Attendance?

[greenminer]

Don't we go through this same thread every Thanksgiving weekend? It's an old horse, but won't ever be dead until we're winning, have a new stadium, and draw 35K+

Winning and attendance go hand in hand. This school is plagued by years of horrid administration and our fans' apathy reflects that. It's going to take years to amend this, as I think some of our alumn are just plain un-recoverable. That's not to say we give up on them. Lets stick to what we can do: be proactive and involved with the current students (that is, without abandoning efforts to get DFW area alumni involved).

The current administration has a very tough balancing act here: to promote ourselves as bigtime, act bigtime, but deal with a non-bigtime budget, and non-bigtime history. They've made some mistakes, and will learn from them (*cough*parking*cough*)

And why set up the whole shabang on a weekend where everything points to sub-5000 attendance? I don't blame them one bit for sparing some of the tents.

Too much crapola to use this weekend as a basis for any negative judgment.

[emmitt01]

Aside from that, this is probably the biggest asswhip of a thread I've read in a long, long time. Seriously, "logo talk" thinks this thread is a beating.

Sorry, gotta call you on this one. Nothing spares us to death like logo talk...'cept maybe stadium talk infused with a little walk down Hayden Fry's memory lane.

[CMJ]

Sorry, gotta call you on this one. Nothing spares us to death like logo talk...'cept maybe stadium talk infused with a little walk down Hayden Fry's memory lane.

Amen to that. Throw a little "what shade of green" talk in.

Edited November 26, 2007 by CMJ

[UNTflyer]

Sorry, gotta call you on this one. Nothing spares us to death like logo talk...

Helmet stickers!!!

Which blazed through my thoughts when I saw those helmet stickers on Hawaii's helmets Friday night.

That's just so high school!

[greenjacket]

Agreed! good point! gGreat Point!

But until we can get more than 2000 fans in the stands and 82 students to show up, how in the hell can we justify a new stadium! I know if I was part of the Admin I would not spend a dime on our sorry a$$e$!

The biting cold, the continuous rain and a holiday weekend everyone should be excused. It was a great game but the weather made it miserable. All my digits are still numb.

[Eagle1855]

Sorry, gotta call you on this one. Nothing spares us to death like logo talk...'cept maybe stadium talk infused with a little walk down Hayden Fry's memory lane.

touche'

[Mean Green Matt]

This was just a bad night to get a big crowd. Should it have been packed? YES! If you count our huge alumni base and student body, but it just wasn't. People seem to be more ready to complain about the attendance than to praise our team for winning their second game of a long, hard season. The Utah State game in 97' was a great game. As was Oregon State in 95' I believe (could be wrong on the year, I was only 6), and we had small crowds for those games. This year, for our first three games against SUN BELT SCHOOLS, we averaged almost 20,000 fans!!! People are getting criticized for saying we aren't there yet, BUT ITS A FACT THAT WE ARE NOT. That does not mean that there has not been a steady flow of improvement over the last few years. The students are not nearly as apathetic at they used to be, and that shows in football attendance, and Basketball. That one game with only 5,000 fans there will do nothing to stop us from where we are headed. Go Mean Green!

-Matt

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I don't know where I would fall in the die-hard category but I chose to stay home in the warm comfort of my home in Dallas. I also spent quality time with my 2 sons. I did take in 3 HS games at Texas Stadium yesterday. (Looking for defensive help for the Mean Green)

I couldn't muster up the effort today. Sorry fellows! BTW, anyone know if the 6-7, 360 lb Euless Trinity DT is taken?

He also game in for a few selected plays at OT.

Careful Cooley, I was upbraided for staying home with my son and pregnant wife a couple of weeks ago. Even though I took the radio outside while my son and I played, I was called a bad fan. Because I had family in town for the holidays and they didn't want to go see I-AA football in Denton, there's no telling how far down on the "real fan" meter I've dropped.

[ColoradoEagle]

Careful Cooley, I was upbraided for staying home with my son and pregnant wife a couple of weeks ago. Even though I took the radio outside while my son and I played, I was called a bad fan. Because I had family in town for the holidays and they didn't want to go see I-AA football in Denton, there's no telling how far down on the "real fan" meter I've dropped.

I think that drops you down to the Maverick level. This level is often associated with fans who know that a team exists, but doesn't care. Fortunately these fans will show up en masse once the team has a shot at winning at all, and will proclaim themselves as lifelong fans, even if they don't exactly know any of the players.

