2015-16 Home Attendance Prediction Summary

[Obadiah]

A surprising wide range in predictions about average home attendance. The range is almost 2000 fans per game or about $680k over the season.

Code: Select all

        Attendance Contest Summary

      Participant    Average Home Attendance

1.	 Kingston	          7,029

2.	 gorhody89	         6,700

3.	 NJ03	              6,555

4.	 URIGONZO	          6,497

5.	 RIhoopz14	         6,370
6.	 STC	               6,344
7.	 15 Year Lurker	    6,325
8.	 Sufri72	           6,318

9.	 DC Ram	            6,295
10.	Joe	               6,286
11.	TruePoint	         6,251
12.	rhodylaw	          6,250
13.	neil	              6,247
14.	CT Rhody	          6,227
15.	Iggy1979   	       6,222
16.	Bee311	            6,210
17.	BleedBlue87	       6,204

18.	Rhody74	           6,147
19.	rhodyruckus	       6,113
20.	brady1	            6,100

21.	Rhody15	           6,090
22.	URIFIJI	           6,048
23.	Mongo	             6,047
24.	860_Rhody	         6,034
25.	MTK4L	             6,010
26.	BornNBred33	       6,002
27.	ATPTourFan	        6,001
28.	ramswin	           6,000

29.	UCH21377	          5,999
30.	sf2010	            5,989
31.	Rhody83	           5,972
32.	Justns11	          5,967
33.	Team Ram-Jam	      5,958
34.	Rhody10ltu09	      5,951
35.	rhodyrudder	       5,950
36.	Ram1019	           5,949
37.	RhowdyRam02	       5,927
38.	bpaz11	            5,922
39.	Smokinjimit	       5,910
40.	Gonebarongone	     5,905

41.	ramster	           5,892
42.	URI96	             5,888
43.	CTRamfan	          5,880
44.	Ramulous	          5,877
45.	twisted3829	       5,872
46.	spookydog	         5,869
47.	Shaolin Swat	      5,867
48.	PeterRamTime	      5,856
49.	spar	              5,850
50.	bigappleram	       5,844
51.	RAM67	             5,842
52.	The Dude    	      5,830
53.	RIFan	             5,819
54.	section (105)	     5,800

55.	rhodylocal	        5,798
56.	RhodeRule	         5,787
57.	rhodyram81	        5,777
58.	Seaweightspostgame	5,775
59.	wgracie99	         5,768
60.	skwalk47	          5,762
61.	Billyboy78	        5,761
62.	Blue Man	          5,758
63.	RoadyJay	          5,751
64.	zporiri	           5,708
65.	BFC	               5,701

66.	jmck	              5,699
67.	Rhody Guy	         5,693
68.	BPR2010	           5,685
69.	Stop! Rammer Time	 5,682
70.	jro44	             5,656
71.	Rhodyhooopz	       5,650
72.	ram1980	           5,633
73.	BuiltRamTough2005	 5,630
74.	ramsman75	         5,600

75.	rambone 78	        5,595
76.	steviep123	        5,555
77.	DeanDome88	        5,533
78.	Sweep The Leg	     5,507

79.	adam914	           5,487
80.	NHRamFan	          5,455
81.	79RhodyFan	        5,445
82.	kal-65	            5,444
83.	DC_Rams	           5,400

84.	bressler3south	    5,343

85.	jaywin86	          5,299
86.	URI_IEP	           5,278
87.	Keatgsr07	         5,250
88.	mmp136	            5,243
89.	ramfan85	          5,210
90.	theblueram	        5,200

91.	Wayne	             5,199
92.	Shinze88	          5,123
93.	URI_05	            5,101
94.	Odomrhodeus	       5,100

95.	luke	              5,048

[bressler3south]

“Attendance is always going to be what it’s going to be. Obviously we need more."
-- Coach Dan Hurley, 12/2/15

Well, now there's a real Rhode Islander!

[Billyboy78]

“Attendance is always going to be what it’s going to be. Obviously we need more."
-- Coach Dan Hurley, 12/2/15

Well, now there's a real Rhode Islander!

