Good stuff
-- Rice scored with ease and took over the game when he needed to in the second half.
-- Ravenel looks good early and moves well without the ball
-- The team runs better than any recent Skinner team
-- We actually pressed a bit and caused problems for the the Red Storm
-- Trapani is more athletic than I thought he would be
Concerns
-- The team remains sloppy with the ball
-- The defense had issues in half court
-- Outside of Rice and Trapani, no one has shown that they can create their own points
-- Dunn looked overmatched when our other bigs got in foul trouble.
Thanks to Chris for capturing the mood before tip-off. For Eagle fans in the New York area, please come out and support the team at the Garden next week.
Posts
83 comments:
I continue to be baffled as to why students (and non-student fans) don't attend men's basketball games, regardless the caliber of the opponent. BC students, in particular, love to play basketball in the Plex, watch college basketball games and NBA games on TV, play NCAA March Madness on their XBox systems and root for the Celtics or their hometown NBA team.
BC basketball is a big deal ... and the team is competitive year in and year out. With a 7:30 tip time, there is no excuse to not be there on time or even five minutes before tip-off. It's atrocious that Conte Forum has no empty seats. This is NOT the fault of the BC administration or marketing department. It's really simple ... you have a decently-sized arena in the middle of campus ... a good team ... a great conference ... and basketball games are nowhere near as long as football games. It's a fun 2-hour study break. Most students stay up til at least 12 or 1 anyways.
The Forum looked absolutely empty tonight on ESPN2. That is embarassing. It hurts recruiting, bigtime.
When will BC students, in particular, wake up and start supporting the team, en masse, whether its Loyola of Maryland, Providence, Duke, St. John's, UMass or Northeastern? Support the team, students. Your lack of support is downright pitiful. I was a student just three years ago and we had the same problems then, but its depressing to see that things haven't changed. In fact, I think they've gotten much worse.
It's bizarre.
I was at the game tonight, one of the maybe 200 students there. Last year, it seemed like the first few games drew much more, despite being a much worse team. It was probably residual from the successes of the previous 2 years. Now, I think it's a hangover from last season mainly. The casual fan here doesn't understand that the team is vastly improved (and different) this year and it will take a few more wins for last year's suckitude to wear off.
Also, the new season ticket system, where you either qualify for a full season or have to buy individual tickets probably discourages the average student from attending. Without the full season package in front of them, most barely knew there was a game tonight. I know the goal of the new system was to reward the most "loyal" Superfans, but it may have pushed the casual fan out of the building. Just my two cents.
I'm a sophmore at BC and couldn't agree more with eagle in la. This isn't the marketing or athletic departments fault. They have done everything they can, they've changed ticket policies various times and they announce the game everywhwere. The past two days there have been huge banners at various spots on campus announcing the game, some students put up flyers all around the dorms, the athletic department sends tons of e mails, I really don't know what else can do. The difference between basketball and football is that football at BC has become a social event. Students go because all their friends are going and thats the thing to do. Basketball for some reason dosen't have the same appeal.
My roomates for example are huge sports fans in general, but for some reason they have no intrest in attending these games, I don't know if its because the team wasn't great last year or what, but it is extremly frustrating to see the same 150 students attending every single game.
I really hope the team gets off to a good start so people start paying attention and going, because once they go I'm sure they will get hooked and realize how fun these games are. The team is yearning for more attention, I'm sure that they would play much better in front of a packed house, im sure they would feed off the energy especially the young guys like Raji, Jackson, Sanders, Southern etc.
I'm exied to see what this team can do against Purdue. I hop they make a game out of it.
Thanks for the input. I haven't heard anything about the new system. People need to sack up and attend these games, especially when on national television.
Season tickets are an absolute bargain for students. If students have bought season tickets, they need to attend those games ... and if there's a game they cannot attend, then give the tickets away to friends are able to willing and wanting to attend.
BC is in the ACC and the Eagles' fans need to act like an ACC school. We cannot just show up Duke or North Carolina are in the house. My senior year, we hosted Duke, and it was a mob scene at Conte hours before the game started. But it shouldn't take the Dookies for that to happen.
I also agree with Ryan. The new ticket system is discouraging some students. It dosen't solve the problem of people not attending early games and it risks people not attending ACC games if the team has a rough start. I think they should go back to the old system and base the lottery on the previous season points as they did last year. This way if you want tickets to the good games you have to buy all the tickets and it is much harder not to go to a game you already payed for against some of the weaker teams. Also, the fact that so few student go to the games and most of the ones who do already qualified for the full package based on last year's point renders this reward system uslees. If no one attends the games early it still leaves thousands of seats available for the ACC games and gives no incentive to attend early games.
For anyone not aware about the new student ticket policy:
Based on rewards points accumulated from going to last year's games with tickets you purchased (e.g. Robert Morris might get you four points while Duke would only get you one) BC decided to only allow students who had acquired set number of points (20 I think) purchase a full season package. Everyone else has to buy tickets individually, three games at a time, on specified dates at 7AM.
My bet is that only the most dedicated 300 or so fans from last year got full season tickets, and it's primarily them that you see at most of the games. Most other casual fans won't be bothered to wake up early to buy tickets to 3 mediocre games, despite how good the team is supposed to be. Also, if you do not go to these early games as an individual ticket buyer, you won't be eligible to purchase ACC tickets for the spring semester, the ones that people actually pay attention to, thus furthering the problem against lesser ACC opponents like NC State and UVA. Sound confusing? Yeah, that's the general student perception as well.
I will reiterate something someone else wrote, though, which is that there is no team on the BC campus that feels more disconnected from the student body than the MBB team. This also has to do with the lack of support from students.
There are also a lot of students who go and sit in the red seats, left vacant by the big donors who don't show. BC student attendance is in proportion with general public attendance.
The real way to improve attendance is to not have most of the seats taken up by big-time donors who are only interested in going to 4-5 games per year, and opening the seats up to local folks, families, kids, etc. at affordable prices.
Look at BU hockey, they're one of the best teams in the nation at a school with an incredible hockey tradition, but they can't sell out their rink because they priced out regular people. All of the good seats are taken by big-time donors and corporate sponsors who only show up for the BC + UNH games, and single-game tickets are $26. I go to college hockey games at BC, Northeastern, Harvard, Lowell, and sometimes Wentworth and UMass-Boston, but rarely at BU because of the price. BC hoops (and to a lesser extent hockey) is the same way. I didn't bother buying tickets to the games I didn't get as part of my student package last year because they were too expensive.
