DRC: Baker appeals to fans after dismal attendance for win over Southern Miss

[DentonLurker]

4 minutes ago, ntsumck said:

It was raining and their fans showed up.  It was raining in Denton and our fans base bailed for the most part.

Comparing this game to UNT's is comparing apples to oranges in a lot of different ways. Arkansas playing a game in Little Rock is a novelty event for their fans, just to lay out one key difference.

[greenminer]

32 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

nice so it wasn't a downpour

Says you and I.  But apparently, to the casual Denton student, it might as well be the field is underwater and a football game is not worth the trip.

There's tons to do in DFW, including commuting to a rich friend's house with Wifi and a 72" screen TV.

We need to keep winning.  A second winning season and some think we deserve DFW to drool over us?  IMO it's going to take appx 10 years of this to see a positive, long-term shift in attendance numbers.  But that's just my gut feeling with no hard-science behind it.

Edited October 15, 2018 by greenminer

[strikes]

Attendance will be better for homecoming I'm sure. Let's face it, right now we don't like rain or the possibility of getting rained on. I wasn't able to make this game and it wasn't because of weather. However, I did watch the game on TV. I was keeping an eye on social media but didn't really see them saying things like "hey it's not raining out here at Apogee, come on over!" it was more like "Lightning hasn't struck for 30 minutes within 8 miles, game on. Also, no umbrellas are allowed." We need to attack this issue from several different directions and I think social media might be one of them. It wasn't necessarily a good thing for the program when we lost to La tech with a 30k+ crowd. (I was there and "did my part") Ok, so Littrell had one, now the fans get one. Let's get even when we play Rice. See y'all at the game. 

Maybe the stadium should keep a giant stock pile of ponchos on hand. I would throw five bucks at someone for a mean green poncho. Poncho beer and a taco for $15.

[emmitt01]

30 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Well, the first was never my argument... so no pivot here.

He defensively responded to someone else accusing him of that.   To me, I don't care where he is in the stadium.   In the Press Box, on the field, manning a camera, drum majoring, in the Scrappy costume... I don't care.   He's the AD.  He's paid to be there... period.   
Fans are not.  Fans PAY to go, and if they deem the weather or any other myriad of reasons why they can't show up is a good enough reason for them, then that's their prerogative.
 

It is their prerogative.  Just as it is a coach’s prerogative to seek out employment where fans show up.  Just as it is a player’s prerogative to play where they will do so in front of packed stadiums.  Just as it is a fan’s prerogative to say “we’ll show up when they win” and really mean “we’ll show up when they win...and the temperatures are between 68-82...and Texas/OU isn’t on...and it’s not a weekday...and it’s a leap year...and...”

[MeanGreenTexan]

2 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

It is their prerogative.  Just as it is a coach’s prerogative to seek out employment where fans show up.  Just as it is a player’s prerogative to play where they will do so in front of packed stadiums.  Just as it is a fan’s prerogative to say “we’ll show up when they win” and really mean “we’ll show up when they win...and the temperatures are between 68-82...and Texas/OU isn’t on...and it’s not a weekday...and it’s a leap year...and...”

Exactly.

[kj86]

18 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

As to the idea that there will never be a change in the number of people willing to show up rain or shine, I don’t buy that either.  5 years ago, if there had been identical circumstances, we wouldn’t have seen the attendance we did have.  

 

Bingo!  We have a winner.

I'd say three times as many as we would have had 5 years ago.  That's some pretty impressive improvement.

[Aquila_Viridis]

That Hog one might have been a lot of Old Miss fans cause LR is not very far and their team has had some success. I think it is a good example and it brings up another point. The LT game was a gut punch for fans. Then the team struggled against the mighty UTEP.  That kind of immediate past will amplify the effect of weather complications, and frankly the turnout might not have been great regardless.  Maybe at least it means people are paying attention to the results? Next home attendance may largely depend on next game performance. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

2 hours ago, DentonLurker said:

Comparing this game to UNT's is comparing apples to oranges in a lot of different ways. Arkansas playing a game in Little Rock is a novelty event for their fans, just to lay out one key difference.

It's a world of difference for that Arkansas fan base. They now seldomly play there anymore but when they do Little Rock goes bananas. They shut down the golf course next to War Memorial and make it into a huge parking/tailgating/party scene. It's pretty special actually. Also, for anyone who watched that game saw the several thousand empty bleacher seats. And that place only holds 50k. When Arkansas is good, that's a dann near impossible ticket to get. When they're bad, it's still a tough ticket to get. As noted, there were thousands of empty seats because of.........rain. 

 

That game had a reported attendance of 51.4k. Stadium holds 54 and change. They didn't even report a sellout in an SEC game in a 50k stadium. Game may have had 45k...maybe even 40k. There were large gaps of bleachers all over WMS, specifically corner endzones. 

Edited October 15, 2018 by NorthTexasWeLove

[UNTexas]

We took a group of 6 kids to the game. We got really lucky the rain stopped. Had it continued to rain like it was then we wouldn't have put the kids through that. Regardless of what the AD says or thinks.

[Side Show Joe]

11 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Even Dentonites and students who normally come out can have other priorities. 
It's not up to Baker to have a number in mind and call out fans for not coming if his ideal # is not met.
He needs to chalk it up to bad luck & move on.
Be profusely thankful for those who DID show up though.

And for those who chose not to come, they missed out on what I would consider the most ideal weather conditions for a football game.  It was just beautiful weather during the game.  They also, sadly, missed one of the most dominating defensive performances I've seen from the Mean Green (SMU game earlier would be, but the late-4th-quarter mental lapses by the 2nd/3rd stringers spoiled it).

As you know, we were not there for the game. Having to drive down 2 hours from the Red River was just too challenging since we would be fighting the torrential rain and flood waters the entire way. I hated missing the game, but the conditions were just too dangerous. 

I understand and support Wren's call for support, but agree his wording could have been better.

I do believe that if the kickoff would have been the usual 6pm start, the weather would not have been an issue and the crowd would have been much larger. But, no one can schedule kickoffs around the weather from so far in advance.