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Post by brandon on Jan 13, 2019 22:37:37 GMT -6
After all the conversation about attendance, I decided to look for myself. And you can do the same if you have ESPN plus.
What I did was go to games that UNA played in that is not a-a power five school, b-not Gonzaga. And what I've found, for the most part, their attendance is worse, at least visually. Go and watch the replay of the Eastern Illinois game. I even watched some SoCon games, the All Mighty Citadel probably didnt have 150 peaple that I could see in a home game with Western Carolina. But could have been more, just didnt look that way.
The point is, watching these games, and you realize we aren't that bad, we just have extremely high expectations. Or we think somethings should happen overnight.
Go back and watch different ASun games and judge for yourself.
It will get better, I think our nerves and "what ifs" are getting the best of us. Maybe its "little man syndrome" when we are used to being one of the bar setters.
Let's just enjoy were we are now, enjoy the process and watch and help it grow...
Now let's start having some meaningful conversation about the teams we are facing and forget about things beyond our control before we all cause each other to give up our fan cards....
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Post by unafied on Jan 14, 2019 7:54:20 GMT -6
I don't necessarily think we have a "problem", or at least, no more of one than a lot of other schools in our position as a small D1 school. Look around ALL sports, from high school to pro, and there are fewer attending than there was probably even 10 years ago. You can blame it on a number of things, but I think most of it comes down to being able to watch almost every game on TV. It makes it a whole lot easier to not spend the time, energy, and money going to the arena/stadium.
If I am frustrated by our issues, it's due to two reasons:
1. We have had better attendance in the past, both in football and basketball. Again, see my point above - it may not ever get back to the way it was before the "ESPN+" era. But we have proof that there are fans out there that aren't coming to games. I think it's fair to want to fix that.
2. Brandon, you mention "little man syndrome"... I think you have a point. I DO want us to set the bar. Look at all those online ASUN polls that our people have shown way more engagement in than fans of any other ASUN school. Now let's back it up and get out to the games. If/when conference realignment happens again someday, I want to make sure we are a leader in the ASUN and looked at favorably in case we need to land somewhere else. I think it's very possible that could happen in the next 5-10 years.
That's my $0.02.
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Post by brandon on Jan 14, 2019 8:54:22 GMT -6
I don't necessarily think we have a "problem", or at least, no more of one than a lot of other schools in our position as a small D1 school. Look around ALL sports, from high school to pro, and there are fewer attending than there was probably even 10 years ago. You can blame it on a number of things, but I think most of it comes down to being able to watch almost every game on TV. It makes it a whole lot easier to not spend the time, energy, and money going to the arena/stadium. If I am frustrated by our issues, it's due to two reasons: 1. We have had better attendance in the past, both in football and basketball. Again, see my point above - it may not ever get back to the way it was before the "ESPN+" era. But we have proof that there are fans out there that aren't coming to games. I think it's fair to want to fix that. 2. Brandon, you mention "little man syndrome"... I think you have a point. I DO want us to set the bar. Look at all those online ASUN polls that our people have shown way more engagement in than fans of any other ASUN school. Now let's back it up and get out to the games. If/when conference realignment happens again someday, I want to make sure we area a leader in the ASUN and looked at favorably in case we need to land somewhere else. I think it's very possible that could happen in the next 5-10 years. That's my $0.02. I appreciate your two cents... And, unless I just have my optimism glasses on, and not looking at the complete picture, I think, especially with the current lineup, the ASun is were we need to stay. Projected 7th best baseball conference 6th best Softball conference Basketball is up drastically (based on RPI) and should get better. So, when/if another big conference shuffle comes, if the ASun keeps trending up, you may see schools shuffling around to join the ASun. If so, you may also see football schools move to the ASun, then the Big South football deal may be as strong as the MVFC, Big Sky and CAA. As far as UNA being in a position in a few years for a better conference, I dont think the OVC or SoCon is that much better, the only other option is the Sun Belt, then we would have to be 100% committed to FBS. But if I had to pick between the OVC or SoCon, it would be SoCon, and I really dont care about them outside of Chattanooga and maybe Samford just because of the in state thing. The OVC would be awful in my opinion. But my point to the last post is really, this is year 1 in D1, there are still people saying we will never compete in D1, and until they see it happen, they will stay home. When it starts happening, and we all know it will, you will start seeing the crowds getting bigger. |