As for the new ticketing system, I think it's an amazing idea in theory, but a lot of casual fans I talk to have not even heard of it and ask me when they're having the lottery for season tickets.
BC has been pretty good with advertising the games and the system, though. So I dunno.
As long as the team wins games fans will be out en masse 2nd semester.
@ James
There is no partial season package anymore. Last year, there was no points system either. It was a completely random lottery, with a slightly higher percentage going to upperclassmen. Only those who actually use their tickets to go to lower quality games could qualify for the new full (only) season package. Everyone else is on their own.
Also, I hate to say it, but Joe Grav's part about BC advertising this new system is true. The average BC student is too apathetic/unobservant to have noticed the multiple emails we got. Figures, this school is full of pseudo-intelligent kids lacking common sense.
I'm not sure I'd use such negative language to describe the student body... 'apathetic' is certainly not a word I'd use... apathetic towards basketball, yes, but let's avoid sweeping generalizations.
The question is how to get people excited about the games and the only answer really is for the team to win right now.
The student body is VERY much wrapped up in football - support has been outstanding - and attendance has gone up for hockey this year too. Once you get past the hardcore fans people are going to reach a maximum point as far as attending games goes... we'll see what things look like when football ends (hopefully not until January!).
Also, another thing I'd say is that a lot of this stuff is self-perpetuating cycle. People don't go to the games because nobody goes to the games; and when you go to the games, it's not fun, because nobody's there and nobody's really making noise. Therefore, nobody goes, nobody makes noise.
I hope that all makes sense. I just read about 500 pages of early supreme court decisions so my mind is a little frazzled.
Perhaps the language was a bit too strong, but football was NOT BC's main drawing point when I started here. Basketball was the team with the tradition, the history of winning, and generally the one that students seemed most excited for. What's annoying to me is how we have one bad season and then everyone's off the bandwagon. It shouldn't be like that and the players deserve better. Seeing Tyrese trying to pump up a crowd of 3000 was beyond depressing. I remember two years ago and going to an absolute standing room only crowd for just about every game to start the year. Oh I forgot, we were 20-0 the year before. See what happens when we're not?
I'm not sure basketball had tradition/history of winning... they were just the flavor of the month at the time... I've been casually-to-intensely following BC hoops since I was a kid, and nobody went to early season BC bb games back in the early 2000s either. They had an amazing group with Dudley, Smith, Marshall et. al., which brought in a bunch of fans... but to say it's the sport BC students were most excited about would I think be incorrect.
I'm pretty sure a vast majority of BC students past and present identify BC as a football school, and can tell you a thing or two about football even if they don't care about sports at all; and then there's a sizable, cultish minority (including myself) that consider hockey to be tops... people got excited about basketball's run, but I don't think BC has ever really been identified as a hoops-centric place, by students or alums..
I am a student and a huge fan of BC basketball. I am one of the probably 400 students who got the season ticket package and plan on going to every game (and even a road trip to MSG too). While the student section looks awful on TV as well as in person, most of the students who have tickets just find better seats in the red-donor section like joe grav was saying. I do every game. Why sit in worse seats when there are PLENTY of empty seats that have a much better view of the game.
Also, I think the reason many of the students are more enthusiastic about football is because they see a coach that gets them fired up. Every student here loves Jags. And while I like Skinnner and realize how good he has been for the program (especially after how O'Brien left it for him), I think that he does alienate himself from the student body and does not bring that same enthusiasm that Jags does. Jags has sent out numerous emails reminding students about the games whether they are home or away. Skinner has never done this. While I am a Skinner apologist, I think some of the attendance issues are on him.
It's exactly right about how it has to be a social thing. As said above
1. People go to football because its social and the thing to do
2. Peopel don't go because nobody goes
Its the heart of the issue. All the students are way too wrapped up in being "cool". Its the same reason everyone goes to the Kells one night and the other bars are empty. Or then everyone is at Mary Ann's, and no BC people are at the Kells.
Maybe last night, it was the cool thing to act like you don't care about BBall, or cool to stay in your dorm and play Xox or beiruit.
Its ridiculous.
The only solution as I see it:
Take the 10 hottest girls with the best social connections in the school, a few from each grade, pay them $100 each to walk around and drop lines lines "hey, are you going to the basketball game, I'm so excited to go." Talk to everyone in class, in the dining hall, wherever.
Then since every student is such a follower, they'll gravitate to Conte Forum.
They'll make back that $1000 payroll in concessions from people who wouldn't normally be there.
I'm serious that this is probably the best approach.
ClassO10 has a point, where Gary Williams, Roy Williams, Coach K, etc do things to fire up the student body, Skinner does nothing. However, I still think the sport of college basketball speaks for itself and should naturally draw.
In addition to my hot girls proposal above, it'd be nice if the players talked to students in their dorms and class and got them out. These guys are still celebrities on campus and could convince some apathetic students to go.
Although its been a historic problem, I do think the fans initial lack of enthusiasm this year is probably justified. After all, this is a team that was getting run off the floor last year and played with very little hustle and pride. You can't expect fans to bring passion when the players haven't. Add that our early season schedule is a joke and I don't think its unreasonable for most fans to be slow out of the gate this year.
Last night's performance was very encouraging. They played hard. They closed out at the 3 point line. They were aggressive defensively. The freshmen look good. Trapani looks like everything we always hoped Roche could be and more. For me the difference between last year and this year was epitomized when Jackson tried to block a fast break dunk. Last year we wouldn't have had a player get back past half court after turning the ball over. This is a much more competitive and likeable team.
Interest will pick up. Its tough to drum up interest though when we mostly schedule opponents who we know will not even warrant television coverage.
Interest does pick up every year, but not until February, and by then the season is just about done, as far as home games.
I'm glad to see others share my enthusiasm about Ravenel! I thought he was outstanding and was stunned to see such low numbers in the box score.
It would help a lot if the basketball team interacted more with the student body, but they really do mostly keep to themselves. Dudley and Marshall seemed to love playing off the fans and getting involved with the student body... this group, not so much.
Where to start....to put this attendance problem on Skinner is ridiculous. We are in the ACC, have fielded a top 20 product for 7 of the last 8 years, and we cant get our own student body to attend games? The only thing we can blame skinner for is Wins and losses, nothing else.
