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Message: [QUOTE="A Clockwork Orange, post: 1132865, member: 16"] No criticism from me CO! You're stating your opinion, one that is just as valid as mine. Just for some background for you so you know where I'm coming from -- I'm a local who is also an alum. Moved away five years ago for better career opportunities down south. I hope that I see it from both points of view. The team is as much the locals as it is the alums. The diehards like yourself have never been the problem. You bleed orange and back it up. My concern is that there are a lot of locals who don't really care about the team at all. Growing up I always looked at SU's sports teams as an extension of how the region was perceived nationally. I had pride in those sports teams, because they in part represented me and my area to the world at large in a way that nothing else in central New York could. I have the same feeling as an alum of the university as well. As I said above, I wonder (and have always wondered even as that local guy years ago) why certain segments of our area didn't care about SU sports, and in some cases outright rooted for them to not do well. It always seemed strange to me, as I think the university and the sports teams should be a huge part of our collective civic pride. Part of this I think is on SU. I don't think they've ever truly tried to be a university that was deeply embedded in the area. They have never marketed the area well, and tried to move beyond the "school on the hill." They need to do more outreach, and hopefully coach Shafer, a truer central New Yorker (without being born there) than I've ever seen, will be able to help with that. So my answer to "skin in the game" is that I think locals have (or should have) just as much skin in the game, because SU should be "our team." They are nearby, and play sports at a high level. Proximity and success should energize the fan base in CNY. We have those local diehards here on the forum -- the problem is we need more of them. I try not to throw stones, and I'm not throwing them here. I'm simply stating a fact that drawing an audience from your back yard may be easier than trying to draw an audience that's six hours away (regardless of whether they're alums or not). When I moved to Virginia I said "I'll be back for a minimum of three games a year!" And dammit, some day I'll do that. But life gets in the way, especially when it's a 7 1/2 hour drive one way to turn around on Sunday drive back, and be up in time for work on Monday. I know there are people that do that, and God bless them. Until you're in an ex-pats shoes though, I guess it's easy to say that those alums who live outside of a three hour radius should have "skin in the game" when it's infinitely harder and more expensive to go back for many games a year, than it is for people that live 15 minutes away. It's simple to say "YOU SHOULD JUST DO IT!" I have a life. A life that revolves around the SU football calendar, but one that also bears a responsibility in raising a child and providing for a family. I can't go to every game. It's not a four hour commitment, it's at least a 48 hour commitment, six times a year. I should NEVER be the target demographic for SU. The locals, the folks within an hour of the dome should be. And those alums that live nearer to central New York. You don't build a fanbase by promoting yourselves to people six hours away. It's not sustainable, and will never pay serious dividends. [/QUOTE]

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