As a current student I've noticed the decline of the East Side fans for the last couple years, but Saturday was particularly alarming.

The turnout was about what I expected, as sad as it was. There's just not much buzz on campus about the team currently after the losses. Also the average student doesn't know much about SDSU.

What bothered me more was the amount of students that were sitting from the start of the game. I'm always front row and the 5 or so rows behind me were sitting the entire game. I understand that standing for that long can be difficult or impossible for some people, but sitting has become a trend dating back to last year.

The worst part though was the amount of people that raised their hands between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Seemed like half or maybe even less. One of the guys in my group raised his hand, turned to me laughing and said he had no idea what it was for. He was quickly educated by my girlfriend.

In short, most of the students suck as fans and it bothers me.

(09-18-2016 06:01 PM)ptownhuskie Wrote:  As a current student I've noticed the decline of the East Side fans for the last couple years, but Saturday was particularly alarming.

The turnout was about what I expected, as sad as it was. There's just not much buzz on campus about the team currently after the losses. Also the average student doesn't know much about SDSU.

What bothered me more was the amount of students that were sitting from the start of the game. I'm always front row and the 5 or so rows behind me were sitting the entire game. I understand that standing for that long can be difficult or impossible for some people, but sitting has become a trend dating back to last year.

The worst part though was the amount of people that raised their hands between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Seemed like half or maybe even less. One of the guys in my group raised his hand, turned to me laughing and said he had no idea what it was for. He was quickly educated by my girlfriend.

In short, most of the students suck as fans and it bothers me.

We dont have student leadership (red riot does not exist) to set the tone.

Thanks for your post; obviously if there were more students like you we would not have the student attendance/sitting on their hands issues!

In addition to the red riot of other group not existing, I would think that as a group the students are the most affected by wins and losses and the team is good or “sucks”. Plus, there is not that flash player on offense. When we had Lynch there was the whole excitement with his being a legitimate Heisman candidate and obviously the team was winning big time! You are just not going to see the students with the no shirts in freezing temperatures, standing the whole game and Lynch for Heisman signs. I know we have Kenny G who is a flash player; however, it is just not the same as a QB or RB such as Turner, Wolfe and Spann.

Other than word of mouth I suppose the best way to reach the students would be via The Northern Star. I do not read the Star other than when I run across an article in a general NIU football internet search; however I have seen here that the Star does not give the most favorable coverage to the team. The Star could certainly run an article regarding the 5-fingers between the 3rd and 4th quarters, even though that was never officially adopted by the University the last I heard.

Thanks again for your post and your obvious passion for the team! The students not taking advantage of the great deal and a quality product on the field (the game was entertaining) is even more baffling than the people in the western suburb not going to games! As to a resolution, who knows!

When they have freshmen and new students run through the tunnel for the first time and there only are a few dozen, out of a potential several thousand, you know something is wrong.

The football program could do a lot more to promote to students. If they do nothing, nothing will change. We are not a big time program where everything is centered around football so they'll just up. The football team has to interact with the students and encourage them to come out with special events and promotions. How about the team go to the dorms pass out t-shirts and eat dinner with the students? How about they pass out raffles with prizes they can claim only if they're at the game? A lot can be done to increase student interest...

When I was a student there was this student who took it upon himself to lead the student section. This was 00-02 seasons and he lead the front half of the middle 3 sections of the East side and it was stupid fun. I think he was around for a few games in 03 but I don't remember him in 04.

The students need a fellow student leading them with stupid fun chants and whatever...and it needs to be the same person every game per season.

(09-18-2016 08:32 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  When I was a student there was this student who took it upon himself to lead the student section. This was 00-02 seasons and he lead the front half of the middle 3 sections of the East side and it was stupid fun. I think he was around for a few games in 03 but I don't remember him in 04.

The students need a fellow student leading them with stupid fun chants and whatever...and it needs to be the same person every game per season.

We need a group of student fans to lead chants and the noise and get the crowd into it.

