So I posted a tweet earlier about my "wishlist" for NIU Athletics in the New Year!

In an attempt to get a little happiness into the boards (I hope) tell me yours! The RC/BC Fire/hire debate is beat into the ground, so let it die. In another thread. That isn't this one. Just leave that one at the door. lol. I need something else to read in here.

This can be realistic, farfetched, or anything in between. I'm just curious what you all would want.

My top three
- Get the NIU Hockey Team playing their games at the Convo. Not traveling 40 minutes away from home for the game.
- Get a few games vs UIC, CSU, UOC, etc etc at the UC
- Gimme the stadium renovations, finally. Or a beer garden in the convo (or at the stadium!)

I want:

1) An increase in season ticket holders in football for the 2016 Season and an increase in attendance. This is the first year we have decent opponents coming to DeKalb. We really need to work on getting this arrow pointing up.

2) I want to see an increase in Men's basketball attendance for MAC play. This is the first year we have a decent team in DeKalb. We really need to work on getting this arrow pointing up.

3) (Is there an echo in here?)

4) I want an update on the Master AF Plan (hopefully good news)

Why do we need a beer garden in the convo? You can drink in your seat.

(12-30-2015 10:50 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Why do we need a beer garden in the convo? You can drink in your seat.

Hmm. I guess living in Carbondale for a year disconnected me more than I thought. I still like the idea though, as long as it doesn't take away 500 seats like the far end of the UIC Pavilion.

I want:

1.) An update on the Master Facilities plan, and I really want it to be a good announcement and some ground to be broken ASAP!

2.) A packed convo for a meaningful MAC basketball game!

3.) Increase in season ticket holders (even though i've moved, I will still renew mine and donate). We have some good opponents this coming season, albeit none from the P5....but it's better than an FCS team or UNLV.

4.) an undefeated NIU football season (that's not too much to ask, is it?)

1. Stadium upgrades
2. Schedule upgrades(both basketball and football)
3. Surcharge ticket price to DeKalb residents for taking it for granted

(12-30-2015 10:59 PM)cartershaw Wrote:  1. Stadium upgrades
2. Schedule upgrades(both basketball and football)
3. Surcharge ticket price to DeKalb residents for taking it for granted

Interesting... Just curious, who do you think are at the weeknight games?

Hint, generally, it's not someone taking time off to come in from Chicago or??? These games rely on the local economy for whatever butts are in the seats. Tack a surcharge on and you may as well be running just a practice.

As a "local" (Alum) and friend/colleague of many local business owners, we'd love to see some of the 200,000+ Alum's in the Chicagoland area, show up in DeKalb on a weeknight.

(12-30-2015 10:52 PM)zdsmith Wrote:  

(12-30-2015 10:50 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Why do we need a beer garden in the convo? You can drink in your seat.

Hmm. I guess living in Carbondale for a year disconnected me more than I thought. I still like the idea though, as long as it doesn't take away 500 seats like the far end of the UIC Pavilion.

There is a section behind the student seats where you can stand and watch the game at a table with you beer.

(12-30-2015 11:57 PM)DeKalb57 Wrote:  

(12-30-2015 10:59 PM)cartershaw Wrote:  1. Stadium upgrades
2. Schedule upgrades(both basketball and football)
3. Surcharge ticket price to DeKalb residents for taking it for granted

Interesting... Just curious, who do you think are at the weeknight games?

Hint, generally, it's not someone taking time off to come in from Chicago or??? These games rely on the local economy for whatever butts are in the seats. Tack a surcharge on and you may as well be running just a practice.

As a "local" (Alum) and friend/colleague of many local business owners, we'd love to see some of the 200,000+ Alum's in the Chicagoland area, show up in DeKalb on a weeknight.

