IT'S FINALLY GONNA HAPPEN! S.M.U. VERSUS SAM HOUSTON STATE!

[JasonB]

TCU didn't exactly play worldbeaters in their non-conference schedule when they were rising to the top, and their better record certainly helped attendance.

Same for K-State.

I think we have a hell of a better chance at 3-0 of getting 20K in when we play UH than if we were 0-3, regardless of who we played. The score of at least one of those games will be a blowout, and the media will jump all over it, promote the team, and more folks will come out to the games.

In Dallas, people just care about a team winning, they could care less about who you are playing. That is just how this city is.

So, sure, attendance may suck against those three OOC teams. However, our in-conference attendance is going to be a lot better because we will have a winning record and be fighting for a bowl berth.

[JasonB]

TCU didn't exactly play worldbeaters in their non-conference schedule when they were rising to the top, and their better record certainly helped attendance.

Same for K-State.

I think we have a hell of a better chance at 3-0 of getting 20K in when we play UH than if we were 0-3, regardless of who we played. The score of at least one of those games will be a blowout, and the media will jump all over it, promote the team, and more folks will come out to the games.

In Dallas, people just care about a team winning, they could care less about who you are playing. That is just how this city is.

So, sure, attendance may suck against those three OOC teams. However, our in-conference attendance is going to be a lot better because we will have a winning record and be fighting for a bowl berth.

[KnuckleStang]

I am happy for MrMustang, but honestly, this game makes me nervous already. SHSU ain't exactly Prairie View. This past year, they could have beaten many 1-A teams. All I can say is, I hope we're a LOT better by '06.

[ponydawg]

They should throw the game for us to thank us for all the QB's we have sent them.

Winning is contagious, so I am for it, not saying I want to still be playing these teams in 2008 but......for now it is good.

[Dooby]

Oh, F'ing puh-lease. Stop it with the attendance crap. The WAC was filled with teams that don't travel. Somehow we got by. I keep bringing up the stupid SJSU game's attendance and nobody can refute it and the malcontents simply ignore it. For the San Jose game, we had 17,841 in attendance. How many folks came out just to see San Jose? I’d be surprised if there were 100. Hell, even if Ark. State and SHSU have terrible fans, there will be more of them in Ford than SJSU brought, simply because they are closer.

The only explanation given to me to explain the attendance for the San Jose game is that it was parents weekend. Well, if that is true, then it would apply equally to whoever we play on Parents’ Weekend. I am sorry, but you cannot convince me that some kappa’s dad is going to buy a ticket for San Jose and not buy one for Sam Houston State. “I’m sorry, Mitsy. I know we enjoyed watching your school beat the San Jose Spartans, but I’ll be damned if I am going to watch them play Arkansas State! Let’s go to the Mansion for lunch instead.” That just doesn’t make any sense.

These Ark. State and SHSU games will be early in the year. I don't know if you noticed, but nonconference games tend to be early in the year. They will be the first home game of the year or they will be homecoming or they will be parents weekend or whatever-they won’t be the last game of the year. Attendance lags at the end of the year because we suck.

Newsflash: People will come to Parents’ Weekend regardless of who we play.

Newsflash: People will come to the first home game regardless of who we play, especially if it is the first game of the year.

Newsflash: If we win games, people will come.

Newsflash: Before you say our attendance figures are inflated, everybody’s attendance figures are inflated.

I will throw a couple of final points out at you:

1. This is what Bennett wants. It is his @$$ that is on the line if he can’t turn this thing around; not yours. He deserves to given the tools he believes he needs to succeed. Dare I say giving the coach what he wants is called “Commitment.”

2. This is the same advice given by coaches in the DMN article two years ago on how to turn a program around.

3. The goal should be to fill the stadium with our fans and not their's. Win.

[jtstang]

Oh, F'ing puh-lease. Stop it with the attendance crap. The WAC was filled with teams that don't travel. Somehow we got by. I keep bringing up the stupid SJSU game's attendance and nobody can refute it and the malcontents simply ignore it. For the San Jose game, we had 17,841 in attendance.

Sorry, I can't stop. Your fear of being forced into a lower division is keeping you from acknowledging the attendance problem, but it is there. I don't believe "we got by" without fudging the numbers, and I believe the number you quote for SJS is one of the numbers fudged. I was there and there did not appear to me to be that many in the stands.

I think and actual audit of fans in seats would prove SMU fell below the required attendance last year. Too bad SMU will never release the audited numbers, so I will never be able to prove that any more than you can prove there were 17,841 in the stands for San Jose.

[Boston Pony]

If we fudged the numbers and it worked, let's keep doing it. My philosophy & that of others is to play one to win, win to pay and one up in the air. Remember with 4 ooc games, we have the ability to have 2 to win, plus if these are home games we get more money than playing a bigger team at their field. I have heard complaints by playing too tough a schedule and now too easy of one. someone make up their mind.

[PlanoStang]

I want to play Stephen F. Austin. Their AD, Steve McCarty, was my 8th grade football coach. We went 8-0-1, and won district under him. If we can find a can of Copeland Be Gone, ol Coach McCarty might be a good replacement

[Dooby]

Oh, F'ing puh-lease. Stop it with the attendance crap. The WAC was filled with teams that don't travel. Somehow we got by. I keep bringing up the stupid SJSU game's attendance and nobody can refute it and the malcontents simply ignore it. For the San Jose game, we had 17,841 in attendance.