[UNTLifer]

Careful Cooley, I was upbraided for staying home with my son and pregnant wife a couple of weeks ago. Even though I took the radio outside while my son and I played, I was called a bad fan. Because I had family in town for the holidays and they didn't want to go see I-AA football in Denton, there's no telling how far down on the "real fan" meter I've dropped.

The difference is that he stated he didn't attend to spend time with his kids, yet he took in 3 high school games the day before. Seems contradictory.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

"I also spent quality time with my 2 sons" - Cooley

Hmmm. Maybe by saying that he meant...he didn't spend time with his kids? Usually, when I say I spent quality time with my son, I mean I spent quality time with my son. Maybe Cooley's different.

I doubt it, though.

[Quoner]

I think that drops you down to the Maverick level. This level is often associated with fans who know that a team exists, but doesn't care. Fortunately these fans will show up en masse once the team has a shot at winning at all, and will proclaim themselves as lifelong fans, even if they don't exactly know any of the players.

Kind of like every pro team in Colorado, huh?

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

On the whole, Emmitt is right; it was a pitiful turnout. There certainly were extenuating circumstances in many cases but the second smallest crowd in Division 1-A? C'mon, that should not have happened here. Even with the HORRIBLE weather, there should have been at least 10,000 who should have been there even if they could only last a quarter. We are either a bunch of wusses or we just don't care.

The 5,000 attendance figure tells me that that's about the number of season tickets sold. I saw two walkup sales when I was near the ticket window and I'd bet there were no more than a hundred overall. There were no more than 100 students, excluding the Green Brigade. Speaking of the band, they found a way to be there. Do all of them live in Denton? or even the DFW metroplex? I doubt it. They were about 300 strong and played a great halftime performance. My hat's off to them because they had only a raincoat over their uniforms and were carrying instruments that were 20 degrees colder than their hands (which were probably numb).

Get used to Western Kentucky. We only think of their having good basketball but they are competitive in every sport that they sponsor. Yes, they had no class this time but they will probably grow up once they've been around the league for a couple of years. I expect them to be among the top 3 or 4 year in and year out in SBC football.

Everyone on the football schedule counts for attendance and bowl consideration. I don't think that you'll see us schedule a 1-AA again unless it counts toward bowl consideration. We can show up and look like a Division 1-A team or we can continue to pout and say that team is not worthy for us to see. Staying away only assures that we will never rise to the elite of even our own conference, let alone Division 1-A. Then, if we are passed over for a better conference we'll simply piss and moan that it was whoever scheduled the games, the coaches, the team; everyone else but ourselves. Let me put it this way, if big donor was looking to see how we support our team, this past weekend set the stadium fund back a full year.

[SLCoutsider]

The Outsider was there for all 4 qtrs. But who can blame anyone for staying home? The new stadium needs to be a dome.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Someone/anyone in the UNT Athletic Dept. needs to get a calendar out that covers the next 10 years and put the following below letter on each of the next 10 years worth of Saturdays after Thanksgiving as a time not to schedule anything; that is, while our UNT students have emptied their dorms and are with their families while on their Thanksgiving breaks.

X

Edited November 27, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[Stan R]

Well, I'll man up as well. Didn't make it. Too ridiculously cold and wet for 3 kids, a 6 week old and a wife who needs convincing. Not willing to fight that. Glad we won and we'll be back next year. At least they got my season ticket money.

[Cerebus]

It just doesn't make sense to schedule a game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

I love me some Mean Green, but with one grandmother just passing and another in poor health, there is no way I was not going to travel to El Paso and spend as much time as possible with my family.

There are a lot of people who really only get to see their family on Thanksgiving or Christmas, why would we schedule a game around those holidays?

[Cerebus]

ps: just to drive everyone even closer to madness, the hated Permian Panthers had 15k in the stands on Saturday in some terrible weather.

[ColoradoEagle]

Kind of like every pro team in Colorado, huh?

I assume you're talking about the Rockies. The Rockies' attendance has outpaced the Rangers' attendance for most of its existence as a franchise. Denver also has only 2.5 million in its metro area to draw from vs. about 6 million in DFW. The Avs, Nuggets, and Broncos consistently sell out tickets and have for years.

What I was comparing to were the Mavericks (if that wasn't obvious enough). I remember going to see a game when they played in Reunion years ago, and there was absolutely no one there. They start winning? Lifelong fans appear.

Besides, home attendance is less of an indicator of popularity of a pro team than one would think. If home attendance was all that mattered, the Rangers would be regularly contending for a spot in the World Series.

Edited November 27, 2007 by ColoradoEagle

[UNTflyer]

ps: just to drive everyone even closer to madness, the hated Permian Panthers had 15k in the stands on Saturday in some terrible weather.

