Something very disturbing...

Dr Death · Post by **Dr Death** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:32 pm

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade... the Ponies are 5-1 and doing well. But leading up to this game I saw threads about having a Red Out... getting into a BCS conference... possibly going to the SEC... expanding the stadium to 50,000, etc...

And then I tune into the game and see a ton of empty seats. On ESPN it says 22,932 were there, but I find that difficult to believe. It looked more like 16,000 tops. Empty seats were everywhere. And that, my friends, is the last thing this football program needs.

You have a very good coach and coaching staff, players who are busting their butts, some marquee players... and I mean Nationally known guys like Zach Line and you guys were playing the team that beat you in the C-USA Conference Championship a year ago, which makes this a huge revenge game... and they can't even sell 32,000 tickets?

All the talk, hype, marketing and promotion to get to a BCS conference is nice, but my God man, they have to get butts in the seats. And I'm not talking about the other team's fans showing up... they need to fill the house w/ SMU fans.

Think of it this way... you have a well-known coach who comes in and turns the team around quickly, the players are working hard and they are 4-1... the only loss to the at-the-time #8 team in the country at their house... and the team walks out and sees a half-empty stadium... it's got to be demoralizing.

Something needs to be done. Dallas is big city. Are you serious that 32,000 people can't make the game? Really? What about all the SMU alum over the years? Some of them still live in Texas. You guys really need to fill the house every week. At 5-1 now there is no excuse to not sell out the rest of the season.

Those of you wondering how long JJ will stay here... well, if the fans don't start getting on board I could see him saying, 'You know, we tried. There's just not enough support.' Believe me, there would be plenty of teams ready and willing to bring in a June Jones to turn their program around.

Don't let this opportunity slip away. You guys have waited 25 years for this and now it's here... and the stadium is half-filled.

It is time to step it up!

Mestengo · Post by **Mestengo** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:35 pm

Your the problem you tuned into the game

SMU 86 · Post by **SMU 86** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:38 pm

JJ and Orsini stated that we have a lost generation we are dealing with. Give it some time more wins and if we get into a BCS conference we will have enough money to have a marketing dept.

mathman · Post by **mathman** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:40 pm

Preaching to the choir. I didn't have to tune in. I was there.

sbsmith · Post by **sbsmith** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:41 pm

It'll take years to get Ford Stadium filled on a regular basis. We need wins and relevant opponents and right now we have little of either. Our 5-1 record means nothing, we're not ranked and all of our wins were over average opponents.

2ndandlong · Post by **2ndandlong** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:41 pm

you're right. i have been so blinded. this should happen overnight. steady growth in ticket sales and attendance over the last few years isn't enough. now that we're 5-1, we've practically accomplished everything that we've set out to. everyone in Texas should be lining up to go to an SMU game.

why look at how TCU did it through steady focused growth driven by success on the field?

rabble, rabble, rabble, rabble.

Dooby · Post by **Dooby** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:43 pm

I felt like there were some people that went and sat on the West side to stay out of the sun today.

SMU 86 · Post by **SMU 86** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:45 pm

sbsmith wrote:It'll take years to get Ford Stadium filled on a regular basis. We need wins and relevant opponents and right now we have little of either. Our 5-1 record means nothing, we're not ranked and all of our wins were over average opponents.

So you are saying if we are in the Big East we would fill the stadium? Also, if we play so called relevant opponents it looks bad when half the stadium is the opposing teams fans.

couch 'em · Post by **couch 'em** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:49 pm

Attendance was better than it looked on TV since everyone moved to the homeside in the shade-it was packed with standing in aisles.

We are now 5 wins against teams nobody has heard of (except TCU) and the average sports fan in Dallas was in a bar watching the Rangers earn a trip to the world series. Watching a non-BCS unranked team vs a non-BCS unranked team nobody knows anything about just can't compete with that.

2ndandlong · Post by **2ndandlong** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:50 pm

couch'em is right

NickSMU17 · Post by **NickSMU17** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:52 pm

The club does shake 1st half on 3 downs but the attendance is terrible...

Not sure how to correct hopefully some bcs money can get us a proper marketing team...

GoMustAAngs2007 · Post by **GoMustAAngs2007** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:54 pm

I talked about this with my wife on the way home from the game - wanted to know what would make more alumni from our generation (07-09) go to games. The truth is - and this has come up here before - is that a large number of recent graduates just aren't passionate enough about football. It's just the nature of the type of student SMU attracts. The game day atmosphere, driven by the boulevard, is more about the social experience than the game. Hopefully this will change over time.

The best thing that we hard core fans can do is continue to show our friends and neighbors how passionate we are about the Mustangs and get them to come experience the Boulevard AND the game.

That said, what a great day it was. I am so grateful for how far we have come since my freshman year... The 0fer season.

2ndandlong · Post by **2ndandlong** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:57 pm

GoMustAAngs2007 wrote:I talked about this with my wife on the way home from the game - wanted to know what would make more alumni from our generation (07-09) go to games. The truth is - and this has come up here before - is that a large number of recent graduates just aren't passionate enough about football. It's just the nature of the type of student SMU attracts. The game day atmosphere, driven by the boulevard, is more about the social experience than the game. Hopefully this will change over time.

The best thing that we hard core fans can do is continue to show our friends and neighbors how passionate we are about the Mustangs and get them to come experience the Boulevard AND the game.

That said, what a great day it was. I am so grateful for how far we have come since my freshman year... The 0fer season.

+1

ALEX LIFESON · Post by **ALEX LIFESON** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:59 pm

I've said it before and will say it again, SMU will never fill the stadium will alums. You have to get guys like Mestengo and our crew at Special Delivery. No excuse for the embarrassing, pathetic attendance today. This team deserves better support.

LakeHighlandsPony · Post by **LakeHighlandsPony** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:00 pm

We are also competing against the ALCS a few miles away and the State Fair. Lubbock and College Station only had to compete with Susie's 6th Birthday at Chucky Cheese. We also played a team that brought a few hundred fans from a school that is 1200 miles away.