One Sour Note About The 90th Win... | The Boneyard

One Sour Note About The 90th Win...

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all the empty seats.

You'd think all you so-called fans would be there to cheer the girls on for something so tremendous. And it is pretty tremendous. The biggest thing in college and maybe pro sports in history. Or maybe just one of the biggest things.

It kills me to see their home games with such sparse attendance but it happens all the time. I only had one chance to see them and I drove about 400 miles to do it.

You guys are taking them for granted.

I don't want to hear all the excuses- "Oh, the traffic's too bad", "Oh, there's no parking there" etc, etc, etc.

You guys need to suck it up and do some sacrificing (like the players do).

I'll be like Geno and tell it like it is- "get your butts there and support them the rest of this season! I don't wanna see no empty seats again!".


OK...I'm done. :)
 

CBear01

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all the empty seats.

"Well, on Tuesday night as the top-ranked Huskies crushed No. 20 South Florida 102-37 for record-tying win No. 90 in a row before a season-high crowd of 10,109 at the XL Center, Auriemma got the message loud and clear about what a big deal it was to his players as they set a program record for largest margin of victory over a team ranked in the Associated Press poll."

UConn women’s basketball wins 90th straight game, ties own NCAA record

Sparce attendance? I think not :p
 
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It was filled to about 60% of capacity. While it may have been the largest crowd for a home game this year it is an underwhelming response.
 
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We had at least 50 from the, "UConn Sports Club" of the Villages at Gators of Brownwood a local sports bar.
 
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The marginal attendance levels at Gampel and XL have been a head-scratcher for me, too. If I lived in the Hartford area, I'd be at every game. It doesn't help that there seems to be no way to buy decent seats except for on StubHub, and that you get to your nosebleeds only to see umpteen empty good seats that you would have paid a lot more for. I've given up on trying to understand their strategy for filling these facilities for games, if they even have one.

I noticed in the USF presser Geno's comments about how television does not to Gabby justice, and that if you haven't seen her play in person, you're really missing out. It's clearly a point of emphasis for him, as he occasionally addresses it in one way or another. But nothing ever seems to change.
 
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I share some of your thoughts, Striper69: I always think that physical attendance is a reflection of "team spirit." But I also feel I'm sometimes wrong to think that. Fact is, the world is changing. We get movies on demand, so why schlep to the theater? Football is essentially a TV sport now.

Large scale communal sporting event attendance is something of a 20th century phenomenon (and ancient Greek and Roman; also at Renaissance fairs, I imagine) that's being eroded by mass communication and so many conflicting demands on time. So, maybe it's not right any longer to judge a fan base by its physical attendance at games. The type of communication that we're practicing right now on the BY is a perfect example of a different type of symbol of fan loyalty.
 
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A lot of UConn fans are essentially TV fans. MY uncle was a great fan into his 90s and I don't think he ever saw a game live. He bought a bigger TV just for the games though!
I could have gone to the game. But I just don't like driving into Hartford, a little over an hour away. The driving, the parking and the expense on a weekday night all kept me home in front of the TV. I will attend 5 or more games at Gampel though. I think we have hashed out some of our problems and suggestions to boost in-person attendance before. Still, over 10,000 people coming out to watch on a winter weeknight and many, many more in front of their TVs is not bad!
 

Oldbones

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all the empty seats.

I'll be like Geno and tell it like it is- "get your butts there and support them the rest of this season! I don't wanna see no empty seats again!".


OK...I'm done. :)
Good morning Striper69. If you are class of 69, then you are approaching 70 years old, based on being 22-23 when you graduated. That makes you median-aged for this group, based our recent survey.

Unless you are particularly blessed by God and nature, you will soon find the long car (often snowy or icy) drive, both ways in the dark, the many steps, the experience-driven reluctance to drink anything, even water, in the hours leading up to and during the game, lest game-time be spent revisiting the stairs and bathroom multiple times, the high up seats that challenge eyesight, the uncomfortable seats, often without backs, and the arena food that plays havoc with your gradually failing body. I attended three games last year and one so far this year, thanks to my daughter, who drove me. I appreciate her "sacrifice. " While my preference is to be there at the game despite issues, the scales are gradually tilting for me, and for others in the other direction.

You may also get a hint about this group by their names or comments, suggesting residence in Missouri, Arizona, Florida, California, Colorado, Virginia, and many other outlying places, and their absolute joy when the Greatest Show on Earth comes within a long car ride of their homes, and they are finally able to attend a game.

There also many Boneyarders who attend regularly, and others who virtually travel with the team. They would be your choir.

I am sure that we all appreciate and agree with your passion on this subject, and I plead guilty to excuse-mongering.
 
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This senior citizen, who by the way is still working FULL TIME, graveyard shift, is a previous season ticket holder for many years, finds it too demanding to work the night before the game, catch a couple hours of sleep, drive to Hartford or Storrs from the New Haven area, and then drive BACK to go to work for midnight and work an eight hour shift. After not being able to attend several games last year because of these circumstances (I gave the tickets away) we did not renew this year. We still attend the games that fit into my work schedule. That doesn't mean we don't love or support our team any less.
 
