Okay. I'm a Junior at UNT, transferred after my freshman year and I've lurked these boards for almost two years now and I have never had the urge to contribute to any conversation or felt I had anything meaningful to say. With that being said, I've made this account to specifically address this attendance issue that grown men are pissing themselves over.
Here are the reasons students did not show up to this game specifically, but all of them for that matter:
1. It is not UNT culture to be highly involved in football (or any other sport). It is not advertised around school. The administration, in my opinion, makes no effort to get the regular student involved with sports. Occasionally they will put up small plastic signs at 4 locations on campus on game week. Great. What an advertising lure! ... Not. UNT needs to make football BIG. There is nothing around campus that shouts, "WE LOVE SPORTS! GO MEAN GREEN!" Zero advertisement.
2. History of losing. Most students see UNT sports as a joke- They don't care. I've had one professor in my 1 and 1/2 years talk about the football team in class. No students cared. Why? Because of losing IN ADDITION with the lack of culture. It's not something for the average student to get excited about because they've been let down for years and don't expect anything. When you don't expect anything, why bother? They don't want to show up to a game to just be let down. Students feel it is embarrassing and are ashamed when the football program has done so bad in recent years. They don't expect anything to change. Even with a new stadium.
When I came here Todd Dodge was at my student orientation, he gave us the sales pitch that UNT will do great this year in football and it's time to turn the program around and it sounds similar to what McCarney has said. Do you think the average student who is only familiar with losing and the lack of football culture and lack of sports knowledge is going to see ANY difference between the same hopeful speech by two different people? No.
Only with this much improved season will students realize "Hey, maybe this is worth checking out now." It takes a season of doing significantly better to gain any recognition and that's what happened this season. Not next season, but the next will UNT be what you ranting immature adults WANT the student fan section to look like.
3. The HISTORY of UNT football or Lance making any accomplishments is NOT known to the average student. NCAA breaking records, what do you expect them to know about it? Again, I put this on the administration and/or the Athletics Department for NOT making it known. One email. Great. 1. Not everyone checks their email. 2.Emails are easily overlooked, we get so much crap emails from the administration already can you expect us to read through every one? No. Most people see the block of text we received and blow past it. NOT to mention it wasn't even from the Athletics Department or have FOOTBALL anywhere in the title. It was sent by freaking MARKETING in the name. We see marketing, we think it's spam. Maybe try titling the letter: "NCAA RECORDS TO BE BROKEN" with football as the email name. Not marketing@randomname.com Try: MEANGREENFOOTBALL@UNT.COM Maybe that might catch more attention.
4. WITH all of the mentioned aspects above, it was raining and cold. And most of you raving alumni are foul mouthing the students as you sit in freaking COVERED club level seats and seem to not think the weather is an issue. We found out at the FAU game we are NOT allowed umbrellas. This is a huge issue. As students, we are not going to sit through bad weather and be rained on terribly and be cold when there is no spirit for football and it really doesn't matter if we win or lose anyways because there is no tradition or culture to care. If I could sit there with an umbrella. I would have gone. But nope, because I knew I would have sat there, gotten wet and cold and gotten sick the week before FINALS (education and health come first). This part, I blame on the staff at the stadium. (which this is not the only issue with a stadium staff, I originally wrote a lot more, but decided to drop it.) This game was the first game I missed and I had to listen to it on the radio. I live in the dorms, I was disappointed and mad that I had to miss it. Yes. Had to. As I'm sure every other student who WOULD have gone if it wasn't raining felt. If you were there during the FAU game, which we won, you would have seen the student section was big, then dwindled down as the weather got worse. Weather is a huge factor. We don't live up north, we do not have full weatherproof clothing. The most winter suitable clothes we have is jeans. Jeans get wet. With no overhead protection we are going to get soaked and be uncomfortable and cold and get sick. End of story.
Yes. Panchos were available to be purchased, but this isn't known to students. We weren't told- how should we know? I sure didn't until I saw a picture on Scrappy's Facebook page. And they cost money. We're college students. Do you think we're going to pay for anything? No, lol.
Now I'll be the final word on the matter of attendance and the voice of the students:
"Shut up. Make us more involved and we will care more. We want to care more. We want to be involved with our university. We want that classic university experience and we want it to be first class so don't blame us for being apathetic and disillusioned. Do you think we want that?"
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