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[QUOTE="Scooch, post: 1090026, member: 628"]
I was just reading a great piece about the decline of playground basketball, and this bit about Rucker Park caught my eye:

[I][B]In an age when virtually every NBA and college game is on television, when players are brands as much as people, folks don't come out unless they think it's worth their while.

"When James Harden played here last year, in five minutes, it's around the city and you couldn't move," said Dee Lancaster, who coached Harden in that game last year.

But what if it's just Brandon Whitaker, a local kid about to enter his senior year at Division II Concordia taking on the man known as The General, the two-time tourney MVP for Sean Bell?

Why isn't that enough?

Why isn't a good game on a warm but comfortable Wednesday night in July, on the fabled Rucker Park court, enough?

"It didn't used to matter how hot it was or who was playing; the place was packed," Marius said. "Now it's, 'Oh, it's hot,' or 'Who's coming?' or whatever. They only come out if it's a big name. I don't know. I don't know where basketball is going. In 20 years, Rucker will still be here. My kids can take over. But I'm not sure what it will be."[/B]

[url]http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11216972/playground-basketball-dying[/url]
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It's interesting to see that "attendance" issues do not just plague the SU student section, or SU football in general, or college football, or pro sports... it's something that is an issue for all sporting events of all kinds.  The prevalence of sports on TV and online has put a lot of pressure on game attendance, and the expectation people have for what makes a game worthy of attending.
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