Data proves that low attendance is Frank Maloney's fault

[Skinny.Atlas]

What we lost in attendance during the Maloney era, we never got back. We lost alumni support. Attendance data shows a steady decline from Schwartzwalder's last winning season (1970) through Mac's first winning season (1983). Maloney was at the helm for more than half of those years. (There was a big jump in attendance when the Dome opened in 1980, but even after that, the losses and downward attendance trend continued until we became a winning program again under Mac.)

The thing you really lose out on during the non-winning years are not the bandwagon jumpers (they go away and come back with ease depending on if you win or lose), it is the students who become die-hard alumni supporters. If you were a freshman in 1969 or a senior in 1985, your team had a losing record over the course of your four years. You didn't dedicate yourself , as a student looking for the full college experience when your team was going 2-9, 2-9 ('73, '74). You missed out on the thrill and joy experienced by the class of '59, '60, or '61. How great was it to be an SU student during that period.

If you were a student during the Maloney era, you looked for fun in places other than Archbold Stadium. Those kids that went to SU in 1974, didn't go to games in '74 and they didn't come back on their 10 year reunion in '83 and go to a game and they didn't come back in '93 or '03. Winning football was not a part of their experience.

I'm sure there are some die-hard fans on this board that graduated in the '70s or early '80s but there are not enough of you because your classmates never experienced winning football. I bet the clas of '61 is one of the strongest group of SU football fans because they saw big wins every Saturday when they went to school.

For comparison, why does Penn St get 100,000 fans every game and we can't draw 50,000...no losing era, no Maloney. From World War II to 2003, a Penn State student never experienced a losing program.

We lost 15 years of potential great alumni, die-hard football fans from class of '73-'85 and free tickets won't bring them back...but it could introduce current SU students to an exiting college experience they won't forget for the rest of their lives. Make them fans now and they will carry this program for the next 30 years.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I must be the exception to the rule. Graduated from SU in 1985 (saw Coach Mac's 1st 4 seasons). Life long CNY resident who started attending games in 1971 (saw Coach Ben's last 3 seasons).

Yet I'm still here.

Maybe everyone else knew something I didn't.

 

[OrangeAl]

Nice off-the-top-of-your-head theory. Got any data to back it up?
By the way, I was a student from 1972 through 1977 in the transition from Ben to Maloney. The team sucked for much of that time, but I was (am) hooked on SU football. They were just simply my team.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I was in grad school at Syracuse during the Maloney years. It was painful, but I attended virtually every home game. But like you said, I probably didn't have much company.

 

[Skinny.Atlas]

I got the attendance data off the wikipedia section on SU football. Team records are there too. It is an easy trend to spot when you look at attendance and record together. Of course here are die hards from the maloney era too, just not as many as there could have been. Imagine what attendance would be like if a all of those alumni (73-85) had a winning team to fall in love with when they were on campus.

I have great respect who went to SU in that era and is a diehard today. Individually you are probably as good as it gets.

 

[hungrychuck]

Also went to SU during the Frank era. Maybe this is an outdated notion, but never considered fandom to be contingent on whether they won or not. FWIW, the Orangemen didn't go out that badly my senior year, at 7-5 with a bowl win despite not having any true home games. Not a bad team to watch, with Bill Hurley, Joe Morris and Art Monk on O.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

What about those of who went to school/lived in the area during the G-Rob era? Pretty similar attendance killer.

 

[OrangeAl]

I got the attendance data off the wikipedia section on SU football. Team records are there too. It is an easy trend to spot when you look at attendance and record together.

The interesting data would be the class affiliations of current SU alumni season ticket holders.

 

[OrangeMojo]

The interesting data would be the class affiliations of current SU alumni season ticket holders.

I'm just guessing, but I would think that would skew much more toward the older alums as they graduated before the big southern population shift started and were more likely to remain/settle in the local area.

 

[dash-30-dash]

Frank Maloney was twice the caoch g-rob was. I am a '78 grad. It was next to impossible to recruit with our old stadium.

 

[SmilinBob]

I'm sure it is part of the problem but there really isn't any ONE thing that causes attendance issues but losing is usually #1. Funny that the two worst times attendance wise are from coaches that were not from the east.

 

[CuseCrew08]

What about those of who went to school/lived in the area during the G-Rob era? Pretty similar attendance killer.

My freshman year was Coach P's final year, we went 6-6 with that embarrasing Champ Sports Bowl loss. I followed the boards back then too, weighing the pros and cons of Grob, Locksley, and others. Had we known what the next three years would bring...