The reason we are in this situation (coming off a 14-17 season) is because of the lack of recruiting power, because Conte Forum is not a place people fear to play. A lot of our student body/BC culture is the "fashionably late" crowd. This happens with all sports not just basketball. I dont know if people realize that going to games helps the program and the university. Everyone wants their alma mater to be highly respected, and with 5 people in the stands we look like Boston Community College, rather than a D-I program.
This pre-season NIT tournament is huge for our program and gives us early season television exposure. Either the athletic dept didnt do a good enough job marketing these games, or students just dont care enough. My guess is the fans (which was also the case in my day) only want to be associated with "winners" and that's just a poor attitude. I call these patriots fans or recent boston celtics fans, yes thats right "bandwagon jumpers". Lets try to keep BC fans out of that category.
Message to people who do attend games:drag your other friends there. Send an email to Gene- let him know you are willing to help organize a push for basketball. TV games always draw a huge crowd, so post messages on facebook, etc. Also anyone involved with any youth volunteer programs- basketball games are a cheap field trip.
Start clubs up for individual players similar to the Uka Agbai Club or Nate Doornekamp. (Recommendations- Raji or Trapani are great guys to start a cult type following for) Note: Gene did not pay me to write this. Im just an avid BC fan who had a tremendous streak of home games attended, and really wishes that fans would take BC basketball seriously when then play, not just when they play unc or duke.
I'll be at MSG on wednesday- if anyone can get me 4 student tix behind the basket, let me know. I'll be with '04 grads.
There really is no excuse for fans not to show up and support this team against a Big East opponent on a tuesday night. Do people really have better things to do?
Not to play the old geezer, but the crowd last night looked about the same size as the crowd I sat with when we watched Harvard beat BC in 1998. It's disrepectful to Al and the program for there to be this little support. After 6 trips to the tournament in 8 years, he shouldn't have to work for support after one rebuilding year.
It's stuff like this that makes me reconsider whether BC fans deserve the defenses I make for them.
On a positive note - Ravenel looks like a find. Great touch from the line, good vision, great passing. I'm excited to see how he and Jackson develop.
The attendance issues run deeper than just basketball. Why were the football games agaisnt Clemson and Virginia Tech not sold out? Why does BC get shafted by bowls every year because we don't travel well? Why do we need pre-recorded announcements from football players, and emails from the coach, begging fans to be in their seats for kickoff? Why were there lots of empty seats for the first hockey game this year against Wisconsin, when they raised the national championship banner for only the third time in school history? Why do I turn on the TV and hear loud organized cheers at other schools' football and basketball games, where the whole crowd chants in unison, but this absolutely never happens at BC? Anyone see a pattern here?
I'm BC '10 and a student season ticket holder. Very few of my friends (I can think of 2 or 3 off the top of my head) also got season tickets and we pretty much always sit in the red seats if there is space. Really, I sit three rows back at half court; I was right behind the announcers when the St. John's player went flying into them. Here are the various reasons my friends did not get season tickets. 1) They are going abroad/are currently abroad. This is the primary reason, no one is going to drop 120 on tickets they dont think they would be able to resell. 2) They didn't get season tickets. Several of my friends did not get season tickets under the new system because they missed one or two "High-points" games last year, whether it be because of scheduling conflicts or to study. This created a great deal of spite towards the college, which always seems to be finding ways to screw us. I think a lot of people didn't get the season tickets and said screw that, if they dont want me, I dont want them. 3) They don't care enough about basketball. Many of my friends don't care enough about basketball to make the trek all the way from off campus to go to the game. I am a big college basketball fan and am usually on campus anyway for late classes so I just head to the games. The reason football games draw so much more is definitely the social impact, but i disagree that it's because its the "cool thing to do". Football games are more FUN because EVERYONE GOES and you can TAILGATE. There is a reason college football and the NFL are the two biggest sports in America.
I really think the ticket office blew it with the new ticket system. It might work if there was enough demand for tickets that people would go to the early games to get access to the acc games...this certainly would have worked my freshman year when we were a tournament team. These tickets really should be free to anyone who wants to go. I have been to games at Duke, you show up for free and get in using your student id (I used a friend of a friend's). I went to the BC @ Duke game my freshman year, when we were good, so it was a pretty big ACC matchup. I walked in to the student section at gametime, for free.
That's my rant, I like going to the games because I really like college basketball and we have a pretty dynamic squad, but I really don't think the school does enough to sell the team. They should be doing everything possible to get people to the game, not charging kids 10 bucks a pop and restricting who gets the tickets. I'm sure attendance will pick up when people realize we're good this year and we have some good ACC matchups in the spring.
I'm currently a grad student at BC. There were signs and flyers all over campus advertising last night's basketball game. There have been signs all over campus advertising all the men's hockey and basketball games this season.
And as far as BC "restricting" who can buy tickets, I was able to walk up to the box office ten minutes before tipoff and bought a student ticket.
What changed in the last 4 years that the old student season ticket system needed to be changed? When I was a student at BC ('01-'05) I never had a problem getting season tickets. In fact, I don't know anyone who wanted them who didn't get them. We would just get our ticket renewal notice in our mailbox in March and so long as you returned it within a month or two, you would get season tickets to all of the games. Also, they cost $60 for the whole season. What's the reason for the 100% increase in tickets prices? It can't just be the move to the ACC; we played some good teams in the Big East too. I still remember what it was like to be a poor college student and $60 was a lot. When you added that to $60 for hockey and around $80 for football, this was one of my largest single expenses for the entire year. I can only imagine now what it's like with prices increasing so much.
Returning to the new point-based system, it makes me wonder why all of the sudden there is greater number of people who want full-season packages that such a system is warranted. Does demand really outstrip supply that much?
Maybe the moving of the student section from the upper bleachers to the red seats behind the basket cut down on the number of student tickets available. If that's true, that was a big mistake.
I'm not saying attendance was great when I was there, but it does seem that the new system has not helped things.
Will:
My freshman year (two years ago) when we had UNC and Duke at home, college gameday for the UNC game, and we were a tournament team, there was tremendous demand for tickets. They ran a student lottery where very few people got full seasons and lucky people got half seasons (with the UNC and Duke games split). I was unlucky and did not get either. I paid 300$ for season tickets (150 each for half-seasons from two different freshmen). The early games were not very full and tickets were easy to get from people who had won the lottery but only wanted to go to the unc or duke games. UNC and Duke tickets were impossible to get day of, unless you wanted to pay >$100 for each. I believe they raised the prices/created the new system assuming that kind of demand would continue, but clearly it has not. I am also sure BC, the stubborn institution that it is, does not want to switch to a system like Duke where you have to camp out for the big games (All BC cares about is academics. Period. BC is trying to morph into Harvard, don't get me started on that issue). For people like me, the points system is fine because I enjoy going to the games regardless of who we play and watching guys like Tyrese, Rakim and Reggie tear it up. BC has alienated the casual student fan with this system, which is very disappointing. Maybe we can get the operations or consulting academy involved in coming up with a new way to distribute tickets.
