(10-29-2019 10:03 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote: It is what it is at this point. The empty stands don't lie...this game, at this level, is not what or where it used to be. It's up to these places to figure out how to get people to care again. I doubt they have it in them to, but, at this point, what flies and what doesn't just looks silly, or absurd, like Calvinball or baseketball.
Where does this idea come from? E.g., I just randomly picked a year for Alabama from the Good Old Days of College Football, 1971. Smack in the middle of the Bear Bryant era, a year in which Alabama won the SEC and had an 11-0 regular season record before losing to #1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. They were ranked in the top 10 all year, and finished at #4.
Attendance that year:
At #5 USC ..... 67,000
At #18 LSU .... 64,000
USM at home ..................... 52,000
Ole Miss at home ................ 72,000
#14 Tennesssee at home ..... 73,000
Houston at home ................ 56,000
Miami at home ................... 57,000
vs #5 Auburn neutral site ..................... 68,000
Two massive games away from home, at #5 USC and vs #5 Auburn, and the attendance was 67,000 and 68,000?
The USC game was in the LA colisseum, and was only 2/3 full!
A game in Tiger Stadium between #4 Alabama and #18 LSU drew 64,000! Today it would be 101,000.
Five home games, and attendance averaged in the low 60s?
That's far from today, where Alabama draws 100,000 a game. Now true, the USA population is 50% greater than it was in 1970. But even if we add 50% to those numbers, in most cases they don't get us past where we are today.
And today there are WAY more TV options. Not counting the Orange Bowl, only three of their 1971 regular season games were on TV at all so the only way to see most of them was in the stands.
So where has the interest died off compared to the Good Old Days?