Student Attitude

[abezontar]

yeah, it was.....I don't know what rule it would violate though

[Spaz]

speaking of sign in sheets, i dated a theta at UGA for a while, and during basketball season they were required to attend a certain number of bball games a season, I don't remember what the competition was for, but if a BCS school has to do it to get students to the games of a revenue sport why can't we do it too?

I like how you threw in the fact that you dated a Theta, just so that we all knew...

I'm going to preface all my Interesting facts with that from now on

"I dated a theta from UCLA, and bla bla bla..." Even if it has no bearing on the fact I'm presenting

[abezontar]

actually it does have bearing because they weren't requiring random students to attend the games, they were requiring those in the greek system to show up and support the teams. This is particularly relevant at SMU because we have such a difficult time getting a large majority of the greek system to support our athletic department; show up for and attend the games. If a BCS school can require a sign in system for greeks in order to be on campus we should be able to, and we should do the same thing....


....and trust me, dating this theta was not one of the high points of my life....but I was horny

[jtstang]

Forget spirit awards, require attendance at all home games prior to Homecoming in order to nominate a king or queen candidate.

[ponygirl08]

I understand that everyone thinks the greek population at SMU is HUGE - and you'd be wrong. SMU is about 30% greek. Yes having 30% of our student body at the games might be nice - but honestly, everyone knows the kind of kids that attend SMU. They aren't football fans, if SMU is winning or not. Yeah - making it mandatory for a certain number of the greeks to be there, but why not the Meadows students or the Engineering students? I doubt anymore of them come than the greek population.
A winning team might make some alum or families from around the area come more often, but I doubt there is much(not even beer in the stadium) that would get more students to the games, if they wanted to come, they would.

and before you go yelling at me, my roommate and I as well as about 10 others from our residence hall have been at every home game.

[tex23bm]

I understand that everyone thinks the greek population at SMU is HUGE - and you'd be wrong. SMU is about 30% greek. Yes having 30% of our student body at the games might be nice - but honestly, everyone knows the kind of kids that attend SMU. They aren't football fans, if SMU is winning or not. Yeah - making it mandatory for a certain number of the greeks to be there, but why not the Meadows students or the Engineering students? I doubt anymore of them come than the greek population.
A winning team might make some alum or families from around the area come more often, but I doubt there is much(not even beer in the stadium) that would get more students to the games, if they wanted to come, they would.

and before you go yelling at me, my roommate and I as well as about 10 others from our residence hall have been at every home game.

Ok, You really missed the point of the sign in sheets. THey wouldn't be for greeks only. They would be for any student organization that desires a candidate for the homecoming spirit competitions. The idea is to mandate that competitors in a spirit competition, such as the homecoming parade, king, queen, etc. show the school spirit that they are claiming. So no one would be required to sign in.

Now, you also said that the greeks only hold 30% of the population. If 60% showed up for the games, that would be 18% of the student body that showed up on a regular basis. that would be roughly 1800 kids in the stands that we aren't getting right now. Add in the meadows kids, and engineers, and business kids, and law students, and psych majors, well we could hit a couple thousand in the stands, at least. That would be an improvement.

Also, I believe you underestimate the power of a winning program. Kids like to watch their team beat the crap out of other teams. Not watch other teams beat the crap out of their team. I Myself have held witness to drastic changes in football attendance with drastic changes is win loss record. This may have only been at high school, but the principles were the same. Just think of how exiting it would be if we started the year 3-1 instead of 1-3.

[SWC2010]

I was at Homecoming. It was Sad, so I wrote an article in the DC to try and evoke some response from the student body. Quite frankly, I was really mad at the way the student body acted. I've sat through a lot of losses at SMU and I think it's time for change.

3. We need to make the stands feel closer. We need a crowd atmosphere that instigates noise and or chants. I say we close certain sections of the stadium (namely the upper levels). If we can force the fans to come to gether initially I think it will create a much better atmosphere.

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I like point '3'. I would suggest we copy some of the other CUSA schools & put the students behind the opposing team (or at least over 1 entire section). With only 5K season tix, that shouldn't inconvenience anybody.

The kids, being obnoxious a$$holes as there are, would become a positive part of the game by yelling arrogant, snobbish remarks toward the players.

