(11-10-2014 01:59 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Beating undefeated Marshall at Marshall would get Rice some national pub.

That would probably be very expensive publicity, though.

(11-07-2014 10:51 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Fixing student apathy will be incredibly hard, and it will take time. I can't remember how many times people were genuinely surprised I was attending a football or basketball game, let alone another sport (other than baseball).

Obviously winning consistently will help with this, but there has to be some sort of organic change, where students are the driving force behind attendance, rather than some gimmick. The gimmicks may help to get people to start coming in, but they won't keep them there for long. Hopefully JK can crack this nut.

(11-08-2014 12:33 AM)Sunny_BHY Wrote:  The secret is winning with some profile... Rice students will show up when we win AND it gets noticed by the rest of the country. We've got to impress the outside world in order to impress our peers.

Men's bball offers the best opportunity to do that. If Rhoades takes us to the tournament and we get ESPN to show up for a game or two, the students will come in droves.

I can only assume the same would be true for football.

(11-06-2014 04:11 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  I suspect, however, that an even more dramatic driver is the increasing proportion of serious-minded, high-achieving American students who just don't care about spectator sports... It appears that it will take substantial effort to demonstrate to today's typical Rice student the attractiveness and value of including spectator-sports in their non-academic, school-spirit activities. I'm delighted that JK, DB and the Rhoades Scholars are trying hard to convert these masses, and I hope they're successful.

In interacting with the student body here daily, this seems to me like the main challenge, and one that will be little affected by winning against good competition. I would estimate that somewhere between 60 and 80% of the student body have literally zero interest in spectator sports. Entertainment options and how people use leisure time is seriously changing for people their age. It will be a serious challenge for sports for the foreseeable future.

Also, whatever you think of this and what it says about the students, 11AM starts (on Saturdays) will absolutely kill student attendance, especially after September. You should see them for their 10am classes during the week.

(11-06-2014 04:37 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  ...Surely it's tougher for us now than it once was, now that our in-conference rivalries are gone... but if Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, etc. can get butts in seats, then we know it can be done.

That said, we are nowhere near the sports culture and program levels (and conference levels) of those universities.

(11-10-2014 11:00 AM)Pimpa Wrote:  Possible suggestion, and one that may appeal to the Rice students - create a Hogwarts-type college competition whereby points are awarded throughout the year for success by the colleges in intramural sports, highest collective GPA, Beer Bike success, and, attendance at sporting events.

I think if it were done right, this could help. Hopefully decision makers are thinking about it.

(11-10-2014 01:59 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Beating undefeated Marshall at Marshall would get Rice some national pub.

Im not so sure. Most people don't know a. where Marshall is b. What conference they play in c. That they are 9-0. Much like this year, when I tell people I am going to a Rice game, they ask if we have won a game yet, never mind that we are 6-3 now and bowl eligible YET AGAIN.

Beating 9-0 Marshall is good, and we absolutely must do this to keep the trajectory to bigger and better things, but the casual fan is not going to suddenly start following Rice because of this. They haven't received much national media publicity either - googling "marshall football" brings up articles about Brandon Marshall, Nick Marshall and finally a mention of Marshall being ranked #21.

Ultimately, this is all conjecture. We have to go in and win and let the chips fall wherever they may.

(11-10-2014 03:10 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 01:59 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Beating undefeated Marshall at Marshall would get Rice some national pub.

Im not so sure. Most people don't know a. where Marshall is b. What conference they play in c. That they are 9-0. Much like this year, when I tell people I am going to a Rice game, they ask if we have won a game yet, never mind that we are 6-3 now and bowl eligible YET AGAIN.

Beating 9-0 Marshall is good, and we absolutely must do this to keep the trajectory to bigger and better things, but the casual fan is not going to suddenly start following Rice because of this. They haven't received much national media publicity either - googling "marshall football" brings up articles about Brandon Marshall, Nick Marshall and finally a mention of Marshall being ranked #21.

Ultimately, this is all conjecture. We have to go in and win and let the chips fall wherever they may.

Marshall has gotten mention on the ESPN/CFP axis as the 3rd remaining undefeated team, clearly on the outside looking in. Leader of the "G5" and so on. An unexpected end to their run to an assumed 12-0 finish and challenge to the CFP will get national attention. Not like ESPN/SEC type coverage but some mention. Which is more than any we've gotten so far this season, and understandably so.

