(10-28-2009 07:59 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Pic of the last night's crowd at the 6 minute mark of the first quarter.

Holy crap. I think the announced 4000 could have been a bit liberal. Must have been 3500+ on the other sideline .

OMG! There are more players, band members, & cheerleaders than fans in that image. And this was playing a "rival" CUSA team on a nice evening.

(10-29-2009 11:16 AM)3601 Wrote:  A terrible team on a rainy night and many fans who are boycotting (because they want the coach fired) resulted in what was probably the smallest Tigers home crowd in the 45 year history of Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

It WAS the smallest Tiger crowd post WWII. The previous was 6,500 in 1982 - I proudly attended both games.

Not that it means much, but the photo above is from the "visiting" side of the stadium. The crowd on the other side of the stadium was 2 or 3 times larger, but still terrible.

(10-29-2009 11:12 AM)3601 Wrote:  He stayed here nine seasons, became our alltime winningest coach, and won 30 plus games each of his last four seasons.

Again, when it came down to keeping Cal when a BCS school came calling....how'd throwing all that money around work out?

Not just a BCS school, that was the University of Kentucky basketball program. Can anyone say dream job?

(10-29-2009 09:24 AM)UofL07 Wrote:  

(10-28-2009 04:54 PM)MemphisTger Wrote:  It was rainy, cool, a Tuesday night, and the game was on national TV. I know a few students that had tickets but did not want to go because of the rain. Plus we are a basketball school and that is something that I care more about right now than talking about football.

Anyone think that maybe this is why Memphis hasn't gotten a Big East invite yet?

(10-28-2009 04:54 PM)MemphisTger Wrote:  If we were in the Big East or SEC, we would have had 60,000 no matter what our record is.

That is a laughable argument to make. Memphis played BE member Louisville in 2008 (you know, the Big East team that Memphis fans claim as one of their biggest rivals ever) and just over 40K showed up to watch the game. And just to re-emphasize my point, want to guess what the attendance was for Memphis' season opener against then ranked #8 Ole Miss (both teams were 0-0 and Ole Miss is considered one of Memphis' biggest rivals)? It was 45,207.

Let's take a look at 2004 versus #14 Louisville. Memphis had a star player (DeAngelo Williams) Tiger fans could get excited about, they were 5-2 on the season, and they were playing a huge conference rival who was #16th in the nation. Attendance was 52,384. So even with all those things going for them, Memphis still wasn't able to hit the 60K attendance mark.

So no, I don't buy your argument that 60K would show up regardless of the record because there simply is no evidence to support that claim (if they can't get 60K to show when they are good, then they won't get 60K to show up if they are 1-11).

We would not draw 60,000 if we were in The Big East. No Big East team averages 60,000. In the SEC, we might, but that will never happen anyway.

Still, I don't see how a Ville fan is talking smack about 52K in attendance when your stadium only holds 42K. Come back and talk some smack when you get your addition and have 63K. You won't fill them either.

As a Tiger Fan last night was awful. The problem is the fans have given up on the coach. But what they are really doing is giving up on the players. It was very sad, but it is only a bumb in the road. Things will turn around in the upcoming years (Big East or No Big East). But the coach has to go and R.C. Johnson (AD) has to make the right choice to replace him. If he does as good as he did with selecting our basketball coach then we will be just fine.

(10-29-2009 04:18 PM)esayem Wrote:  Not just a BCS school, that was the University of Kentucky basketball program. Can anyone say dream job?

Bingo. Maybe UofL07 doesn't get it, but Cal was courted by MANY BCS schools (inluding NC State and St. John's) while at Memphis and turned them all down until Kentucky came calling.

Memphis actually offered Cal more money that Kentucky, but money wasn't going to keep him at Memphis this time.

There are about 330 Division 1 basketball jobs out there and Kentucky is one of only about five or six that could have lured Cal away from Memphis.

(10-29-2009 02:40 PM)UofL07 Wrote:  

(10-29-2009 11:12 AM)3601 Wrote:  He stayed here nine seasons, became our alltime winningest coach, and won 30 plus games each of his last four seasons.

Again, when it came down to keeping Cal when a BCS school came calling....how'd throwing all that money around work out?

Do you realize that Cal turned down numerous overtures from BCS schools during his nine years at Memphis?

(10-29-2009 04:37 PM)Claw Wrote:  Still, I don't see how a Ville fan is talking smack about 52K in attendance when your stadium only holds 42K. Come back and talk some smack when you get your addition and have 63K. You won't fill them either.

I wasn't talking smack, I was posting a rebuttal to the original claim that Memphis "would have had 60,000 no matter what our record is [if they were in the Big East]". If you consider using Memphis' previous attendence history as a means of examining whether a statement should be considered believable to be smack, I'm not sure how anyone would be able to have a meaningful debate with you about anything.

As for Louisville's attendence, I doubt they'd sell out a 65K stadium in the Big East every week either. But then again, this thread a) isn't about Louisville's speculative attendence figures and b) doesn't contain a single post where I claimed that Louisville would sell out a 65K stadium. Plus, one has to ask why Louisville's attendence figures are even relavent in discussing whether the "we'd average 60K every week in the Big East regardless of record" comment was a gross exaggeration or not.

So basically...UM and its fans will not be able to help with bowls accross the board....and their football program is such that it will add very little to the football TV conract...why are we considering adding them again?

