Stop blaming the fans for attendance

[Millhouse]

100% You can't make it any clearer than you have, IMO.

As he stated himself earlier in this thread; "for the most part, people decide to do (or not do, or believe or not believe)." This, obviously, includes himself.

I had to Google if shaw was even alive.

Bill polian yelled at fans to get out of town and we all said haha whatever go bills

 

[Reyes39]

I think the conditions that led to the programs success 87-01 are difficult to replicate now. Coach P (and DeLeone) stayed at Syracuse and pretty much had NJ recruits to themselves.

In today's world Cuse can certainly get a HC but if he's very good he will leave quickly which forces the admin to keep hitting on hires.

I think Millhouse was the one that said just hire a coach who wants to throw 50 times. Cuse plays in a Dome and I think a "gimmick" offense is probably the best thing for the program to do.

I thought that was what we were getting with Dino and the whole "Orange is the new fast"

 

[Scooch]

Well, if you're "defending" SU fans, why do you keep criticizing them for having found other interests in the last 20 years, and calling them babies for not liking when the University took to the newspapers to trash their own customers?

I'm not defending them for finding other things to do, and I'm not criticizing them for being upset when Buzz made those comments.

ALL I was saying is that if someone is literally holding on to those comments, 20 years later, as some kind of rationalization for not being an SU fan, I find that pretty ridiculous. There's lots of other, very legitimate, things that have transpired in the 2 decades since that are plenty reasonable for someone to not attend games.

I mean, just this past winter the Red Sox owner held a now infamous town hall where he made a bunch of comments that were taken as HIGHLY fan unfriendly. I guess I could have sworn off the Sox after that. And I would understand if someone did. But I'd be a bit less forgiving if someone said in 2043 that was why they don't go to Fenway Park anymore. Especially if the team was on their 2nd ownership group, 3rd GM, and 4th manager since the comments were made.

 

[Scooch]

I think a lot of people who are hard-core fans turned against Boeheim 2 or 3 years before he finally left.

OK. And the team has led the country in attendance for 3 of the past 4 years.

SU fans are pretty great, all things considered.

 

[David321]

Fans who are within driving distance should support the program no matter what.

At the same time, getting blown out three weeks in a row on national television will not bring in the nacho loving, walking up and down the aisles constantly casuals.

 

[Scooch]

Fans who are within driving distance should support the program no matter what.

At the same time, getting blown out three weeks in a row on national television will not bring in the nacho loving, walking up and down the aisles constantly casuals.

That's just not realistic at all. Even the most avid of fans have lives. No one should be expected to attend "no matter what".

Hell, I live within a drive of my hometown, which just so happens to be the home of the Patriots. There was absolutely no way I could have made 8 home games a year between 2001 and 2019, when they were a freaking dynasty. I was lucky to get to 1 or 2 a year, for all sorts of legitimate reasons.

*edit* Again, look at the math. The Pats play in a 68K seat stadium, which is all of 18K seats bigger than the Dome. Meanwhile, the Pats play in a region where there are millions of people within a 3 hour drive. SU's drivable market doesn't even remotely compare. So when I can't make 6-7 Pats game a season there are likely hundreds of thousands of fans who can take my place. SU? Closer to hundreds than hundreds of thousands.

 

[David321]

That's just not realistic at all. Even the most avid of fans have lives. No one should be expected to attend "no matter what".

Hell, I live within a drive of my hometown, which just so happens to be the home of the Patriots. There was absolutely no way I could have made 8 home games a year between 2001 and 2019, when they were a freaking dynasty. I was lucky to get to 1 or 2 a year, for all sorts of legitimate reasons.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. I have a “life” and go very out of my way, using time from work, while sleep deprived to go to every single game. It’s a matter of how much you want it imo.

 

[Scooch]

Where there’s a will there’s a way. I have a “life” and go very out of my way, using time from work, while sleep deprived to go to every single game. It’s a matter of how much you want it imo.

Stop. Do you have kids? Care for elderly parents?

 

[David321]

Stop. Do you have kids? Care for elderly parents?

Yes I have kids. There always a reason to not go. I’m not criticizing you personally take it easy.

 

[IthacaMatt]

But I just don't think they're displacing WNYers at the games

I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying that people who might have bought a ticket to SU vs. [Reasonably Good Opponent] are choosing to drive to Buffalo, instead, to catch a Bills game.

Not 20,000 per game, but those 20,000 fans, who among them might come to 2 or 3 SU games per year. Those fans. Those fans are happier to go to Bills games now. It's less hassle, it's more fun, it's more competitive, it's a better product.