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Post by unafied on Jan 14, 2019 9:11:17 GMT -6
I don't necessarily think we have a "problem", or at least, no more of one than a lot of other schools in our position as a small D1 school. Look around ALL sports, from high school to pro, and there are fewer attending than there was probably even 10 years ago. You can blame it on a number of things, but I think most of it comes down to being able to watch almost every game on TV. It makes it a whole lot easier to not spend the time, energy, and money going to the arena/stadium. If I am frustrated by our issues, it's due to two reasons: 1. We have had better attendance in the past, both in football and basketball. Again, see my point above - it may not ever get back to the way it was before the "ESPN+" era. But we have proof that there are fans out there that aren't coming to games. I think it's fair to want to fix that. 2. Brandon, you mention "little man syndrome"... I think you have a point. I DO want us to set the bar. Look at all those online ASUN polls that our people have shown way more engagement in than fans of any other ASUN school. Now let's back it up and get out to the games. If/when conference realignment happens again someday, I want to make sure we area a leader in the ASUN and looked at favorably in case we need to land somewhere else. I think it's very possible that could happen in the next 5-10 years. That's my $0.02. I appreciate your two cents... And, unless I just have my optimism glasses on, and not looking at the complete picture, I think, especially with the current lineup, the ASun is were we need to stay. Projected 7th best baseball conference 6th best Softball conference Basketball is up drastically (based on RPI) and should get better. So, when/if another big conference shuffle comes, if the ASun keeps trending up, you may see schools shuffling around to join the ASun. If so, you may also see football schools move to the ASun, then the Big South football deal may be as strong as the MVFC, Big Sky and CAA. As far as UNA being in a position in a few years for a better conference, I dont think the OVC or SoCon is that much better, the only other option is the Sun Belt, then we would have to be 100% committed to FBS. But if I had to pick between the OVC or SoCon, it would be SoCon, and I really dont care about them outside of Chattanooga and maybe Samford just because of the in state thing. The OVC would be awful in my opinion. But my point to the last post is really, this is year 1 in D1, there are still people saying we will never compete in D1, and until they see it happen, they will stay home. When it starts happening, and we all know it will, you will start seeing the crowds getting bigger. Patience is definitely important. There will always be some people who are late to the party, or only want to go watch a winner, etc. The true fan cares even when it may not be the popular thing to do. I do think the University still owes it to themselves and us "hardcore" fans to try to be more creative in bringing the casuals back. I'm happy with the ASUN, but I think we will still see more conference shifting in the future. It may not affect ours, and like you said, maybe the ASUN grows to be a destination. I just want us to be an attractive option to others in case we need to move. |
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Post by lions09 on Jan 14, 2019 10:40:01 GMT -6
After all the conversation about attendance, I decided to look for myself. And you can do the same if you have ESPN plus. What I did was go to games that UNA played in that is not a-a power five school, b-not Gonzaga. And what I've found, for the most part, their attendance is worse, at least visually. Go and watch the replay of the Eastern Illinois game. I even watched some SoCon games, the All Mighty Citadel probably didnt have 150 peaple that I could see in a home game with Western Carolina. But could have been more, just didnt look that way. The point is, watching these games, and you realize we aren't that bad, we just have extremely high expectations. Or we think somethings should happen overnight. Go back and watch different ASun games and judge for yourself. It will get better, I think our nerves and "what ifs" are getting the best of us. Maybe its "little man syndrome" when we are used to being one of the bar setters. Let's just enjoy were we are now, enjoy the process and watch and help it grow... Now let's start having some meaningful conversation about the teams we are facing and forget about things beyond our control before we all cause each other to give up our fan cards.... I'll be honest. You post stupid shit sometimes. Someone has already posted ASUN numbers to say we're middle of the pack. Not great, not terrible. Attendance is a big part of the equation. At what point do sports start to wag the dog? If students/alumni aren't interested, why have them? |
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Post by brandon on Jan 14, 2019 12:34:41 GMT -6
