whitwiki wrote:I'm tired of people saying SMU fans suck. The few of you guys that stuck around for twenty years are some of the best fans in the country. The rest of the alumni had nothing to root for for 20 years. People don't go to every football game when you win one game a year.
Our alumni and students need some school spirit, and we need more fans as loyal as the oldtimers here.
Philly fans suck - booing their own team constantly....
There should have been a lot more booing coming from the smu students/alums/admin over the past 25 years. Maybe then something would have gotten changed sooner!
I'll take passionate fans that occasionally boo over the apathy I see at many SMU games. You keep your wine and cheese. I'll keep my beer and cheesesteaks.
Occasional boo is fine. Philly fans take it over the top.
My point is we don't have enough fans to say that they suck. And I'm not a cheese and wine person, I go horse at games.
Sadly that is part of the problem, you try to stand up and yell some SMU fans get mad. I tell them sorry but I am cheering for SMU.
I enjoy both cheese and wine. I also like beer and fried chicken. For that matter, I sometimes like gin and bourbon too. Not sure what kind of fan that makes me. But I do spend an unhealthy amount of time perusing the PF message board, so I must care a little.
I think the BE will help with attendance. I remember the crickets at Ford when BSU came to town ten or so years ago. But I think their program has much greater national stature now than it did then. Plus, the Ponies have an entirely different program now. So that would seem to be a matchup that could generate some interest. I think the rivalry with UH is growing too. TCU will remain on the schedule, and that rivalry is finally getting good. If A&M and Arky lose their JerryWorld game, we may suddenly get some interest from them in getting a non-conference game scheduled (pure speculation there but I'm assuming TCU would go along with the boycott of SEC teams that the other Texas Big-12 schools seem to be engaged in). So I think the schedule has the potential to look a lot more interesting going forward.
Wrong board, I know. . .but I am fired up to see what the men's bball schedule will look like for 2013. There are going to be some great home games on that schedule!
I brought a couple of non SMU folk to a couple of our games this last season. They only had positive things to say about the Vard and games. The Vard has improved considerably from its beginnings and attendance has improved over the last 3 years. It is just so painfully slow. For those of us that can, bring someone to the games to experience it. Some might like it enough to want to come back. I can’t market for SMU with billboards or TV/radio ads, but I can bring a fan or two when possible. Orsini seems to have done a pretty good job so far and I would think he will continue to improve our PR image with a more robust budget.
It is imperative that we begin to address our attendance issues now and not wait a year after we enter the BE when the funds start flowing. This is our biggest obstacle to taking our program to the next level.
If we do this right, be competitive in the BE as well as draw decent crowds, we can get a much better chair at a much better table. It will be money well spent. This should be our focus.
SCP- agree with your comments. However, IMO we absolutely have to market to get the casual alum and casual fball fan to our games. No marketing = very little increase in attendance. I would not be suprised if our attendance drops next year due to JJs antics. Sadly, this marketing issue has been beaten to death with no resolution in sight.
it could take years to change the culture at SMU, or it may never change
I took a look at TCU's attendance for comparison purposes:
In 1997 (they went 1-10 with their only win coming against SMU in front of 19k), they averaged 23k attendance. In 1998 (that 1st winning season and Sun Bowl bid under Fran) they averaged 28k. By 2000 (their 3rd consecutive winning season) they drew 32k. In 2001, their 1st year in CUSA, attendance dropped to 29k. While ACS is larger than Ford, their largest crowd in this time frame was 38k so that's not a big advantage.
Like it or not, TCU is still our "sister school" to the west, and there is no reason we shouldn't be capable of doing what they are doing. There is no question they enjoy better fan loyalty than SMU and they probably have a similar number of locals (students and DFW area alumni) to count on for core attendance.
Everyone understands SMU's challenge. Small private schools have a tough time competing in today's world of college athletics where fan support means SO MUCH. Our goal should be to average close to 30k for home games and travel as many as 3-5k to bowl games. That's a tall order and will require a change in the culture at SMU (more interest in athletics among students translating into more interest among alumni).
Thanks to all of you who made the trip to B'ham to support the program. You are great fans.