Adding Memphis with its poor football record and questionable fan base would only increase the criticism leveled towards the BE. Can you imagine the talk shows chirping about Boise St, BYU, TCU (quality football programs all)still being left out and Memphis with its problems being allowed in

Its really hard not to look at ECUs die hard fan base, and UCF location/commitment to football and not wonder if both of these schools are more attractive then UM

Jackson

I'm not a blind Memphis fan. I think that both ECU and UCF both have certain advantages over Memphis.

The Big East would certainly get pounded if they added a school that just drew 4,000 for a home football game. That being said, I'll say again that Memphis consistently outdrew both USF and UC while all were in C-USA.

(10-29-2009 08:19 PM)3601 Wrote:  I'm not a blind Memphis fan. I think that both ECU and UCF both have certain advantages over Memphis.

The Big East would certainly get pounded if they added a school that just drew 4,000 for a home football game. That being said, I'll say again that Memphis consistently outdrew both USF and UC while all were in C-USA.

-- True...but UC and USF were added when the BE HAD to expand to survive...that is a huge difference the current situation

Jackson

Yeah, that sucked.

(10-30-2009 08:36 AM)Sundanceuiuc Wrote:  Yeah, that sucked.

Don't worry Memphis fans the attendance figures have been adjusted. Now the listed attendance for Tuesday night's game is 31,767. Apparently 27,000+ people thought Halloween started early and came dressed as bleachers.

http://www.kinston.com/sports/attendance...eople.html

(10-29-2009 09:32 PM)Jackson1011 Wrote:  

(10-29-2009 08:19 PM)3601 Wrote:  I'm not a blind Memphis fan. I think that both ECU and UCF both have certain advantages over Memphis.

The Big East would certainly get pounded if they added a school that just drew 4,000 for a home football game. That being said, I'll say again that Memphis consistently outdrew both USF and UC while all were in C-USA.

-- True...but UC and USF were added when the BE HAD to expand to survive...that is a huge difference the current situation

Jackson

I agree with that, but I think it's a stretch calling the Memphis fan base quesionable. Tuesday night was both an anomaly and a perfect storm.

Fans were turned away from FedExForum the other night. 18,000 strong for a basketball practice. 2003 and 2004 were prime examples of what Memphis fans will do if they get even mediocre football. Check it out. We weren't really even competing for the C-USA title, yet still averaged about 41,000 each of those two seasons.

(10-30-2009 09:27 AM)3601 Wrote:  

(10-29-2009 09:32 PM)Jackson1011 Wrote:  

(10-29-2009 08:19 PM)3601 Wrote:  I'm not a blind Memphis fan. I think that both ECU and UCF both have certain advantages over Memphis.

The Big East would certainly get pounded if they added a school that just drew 4,000 for a home football game. That being said, I'll say again that Memphis consistently outdrew both USF and UC while all were in C-USA.

-- True...but UC and USF were added when the BE HAD to expand to survive...that is a huge difference the current situation

Jackson

I agree with that, but I think it's a stretch calling the Memphis fan base quesionable. Tuesday night was both an anomaly and a perfect storm.

Fans were turned away from FedExForum the other night. 18,000 strong for a basketball practice. 2003 and 2004 were prime examples of what Memphis fans will do if they get even mediocre football. Check it out. We weren't really even competing for the C-USA title, yet still averaged about 41,000 each of those two seasons.

So is it an anomaly for Tulane and UAB to have such poor attendance? After all, look at their numbers back when they were good.

Maybe UAB should join the Big East, they've got a good basketball program. Maybe they should add Elon for their baseball program too, and Salisbury for women's lacrosse.

(10-29-2009 05:28 PM)UofL07 Wrote:  

(10-29-2009 04:37 PM)Claw Wrote:  Still, I don't see how a Ville fan is talking smack about 52K in attendance when your stadium only holds 42K. Come back and talk some smack when you get your addition and have 63K. You won't fill them either.

I wasn't talking smack, I was posting a rebuttal to the original claim that Memphis "would have had 60,000 no matter what our record is [if they were in the Big East]". If you consider using Memphis' previous attendence history as a means of examining whether a statement should be considered believable to be smack, I'm not sure how anyone would be able to have a meaningful debate with you about anything.

As for Louisville's attendence, I doubt they'd sell out a 65K stadium in the Big East every week either. But then again, this thread a) isn't about Louisville's speculative attendence figures and b) doesn't contain a single post where I claimed that Louisville would sell out a 65K stadium. Plus, one has to ask why Louisville's attendence figures are even relavent in discussing whether the "we'd average 60K every week in the Big East regardless of record" comment was a gross exaggeration or not.

My apologies. The reason I took it as smack talk was your use of your own school in the examples. Your numbers are correct, and nothing short of SEC membership would push Memphis to a 60K average.

By the way, that Louisville/Memphis game and the following Louisville/Boise State game were two of the best games I've ever watched in Liberty Bowl stadium. That was some exciting football.

(10-29-2009 06:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  So the competition was only Middle Tennessee @ Troy and Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas State? That's the funny thing about stats.

Do resonable Memphis fans claim MemphisTger as one of their own?

No, and he rarely ever posts on another board besides this one.

4k is terrible even its a Tuesday night. Memphis is more and more looking like Temple of the 90's. Looks like RC is doing more damage than I could've imagined. If this happened last year these Memphis to Big East rumors wouldn't even start. Memphis needs to step up or there may not be an invite afterall.