Some posters are saying there needs to be a buzz to increase attendance. I thought there already WAS a buzz about this team. I kept hearing about how season ticket sales were way up. Mini plans were up. I'm sorry, getting less than 4000 fans to a game when the students are on campus is a disgrace. So, how do we create this buzz to get the fair weather fans back? Beat PC? If we lose to PC, will that be an excuse for low attendance for the rest of the year? To me, a fair weather fan is a lousy fan. Let's face it, I think it was BAR that said it in another thread. Our fan base sucks. Dan wants to be in a place that has a passionate fan base. I will not blame him one bit when he leaves.

[Rhody15]

Yup, if and when he leaves, attendance will be the number one reason why, among other things.

[Obadiah]

What has happened to attendance?? Last year there was no home game crowds in either the OOC or A-10 that could fit into Keaney Gym. This year the last two game crowds could have fit into Keaney and with Houston and Iona looming the prospect is for two more.

[Obadiah]

luke whose attendance prediction was dead last among 95 participants is now leading the contest and his prediction is some 800 ABOVE the actual current average!!!!

[sf2010]

Attendance has been super disappointing - no doubt about it. But responding to BillyBoy about buzz - yes, preseason there was a lot of buzz. All that buzz disappeared 8 minutes into the season and everyone who was in the RC felt it vanish. You can't tell me that hasn't significantly impacted attendance.

[Billyboy78]

What has happened to attendance?? Last year there was no home game crowds in either the OOC or A-10 that could fit into Keaney Gym. This year the last two game crowds could have fit into Keaney and with Houston and Iona looming the prospect is for two more.

Attendance was listed at 3400 something. That blows my mind. How many season ticket holders are there? How many students were there? I would think those two numbers combined should be more than 3400 something. Buzz? What buzz? If attendance is an indicator, buzz is below zero. Except for the people in here, maybe a few hundred other not in here and a few hundred students, nobody else cares about this team. The state is dominated by PC fans, has been for my entire life, and, imo, always will be.

[Surfri72]

Where were the students? I got kicked out of the student section and was the only one in the row.

[ATPTourFan]

Yup, if and when he leaves, attendance will be the number one reason why, among other things.

This is true. I think Dan takes it very personally that his team has earned better support than what this community is providing. We know he stands up for his guys, almost to a fault, so if he thinks they aren't getting what they need/deserve, this is a top issue.

[TruePoint]

I get that, but also some of it is on him and the team. Go beat PC Saturday, and if nobody shows up to the next game maybe he will have a reason to question the fans. If we make it to the tournament, you'll have more Rhody fans travel to the first round game than you had at the HC game last night. That's not just our fans being front runners, it's that way for every fan base. Maybe ours more so because it's been so long since we were good and people are skeptical still.

[Billyboy78]

I get that, but also some of it is on him and the team. Go beat PC Saturday, and if nobody shows up to the next game maybe he will have a reason to question the fans. If we make it to the tournament, you'll have more Rhody fans travel to the first round game than you had at the HC game last night. That's not just our fans being front runners, it's that way for every fan base. Maybe ours more so because it's been so long since we were good and people are skeptical still.

That's part of my point. So, on the other hand, if they lose to PC on Saturday, that's a reason to have bad attendance for the forseeable future? I don't think it's that way for every fan base. There are plenty of programs who have loyal fans whether the team is great or not. PC has much more loyal fans than we do. The "buzz" was supposedly present before the season started. What happened? Did EC's injury kill that too? Dan will eventually find a place in a basketball crazed environment. Unless we are making a deep run into the NCAA tournament, Kingston, RI is not that place.

[TruePoint]

I just think the enthusiasm has been beaten out of this fan base over almost two decades. It will take something tangible on the court to reverse that. However, I don't think it will ebb and flow based on the result of the last game. If you can have somewhat sustained success for even a couple of years, you won't lose all your fans because you lose an important game. But you have to do something to bring them back in the first place.

[Billyboy78]

I though the win over Nebraska last year in front of a loud, crazy packed house, with the students rushing the court after the game was the start of something huge, attendance wise. It didn't turn out that way. And I'm pretty sure that most of the students didn't know that Nebraska sucked for the rest of the season. That was a great environment, the kind that builds programs and keeps coaches put. I don't get what happened. It certainly didn't carry over into this year.

[TruePoint]

Part of the reason we got no sustained attendance bounce from beating Nebraska is because we followed it up with 3 losses in 5 games against three of the most recognizable names on our schedule (Kansas, Ga. Tech and PC). If there is a magic bullet where you win one game and it solves all your problems, at least temporarily, that isn't ever going to be Nebraska or Valpo. Beating PC would grab the attention of the state, which is your customer base. Beating Kansas or Maryland will make you a national story briefly, which will excite your fans and get you some good publicity in the state. We still haven't had that kind of win, even if Nebraska was a great basketball environment and they were technically a ranked team when we beat them.

