(03-13-2018 10:46 AM)flash3200 Wrote:  First of all, the attendance figures are completely made up. Based on my own small sample size, when we were doing better v. worse, the actual butts in the seat count seemed closer to reported attendance numbers when the team was winning. The last two brutal seasons, the stands were effectively empty despite reported attendance figures still hovering around the FBS mandated minimum threshold of 20k. It is clear that the AD does a goal seek on freebie tickets issued just to meet minimum requirements of attendance.

Attendance will never look good at Rice...the best we can hope for is to hit the other deliverables and hope that maybe some of the 20k reported attendance on any given week actually shows up to the game (those tickets presumably are in the hands of the general public, not just in a drawer in the AD's office, right?). We can begin to complain about the marketing staff and lack of amenities at HRS when the action on the turf should demand that 20k people show up to watch. This includes having 1-2 decent OOC teams actually come to HRS and hanging a bunch of points on the dregs of the CUSA. Maybe, occasionally, there might be a game of national interest at some point late in the season should someone like a resurgent FAU or similar come to visit us and maybe more than a few adventure seekers will be required to sit in the upper decks.

I do agree with this. The frustration is real. There's no future in CUSA, as least not in it's current form. There's an incredible amount of ground to make up to get back. It can be done. Spend. A university like Rice cannot have insignificant athletics. As Rice commits more to athletics, the win totals will go up. Keep coaches and finish the renovation projects. I like to think people on campus understand that now. I hope they do.