Valley Media Day: BU Picked 5th

[BradleyBrave]

Exactly. LOL!

I would have said the same thing if Mike Kryzewski was the coach. If you want to make it a JL thing that's you drawing a conclusion, not me. I just want Bradley to do well, I really don't give two s@$ts who the coach is. But, spin it however you want. 5th place is great!

[cpacmel]

Tickets sold is completely different then rears in seats.

That it is Houston. Illinois State only reports rears in seats. So last year for example ISU avg 6,500 for it's home games. This figure didn't include a good 2,500 to 3,000 students that purchased season tickets but didn't attend games (minus a few games against you guys, SIU, etc) . Not to mention hundreds of others who purchased season tickets and missed a game here or there for whatever reason.

[shaunguth]

Tickets sold is completely different then rears in seats.

But you can only sell one ticket for each seat. If the weather is bad and people decide to stay home or if someone would rather watch football on television, there isn't much you can do about that. That's why it's called a "sellout" when all tickets are actually sold. It does not mean the place is at capacity with rears in seats.

[amckillip]

That it is Houston. Illinois State only reports rears in seats. So last year for example ISU avg 6,500 for it's home games. This figure didn't include a good 2,500 to 3,000 students that purchased season tickets but didn't attend games (minus a few games against you guys, SIU, etc) . Not to mention hundreds of others who purchased season tickets and missed a game here or there for whatever reason.

Either way, I've gone to many games at both places (though a lot more BU), and outside the BU-ILSU game, the best ILSU games don't come close to BU's average game, despite being 3 times the size and having TONS more alum and finishing higher the last 3 years. Suffice it to say that BU is ahead of ILSU, and pretty much everyone except CU and WSU, despite any discrepancy in reporting means.

[MacabreMob]

I would have said the same thing if Mike Kryzewski was the coach. If you want to make it a JL thing that's you drawing a conclusion, not me. I just want Bradley to do well, I really don't give two s@$ts who the coach is. But, spin it however you want. 5th place is great!

It's not about me, DblB. And I didn't do any spinning. I really don't give two s@$ts either. 5th place is great. Just like in the 99-00 season (if I remember correctly), when Bradley was picked to win the MVC (yea, cause of RESPECT)... and we finished 5th. 5th! Yea - 5th place is great!

[houstontxbrave]

But you can only sell one ticket for each seat. If the weather is bad and people decide to stay home or if someone would rather watch football on television, there isn't much you can do about that. That's why it's called a "sellout" when all tickets are actually sold. It does not mean the place is at capacity with rears in seats.

The weather is one thing certainly, but if someone buys a ticket to an event and decides it isnt worth their time to attend the event because something is on television, well to me that says a lot about the event not the television.

I dont think most people spend money on an event then stay home to watch television unless the event they spent money on is well below expectations.

The empty seats say more then the tickets purchased.

[shaunguth]

The weather is one thing certainly, but if someone buys a ticket to an event and decides it isnt worth their time to attend the event because something is on television, well to me that says a lot about the event not the television.

I dont think most people spend money on an event then stay home to watch television unless the event they spent money on is well below expectations.

The empty seats say more then the tickets purchased.

There are a lot of Bradley season-ticket holders and I'm sure a number of them stay home on certain days to watch television. We're aware of some here that don't care for Sunday games because it interferes with their television viewing. That, to me, doesn't say anything about Bradley basketball other than certain people spend money on an event only to watch another event on television.

[dogsrus]

WOW..... I was just kidding around with "go do what you do" because we are friends... but if you want to bring that up - I believe his quote was "Can't stand the negative people" and I totally agree with him.

Dog - You should be more positive.... and you know it!!! See ya soon.

I was kidding too...I just had to throw that out to wake you up.


Seriously I've been positive for 8 years. I have understood injuries and POB leaving early etc. But, with ALL that, you still need to be a top 3 Valley team and win the Valley at least a FEW times in 9 years. I'm tired of 2:30......

I'll be there when it counts but no more reasons to NOT get it done.

[amckillip]

The weather is one thing certainly, but if someone buys a ticket to an event and decides it isnt worth their time to attend the event because something is on television, well to me that says a lot about the event not the television.

I dont think most people spend money on an event then stay home to watch television unless the event they spent money on is well below expectations.

The empty seats say more then the tickets purchased.

And the fact we have more butts-in-seats than everyone in the league except CU and WSU says something.

[shaunguth]

And the fact we have more butts-in-seats than everyone in the league except CU and MSU says something.

Even more impressive when you consider the size of the school!

