LoveThoseRams wrote: ↑3 months ago
Ugh, just listened to the A10 podcast. A whole lot of hating on URI, even the fanbase. Said we are all "sad and depressed" and drinking booze to get through this. Also said we are silent on social media which also speaks to our depression.
What fanbase?
Covid and David Cox killed this fanbase (outside of those of us fighting the good fight on here) and we are yet to recover.
Archie, while still one of better coaches in the NCAA - is not a fire and brimstone salesman the way Hurley is. Hurley brought the excitement back from day one, which is how he rolls - but even with that it took 4 years to build the fanbase again.
Archie is closer to the "we'll be good when we're good" and "winning cures all" which is a completely different way to go about it - but he's not wrong.
Point being that in year 2 of a rebuild, our fans are slow in coming back.
In 22 year Ryan Center history, the 3 lowest attended seasons are, in order, Baron's last year, Hurley's first year, and Hurley's 2nd year. Hurley built us up to the point where we had the best attendance ever and a fully built championship program. Cox dropped us back from #1 attendance to #11 by the time he was fired.
By definition then, we're an incredibly fickle fanbase as a whole, and need to be "shown something" before people invest in going to the Ryan Center and paying attention. That's for a couple reasons:
1) Kingston is in the middle of nowhere - for RI - which is where we live and why that matters. There's no bar/restaurant/entertainment within walking distance of the Ryan Center. It's a 30-40 minute drive for a majority of our fanbase in the middle of winter. It's a long walk in a windy field and then a wait in a line outside. Fans need to be really bought in to commit to that.
2) There aren't big games. Add in the distance to travel, and there's not a lot of draw if Rhody isn't "good" - which at this point in a rebuild we're not expected to be. If there's no PC on the home slate, and if the A10 lacks a ranked, name-brand team (i.e. Dayton/VCU), people aren't making the trip.
3) The Ryan Center experience sucks. This has been covered ad hominem, but no WiFi, no replays, shitty food, etc. It's a sub-standard entertainment product when you bring it all together. No one is climbing all 3 of these hurdles when we're not "good" - so the record doesn't matter. We could be 12-1 at this point and ranked, and I'd still expect a half empty building tonight.
All of this means, I don't expect the fanbase to show up for Archie until the year after we get good. Aka if we go to the NCAAs in year 3, expect year four. If we go in year 4, expect year 5. Same as what happened with Hurley.
The year before the 2020 shutdowns was our 2nd best attendance ever. Cox had the keys to the kingdom and everything you could've asked for. Once everyone transferred and we sucked, people never returned to the Ryan Center and stopped paying attention. The only thing that'll bring it back is winning. And not "winning" by beating suckbag teams. Winning against PC, winning against P5's, and beating the top teams in the A10 often.
Until then, this little message board is all that this fanbase has. Cherish it lol.