1) The responsibility is not on one person
2) The group creates friendship and hardcore fandom that will translate into hardcore alum fans.
3) Easier to start chants with 50 people than 1 or 5 people
4) Give the group first dibs to the best student seats

I find it hard to fathom we have been without this for years

I took a ride by greek row about 1130 and was quite surprised ho many students I saw, many alcohol in hand, walking towards and down Annie Glidden. You did not see that 25 yrs ago. I do find the girls in jorts, boots, flannel top interesting. Big Southern thing and that was the way FSU gals dressed. Don't remember seeing that in #'s in DeKalb.


However, I was walking from movie lot to stadium like 15-20 minutes before game time i was passed by dozens of students headed the other way towards Lincoln highway.

It was funny, as you could almost tell who was there for the game (NIU attire, most a little nerdy...like me), those there to party and go back( didn't care what the looked like, shirt off for guys, blitzed wore some not wearing NIU gear) and those looking like they were there just to go to bars/apt parties.(somewhat sober, walking with a purpose, little or no NIU gear, looking like they were going out on a weekend to bars or after hours)

Is what it is I guess. I was amazed anyone stayed for 2nd half. Must have been underclassmen. I know I would have been looking for a drink.

Drives me insane the amount of students that come to party during the tailgate but never make it inside the stadium. I would like to see everyone outside funneled into the stadium at kickoff. They used to run a promo for free tuition for a random student but I haven't heard that anymore. Worked good at a basketball game a while back too. I know there was a slight boost in freshman enrollment right after the orange bowl. Not sure what happened to those students but I'm guessing that student retention is an issue. I feel we didn't capitalize on that momentum. We need students that will be excited to attend sporting events.

I didn't expect many fans to stay after what happened in the first half. At least those that stayed were entertained.

(09-18-2016 06:01 PM)ptownhuskie Wrote:  As a current student I've noticed the decline of the East Side fans for the last couple years, but Saturday was particularly alarming.

The turnout was about what I expected, as sad as it was. There's just not much buzz on campus about the team currently after the losses. Also the average student doesn't know much about SDSU.

What bothered me more was the amount of students that were sitting from the start of the game. I'm always front row and the 5 or so rows behind me were sitting the entire game. I understand that standing for that long can be difficult or impossible for some people, but sitting has become a trend dating back to last year.

The worst part though was the amount of people that raised their hands between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Seemed like half or maybe even less. One of the guys in my group raised his hand, turned to me laughing and said he had no idea what it was for. He was quickly educated by my girlfriend.

In short, most of the students suck as fans and it bothers me.

One thing that is working for UT is that we have been having a pep rally on Thursdays (They are callled Rocket Thursdays and all students and staff are asked to wear Rocket attire) before any home games in the main part of campus called the Mall including a DJ, free food, give aways, cheer leaders, the team, & our band is now 250 members, etc. The UT President comes each week and speaks every time to get the crowd excited. Then a smaller group of these same folks are hitting the downtown Toledo bars on Friday night and doing flash pep rallies each 20 minutes at about five or six well known pubs/bars. These events are getting covered on the local news stations and are being spread all across social media by the students. We had 25,000 for Maine and then we had almost 20,000 for Fresno State even know a lot of people got washed out be a severe storms that didn't stop until just before the game. The new President at UT, who was the Provost are Arkansas, put her full support behind this and it is working. She is big on student involvement across the board because its good for retention. She made the band a 100 more members, now totaling 250, as an example for more student opportunities. And in just one year our enrollment is up by 200 students. This is a small part of her efforts but they appear to be working.

Turns out, it’s not a raucous crowd in a sold-out stadium.

Apparently, the statistic Huskies fans were focused on wasn’t 35-2 but 0-5. That was NIU’s record in the five games leading up to kickoff Saturday.

Pregame tailgating by students was in full swing — one member of the Aztecs’ traveling party said it looked like “Animal House” — but it seems that many of them didn’t make it into Huskie Stadium (capacity 23,595)

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/spor...story.html

(09-19-2016 07:40 AM)Stpetebeachrocketfan Wrote:  

(09-18-2016 06:01 PM)ptownhuskie Wrote:  As a current student I've noticed the decline of the East Side fans for the last couple years, but Saturday was particularly alarming.