Wow - BC has a BIG problem here. I was a basketball season ticket holder for many years, and attendance was never a problem for a game against a team like St. John's. I don't live in Boston any longer, but I understand that many of the long time fans simply refuse to pay GDF's "licensing fee" for their seats. Apparently, many of these seats are unsold - pathetic - they are great seats. So the lower seats are usually not sold out - empty last night. (a game against St. John's in the past would be a guaranteed sellout. Now there is a problem with student ticket policies, student "apathy" and so forth. When you combine mens hockey and include women's basketball, which will be very good this year, the students have to come out almost every night.
GDF - you need to give this your full attention and solve this problem.
Coming from South Carolina to the Clemson and ND games (season ticket holder) I was shocked at the empty seats particularly at the start of the Clemson game. I think any empty seats at the ND game were related to the weather and the start time (many older fans had procured tickets) - although that's a poor excuse. But this is a big problem - and it is very evident when watching on TV - Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech = 5,000 empty seats - are you kidding me? And that's bad enough, but 15,000 fans don't file in until the game is well underway. The television audience listens as the announcers hype the game, and the stadium is half empty - or the arena. Much of the football problem is related to tailgating policies and donors wanting to get their "money's worth". All I know is that we have an attendance problem at all sports which we didn't have in the past. What do you think, Gene? How are you going to solve this?Let the students in for free - first come first served - and drum up some interest. This isn't rocket science.
If we can win in Winston Salem, Alumni Stadium had better be rocking on Saturday, November 29th, or Gene and the Fenway Sports Group, or whatever they are named, need to be called on the carpet. And the students need to cut their Thanksgiving vacation short - sorry.
Regarding the $$ issue, I spent over $600 on tickets last year, without any road trips and prices have gone up this year. I love sports so I'll pay, but others won't.
a problem... which we didn't have in the past
FALSE. I don't know if you think the students were born yesterday or just started following the team or what, but for as long as I can remember (I was born in 1988) attendance at BC games has been iffy and dependent on the team's success.
And the students need to cut their Thanksgiving vacation short - sorry.
Easy for you to say, since you're not getting your first weekend at home after being, for many students, far far away for three months. I'll be at the game, and I would be at the game even if I was from far away, but I don't begrudge people for wanting to be home.
I bet there will be a big student turnout though. There was for Miami last year and that game was meaningless.
I know this has been touched upon but I'd like to reiterate how disappointing it's been to see the empty seats on tv the last 2 nights.
I graduated in '06 and witnessed first-hand the momentum in fan interest that was built up with our Smith/Dudley/etc teams and it stinks that one down year (last year) and now Conte is back to being empty.
I know these early season games aren't the biggest draw, but cmon guys.
Oh and re: Big Jack Krack who said students should cut down their break. First of all don't know when you went to school but BC is more a national university than ever. If you are flying home for Thanksgiving for the first time all semester you are flying home Tuesday and with the possible noon start you would have had to fly back Friday which I am sure many didn't book their flights thinking of that and aren't willing to do that.
People, we're missing the key issue. The football team, coached by TOB and then Jags, has/had guys like Matt Ryan, Mark Herzlich, Brian Toal & Ryan Purvis. Jerry York's hockey team has/had guys like Nathan Gerbe and John Muse. Students at Boston College will cheer for players like that; they identify with them.
The basketball team has, who, exactly? Tyrese? Rakim? Reggie? Coached by Al Skinner, someone who is the epitome of "laid-back" and "cool".
What stereotypes are evoked here, of football/hockey vs. basketball? Which sport has the most embarrassing attendance record? Exactly. Until the Athletic Department figures out how to deal with THAT elephant in the room, you're going to have poor attendance at Boston College basketball games.
Also, as far as getting fed up w/ the ticket office - I know this happens, because it happened to me.
Last year for student BB tickets they had the garbage random lottery, and I got half-season tickets. I wasn't going to buy the other half off of one of the jackasses who entered the lottery for the sole purpose of selling their tickets for a profit, and I also wasn't going to give the ticket office $25 per game to buy a general public ticket and not get to sit in the floor seats with my friends. I made this decision before the team tanked, and the team's struggles only reinforced that.
Over the course of thanksgiving, winter + spring breaks my freshman and sophomore years, I have run up HUNDREDS of dollars in ticket costs to see basketball games against the likes of Yale, URI, Duquesne, Robert Morris, etc; I'm not doing it anymore. I don't have a problem with facing low-level opponents, but when I pay $8 to sit on the floor for ACC games, then I'm told to pay $25 to sit in the balcony to watch URI in front of 3,500 fans... meh, I've pretty much had my fill of doing that.
During breaks this year I'm already spending a ton of money - Harvard hockey game, hopefully a football bowl road trip, a trip to New Brunswick for the hockey series, St. Lawrence for women's hockey, and the Hockey East tournament during spring break. I'm not gonna pay $25 more per ticket for crap home games.
This is all just my opinion... I don't claim to speak for the student body (far from it), I just don't think the students need to be talked down to or screamed at for not going to these games. Do we need to change the culture? Yes... I want to see Conte full. But let's not roast our student body. From the way some of you talk, you act like you don't/ didn't enjoy your time at BC at all.
JJ2003 - really don't buy that argument at all. Sorry
JJ2003 - really don't buy that argument at all. Sorry
Then it's pretty evident that you're not around right now...
As a hardcore BC sports fan even I have come this close to saying "eff it" with this team because of all the scandals and disciplinary problems. I'm sure it's not the main reason for attendance woes, but it doesn't help.
I guess I'm the only one who's not big on ravenel...i guess I need to re-watch the game and reevaluate...
Joe -
Any idea why the ticket office doesn't sell student tickets to these break games at the normal student prices? It seems like a no-brainer to create a small student section for each game and sell these tickets to the local students. It may actually add some atmosphere to these games.
you're right - I'm not around right now but I wouldn't think that as a recent grad, I'd already be out of touch. But I'll take your word on it...I still find it hard to believe THAT is a major factor in the poor attendance of BBall games. I definitely think it has more to do with the problems previously mentioned with the ticket policies.
