Tickets for Western IL Game, November 4

[amarchand66]

I'm looking for 4 tickets for the ISU game on November 4 vs WIU. Please contact me with a private message if you have tickets you're looking to get rid of.

 

[Birdswin]

Heard Coach Spack say they were selling lawn tickets today - that is good news for a big crowd.

 

[fourthandshort]

rhetorical question only .. how the hell do we sell out InSU (no event) and WIU (family day), but not sell out #4 USD homecoming game ??????

I don't get some of this fan base at all.

 

[Chi-bird]

rhetorical question only .. how the hell do we sell out InSU (no event) and WIU (family day), but not sell out #4 USD homecoming game ??????

I don't get some of this fan base at all.

I assume much had to do with pricing and weather. It's cheaper to go see them play a non-homecoming game. I'm guessing there were even ticket perks. Family weekend ticket sales have been great and I imagine there has been a lot of marketing for that game to students parents.

 

[fourthandshort]

So I think we are about to set a recent high water mark in attendance his year

Butler (home opener): 10.9k
InSU (MVFC opener): 13.4k
USD (homecoming): 12.1k
WIU (family day): 13.4k
NDSU (senior day, and uh ... Bison Invasion Prevention Day): TBD

So including upcoming already sold out WIU game, we are already at 49.7k after just 4 home games. When I have more time, I will dig up attendance for Spack years and prior ... but I'm think our per game average will be highest in Spack era.

Of course, it helped that there were only 5 home games, and how we schedule homecoming, family day, and then possibly very abnormal senior day sellout the weekend before Thanksgiving with Bison coming to town and us potentially playing for a top 8 seed or our playoff lives.

So we could finish well over 60k with 5 dates, so over 12k per game this season. Got some help with scheduling, but still probably a high water mark of the Spack era .. maybe more. More digging later.

 

[Redbird28]

So I think we are about to set a recent high water mark in attendance his year

Butler (home opener): 10.9k
InSU (MVFC opener): 13.4k
USD (homecoming): 12.1k
WIU (family day): 13.4k
NDSU (senior day, and uh ... Bison Invasion Prevention Day): TBD

So including upcoming already sold out WIU game, we are already at 49.7k after just 4 home games. When I have more time, I will dig up attendance for Spack years and prior ... but I'm think our per game average will be highest in Spack era.

Of course, it helped that there were only 5 home games, and how we schedule homecoming, family day, and then possibly very abnormal senior day sellout the weekend before Thanksgiving with Bison coming to town and us potentially playing for a top 8 seed or our playoff lives.

So we could finish well over 60k with 5 dates, so over 12k per game this season. Got some help with scheduling, but still probably a high water mark of the Spack era .. maybe more. More digging later.

Winning matters.

Also, based on attendance, does this officially make us a football school? The average fan attendance certainly seems to indicate it.

 

[Reggie Redbird]

I believe the issue has become that enough people tailgate for homecoming and realize they weren't going into the game. Thus, why buy tickets? If all the people tailgating would have used their tickets or bought tickets, it would have been a packed stadium with the lawns more than filled.

For Family Weekend, you have hundreds and hundreds of parents and relatives that will be coming to campus for the first time or for their first game to visit their freshmen or transfer students. Thus, you should see full stands and overflow seating at least for the first half.

Another factor: Western is a two hour drive away and also there are a lot more Leatherneck alums in town and over in Peoria that will come out to the game. That could also swing the attendance by a few hundred more people.

 

[chuckie1980]

Stupid question...

Watching the Coyotes and Birds last week on TV...I heard alot of cheers for the Coyotes. Did SD invade Normal? Or was this just placement of loud fans versus press box?

 

[StLRedbird]

Stupid question...

Watching the Coyotes and Birds last week on TV...I heard alot of cheers for the Coyotes. Did SD invade Normal? Or was this just placement of loud fans versus press box?

One of my favorite comments on the USD board following the game:

The second thing you have to realize is the place was crazy! I know this was the most crowded game I'll ever see this year. Maybe the attendance at the actual game was only around 12k...but the atmosphere around the stadium was incredible for ISU...I would say there probably was 20k around the stadium. Couple that with a good, veteran team that dropped their last 2 to arguably inferior opponents and you had a recipe for one of the toughest games USD is going to play outside of walking into NDSU. Imho, this loss doesn't bother me that much as ISU doesn't stand in our way of the conference championship as much as NDSU does and this loss is going to help us win in Fargo.

