DeSmetBilliken Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Excellent article by Stu on student attendance. While it largely deals with student attendance, it also has a section on the lack of excitement shown by the rest of the crowd at Savvis. All in all, a very good and informative read. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...tudent+fan+base Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Good article by Stu It is good to see the expectations for student and fan support for SLU rise. 15 years ago the crowds we see nowadays were the best we could get and now we call these mediocre. As a kid in the mid 80s there were usually not 1000 people at the games. During the Bonner runs Kiel got 9,000 a couple times and I thought that was fantastic. Savvis just does not have a good atmosphere for games. I remember the packed crowds we had at the arena, now those were some real crowds and the students came out in droves. As soon as we moved to Savvis the mood changed. There were still alot of people their for awhile but there wasn't the energy that arena had. Until we get a new arena that has the seats on top of the court and not a mile away I don't think we will see much of a change. We will be seeing more and more people at the games though. There is definetely a vibe in the city about the Billikens we should have some 15,000 crowds before the end of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Very well done by Stu. Interesting to see that the high of slu studentseason tix wasn't really that high, only about 1,100 and down to 350 last season and 600 now. I bet 1/2 of those 600 aren't used on a regular basis. Also, Stu doesn't mention the type of activity that Tom Crean at Marquette did for the general students occuring at SLU. Crean held regular informal conversations with students and really focused on getting the students involved. SLU seems (according to article) only to have offered events to BlueCrew members. I mentioned this problem a while back, nice to see that I wasn't the only one who saw this situation as a problem (and its easily fixable if you keep the busses running throughout the game) "It turns into an all-night event," student Luke Krispinsky said. "If you have homework and stuff, it's a three- or 3 1/2-hour thing. If you wanted to leave at halftime, you can't do that." All in all, nice job Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 That's a great article, and it should be a call to action for ALL OF US, and not just the students. Bring a group of friends to an upcoming game, maybe reconnect with some of your former classmates. MAKE SOME NOISE! We have too many season ticket holders who sit on their hands and only cheer when mini-basketballs are being thrown their way. We all have to do our part as well to create the kind of atmosphere that we want. I think the Blue Crew is doing a great job, and I love their enthusiasm. If the Blue Crew would have existed when I was in college, I definitely would have been a member. You guys rock! I hope that the administration/athletic department will be more aggressive in its efforts to lure more students to the games. The students are the season ticket holders of the future, and by creating fun and exciting experiences for them now will make them more likely to come back and support the school and the basketball program as alumni. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 One thing that jumped out at me was the statistic that 3,500 SLU students live on campus (constituting about 50% of SLU's undergrads) while 7,500 Marquette students live on campus. According to Marquette's website, Marquette has 7,600 undergraduate students. Assuming that the majority of grad students live off campus, Stu's statistics suggest that over 90% of Marquette's students live on campus. I did a little research that indicated the Marquette statistics were way off. According to Princeton Review's college overview, 54% of Marquette undergrads live on campus. My math isn't great, but I think that means about 4,100 Marquette undergrads live on campus. Stu, where did you information come from? The reason I raise these questions is because the article insinuated that it wasn't fair to compare Marquette and SLU due to the discrepancy in the number of undergrads living on-campus. In reality, I think Marquette and SLU are very similar situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 That figure of 3,500 students living on campus is misleading and incorrect. According to the SLU web site, the university has a total of 7,178 undergraduates, 85% of which live on or near campus, which brings the total to a much more realistic figure of about 6,100. One thing to remember is that many students choose to live in the Coronado Building and Lindell Towers, which for those who don't know are two large apartment developments just across the street from SLU. Since students who live in these buildings are not officially living on campus, they are designated as commuter students by SLU. I would argue that for a student in the John Cook School of Business, living in the Coronado is closer to the business school than any on campus housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 my son recently took his official visit to slu and during the first presentation, we were told that 85% of the undergrads live on campus as well. the whole point was to illustrate how much the school has gotten away from being a commuter school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUBALLS Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Another solid year for soccer attendance: 2003 NCAA Div. I Men's Average Attendance School Games Total Avg. 1) Saint Louis 9 25,017 2,779 2) Connecticut 11 25,697 2,336 3) Wake Forest 11 23,611 2,146 4) Indiana 13 25,590 2,045 5) North Carolina 7 14,283 2,040 6) Maryland 15 27,585 1,839 7) Virginia 13 22,156 1,704 8) New Mexico 