FWIW, the football team has had its share of disciplinary problems as well
Raj-
To say that Skinner could not help with the attendance issues is stupid. I am not blaming him for the poor attendance but he can certainly help. If Bruce Pearl was coach at BC, do you think that he might get the students involved and we'd see more students at the game? Absolutely.
With regards to the new student ticket policy being the problem, I agree with joe grav that it is not the problem. Much like joe, I only got half season tickets the past 2 season and would not pay the ridiculous amounts of money other students would charge to get the other half. At least with this system, the students that care and are loyal get the full package. And it is not like the students have to get up at 7AM to get single game tickets. My friend went to the ticket office last night and got a student ticket for the student price 5 minutes before the tip.
What Erik said about football being a "social" event and basketball not is 100% CORRECT. All of my lady friends love home football games because of the tailgating, but will finally come into the stadium when they realize all the guys are in there (although even some of them go home, sleep for 3 hours, and then come back for tailgating). And let's not forget that football games are on Saturdays and BBall is in the middle of the week when students have night classes, exams, group projects, club meetings, etc. By no means am I giving the students a pass for these reasons, but it is something to consider.
Not sure I really buy the race argument either that JJ2003 makes by implication.
I don't think BC fans support the team because it has visible white athletes.
It just doesn't seem to be logical. I mean would you have believed it if football schools down south that used have problems with basektball support (e.g. Clemson, FSU for many years) argued that North Carolina, Kentucky etc. had better support for basketball because their fans identified more with the players?
It is true that prior to Al Skinner, BC had little to no successful basketball history. Jim O'Brien had a few good teams, and Bill Curley shocked the world, but mostly BC fans were used to seeing BC get beaten easily in the first round Big East tourney games at MSG on Thursday nights. So perhaps it's possible that students new to BC focus more on the football and hockey teams.
But from what I'm reading on this board from current students, it seems the administration has it all wrong. Student entry for non-conference games should be free and this point system they have should be scrapped.
Anyone who thinks that race is the issue is kidding themselves, I don't care if you are orange, if you are on my team I'll root for you.
The issue is that this team does absolutely nothing to generate interest on campus. They are invisible and when you see them, they are a group together all with their headphones on in their own little world. I have yet to hear Al, Jared, Tyrese, anyone associated with the program talk to a student body at a pep rally, anything once on my 3 years on campus. The hockey team did that and look how their support has taken off in the last 3 years...
I don't get it. You guys ("hardcore" fans) complain when you can't get tickets because other people get them -- and then you complain when no one goes because you are the only one who can get tickets. If there were a lottery system this year like there was freshman year, I have no doubt there would be a significant boost in attendance. While there should be a way to have it both ways, I do think it is a difficult problem to solve, especially at a school like BC.
How many students, at BC or anywhere else, have any substantive association with the AHANA population, beyond owning a Jay-Z or Beyonce CD? Really now, how many?
At the "prominent" basketball schools you discuss, you have one of the following scenarios:
1. Prominent white players and "responsible" black players (e.g. Duke, North Carolina).
2. Flamboyant, "energetic" white coach (see Calipari, John; Pitino, Rick & Pearl, Bruce).
3. Substantial sports radio & media presence (see Thompson, John III; Hewitt, Paul; Calhoun, Jim; Boeheim, Jim).
In all three cases, you have either players with whom the student fan base can feel comfortable, OR you have coaches who "sanitize" the team.
Al does neither. From all accounts, BC has GREAT kids on this team. But do students (and especially, wealthy alums) feel comfortable with them? Do they identify with them? I think the picture of Conte Forum tells us that answer.
jrr 2003, that's an absolutely ludicrous statement. I'm a long-time reader of this blog and the boards, and this was the first time that I felt compelled to respond b/c of the lunacy of that post. You're sweeping generalizations based on stereotypes of the BC student body is incredibly illogical and foolhardy.
Race plays no issue, here. You think BC students filled out the stadium in 05-06 to see Nate Dornekamp and Tyler Neville instead of Jared Dudley, Louis Hinnant, Craig Smith and Sean Williams? Are you really as dumb as that positions sounds?
To extrapolate your point, you think people cheer harder for Mark Herzlich than they do BJ Raji or Montel Harris? According to your logic, they would.
I don't need any AHANA associations to be able to appreciate minority athletes or the sport of basketball. When you make generalizations to explain some stereotype you look like a fool. Your proving yourself to be one.
jj_2003... pffft.
When the team was winning, people 'related' to them just fine.
Hello joe grav and claver2010 - thanks for being so passionate - I can relate to that. You are both correct to call my attention to the cut Thanksgiving short comment. However, the New England, NY and NJ students could give it some thought. I did graduate quite a few years ago :-)
We need to "sell" the game out regardless (I don't care if Gene gives tickets away to local high school students - fill the seats)
Concerning attendance - I guess I've been away for quite awhile from the season ticket scene - over 10 years, so I'm not up to speed on those issues as well as I might be - sorry. Thanks for letting a long time fan weigh in. (By the way, in addition to 2 season tickets, my wife and I go to all games in the Carolinas and we will go to Tampa if we're lucky enough to get there. But I fully realize who difficult and expensive all this is.
Regarding Conte Forum - it's too bad they didn't design it so the first 5 or 10 rows all around could be filled by students - just my humble opinion. I was at the Notre Dame Hockey Game and thought there would be a lot more electricity in the place, but I was disappointed. Why does GDF split the students to put them behind each goal, instead of letting the super fans sit all together in one area?
I'm confused as to when race became an issue -- I would agree that black athletes are somewhat separated off of the field/court, and that race relations are a huge problem at BC and in the US as a whole. I'm sorry, I don't think that's a top 5 reason why fans aren't showing up to games.
This debate about ticket sales and attendance could go on forever. BC fans as a whole are very unimpressive, I'm sorry to say. Just like a typical BC student in other aspects of life, all I see is excuses and blaming others. Diehard fans figure out a way to get to (almost) every game. Period. It's simple: BC does not have too many diehard fans.
If we win like the red sox and pats and celtics, maybe the female students will show up with pink BC hats on and pack the house, who knows. And the male students will go to a bar before the game and have 6-9 beers, scream loudly, forgetting to pronounce the letter 'r' in their words, all while trying to impress the aforementioned pink hats. The possibilities are endless.
College basketball at BC doesn't have a great following and it will take success to pack the seats. That's just the way it is.