Read more: http://usdcoyotesports.proboards.com/thread/2093/illinois-state?page=10#ixzz4wimCwIZ1

 

[MadBird]

Stupid question...

Watching the Coyotes and Birds last week on TV...I heard alot of cheers for the Coyotes. Did SD invade Normal? Or was this just placement of loud fans versus press box?

I thought they had a relatively small contingent on the west side at the south end, a couple hundred maybe, and then a few more scattered around. In my section on the east side, Sec. 103, there seemed to be a handful of Coyotes who were making some noise, you know, half a dozen people or so seated in the middle of the ISU section.

 

[Total Red]

rhetorical question only .. how the hell do we sell out InSU (no event) and WIU (family day), but not sell out #4 USD homecoming game ??????

I don't get some of this fan base at all.

Rhetorical question but you're getting an answer anyway. The pitfalls of the message board

The Indiana St. game was not a no event game. It was Communiveristy Day. If you visit the tent zone north of the stadium on CommU day you'll see a bunch of tents sponsored by local businesses with many giving away freebies. Those tents bring in a lot of people that don't normally come to Redbird Football games. Some do stay for the game increasing attendance but a lot of them do not stay.

I'll say it again. Redbird Football is a social event for most people not an athletic event. That's why so many left after halftime against the #4 team in the country (South Dakota) with the Redbirds leading 17-14. The outcome isn't important and our record and the record of our opponents are overrated factors. The weather is a factor but it has more to do with how long fans stay rather than the number of tickets sold. If the weather had been bad we would have lost even more fans early in the South Dakota game.

 

[fourthandshort]

Stupid question...

Watching the Coyotes and Birds last week on TV...I heard alot of cheers for the Coyotes. Did SD invade Normal? Or was this just placement of loud fans versus press box?

I thought they had a relatively small contingent on the west side at the south end, a couple hundred maybe, and then a few more scattered around. In my section on the east side, Sec. 103, there seemed to be a handful of Coyotes who were making some noise, you know, half a dozen people or so seated in the middle of the ISU section.

agreed .. it was hard to tell because they are also red/white colors. but you could tell when they stood up to cheer a big play .. couple hundred or so.

 

[Circusboy1]

We are looking to buy 2 tickets for Nov 4 game.

 

[jbird]

rhetorical question only .. how the hell do we sell out InSU (no event) and WIU (family day), but not sell out #4 USD homecoming game ??????

I don't get some of this fan base at all.

Rhetorical question but you're getting an answer anyway. The pitfalls of the message board

The Indiana St. game was not a no event game. It was Communiveristy Day. If you visit the tent zone north of the stadium on CommU day you'll see a bunch of tents sponsored by local businesses with many giving away freebies. Those tents bring in a lot of people that don't normally come to Redbird Football games. Some do stay for the game increasing attendance but a lot of them do not stay.

I'll say it again. Redbird Football is a social event for most people not an athletic event. That's why so many left after halftime against the #4 team in the country (South Dakota) with the Redbirds leading 17-14. The outcome isn't important and our record and the record of our opponents are overrated factors. The weather is a factor but it has more to do with how long fans stay rather than the number of tickets sold. If the weather had been bad we would have lost even more fans early in the South Dakota game.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post, but what does leaving early have to do with the number of tickets sold?

 

[fourthandshort]

Stupid question...

Watching the Coyotes and Birds last week on TV...I heard alot of cheers for the Coyotes. Did SD invade Normal? Or was this just placement of loud fans versus press box?

One of my favorite comments on the USD board following the game:

The second thing you have to realize is the place was crazy! I know this was the most crowded game I'll ever see this year. Maybe the attendance at the actual game was only around 12k...but the atmosphere around the stadium was incredible for ISU...I would say there probably was 20k around the stadium. Couple that with a good, veteran team that dropped their last 2 to arguably inferior opponents and you had a recipe for one of the toughest games USD is going to play outside of walking into NDSU. Imho, this loss doesn't bother me that much as ISU doesn't stand in our way of the conference championship as much as NDSU does and this loss is going to help us win in Fargo.

