Blue collar state.

That manifests itself in a ton of ways that don't necessarily mean great things for a regional, public institution.

On the sports side, fans of college football identify with college football because well, they went to college. With exceptions, like Catholics living Notre Dame, blue collar folks who aren't college educated identify with cities and it's persona. So we get tons of our population, especially I'm a big market, who are fixated on the B's, sox or cubs and that's enough to fully immerse yourself.

On top of that, NIU ends up with a bunch of blue collar kids who weren't predisposed to college football and rather watch the Hawks home opener in their dorm.

It's different in a state like Alabama or Miss where colleges rule and capture the hearts of the alumni base and the general
Population b/c roll tide or hotty toddy becomes to represent the persona.

If we all accept this stuff as deeply engrained fact, we can just stop getting pissed about it. Challenge for us is doing as much as we can to turn students on to the experience and make them interested fans after graduation. Enrollment is large enough that we should be able to sustain it...increase attendance, engagement, endowment, etc.

(10-14-2014 07:47 AM)scottiep12 Wrote:  Blue collar state.

That manifests itself in a ton of ways that don't necessarily mean great things for a regional, public institution.

On the sports side, fans of college football identify with college football because well, they went to college. With exceptions, like Catholics loving Notre Dame, blue collar folks who aren't college educated identify with cities and it's persona. So we get tons of our population, especially I'm a big market, who are fixated on the B's, sox or cubs and that's enough to fully immerse yourself.

On top of that, NIU ends up with a bunch of blue collar kids who weren't predisposed to college football and rather watch the Hawks home opener in their dorm.

It's different in a state like Alabama or Miss where colleges rule and capture the hearts of the alumni base and the general
Population b/c roll tide or hotty toddy becomes to represent the persona.

If we all accept this stuff as deeply engrained fact, we can just stop getting pissed about it. Challenge for us is doing as much as we can to turn students on to the experience and make them interested fans after graduation. Enrollment is large enough that we should be able to sustain it...increase attendance, engagement, endowment, etc.

(10-14-2014 07:47 AM)scottiep12 Wrote:  It's different in a state like Alabama or Miss where colleges rule and capture the hearts of the alumni base and the general
Population b/c roll tide or hotty toddy becomes to represent the persona

This story is true.

Last week I was at the Chicago Hilton at a conference and I spoke with a woman from Alabama. This is important, she was from the state of Alabama. Remember this.... Alabama

So after some cursory back and forth, names exchanged and such I asked her where she was from. She said to me something that I couldn't understand because it was loud and she had a deep Southern accent.

I asked her again where she was from, and I thought she said Montgomery Auburn.... So I said, "Montgomery Alabama?" and she said, clearly this time, Montgomery, Auburn.

As in football was so farking important to her in the South that she wouldn't even say that she was from Alabama because that would do something to her reputation / ability to be a fan / womanhood / as an Auburn fan.

Now I'm someone who can often enjoy some good sarcasm or a esoteric injoke, but Praise Huskie Jebus - saying you are from Montgomery, Auburn was about as stupid a thing as I have ever heard.

(10-14-2014 10:33 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  

(10-14-2014 07:47 AM)scottiep12 Wrote:  It's different in a state like Alabama or Miss where colleges rule and capture the hearts of the alumni base and the general
Population b/c roll tide or hotty toddy becomes to represent the persona

This story is true.

Last week I was at the Chicago Hilton at a conference and I spoke with a woman from Alabama. This is important, she was from the state of Alabama. Remember this.... Alabama

So after some cursory back and forth, names exchanged and such I asked her where she was from. She said to me something that I couldn't understand because it was loud and she had a deep Southern accent.

I asked her again where she was from, and I thought she said Montgomery Auburn.... So I said, "Montgomery Alabama?" and she said, clearly this time, Montgomery, Auburn.

As in football was so farking important to her in the South that she wouldn't even say that she was from Alabama because that would do something to her reputation / ability to be a fan / womanhood / as an Auburn fan.

Now I'm someone who can often enjoy some good sarcasm or a esoteric injoke, but Praise Huskie Jebus - saying you are from Montgomery, Auburn was about as stupid a thing as I have ever heard.

Ha, I hope the U of I haters do that. "I'm from DeKalb, Huskie country."

way too simplistic...there are pieces of the pie that contribute to the overall situation. but you know what? it does not matter to me. I still love NIU, and cheer them on for football.

I was assuming the question was pertaining to the football team's performance. I think it's pretty much the leadership in general -- whether it be the coachs and/or the QB situation. I think that's a no-brainer when you lump all that together.

My time at NIU was great. You get out of it what you put into it. The Accountancy program is one of the best in the nation. I attended most football and basketball games. I went to listen to speakers (Jesse Jackson being one) and entertainment. I still have many close friends from my days at NIU. If some on here feel they were slighted by their experience at NIU then its your own fault.

I understand the intent of the poll, but I don't think it is the right or fair question.

Some of those things simply are NIU. I'm not going full blown Alum here, but we do have to be honest with what NIU is, where it is, and its mission.

It will never be funded like U of I. It will always be located where it is, and all the pro/cons that come with that will remain. The state of Illinois is what it is.

It still is a damn good school, with an awfully good football program. Those are things of which to be proud.

I hope Frazier realizes he can't force the Wisconsin template onto NIU. And, with this list, if all those things are changed, NIU ceases being NIU.

What is the attitude of students who attend NIU?

http://northernstar.info/opinion/columni...0f31a.html

"But do you really know what NIU is? Do you really know what we stand for? Do you know why we are here?"

(10-13-2014 09:58 AM)niuguy Wrote:  I think its important that no college in the entire state of Illinois has a significantly large and loyal fan base. NIU is going to struggle either way, but Illinois just does not give a **** about college sports (unless your catholic, apparently). I think its important to remember this when talking about all things NIU. Its just a sad fact we will never change.

A major reason why collegiate sports don't have a large fan base in Illinois (except Illini hoops) isn't just the Cubs, Bears, Black Hawks, Bulls, White Sox, Fire, Wolves Sky & Cougars,

High School sports in many smaller communities is the focal point of sports interest and if a community has is competitive in basketball and football that focal point interest is increased exponentially.

While High School sports doesn't have quite as deep a fan base in metro Chicago there are many suburban and city high school programs that draw very well and not all of those high schools play Football on friday nights. Many of the Catholic & Private high schools play Saturdays and a large number of the city of Chicago Public School programs play Saturdays as well as there aren't enough football fields to go around.

The IHSA didn't expanding football to 8 classes and basketball to 4 has helped keep smaller school interest that could have dropped if the number of classes were kept at 2 for hoops and the original 5 for football when state high school championship playoffs began in 1974.

There are 554 IHSA Varsity Football programs in Illinois that's an average of more than 5 teams per county and a team for every 23,465 citizens that's a large number of teams. Couldn't find a total of Varsity Basketball programs but it's safe to say it's near 1000.