(02-02-2018 03:40 PM)Tribester Wrote:  Think part of the issue is “Build it...and they will come”
When I was there (89-93) the Tribe was mostly mediocre at best to bad at worst. At the same time the place was PACKED when we played Duke, Virginia (Kurt Small OT game), Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, etc. People gave a damn when we played name brands or local rivals (Richmond/ODU/JMU/VCU/Mason). Nobody gives a **** about playing Elon on a Thursday night. One more reason to join the A-10 if they would ever take us. Also think today’s W&M students are vastly different from 25 years ago. Have to make it about more than basketball to make it be a “must do” for today’s Tribe

I agree with the concept that students are different than 25 years ago. Here is what my freshman has seen this year:

The students were encouraged to support ALL extracurricular activities they could of their classmates, not just athletics. A record crowd came out for a field hockey battle, and for the NCAA soccer match(in the case of soccer it was not within walking distance). They also went to dance recitals, plays, improv theatre, and community and dorm events. They turned up in huge numbers for the Yule Log(but nowhere near 100%) 100% or anywhere close to it doesn't exist. For football, many came to several games and the product(this season only) was awful. Many left during the games and some only came to a few and then failed to come to any more. For basketball, my daughter has followed the team as have some of her classmates(she has watched some games online as we have). But, none of the Nov./Dec. games were good for student attendance(i.e they were not in school for most of them). The first home game they could attend while in school and not right around finals, we have a big crowd and got crushed by Northeastern. My guess is that more of them will show up Saturday. But, we on the board do not have the typical view of many of the fans. Why are not 5000-6000 people in Williamsburg coming to the games? During my time in 87-91, we never had more than about 500-600 students for any basketball game unless it was Duke, UVA, or maybe Lefty bringing JMU in. Mostly that was because the team got drilled and was noncompetitive. I went to nearly every game, but frequently could show up 3 minutes before tip off and sit on the first 2 rows of the student section. For football, there was a lot more, but the team was good. We had Robert Green and Tyrone Shelton, a series of excellent QB's and a team that nearly always scored 24+ and was super exciting. We also sometimes gave up 30+ points. But, except for my freshman year, the team won and won a lot.
So, let's leave the students alone. It is really not majorly different than it was. Make it an event(like the Gold Rush) and put out a winning product and they will come. Stink up the joint or be boring, and they won't. They have lots of other choices(beyond studying). But, they will almost come out to support their classmates if others are going and will come back if it is fun. That is really not different than when I attended. Maybe it was different 40 years ago. Even at UVA(who is #2 right now), there are large numbers of students who care nothing about the basketball team. They just have a stadium that seats less that the total undergraduate enrollment. Their ticket is near capacity for the student allotment. It is nothing close to that for football. JMU is a good example as well. Football has a huge draw of students and a huge band. Basketball, they stink and are lucky when they get even a medium sized crowd. One big difference in the last 20+ years is the ability to see every game on TV or the internet. While it is great for people 4 hours away like me, it doesn't help attendance at the venue.