Daily Campus Column: Please, stop shaming students for not going to games.

[huskymedic]

Missed this yesterday:

 

[JMick]

IMO The students at UConn are very different today than they were even 7-8 years ago. Much more studious, less outgoing, less party-centric and seem to have less school spirit. Just based on my time there and the cultural shift from 2010-2014

 

[glastonbury50]

That article is dumb. Tickets were free last night anyways. Gampel used to be a huge homecourt advantage. Not filling it up for Cincinatti a top ten team shows how far our program has dropped. If i'm not mistaken the women just sold the place out to play Tulane, a game which they won by 53 points.

 

[ct06111]

Horrible article.

 

[polycom]

IMO The students at UConn are very different today than they were even 7-8 years ago. Much more studious, less outgoing, less party-centric and seem to have less school spirit. Just based on my time there and the cultural shift from 2010-2014

Getting into UConn now is getting closer and closer to impossible. Unless you're a top student in your class in CT you aren't getting in. Hence the better education less school spirit.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Students are definitely not obligated to go to games. Students are even more definitely not immune to getting Spartacus'd on for not attending a $5 game on campus against a top 10 opponent.

 

[John]

put a compelling product on the court/field and the students will come. It's not rocket science folks.

 

[Guapo]

Oh boy, this thread will not end well...

The students do not "owe" the athletic department attendance.

It's the athletic department's job to produce a product that people want to attend.

 

[Guapo]

put a compelling product on the court/field and the students will come. It's not rocket science folks.

Right?

There is really nothing else worth saying about it.

But I'm sure some people will want hand wring about millenials or something (even though college students now aren't even millenials depending on which definition you go by)

 

[Travelman6]

Hence the better education less school spirit.

Unless you are talking about JUST Uconn not sure I buy that. Some of the crazier party schools and schools with a lot of spirit tend to be the really good schools, like the Ivys and schools like Stanford. The higher academic standards go hand in hand with students who just want to blow off steam with parties and cheering on sports teams. I had a few friends who went to Yale, Upenn, Brown, Colombia and briefly dated a girl from Cornell and the stories I heard...! At least in regards to parties. Plus other really good schools like Wisconsin, Michigan and VTech and those types.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

In my day, student section was full 20 minutes prior to most games— even at the Rent. Students had to urge the rest of the spectators to get into the game. They were knowledgeable and cared. Remember “Stand up Gampel” chants?

I’d like to say this isn’t a UConn problem but it seems pretty bad here. I was talking to a friend who teaches high school and he says the attitude towards sports with this generation is weird. It’s not cool to care about sports and the athletes are not considered popular at all.

 

[JMick]

Right?

There is really nothing else worth saying about it.

But I'm sure some people will want hand wring about millenials or something (even though college students now aren't even millenials depending on which definition you go by)

I don't think it's age related. It is a different demographic now than it used to be, though. A lot of it is due to the police and administration so I don't put all the blame on students.

 

[JMick]

Unless you are talking about JUST Uconn not sure I buy that. Some of the crazier party schools and schools with a lot of spirit tend to be the really good schools, like the Ivys and schools like Stanford. The higher academic standards go hand in hand with students who just want to blow off steam with parties and cheering on sports teams. I had a few friends who went to Yale, Upenn, Brown, Colombia and briefly dated a girl from Cornell and the stories I heard...! At least in regards to parties. Plus other really good schools like Wisconsin, Michigan and VTech and those types.

UVA is who Susan has tried to emulate & compare ourselves to and they party their behinds off.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

IMO The students at UConn are very different today than they were even 7-8 years ago. Much more studious, less outgoing, less party-centric and seem to have less school spirit. Just based on my time there and the cultural shift from 2010-2014

not for nothing, the school pretty much started to destroy the off campus huge parties starting my sophmore year 06' at Carriage and Celeron. My freshman year in 04'-05', every weekend felt like spring weekend

 

[JMick]

not for nothing, the school pretty much started to destroy the off campus huge parties starting my sophmore year 06' at Carriage and Celeron. My freshman year in 04'-05', every weekend felt like spring weekend

2010 was the last relatively good year. Carriage and Celeron were still open and there were always parties Thurs-Sat up and down hunting lodge rd. After the cancellation of spring weekend 2011 it was all gone.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

not for nothing, the school pretty much started to destroy the off campus huge parties starting my sophmore year 06' at Carriage and Celeron. My freshman year in 04'-05', every weekend felt like spring weekend

I started in Fall 05: Agree with that timeline as well.

 

[Hamms30]

not for nothing, the school pretty much started to destroy the off campus huge parties starting my sophmore year 06' at Carriage and Celeron. My freshman year in 04'-05', every weekend felt like spring weekend

+1

 

[Travelman6]

UVA is who Susan has tried to emulate & compare ourselves to and they party their behinds off.

Oh ya! I had a classmate, not a friend though, who went there. But I heard it is quite crazy.

 

[methodology]

put a compelling product on the court/field and the students will come. It's not rocket science folks.

Get rid of the stupid lottery system and go back to camping out to buy tickets that way the hardcore fans have the tickets and will attend rather than the bandwagon snowflakes

 

[superjohn]

IMO The students at UConn are very different today than they were even 7-8 years ago. Much more studious, less outgoing, less party-centric and seem to have less school spirit. Just based on my time there and the cultural shift from 2010-2014

The less school spirit part would have a ton to do with our sports teams sucking so badly, I would think.

