Attendance

[Nukem2]

What I remember was him saying something like "you all who stayed for senior day are the true fans"

I didn't blame him, I would estimate that less than a 1,000 out of the 16,000 who came that day stayed for the presentaion. Pretty sad showing on the fans' part

Most of the Senior Day ceremonies at MU have been sparsely attended.That's why some schools have the event prior to the game.

[The Equalizer]

Counting down to the Equalizer weighing in.   Or maybe he stopped that now that Buzz is gone. 

Didn't know you cared that much. But since you asked. . .

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/Reports/attendanceYBYtop25.pdf

Marquettes average attendance this year was 15,327 which was up from 15,033 during an elite 8 season. Good for 15th best in the country. Only team ahead of us in the BE is creighton who beat us out by over 2,000 a game. I think our attendance is really impressive for a few reasons:
1: We were 17-15 and underachieved greatly
2. Us and creighton are by far the smallest schools in the list
3. We are one of only 4 private schools on the list but Syracuse is bigger and has a massive done, and BYU is one if the biggest schools in the country
4. We don't play right on campus

Very pleased with our numbers, shows what a great and loyal fan base we have

The facts don't support your conclusion. The problem is that season tickets for the 2013-14 season were purchased a) on the heels of an elite eight b) projectitons of a first place finish, and c) strong incoming recruiting class.   

In other words, the ~300/game increase was due more to optimisim expressed prior to the 2014 season--not fan loyalty once the 17-15 debacle started to unfold.

Crediting fans for still showing up during a 17-15 seasons ignores the reality that most of those tickets were bought and paid for long before the first game of the season was played. 

In 2009--Buzz's first full year as coach--attendance was 16,200.  When he left it was 15,327.  Tower doesn't like it when I share such inconvenient facts, but the fact is that while Buzz was coaching, attendance fell by nearly 1000 fans/game. And back when we drew 16,200, we were the same small, private school playing off campus. Can't blame any of that for the falloff.

Lest someone chime in with the "all teams declined . . . " argument, and since you made the comparision to Creighton, attendance there was 15,930 in 2009 and increased to 17,896 in 2014. 

[77ncaachamps]

It certainly was not as positive as "those who stayed are the true fans".  It was a bit more snarky than that.   Something much closer to "we have struggled this season and look how people didn't bother to show up."

I do agree with Brewtown Andy that he probably was referring to the post game attendance versus the game itself though.

Buzz wants unwavering loyalty.

It doesn't exist at D1 levels. Even Coach K and Jimmby Boeheim have their detractors.

He doesn't even realize that people KEPT GOING to the games while they were losing.

And did he forget that Senior Day was during Spring Break?!?

[Spotcheck Billy]

Most of the Senior Day ceremonies at MU have been sparsely attended.That's why some schools have the event prior to the game.

This. We ride a shuttle from a tavern on the south side and always face the choice on Senior Day, do we forego the shuttle and park downtown or leave on the shuttle 15 minutes after the game.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

This. We ride a shuttle from a tavern on the south side and always face the choice on Senior Day, do we forego the shuttle and park downtown or leave on the shuttle 15 minutes after the game.

Of the six senior days I have been to, this was the most lightly attended by far. You would usually get a couple thousand to stay.

[Golden Avalanche]

Of the six senior days I have been to, this was the most lightly attended by far. You would usually get a couple thousand to stay.

Which likely speaks to how fans viewed the players who exhausted their eligibility.

[Texas Western]

I was at the MU St. Johns game at the Garden two years ago when Vander hit the game winner. St. Johns had their senior day then and they did it before the game . I think it pumped them up a bit.  We should consider going to the pre game senior day format.

[Strokin 3s]

Agree on all accounts with moving it to before the game.  Has never made any sense to me that you do it after the game.  No matter what you do (including winning in a tightly contested game) 50% of the people are going to leave, and that is probably a low estimate.

Doing it before the game gives you at least 80-90+% of the attendance and no let down after a loss.

[Nukem2]

Of the six senior days I have been to, this was the most lightly attended by far. You would usually get a couple thousand to stay.

Probably true.  Though losing in double OT did not help either on top of a tough season.  As several of us have suggested, move the ceremony to pre-game.

[augoman]

the ceremony used to be pre-game.  It was moved post-game due to opposing coaches complaints of their players listening to the cheering from the locker room, cooling off after the warmup, long delays of start due to insane standing ovations for players (Dean Memenger comes to mind), etc., etc.  I'm surprised that other schools still have it pre-game.  I would love to see it back pre-game, and list that as the starting time.

[GooooMarquette]

I'd love to see it pregame again.  I always stay for the ceremony, but it's sad to see the poor turnouts we've had in recent years.

Anyone know if Duke does it pre- or postgame?

[Mr. Nielsen]

Everyone doesn't make it to their seats for the starting line-ups of games, people will not show up early for a pre-game Senior Day. MU, likes doing the video and having the players talk, two things many schools don't do.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Everyone doesn't make it to their seats for the starting line-ups of games, people will not show up early for a pre-game Senior Day. MU, likes doing the video and having the players talk, two things many schools don't do.

but there would still be more folks present pre-game than the usual number post-game

I could see a network griping about uncertain tip times with a pre-game ceremony but then how do other schools manage that?

[bradley center bat]

Other schools just bring out the players with their parents and take a picture with their coach.