The turnout was about what I expected, as sad as it was. There's just not much buzz on campus about the team currently after the losses. Also the average student doesn't know much about SDSU.

What bothered me more was the amount of students that were sitting from the start of the game. I'm always front row and the 5 or so rows behind me were sitting the entire game. I understand that standing for that long can be difficult or impossible for some people, but sitting has become a trend dating back to last year.

The worst part though was the amount of people that raised their hands between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Seemed like half or maybe even less. One of the guys in my group raised his hand, turned to me laughing and said he had no idea what it was for. He was quickly educated by my girlfriend.

In short, most of the students suck as fans and it bothers me.

One thing that is working for UT is that we have been having a pep rally on Thursdays (They are callled Rocket Thursdays and all students and staff are asked to wear Rocket attire) before any home games in the main part of campus called the Mall including a DJ, free food, give aways, cheer leaders, the team, & our band is now 250 members, etc. The UT President comes each week and speaks every time to get the crowd excited. Then a smaller group of these same folks are hitting the downtown Toledo bars on Friday night and doing flash pep rallies each 20 minutes at about five or six well known pubs/bars. These events are getting covered on the local news stations and are being spread all across social media by the students. We had 25,000 for Maine and then we had almost 20,000 for Fresno State even know a lot of people got washed out be a severe storms that didn't stop until just before the game. The new President at UT, who was the Provost are Arkansas, put her full support behind this and it is working. She is big on student involvement across the board because its good for retention. She made the band a 100 more members, now totaling 250, as an example for more student opportunities. And in just one year our enrollment is up by 200 students. This is a small part of her efforts but they appear to be working.

The students prefer to tailgate and drink and then leave and drink some more. How you get them in? Who knows anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(09-18-2016 09:04 PM)NIUSox10 Wrote:  

(09-18-2016 08:32 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  When I was a student there was this student who took it upon himself to lead the student section. This was 00-02 seasons and he lead the front half of the middle 3 sections of the East side and it was stupid fun. I think he was around for a few games in 03 but I don't remember him in 04.

The students need a fellow student leading them with stupid fun chants and whatever...and it needs to be the same person every game per season.

We need a group of student fans to lead chants and the noise and get the crowd into it.

1) The responsibility is not on one person
2) The group creates friendship and hardcore fandom that will translate into hardcore alum fans.
3) Easier to start chants with 50 people than 1 or 5 people
4) Give the group first dibs to the best student seats

I find it hard to fathom we have been without this for years

Yes that sounds great.

(09-19-2016 08:36 AM)HuskiesCHI27 Wrote:  The students prefer to tailgate and drink and then leave and drink some more. How you get them in? Who knows anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There were rumors that the East side was going to sell beer this year...I am guessing that did not happen yet.

(09-19-2016 07:53 AM)NIUSox10 Wrote:  

(09-19-2016 07:40 AM)Stpetebeachrocketfan Wrote:  

(09-18-2016 06:01 PM)ptownhuskie Wrote:  As a current student I've noticed the decline of the East Side fans for the last couple years, but Saturday was particularly alarming.

The turnout was about what I expected, as sad as it was. There's just not much buzz on campus about the team currently after the losses. Also the average student doesn't know much about SDSU.

What bothered me more was the amount of students that were sitting from the start of the game. I'm always front row and the 5 or so rows behind me were sitting the entire game. I understand that standing for that long can be difficult or impossible for some people, but sitting has become a trend dating back to last year.

The worst part though was the amount of people that raised their hands between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Seemed like half or maybe even less. One of the guys in my group raised his hand, turned to me laughing and said he had no idea what it was for. He was quickly educated by my girlfriend.

In short, most of the students suck as fans and it bothers me.

