(07-20-2013 03:20 PM)Rice81 Wrote:  What we need is that guy that wore a grass skirt and no shirt. Where is he?

Being a physician in Houston.

(07-20-2013 04:25 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(07-20-2013 03:20 PM)Rice81 Wrote:  What we need is that guy that wore a grass skirt and no shirt. Where is he?

Being a physician in Houston.

And he's at every game, too.

Royal lashed into Coog fans earlier this month for not showing up for their games, especially at Hofheinz.

His LinkedIn profile says he's a UH alum and shows some of his attorney and other positions.

Thanks for the memories, y'all. I'm definitely going to look for Kirk next time I'm at HRS this fall.
We also could use another Pretzel-Man - remember that late 70's "cheerleader" who was a one-trick pony? He'd wrap his legs over his shoulders and hop around on his hands??

(07-20-2013 10:12 PM)Barney Wrote:  Thanks for the memories, y'all. I'm definitely going to look for Kirk next time I'm at HRS this fall.
We also could use another Pretzel-Man - remember that late 70's "cheerleader" who was a one-trick pony? He'd wrap his legs over his shoulders and hop around on his hands??

He wasn't a cheerleader, but was one heck of a beer-bike racer, snf an all-around fun guy. Baker College's Jim Guenther was his name, and I believe he was on campus for a 5 or 6 year run from 1973 - '79.

(07-20-2013 08:42 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  I think Royal is spot on. Throughout the whole article I kept nodding in agreement.

IMO, what we lack is an organic cheerleader (like the Rally Club before they went downhill). Especially from a student perspective, most students will join in cheers/chants if there is another student leading them to it, and it just doesn't seem like someone has been willing to step up and do that. And I assume that if we can get the whole student section to cheer, that it would creep it's way into the ticket holders

Maybe I'm partially missing your point, because I look at everything through a basketball lens, but...

1) In my experience, the enthusiasm for cheers/chants is not as infectious as you seem to think. Maybe you'll get some spreading through the first few rows, but the contest needs to be engaging.

2) I know three people who would take issue with saying no one has been willing to step up. I don't think the problem is with the starters, but the followers. There's only so much that one person can do, and when there's little to no response (as I allude to in point 1), it can be very exhausting.

3) In the '11-12 season, esp. during C-USA play, the student section was consistently full or near, and more engaged than I believe any other school with 4000 students and a .500 team would have. Yet, I would assert that the ticket-holders were still as weak then as any of my time on campus.

(07-22-2013 11:20 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  

(07-20-2013 08:42 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  I think Royal is spot on. Throughout the whole article I kept nodding in agreement.

IMO, what we lack is an organic cheerleader (like the Rally Club before they went downhill). Especially from a student perspective, most students will join in cheers/chants if there is another student leading them to it, and it just doesn't seem like someone has been willing to step up and do that. And I assume that if we can get the whole student section to cheer, that it would creep it's way into the ticket holders

Maybe I'm partially missing your point, because I look at everything through a basketball lens, but...

1) In my experience, the enthusiasm for cheers/chants is not as infectious as you seem to think. Maybe you'll get some spreading through the first few rows, but the contest needs to be engaging.

2) I know three people who would take issue with saying no one has been willing to step up. I don't think the problem is with the starters, but the followers. There's only so much that one person can do, and when there's little to no response (as I allude to in point 1), it can be very exhausting.

3) In the '11-12 season, esp. during C-USA play, the student section was consistently full or near, and more engaged than I believe any other school with 4000 students and a .500 team would have. Yet, I would assert that the ticket-holders were still as weak then as any of my time on campus.

Looking specifically at basketball, I distinctly remember how the student section would stand silent unless there was an enterprising student or two down front that were willing to start chants. If it weren't for them, many times the student section would fall silent during the less exciting portions of the game.

