This wasn’t the first time they had lined up and camped out in tents days before an anticipated Syracuse athletic event.

But this was the first time they were in charge of organizing such a huge event, an event that broke the NCAA’s on-campus game attendance record.

When ‘Otto’s Army’ handled the line formation for the Syracuse-Villanova men’s basketball game on Sunday, the organization realized it made a leap in being able to work cooperatively with Carrier Dome management. However, it also saw the obstacles it would have to face with communicating its plans to both Dome management and the student body.

‘Otto’s Army’ became an official organization as a subcommittee of the Traditions Commission when the Student Association unanimously passed a resolution on Feb. 13, 2006.

As students lined up to receive their bracelets to secure their spot in line – though not their seat – for the game, an unidentified senior spoke some unappreciative words to freshman Brian Coonley, a member of the newly recognized organization.

‘I just wanted to let you know I’m a senior and I’m a huge Gerry McNamara fan,’ the senior said. ‘This is my last game, and I wanted the best seat possible. But the way you guys set this up, I’m not going to. This is bullshit.’

Coonley shook his head in frustration, and then explained, despite initial obstacles, students should try to be proactive so student fans are better represented. The only way to do that is not to sulk in negativity, he said.

Another senior, Alison Roy, a political science major, was more appreciative of the organization’s efforts.

‘I thought it was a pretty decent way to do it,’ Roy said. ‘You got numbers (on the wristband), you lined up and you waited.’

The reason for these conflicted responses stems from the organization’s miscommunication and a misunderstanding among the student body.

At the beginning of the week, ‘Otto’s Army’ wanted to find a way to allow people to camp outside the Dome early to secure good seats, but in a safe way. When the organization talked with Pat Campbell, the senior associate athletic director and the director of the Carrier Dome, ‘Otto’s Army’ realized its plan would require some changes.

‘The main goals were not to have students freeze and to have them go to class,’ Campbell said.

Junior Menotti Minutillo, an information science and technology major and a member of ‘Otto’s Army,’ said the organization met with Dome management on Wednesday and agreed no more students would be allowed to camp outside; however, the ones who already pitched a tent would be permitted to stay.

After the meeting, Campbell sent an e-mail to season ticket holders the next day at about 2:15 p.m. stating, ‘The university will not permit any other line to be formed and will not permit any camping out to take place, other than by the leaders of ‘Otto’s Army’ in their maintenance of the official student line. You should report to Gate E of the Dome beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 4 to register for the line. Additional information regarding the operation of the line will be distributed at that time.’

In response to the e-mail, students who wanted to camp out early had concerns that the ones who didn’t plan early were put at a disadvantage, Minutillo said. Therefore, Dome management and ‘Otto’s Army’ held another meeting Friday.

‘The result was that people were allowed to camp, but we didn’t want to send another e-mail out because it would be really confusing,’ Minutillo said.

Instead, the organization relied on word-of-mouth publicity to announce the change in plans, Minutillo said.

But when students, such as sophomore Teddy Guerzon and freshman Henry Haber, showed up to Gate E at noon for more details, they became even more confused.

Guerzon said he heard a system was put in place in which a group of students could sign up together to receive a wristband. Then, at designated time slots of 5 and 10 p.m. on Saturday and 6 a.m. on Sunday, one member of the group would have to check back at Gate E.

Because Guerzon had to work during the afternoon, he depended on his friends to show up at noon to register his group. But ‘Otto’s Army’ told them every person in the group needed to be present to receive a bracelet that would track their number for when they would get in line at 6 a.m. on Sunday.

‘I think it’s such a fiasco that you have to get up so early and stand in line for three hours,’ Guerzon said. ‘The people who should’ve come early were the ones who didn’t get the wristband.’

Minutillo, Coonley, Dave Griffiths and Drew Nelson, all members of ‘Otto’s Army,’ said they formed the rule to determine the line order outside the Dome – instead of a seat’s placement – so students wouldn’t rush the door.

Minutillo also said having assigned seating would be difficult logistically and could be counterproductive. He said some people may not like sitting in the first few rows because they may have trouble seeing behind the basket.

Because ‘Otto’s Army’ is still an ad-hoc organization, without any governmental structure, Haber wondered if the group organized the wristband process out of self-interest, since many of the members traditionally camp out.

‘(Otto’s Army) definitely has the students in heart,’ Haber said. ‘But maybe at the same time, they’re in this to benefit themselves also, by getting the best seats that are available.’

Minutillo rejected Haber’s claim, saying, ‘If it was about us, we would make a system where people would have to camp out and we could get here at noon and sit in the front. We would be out here anyway, but we wanted to make it fair to everybody who wouldn’t necessarily be out here at the same time.’

‘For every one person who got mad at us, we had three people legitimately say thanks to us,’ Griffiths said. ‘A lot of kids know it’s better than the old system.’

After the mishap on Saturday, everything ran relatively smoothly on Sunday.

Students lined up at the designated time, and ‘Otto’s Army’ and Dome security guards checked student’s bands to determine their spot in line.

In the future, ‘Otto’s Army’ hopes to create a more unified student section, receive better seating and have more organized bus trips to away games. Since the new organization is trying to become more involved, ‘Otto’s Army’ realized this event served as a transitional stage.

‘It was unfortunate we confused the fans by telling them something different this time,’ Minutillo said. ‘But it was a big miscommunication with the Dome with what we were trying to do. It was a minor setback, but I think we understand each other a lot better now.’

Published on March 5, 2006 at 12:00 pm