runninfiend
New member
I posted this before. The student section needs to be center court lower bowl, fossilized rich boosters be danged.
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KW Article: To Live, BU Spirit Must Get Younger
- Thread starter ser_solace
- Start date
I posted this before. The student section needs to be center court lower bowl, fossilized rich boosters be danged.
Braves4Life
New member
In today's world I believe that it is important for the head coach to connect with both the students and the alumni. Coach K connects with Duke's student population; he will "call them out" when they don't do their job as a 6th man. Roy Williams, Bruce Pearl, Tom Izzo all connect with the student population; they are revered and make it a point to get their students involved. Sure, winning helps. But I think it is equally important that a coach capitalizes on his popularity with the students.
Jim Les did a great job in connecting with alumni and major "power players" and donors in the community. That is one of the reasons that their is such loyalty to BU and that is why we have always had great attendance. However, I'm not sure he did as good of a job "connecting" with BU students as his predecessors.
Jim Les did a great job in connecting with alumni and major "power players" and donors in the community. That is one of the reasons that their is such loyalty to BU and that is why we have always had great attendance. However, I'm not sure he did as good of a job "connecting" with BU students as his predecessors.
abesimpson
New member
I think KW missed a point about the demographic change of the students from then to now. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, most college students were men, many coming back from WW2 or Korea. Now, BU's student population is slightly more than half female. Simply, men are more interested in basketball (and sports in general) than women, so that is one part of the student decline.
Also now, BU has a larger amount of foreign-born students, who also don't really follow sports.
And the Greek population is larger, and they won't go to games if there is a conflict with a chapter meeting, or formal, or some other Greek event.
I think the important factors/ideas for getting more students fans are:
-Winning
-Better home opponents
-Better seats for students
-More promotion on-campus (and especially to incoming freshmen)
-Working with the Greeks, student senate, ARH, and other student organizations to get support and turnout
-Pregame parties (when I was at BU, Babe's downtown had pregame parties until it closed, then Big Al's picked it up for a season, but dropped them. I don't know if any bars are doing them now. I remember them always being somewhat crowded, so it seemed like a good idea.)
-Viewing parties for away games
Red Pride started when I was still a student, and I thought it was a great program. I noticed an increase at all the games because of it. Not sure if it is still being promoted though. On the bubraves website, it looks like it hasn't been updated for a while.
But overall, KW is right, BU needs to focus on getting more student interest. But they need to realize incoming students may not be interested at first and they need to work on "creating" fans when they arrive on campus. They can't just expect all incoming students to be big sports fans and find their way to the games.
Also now, BU has a larger amount of foreign-born students, who also don't really follow sports.
And the Greek population is larger, and they won't go to games if there is a conflict with a chapter meeting, or formal, or some other Greek event.
I think the important factors/ideas for getting more students fans are:
-Winning
-Better home opponents
-Better seats for students
-More promotion on-campus (and especially to incoming freshmen)
-Working with the Greeks, student senate, ARH, and other student organizations to get support and turnout
-Pregame parties (when I was at BU, Babe's downtown had pregame parties until it closed, then Big Al's picked it up for a season, but dropped them. I don't know if any bars are doing them now. I remember them always being somewhat crowded, so it seemed like a good idea.)
-Viewing parties for away games
Red Pride started when I was still a student, and I thought it was a great program. I noticed an increase at all the games because of it. Not sure if it is still being promoted though. On the bubraves website, it looks like it hasn't been updated for a while.
But overall, KW is right, BU needs to focus on getting more student interest. But they need to realize incoming students may not be interested at first and they need to work on "creating" fans when they arrive on campus. They can't just expect all incoming students to be big sports fans and find their way to the games.
JL's "connection" with the students was nonexistent. In my 5 years at Bradley, not once did he make himself visible on campus. In fact, if not for the fact that I covered the team for the Scout for a year, I would have never had a single encounter with the man.
