I freaking hate...

[SuperJon]

How people think LU sports (or any I-AA for that matter) are second-rate. It just flat out makes me mad. Most recent case: I read a friend's away message and it said they were going home for the weekend. I was next to this person during the St. Paul's game. They said they were going home this week. I IMed them asking if they were going to miss our game. Their response was that they'd be in Chapel Hill on Saturday watching the VaTech game. They haven't missed a Tech game since 94 and don't plan on starting now. The only games they will be at are William and Mary and Coastal because they will be going to VaTech games instead. That just makes me mad. One of the biggest reasons I can't find people to go to Towson with me is because it will cost money. People have said the only reason they go to LU games is because they're free. What the freaking crap? I don't see how someone can pay to go to school and not even support their own classmates on the field? That just ticks me off. Sorry to go on a rant, I felt like it was needed.

[AndrewFU21]

I'm with you 100% man. We have pretty good support as far as students going to games and being loud, but since school isn't in session yet I'd bet that probably 70% of Furman students don't even know that we've played a football game yet. We don't have as much of a problem with people going elsewhere for games, since most students are from out of state, but there is the general feeling that it isn't 'cool' to care a lot about the school's athletics since we aren't as big as other schools.

For example, I really, really, wanted to go to the Richmond game last year. FU was chartering a bus for students, with everything free including tickets. Even for a playoff game, couldn't get anyone to go with me: smh :

[SuperJon]

I've broken it down and figured out it will cost less than 30 bucks to go to the Towson game next weekend and can't get people to go with me.

[ASU Kep]

It's not quite that bad here, but theres some of it. On Friday a kid came to my poly sci class with an NCSU hat on. I try not to be a HUGE a-hole so I just asked him in sort of a jovial manner after class how he could wear the hat the day before the game. He said "what game?" and I just shook my head and walked away in a very a-hole manner. :)

At least he doesn't follow State very closely apparently, either.

[SuperJon]

I don't have a problem with being a fan of another team. I'm a huge Carolina fan (wearing the 05 National Title shirt right now) but I will pull for Liberty whenever they play UNC (like this coming Saturday in soccer). It's extremely hard to do that but Liberty's team is full of people who are my friends, my classmates, and my schoolmates while UNC is a bunch of kids I don't know and probably never will. Driving 3 hours to a game that involves two schools you've never attended when your own school is playing at home on the same day is what pisses me off.

[AppGuy04]

It's not quite that bad here, but theres some of it. On Friday a kid came to my poly sci class with an NCSU hat on. I try not to be a HUGE a-hole so I just asked him in sort of a jovial manner after class how he could wear the hat the day before the game. He said "what game?" and I just shook my head and walked away in a very a-hole manner. :)

At least he doesn't follow State very closely apparently, either.

I hear that Kep, I went to Texas to visit my relatives and say more UNC shirts and hats there than UT hats/shirts

[PMB4Life]

Out here in the Midwest UNI has turned up the heat on the way they market themselves to the community and to the state in general. I imagine our situation is a little bit different because we are one of only four state schools, but the point is that the university is actively seeking out student participation with very encouraging results: our student booster group is now at 1800+ members... not bad for a school of 12,500 enrollment.

The idea is to establish UNI as a seperate option for fans to root for. The students are slowly beginning to understand this concept as last Thursday for our season opener everyone was out wearing purple, and I only saw one poor schmuck with an Iowa shirt on the whole day. Things like these always start with the students. I appreciate UNI making a concious effort to instill school pride in its student body.

[BDK@YSU]

I feel you on this. Last November, it was like 65 degrees outside and YSU was playing for their playoff lives vs. WKU at home. Both teams were ranked (YSU #19, WKU #12), and this day was as beautiful as any day in November could be. The attendance was dismal--13,000 was the announced attendance, and I am certain that 3-4,000 of those people showed up at Stambaugh Stadium disguised as empty seats.

The reason? Ohio State wiped their ass with Northwestern that day at the same time our game was going on. YSU is trying to avoid that attendence issue this year, starting with YSU vs. Maine at 4:00 with OSU @ Texas at 8:00.

With free student tickets and a promotion where you can buy one general admission ticket and get one free, I don't think you can find a better way to have a good time without breaking the bank.

Most of our fans don't even know what division we are. It makes me want to cry. People who consider themselves sports fans think we are Division II. People who come to the games and think that they are sports fans think we are Division II. It makes me sick.

[JMU2K_DukeDawg]

The only thing I will add to the conversation is that winning heals everything.

At JMU, we had a great program rolling in the early 90's but then hired a coach that took us down a path that nearly crushed football at JMU and thanks to Mickey Matthews we are back and stronger than ever with a NC title under our belts. We are still seeing residual effects from the 2004 NC Title - for example, higher season ticket sales than ever, despite missing the playoffs last year.

Back to the topic - when you win, people notice, and when people notice they tend to learn a thing or two about I-AA. Because in VA we have several good schools, I think I-AA is getting more recognition. I honestly don't know a lot of people who call A-10 VA teams mistakingly div II. W&M, JMU, and Hampton have all made the playoffs and had winning teams, translating to some TV time and a lot of local media coverage.

The fan base to travel is still nothing like what VT will take to Chapel Hill this week, but from students I know who still attend JMU, there is a lot of buzz and some real desire to go to the game, even if they have lame excuses for missing the big game in Boone this weekend.

Keep your head up, and educate the masses one person at a time. Grassroots efforts on campus work best, and combined with a winning program, the support grows like wildfire.

Conversely, just ask Temple how a losing program effects student support. There are probably "Sports Fans" that think they are Div II. :smiley_wi