ravens game it was the same issue. The fans in Pittsburgh suck IMO. There are Steelers fans throughout this country that would love to have the opportunity to go to games and these people can't be bothered to stay the whole game? It's a joke. Did you see any empty seats in a blow out win in Denver yesterday? Nope. Even in Baltimore, a team that had 1 win going into yesterday had a packed house the entire game.

When the fans were there and loud they made a difference. But if they're not there in the 4th who cares.

If you missed it, interesting article:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24775640/Raiderman69

 

Meh, that article is from 2014 and they clearly state that they actually report gate attendance. The game are actually sold out as far as ticket sales. Problem is there are those tickets that are bought for resale that don't get resold and the corporate ticket sections.

Also, it's kind of hard to expect the season ticket holders that are forking out that much to go to every game and attend multiple night games during the season. They'll pick what they want and try to resale the tickets for the ones they don't.

Also, as stated before, for some reason people like the rotundas. Hey, must be the thing to do. Bringing Baltimore into it is not really relevant as they do have a recent SB victory and haven't had a real down season since then. All teams have their ups and downs in gate attendance.

 

Pretty harsh, but you have some good points.
I get what some people say about the fact that if you paid for the ticket you can choose to leave when you want.
For me personally I've been to a bunch of Steelers games home and away and never once have I left early.
It does make us look like fairweather fans though.
To each their own.

 

Maybe the injury to Bell and how the Offense was struggling was enough for some to leave? Still makes no sense to me. I'm not from the Burgh. I've been to several games both in Three Rivers as well as Heinz Field. But it was a divisional game and came down to an errant throw by Ben which if was a better throw could have won the game. Stay for the efforts of the Defense alone. Never been to a game that they lost including away. Maybe it's time to take a trip down the turnpike. I'm sure I can get tickets...

 

Lot of people saying the fans in Pitt suck for not filling the stadium constantly - but to be honest the NFL has bloated the prices of tickets badly. I have only ever been to one NFL game in my life and that was because the tickets were a gift for Christmas. I can't afford to take me and a family member to a NFL game. Instead we watch it on TV and we'll spend an evening out going to a baseball game instead.

 

Well now is your our chance to go, Get the wallet out and show them how to cheer.
Tickets should be cheaper now that we are 4-4 and not 6-2 or 7-1.

I'll admit I left early. After Ben threw the his 3rd INT. I took my wife with me. This is usually the one game a year
she goes to with me. She used to go a lot more but we have a 2 year old and 4 year old. Who my in-laws were watching for the Sunday.
We live 2 hours away from the city to their house to get the kids. So I could see the look in her eyes that she wanted to leave and try to beat the mad traffic out. So I said OK let's go. She said no we can stay if you want. But, I knew that meant let's go. You guys know how to speak the wife language. I would have been ticked had Ben pulled off that last ditch effort and I wasn't there to see it. But, your crazy if you don't think I wasn't cheering my butt off the whole time as I always do. The crowd was as good as any game I've been to in the reg. season. It was no playoff game crowd, but it hardly ever is. I was at the 2008 and 2010 AFC championship games and nothing as ever compared to that. I think with the new 5000 seats it's a little louder than before actually.

But I'm going this Sunday to the game, with a guy I work with. We will most likely stay till it's all over.