We have been bad for a decade if not horrible. I think it is going to take sometime to rebuild the fan base and get people talking about SU. I like the fact that we are playing teams that are considered part of the top tier teams in football. If you say "USC, Missou, Minnesota, etc..." people know those teams. They are talked about on ESPN and other outlets etc.. When you talk about "Howard, Richmond, New Hampshire, etc... those teams are not in the conversation.
We need to string together a few .500% plus seasons to start rebuilding that fan base.
I don't know if we will ever be able to have a huge fan base like other schools. With the political decisions of the state, the economy, and the loss of manufacturing, people are fleeing the area for higher ground.
For example:
NYS adjusted teacher retirement packages this year. When the state does this they always offer an early incentive to get the older teachers to retire so they can lock in young teachers and pay them less with fewer benefits. I applied in every district from the southern Tier to Jefferson county for a teaching job, and I cannot tell you how many letters I got stating that I was very highly qualified and how much they were impressed, but, due to the loss of population, they were not going to fill any positions. So instead of having two first grades they were going to have one. This has happened in district after district and not just in poor or rural districts. Students are not there which means parents are not there. People are moving South away from the huge taxes and lack of industry of NYS to where there are lower taxes and more industry.
Personally, I did not want to leave the area and had to come to FL to get a job. The difference between the Mac and P years and now is huge. There is just not the potential for a huge fan base in the area as their was in the past. You have to also factor in the fact that much of the population that is left are either elderly, below the poverty line, or not involved in athletics in general (Could care less about sports and would rather rake their lawn than go to a Super Bowl game if given free tickets and all expense trip.) Families with school aged children are more likely going to have their children play some kind of sport. Families who are involved in sports are more likely to attend sporting events as a source of entertainment. A good percentage of those people have left the area and many families are below the poverty line and cannot afford to attend such events.
If we also add to the fact that SU is an elite school and extremely hard for many outside certain populations to get into/afford, you also lower your potential fan base when you compare it to a state school that has a huge student body and is much easier to get into/afford. More students=more alum, more alum=more SU families, more SU families=more fans which = more legacy students and more donors. Growing up in the deep South, I cannot tell you how many people I knew attended a university of which had been attended by multiple generations of immediate and extended family members. I have always wondered why NYS being such a large state had never had one SUNY be able to stand up as the big state school, i.e. PSU, Ohio U., U of KY, etc...
IMHO the only way to change this is to win, win, then win some more. We have to also become a brand that people want to participate with. The ACC jump is going to pay dividends by putting us in a market which is generally in the discussion when major college athletics is talked about. Records might show that the BE has been a more successful conference than the ACC, but it has always been discussed in the national media as "the other". The BE has been given just a bit more respect when compared to CUSA's, MWC's, and MAC's of the world.
It is going to take a lot of work to get to where we all want to be. I personally think that DG is doing an exceptional job and his managing of the sports program has possible been the best ever in the history of the university when you consider the program as a whole and not just bball or fball. We are on the right track.
SIDE NOTE WARING: If he brings back men's baseball and wrestling and starts a men's hockey team, I will write letter after letter to have his salary raised and send 10 dollars a month to support it. Unfortunately the pendulum always swings to far right or left and the loss of these sports is a result of that. I know there has been a push to remove men's fball and bball because they provide the majority of the funds for the athletic department. Men's sports have 7 teams sports 5 when bball and fball are removed, women have 11 sports. If you remove these two sports at SU, men sports are not equally represented and therefore not in compliance of title IX which calls for "equal representation of men's and woman's sports".
I am so glad to be an Orangeman!
Mem