[Billyboy78]

So, this game Saturday is obviously a huge game for us, and for many different reasons.

[BleedBlue87]

As far as student attendance, this school has not even tried to make Rhody bball the "thing" to go to. I graduated about 5 years ago and I never walked around campus and felt any type of vibe on campus about a game. My brother is there now and says nearly the same. Just under half of the nearly 13,000 undergrads live on campus. That is the failure of the school to drum up those students to attend. As for the rest of us alumni and natives it's a little more complicated I think. Piss poor marketing for sure, some apathy, and then just some plain geographical stuff. I have season tickets and do make the trip for just about every game but I live in Warwick and hate the drive to the Ryan Center like every other typical Rhode Islander. I wish some decent restaurants were either on campus or right near campus so we could make a night of it. I like the Mews like everyone else but sometimes I just don't feel like driving there after a game. Now if there wasa Rhody pub right next to the Ryan center....

[RAM67]

When I walked into the game last night (about 15min before tip off), I was stunned by the small crowd, and the lack of students. I started looking around and saw more empty seats than I have in years. I knew that it would fill up by the 5 min mark, but even then the students were basically a no show, and many of the faithful were not there. We tried to guess attendance, and were way off from the announced number.

On another note, and it may be trivial, but has our Mascot been told to be low key and hide in the hallway? Never up and trying to get some enthusiasm like EZ does.

[Billyboy78]

When I walked into the game last night (about 15min before tip off), I was stunned by the small crowd, and the lack of students. I started looking around and saw more empty seats than I have in years. I knew that it would fill up by the 5 min mark, but even then the students were basically a no show, and many of the faithful were not there. We tried to guess attendance, and were way off from the announced number.

On another note, and it may be trivial, but has our Mascot been told to be low key and hide in the hallway? Never up and trying to get some enthusiasm like EZ does.

That's another question. The announced attendance was 3400 something. What was the actual attendance? Probably less than 3000?

[TruePoint]

I don't believe URI/Ryan Center fudges their numbers. Which is insane, because everyone does it, but I don't think we do.

[ATPTourFan]

I always thought they did and reserved the right to announce what they wanted to announce.

A game last year vs VCU had a 6000 announced but actual was in the 4000s. It came up on the radio show when Dan corrected Steve by accident on the attendance.

[Billyboy78]

What I meant was, if a season ticket holder doesn't show up to the game, isn't that seat considered part of the attendance since it had already been sold?

[NYGFan_Section208]

When I walked into the game last night (about 15min before tip off), I was stunned by the small crowd, and the lack of students. I started looking around and saw more empty seats than I have in years. I knew that it would fill up by the 5 min mark, but even then the students were basically a no show, and many of the faithful were not there. We tried to guess attendance, and were way off from the announced number.

On another note, and it may be trivial, but has our Mascot been told to be low key and hide in the hallway? Never up and trying to get some enthusiasm like EZ does.

Additional mascot question: At the A10 tournament last year, they had a Rhody Ram mascot that actually did backflips in full costume, which was quite a feat. Have not seen it since. That's the Rhody we need. Where is THAT Rhody?

[bressler3south]

I get that, but also some of it is on him and the team. Go beat PC Saturday, and if nobody shows up to the next game maybe he will have a reason to question the fans. If we make it to the tournament, you'll have more Rhody fans travel to the first round game than you had at the HC game last night. That's not just our fans being front runners, it's that way for every fan base. Maybe ours more so because it's been so long since we were good and people are skeptical still.

What's on him?
That he resurrected a DOA Program?
Skeptical fans?
Those aren't fans.
They're people who go to basketball games.
Fans are loyal through thick and thin.
Stop making excuses for "students" and others.
Either you're there or you're not, through thick or thin.
Enough already with the bullshit.
You want a hamburger, too?

[Obadiah]

One problem is that other than PC and Valpo, and maybe Houston the home OOC schedule is not overly attractive, but a bigger problem this season is that our home A-10 schedule is absent some attractive match-ups - Davidson, VCU, GW are all away games and we got Duquesne, George Mason, and St. Louis in return. That shift alone will cause a loss of 6000 fans, reducing the per game average by almost 400.

