(02-21-2017 02:58 PM)ODU Oldtimer Wrote: ODU Students should use this as a blueprint to get the students and our current Basketball fans more involved. We have great attendance we just need to step it up and get everyone in the TED to go crazy and show some enthusiasm.
The craziest fans in college basketball
By: Andrew Joseph | February 15, 2017
We knew that because we weren’t eligible for the tournament, because we don’t have longstanding rivalries that we had to create an environment that would be attractive to students without all of that,” Mueller said. “Our games are more like a rave, and then basketball gets thrown into the rave.”
15 minutes before tipoff, the GCU Arena has transformed into an avalanche of streamers, EDM and dubstep. The players on New Mexico State can’t help but laugh at what’s going on in the stands. It’s a party – literally, it’s called the “Pre-Game Party” – it just happens to be at a basketball game. With every song, there is a synchronized movement. And it’s ridiculous to think that all this could have been shaped into tradition in less than four years.
Student attendance at basketball games this season has been Pathetic ! The student body has NO school pride. The fact that there is no student pride / fan club is Pathetic as well. ODAF had better get their arms around this or there will be fewer future donors. If you look at the demographics of the majority of Donors today....it is an old and not very diverse base.
ODAF should be engaging students the day they are admitted to the University and stay active with them throughout their college experience. Most all Atheltic foundations / fan clubs do that, but not ODU. This needs to be fixed with an integrated comprehensive approach across the University.
(02-22-2017 01:47 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote: Student attendance at basketball games this season has been Pathetic ! The student body has NO school pride. The fact that there is no student pride / fan club is Pathetic as well. ODAF had better get their arms around this or there will be fewer future donors. If you look at the demographics of the majority of Donors today....it is an old and not very diverse base.
ODAF should be engaging students the day they are admitted to the University and stay active with them throughout their college experience. Most all Atheltic foundations / fan clubs do that, but not ODU. This needs to be fixed with an integrated comprehensive approach across the University.
(02-22-2017 01:47 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote: Student attendance at basketball games this season has been Pathetic ! The student body has NO school pride. The fact that there is no student pride / fan club is Pathetic as well. ODAF had better get their arms around this or there will be fewer future donors. If you look at the demographics of the majority of Donors today....it is an old and not very diverse base.
ODAF should be engaging students the day they are admitted to the University and stay active with them throughout their college experience. Most all Atheltic foundations / fan clubs do that, but not ODU. This needs to be fixed with an integrated comprehensive approach across the University.
This is very, very true.
Agreed. What do we do to get heard on these boards. We all have a lot of good ideas but it does no good if nothing ever comes of it. We need people to take action and start fixing these problems. I was hoping Chandler could do more but I don't think I have seen a whole lot yet
(02-22-2017 01:47 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote: Student attendance at basketball games this season has been Pathetic ! The student body has NO school pride. The fact that there is no student pride / fan club is Pathetic as well. ODAF had better get their arms around this or there will be fewer future donors. If you look at the demographics of the majority of Donors today....it is an old and not very diverse base.
ODAF should be engaging students the day they are admitted to the University and stay active with them throughout their college experience. Most all Atheltic foundations / fan clubs do that, but not ODU. This needs to be fixed with an integrated comprehensive approach across the University.
This is very, very true.
Agreed. What do we do to get heard on these boards. We all have a lot of good ideas but it does no good if nothing ever comes of it. We need people to take action and start fixing these problems. I was hoping Chandler could do more but I don't think I have seen a whole lot yet
When I was a cheerleader at ODU myself and other students actually had a few meetings with Dr. Chandler about reinstating the Monarch Maniacs, however those meetings stopped and I always wondered what happened. The demise of the old MM came at a really inopportune time (5-25 year) and no student or group of students have stepped up to run it again. As much as we can ask from the administration, it will go nowhere if students don't actually start something themselves. While our basketball team hasn't been as dominating as we had wished, there are schools with worse teams than ours that have killer student sections. We need someone who really cares to start the movement, and I've posted many responses on this board talking about it.