Well,t hey have a really popular coach.

[meangreendork]

Well, I'll man up as well. Didn't make it. Too ridiculously cold and wet for 3 kids, a 6 week old and a wife who needs convincing. Not willing to fight that. Glad we won and we'll be back next year. At least they got my season ticket money.

I was in Oklahoma. Sadly, all I could catch up there was the Tulsa game...so I didn't bother watching football that day.

I also think it's time to close this thread on this statement:

Wins will bring more fans, TV time and money and that'll bring more fans, the new stadium, more TV time and more fans. Until the wins start to pour in, we wait it out and hope that no more Saturday games are scheduled.

Edited November 27, 2007 by meangreendork

[emmitt01]

Until the wins start to pour in, we wait it out and hope that no more Saturday games are scheduled.

Uhhh, ok. I kinda think Saturday is a good day to play college football.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I don't mean to be complaining about many of the posters on this board. Those with small children, pregnant or elderly wives, ill, etc. were wise not to attempt to battle the horrible weather. I'm certainly not looking for true confessions for this particular weekend. At the same time that doesn't mean to absolve the several thousand that could have made it but just didn't bother. We should NEVER take the path of least resistance again. That is, if we ever have hopes of advancing this program. We can slack off on any other sport and it's not as noticable as football attendance. Conference decisions are made based on attendance. It's how UTEP got in CUSA (and how we didn't).

My biggest gripe is with the student attendance. Yes, school was out. It was a holiday weekend. But, of those 34,000 students, how many were within 100 miles? Certainly more than the 100 non-band/spirit members that bothered to attend. They barely outnumbered the handful of WKU supporters in the stands. If I ever see anywhere near that poor of a showing by the student population, it will be my last time to attend a North Texas game. I'll spend my last few years just reading about what happens. I'm as serious as breathing about that.

Thanksgiving weekend, unfortunately, falls during the football season. There were 48 games played on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. The only Division 1-A school that we beat in attendance was Kent State. The next one above us was conference mate FIU, which had roughly 6,100 while playing arch-rival FAU. (How long can the SBC endure that?) It's a fact of life that there will likely be a game following Thanksgiving. We know that enough in advance that we can plan the holiday time around a football game. Thousands of people do. We are usually blessed with better weather than most of the country at that time so plans can usually be carried out each year. We just need to get in the habit.

[JesseMartin]

I agree...especially with that last part, since I already said it

Starting next year when Carter is 1 should be a good time to get the family into the groove of going to the games together. Until 2005 I was living in Denton, so it was easier then. Then I moved to FW and OKC and worked almost every game day, now I'm in GP...so by next fall it should be easy enough to make sure we're open for game days. My wife is pumped, she couldn't believe how much the campus has changed since the 90's.

It's good to have a Mean Green family

[Cr1028]

My biggest gripe is with the student attendance. Yes, school was out. It was a holiday weekend. But, of those 34,000 students, how many were within 100 miles? Certainly more than the 100 non-band/spirit members that bothered to attend. They barely outnumbered the handful of WKU supporters in the stands. If I ever see anywhere near that poor of a showing by the student population, it will be my last time to attend a North Texas game. I'll spend my last few years just reading about what happens. I'm as serious as breathing about that.

You're right because we're a commuter school and everyone should be within 100 miles of Denton at all times. How many of the 100K+ alumni were within 100 miles? That should've been more than enough to make up for the students since there are more than 3 times as many alums most of whom are in the DFW area still. But I guess a piece of paper with a fancy seal on it excuses you from attendance. Forgive students, like myself, who hold full-time jobs and take a full time class schedule for electing to take their only chance of the semester to get away from Denton and use it.

You have to understand that this isn't the 60's or 70's anymore. People usually don't have UNT as their first choice of college(it was mine though). Many flunk out at Tech, UT, OU, A&M, or elsewhere and then enroll at UNT to get their stuff back together. Some come because it's close and they don't want to be far from home. Some have friends or girlfriend/boyfriends who go and just follow suit. One thing is for sure, nobody(or a ridiculously small percentage) goes to North Texas these days because they've grown up following the football program and dreaming of playing at Fout's someday. When I was growing up playing touch football (in Houston), you were a Longhorn or an Aggie and that was in the Andre Ware days when UH was killing people. When I moved to Dallas, that changed from Aggie/Longhorn, to Longhorn/Sooner. Until the program builds on success and kids grow up bleeding green, the majority of your student population can take it or leave it(Mean Green Football games).