[Billyboy78]

I get that, but also some of it is on him and the team. Go beat PC Saturday, and if nobody shows up to the next game maybe he will have a reason to question the fans. If we make it to the tournament, you'll have more Rhody fans travel to the first round game than you had at the HC game last night. That's not just our fans being front runners, it's that way for every fan base. Maybe ours more so because it's been so long since we were good and people are skeptical still.

What's on him?
That he resurrected a DOA Program?
Skeptical fans?
Those aren't fans.
They're people who go to basketball games.
Fans are loyal through thick and thin.
Stop making excuses for "students" and others.
Either you're there or you're not, through thick or thin.
Enough already with the bullshit.
You want a hamburger, too?

No cheese? Forget it!

[TruePoint]

I get that, but also some of it is on him and the team. Go beat PC Saturday, and if nobody shows up to the next game maybe he will have a reason to question the fans. If we make it to the tournament, you'll have more Rhody fans travel to the first round game than you had at the HC game last night. That's not just our fans being front runners, it's that way for every fan base. Maybe ours more so because it's been so long since we were good and people are skeptical still.

What's on him?
That he resurrected a DOA Program?
Skeptical fans?
Those aren't fans.
They're people who go to basketball games.
Fans are loyal through thick and thin.
Stop making excuses for "students" and others.
Either you're there or you're not, through thick or thin.
Enough already with the bullshit.
You want a hamburger, too?

You can yell at me if you want, but I'm there. I was there when we were winning seven games. I've defended the coach and the players to the point of being called a sunshine something something. So save me the histrionics. I'm just telling you that in reality, if you want to create real demand that goes beyond the hardcore base and sell the building out all the time, you have to accomplish something tangible. Hang a banner. Beat a rival. Spring an upset on national TV. Yes, the turnaround engineered by the coach and his staff(s) has been terrific, but to capture the attention of the casual fan (or "person who goes to basketball games") - which you need to sell out your building - there is still another level that the program has to get to. And all of the hardcore fans want to get to that level anyways, so what's the harm in acknowledging it? I think you just like yelling at me.

[STC]

I consider myself a die hard fan who is loyal through thick and thin. But I'm not going to bother driving to URI on a Wednesday night to watch us beatdown another shitty team. URI has proven to me the last 8-9 years I have been following that they can handle crappy teams from lower conferences. Additionally, Between being able to stream the game and battling traffic and aggravation to get to URI, it just wasn't worth it for me to bother last night.

I love Hurley and I'm glad he's here but i'm sick and tired of his whining about attendance.

You want people to show up? Beat a real top 25 team not those fraudulent Cornhuskers.

You want people to show up? Get to the dance!

I'll give you that our fanbase and alumni base is apathetic at best towards basketball but if you want to put asses in the seats then JUST WIN BABY! The apathy stems from years of beating down teams like Holy Cross and building fluff resumes only to get crushed in games against big time opponents and miss the dance year after year.

You can't underestimate the EC factor here. In talking with friends who are alumni and current students, losing EC really killed the momentum this program was building and left a lot of these casual alumni to just throw up there hands and say well maybe next year.

I think a lot of my fellow alumni are starving for a reason to buy into what Hurley is building here but people want results. We had a decade of Baron winning 20 games against nobody opponents and never making a tourney and until Rhody makes the dance I dont think the apathy will change.

When we win 20 games this year and miss the tournament this year the casual observer/fan is just going to think this is more of the same.

I won't blame Hurley for leaving when he leaves either.

[bressler3south]

I get that, but also some of it is on him and the team. Go beat PC Saturday, and if nobody shows up to the next game maybe he will have a reason to question the fans. If we make it to the tournament, you'll have more Rhody fans travel to the first round game than you had at the HC game last night. That's not just our fans being front runners, it's that way for every fan base. Maybe ours more so because it's been so long since we were good and people are skeptical still.

What's on him?
That he resurrected a DOA Program?
Skeptical fans?
Those aren't fans.
They're people who go to basketball games.
Fans are loyal through thick and thin.
Stop making excuses for "students" and others.
Either you're there or you're not, through thick or thin.
Enough already with the bullshit.
You want a hamburger, too?

