Dear toddjnsn,
Winning solves attendance problems, as losing creates them. If Western has a season like last year, you will have to start worrying about people showing up. Fans want to watch winners it is that simple. It has nothing to do with location. As I implied in my earlier statement. When Eastern has had winning teams we have had close to 30,000 fans at games. You can't be a consistent loser and expect to fill your stadium with thousands of people.

(09-27-2014 08:35 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Bob Wickersham,
I don't care what one publication says about Waldo Stadium. I've been to games there, and I didn't think it was that red hot a venue.
If one were to just look at the asthetics of the stadium, it is four separate blocks of seating with no continuity to hold it together.
Did you see who also made this list? One of your favorite stadiums Kelly/Shorts. That concrete hole in the ground.

If folks want to see the nicest stadium in the MAC, leave home early next Saturday and drive to Akron (there will be a game between EMU and Akron at 2:00 p.m.) and take a look. :)

Waldo, Perry-Shorts and Rynearson are all starting to show some age.

I believe Perry-Shorts was dedicated in 1972. Rynearson was built a few years earlier.

Waldo is an older stadium too.

We are talking stadiums which will be 50 years old in not too many years.

Agree with Akron--top notch. Bowden will be winning big soon IN LARGE PART to the stadium, not the other way around. Ken obviously can't grasp the simple concept of: Great stadium= top recruits=wins. Not (Toledo) rocket science.

I've always loved the Glass Bowl...what do you know! Players love it too, want to play there, and they win!!!

Dear Bob Wickersham,
I would be willing to bet you that not one in ten college football recruits go to whichever school based on the stadium located there. You have it backwards. Recruits make their decision on how they relate to the coaches, possible playing time, probably some on records of the school, whether or not the school has what they want to major in, how friendly are the players that are on the team, etc.
Do you really think that Coach Bowden makes no difference in the players that are recruited?

Coach Bowden is a great coach with great facilities to sell to recruits. Additionally, fans want to come to a first rate stadium to watch a game, unlike Rynearson where there are 27,000 empty seats.

(09-27-2014 08:44 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear toddjnsn,
Winning solves attendance problems, as losing creates them. If Western has a season like last year, you will have to start worrying about people showing up. Fans want to watch winners it is that simple. It has nothing to do with location. As I implied in my earlier statement. When Eastern has had winning teams we have had close to 30,000 fans at games. You can't be a consistent loser and expect to fill your stadium with thousands of people.

Ken, We've drawn better but nothing like what you're suggesting.

(09-28-2014 12:06 AM)ljmhurons Wrote:  

(09-27-2014 08:44 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear toddjnsn,
Winning solves attendance problems, as losing creates them. If Western has a season like last year, you will have to start worrying about people showing up. Fans want to watch winners it is that simple. It has nothing to do with location. As I implied in my earlier statement. When Eastern has had winning teams we have had close to 30,000 fans at games. You can't be a consistent loser and expect to fill your stadium with thousands of people.

Ken, We've drawn better but nothing like what you're suggesting.

Agree with you, LJM.

I was at the Akron game dedicating the renovation in 1992 (I think), the UNLV game in 1995 which probably had the biggest crowd in EMU history (butts in seats crowd). We pounded a good UNLV team and might have won by say 30.

I would assume both crowds were listed around 25K. Thereafter, most crowds were no where close to 20K or higher.

Wish we had cell phones back then to take photographs. Seeing a nearly full stadium was beautiful.

I'd hope Sports Info has photos of those games. Most EMU fans have seen photos of the nearly full Convo for the dedication game vs. UofM, but haven't seen a nearly full Rynearson.

Dear ljmhurons,
When I said close, I did not mean we were right at 30,000. 1996 season against UNLV, 25,009, 2008 season against Central 26,186. So I beg to differ with you on attendance.

(09-29-2014 08:24 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear ljmhurons,
When I said close, I did not mean we were right at 30,000. 1996 season against UNLV, 25,009, 2008 season against Central 26,186. So I beg to differ with you on attendance.

Ken,

Sometimes you are 'right on' and other times...

You are absolutely right on the UNLV game. I was there. Very impressive crowd. Probably the most butts-in-seats home game in EMU history.

But... Wasn't the 2008 CMU game mostly discounted tickets bought with Pepsi sponsorship money and mostly unused?

With EMU attendance one has to know how to 'read' each attendance number.

I read about the 2008 game on Wikipedia and I just smiled...

Even though the game was a thriller approximately 20K 'attendees' showed no emotion, never went to the concessions, never went to the rest rooms... Pretty much seemed invisible to the naked eye.

Dear steve,
You may be absolutely correct about the way attendance was reported, however, that is no different with other schools in the MAC that report seats sold, or given away, and never give a true count of actual butts in the stands. I still think my original point is correct. 25,000 is close to 30,000.

(09-29-2014 08:43 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear steve,
You may be absolutely correct about the way attendance was reported, however, that is no different with other schools in the MAC that report seats sold, or given away, and never give a true count of actual butts in the stands. I still think my original point is correct. 25,000 is close to 30,000.

Ken,

If you had mentioned the UNLV (1995) and Akron (1992?, stadium renovation dedication game), I attended both, you would have been RIGHT ON.

Both had very large crowds in the mid-20K range.

I was very, very impressed!!!