You have a good point on weeknight games. I wonder if SF has a type of target pie chart on attendance. For weeknight games, attendance would have to be something like this:

-Students (30%) We have a student population north of 20k.
-Locals (35%) We have north of 100k people within 10 miles of the arena.
-Regional (20%) We have over 1 million people within 10-25 miles of the arena.
-Distant (10%) We have over 10 million people in Chicagoland
-Opposing Fans (5%) Surely there are a handful of opposing fans who live in the area or travel

An Olympic natatorium with seating for 5,000 that can host for local, national and global swim meets. Fully fund men's and women's swimming and diving teams and fully fund both men's and women's water polo teams.

Pick up the Convo and place it on top of Chick Evans and the parking lot. Move Chick Evans to the field behind VCB.

Start varsity men's and women's lacrosse teams and lobby the MAC to sponsor lacrosse before the Big Ten (inevitably) sponsors it and gains the upper hand.

Police traffic control that efficiently moves football traffic onto Lincoln Hwy and off to I-88

NIU branding and marketing on the DeKalb toll booths.

Bring back the touchdown cannon. Immediately.

Athletics website that sells Huskie paraphernalia. No more outdated NIU Bookstore or VCB websites. Or, have more Huskie branded items on sports websites like Fanatics.

No more NAIA or Division III schools on the basketball schedule, ever.

Call Kent State and EMU and ask them how the hell they get their non-revenue sports to consistently win MAC championships

Get veto power over any MAC TV commercial that continues to portray the MAC as rubes without an effective AV production team.

Continue to leverage NIU games on Tunein. This is awesome for us out of staters.....

Start more traditions. Football walks. Basketball autograph sessions. Baseball plays catch with local Little-Leaguers before NIU games.

Give every small business in town 2 football and 2 basketball tickets, sport team posters, stickers, and a flag and ask them to have the flag prominently displayed at their location.

Get the local car dealers to sponsor vehicle wraps on NIU Athletics vehicles and buses.

Go to the Legislature and lobby for a law that Illinois has to play NIU at least once every 3 years rotating between Champaign, DeKalb and Chicago.

(12-31-2015 01:15 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  An Olympic natatorium with seating for 5,000 that can host for local, national and global swim meets. Fully fund men's and women's swimming and diving teams and fully fund both men's and women's water polo teams.

Pick up the Convo and place it on top of Chick Evans and the parking lot. Move Chick Evans to the field behind VCB.

Start varsity men's and women's lacrosse teams and lobby the MAC to sponsor lacrosse before the Big Ten (inevitably) sponsors it and gains the upper hand.

Police traffic control that efficiently moves football traffic onto Lincoln Hwy and off to I-88

NIU branding and marketing on the DeKalb toll booths.

Bring back the touchdown cannon. Immediately.

Athletics website that sells Huskie paraphernalia. No more outdated NIU Bookstore or VCB websites. Or, have more Huskie branded items on sports websites like Fanatics.

No more NAIA or Division III schools on the basketball schedule, ever.

Call Kent State and EMU and ask them how the hell they get their non-revenue sports to consistently win MAC championships

Get veto power over any MAC TV commercial that continues to portray the MAC as rubes without an effective AV production team.

Continue to leverage NIU games on Tunein. This is awesome for us out of staters.....

Start more traditions. Football walks. Basketball autograph sessions. Baseball plays catch with local Little-Leaguers before NIU games.

Give every small business in town 2 football and 2 basketball tickets, sport team posters, stickers, and a flag and ask them to have the flag prominently displayed at their location.

Get the local car dealers to sponsor vehicle wraps on NIU Athletics vehicles and buses.

Go to the Legislature and lobby for a law that Illinois has to play NIU at least once every 3 years rotating between Champaign, DeKalb and Chicago.

Quite a list there

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(12-31-2015 01:15 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  An Olympic natatorium with seating for 5,000 that can host for local, national and global swim meets. Fully fund men's and women's swimming and diving teams and fully fund both men's and women's water polo teams.

Pick up the Convo and place it on top of Chick Evans and the parking lot. Move Chick Evans to the field behind VCB.

Start varsity men's and women's lacrosse teams and lobby the MAC to sponsor lacrosse before the Big Ten (inevitably) sponsors it and gains the upper hand.