Read more: http://usdcoyotesports.proboards.com/thread/2093/illinois-state?page=10#ixzz4wimCwIZ1

Read their ISU thread which included pre/in/post game comments. Most seemed like good people and typical supportive fans. Obviously there was many very confident and only a few cautious fans .. and then became stunned fans .. but only a few seemed to really understand what happened that game .. especially during, but even after.

ISU defense ... Very little mention during the game of our utter dominance up front .. they thought it was just the run game we were stuffing. They ever commented on how much we chased and hit their QB all game - how do you watch that and not notice the breakdowns and beating. Granted he was making some great plays under pressure, but we took them completely out of their normal game .. which led to 2 picks and 1 missed pick, then 2 sacks and many near sacks plus 15 QBHs. And he never was able to throw over us, just broken plays thrown underneath. Couple guys picked up on it afterwards, but most never even realized what we put Streveler thru .. credit to Streveler for playing well despite this.

One of them copied my comment about how we usually do well against dual threat QBs who run more than pass. Said I had no idea what I was talking about in terms of our front 7 containing Streveler's running. All I said was he we was not as fast or elusive as he was great at seeing/reading field and making run/pass decisions, which made him look more elusive than he was. They rejected my claim that he runs a 4.7 ... except that he does. All I know is he purposely avoided the run .. as if his coaches told him to against our front 7.

ISU offense .. they carried on and on about poor tackling, as if it had nothing to do with how strong our RBs are. Difference was our back to basics focus on run game and OL opening up some holes to give our big back some momentum .. hence, more broken tackles. They also complained how much our OL held, but no mention of their OL holding .. .. we passed 19 times to their 63 .. most of our passes were 3-5 step drops and quick passes underneath or sideways .. when holding is not likely nor needed. Many of their passes were after we flushed their QB from pocket, when most holding occurs. So I'll take and win that argument hands down.

Again, good group of fans, but most don't know what hit them. Next game might turn out different since they saw what our front 7 can do .. but we obviously had a good day and played to our potential and caught their team and fans by surprise.

To be clear .. we are capable of this every game ... hope they bring that intensity and focus every week.

 

[StLRedbird]

Read their ISU thread which included pre/in/post game comments. Most seemed like good people and typical supportive fans. Obviously there was many very confident and only a few cautious fans .. and then became stunned fans .. but only a few seemed to really understand what happened that game .. especially during, but even after.

ISU defense ... Very little mention during the game of our utter dominance up front .. they thought it was just the run game we were stuffing. They ever commented on how much we chased and hit their QB all game - how do you watch that and not notice the breakdowns and beating. Granted he was making some great plays under pressure, but we took them completely out of their normal game .. which led to 2 picks and 1 missed pick, then 2 sacks and many near sacks plus 15 QBHs. And he never was able to throw over us, just broken plays thrown underneath. Couple guys picked up on it afterwards, but most never even realized what we put Streveler thru .. credit to Streveler for playing well despite this.

One of them copied my comment about how we usually do well against dual threat QBs who run more than pass. Said I had no idea what I was talking about in terms of our front 7 containing Streveler's running. All I said was he we was not as fast or elusive as he was great at seeing/reading field and making run/pass decisions, which made him look more elusive than he was. They rejected my claim that he runs a 4.7 ... except that he does. All I know is he purposely avoided the run .. as if his coaches told him to against our front 7.

ISU offense .. they carried on and on about poor tackling, as if it had nothing to do with how strong our RBs are. Difference was our back to basics focus on run game and OL opening up some holes to give our big back some momentum .. hence, more broken tackles. They also complained how much our OL held, but no mention of their OL holding .. .. we passed 19 times to their 63 .. most of our passes were 3-5 step drops and quick passes underneath or sideways .. when holding is not likely nor needed. Many of their passes were after we flushed their QB from pocket, when most holding occurs. So I'll take and win that argument hands down.

Again, good group of fans, but most don't know what hit them. Next game might turn out different since they saw what our front 7 can do .. but we obviously had a good day and played to our potential and caught their team and fans by surprise.

To be clear .. we are capable of this every game ... hope they bring that intensity and focus every week.

I saw that post that mischaracterized what you had to say. Not the first time that's happened on a forum somewhere. Good to know they're reading what you have to say, even if the reading comprehension is less than complete.

Honestly, both So Dakota fan bases are likeable groups. Not something I can say about either of the No Dakota schools. Perhaps we form an alliance with USD/SDSU against the evil empires to the north?

