Thoughts on Attendance & Season Tickets

[davehead86]

Found this from a few years ago. Students should be force-fed this stuff whey they join/before going to games. Tons of other schools do things like this. We started the whiteboard thing in 2006, I laughed when I saw it was still a thing in 2018 lol

I graduated in 2008. We NEVER sat down during an ISU Basketball game while at Redbird Arena. The only exception being halftime.
Weve got students on their damn phones the whole time, chilled out, dont care, dont stand, dont cheer, dont participate. A winning culutre goes to help this, but even when we had decent years after 2008 the student participation was spotty and inconsistent in what they were doing. Truly bizzare to me as it seems like the other student sections at the P5 schools havent lost these things.

 

[Phantom]

I graduated in 2008. We NEVER sat down during an ISU Basketball game while at Redbird Arena. The only exception being halftime.
Weve got students on their damn phones the whole time, chilled out, dont care, dont stand, dont cheer, dont participate. A winning culutre goes to help this, but even when we had decent years after 2008 the student participation was spotty and inconsistent in what they were doing. Truly bizzare to me as it seems like the other student sections at the P5 schools havent lost these things.

I was class of '08 as well (with an unofficial victory lap the following season lol). I remember there were a few games early that year where section F would sit at first but were always up midway through the first half. D, E, F, and G were always the first sections to fill up each game. We'd give the other team shit during warmups. The energy was building an hour before tipoff. Those were the days. I even made the first official Red Alert commercial during my film production class, also on YouTube lol. Fun times.

 

[Chi-bird]

It used to be that you would watch freshmen come in and then get to see their development and the team’s development from one year to the next. The players essentially embodied the university. Even the JuCo transfers became forever “Redbirds”, and received their degree from ISU.

Today, college basketball at this level is nothing like that. Players who don’t crack the starting lineup are quick to jump into the transfer portal to find a place where they can have immediate success. Players who have a good season are quick to look to “move up” to a different school the next season.

Covid or not- I believe the main issue is the free for all and roster turnover. Why should fans care about the program when seemingly the players don’t ?

 

[Phantom]

Chi-bird makes some good points. I look back and am thankful the portal didnt exist the way it is now in '07-'10. While those seasons were disappointing in that we were SO DAMN CLOSE to punching our dance ticket and didnt, Jank's first three teams were incredibly fun to watch, we were winning consistently, the arena was packed, and there was a ton of buzz on campus and in the area. P5 schools would've had a field day luring most of that roster away through the portal. No way a lot of key players and fan favorites in those years like OE, Dinma, Jackie, etc. would've stayed all 4 years. I remember there was a huge amount of worry that OE and Dinma would transfer when Moser was canned. Imagine if there was that AND the portal as it is now? Yeesh.

 

[Redbird222]

Chi-bird makes some good points. I look back and am thankful the portal didnt exist the way it is now in '07-'10. While those seasons were disappointing in that we were SO DAMN CLOSE to punching our dance ticket and didnt, Jank's first three teams were incredibly fun to watch, we were winning consistently, the arena was packed, and there was a ton of buzz on campus and in the area. P5 schools would've had a field day luring most of that roster away through the portal. No way a lot of key players and fan favorites in those years like OE, Dinma, Jackie, etc. would've stayed all 4 years. I remember there was a huge amount of worry that OE and Dinma would transfer when Moser was canned. Imagine if there was that AND the portal as it is now? Yeesh.

Having to sit a year due to transferring was one of the biggest deterrents ... sit a year and lose the insurance maker if you got injured

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Why should fans care about the program when seemingly the players don’t ?”

I like many others have also presumed that players cared more before they could freely transfer. However, after noodling on this post , i wonder if pre-portal there were a lot of unhappy players/players who did not care that were forced to be on a basketball teams roster yet wanted to transfer? We just assume players cared more preportal about the university because there were less transfers. However in reality, post portal, a basketball team’s roster may actually care more about the university since the roster is composed of players who freely chose to be here each year?

Too much noodling and I have no idea… but I wonder what Pops thinks?

 

[Reggie Redbird]

I like many others have also presumed that players cared more before they could freely transfer. However, after noodling on this post , i wonder if pre-portal there were a lot of unhappy players/players who did not care that were forced to be on a basketball teams roster yet wanted to transfer? We just assume players cared more preportal about the university because there were less transfers. However in reality, post portal, a basketball team’s roster may actually care more about the university since the roster is composed of players who freely chose to be here each year?

Too much noodling and I have no idea… but I wonder what Pops thinks?

Perhaps players then spent more time searching out the right fit because they knew it was meant to be a longer-term deal. The past several years, you could see guys at their 3rd or 4th school in 4 years. Before that, it often required moving to a JUCO or playing 5 or 6 years with multiple times sitting out.