7 11,902 1,700 9) Fresno St. 7 10,796 1,542 10) Louisville 9 12,415 1,379 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 one of my buddies that is a Wisconsin alum says that its not really safe to walk from Campus to the Bradley Center as the article suggests. B-Law any comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUBALLS Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 There was a mention on how the on-campus field has helped SLU soccer attendance and in light of the arena coming to campus, the same could happen for student attendance at b-ball games. Just following up with that thought. Don't worry...not trying to hijack the thread. From the article: "One theory suggests the answer is having an arena within walking distance of student housing. SLU has an enrollment of 11,274 students, of which 3,500 live on campus. The men's soccer team has benefited since relocating its home games from the Soccer Park in west St. Louis County to Robert R. Hermann Stadium on campus. Student attendance jumped to 425 per game after the stadium opened in 1999." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Yeah, you might run into library patrons near the Milwaukee public library. And don't get me started on all the lawyers and the insure adjusters you might run into walking past the courthouse and insurance companies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 I don't understand why Stu used the total university enrollment (including medical, law, graduate, and adult-oriented night programs). The analysis should focus on undergraduate students. It is unrealistic to expect many graduate students--who have different responsibilities, collegiate loyalties, and interests--to hang out with the Blue Crew at SLU games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Wow, I think SLU Mens Basketball had one game a few years back with more attendance than the Soccer Bills had all year.....interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Perhaps it's because the aforementioned graduate students and night adult students all have the same opportunity to purchase or acquire the kind of ticket packages the undergrad students can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Yeah, Rich, you're a bitter man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 I'm sorry Thicks. I knewed I shouldn'ta done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 It is a theory versus reality arugment. The theory is that every student, regardless of educational level, should take an interest in his or her schoool's athletic team. The reality is that graduate students are more likely to follow their undergraduate school's athletic programs than their graduate school's program. (Even the fanatical basketball fan gruadate students like B-Law typically favor their undergrad program.) I don't dispute that the graduate students at SLU have an opportunity to purchase "student" season tickets, but the administration and Stu are mistaken if they are expecting much attendance from graduate students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUbasketball924 Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 >The reason I raise these questions is because the article >insinuated that it wasn't fair to compare Marquette and SLU >due to the discrepancy in the number of undergrads living >on-campus. In reality, I think Marquette and SLU are very >similar situations. Just thought I'd try to help clear this up a bit. According to the Marquette ORL: 3200 students in Res Halls + 1000 students in Univ. Apartments= about 4200 students who live "on campus" This is kind of a distorted figure though, because the University only counts students who live in University-owned buildings as living "on campus". In reality, many students live in apartments in houses which are in the middle of many University buildings (and closer to the middle of campus than many Res Halls) but are considered "off campus". So, although the facts given (90%) are probably a bit misleading, so are the University's figures. Also... My cousin at SLU is a member of the Blue Crew, and we've had many heated discussions about the fans at our respective schools. As a Marquette student, I have to say that the participation of Tom Crean, and to a lesser extent the players, has by far been the biggest factor in building such a large student fan base. Besides the things mentioned in the article, Crean is constantly showing up at University events which aren't related to basketball, and he and players are also often seen at other university sporting events cheering on the team. He even bought doughnuts and distributed them to fans waiting in line outside last spring before the Louisville game. At the end of every school year, there is also a huge fan appreciation picnic where students (and the public) can get autographs and pictures and basically just hang out wtih Crean and the players (see link). And above all, Crean CONSTANTLY emphasizes the role of the student fans in the success of the team (the student section is introduced as the 6th player during intros at the beginning of games). Above all though, it seems that SLU (as a university) needs to look at what will make students more likely to come to games, and then cater to those needs feverishly. [http://www.gomarquette.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=4751] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 MUBasketball - all the points you made about Crean and MU hyping the team is important. Everyone on this board would agree that the AD Dept has not done a good job of marketing the program to students. Truly a weak area - lots of lipservice but not much substance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Marketing period sucks. For students and the populationa as a whole. Remember the "Pitino is coming" billboards? Pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.