Kirk Wessler on the decision to play a game at Renaissance Coliseum

[Chico]

Isolation is a state of mind and yes BU is isolated from the rest of Peoria in different ways then just distance. The students can't just go down the hill for a 10-15 min. walk, safety first then the freezing temperatures. Yes they are encapsulated directly around campus, especially if you do not have a car. I'm not making excuses just pointing out how they feel. That is a reality like it or not and BU marketing needs to address this. More and more people are feeling isolated these days. It is a fact of life going forward. Why do you think there are all these random shootings from unstable people? Do you think there were any less before? Times are a changing.

No matter what you say, IMO, it's an excuse. Having been there I know they find their way to the Farmington Rd and downtown establishments and I don't think they have free rides like they do for the bb games. Nothing wrong with that if that's their thing, but the kids who call themselves fans have no excuse.

[real fan]

SFP states about how times are changing which is kind of why you do not get many students to attend sporting events, there is a lot of other things that they prefer to do, kind of wonder why BU thinks they can get so many more students to attend basketball games when in fact it just isn"t going to happen until we start winning championships. If they don"t believe this then all they have to do is look at the attendance at Pekin high school over the years, when they had a winning program they were getting close to 4ooo fans in the gym but over the years the team has not been very good and now they are lucky to get 1,000 fans. Winning cures a lot of problems and BU has not done it for years.

[SFP]

No matter what you say, IMO, it's an excuse. Having been there I know they find their way to the Farmington Rd and downtown establishments and I don't think they have free rides like they do for the bb games. Nothing wrong with that if that's their thing, but the kids who call themselves fans have no excuse.

I'm not arguing with you Chico, call them excuses or whatever I always went even when I probably should have stayed home and studied. The facts are:

The students are not supporting the team.
Kids today have greater entertainment option then ever before.
The team has not fared so well as of late and it is easier to dismiss them.
Students who participate in community/school events are more likely to earn more.
Alumni who support the team while in school tend to contribute more.
BU needs fans in the future who support the team as much as today.

So how do you solve this problem so you can have the same level of support in the future? Trust me BU is not the only school trying to figure this out. Winning helps a ton. Not doing anything in the interim would be foolish. I give the AD props for trying to show the student body that they are willing to take some chances to improve their college experience. The question is will they listen?

[Chico]

I'm not arguing with you Chico, call them excuses or whatever I always went even when I probably should have stayed home and studied. The facts are:

The students are not supporting the team.
Kids today have greater entertainment option then ever before.
The team has not fared so well as of late and it is easier to dismiss them.
Students who participate in community/school events are more likely to earn more.
Alumni who support the team while in school tend to contribute more.
BU needs fans in the future who support the team as much as today.

So how do you solve this problem so you can have the same level of support in the future? Trust me BU is not the only school trying to figure this out. Winning helps a ton. Not doing anything in the interim would be foolish. I give the AD props for trying to show the student body that they are willing to take some chances to improve their college experience. The question is will they listen?

Guess all I'm saying is if you're a fan 16 times a year you can give up other entertainment and still participate in other events. Again, most fans who attend the games didn't attend Bradley so the future supporters probably will be the same.

[real fan]

Coach Ford making appearances in Pekin,Dunlap and Washington is a good start in trying to help increase interest in the area for BU basketball, would like to see BU run city promotions as far as $5.00 upper bowl seats in certain sections for the city of Bartonville one night and Metamora night and so on, if you can get young people to attend it gives you a chance to make some fans for life.

[Future Walk-On]

Ok. Is it not obvious that everyones opinion and every possible opinion has been stated. Every reply is something we all already know..... it's either free **** or win Yet we have to repeat eachother for months

[Chico]

Ok. Is it not obvious that everyones opinion and every possible opinion has been stated. Every reply is something we all already know..... it's either free shit or win Yet we have to repeat eachother for months

And you are, like the rest of us, are one of the repeaters. Guess we all just can't wait for basketball to start.

[Future Walk-On]

And you are, like the rest of us, are one of the repeaters. Guess we all just can't wait for basketball to start.

[Beninator]

This one is for you Future Walk-On... An oldie I know... Skip to the 1:44 part of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-io-kZKl_BI

[BU RICK]

check this out...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Kevin-Durant-goes-all-Kevin-Durant-on-Ruc?urn=nba-wp7074