Where were the students??

[AZ BU Fan]

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BU FANS GONE?
(Apologies to Pete Seeger )

Where have all the BU Students gone?
Fewer are attending
Where have all the BU Students gone?
Versus BU games a long time ago
Where have all the BU Students gone?
They??™ll show up for some free food and if BU starts winning every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

Where have all the younger fans gone?
Fewer are attending
Where have all the younger fans gone?
Versus BU games a long time ago
Where have all the younger fans gone?
Bored of Pep Band Songs, Quick Change and Frisbee Dogs every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

Where have all the older fans gone?
Sadly too many are passing
Where have all the older fans gone?
Versus BU games a long time ago
Where have all the older fans gone?
Fewer local alumni, poor results, bad economy and higher prices/seat licenses affect every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

[amckillip]

Cub attendance was pretty crummy in the mid 80's.

When the stadium and Wrigleyville became known as a place to drink and party, before, during, and after the games, people started showing up.

Don't think it had much to do with baseball....

Don't tell this to 'cubs fans' they go to 'support their team.' Granted a huge number of people who go couldn't name the usual line up or rotation, let alone know a middle reliever, but they are 'Die-Hards!'

[lightsout]

Looks like TB is asking the same question about students on facebook now.

Taylor Brown
I wish we had more support from our student body...! Like y wouldn't u wanna come to a BASKETBALL game! This is the year to come!!! Don't miss out!

[Future Walk-On]

Since half the students are friends with TB on facebook......maybe they will show...

We do have a thread about this subject like every 3 months.......kinda getting old.

[jrish12]

I grew up in Peoria, my great grandparents had season tickets, my grandparents had season tickets, and my dad had season tickets. I grew up going to games and I love Bradley basketball even though I am not(and never have been) a student at Bradley. Bradley Basketball is an acquired taste. You cant just expect most students to love the basketball team just because they enroll at the school. Yes, there is the exception, like was stated about guys scheduling classes around games. That is all well and good, but how many people do you know that did that, honestly? 20? 30? Bradley has an enrollment of around 6,000 if im not mistaken, so those numbers are 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, of the student body. The athletic department should promote games. Here at Truman we have Purple Fridays on game days, and even on away game days. There are people out on the quad clad in Truman gear and handing out flyers for games and they even have promotions that are only good if you show up wearing purple. Since Purple Fridays have started ,there has been a noticeable increase in student attendance at home events, and Truman's enrollment is the same as Bradley's, but Truman is D II so it should even be easier for Bradley to promote the games.

Having a football team helps as well, because the sports fans on the campus that are supposed to support their team, are dormant until late october - early november, and then "real" games dont even start until late November. A majority of people in this country dont care about college basketball until March anyway, and by that time lately(last 5 years since the Sweet 16 run) Bradley has been irrelevant in the conversation.

[Rusty 54]

Looks like TB is asking the same question about students on facebook now.

Taylor Brown
I wish we had more support from our student body...! Like y wouldn't u wanna come to a BASKETBALL game! This is the year to come!!! Don't miss out!

For some reason this gets me fired up. Kind of like when Egolf wasn't happy about some boos at home last year.

Why might students not want to come? Because we lose to D-II schools at home and have played in the 4/5 game so exclusively it seems to have become out birthright.

There are ways of phrasing things that come across better, at least to me. While student support was woeful at the exhibition game (Hardcores aside, as always) I don't appreciate this current group of players calling the students or fans out. You want better support? WIN.

* gets off soap box and stops beating a dead horse*

[mrcoachdude]

When I was a student...yeh I know who really remembers back that far...


You went to the games for something to do and hang out with friends...its cheap enough for students and its their school...but...

its the ME time...

[tulip]

identity problem

I think BU suffers from an identity crisis. Not to get all psychological on ya'll but really.

They've hired a former star as coach. Results have been warm, hot, cold.

They've taken on some talented but emotionally flawed players.

They've turned over one good AD for another with no measurable effect.

They've built new facilities that promise to raise the bar. And??

All this is great but what really matters is spirit and attitude. If you don't have drive you don't have wins. What they really need to do is create an exciting atmosphere where depth of feeling and striving for excellence are paramount. They've spent lots of money but haven't succeeded in creating this. Until they do??¦

[unbekannt]

They've turned over one good AD for another with no measurable effect.

They've built new facilities that promise to raise the bar. And??

Patience. Those changes don't instantly create a better team.

[Future Walk-On]

I just hope the Seniors can add something to their resume this year.

I think we might be in good shape in 2013

[DeltaBrave03]

For some reason this gets me fired up. Kind of like when Egolf wasn't happy about some boos at home last year.

Why might students not want to come? Because we lose to D-II schools at home and have played in the 4/5 game so exclusively it seems to have become out birthright.

There are ways of phrasing things that come across better, at least to me. While student support was woeful at the exhibition game (Hardcores aside, as always) I don't appreciate this current group of players calling the students or fans out. You want better support? WIN.

* gets off soap box and stops beating a dead horse*

I don't see how at all this is calling students out. To me it's asking students to come and at the end I like how he says 'This is the year to come' I just don't even put this on the same level of what WE said last year about fans booing.

On a similar note, I think they should have players recruit for games like Greeks recruit for rush. Why not have the players go to dorms and ask people to go to games, and stop by the cafeterias, or walk around Markin. BU promotes a small school atmosphere, and I think sometimes the athletes segregate themselves from the rest of the student body. Personally asking people to come support them would be a huge step towards bringing the entire campus together to help support a common cause. WINNING.

[Future Walk-On]

Can someone link me to these WE comments from last year? I was around but must have forgotten or never heard them.

[DeltaBrave03]

Can someone link me to these WE comments from last year? I was around but must have forgotten or never heard them.

I don't think there's a link anymore it was a twitter comment I believe was taken down. Something along the lines of him being upset that people were booing after they blew a lead at home.

[theBUer]

I think the current administration and the athletic department are pleased with the support and crowds that BU gets overall for its men's basketball program. At some point though, the older fans are not going to be around forever, and the younger fans/young alumni/current students are going to have to pick up the slack.

If you want to equate it, Bradley is a lot like a Lincoln Town Car. It has a lot of history, has done fairy well in the past and recent past and right now you kinda know what you're gonna get. Plenty of people still buy it, but it's either corporations (like the Town Car is used in fleets) or older fans. At some point though, they are going to have to get younger when the pool of older fans dwindles.

[amckillip]

I think the current administration and the athletic department are pleased with the support and crowds that BU gets overall for its men's basketball program. At some point though, the older fans are not going to be around forever, and the younger fans/young alumni/current students are going to have to pick up the slack.

If you want to equate it, Bradley is a lot like a Lincoln Town Car. It has a lot of history, has done fairy well in the past and recent past and right now you kinda know what you're gonna get. Plenty of people still buy it, but it's either corporations (like the Town Car is used in fleets) or older fans. At some point though, they are going to have to get younger when the pool of older fans dwindles.

Haha, pretty good analogy. We need to transform ourselves like Cadillac did, and make BU more like a CTS - Practical, but still a heck of a lot of fun to drive (especially if it's a V ).