Police traffic control that efficiently moves football traffic onto Lincoln Hwy and off to I-88

NIU branding and marketing on the DeKalb toll booths.

Bring back the touchdown cannon. Immediately.

Athletics website that sells Huskie paraphernalia. No more outdated NIU Bookstore or VCB websites. Or, have more Huskie branded items on sports websites like Fanatics.

No more NAIA or Division III schools on the basketball schedule, ever.

Call Kent State and EMU and ask them how the hell they get their non-revenue sports to consistently win MAC championships

Get veto power over any MAC TV commercial that continues to portray the MAC as rubes without an effective AV production team.

Continue to leverage NIU games on Tunein. This is awesome for us out of staters.....

Start more traditions. Football walks. Basketball autograph sessions. Baseball plays catch with local Little-Leaguers before NIU games.

Give every small business in town 2 football and 2 basketball tickets, sport team posters, stickers, and a flag and ask them to have the flag prominently displayed at their location.

Get the local car dealers to sponsor vehicle wraps on NIU Athletics vehicles and buses.

Go to the Legislature and lobby for a law that Illinois has to play NIU at least once every 3 years rotating between Champaign, DeKalb and Chicago.

+1,000,000.

I would settle for the Holmes Book Store to be open on Sunday after homecoming! Not that I don't mind giving my money to VCB but would rather have the profits go back to the school.

(12-31-2015 11:08 AM)Huskie Red Wrote:  I would settle for the Holmes Book Store to be open on Sunday after homecoming! Not that I don't mind giving my money to VCB but would rather have the profits go back to the school.

I never understood why the University Bookstore is not promoted more. Must be some sort of deal with VCB.

1. I want to have to pull out more seats at basketball games. It's my favorite Huskie team but unfortunately has terrible attendance. I want to at least AVG 3,000 next year.

2. Move the NIU Hockey team to the Convo. I know that they aren't affiliated with athletics because they are D2/3 club teams, but I want them to eventually become a team like Western Michigan or so. I think a way to do that would be have the games at the Convo. People in Chicago are sold on hockey at this point and I think the students will show up to the games if they're at the Convo.

3. Progress on the Master Plan. I don't just want updates, I want progress. I want there to be a start to the building or the next step at least. We have all seen the plans and they're great so lets hope they start building soon.

Other things I would with for would be a better relationship with DeKalb (more local team spirit) and more merchandise options. I want to buy what the guys on the sidelines wear basically.

(12-31-2015 12:45 PM)Michael James Wrote:  1. I want to have to pull out more seats at basketball games. It's my favorite Huskie team but unfortunately has terrible attendance. I want to at least AVG 3,000 next year.

2. Move the NIU Hockey team to the Convo. I know that they aren't affiliated with athletics because they are D2/3 club teams, but I want them to eventually become a team like Western Michigan or so. I think a way to do that would be have the games at the Convo. People in Chicago are sold on hockey at this point and I think the students will show up to the games if they're at the Convo.

3. Progress on the Master Plan. I don't just want updates, I want progress. I want there to be a start to the building or the next step at least. We have all seen the plans and they're great so lets hope they start building soon.

Other things I would with for would be a better relationship with DeKalb (more local team spirit) and more merchandise options. I want to buy what the guys on the sidelines wear basically.

Totally agree. There needs to be more new merchandise (like the sideline gear), but they probablly fear it won't sell enough. I'm sort of tired of the "Northern Illinois University since 1895" stuff.

(12-31-2015 01:02 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 12:45 PM)Michael James Wrote:  1. I want to have to pull out more seats at basketball games. It's my favorite Huskie team but unfortunately has terrible attendance. I want to at least AVG 3,000 next year.

2. Move the NIU Hockey team to the Convo. I know that they aren't affiliated with athletics because they are D2/3 club teams, but I want them to eventually become a team like Western Michigan or so. I think a way to do that would be have the games at the Convo. People in Chicago are sold on hockey at this point and I think the students will show up to the games if they're at the Convo.