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Seriously? I work two jobs just to make ends meet. It's a luxury if I can carve out time to *watch* a game live.

Count yourself lucky for having the time and the means to witness what seemed such a electrifying atmosphere on Tuesday night, OP.
 

UcMiami

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Freezing rain in much of CT at game time that night didn't help - winter is never exactly easy.

And as Bags27 says - for all the wonderful things CPTV did for Uconn WCBB, broadcasting every game has allowed the fan base to get lazy - we now complain more about the few games that don't get broadcast on SNY rather than the long drive times to and from Gampel. :cool:
 

JordyG

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I share some of your thoughts, Striper69: I always think that physical attendance is a reflection of "team spirit." But I also feel I'm sometimes wrong to think that. Fact is, the world is changing. We get movies on demand, so why schlep to the theater? Football is essentially a TV sport now.

Large scale communal sporting event attendance is something of a 20th century phenomenon (and ancient Greek and Roman; also at Renaissance fairs, I imagine) that's being eroded by mass communication and so many conflicting demands on time. So, maybe it's not right any longer to judge a fan base by its physical attendance at games. The type of communication that we're practicing right now on the BY is a perfect example of a different type of symbol of fan loyalty.
Once again, bags hits it on the head. I'd like to add that although a sold out arena in an all too perfect world is the ideal, the TV coverage in you living room chair gives the better angles, views and sometimes, viewpoints.
 
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all the empty seats.

You'd think all you so-called fans would be there to cheer the girls on for something so tremendous. And it is pretty tremendous. The biggest thing in college and maybe pro sports in history. Or maybe just one of the biggest things.

It kills me to see their home games with such sparse attendance but it happens all the time. I only had one chance to see them and I drove about 400 miles to do it.

You guys are taking them for granted.

I don't want to hear all the excuses- "Oh, the traffic's too bad", "Oh, there's no parking there" etc, etc, etc.

You guys need to suck it up and do some sacrificing (like the players do).

I'll be like Geno and tell it like it is- "get your butts there and support them the rest of this season! I don't wanna see no empty seats again!".


OK...I'm done. :)
Over 10,000 at game. This would be a sellout at Gampel. If this game was on a Friday or weekend it would probably would have been close to sellout. I check for tickets all the time on all the ticket sites. Very few good seats available. I refuse to sit more than 12 rows up in the upper level. Would rather watch on TV.
 
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It's a little tough getting a direct flight from Wagon Mound, New Mexico to either Hartford or Storrs. So, I guess Direct TV will have to do. Besides, the airports won't let me on airplanes anymore since I have so much titanium steel embedded that I turn on all of the alarms and scare the crap out of all the other travelers.
 

alexrgct

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Over 10,000 at game. This would be a sellout at Gampel. If this game was on a Friday or weekend it would probably would have been close to sellout. I check for tickets all the time on all the ticket sites. Very few good seats available. I refuse to sit more than 12 rows up in the upper level. Would rather watch on TV.
I'm with you. I think 10K+ attendance on a weekday in winter is very solid. Gampel gets 10,167 at capacity. XL can get more than 16,000, but 10,000+ for a WBB game on a weekday in winter is very good support for the program.
 
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I'm a season ticket holder in Hartford, and am 30 years old. So I am generally always able to make it to a game. I consider myself lucky in that fact. I actually thought there was a great crowd there. Yes, there were a lot of empty seats too, but for a Tuesday night, I thought it was good.

What i was bummed about was the 90 win posters not being distributed to my section, but what can you do. Glad i could witness history!
 
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This post is tailor-made for my long-time rant, so here goes:

I have this conviction that being the absolute best team in WCBB means you have to do things a certain way. One of those things is to ensure that when your games are televised (which is...umm....always), it does not look like a third of the fans forgot to show up.

So I agree that there should have been more people at that game. But who?

A lot of us live far away, so forget about those folks for a moment. Some of us who now live far away used to live close enough to at least get to a few games each year. Others are on fixed income and are priced out of more than a game or two each year. Still others are getting too old to want to be out at night in the winter. It's a shame, but age catches us with all of us. But these facts seem to be something the UConn Athletic Department, and their marketing geniuses, have forgotten. UConn WCBB has relied on a population on fans that is, to put it bluntly, moving out or aging out. It is also a victim of its own success at televising games.

The problem is, it appears that the UConn folks have not come up with a way -- any way -- to attract people to replace their declining audience. As a result, you look in the stands and see...a declining audience.

Until they start aggressively trying to attract kids from girls' basketball leagues and using marketing techniques -- including innovative pricing schemes -- that seem to work for other teams in other cities, they won't see many sellouts. And I know I'm dreaming about this one, but until they make it clear that being allowed to purchase lower-level seats is a privilege, and with that privilege comes the responsibility to ensure that someone's butt is in that seat, every game, the place will look less-than-full, even when it is at or near sellout levels.

Okay. I'll stop now.
 

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