Sorry, I can't stop. Your fear of being forced into a lower division is keeping you from acknowledging the attendance problem, but it is there. I don't believe "we got by" without fudging the numbers, and I believe the number you quote for SJS is one of the numbers fudged. I was there and there did not appear to me to be that many in the stands.

I think and actual audit of fans in seats would prove SMU fell below the required attendance last year. Too bad SMU will never release the audited numbers, so I will never be able to prove that any more than you can prove there were 17,841 in the stands for San Jose.

JT, I respect you a lot, but I just don't see this as that big a deal. Again, most schools fudge their numbers. What does "audited numbers" and what is actually required? Are you actually expecting something to be released? What is that based on? The NCAA isn't paying an accountant to count the ticket stubs; I am sure of that.

Further, from what I have read the 15,000 rule was significantly weakened by the NCAA at the last meeting of the Board of Directors. It can now be 15,000 actual or paid attendance and it only has to be met every other year.

[PlanoStang]

Newsflash: People will come to Parents’ Weekend regardless of who we play.

Newsflash: People will come to the first home game regardless of who we play, especially if it is the first game of the year.

Newsflash: If we win games, people will come.

Newsflash: Before you say our attendance figures are inflated, everybody’s attendance figures are inflated.

You forgot to put CBS in front of your Newsflashes. In the future please include CBS with every newsflash.

Thanks,
Dan Wrather

[jtstang]

JT, I respect you a lot, but I just don't see this as that big a deal. Again, most schools fudge their numbers. What does "audited numbers" and what is actually required? Are you actually expecting something to be released? What is that based on? The NCAA isn't paying an accountant to count the ticket stubs; I am sure of that.

Well the procedures acceptable for auditing the attendance figures are in the bylaws which I have linked and or cut/pasted here in the past. And counting torn tickets is one of them as I recall. And no, of course I do not expect a bubble team like SMU to release its audited numbers, for fear of rats jumping ship. They only have to be given to the NCAA. It would be interesting if, for example, a reporter tried to subpoena the reported atendance records. I'm sure the NCAA would probably fight it.

I'd like to know where you read about changes to the policy. Last time I checked ncaa.org, they had not been changed in the bylaws.

[Dooby]

I'd like to know where you read about changes to the policy. Last time I checked ncaa.org, they had not been changed in the bylaws.

Link

Linky

Linky-poo

The board adopted legislation that eases the attendance requirements for programs to remain in Division I-A. Schools must have an average minimum actual home attendance of 15,000 or at least one season of a minimum paid home attendance of 15,000 over a two-year period. The previous requirement was an average actual attendance of at least 15,000 per year. ... The 12-game proposal was voted down for I-AA schools. ...

The way I read it, us high paid lawyers can now go by a discounted block of tickets at a $1 a piece and use them to light our cigars and it still counts as "paid attendance".

[Stallion]

Did SMU not give out about 5 free tickets last year to their season ticket holders for disbursement early in the season. There also was a ticket package involving the Tech game and a 2nd game of choice. One of the first availiable games was SJSU after the Tech sellout. JTStang is correct real paid attendance by SMU FANS is no more than about 10,000-12,000 per game. I hate to break it to you but that many fans did not come out just to see the classic SMU/ SJSU game which was the Pillow Fight of the Week. If you want to believe otherwise-Fine.

[jtstang]

Nice research job, Doob. Must be to recent to be in the bylaws yet. Bonus is that I know now what became of Howard Schnellenberger. Last I heard he was escorted, sobbing, from a women's dorm or somesuch at OU.

[Dooby]

Did SMU not give out about 5 free tickets last year to their season ticket holders for disbursement early in the season. There also was a ticket package involving the Tech game and a 2nd game of choice. One of the first availiable games was SJSU after the Tech sellout. JTStang is correct real paid attendance by SMU FANS is no more than about 10,000-12,000 per game. I hate to break it to you but that many fans did not come out just to see the classic SMU/ SJSU game which was the Pillow Fight of the Week. If you want to believe otherwise-Fine.

Stallion, did you actually read my post? I am just curious, because your post makes no sense.

My point is we don't have to worry about actual attendance, so what difference does giving tickets away make? None. I am shocked that SMU would allow vouchers for free tickets to be used in games that are not expected to be sellouts. Just shocked. That just adds to the fact that we don't have to worry about actual attendance.

Again-real attendance/fake attendance, it is all the same to me until an accountant from Pricewaterhouse Coopers stands at the gate with a mechanical clicker or starts counting ticket stubs. Everybody fudges their numbers. Period. Is this some kind of morality thing ("Thous shalt not lie about attendance at Ford Stadium") with you or what?

Making fun of the SJSU/SMU pillowfight only proves my point. Whatever the attendance, it was the second most attended game of the year. And nobody here can tell me a fundamental reason why the SJSU's of the world are better for attendance than the Ark. State's and the SHSU's of the world. They aren't.