Does anybody think that it's the conference we play in? Hard to get up and passionate about teams you know absolutely nothing about. I find it interesting that the two highest attended games this year was VCU and JMU, two CAA mates. I really hope and pray one day we can move to the AAC.
(02-23-2017 05:02 PM)Old Blue Wrote: Does anybody think that it's the conference we play in? Hard to get up and passionate about teams you know absolutely nothing about. I find it interesting that the two highest attended games this year was VCU and JMU, two CAA mates. I really hope and pray one day we can move to the AAC.
Some of that might be a factor. But it is still pathetic. They do nothing to get the Colleges or Greek orgs involved anymore. They do virtually nothing to promote the games to the students. They have to get more proactive and build student pride from the moment they step on campus even during a tour or visit. The tours of the colleges Suck !! There is no energy during the tour. The first impression means everything. The students don't even engage while the tours are going through campus. When we toured JMU several students that saw us walking around stopped to tell us how much they loved it at JMU. They made potential students feel welcome. They really need to rethink their approach and do some benchmarking.
Where we play is a copout. We didn't have problems drawing students when we were in the old SunBelt with nearly the same footprint. I agree other fan bases from CUSA aren't rocking either but this is ODU. We've NEVER had to depend on a conference to bring us forward in anything.
The bottom line is that that BEAUTIFUL building (and it really is bright and beautiful) has NO LIFE IN IT. Watching games on TV from afar, it really doesn't even look like a college. The grey hairs in the crowd look like they're watching a NBA game. And that is clearly what the admin is focused on...grey hairs. It's all about today's revenue. The only thing making our crowds look good right now is what is going on at some of the CAA-level schools. An absolute waste of our opportunities given our history and being the lead institution in the 757. Rant over.
(02-24-2017 09:41 AM)FearTheLion Wrote: Where we play is a copout. We didn't have problems drawing students when we were in the old SunBelt with nearly the same footprint. I agree other fan bases from CUSA aren't rocking either but this is ODU. We've NEVER had to depend on a conference to bring us forward in anything.
The bottom line is that that BEAUTIFUL building (and it really is bright and beautiful) has NO LIFE IN IT. Watching games on TV from afar, it really doesn't even look like a college. The grey hairs in the crowd look like they're watching a NBA game. And that is clearly what the admin is focused on...grey hairs. It's all about today's revenue. The only thing making our crowds look good right now is what is going on at some of the CAA-level schools. An absolute waste of our opportunities given our history and being the lead institution in the 757. Rant over.
Right on point...the fact that the demographics of our fan base is older and not very diverse is very upsetting especially since the University has made a concerted effort over the last 20 years to increase diversity. It does not appear that strategy has translated into a more diverse crowd base. Add that to the fact that students haven't showed up and we have a horrible crowd at the TED. Based on the fact that the center sections of the Ted are large donors and looking across the arena, I would submit the younger and more diverse demographic is not contributing to ODAF.
I really think ODAF and the University needs to think about an integrated Alumni engagement strategy. i don't think they will see a significant growth in revenues during this reseating process. Everyone I have talked with said they are not going to contribute more money.
Count my group and I in as feeling like a change needs to be made. We're young alumni (all graduated within the last five years) and have had our group of season tickets for two years now. We're considering not renewing or donating for next year. Too many people treat the Ted and the games like a museum exhibit instead of a college basketball game. The final straw really came during the VCU game this year. The game had just started (seriously not even two minutes in), we're up cheering, and then get told to sit down, settle down, go sit in the student section. It was and is very frustrating.
(02-24-2017 07:04 PM)odugrad10 Wrote: Count my group and I in as feeling like a change needs to be made. We're young alumni (all graduated within the last five years) and have had our group of season tickets for two years now. We're considering not renewing or donating for next year. Too many people treat the Ted and the games like a museum exhibit instead of a college basketball game. The final straw really came during the VCU game this year. The game had just started (seriously not even two minutes in), we're up cheering, and then get told to sit down, settle down, go sit in the student section. It was and is very frustrating.