They sure did not like (1) our OL holding and (2) phantom injuries when their O got rolling. Frankly, I thought their OL did more holding than ours did, but I confess that sometimes the nuance of the holding call is lost on this observer. But the phantom injuries... I dunno. At least they acknowledged that it's something they better get used to.

 

[fourthandshort]

Ah yes ,, the phantom injury .. previously perfected by David Perkins. Probably guilty as charged. I think basic idea is one guy is supposedly aiming to become known for getting leg cramps. I think it was Conley who did it at least twice, Then someone else did it but looked legit injured.

 

[fourthandshort]

So I think we are about to set a recent high water mark in attendance his year

Butler (home opener): 10.9k
InSU (MVFC opener): 13.4k
USD (homecoming): 12.1k
WIU (family day): 13.4k
NDSU (senior day, and uh ... Bison Invasion Prevention Day): TBD

So including upcoming already sold out WIU game, we are already at 49.7k after just 4 home games. When I have more time, I will dig up attendance for Spack years and prior ... but I'm think our per game average will be highest in Spack era.

Of course, it helped that there were only 5 home games, and how we schedule homecoming, family day, and then possibly very abnormal senior day sellout the weekend before Thanksgiving with Bison coming to town and us potentially playing for a top 8 seed or our playoff lives.

So we could finish well over 60k with 5 dates, so over 12k per game this season. Got some help with scheduling, but still probably a high water mark of the Spack era .. maybe more. More digging later.

2006: 5/12,804 = 64,021 .. 8-3, playoffs 1-1
2007: 5/13,010 = 65,049 .. 4-7
2008: 5/10,591 = 52,957 .. 3-8
2009: 5/9,573 = 47,866 .. 6-5, Spacks 1st year
2010: 6/6,958 = 41,746 .. 6-5, defense imploded
2011: 6/8,115 = 48,691 .. 7-4
2012: 6/6,512 = 39,070 .. 8-3, east side demolition; made playoff, lost in qtrs
2013: 5/10,139 = 50,694 .. 5-6, Hancock 2.0
2014: 8/9,185 - 73,480 .. 10-1, got 7 home games, plus hosted 1 playoff .. vaguely recall playoff run or something = D
2015: 7/9,194 = 64,361 .. 9-2, had 6 home games, plus hosted 1 playoff
2016: 6/10,156 = 60,937 .. 6-5, playoff loss on road

2017: currently 3/12k = 36k
... after WIU should be 4/12.5k = 50k
... then NDSU ???

 

[ISUBU]

I'm not so sure about some of our attendance numbers. In the past few years we've had 13,391 a few times, but never any more than that. Have we actually shut down the ticket windows and reached our capacity of lawn seating?

 

[fourthandshort]

rhetorical question only .. how the hell do we sell out InSU (no event) and WIU (family day), but not sell out #4 USD homecoming game ??????

I don't get some of this fan base at all.

Rhetorical question but you're getting an answer anyway. The pitfalls of the message board

The Indiana St. game was not a no event game. It was Communiveristy Day. If you visit the tent zone north of the stadium on CommU day you'll see a bunch of tents sponsored by local businesses with many giving away freebies. Those tents bring in a lot of people that don't normally come to Redbird Football games. Some do stay for the game increasing attendance but a lot of them do not stay.

I'll say it again. Redbird Football is a social event for most people not an athletic event. That's why so many left after halftime against the #4 team in the country (South Dakota) with the Redbirds leading 17-14. The outcome isn't important and our record and the record of our opponents are overrated factors. The weather is a factor but it has more to do with how long fans stay rather than the number of tickets sold. If the weather had been bad we would have lost even more fans early in the South Dakota game.

TR ... Thanks for info on Communiversity. I always wondered what it was and whether it made much of difference - staying connected with local business and community is only way to get thru to BloNo community.

On a related note, I was encouraged a somewhat by what the USD fan said about our Homecoming atmosphere on the USD thread someone linked. He was very impressed by everything going on inside and outside Hancock .. but unfortunately moreso outside of Hancock.

Students, Alumni, and BloNo community .. ISU just has to keep dong what it can on all 3 fronts to get more butts in seats and donors to write checks. Recent high water mark in attendance would be another good sign for future. New turf field next spring, indoor practice field on the near horizon .. like the track we are on, a little slow but at least sure.