(11-09-2014 09:53 PM)cthrockmorton Wrote:  There were three groups at Rice with significant and long-running non-student membership and participation: The MOB (tradition since 1912 I'm told), Valhala, and KTRU. Now there are two.

As I read the tea leaves, the Institute doesn't want the lack of institutional control.

A minor quibble, but I think the lesson is less about a desire for institutional control than about organizations' decisions to be or not be relevant to campus. A university organization that deliberately makes itself irrelevant to the university should not be surprised to find the university ready to dispose of it.

(11-10-2014 01:59 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Beating undefeated Marshall at Marshall would get Rice some national pub.

It will absolutely be great for Rice and our football program.

But if we win, I suspect that most of the national sports analysis will argue that Marshall's weak schedule enabled all those earlier victories, and that they weren't really worthy of major bowl consideration since they lose to a good (but not great) Rice team that could only complete with the likes of Notre Dame & A&M for about half a game.

For Saturday's game against Kansas State, there were 5,278 TCU students (out of 8,647 undergraduates). Impressive.

(11-10-2014 08:36 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 01:59 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Beating undefeated Marshall at Marshall would get Rice some national pub.

It will absolutely be great for Rice and our football program.

But if we win, I suspect that most of the national sports analysis will argue that Marshall's weak schedule enabled all those earlier victories, and that they weren't really worthy of major bowl consideration since they lose to a good (but not great) Rice team that could only complete with the likes of Notre Dame & A&M for about half a game.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The life of a G5 football program.

(11-11-2014 08:57 AM)lou Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 08:36 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 01:59 PM)talon owl Wrote:  Beating undefeated Marshall at Marshall would get Rice some national pub.

It will absolutely be great for Rice and our football program.

But if we win, I suspect that most of the national sports analysis will argue that Marshall's weak schedule enabled all those earlier victories, and that they weren't really worthy of major bowl consideration since they lose to a good (but not great) Rice team that could only complete with the likes of Notre Dame & A&M for about half a game.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The life of a G5 football program.

Kind of mirrors the discussion here.

(11-10-2014 10:52 AM)mrbig Wrote:  The MOB and the athletes want the same thing ... more student involvement. Find a way to work together for a shared goal. Some of the increased student turnout would be marching around with an instrument.

By the way, my family was one of the last fans to leave the stadium. The showdown (or whatever all y'all call it) between the MOB and the UTSA band was fantastic! Does that happen all the time, or just sometimes?

The MOB will go toe-to-toe with any visiting band that wants to hang around after the game.
We always play a few tunes after we've played "Rice's Honor" for the team.

Were you there long enough to hear "Over the Rainbow"?

(11-11-2014 10:24 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 10:52 AM)mrbig Wrote:  By the way, my family was one of the last fans to leave the stadium. The showdown (or whatever all y'all call it) between the MOB and the UTSA band was fantastic! Does that happen all the time, or just sometimes?

The MOB will go toe-to-toe with any visiting band that wants to hang around after the game.
We always play a few tunes after we've played "Rice's Honor" for the team.

I've got a question: is there sort of a standard protocol for the immediate post-game songs? E.g. visiting band plays theirs first, then home band plays theirs -- or something like that?
Or does each band just do what they want?
Or do the bands actively try to play over each other?

(11-13-2014 07:39 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(11-11-2014 10:24 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 10:52 AM)mrbig Wrote:  By the way, my family was one of the last fans to leave the stadium. The showdown (or whatever all y'all call it) between the MOB and the UTSA band was fantastic! Does that happen all the time, or just sometimes?

The MOB will go toe-to-toe with any visiting band that wants to hang around after the game.
We always play a few tunes after we've played "Rice's Honor" for the team.

I've got a question: is there sort of a standard protocol for the immediate post-game songs? E.g. visiting band plays theirs first, then home band plays theirs -- or something like that?
Or does each band just do what they want?
Or do the bands actively try to play over each other?

Speaking from experience, generally alternate (at Rice, anyway). Usually whichever band finishes its alma mater first respectfully waits for the other to finish theirs, then takes the next song. Alternate from there, because we generally like listening to/singing along with each other.

Kudos to the UTSA band, btw--quite good repertoire of stuff in their book.