You can yell at me if you want, but I'm there. I was there when we were winning seven games. I've defended the coach and the players to the point of being called a sunshine something something. So save me the histrionics. I'm just telling you that in reality, if you want to create real demand that goes beyond the hardcore base and sell the building out all the time, you have to accomplish something tangible. Hang a banner. Beat a rival. Spring an upset on national TV. Yes, the turnaround engineered by the coach and his staff(s) has been terrific, but to capture the attention of the casual fan (or "person who goes to basketball games") - which you need to sell out your building - there is still another level that the program has to get to. And all of the hardcore fans want to get to that level anyways, so what's the harm in acknowledging it? I think you just like yelling at me.

Who's yelling?
No caps in that post.
I responded to what I believe to be a bunch of nonsense.
And there's nothing excessive nor dramatic about the post.
The dramatic is stated by you in a bunch of rationalized excuses and pure hyperbole, i.e., that if URI makes the Tournament that there will be more people travelling to the game (likely a West Coast site) than were at the Holy Cross game last night.
That's what? 3,500? 4,000?
Please…...
Rhode Islanders don't travel well -- Warwick to Westerly has people scratching their heads if they're required to bring their passports.
Orlando?
Cancun?
The Rhode Island media contingent and their families probably outnumbered URI fans during the last two years' holiday tourneys.
Again, your reasoning makes sense for the argument of three years ago -- which was had here -- not now. Before it was the culture, the lack of buzz.
Then it was not enough wins.
Then it was lack of inducements for the students.
Then it wasn't enough national attention.
Then it was beat the rival.
Etc., etc., etc.,
Coach Hurley and the team deserve to have that building SRO Saturday night.
The Ryan Center should have on average 6,000-and-change regardless of opponent.
I recall the Big Thinkers who were outraged that the Ryan Center wasn't going to have the seating capacity of the Civic Center.
If Coach K, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Pitino, or Calipari coached here, guess what?
The place still wouldn't average 7,000.
Just imagine that when Coach Hurley leaves that his best five years' attendance figures won't best Jim Baron's best five.
That's if he stays that long.
Think about that, folks.

[TruePoint]

You're arguing based on emotion and not based on reality. Hardcore fans recognize the gains in recruiting, in infrastructure and program development and all the things that happen off the court, and we get the degree of difficulty in accomplishing all those things. But those things don't get reported on the nightly local news, and the average guy that is only vaguely aware of whether URI stinks, is nationally ranked or is kinda decent does not know anything about that stuff. He isn't going to drive his family to Kingston for a handful of games every year unless and until URI penetrates his consciousness. To him, we went to the NIT a bunch of times with the last coach, so why are we paying this guy so much again? That's the reality. We aren't very far away from getting over the hump and changing all of that, but let's not suddenly pretend that's not the goal and what Hurley has done so far is the mountain top. It's not.

We've always said we want to be about NCAAs, not NITs. This forum is called "NCAA or Bust," and we had posters this week saying we should take the NIT banner down. But somehow that level of performance should capture the imagination of a state that doesn't naturally support us in the first place? Cmon man. You're being argumentative for the sake of it. If I said Rhode Islanders should be happy with what we have and should be showing up to the games, you'd say "think big we do, counselor!!1!11!"

[ram1980]

The key here is the students.. Every effort needs to be made to fill the student section for every game.. Do what it takes (promos, bribes, whatever). The casual fan is a PC fan.. The state promotes PC.. Green airport has a big sign that says welcome to friar town..How do we change that.. Start by winning some big games and then we will see what happens. I hope Hurley does not leave because of attendance.. Just win and let the chips fall.. That should be his first priority then if the fans don't come he should do what he must do.. It has been 4 years.. Yes, the product is a lot better and heading in the right direction, but it is not there yet.. I hope he gets us there then decides if he wants to keep us there.. His hoping he does..

[STC]

You're arguing based on emotion and not based on reality. Hardcore fans recognize the gains in recruiting, in infrastructure and program development and all the things that happen off the court, and we get the degree of difficulty in accomplishing all those things. But those things don't get reported on the nightly local news, and the average guy that is only vaguely aware of whether URI stinks, is nationally ranked or is kinda decent does not know anything about that stuff. He isn't going to drive his family to Kingston for a handful of games every year unless and until URI penetrates his consciousness. To him, we went to the NIT a bunch of times with the last coach, so why are we paying this guy so much again? That's the reality. But we aren't very far away from getting over the hump and changing all of that, but let's not suddenly pretend that's not the goal and what Hurley has done so far is the mountain top. It's not.