You guys ("hardcore" fans) complain when you can't get tickets because other people get them -- and then you complain when no one goes because you are the only one who can get tickets.
Nah, you misread what I said. I think the current system is quite fair. The hardcore fans get their chance to get tickets... and everyone else DOES have a chance, because the tickets are for sale to the entire student population, not just season ticket holders. If people don't WANT to buy them, that's another issue entirely. And it appears that's the case. And I'm not one of these people who plan on lecturing at fellow students who choose not to buy tickets. I encourage my friends to go and try to have as much fun as possible, but I'm not gonna talk down at people.
BJK, all of my friends that are from the NE, NY, NJ are going to the game so I think the atmosphere will be pretty good.
I have been long promoting giving the tickets away to youth teams (other schools have the teams play during intermission, halftime, etc), local students, w/e. Let's say there were 4000 available seats. Did Gene really think that 2000 would walk up and buy tickets? Then why wouldn't they just give them away? The kids might even spend $$ on a $6 sh*tty pizza!
Regarding separating the students:
Hockey: completely agree, let the students occupy the entire upper deck on one side, (selfishly it's a much better view) trying to coordinate the band, 2 groups on either side of the rink, and one on top is nearly impossible.
Basketball: I have not thought of another way. The DBS is a disaster for bball, I have sat in the exact same seat for 3 years and the 2 rows that are legitimately on the court (the ones that GDF will schmooze with for the UNC) game are rarely taken even for the ACC games.
oh yeah, I came on here to talk about basketball.
Ravenal looks encouraging. I like his passion on the defensive end. He seems like he is a hard worker.
Reggie encouraged me because of one thing -- 20 minutes, 0 turnovers. I expected him to play a bit out of control (see Rice, Tyrese, freshman year). But he always made the right decision about not pushing the issue and pulling the ball out when it was appropriate. Let's hope these 2 freshman can still log some minutes when we hit our tough part of the schedule.
I was also encouraged when skinner went athletic and pressed the johnnies a bit. They are a good team to do this against, and the created TOs showed that.
I dunno guys, but I am not totally buying into this year being a much bigger success than last year. I still see a team that is not crisp all of the time. We seem to take stretches off, like last year. Hopefully this will get better as the season goes on.
I guess the bottom line is this: we are last year's team + Trapani (which is a huge +) + more experience for everyone (Southern? care to take a mulligan for last night?) + a spark or 2 off of the bench to change it up. I don't see why we can't be in the middle third of this league... maybe a win or 2 in the acc tourney could get us off the bubble and into a 7-10 game.
Lastly, I feel like this team is a pretty tight unit that really wants to win. Southern was ecstatic on the bench when we pulled away at the end, even after having the most disappointing night of his career. Let's hope that translates into some victories.
Why is everyone here blaming the students? Based on the photo, it appears they actually showed up. Where the hell are the local alumni, who have the be the biggest losers in all of college sports? They can't show up on time for an 8PM football game, they barely fill a dinky 40,000 seat stadium and they clearly are not showing up to watch basketball.
I live 1500 miles away but if I was in town, I guarantee I would have season tickets and if I could not make a game, I would hand them off to someone in the office. 75% of most college basketball arenas are made up of non-students. Looking at that photo, I am ashamed that my alma mater has such dismal school spirit.
Lets not forget that the administration shot itself in the foot a couple years ago. Two years ago, as an alum living in the area, I attempted to purchase season tickets to basketball (I already had 2 sets for football). I was told that unless I donated money to the school, I was unable to be purchase season tickets. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase single season tickets to certain games, but I went to far fewer games than I wanted strictly because BC wouldnt allow me to buy season tickets for my lack of additional donation.
I hate saying it, but BC's money grubbing ways may be coming back to bite them.
BJK-
Agree 100% on the Conte setup. The people at Duke strategically set up the stands so that when you watch a Duke game on TV, you see a thousand students all in blue cheering like crazy along the far sideline. For all we know, the other 6,000 people in Cameron could be sitting on their hands, but we are still left with the impression that the crowd is going nuts because all we see are those students on the sidelines.
Conte, on the other hand, is just horribly configured for basketball. All you see when you watch a game on TV is empty folding chairs.
Good point, matthew - from what I watched last night, this team looks encouraging. I'll miss the game in Chapel Hill this year (have been to the last two) but will go to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and definitely NC State in Raleigh - heck I work in that area quite a bit and have nice connections at the RBC Center. I get an interesting perspective - catching BC as the visiting team many times - it's cool. When they controlled the game in Chapel Hill and won a few years back (Rice's freshman year), the Tar Heels fans were quite impressed, really - and they know their basketball. Sorry I'll miss it this year.
Keep up the good work matthew, and everyone. Go BC.
clearly jj2003 is extremely racist and that's why he doesn't go to games.
people here continue to blame someone else, when the truth is BC just has crappy fans - especially for hoops.
there are great fans at bc. but maybe we are too into the "prestige" of going to games. When i was a freshman it was our first year in the acc and kids were lined up outside of conte all the way down to the comm ave garage the night before tickets went on sale. what happened to that? obviously the fact that we had a great team and it was a special time in the school's history had something to do with it. but it shows that students are willing to put in the effort.
i think some of it is the ticketing policy: when you had a full package you were more inclined to go to the crap game or get rid of your ticket because you already paid for it. now, the season ticket holders (die hards) are going to every game, but average fans don't have a ticket and don't really feel like going to buy one.
last night was particularly troubling because it wasn't loyola (md), but a good big east opponent. we'll see how the rest of the season goes. hopefully we can have a good showing at the nit and get a good turnout for the home games.
I went to every BC home basketball, hockey, and football game while at BC (2003-2007). But most of my friends didn't go or, even if they did, only did so because it was the cool thing to do (when we played Syracuse in basketball or BU in hockey). I simply accepted that BC didn't have all that many hardcore fans. I agree it can be embarrassing, but I don't really know what we can do about it. Can you really get mad at a 19 year old girl that doesn't want to go see BC-Loyola on a Monday night, or a 20 year old guy that doesn't care about BC-St John's? Would I go? Absolutely, but I don't expect disinterested people to go. In fact, I agree with the comment that the alumni fans are more worrying. In my experience, while student attendance can be disappointing, it is usually adequate at worst, and often it is pretty good. It is the non-students who are the big problem, never showing up, or, worst of all, filing out when it starts to rain (at football against ND in the 3rd quarter) or just whenever they feel like it. Before hockey and bball games the non-student sections are NEVER full.