Forget those other folks. You guys continue to get up and cheer. I know I do in my section!
(02-24-2017 07:04 PM)odugrad10 Wrote: Count my group and I in as feeling like a change needs to be made. We're young alumni (all graduated within the last five years) and have had our group of season tickets for two years now. We're considering not renewing or donating for next year. Too many people treat the Ted and the games like a museum exhibit instead of a college basketball game. The final straw really came during the VCU game this year. The game had just started (seriously not even two minutes in), we're up cheering, and then get told to sit down, settle down, go sit in the student section. It was and is very frustrating.
Forget those other folks. You guys continue to get up and cheer. I know I do in my section!
(02-24-2017 07:04 PM)odugrad10 Wrote: Count my group and I in as feeling like a change needs to be made. We're young alumni (all graduated within the last five years) and have had our group of season tickets for two years now. We're considering not renewing or donating for next year. Too many people treat the Ted and the games like a museum exhibit instead of a college basketball game. The final straw really came during the VCU game this year. The game had just started (seriously not even two minutes in), we're up cheering, and then get told to sit down, settle down, go sit in the student section. It was and is very frustrating.
IMO, there are a few people in the crowd that are more reserved in the way they cheer and support our young men and women that represent US all over Monarch Nation. But, I sincerely doubt that any true ODU fan would not support and desire for the atmosphere at the games to have more energy and electricity. The players are energized by the excitement of the crowd and that clearly motivates the players as they react to the energy of the fans. The crowd can and should be the engine that ignites the players to give more. We have all witnessed the impact the crowds can have on the team. It often raises their play into another level of execution.
I hope your group just continues to stand, cheer and give the team your enthusiasm and I'm certain those that may have been reluctant to stand will join in as your passion will become contagious. They will eventually join in.
Thanks for your support and I hope you will never be reluctant to stand and cheer at any Monarch Sporting event.
(This post was last modified: 02-24-2017 07:49 PM by ODU Oldtimer.)
The key is getting people "into it" in the sense of it being an innate member of the community. "They are us and we are them" sort of thing. An NCAAT appearance/run would do wonders to this effect, but that sort of thing cannot be depended on for organic growth. The university needs to think like a clam: encounter something different, absorb it, and then spend the necessary time honing it into something beautiful
As a student of the old sunbelt days and Scope being our home, the older crowd sat in the second level and students on the first level around the court much like Cameron indoor stadium. We used to fill up our student section all the way around the court. Ask Gene Bartow followers of UAB how the crowd at scope was.
Here we sat 5 miles from campus and had no problems getting to the games.
(02-24-2017 09:41 AM)FearTheLion Wrote: Where we play is a copout. We didn't have problems drawing students when we were in the old SunBelt with nearly the same footprint. I agree other fan bases from CUSA aren't rocking either but this is ODU. We've NEVER had to depend on a conference to bring us forward in anything.
The bottom line is that that BEAUTIFUL building (and it really is bright and beautiful) has NO LIFE IN IT. Watching games on TV from afar, it really doesn't even look like a college. The grey hairs in the crowd look like they're watching a NBA game. And that is clearly what the admin is focused on...grey hairs. It's all about today's revenue. The only thing making our crowds look good right now is what is going on at some of the CAA-level schools. An absolute waste of our opportunities given our history and being the lead institution in the 757. Rant over.
Comparing the students when we were in the old sunbelt to the students today, it's like night and day. No computers, no cell phones, I think it takes alot more than the building to attract the students. I think if we are not really good right off the bat, students kinda check out. Who want's to see us play the F_U's. I am convinced if we don't get into the AAC pretty damn soon basketball is going to spiral down into mediocrity.
(02-24-2017 08:48 PM)TedHead Wrote: As a student of the old sunbelt days and Scope being our home, the older crowd sat in the second level and students on the first level around the court much like Cameron indoor stadium. We used to fill up our student section all the way around the court. Ask Gene Bartow followers of UAB how the crowd at scope was.
Here we sat 5 miles from campus and had no problems getting to the games.
/
ODU really needs a "FIGHT" chant