We've always said we want to be about NCAAs, not NITs. This forum is called "NCAA or Bust," and we had posters this week saying we should take the NIT banner down. But somehow that level of performance should capture the imagination of a state that doesn't naturally support us in the first place? Cmon man. You're being argumentative for the sake of it. If I said Rhode Islanders should be happy with what we have and should be showing up to the games, you'd say "think big we do, counselor!!1!11!"

This is on point.

[theblueram]

I just think the enthusiasm has been beaten out of this fan base over almost two decades. It will take something tangible on the court to reverse that. However, I don't think it will ebb and flow based on the result of the last game. If you can have somewhat sustained success for even a couple of years, you won't lose all your fans because you lose an important game. But you have to do something to bring them back in the first place.

Wow TP can make some sense sometimes heh. This is spot on. The hollow 20 win NIT seasons are what we have had since the Ryan Center was opened. We want more than that.

[TruePoint]

ram1980 - I agree, and honestly I didn't like the announcement they made this week that they would only let 1500 students into the game. I know that every student they let in takes some money out of their pocket, but I suspect the terse statement they released to the students about the limit for the PC game didn't help with the Holy Cross student attendance. If you want students to show for games against St Louis and Duquesne or whatever, I would get as many of them in the building on Saturday as you can to give them a taste of that environment. Plus, 2500 students versus 1500 students would go along way toward a home court advantage that could help you win the game.

[STC]

Students consistently disappoint. I'm willing to say our student section sucks a large majority of the time. Come for the free stuff, leave at half.

One factor that is underplayed is that students go off campus to live after freshman year. I went to a ton of games my freshman year but one off campus it was much more difficult to round up friends who wanted to. if students were on campus all four years I definitely believe URI basketball would be more of a thing on campus.

Look at the student section now, I'm willing to bet freshman make up the largest percentage of students in the student section and then it drops which each subsequent year.

[bressler3south]

You're arguing based on emotion and not based on reality. Hardcore fans recognize the gains in recruiting, in infrastructure and program development and all the things that happen off the court, and we get the degree of difficulty in accomplishing all those things. But those things don't get reported on the nightly local news, and the average guy that is only vaguely aware of whether URI stinks, is nationally ranked or is kinda decent does not know anything about that stuff. He isn't going to drive his family to Kingston for a handful of games every year unless and until URI penetrates his consciousness. To him, we went to the NIT a bunch of times with the last coach, so why are we paying this guy so much again? That's the reality. We aren't very far away from getting over the hump and changing all of that, but let's not suddenly pretend that's not the goal and what Hurley has done so far is the mountain top. It's not.

We've always said we want to be about NCAAs, not NITs. This forum is called "NCAA or Bust," and we had posters this week saying we should take the NIT banner down. But somehow that level of performance should capture the imagination of a state that doesn't naturally support us in the first place? Cmon man. You're being argumentative for the sake of it. If I said Rhode Islanders should be happy with what we have and should be showing up to the games, you'd say "think big we do, counselor!!1!11!"

You're correct, TruePoint.
My observations are purely emotional.
I have an unbalanced view of student-life at URI and the Wednesday Night Agenda.
I know…..I expect too much of the URI Community.
It's irrational.
So, if and when URI makes an NCAA appearance, what will it take to average 6,000 fans?
Two appearances?
To reach 6,500?
Three appearances?
To reach 7,000?
Four appearances?
To reach sell-out 7,657?
An NCAA title?
Isn't that the rational penetration and saturation rate of progression in Johnny Quahog's consciousness?
Why don't you just toss some pixie dust into the equation.

[TruePoint]

I guess you were trying to be sarcastic, but yes - I think a win Saturday will give attendance a little kick for the rest of the OOC schedule. If we make the tournament this year, I think next year season tickets and student attendance jump considerably. If we make it 2, 3, 4 years in a row, I do think we will bang the building out regularly.

Maybe you don't agree, but I know we would both like to test my hypothesis.

[Rhody83]

I agree with TP.

[bressler3south]

I guess you were trying to be sarcastic, but yes - I think a win Saturday will give attendance a little kick for the rest of the OOC schedule. If we make the tournament this year, I think next year season tickets and student attendance jump considerably. If we make it 2, 3, 4 years in a row, I do think we will bang the building out regularly.

Maybe you don't agree, but I know we would both like to test my hypothesis.

