One Reason ECU is able to build a large fanbase of alumni

[SMULaxer]

its not about the booze. its about the fun atmosphere on the boulevard. start hanging 50 on our crappy opponents (boise state style) at the in stadium atmosphere will be fun too.

[SMUer]

True. The R&S, as advertised, would solve some attendance issues. Still waiting on the to happen...

BigTX3...move your seats to 110. RBA is building a section of enthusiastic alumni and I promise you won't ever be told to shut up or sit down. Strength in numbers! Unite and strengthen!

[GiddyUp]

They could really help it grow if they wanted to...maybe it'll show them the value of adding incentives to young alumni...

dude - when are you going to talk to Amy?

[SMUer]

They could really help it grow if they wanted to...maybe it'll show them the value of adding incentives to young alumni...

dude - when are you going to talk to Amy?

We met. Amy put me in contact with Ryan who is actually a friend who is starting the Young MC campaign. I tried to offer ideas how RBA and MC can help each other and grow symbiotically but Amy is cautious about it and really only looks at me as a volunteer. I've made in-roads with Terry over the basketball season and he's really excited about us. He's fighting for us within the AD and I think he's moving into a position with MC so that may be a better opportunity. I'll help Ryan out as much as I can.

[RGV Pony]

Was a fan of young MC back in the day

[PonyKai]

Oh please, what a bunch of sanctimonious crap.

I like to drink. I come from the infamous freshman year where dead SMU students were being found in Waco Portapotties and scattered about the SAE house. When I go to a SMU football game it means I'm going to be laughed at by the other guys at my office on Monday when they ask what I did last weekend, I'm going to be stuck watching SMU play Memphis in a empty stadium, and the only tailgate involves me awkwardly begging old guys if I could please, pretty please have a beer or a burger, AT LEAST LET ME GET A FEW DAMN DRINKS IN THE STADIUM. SMU games feel like going to church. I was screamed at by a SMU cop at the NW St game for smoking a cig in an upper level section that was literally completely empty.

There are all these barriers to having fun at a SMU football game. People like alcohol. Step off your high horse with the addiction crap and realize that we have to start knocking these barriers down. Because I'm as big of a fan as you're going to get out of the young generation and I am EXTREMELY BORED during many of the games.

coming from someone from the same years...yep.

[smubrooks]

I smuggle airline liquor bottles into every game and about half way through the 3rd qtr my dad and his friends are asking me to hand 'em over. so its not just us youngins that want to drink at games!

[CA Mustang]

When I go to a SMU football game it means I'm going to be laughed at by the other guys at my office on Monday when they ask what I did last weekend,...

Why are you embarrassed? It is not like the days when the team is going 1-11 or 0-12.

I was screamed at by a SMU cop at the NW St game for smoking a cig in an upper level section that was literally completely empty.

I don't think any stadium allows smoking in the seating sections these days, so SMU is no different than any other school.

People like alcohol. ... Because I'm as big of a fan as you're going to get out of the young generation and I am EXTREMELY BORED during many of the games.

A football game isn't exciting enough for you? So if you can't be kept on the edge of your seat the entire game, you need alcohol to fill the void? Okay...

[BigT3x]

When I go to a SMU football game it means I'm going to be laughed at by the other guys at my office on Monday when they ask what I did last weekend,...

Why are you embarrassed? It is not like the days when the team is going 1-11 or 0-12.

I was screamed at by a SMU cop at the NW St game for smoking a cig in an upper level section that was literally completely empty.

I don't think any stadium allows smoking in the seating sections these days, so SMU is no different than any other school.

People like alcohol. ... Because I'm as big of a fan as you're going to get out of the young generation and I am EXTREMELY BORED during many of the games.

A football game isn't exciting enough for you? So if you can't be kept on the edge of your seat the entire game, you need alcohol to fill the void? Okay...

I didn't say I was embarrassed, I said they laughed at me. I don't know about the rest of you on this board, but fans of a CUSA division co-champion team don't have much to say during an office football discussion amongst Big 12 fans. Me going to SMU football games is seen as a quirk, like the guy who cuts his toe nails at his desk.

