crowd

[RushmoreAcademy]

How are we Depaul with a top 10 recruiting class?
It's a bad year.  There was a coaching change. Both happen. They will happen again multiple times in our lifetime.

[Warrior of Law]

Yes, I was at the game.  Stuck around until the very end like I always do.  For a team not even 2 years removed from the Elite 8 to have sunk so low, and for the fan base to deteriorate so quickly, is remarkable.

In the mid-late 90s, on message boards, it was frequently discussed what would take to go back to the Arena so we wouldn't have to see so many empty seats.  Last night would have been an ideal night ("Al's Night") to play at the Al McGuire Center or the Arena.  Apparently the answer is you just have to put together a few dud seasons...We may have to go the way of UW-Milwaukee and put tarps over vast sections of the upper deck!

[Blackhat]

St. Louis.  We're like the 49ers with Harbaugh and many thought we'd just roll w/o the Buzz.   Wojo better learn how to coach defense.

[mu03eng]

Agree with everything except that I am not sure how much better next year's team will be.   And you are whistling past the graveyard to have 127% confidence in Wojo.  I am at about 90%.  However, it will have no affect on my fandom.    I still follow an NFL team that went 0-16, I still root for a MLB team that won 43 games in an entire season and had to finish the year on a winning streak to do it. 

He's shown me enough this year that I believe he is the right man for the job.  I also have a lot of faith that the last three scholarships will be very well used for next year.  Could I be wrong, 127% I could be wrong, but I don't think I will be.

Next years team will be better if we can play Teve and Luke together as well as a 2nd year Duane....that's enough to be better, let alone what Henry and Haanif can contribute.

[NavinRJohnson]

Yes, I was at the game.  Stuck around until the very end like I always do.  For a team not even 2 years removed from the Elite 8 to have sunk so low, and for the fan base to deteriorate so quickly, is remarkable pretty normal.

Fify. The decline in attendance is the normal result of two bad years, this one in particular, where the team has little chance of winning most games. People haven't necessarily stopped buying season tickets, they are simply choosing to stay home or doing something else at 8:00 on a Wednesday night, as opposed to go watch a bad team get their brains beat in. As I am one of those people, I can't blame them. Improve the team, and the crowds will be right back where they were.

[jsglow]

Agree with everything except that I am not sure how much better next year's team will be.   And you are whistling past the graveyard to have 127% confidence in Wojo.  I am at about 90%.  However, it will have no affect on my fandom.    I still follow an NFL team that went 0-16, I still root for a MLB team that won 43 games in an entire season and had to finish the year on a winning streak to do it. 

Tower, if we're anywhere near this bad (especially here down the stretch on a long conference losing streak) Wojo's job will already be on the line.  The university would be looking as a season ticket fan base below 10,000 the following year and simply can't allow that to happen.  I'm not suggesting great things next year but this was his one mulligan.  He simply must put a competitive product on the floor.  And he knows it.

[CAGASS24]

Bandwagon fans are hilarious

thank you - agreed - almost as bad as the fans that complain ad nauseam about the students and the crowds - get over it -

[3Mer]

St. Louis.  We're like the 49ers with Harbaugh and many thought we'd just roll w/o the Buzz.   Wojo better learn how to coach defense.

What defense has Wojo not tried this season?  He's tried every variation of the zone and man-to-man with no effect.  He just doesn't have the personnel this season to match-up with opposing teams.

This has been a bad season, but not for lack of effort on Wojo's part. 

[tower912]

Tower, if we're anywhere near this bad (especially here down the stretch on a long conference losing streak) Wojo's job will already be on the line.  The university would be looking as a season ticket fan base below 10,000 the following year and simply can't allow that to happen.  I'm not suggesting great things next year but this was his one mulligan.  He simply must put a competitive product on the floor.  And he knows it.

If everyone stays healthy, if Carter signs, if Wojo can find one more good player for next year's class (I prefer JUCO's but it is becoming clear Wojo doesn't), next year's team will be more competitive.

1. Carter (?), Duane, Cheatham(?)
2. JJJ (?) Cheatham, Duane, Amin.
3. Wally, Sandy
4. Henry, STjr.
5. Luke, Heldt.

What in that grouping is going to strike fear in opponents hearts?
Next year, even more than this year, is going to be about growth, getting better, young guys figuring out how to play at a high college level.  

[4everwarriors]

Y'all just need to take a chill pill. Sometimes it's gotta hurt before it feels better, ai na?