[dogsrus]

I am with Dogs, a lot of no shows from seson ticket holders, created many empty seats..Games that used to draw 10k drew 8 k/
Perrenial sellouts SIU and ISU, did not
Crowed enthusiasm was lacking! Worse than normal!
Monetary donations up, so where opportunities to domate ie building.
Auction had great opportunities/
Red and White always drew well over 2,000 draws under 2k in new arena.
I talk to a lot of , Bradley Fans" and you can feel the complacency setting in, including my own!.
"It is what it is"

Thanks Grassman....people can feel or believe what they want. The atmosphere and empty seats tells me people are staying home and while SOME may have to do with the economy BU is a product that if it is good people will come.

[dogsrus]

You keep spinning your opinions as facts, but I am finally going to have to call you on this. The attendance last year was not significantly changed from the previous couple years. Bradley's attendance continues to be strong, and is topped only by WSU and Creighton- 2 of the largest markets in the MVC, and cities many times larger than Peoria. The season ticket sales are not showing drops (there are waiting lists for lower bowl seats), which, if your imaginary theory was true, we should be seeing. Furthermore, monetary donations to the athletic department are at all-time highs--how can you explain that if the fan interest is down? Record amounts were just raised at the Braves Club auction, another baffling phenomenon if your fallacious theories were true.
The abysmal economy had far more to do with any difference in attendance, and yet the difference in Peoria was still much less than it was in most other MVC cities.

I am spinning nothing becuase its my opinion. Attendance was down....I'm NOT talking paid either. Actual rears in the seats were way off. ANYONE that denies that is, well in denial. The arena was a morgue most nights.

And if season ticket sales were indeed up then it REALLY tells a story when more people BOUGHT seats but then stayed home.....why...it can't be money becuase the seats are allready paid for.

I want BU to be sold out and rocking as much as anyone but most fans I spoke with from BU and impartial visitors commented how dead the place is.

Yeah, BU should be proud we do better then alot of others but, I only compare us to us and I think of the Hawk and AP years...the place was packed and loud.

You can't and shouldn't expect noise and large crowds when you blow 5-6 leads at home and lose like we did..

I

[dogsrus]

While it is true a sizesble portion of the BU fan base in the PCC is getting older and it can be harder for them to "get loud", I still believe the burden of getting crowd support is on BU....When BU is playing well, and winning with regularity at home, the PCC is full and the place is rocking. I have seen it time and again in games vs bigger name teams and regional rivalries.

When BU plays poorly, and loses at home, the crowd will try to support it, but after a while will not unilaterally continue to invest a lot of high energy emotional support. A prevailing sense that it won't matter to the result of the game, or, that the fans will ultimately be disappointed with the result, stifles the crowd and attending a BU game becomes more of a social event.

Mediocre results in the recent past have driven mediorce fans.

If the wins start to come, particularly at home, you will see the type of crowd you desire.

Having said that, BU needs to also invest in developing more 'must see' rivalries within the Valley and with regional non cons similar to the ILL State Creighton and the SIU game. Why can't UNI, Drake, MSU games be as interesting?

+1

Exactly......

[amckillip]

I am spinning nothing becuase its my opinion. Attendance was down....I'm NOT talking paid either. Actual rears in the seats were way off. ANYONE that denies that is, well in denial. The arena was a morgue most nights.

And if season ticket sales were indeed up then it REALLY tells a story when more people BOUGHT seats but then stayed home.....why...it can't be money becuase the seats are allready paid for.

I want BU to be sold out and rocking as much as anyone but most fans I spoke with from BU and impartial visitors commented how dead the place is.

Yeah, BU should be proud we do better then alot of others but, I only compare us to us and I think of the Hawk and AP years...the place was packed and loud.

You can't and shouldn't expect noise and large crowds when you blow 5-6 leads at home and lose like we did..

I

You're equating season tickets with total butts in the seats. Not true. People who can afford season tickets are, by-in-large, not going to be effected by a downturn, but the regular joe's are, that is who largely didn't show up last year. At minimum it's $60 to take a family to see a game, when they could stay at home and watch it on TV or do something else. I'm lucky now that I can do stuff like that, but growing up I can tell you my family would not have been taking to many trips to do activites that would have cost us $60 for 2 hours of entertainment, especially in this economy (seeing as my father had to take a 50% pay-cut in his new job, after, not one, but two companies went under, and his current one is shutting down midwest operations).

[Buesch N Chips]

People are less likely to come if they feel like they've already seen the movie. I think a bit of the staleness of the experience, for me anyway, was addressed by a new staff, and to a certain extent a new scoreboard.