Forming some kind of connection with the students is part of the job as a college coach, and its part of the job JL completely ignored/disregarded. I only hope whoever the new coach is doesn't do the same.
How is this humanly possible? I regularly chatted with JL when I'd see him at events. I'd sneak in question about a recruit and I'd often get a non-answer or smirk that told me what I wanted to know while maintaining deniability. Could JL have done some more? Sure, but if you didn't talk to JL when he was here you absolutely made no effort whatsoever, especially if someone was a writer for the Scout.
While I agree with you in general, this is not the case at places like Duke, Michigan St, and Wichita St. The fans at these places live, breathe and absorb basketball. And while I agree that maybe some students in these places have other interests at times, these are places where you can ask anyone how difficult it is to secure a ticket to a game, especially at Duke.
Now it most certainly helps that these teams are fielding contending teams in most years, but students at these programs do place basketball at a much higher priority than most teams' fans in general.
The part about KW's article that did stick out to me (even if it has been mentioned before) is spreading the student section around the perimeter of the stadium, just like at Duke and Michigan St. It may not automatically bring students back in droves, but at the very least it will spread the noise around the arena and bring the students much closer to the team. And it would look good on tv as well. If the lack of students is a problem, all they have to do is reserve the first few rows for the students until, or if and when more students come back.
And if people behind them complain that they are blocking the view, well, there is plenty of room for them to move up a couple of rows!
While I agree with you in general, this is not the case at places like Duke, Michigan St, and Wichita St. The fans at these places live, breathe and absorb basketball. And while I agree that maybe some students in these places have other interests at times, these are places where you can ask anyone how difficult it is to secure a ticket to a game, especially at Duke.
Now it most certainly helps that these teams are fielding contending teams in most years, but students at these programs do place basketball at a much higher priority than most teams' fans in general.
The part about KW's article that did stick out to me (even if it has been mentioned before) is spreading the student section around the perimeter of the stadium, just like at Duke and Michigan St. It may not automatically bring students back in droves, but at the very least it will spread the noise around the arena and bring the students much closer to the team. And it would look good on tv as well. If the lack of students is a problem, all they have to do is reserve the first few rows for the students until, or if and when more students come back.
And if people behind them complain that they are blocking the view, well, there is plenty of room for them to move up a couple of rows!
Agreed. Start with the rows just behind the visitors bench. As we get more students start to move down the line...
FlyingSpaghettiMonster
New member
*Their http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
I don't know how true this statement is, but another Civic Center remodel is likely required for improved student seats of that quality.
buballer82
New member
I think that winning helps the student section but at the same time, the student section helps winning. Will a winning team attract more student attendance? Definitely, but will a strong student section help promote a winning atmosphere that helps the team? Definitely. Kind of a catch 22.
Even if the student demographic at Bradley is majority female, I can go to just about any local high school basketball game and find plenty of females standing in each respective schools student section. Girls are interested in being with their schoolmates and friends but someone needs to get everyone on the same page. The local high schools have pep rally's that feature the team to get the students hyped up for the games. I agree with others that if there were more student promotions through the different on campus groups, including pep rallys etc, more students would show.
I dont think the seating matters, I remember the Molinarmy doing fairly well in the current location. I do thinking charging $1 to get in is silly. Why not let the students in for free and even maybe have a raffle for all students in attendance for gift cards etc? Couldn't hurt.
Even if the student demographic at Bradley is majority female, I can go to just about any local high school basketball game and find plenty of females standing in each respective schools student section. Girls are interested in being with their schoolmates and friends but someone needs to get everyone on the same page. The local high schools have pep rally's that feature the team to get the students hyped up for the games. I agree with others that if there were more student promotions through the different on campus groups, including pep rallys etc, more students would show.
I dont think the seating matters, I remember the Molinarmy doing fairly well in the current location. I do thinking charging $1 to get in is silly. Why not let the students in for free and even maybe have a raffle for all students in attendance for gift cards etc? Couldn't hurt.
tornado
New member
Hmm...let's see...in case you don't subscribe and in case they start charging for the online content...