Recently we have had dedicated students down in-front in the basketball ball game who were cheering and rooting their hearts out, and this is not meant to criticize their passion, but often failed to translate that passion to motivating the rest of the fans.

For example, when Jimmy Baseball came to basketball games in the student section, and not only did he do a great job of riling up the opposing teams, he did a great job getting the student section involved. That is why I said we needed organic cheerleaders; we need people who are going to get the students into the game.

The regular cheerleaders do a great job as well, but they aren't usually near the students iirc

I think Pretzel man and another won a cheerleader election in early 70s. But they ran as team under other names-- Hugh E. Rection and Ava Gina. Their election was disallowed. Gimmicks and pranks seemed to be more important than winning football games.

(07-22-2013 12:15 PM)ETx Owl Wrote:  I think Pretzel man and another won a cheerleader election in early 70s. But they ran as team under other names-- Hugh E. Rection and Ava Gina. Their election was disallowed.

What makes that different from every other election?

(07-22-2013 11:20 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  In the '11-12 season, esp. during C-USA play, the student section was consistently full or near, and more engaged than I believe any other school with 4000 students and a .500 team would have. Yet, I would assert that the ticket-holders were still as weak then as any of my time on campus.

Amen! It is the vast majority of our fans who are a lame -- and that vast majority is not students.

To paraphrase Cassius in Julius Caesar:
The fault is not in the students, but in ourselves, that we are weaklings.

(07-22-2013 02:16 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(07-22-2013 11:20 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  In the '11-12 season, esp. during C-USA play, the student section was consistently full or near, and more engaged than I believe any other school with 4000 students and a .500 team would have. Yet, I would assert that the ticket-holders were still as weak then as any of my time on campus.

Amen! It is the vast majority of our fans who are a lame -- and that vast majority is not students.

To paraphrase Cassius in Julius Caesar:
The fault is not in the students, but in ourselves, that we are weaklings.

Agree completely about the '11-12 season. The percentage of seats filled in the student section vs the west side where most alums sit was a very indicator of the lack of support from the alums/donors/fans.

(07-22-2013 02:16 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(07-22-2013 11:20 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  In the '11-12 season, esp. during C-USA play, the student section was consistently full or near, and more engaged than I believe any other school with 4000 students and a .500 team would have. Yet, I would assert that the ticket-holders were still as weak then as any of my time on campus.

Amen! It is the vast majority of our fans who are a lame -- and that vast majority is not students.

To paraphrase Cassius in Julius Caesar:
The fault is not in the students, but in ourselves, that we are weaklings.

I've been to plenty of football games where I could count the students in the stands on my hands and feet.

The student turn out when I was at Rice ('07-'11) was pathetic.

(07-22-2013 02:45 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(07-22-2013 02:16 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(07-22-2013 11:20 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  In the '11-12 season, esp. during C-USA play, the student section was consistently full or near, and more engaged than I believe any other school with 4000 students and a .500 team would have. Yet, I would assert that the ticket-holders were still as weak then as any of my time on campus.

Amen! It is the vast majority of our fans who are a lame -- and that vast majority is not students.

To paraphrase Cassius in Julius Caesar:
The fault is not in the students, but in ourselves, that we are weaklings.

I've been to plenty of football games where I could count the students in the stands on my hands and feet.

The student turn out when I was at Rice ('07-'11) was pathetic.

You missed the glory year of the Graham dynasty.

Most all schools complain that the 'alumni' section is quiet and not engaged except when calls go against them. I think Rice is no different in this regard except it is a smaller group that has become smaller as the teams don't perform on the field. Rice fans like to think they are more clever and witty but they boo bad calls just as well as other places.

Main issue is w/ students where attendance is horrible and been horrible for awhile...even as a % of total addressable market...factoring in enrollment issues. There is not the engagement of years past. Partly performance on field, partly due to increasing #"s of international students (where American sports don't have same connection), partially due to loss of SWC rivalries, etc. but that is the main issue IMO. Good article and I agree with it....