3. Progress on the Master Plan. I don't just want updates, I want progress. I want there to be a start to the building or the next step at least. We have all seen the plans and they're great so lets hope they start building soon.

Other things I would with for would be a better relationship with DeKalb (more local team spirit) and more merchandise options. I want to buy what the guys on the sidelines wear basically.

Totally agree. There needs to be more new merchandise (like the sideline gear), but they probablly fear it won't sell enough. I'm sort of tired of the "Northern Illinois University since 1895" stuff.

Well DF, if you'd quit buying those VCB Exclusive Game Day T-Shirts....

(12-31-2015 01:11 PM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 01:02 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 12:45 PM)Michael James Wrote:  1. I want to have to pull out more seats at basketball games. It's my favorite Huskie team but unfortunately has terrible attendance. I want to at least AVG 3,000 next year.

2. Move the NIU Hockey team to the Convo. I know that they aren't affiliated with athletics because they are D2/3 club teams, but I want them to eventually become a team like Western Michigan or so. I think a way to do that would be have the games at the Convo. People in Chicago are sold on hockey at this point and I think the students will show up to the games if they're at the Convo.

3. Progress on the Master Plan. I don't just want updates, I want progress. I want there to be a start to the building or the next step at least. We have all seen the plans and they're great so lets hope they start building soon.

Other things I would with for would be a better relationship with DeKalb (more local team spirit) and more merchandise options. I want to buy what the guys on the sidelines wear basically.

Totally agree. There needs to be more new merchandise (like the sideline gear), but they probablly fear it won't sell enough. I'm sort of tired of the "Northern Illinois University since 1895" stuff.

Well DF, if you'd quit buying those VCB Exclusive Game Day T-Shirts....

Shut up!!!! I am praying to every god imaginable that the VCB has a game day shirt for the basketball game against the Judson University Eagles this Saturday. It would fly off the racks! Totally local appeal! However, I am still pisssed at them for not having the Presbyterian College shirts. What is this world coming to when you can't get a decent game day shirt to remember the great games?

(12-31-2015 12:45 PM)Michael James Wrote:  1. I want to have to pull out more seats at basketball games. It's my favorite Huskie team but unfortunately has terrible attendance. I want to at least AVG 3,000 next year.

2. Move the NIU Hockey team to the Convo. I know that they aren't affiliated with athletics because they are D2/3 club teams, but I want them to eventually become a team like Western Michigan or so. I think a way to do that would be have the games at the Convo. People in Chicago are sold on hockey at this point and I think the students will show up to the games if they're at the Convo.

3. Progress on the Master Plan. I don't just want updates, I want progress. I want there to be a start to the building or the next step at least. We have all seen the plans and they're great so lets hope they start building soon.

Other things I would with for would be a better relationship with DeKalb (more local team spirit) and more merchandise options. I want to buy what the guys on the sidelines wear basically.

Personally, I think if the hockey teams played at the convo that students would come out in droves. I am almost certain of that.

(12-31-2015 05:44 PM)zdsmith Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 12:45 PM)Michael James Wrote:  1. I want to have to pull out more seats at basketball games. It's my favorite Huskie team but unfortunately has terrible attendance. I want to at least AVG 3,000 next year.

2. Move the NIU Hockey team to the Convo. I know that they aren't affiliated with athletics because they are D2/3 club teams, but I want them to eventually become a team like Western Michigan or so. I think a way to do that would be have the games at the Convo. People in Chicago are sold on hockey at this point and I think the students will show up to the games if they're at the Convo.

3. Progress on the Master Plan. I don't just want updates, I want progress. I want there to be a start to the building or the next step at least. We have all seen the plans and they're great so lets hope they start building soon.

Other things I would with for would be a better relationship with DeKalb (more local team spirit) and more merchandise options. I want to buy what the guys on the sidelines wear basically.

Personally, I think if the hockey teams played at the convo that students would come out in droves. I am almost certain of that.

Give us hawk look a like unis and the same beer garden at bball games, at least 2k a game.