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Message: [QUOTE="A Clockwork Orange, post: 1466657, member: 16"] One game. The Pinstripe Bowl. What about the Fiest Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the Liberty Bowl? We were passed over a few times in the '90s specifically because our fan base (local and alum) DIDN'T travel. We (I used to be a local) might travel to one game a year away from the 'Cuse. That's one, and that's awesome, but what are we really expecting of alums? Should we expect WAY more out of alums than out of locals? Who ARE you talking about when you mention the alumni base? Within a three hour radius (gets you to Buffalo and Albany) I can see. That's where you're drawing the most people. A LOT of our alums live in NYC metro, DC metro, Boston, and Philly metro. I don't think it's feasible for a university to expect alums from those areas to be making trips up many times during the course of a season. If that's your target market, you will always struggle with attendance. If SU focuses on the Syracuse extended metro area, there are 650,000 people. Alums within three hours are also feasible, and there should be outreach there. Anyone from further out is gravy. Take VPI for example. Filled to the brim on most occasions. They have great local support, but the majority of their (much larger) alumni base is within three and a half hours. NoVa/DC area is teeming with Hokies. Even where I live (in the valley) VT fans outnumber UVA fans by a 5 to 1 margin. Those alums make the trip back because it's easy for them. Guess when they don't make the trip back? When their basketball team is playing. And that is the REAL crux of all of this. Football has been mediocre for a LONG time. People will travel and root for a team that wins. Our basketball fan base takes over arenas anywhere on the East coast. We will travel to watch them play because there is an expectation of excellence every year. I'll go to the Georgetown game this year, and the ACC tourney. If I have spending money, I'm likely (as an alum and a local) to spend it watching a team that can and will win 8 times out of 10. I'll also go to the SU-UVA basketball and football games this year. Get them close to me (within three hours) and I'm there, no questions asked. If you want me traveling five, six or seven hours? I want to see a team that is competitive. Or I might just wait for basketball season. You want distant alumni buy in? Put a winning product on the field. I just really think it's disingenuous of locals to say "it's alums fault!" I once was a local and alum. Went to every game. When you move away, you long to be there, but money and life get in the way. It's just the way it is. If you haven't lived far enough away from the 'Cuse to recognize that, then don't shout from the mountaintops about your awful alumni base. Alumni aren't awful, it's the product that has been awful. If SU pulls off a nine win season, lots more people will be in the dome, alums AND locals. That's just the way it is. [/QUOTE]

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