After all the conversation about attendance, I decided to look for myself. And you can do the same if you have ESPN plus. What I did was go to games that UNA played in that is not a-a power five school, b-not Gonzaga. And what I've found, for the most part, their attendance is worse, at least visually. Go and watch the replay of the Eastern Illinois game. I even watched some SoCon games, the All Mighty Citadel probably didnt have 150 peaple that I could see in a home game with Western Carolina. But could have been more, just didnt look that way. The point is, watching these games, and you realize we aren't that bad, we just have extremely high expectations. Or we think somethings should happen overnight. Go back and watch different ASun games and judge for yourself. It will get better, I think our nerves and "what ifs" are getting the best of us. Maybe its "little man syndrome" when we are used to being one of the bar setters. Let's just enjoy were we are now, enjoy the process and watch and help it grow... Now let's start having some meaningful conversation about the teams we are facing and forget about things beyond our control before we all cause each other to give up our fan cards.... I'll be honest. You post stupid shit sometimes. Someone has already posted ASUN numbers to say we're middle of the pack. Not great, not terrible. Attendance is a big part of the equation. At what point do sports start to wag the dog? If students/alumni aren't interested, why have them? Stupid? I wasnt just talking about ASun numbers. I understand that attendance is a big part of the equation, what I was pointing out is that it will get better, and we are not as bad off as we sometimes think we are. Now, if you dont want to read my "stupid shit" dont, if you want me to quit posting, say it. |
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Post by northalaspectator on Jan 14, 2019 20:39:47 GMT -6
After all the conversation about attendance, I decided to look for myself. And you can do the same if you have ESPN plus. What I did was go to games that UNA played in that is not a-a power five school, b-not Gonzaga. And what I've found, for the most part, their attendance is worse, at least visually. Go and watch the replay of the Eastern Illinois game. I even watched some SoCon games, the All Mighty Citadel probably didnt have 150 peaple that I could see in a home game with Western Carolina. But could have been more, just didnt look that way. The point is, watching these games, and you realize we aren't that bad, we just have extremely high expectations. Or we think somethings should happen overnight. Go back and watch different ASun games and judge for yourself. It will get better, I think our nerves and "what ifs" are getting the best of us. Maybe its "little man syndrome" when we are used to being one of the bar setters. Let's just enjoy were we are now, enjoy the process and watch and help it grow... Now let's start having some meaningful conversation about the teams we are facing and forget about things beyond our control before we all cause each other to give up our fan cards.... I'll be honest. You post stupid shit sometimes. Someone has already posted ASUN numbers to say we're middle of the pack. Not great, not terrible. Attendance is a big part of the equation. At what point do sports start to wag the dog? If students/alumni aren't interested, why have them? You might need to explain what you meant in that last paragraph just a little more. I took it that you could have meant several things, but was also saying that since attendance was a big factor if you couldn’t get students and alumni interest the the University should considering completing dropping sports? |
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Post by lions09 on Jan 15, 2019 9:07:14 GMT -6
I'll be honest. You post stupid shit sometimes. Someone has already posted ASUN numbers to say we're middle of the pack. Not great, not terrible. Attendance is a big part of the equation. At what point do sports start to wag the dog? If students/alumni aren't interested, why have them? You might need to explain what you meant in that last paragraph just a little more. I took it that you could have meant several things, but was also saying that since attendance was a big factor if you couldn’t get students and alumni interest the the University should considering completing dropping sports? Exactly what I meant. It won't happen in our lifetime at UNA but that will become the trend at many schools as it becomes costly to try to prop up these athletic programs. |
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Post by lions09 on Jan 15, 2019 9:08:47 GMT -6
I'll be honest. You post stupid shit sometimes. Someone has already posted ASUN numbers to say we're middle of the pack. Not great, not terrible. Attendance is a big part of the equation. At what point do sports start to wag the dog? If students/alumni aren't interested, why have them? Stupid? I wasnt just talking about ASun numbers. I understand that attendance is a big part of the equation, what I was pointing out is that it will get better, and we are not as bad off as we sometimes think we are. Now, if you dont want to read my "stupid shit" dont, if you want me to quit posting, say it. Sorry for the comment. It was uncalled for. But, I do feel you talk in circles on here a lot.  Roar Lions! |
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