And no, jtstang, they must yell such remarks at the opposing players.

[abezontar]

so in the three years since I graduated the school as gone from 60-70% greek to 30% greek? Huh......I know that the 40-50% that the school reported when I started was the fall number, before the freshmen had gone through rush.....whether or not the greeks are 30% or 70% they make up nearly all of the visible social scene of the campus, so getting them to actually show up to something would tend to make it more visible to the rest of the campus.

[MustangSally]

Yes, roughly 30-40% of SMU's enrollment is Greek. However, keep in mind that this enrollment total includes any and all adult night students, part-time students, commuters who show up only for class and never lived on campus, and international students. I believe of SMU's current ON CAMPUS POPULATION, it is probably much closer to 60 or 70%. That's why they are a target for attendance and marketing. Plus, they act as a group; it's easier to convince Pike, for example, to come to a bball game, than to try and seperately encourage 120 random unaffiliated students to show.

[jtstang]

And no, jtstang, they must yell such remarks at the opposing players.

I don't get it.

[MustangSally]

I also agree about the student section placement. Why are the over in the corner, it's not like we have sold out all the middle seats. If you're a 20 year old jerk, the most fun you have all day may be screaming at the other team. At Tulsa, I think we had a hard time with their student section constantly badgering our team. It may help distract the other team, AND help our students realize that the louder they are, the more interactive the games can be.

I think a lot of people think that going to the game is like watching it on TV, you're just seeing it in 3D, in that you are just watching and have no input or effect on the outcome. But to me, half the fun is knowing that if I can distract the QB from La Tech or wherever, it can help our team out.

Are there rules about where the band can sit? Stick them behind the opponents along with the students.

[Hoop Fan]

I was at Homecoming. It was Sad, so I wrote an article in the DC to try and evoke some response from the student body. Quite frankly, I was really mad at the way the student body acted. I've sat through a lot of losses at SMU and I think it's time for change.

3. We need to make the stands feel closer. We need a crowd atmosphere that instigates noise and or chants. I say we close certain sections of the stadium (namely the upper levels). If we can force the fans to come to gether initially I think it will create a much better atmosphere.

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I like point '3'. I would suggest we copy some of the other CUSA schools & put the students behind the opposing team (or at least over 1 entire section). With only 5K season tix, that shouldn't inconvenience anybody.

The kids, being obnoxious a$$holes as there are, would become a positive part of the game by yelling arrogant, snobbish remarks toward the players.

And no, jtstang, they must yell such remarks at the opposing players.

Actually if you want the soft students to stay for long, I suggest putting them on the west side out of the sun. I agree its pathetic, but I guarantee you the direct glare and heat on even a nice day is another factor driving them away. Now, starting at 7:00 wouldn't be any better because they would all be primping to go out that night. I think the ideal game time in the fall is 4 or 5:00 as the sun starts to get lower and most of the soccer parents are finished with activities for the day but not too late to keep the family out.

[ponygirl08]

Does nobody here actually sit in the student section? we are behind the opposing team and yell at them non-stop...even for the most random things. Even if we are losing, we at least making fun of how short a player is, or badger the water girls to give us some gatorade. I'm sure the taunting would be worse with more people...but when its important(TCU for example...) the fans are there letting them know what we think about them(safety school and overrated) There just aren't very many things for us to yell at say East Carolina.

[abezontar]

you couldn't say anything about ECU? How about calling them butt pirates or something, we had a whole several page thread with pirate jokes and you couldn't come up with anything regarding the pirates of ECU?

[tex23bm]

I like the Idea of moving the student section into the middle. Right now, We do yell at the other team, but We're off to the corner, where the interaction can be avoided if the player chooses to. Also by having the students in the corner it makes it hard to get excited when the action is on the other side of the stadium. I disagree with putting the kids in the shade, on the basis that we need to sit behind the bench of the other team. Another gimmick that would reward students for being at the game would be simply to put students on the jumbotron. I know it seems simple, but there's something about being on camera that motivates kids to make noise. Also simple effects to get the crowd in tune with the game would be to display signs on the jumbotron. simple things like "Quiet, we're on offense" or "Make some Noise" when we're on Defense.