Anyway, what I am saying is this: could the students do better? sure they could, but overall i think the students do OK and the ones that show up are loud and proud. What we really need to work on is getting more non-students in the stands and getting them to stay
I agree with everyone who was disappointed in the crowd, no doubt about that. But there is no way that game would be a "guarantee sell out" in years past. BC has had VERY few guaranteed sellouts in basketball minus when we used to play UCONN and the Smith/Dudley years. It's not like BC hoops was EVER the hottest ticket in town.
Obviously this is not that time anymore. There has been almost no media attention on the team this year, and the beginning of basketball season almost always sneaks up on people.
I am disappointed in the lack of interest, but not surprised. I hope that if the team continues to perform well, that the crowds will follow. If they do, that will happen. Whenever we have had a strong record, the crowds have followed.
Go Eagles.
I agree that we have a significant problem with non-student fans - and this has to be addressed by the Athletic Director.
Tailor our ticket policies to our needs as BC fans in a professional city - not to match big ACC programs in other markets. If we didn't need licensing fees for our seats (I don't care what you call the requirement to donate) when we were in the Big East, why do we need them now? I donate to the school in order to get 50 yard line football tickets because I am fortunately able to do so - do I resent that it's a requirement? - yes. But if I was a long time fan living in Greater Boston, and I was not a big supporter of the premium ticket policies for whatever reason (hey, maybe I can't really afford the extra money for football and basketball), I would have a built up resentment to GDF - and that's what is happening, I feel. Non-student fans are not getting the respect they deserve, and it's showing. Many stopped coming to the games, and the loyal fans who are left feel disrespected because of the tailgating policies and what have you.
When I was a basketball season ticket holder, it was always fun to see the loyal fans come out to every game. Great college basketball for a reasonable price. Obviously that is not the case anymore. Why are they staying away, Gene?
This is a problem, and christopher - you are right. This also seems to be a problem at other schools as well - maybe the ACC is too big for its britches on the ticketing fees.
And fans leaving early make me very mad.
Student sections and non-student sections have been disappointing my first couple of years at BC. We all have solutions that we think will work, but it is on GDF and the BC athletic department to fix the problem.
As a 2007 alum, I must say that I am very bitter towards the Athletic Department for their ticketing policies. The "lottery" system was implemented during my junior and senior years, and both times, I lost. No full package, no half game package, no anything. I was left begging for games that featured the powerhouses of Vermont, Liberty, and Longwood. Now, travel required for my job makes it virtually impossible to see the benefits of a full season package (and I refuse to shell out the ransom that BC demands for the benefits of a seat with a back on it), but BC makes it highly difficult to purchase single game tickets. The seats made available are usually in the upper reaches of the bleachers or way off in the corner. Plus, you don't get to choose your seats; BC's website chooses them for you. The past two years I've gotten single game tickets via StubHub. The weak games are priced appropriately ($5 for Bryant in December vs $20 from BC) and the ACC games (minus Duke & UNC) are fair market value.
Yes, students should show up, and I'm glad to see that several still do so. But for BC alums and casual college hoops fans, BC is unintentionally discouraging people from showing up. Rework the website. Charge prices appropriately (they shouldn't be getting underbid by vendors like StubHub, but they are). Advertise. Get rid of the ransom. This is the best league in college, yet from the looks of Conte on ESPN, I could have sworn it was a Patriot League game.
Tell me this:
If you were a casual BC fan, one that typically goes to all the games if they are able, wouldn't you rather have a full season package where you can just grab your ticket and go? Or would you rather wake up at 7AM on 8 separate mornings and buy tickets 3 at a time? I think that says it all about the student attendance right there. Attendance this year is INFINITELY worse than last year early on in the season. This new ticketing package is why. If students didn't care enough to go to RMU last year with a ticket that was already in their hand via the full package, why would they buy an individual ticket to go to Loyola MD this year? It doesn't make any sense
EagleBoston -
You are part of the problem. You are not absolved because you live 1500 miles away. That sums up one of the main problems for BC. People graduate from BC and move away. How about you move back?
it's pretty simple guys. BC students simply don't care. I think a lot of you alums are forgetting the zillion things kids having going on from school right on down to whatever girl they are trying to talk to. I go to every game football hockey basketball. The ONLY reason I go to hockey is because my grandpa goes. The ONLY reason I go to basketball is because I lived with Tyrese and the guys on the team are good kids. If I didn't know them I can't say I'd have any interest.
Student tickets are 11 bucks, so Im not buying any argument about expenses or anything. And JJs race argument is ridiculous -- every student at BC knows the two coolest athletes on campus are Ron Brance and Tyrese Rice. Im pretty sure no one gives a damn what color their skin is.
Bottom line, BC kids don't care, haven't cared, aren't gonna care. And PS is effing freezing here, so unless you love basketball, why leave your room?
In full disclosure, I make it to very few games these days, as I live on the west coast (though I plan on being in attendance on Wednesday night as family obligations are bringing me to NYC for the holiday). So I guess I am part of the problem. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about it.
It is clear that the people who take the time to visit this site are true fans and so there is no need to get defensive, or point fingers. If everyone cared as much as the people here, this discussion wouldn’t be taking place. But the fact is that most BC fans, both student and alumni (the casual non-alumni fan is probably not even worth discussing) suck. They come out and give a decent, but not great, effort when the team is good, and don’t even bother showing up when the team is mediocre (and every once in a while you get a really great game-day atmosphere, usually when the BC team in question is good AND the opponent is a big name). This is nothing new – I was a freshman in 1996: we had a top 20 basketball team and a lousy hockey team. Not surprisingly, basketball brought in some pretty good crowds, and hockey did not. Fast forward one year, and basketball is struggling following the whole JOB fiasco. Meanwhile, hockey makes the Frozen Four. Guess which team drew better that year (and the subsequent two years)? Obviously, every school and professional franchise has their share of bandwagon jumpers, but it seems to be a particularly big problem here.
People everywhere have responsibilities (work, classes, families) and choices about where to spend their (ever-shrinking) “entertainment dollar”. Most teams are not consistently Top 25, and no one plays a big name opponent every game. Yet at some schools, they still choose to get out and support the team. At BC, that just doesn’t seem to happen. And it isn’t likely to change. My fear is that prospective student-athletes, and even prospective students, looking for big-time athletics AND big-game atmosphere would eventually figure it out and go elsewhere.