I will try to summarize everything in that column as well as everything in the last 20 columns combined...
-we need more students to buy tickets and come
-we need more people to buy tickets and come
-we need a different coach, and it is important who is the guy that gets picked
-we need more wins, less losses, and fewer injuries
-we have some great players
-and in the JL tenure we haven't finished higher than 4th and have a sub-.500 record in Valley play
I will try to summarize everything in that column as well as everything in the last 20 columns combined...
-we need more students to buy tickets and come
-we need more people to buy tickets and come
-we need a different coach, and it is important who is the guy that gets picked
-we need more wins, less losses, and fewer injuries
-we have some great players
-and in the JL tenure we haven't finished higher than 4th and have a sub-.500 record in Valley play
I agree with all of your points, but it would be interesting to see if the dyanamic would change if students were allowed to sit in the first five rolls of the lower bowl around the perimeter of the arena. It would at least allow the students closer to the team and maybe make things a bit more raucous. Just a thought, but I have seen posts saying it wouldn't make that big a difference either.
As far as this year's attendance was concerned, I don't think there is any major issue here. We still outdrew most of the Valley teams, hands down.
tornado
New member
well...thanks but they weren't my points, they were the few points that got churned out over, and over, and over again and again as new daily columns from Mr. Wessler...
There were a few nice stories on Dodie, etc...but 90% of what has been in the PJS star the past month has been rehashed, old stuff we've heard a million times and has been on this board over and over as well.
Yes, very true!
ancona flash
New member
When I first saw this article I was hoping he'd address the younger generation of non-BU students or alums as well. I grew up during the 80's and was infatuated with BU hoops and a young impressionable age. When I was 10, 11, 12, 13 yrs old I literally begged to go to BU games. It started the love of BU hoops that still lives on today and always will.
Kids in Jr. High today aren't begging their parents to go to BU games. These kids won't grow up to be like me and go to games even when BU sucks. When the blue hairs die off and their money dries up, we'll need a whole new generation to pick up the slack, otherwise we'll end up like Drake.
This is another reason why the powers that be cannot screw up this hire. If we go another 10 years of not attracting new fans to BU basketball, we're in trouble.
But I still think there is hope and a solid current fan base, but we've got to do something big to keep it that way over the next decade.
Kids in Jr. High today aren't begging their parents to go to BU games. These kids won't grow up to be like me and go to games even when BU sucks. When the blue hairs die off and their money dries up, we'll need a whole new generation to pick up the slack, otherwise we'll end up like Drake.
This is another reason why the powers that be cannot screw up this hire. If we go another 10 years of not attracting new fans to BU basketball, we're in trouble.
But I still think there is hope and a solid current fan base, but we've got to do something big to keep it that way over the next decade.
Braves4Life
New member
Great points ancona. You and I grew up in the same era and have a very similar perspective. Bradley Basketball was a "can't miss" event for me as a kid and it has carried over to this day.
BRILLIANT observation ... and another reason to overturn OBAMACARE and the "death panels." We need to make sure the blue hairs are kept on life support as long as possible until we get the BB program turned around. Maybe, by then, the surviving blue hairs won't even know they're sitting in the upper bowl.
While I agree with you about Obamacare and "death panels" being bad, the rest of that post was terrible!
While I agree with you about Obamacare and "death panels" being bad, the rest of that post was terrible!
Full disclosure: I'm one of them and tired of being blamed for occupying the better seats, not standing for the entire game, and contributing to the overall decline of attendance in particular and the BB program in general.
Got it. Hey, you and anyone else of any age have every right to come and watch a game, and cheer in any fashion you so choose to.
I guess I need to do a better job spotting sarcasm.
Got it. Hey, you and anyone else of any age have every right to come and watch a game, and cheer in any fashion you so choose to.
I guess I need to do a better job spotting sarcasm.
No offense taken BF. Should have included disclosure in my first post. Just lettin' off a little steam. Is "my bad" the proper colloquialism?