[tower912]

Y'all just need to take a chill pill. Sometimes it's gotta hurt before it feels better, ai na?

Words of wisdom from the dentist.    And I am not upset.   I accept that this is going to be yet another process I must respect and that greatness will not be achieved overnight. 

[Gato78]

In the 2011-2012 season Villanova was 13-19. Today? Likely 1 seed.

[ChicosBailBonds]

St. Louis.  We're like the 49ers with Harbaugh and many thought we'd just roll w/o the Buzz.   Wojo better learn how to coach defense.

Did we roll with Buzz last year?  If Davidson didn't piss their pants silly the year before, would we still be rolling? 

[NavinRJohnson]

Y'all just need to take a chill pill. Sometimes it's gotta hurt before it feels better, ai na?

Plus, were still four years away from being able to express an opinion.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Plus, were still four years away from being able to express an opinion.

Express an opinion all you want, just don't bring your final evaluation.  See the big picture.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I do think that season ticket sales will take a pretty major hit next year.  Sure the lifers will still be there but I wonder what that core is?  I guess we'll find out.

Buying opportunity for some others than. 

[jsglow]

Fify. The decline in attendance is the normal result of two bad years, this one in particular, where the team has little chance of winning most games. People haven't necessarily stopped buying season tickets, they are simply choosing to stay home or doing something else at 8:00 on a Wednesday night, as opposed to go watch a bad team get their brains beat in. As I am one of those people, I can't blame them. Improve the team, and the crowds will be right back where they were.

Navin, season ticket sales for '13-14 approximated 13,300.  This year they were slightly below 12,000.  If I were to guess I'd project next year at something under 11,000.  We haven't seen that in at least a decade.

As Al used to say, "I look up in the corners to see if I'm doing my job."  

[ChicosBailBonds]

Navin, season ticket sales for '13-14 approximated 13,300.  This year they were slightly below 12,000.  If I were to guess I'd project next year at something under 11,000.  We haven't seen that in at least a decade.

As Al used to say, "I look up in the corners to see if I'm doing my job."  

Al had a small building

[jsglow]

Al had a small building

10,938 and then after Al 11,052.  Funny how those numbers stick.   

[NavinRJohnson]

Navin, season ticket sales for '13-14 approximated 13,300.  This year they were slightly below 12,000.  If I were to guess I'd project next year at something under 11,000.  We haven't seen that in at least a decade.

Agreed. We haven't been bad in a decade. The decline is not remarkable, it's normal.  Get some players, win some games, and those numbers go right back up. Why should MU be immune to the trends that affect nearly every other team just the same?

(BTW, there are broader market forces that impact other sports and the fight for the entertainment dollar at work there as well, but that's a different discussion.)

[mu_hilltopper]

I sold 3-4 games .. went to maybe 10 -- but the rest?  I found people to take them so my seats were NEVER empty.

Now that you can email and print tickets, it's so easy to send out a text or email to a bunch of people "anybody want these?" .. it's never failed me.

Not sure why other season ticket holders don't do that, get SOME value out of it, instead of not showing and flushing $80.

[Groin_pull]

You need to give the casual sports fan a reason to show up. And putting a garbage product on the court ain't a good reason.

[mu_hilltopper]

Agreed. We haven't been bad in a decade. The decline is not remarkable, it's normal.  Get some players, win some games, and those numbers go right back up. Why should MU be immune to the trends that affect nearly every other team just the same?

(BTW, there are broader market forces that impact other sports and the fight for the entertainment dollar at work there as well, but that's a different discussion.)

I'm curious, someone with some time to research .. find a solid team, who has had 5+ years of greatness, then 2 years of awful .. followed by a climb up again.   How quickly did their attendance go down, and recover?  Or did it?

[Warrior of Law]

I have doubts whether, all things considered, MU can ever draw 15,000 on a consistent basis.  Perhaps the new facility will just close the upper loft area, and we'll have "sell-outs" of 12,000 or so.  That would be ideal IMO.

[jsglow]

topper, you'll even recall that MU was having trouble holding the ticket base during the Buzz success years.  We had average attendance of just over 16K for a couple years early followed by 3-4 years of decline.  If memory serves, '13-14 was our first uptick year in a few on the heels of E-8.  Notice that I'm mixing apples and oranges when I mention average attendance here and was discussing season tickets earlier.

By the way, I just looked up BMO BC lower bowl capacity.  It's 7,783 for hoops, among the smallest in the NBA.