One thing that is working for UT is that we have been having a pep rally on Thursdays (They are callled Rocket Thursdays and all students and staff are asked to wear Rocket attire) before any home games in the main part of campus called the Mall including a DJ, free food, give aways, cheer leaders, the team, & our band is now 250 members, etc. The UT President comes each week and speaks every time to get the crowd excited. Then a smaller group of these same folks are hitting the downtown Toledo bars on Friday night and doing flash pep rallies each 20 minutes at about five or six well known pubs/bars. These events are getting covered on the local news stations and are being spread all across social media by the students. We had 25,000 for Maine and then we had almost 20,000 for Fresno State even know a lot of people got washed out be a severe storms that didn't stop until just before the game. The new President at UT, who was the Provost are Arkansas, put her full support behind this and it is working. She is big on student involvement across the board because its good for retention. She made the band a 100 more members, now totaling 250, as an example for more student opportunities. And in just one year our enrollment is up by 200 students. This is a small part of her efforts but they appear to be working.

Somebody is doing it better. Why not us? It starts at the top. More action less talk.

Retention and increasing enrollment should be our number one goal. Every new student or retain student is $500 additional athletic fee in the pot. Why is that so hard to figure out.

(09-18-2016 06:01 PM)ptownhuskie Wrote:  As a current student I've noticed the decline of the East Side fans for the last couple years, but Saturday was particularly alarming.

The turnout was about what I expected, as sad as it was. There's just not much buzz on campus about the team currently after the losses. Also the average student doesn't know much about SDSU.

What bothered me more was the amount of students that were sitting from the start of the game. I'm always front row and the 5 or so rows behind me were sitting the entire game. I understand that standing for that long can be difficult or impossible for some people, but sitting has become a trend dating back to last year.

The worst part though was the amount of people that raised their hands between the 3rd and 4th quarters. Seemed like half or maybe even less. One of the guys in my group raised his hand, turned to me laughing and said he had no idea what it was for. He was quickly educated by my girlfriend.

In short, most of the students suck as fans and it bothers me.

it is a losing mindset (not calling you a loser) that students MUST attend games otherwise "they suck as fans". you (Ath. dept.) have to look at them like potential customers and what you can do to make the product (football or basketball or other sport) appealing to them.

to say that simply "they go to this school, they should support the team"...especially at NIU...you have already lost that battle. i would say that in my 18 year affiliation with the school, i have only really seen a handful of times that the school has promoted the game and the gameday experience as 'something to experience'. this however, has been inconsistently applied and not made a priority.

in my eyes, we are getting what we deserve for fan support. to simply say 'winning cures all' is lazy and not sustainable. there are years when the team will be bad. NIU has never consistently tried to build a culture that the game and gameday experience are 'must do's'.

every home game, there is shock at our attendance. i am never surprised or shocked by it because of this.

(09-19-2016 09:59 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  There were rumors that the East side was going to sell beer this year...I am guessing that did not happen yet.

bull****. Don't start or spread bogus rumors like this.
Think about it, how are they going to check IDs and prevent underage drinking?
If this was the answer to increasing student attendance, don't you think more universities would be doing this?
This isn't practical and I defy you to find anyone associated with the university or athletic department that would have seriously proposed this.
Also can't believe NIU students are either the most law-abiding or clueless students who can't figure out a way to smuggle alcohol into the stands.

its ridiculous the bad rap students get:

I agree, it sucks that so many students leave at half (I don't really blame them on Saturday though). But how many other schools have one side of the stadium considered the Student section. If we look at the % of students that go to the game compared to other schools I would bet it is pretty similar. The empty seats are just more noticeable at Huskie Stadium.

(09-19-2016 11:28 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(09-19-2016 09:59 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  There were rumors that the East side was going to sell beer this year...I am guessing that did not happen yet.

bull****. Don't start or spread bogus rumors like this.
Think about it, how are they going to check IDs and prevent underage drinking?
If this was the answer to increasing student attendance, don't you think more universities would be doing this?
This isn't practical and I defy you to find anyone associated with the university or athletic department that would have seriously proposed this.
Also can't believe NIU students are either the most law-abiding or clueless students who can't figure out a way to smuggle alcohol into the stands.

I was told by someone who works in athletics that it was being looked into after they worked out some things on the West side.

Being looked into and the idea turning into reality are two totally new things.

My post wasn't to spread a rumor but asking if beer was still not being sold on the East side. Remember that it was NOT announced that beer was for sale on the West side until after the first time.

Yes people in general (not just students) sneak drinks into the stadium. I am actually surprised but thankful that it does not happen more.