No, you've proven my hypothesis, especially with the word "regularly."

Then this is truly a charade.

Perhaps, it's something Coach Hurley has already/finally realized.

What a crying-assed shame.

[TruePoint]

I'm dead serious when I say that I have no idea what you are even talking about. What is a charade, and why? I get that speaking in riddles is your thing, but I've lost the thread at this point.

[bressler3south]

I'm dead serious when I say that I have no idea what you are even talking about. What is a charade, and why? I get that speaking in riddles is your thing, but I've lost the thread at this point.

There's no riddle to it. The charade is this "URI Basketball Thing," building it to Glory, etc.,
It's a Big Lie, a Farce.

[RhowdyRam02]

Students consistently disappoint. I'm willing to say our student section sucks a large majority of the time. Come for the free stuff, leave at half.

One factor that is underplayed is that students go off campus to live after freshman year. I went to a ton of games my freshman year but one off campus it was much more difficult to round up friends who wanted to. if students were on campus all four years I definitely believe URI basketball would be more of a thing on campus.

Look at the student section now, I'm willing to bet freshman make up the largest percentage of students in the student section and then it drops which each subsequent year.

I'm going to have to call bull on this. The students have been the best part of our attendance almost every game since the midpoint of the conference schedule last year. And your comment about come for the free stuff, leave at the half to describe them makes me wonder how many of these games you've been to or even seen on TV during this time period. I don't believe there have been any special promos for them since the first game of last year and they've consistently been loud and given us a home court advantage.

[Billyboy78]

Students consistently disappoint. I'm willing to say our student section sucks a large majority of the time. Come for the free stuff, leave at half.

One factor that is underplayed is that students go off campus to live after freshman year. I went to a ton of games my freshman year but one off campus it was much more difficult to round up friends who wanted to. if students were on campus all four years I definitely believe URI basketball would be more of a thing on campus.

Look at the student section now, I'm willing to bet freshman make up the largest percentage of students in the student section and then it drops which each subsequent year.

I'm going to have to call bull on this. The students have been the best part of our attendance almost every game since the midpoint of the conference schedule last year. And your comment about come for the free stuff, leave at the half to describe them makes me wonder how many of these games you've been to or even seen on TV during this time period. I don't believe there have been any special promos for them since the first game of last year and they've consistently been loud and given us a home court advantage.

How many were there Wednesday night?

[sf2010]

I'm dead serious when I say that I have no idea what you are even talking about. What is a charade, and why? I get that speaking in riddles is your thing, but I've lost the thread at this point.

There's no riddle to it. The charade is this "URI Basketball Thing," building it to Glory, etc.,
It's a Big Lie, a Farce.

Haha oh man bress this thread has become high comedy. If you were expecting URI to suddenly sell out the RC just because of some pre-season buzz that all evaporated once we lost our best player 8 minutes in to the season, then I don't know what to tell you. TP and others are right - URI lost all casual fans (who are needed in order to sell out the building) over the last 20 years of winning NOTHING besides periodic NIT trips. PC has more fans, casual and die-hard, and their games are located in a place that is much more suited to attracting crowds, and they have had more recent success.

It's like Hurley was saying in the pre-season, he wanted us to HUNT because we hadn't won anything yet, we are not the hunted because we haven't yet achieved the goals of the program. Attendance will not improve until we do. That is the reality of the situation. Sure, I wish Rhode Islanders were more passionate about college basketball. They aren't, boo-hoo. I wish a higher percentage of students either lived on campus, or were from in-state and grew up rooting for URI. They aren't, boo-hoo. I loved it as much as everybody else (probably more than most) when Rothstein et al were calling us a team to watch, a team on the rise, but Joe Alumni from West Warwick doesn't care about that, doesn't read about that, and won't take notice of URI basketball until we do something noteworthy - which probably means reaching the NCAAs.

"Everything looks like a failure in the middle. Everyone loves inspiring beginnings and happy endings; it is just the middles that involve hard work." This is where URI is right now. The shine is starting to come off Hurley and people are saying "we should be further along," and "where are the big wins." We have not yet reached our goals, and so people are wondering if we ever will. The "middle" that we are in right now as a program got a lot tougher when EC went down. We'll get through it. Likely slower and possibly in a different manner than many wish, but we'll get there. Hurley is still the right man for the job.