Not very many Buffalo people used to come to the Dome (we've seen from recruiting over the years that Buffalo itself feels more like Pittsburgh than Syracuse). I'm not suggesting those are the "lost fans" at all. It's CNY'ers who would rather drive to a better game experience for their one or two "in person" games per yer.

 

[Scooch]

Yes I have kids. There always a reason to not go. I’m not criticizing you personally take it easy.

I didn't say you were. I just think your expectation is nuts.

I hope you don't miss anything important for your kids to see SU play Wagner. Life is too short, man.

 

[IthacaMatt]

OK. And the team has led the country in attendance for 3 of the past 4 years.

SU fans are pretty great, all things considered.

Lowest attendance in 20 years, too.
Both things can be true at the same time.
I've kind of lost track of what point you were making, to be honest.

 

[David321]

I didn't say you were. I just think your expectation is nuts.

I hope you don't miss anything important for your kids to see SU play Wagner. Life is too short, man.

So you’re essentially advocating for fans to not go to all the games? Give me a break. Maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time on this forum then.. because life’s to short.

 

[Bayside44]

So you’re essentially advocating for fans to not go to all the games? Give me a break. Maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time on this forum then.. because life’s to short.

Yikes.

 

[David321]

Yikes.

No yikes for the guy insinuating I’m not spending time with my kids? Okay.

 

[Scooch]

So you’re essentially advocating for fans to not go to all the games? Give me a break. Maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time on this forum then.. because life’s to short.

Holy crap, dude. I'm saying that not everyone is you, and saying that they have no excuse but to attend every game is crazytown.

 

[Cuse181]

Yikes.

The gate keeping is strong with that one

 

[OrangeDW]

But how did the team get so bad? How did they put themselves in a position to be unable to win more games in 2019? Perhaps if the fan base had not abandoned the team in the early and mid 2000s Syracuse would've been a more attractive place to place to play and they would've been able to afford better facilities before it was forced upon them. Unfortunately since money runs the sport it is not as simple as "put out a better product" a better product isn't free. All those "well im not coming back till they're ranked" fans essnetially doom the team to constantly be stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. Nebraska invests millions a year and has a rabid fanbase and they still cant compete because it is so difficult to do so. 7-8 wins on average is doable with syracuse's current status, anything more than that takes significant work on all sides.

Riiight. It was primarily the attendance dropping for 6 games a year, and not missing the cut for the original early 2000’s ACC invite that hurt the program’s money for facilities.

 

[Cuse181]

Riiight. It was primarily the attendance dropping for 6 games a year, and not missing the cut for the original early 2000’s ACC invite that hurt the program’s money for facilities.

Oh, context is fun... I wasn't saying that IS what happened. We were in the midst of the chicken or the egg argument, and we discussed how poor play could factor in so I brought up how poor fan support could've played the driving role.

Not every post is made in isolation.

 

[OrangeDW]

 

[oldpinepoint]

So you’re essentially advocating for fans to not go to all the games? Give me a break. Maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time on this forum then.. because life’s to short.

Go see my post, if it makes me a crappy fan I’m ok with that

 

[OrangeDW]

Where there’s a will there’s a way. I have a “life” and go very out of my way, using time from work, while sleep deprived to go to every single game. It’s a matter of how much you want it imo.

What fans though? Every fan? Some people are casual fans where they want Syracuse to win and will check the scores, but will only watch on TV if there’s nothing better going on and will only go on special occasions for a day out.

Some are diehards and won’t miss a play of a game.

Many are somewhere in the middle of those extremes.

Are you going to every basketball game this year?

 

[UBSU]

Please cite a program with hung ho fan support in the face of 18-41 soon to be 18-42?

Nebraska

Maybe not that exact record, but they have been irrelevant since the Tom Osborne and more recently since Bo Pelini era. The program sunk 10x the amount of money into the program vs. Syracuse trying to get back to relevance. They went after Scott Frost from UCF who was supposed to bring the program back -and got 4.5 losing seasons in a row. No bowls... Yet they sellout every home game regardless of that losing record.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Where there’s a will there’s a way. I have a “life” and go very out of my way, using time from work, while sleep deprived to go to every single game. It’s a matter of how much you want it imo.

Didn't you just become a Syracuse fan a couple of years ago (which is great)? Are you from the 315 region too?

 

[dasher]

Maloney got canned after 7 seasons and 3 were winning, and took over after Ben went 2-9. Dino should be gone now. Let Rocky and Beck be Associate head coaches for rest of year, to see if they can turn things around.

at 4-2? We would be a bigger joke than we currently are.