As a student athlete we got our tickets for free, they weren't in the student section which is a bummer, but I was a poor college student. Every year I would psych myself up that we had finally turned the corner to having a competitive team only to get let down. My roomates and I maybe went to 1-2 games a year my Junior and Senior year ('07-'08). I love watching football, but the incompetence (on offense mostly) made it impossible to enjoy the games.

What I wouldn't give to have this current team when I was an undergrad...

 

[stuckinbig11]

I got the attendance data off the wikipedia section on SU football. Team records are there too. It is an easy trend to spot when you look at attendance and record together. Of course here are die hards from the maloney era too, just not as many as there could have been. Imagine what attendance would be like if a all of those alumni (73-85) had a winning team to fall in love with when they were on campus.

I have great respect who went to SU in that era and is a diehard today. Individually you are probably as good as it gets.

You used the data to show correlation, not causation. For the record, I sat through all the Maloney years also.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

If you were a freshman in 1969 or a senior in 1985, your team had a losing record over the course of your four years. You didn't dedicate yourself , as a student looking for the full college experience when your team was going 2-9, 2-9 ('73, '74). You missed out on the thrill and joy experienced by the class of '59, '60, or '61. How great was it to be an SU student during that period.

I was a freshman in 1969 and it did suck to sit in puddles on the concrete steps in Archbold and watch us run up the middle on 4th and long and lose game after game throughout my undergrad years. Grad school years weren't any better. I did it though and never missed a game even when I had the flu. That was sure fun.

Honestly though, I did it because I was a townie who was raised as an SU fan even before I became a student (as my avitar shows). I didn't do it for "a full college experience" and my friends who never went to a game probably didn't equate football to a full college experience anyway. Sleeping with more coeds >Ben going to bowls. By a factor of 1000x

 

[All4SU]

What we lost in attendance during the Maloney era,

We lost 15 years of potential great alumni, die-hard football fans from class of '73-'85 and free tickets won't bring them back...but it could introduce current SU students to an exiting college experience they won't forget for the rest of their lives. Make them fans now and they will carry this program for the next 30 years.

Hey, you didn't have to sit through the Clarence "Biggie" Munn/Reaves Baysinger years.

 

[All4SU]

Sleeping with more coeds >Ben going to bowls. By a factor of 1000x

Really depends on the coed and the bowl.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Hey, you didn't have to sit through the Clarence "Biggie" Munn/Reaves Baysinger years.

LOL. Well done

BTW, Biggie is huge out here in mid-Michigan

 

[Scooch]

I don't understand this theory at all, attendance at Archbold was never even close to the attendance we had in the Dome in the late 80s and 90s.

 

[CusefanATL]

'92 avg'd 49,500... didnt have a single game with less than 48,500.

 

[OrangeAl]

'92 avg'd 49,500... didnt have a single game with less than 48,500.

Ah, for a return to the Pasqualoni years!

 

[OrangeMojo]

Ah, for a return to the Pasqualoni years!

yeah - after 4 games their board already looks like the SU board does/did whenever he comes up with fans calling for his head and others defending his overall coaching record - it's like stroll down memory lane

 

[Marion202]

For years Rutgers had the worst attendance. There were more people in the parking lot than in the stadium. With the Schiano era that all changed and the stadium has been full for the SU games I've attended there. This despite decades of poor won/loss record.

 

[bevosu]

Nice off-the-top-of-your-head theory. Got any data to back it up?
By the way, I was a student from 1972 through 1977 in the transition from Ben to Maloney. The team sucked for much of that time, but I was (am) hooked on SU football. They were just simply my team.

Exact same years at SU..went to Archbold and soaked my butt. But I was a fan even before I got to SU. Some people follow sports as a youngster and it usually sticks with them...some don't.

I'm sure all of us had friends in elementary school through high school who didn't care or know much of anything about baseball/football/basketball. I went to 2 different high schools and I can say most of the males really didn't follow sports all that closely. I don't think that was or is an anomaly.

Can't discount a winning team and the effect it has on student interest though..our BB team is an example.

 

[orangecuse]

'92 avg'd 49,500... didnt have a single game with less than 48,500.

My God how the Dome was rockin back then! I don't think I've ever heard the Dome louder than in '91 when Kirby Dar Dar took that opening kickoff and ran it back for a TD...that, and the ensuing crushing victory over the Gators was one of my most memorable SU moments I've ever attended.

 

[Scooch]

My God how the Dome was rockin back then! I don't think I've ever heard the Dome louder than in '91 when Kirby Dar Dar took that opening kickoff and ran it back for a TD...that, and the ensuing crushing victory over the Gators was one of my most memorable SU moments I've ever attended.

Let's not be totally revisionist... the 1991 home opener was against Vanderbilt and we had a robust 36,000 in attendance that day.

There have been VERY few years when we had consistent 47K+ crowds for every game.