(09-03-2021 09:55 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(09-03-2021 08:36 AM)bigowlsfan Wrote:  

(09-03-2021 07:53 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(09-03-2021 07:48 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  You do realize we have fewer living alumni than UT, A&M and UH have current enrolled students, right?

You do realize that we built a 70,000-seat football stadium because we could sell it out with some regularity when those alumni numbers were even smaller and Houston was maybe 1/5 the size it is now and there were no interstate highways or jet airliners to bring out-of-town fans in for games, right?

We succeeded despite all the limitations back when we cared about succeeding. Now we don't, and can't.

These are excellent points; colleges in big cities can be interesting enough or endearing enough to attract fans in that city who like sports and enjoy the product offered by those schools. That is especially true now that pro football has a sticker price that is so high; I would bet the cost to take a family of 4 to a Rice football game, all in (parking and food included), is probably 25% of the cost to take in a Texans game. Once you get that family in the gate, I bet you are more likely to get them to follow you in the popular press (taking us back to the original topic).

Now how you go about capturing the interest of those non-alumni fans is the challenge, and one I do not have the skill-set to create.

Pro sport ticket prices have in large part exceeded what many are willing to pay, but those people aren’t looking for an alternative as they simply watch from home via TV or streaming. If this alternative had been available in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s would HRS have seen the attendance it had?

Very good point. I can only afford Astros tickets. I won't pay to see any other professional sports team. There are countless fans exactly like me, but instead of turning to college athletics, they stay addicted to the professional game at home. Also, there is so much entertainment out there now. The options are endless. Attending a Rice football game back in the 50' and 60's was a very big deal. We were the center of attention.

See the posts in the the "HRS / EZF Athletics Construction Thread" starting around #1500.

To hammer home the theme of this article, our section of Texas Monthly's fall FBS preview wonders what the MOB show is going to be about @ Texas. The closest thing to discussing our team is "(Oh, right, Texas plays Rice not because it is hard, but because it is easy.)" At #12 on the list, the MOB was more important than pondering whether UNT will get a bowl game.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entert...n-preview/

The way to end all this bitching is to start winning.

Seems to me we hired a guy to do that.

(09-03-2021 10:18 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(09-03-2021 09:55 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Pro sport ticket prices have in large part exceeded what many are willing to pay, but those people aren’t looking for an alternative as they simply watch from home via TV or streaming. If this alternative had been available in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s would HRS have seen the attendance it had?

Very good point. I can only afford Astros tickets. I won't pay to see any other professional sports team. There are countless fans exactly like me, but instead of turning to college athletics, they stay addicted to the professional game at home. Also, there is so much entertainment out there now. The options are endless. Attending a Rice football game back in the 50' and 60's was a very big deal. We were the center of attention.

When we sold our business, we kept the Astros tickets and would split them up among us. This is our last year. And I have only been once this year, so I won't miss them. It's a pretty long haul, particularly headed home late at night, and I just watch on TV now.

Dynamo tickets are reasonably priced, and before my son moved to Tokyo, that was a really good father-son outing. I have still kept my season package, but don't go often, and give them to friends more than I use them.

I would do Sabrecats (rugby) if they weren't another 20-30 minutes further south, and if they were better. I just don't care for their style of play, and they have been pretty unsuccessful with it. I like a more open, flowing game, and that's what I tried to coach, but they are just trying to manhandle people. I like quick ball after tackles, they like big piles. They've hired a new coach from South Africa, but his track record is not that great and he has always favored more the style I don't like. I went to their first exhibition game with friends. They beat an amateur side from Austin something like 55-7. My friends were like, "Wow, they're pretty good," but I was more like, "No, they're terrible."

Good article on the history of the Rice-Arkansas series.

https://www.bestofarkansassports.com/ark...struggled/

And as predicted by these folks there is not a single story or mention of the game in the online edition of the Chronicle. The print copy has a brief AP summary…that doesn’t even appear online. But the UTEP vs Bethune Cookman does.

(09-05-2021 10:22 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  And as predicted by these folks there is not a single story or mention of the game in the online edition of the Chronicle. The print copy has a brief AP summary…that doesn’t even appear online. But the UTEP vs Bethune Cookman does.

Ahem...

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-s...436163.php

(09-05-2021 10:38 AM)InterestedX Wrote:  

(09-05-2021 10:22 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  And as predicted by these folks there is not a single story or mention of the game in the online edition of the Chronicle. The print copy has a brief AP summary…that doesn’t even appear online. But the UTEP vs Bethune Cookman does.

Ahem...

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-s...436163.php

Thanks