[TruePoint]

I'm dead serious when I say that I have no idea what you are even talking about. What is a charade, and why? I get that speaking in riddles is your thing, but I've lost the thread at this point.

There's no riddle to it. The charade is this "URI Basketball Thing," building it to Glory, etc.,
It's a Big Lie, a Farce.

Uh...ok. Hot take. Still no idea what your point is or what your disagreement is with what I've said here. Why is this URI basketball thing a farce in your view?

sf2010, good post. I also agree with RR02 about the students. I think they've done a pretty good job and are being criticized for things that happened before a lot of them were even at URI.

[bressler3south]

The last thing I'll write about it is this: Ever since all the talk about Coach Hurley's arrival, buzz, season tickets, increased fees, etc., rationalizations, expectations, improvements, culture, recruiting, etc., etc., you and your brethren have constantly harped on the assumption of onward and upward based upon cold hard business "facts." When people on the Board disagreed that forsaking Ram loyalists for cash, they were dismissed.
Oh no -- seat availability -- it's the money that counts, so buy or move on. Well, now look: No one's there, and it's not because it's on Coach Hurley.
No, it's on Fair-weather URI "Fans."
As I wrote, I'm done with the charade, because "the supporters" aren't holding up their end of the bargain.

[TruePoint]

The last thing I'll write about it is this: Ever since all the talk about Coach Hurley's arrival, buzz, season tickets, increased fees, etc., rationalizations, expectations, improvements, culture, recruiting, etc., etc., you and your brethren have constantly harped on the assumption of onward and upward based upon cold hard business "facts." When people on the Board disagreed that forsaking Ram loyalists for cash, they were dismissed.
Oh no -- seat availability -- it's the money that counts, so buy or move on. Well, now look: No one's there, and it's not because it's on Coach Hurley.
No, it's on Fair-weather URI "Fans."
As I wrote, I'm done with the charade, because "the supporters" aren't holding up their end of the bargain.

Have you ever considered using English to explain your thoughts? Because honestly I am not getting what you're trying to say. I feel like you are talking in a code I don't understand. I can vaguely recognize innuendo presumably hinting at some underlying idea, but there are no fully formed thoughts as far as I can tell.

Do you agree or disagree that performance drives attendance? What are you blaming for attendance below your expectations?

[sf2010]

I think he's saying that URI fans aren't doing a good enough job supporting the program, or that the program doesn't have enough "true" fans to begin with, and so he's done supporting the team because other people aren't good enough at supporting them?

[RhowdyRam02]

Students consistently disappoint. I'm willing to say our student section sucks a large majority of the time. Come for the free stuff, leave at half.

One factor that is underplayed is that students go off campus to live after freshman year. I went to a ton of games my freshman year but one off campus it was much more difficult to round up friends who wanted to. if students were on campus all four years I definitely believe URI basketball would be more of a thing on campus.

Look at the student section now, I'm willing to bet freshman make up the largest percentage of students in the student section and then it drops which each subsequent year.

I'm going to have to call bull on this. The students have been the best part of our attendance almost every game since the midpoint of the conference schedule last year. And your comment about come for the free stuff, leave at the half to describe them makes me wonder how many of these games you've been to or even seen on TV during this time period. I don't believe there have been any special promos for them since the first game of last year and they've consistently been loud and given us a home court advantage.

How many were there Wednesday night?

I don't know, but much like every other segment of the fan population, it was less then normal. Are they really supposed to pour into the Ryan Center by the thousands for games no one else wants to go to to fill it up, but then are limited to only about 10% of their population being able to go when it's a good game? That doesn't seem like a fair system or a good way to judge how they're doing.

[EZBuckets]

I wasn't going to chime in here...but I'm sorry...are people seriously pointing fingers at the students?

Students have begun to show up more consistently for the past year. Sure, we would all like 2500+ students every game but averaging 1000-1500 is lightyears ahead of the paltry amount that used to attend.

Holy Cross was the first time in awhile that I've legitimately been disappointed in their turnout. I'm hoping it was a fluke. (Valpo & Rider games I'm not factoring in considering there are valid reasons why the numbers weren't there. Again, not happy about it...but understandable.)

Plus the students who do come have been regularly vocal and energetic...unlike a vast majority of our general fans in attendance.

In my eyes, any discussion about attendance and atmosphere at the Ryan Center at this point should highlight student attendance as an actual brightspot that is trending in a positive direction. Not the other way around.