BG stands 9th in MAC in attendance!

BGSU33 · Post by **BGSU33** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 5:26 pm

Yes, I'm still beating the dead horse and I will continue to do so until it rises from the dead!

BG stands 9th in MAC in attendance as of this week. It makes me sick to see schools like UCF (winless), WMU (1-7), Kent State (2-6), Ohio (3-6) and EMU (3-5) in front of BG (6-2) at this point in the year!

Here's the kicker for me......why is it when BG plays on the road, other schools get some of their biggest crowds of the year to see BG, yet, our fans won't even come out to see us play at home?! :shrug:

We deserve better and I'm tired of hearing excuse after excuse as to why people (not us on this board) don't come out to see the Falcons play. It's either the weather, the time of the game, when Ohio State is playing, what our opponents record is.....it's all BS if you ask me!

We're one of the better teams in the country and one of the most exciting teams in the nation to watch play. We "should" be pulling in at least 20,000 no matter all the excused listed above after what we've done the last several years. What happened to those 30,000 people that came to see NIU and UT last year? We get two-third of those people back and we're averaging 20,000 easy and we're not talking about a team about to break back into the Top-25 getting 10,000 for a home game.

1. Marshall - 27,465
2. Northern Illinois - 26,885
3. UCF - 22,393
4. Toledo - 22,036
5. Kent State - 17,466
6. Ohio - 17,030
7. WMU - 17,003
8. EMU - 16,922
9. BG - 16,829
10. Ball State - 16,547
11. Miami - 16,193
12. CMU - 16,082
13. Buffalo - 15,993
14. Akron - 10,737

Class of 61 · Post by **Class of 61** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 5:43 pm

33,
Obviously, you know that we agree with you on the attendance issue...but I've got to make one observation.... KENT = 17,000 + ? No way in Hell do they have those numbers - legitimately - they drew around 6.000 this past weekend, for example... For them to average 17K is next to impossible!!!
That said, You're right, we've all beaten the "dead horse" into the ground on this... I made the observation on a post awhile back... this is the BEST way to lose a quality COACH and COACHING STAFF!! Why bust your tail and produce an entertaining WINNER, if no one cares to see them? Too windy, too cold, too early, Halloween parties etc. don't cut it for me, and I have to drive 2 1/2 hrs each way to get here...
Sad thing is that I received a mailing from the Cleve. Area Alum. Assoc. inviting me to a 'watch party' for the UT game....

Why can't our area alum groups sponsor bus trips to BG to see a real LIVE game? They might find it's a lot of fun... Sadly, when Cleve. group was "run" by an older crowd many years ago, they used to sponsor bus trips for B-Ball, Hockey doubleheaders, with a meal at the ice arena in between, along with a chance to meet the coaches.

BGSU33 · Post by **BGSU33** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 6:49 pm

As surprising as it may be, the Kent State attendance average of 17,466 was correct...but it was through three games. Kent State had 25,186 for Akron, 17,459 for Liberty and 9,752 for Marshall. Add it up and divide it by three, it's about 17,500. That's what KSU got for their first three games. Yes, they did just have 6,013 for Ohio which pulls them down to 14,602 after four games.

I just went to the MAC site to pull the stats which makes it easier than going to all 14 schools. The MAC site has KSU's three games, KSU has all four. Now I am not saying that is exactly how many people were there, I'm just posting what was reported.

Class of 61 · Post by **Class of 61** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 6:55 pm

33,
Thanks for the update...I guess I just remember that, when we played AT KSU 2 yrs ago( I think), they published a crowd in the PD over 11,000... BG fans nearly outnumbered the KSU people in the place, and that was when they had torn down the far side "tempory bleachers"... so I guess I was reacting to the fact that they had a tendency to "fudge" figures a bit. But thanks for letting me know where you picked up the info. Actually, it's good to see if it's true.... Now as to BG??????

ffejfalcon · Post by **ffejfalcon** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:08 am

To me the answer is simple - Marketing!!! It has been mentioned many times on this board in fact. The school has got to do a better job or marketing this team. If the marketing doesn't improve and the school doesn't come up with some innovative ideas to get butts in seats, we will linger in obscurity...

Would you all agree that to some point you become more of a fan of your schools atheltic teams once you graduate? For me, I went to a lot of the games but now, I'm fanatical.. Why is that??? Is it because I'm married??

Class of 61 · Post by **Class of 61** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:15 am

ffejfalcon wrote:To me the answer is simple - Marketing!!! It has been mentioned many times on this board in fact.

Would you all agree that to some point you become more of a fan of your schools atheltic teams once you graduate? For me, I went to a lot of the games but now, I'm fanatical.. Why is that??? Is it because I'm married??

ffej, When I was a student, back in the stone ages, I went to everything I could... FB,BB,Wrestling, Swim meets etc.... It was the "golden era" of coaches at BG and all these teams were consistent winners.... As I've hit my "golden years", the only thing different is that I can financially afford to go to more events, focus on FB, with season tix etc. If your theory were correct, then we should see all kinds of alums back on campus for games... 17K at HC proves that's just not true...I wish it were. When me clas held it's 40th reunion a couple of years ago, there were SIX of us in attendance at the luncheon...by contrast, the 50th reunion group, at the same luncheon, had well over 150 in attendance.