 

[UConnDan97]

In my day, student section was full 20 minutes prior to most games— even at the Rent. Students had to urge the rest of the spectators to get into the game. They were knowledgeable and cared. Remember “Stand up Gampel” chants?

I’d like to say this isn’t a UConn problem but it seems pretty bad here. I was talking to a friend who teaches high school and he says the attitude towards sports with this generation is weird. It’s not cool to care about sports and the athletes are not considered popular at all.

This.

You're right that it's not just a UConn problem; ours is worse because of the team record, but it seems to be a general trend of the times. So weird for me to say that, since I'm only 42. People are just more disconnected now to a bunch of things, sports being one of them. They'd rather type on the phone next to Justin Timberlake at a halftime show to instantly let their friends know it's happening rather than to actually enjoy it happening, while his 50-something dad in an Eagles jersey is rockin' out and enjoying the moment (put the freakin' phone down!). I think there is a parallel between that moment and what we are seeing.

I don't know what the answer is, either. Winning will bring more back, certainly. But it won't bring back the same numbers that were there 10 or 20 years ago. I hope that trend will change in the near future...

 

[Travelman6]

They'd rather type on the phone next to Justin Timberlake at a halftime show to instantly let their friends know it's happening rather than to actually enjoy it happening, while his 50-something dad in an Eagles jersey is rockin' out and enjoying the moment (put the freakin' phone down!).

Wait, people enjoy that music?

 

[PAHusky]

This.

You're right that it's not just a UConn problem; ours is worse because of the team record, but it seems to be a general trend of the times. So weird for me to say that, since I'm only 42. People are just more disconnected now to a bunch of things, sports being one of them. They'd rather type on the phone next to Justin Timberlake at a halftime show to instantly let their friends know it's happening rather than to actually enjoy it happening, while his 50-something dad in an Eagles jersey is rockin' out and enjoying the moment (put the freakin' phone down!). I think there is a parallel between that moment and what we are seeing.

I don't know what the answer is, either. Winning will bring more back, certainly. But it won't bring back the same numbers that were there 10 or 20 years ago. I hope that trend will change in the near future...

Solid old man argument. If cell phones were as ubiquitous when you were growing up, I'm sure the same phenomenon would have occurred. Somehow other teams don't seem to be having the same problems filling the stands with kids willing to put their cell phones down for a few hours.

 

[Husk1881]

As grad of 2017 let me speak out of the campus trend. My class was the last to witness a competitive team. Freshman year watching both teams win at the biggest stage is something you cling on to forever. But it's hard for the current students to get excited about bad basketball. We can blame a conference all day, but when you fall to teams like Memphis by 20 points, it's hard to get excited. The magic is gone here for the men's team. The women team still posts huge crowds on the buy and sell and students talk about big time match ups. But to take 2 hours out of the day to watch the doors get blown off of gample by Cinci isn't helping The casual fan. People want UConn to be successful. Every diehard fan I know of still enrolled gave up on the program rn. It's embarrassing to stand in gample and watch teams like Wagner push us around. Every season is a fresh opportunity to get excitement out of the freshman class. But the product doesn't deliver.

 

[HooperScooper]

IMO The students at UConn are very different today than they were even 7-8 years ago. Much more studious, less outgoing, less party-centric and seem to have less school spirit. Just based on my time there and the cultural shift from 2010-2014

So UConn is Boston College now?

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Win and students will be there. It's really quite simple.
This program is not a compelling story right now. And neither is the conference we are in.
You really think we would notice a change in student enthusiasm if we were still a top 25 team in the Old Big East or ACC right now?

 

[CL82]

Solid old man argument. If cell phones were as ubiquitous when you were growing up, I'm sure the same phenomenon would have occurred. Somehow other teams don't seem to be having the same problems filling the stands with kids willing to put their cell phones down for a few hours.

Nah, a solid old man argument would be something like "You'll miss a lot of life if you stop to send pictures of your forehead to your friends every 8 seconds, now get off my lawn."

 

[UConnDan97]

Solid old man argument. If cell phones were as ubiquitous when you were growing up, I'm sure the same phenomenon would have occurred. Somehow other teams don't seem to be having the same problems filling the stands with kids willing to put their cell phones down for a few hours.

Are you sure "the kids" are filling the stadiums up??

This is a picture of a highly-ranked Cincinnati team at home against Temple in January. Check out the stands behind the player. Winning doesn't cure it all. People would rather watch on tv than go to games nowadays. That's just the reality of the new age today. It has nothing to do with an old man argument...

 

[superjohn]

This.

You're right that it's not just a UConn problem; ours is worse because of the team record, but it seems to be a general trend of the times. So weird for me to say that, since I'm only 42. People are just more disconnected now to a bunch of things, sports being one of them. They'd rather type on the phone next to Justin Timberlake at a halftime show to instantly let their friends know it's happening rather than to actually enjoy it happening, while his 50-something dad in an Eagles jersey is rockin' out and enjoying the moment (put the freakin' phone down!). I think there is a parallel between that moment and what we are seeing.

I don't know what the answer is, either. Winning will bring more back, certainly. But it won't bring back the same numbers that were there 10 or 20 years ago. I hope that trend will change in the near future...

Always interesting to find out posters ages, would have guessed you were born in '97.

 

[UConnDan97]

Always interesting to find out posters ages, would have guessed you were born in '97.

Graduated from UConn in '97. Born in '75. For the record, they had cellphones when I was in college. You just couldn't play "Plants vs. Zombies" on them...