BCLova - If you think you have a "zillion" things to do now, wait til you enter the real world, have a job, then get married, and then have a family. Only then will you have a zillion things to do. Your excuses are lame. I don't know what you are a "lova" of, but it certainly isn't BC.
I am ashamed to be a BC alum.
Dear Militant Eagle,
F off. If you read my post, you would read that I go to the sporting events. For the big 3, I have my reasons. You will also catch me at the soccer game this Friday in the cold, as well as women's hoop and hockey pretty consistently. BC should be ashamed to have a dick like you for an alum, not the other way around. I hope your kids get rejected.
BCLova - You are very sensitive. Chill out. How was I dick? Because I said you don't have a zillion things to do? Because I questioned your love for BC? Or because I said I was ashamed to a BC alum (which was not directed at you).
I appreciate the kind words.
Class010-
Skinner could help, but to put any of the blame for poor attendance on him is pathetic. Jags is such an involved coach, yet we still couldn't sell out clemson or v-tech, and that's football.
So your coach theory about him helping is a moot point. Blame the fans/student body dont put it on the coach to get people to attend. Skinner is probably the last person we need to help with attendance at the moment, we'll let him focus on fielding a competitive team this year.
And if you think a spirited coach would get people to come to games, then you still have a lot to learn. Do you think Bruce Pearl would get BC students to come to a basketball team that didnt go to the postseason and finished tied for last in its conference? At Tenn they go watch women's basketball, so easy with the look what bruce pearl did for tenn basketball.
200 people came to the last game which was nationally televised against a former big east opponent on a tuesday night at 730. There is no excuse for this, and skinner doing a song and dance might have got 20 extra there, we need 4-500 more.
Maybe I am. Maybe it's the liberal arts education that makes me so sensitive. But I don't think its right for you, Mr. Family/Job Busy guy, to tell me what's what. I'd love to know what year you graduated. My excuses might be "lame", but I'm sure you weren't there watching BC slap Merrimack around on your Friday night a few weeks ago, and I'm damn sure you didn't stay for the women's hoop game after the Men's season opener the other day. I didn't really make any excuses, just asserted that BC kids don't care. They don't. I'm lucky to have all sports fans and athletes as roommates. We care, we go to the games and support our friends and classmates. So while you say your "ashamed" of being a BC alum, I'll continue to be a lover of BC and never be ashamed of it because some kids don't show up to a basketball game.
BC Lova - I am not a family man. I am not even married. I didn't graduate that long ago. I was just providing an example to give you some context. I go to the football games, basketball games and I have been to two hockey games and I don't live in a dorm next door to the facilities. But I'm not here to get into a pissing contest. You've already made your point...
"The ONLY reason I go to hockey is because my grandpa goes. The ONLY reason I go to basketball is because I lived with Tyrese and the guys on the team are good kids. If I didn't know them I can't say I'd have any interest."
Thanks for sharing.
I don't expect every student to drop all their other activities and attend every single sporting event. And a lot of students may not realize that if they graduate and move away from Boston, they'll miss being able to go to a BC sporting event whenever they want.
And if last night's game wasn't televised, I probably wouldn't even bothered submitting that photo. But last night's game was televised nationally on espn2. When BC is on a national stage, the fans need to make an extra effort to show up.
That's the reason I go to every game in those particular sports. I'd probably go anyways. My point is, don't a) say you're ashamed to be a BC alum because of athletics attendance. That's stupid -- there's a lot more to BC than sports. B) Don't get upset with me for telling you what you already know, BC kids don't care. If you didn't graduate that long ago, then you know they don't care.
You're here breaking my balls,and I'm a student who goes to tons of BC sporting events, not just income sports. You're also here telling a guy he's part of the problem for BC sports because he lives halfway across the country. In the words of Rich Rodriguez...get a life.
I was also one of the few students at the basketball game. I was at the game about 45 minutes early yesterday in the hopes of getting a front row seat (which i easily did) and there were about 10 Superfans at the game. It was pretty pathetic. I do understand that some kids do have classes during game times, like my friend who had a lab, but they always find another person to give the ticket to. It's kind of sad that we can't even half fill up the Conte Forum for a game against a former conference rival. This new ticket system isn't going to work either, because less kids are showing up to the games than there will be student tickets available for the Duke game. I know I'm going to be pissed when I show up to the Duke game early and get crappy seats because some fairweather "Superfans" decided to show up to the game earlier than I did.
BCLova - You've been too kind.
I'm simply disappointed, that's all. I just went to the most poorly attended BC basketball I have ever seen and I was annoyed by your comments. I hope you continue to go to the BC games and you enjoy yourself. I hope your future kids get into BC. I hope you enjoy your well-rounded life.
Amidst all the back and forth, santamonicaeagle summed it up perfectly. When the teams are good, the casual fans come out and support them decently. When they are coming off sub-.500 seasons, they don't come at all. There is a reason the place was once referred to as "Conte Morgue." Now if all BC students/alumni/other fans cared as much as everyone that reads this blog, that would be great, but it's just not the case.
Of course it's embarrassing to turn on a nationally televised game and see the place empty and be able to hear coaches yelling at players. I almost got the feeling that Raftery and McDonough were embarrassed for us. We all wish it is something that could be changed by restructuring the ticket policy, but that doesn't seem likely. Even in the 2000s when I was there and you purchased tickets for the entire season, many games were not close to full.
As alumni, all we can do is continue supporting the teams by going to as many games as we can, home or away; music city bowl or orange bowl. All the students can do is continue going to games and try to encourage their friends to go with them. Tell them the mini papa john's pizzas at Conte are great (false), whatever it takes.
Attendance at games is a continuing problem that is not going to be solved immediately. Hopefully down the road things will change, but it is going to take some time. Right now the focus and discussion should be on beating down Wake Forest and the Terps.
Lova/Militant: you both made your points, relax.
Couldn't agree more with 05Eagle: at the end of the day, all you can do is continue to root on BC to the fullest within your means, and do your best to reel in friends or family.
Bingo. Berating fellow big time fans on sites like ATLeagle, EI or EA is pointless.
I must say... The new Pep Band shirts are awesome. So much better than the old polos. But then again, I'm a member of the Pep Band, so maybe I'm the only one who noticed. If anyone from Athletics reads this blog, thank you for buying them for us.
Unfortunately I couldn't make it to this game because I had marching band rehearsal. A poor showing from the fans though. I do think that the fan section might be better if they combined it and put it right on the side of the court. It would look better on TV, and the student section would be united as well. I'm not sure how well the new ticketing policy is working...
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