Rigorous enforcement of policies such as no reentry and no smoking while sitting in the center of an entirely deserted section are fine so long as we enjoy a silent, half empty stadium. Some of us don't enjoy the sterile, cricket match atmosphere of our games, but I understand some on here love the status quo.

I don't "need" alcohol to fill any void. I want to maximize the fun I have while enjoying a SMU football game. There are easy things that can be done so that everyone will have more fun. The SMU administration is not interested. Those of you who say "just win" are missing the bigger equation. We have a serious fun deficit at our games. A winning team will add more fun, but it's just one component.

[well travelled pony]

Winning will be a great first step, but the university needs to work better to promote itself. Also, I feel SMU has to do better on outreach to the alumni. I ran the local student recruitment for SMU in LA after graduation for two years. I got little support from the school, and had few volunteers. Still today, it seems like SMU forgets a lot of its alumni, and how to connect them. Those who know me, realize if I lived in Dallas, I would be at every home game with the family, and dragging others with me, especially those fellow alums who have gone wayward. This is what I love about the RBA, and many here who work to bring in new "fans" and reconnect other alums.

Go Ponies!

[gostangs]

well travelled - don't know when you were trying to connect to the alumni group in LA - but we have a very active group out there now, thanks the the university now having a staff person in the alumni association office that does nothing but help alumni chapters grow and schedule events. we had 8 alumni chapters outside of dallas 5 yrs ago - now we have 35. most of them schedule events for all age groups. its a pretty big deal. if you are still not sure, just call the alumni association and ask for the alumni chapter person and they can help you connect. or you can email through the SMU home page - that will work also.

[well travelled pony]

Thanks gostangs, but I am not trying to reach SMU alumni group. My point is that SMU, back in 1989-90 gave me little support. I was the head of the LASR (Local Alumni Student Recruitment) for LA. I had few volunteers. Other alumni functions were also small, but I understand as the geography of LA can make events tough. As for being in LA, I will go to the Marina Pub. I went to the watch party for Navy, and it was LAME. There were all of about 15 people. Active, HA! One gal there was a USC grad, thinking of going to SMU for Masters, and her mom (there too) was a SMU alum. The gal was surprised at the small turnout to watch the game.

Back home in NC, the Triangle group is trying, but still not very active. Hopefully, it will get better.

Go Ponies!

[gostangs]

looks like a great opportunity to be a leader...take control and make it happen.

[ebrooks11]

True. The R&S, as advertised, would solve some attendance issues. Still waiting on the to happen...

BigTX3...move your seats to 110. RBA is building a section of enthusiastic alumni and I promise you won't ever be told to shut up or sit down. Strength in numbers! Unite and strengthen!

Where is the non alumni section?

[SMU Section F]

I will admit, I didn't read through the entire post, and normally I just read and don't post. This topic kind of stuck out for me though.

As a recent graduate (2008), I have had season tickets since I graduated. However, other than the "winning solves everything" issue, another huge stumbling block that many of my fellow graduates run into is that it is "difficult" to buy season tickets.

For pretty much any other sporting event I want to go to in the metroplex, I can buy my season tickets online for a specified price. (Including SMU Basketball.) For SMU Football season tickets, I have to call the ticket office during regular business hours (while most of us are working and not thinking about it). I also have to muddle through the "required donations" that are only listed for sets of 4 seats. I understand that required donations/booster club membership/etc. are commonplace, but at least for the lower levels of tickets (until we're selling out the place that should probably just be the boxes) this is kind of silly. Just give me a price per ticket (feel free to call whatever % of it a donation if you want) and let me click a button on the website. Call me overly optimistic or crazy, but I bet the number of recent graduates with season tickets would increase greatly.

Obviously I have two season tickets and have had them for a few years, so none of these issues are insurmountable and they are actually all quite simple and quick once you get on the phone. However the fact is that SMU Football is not currently in a place where it occupies most people's minds at all times.

Why not make it so that in that 5 minute time period where a recent graduate is feeling a bit nostalgic they can just hop online and sign up for the season? I know a number of them would do so...