Student tickets for KU game

[cubuffs85]

I could maybe support this argument, if CU students were packing in the CEC for the men's games. But considering that isn't really happening to this point, I would have done it for a early season men's game. Also, I imagine the women's team wants people that genuinely want to be there, and aren't doing it just for KU tickets.

Any sports team will tell you, the more people there the better and that they feed off the crowd. Sure you might want quality over quantity, but more fans=better environment.

The fact 2k students went last night shows that there is enough demand for the KU game. If a few hundred had shown up, it would've been a massive failure.

 

[CVilleBuff]

I'm not a student anymore, I graduated this year (unfortunately)

I've made all of the basketball and football games so far this year, I'm not sure what I can do beyond that. I was part of those students that "worked to get CU out of the doldrums", even when we still sucked in 2009. I was in the marching band, and on the CU crew team, I even sat through all but one of the games in 1-11 football season (I was out of town).

I bleed black and gold.

Being a realist does not conflate to being immature. (not sure how I'm being immature anyways) You need to understand the mentality of the CU student. Yes many of them are douchers, but you have to work around it to get them into the games and not force the issue with weird events like we saw the other night.

All things considered CU basketball attendance has been pretty damn good recently, not a lot of people pack out their arenas in November.

Douchebags need to conform to reality, not the other way around.

And the immature comment was in regards to that sizable chunk of students who made the entire student body look like entitled brats.

As someone who was a student at that time, I'm surprised you don't realize how quickly things can change for the better in terms of fan support. Instead of accepting our student support for what it currently is (and the fact is this year has not measured up to the past two years), there's clearly still room for improvement. We're a conference champion and NCAA tournament regular at the moment. Instead of comparing ourselves to mediocrity, perhaps we should look at that peer group of fans of teams regularly in the Big Dance, competing at the top of major conferences and aspire to reach that level.

 

[cubuffs85]

I guess I'm weird. I thought that the students who cared about hoops would simply take in a women's game, cheer on the team, and pick up their tickets at the end. Thought it was a win-win way to go about things. It's how I would have gone about things as a student. I'm having a difficult time understanding the reaction of the students. Is it that they consider women's basketball to be so incredibly uncool that going to a game is perceived as a sort of punishment to them?

Because students don't realize how good they have it compared to other schools. How many schools have subsidized trips to the conference tournament and NCAA games?

 

[BuffTE41]

Douchebags need to conform to reality, not the other way around.

And the immature comment was in regards to that sizable chunk of students who made the entire student body look like entitled brats.

As someone who was a student at that time, I'm surprised you don't realize how quickly things can change for the better in terms of fan support. Instead of accepting our student support for what it currently is (and the fact is this year has not measured up to the past two years), there's clearly still room for improvement. We're a conference champion and NCAA tournament regular at the moment. Instead of comparing ourselves to mediocrity, perhaps we should look at that peer group of fans of teams regularly in the Big Dance, competing at the top of major conferences and aspire to reach that level.

Attendance at football and basketball games across the country is down. In our conference, we're not UofA, but are currently better attended than over half of the teams in the conference. That's a positive trend. You want to see bad attendance, watch a video of the 2006 MBB team. All I'm saying is don't rock the boat too much, we can't afford to piss off students and lose support at this critical juncture where our team is right on the edge of breaking through to the Sweet-16.

 

[cubuffs85]

Attendance at football and basketball games across the country is down. In our conference, we're not UofA, but are currently better attended than over half of the teams in the conference. That's a positive trend. You want to see bad attendance, watch a video of the 2006 MBB team. All I'm saying is don't rock the boat too much, we can't afford to piss off students and lose support at this critical juncture where our team is right on the edge of breaking through to the Sweet-16.

Why do you think it's so down compared to last year? It can't be because students don't care as much because the longer this goes on, the more likely that is. Do other programs have the same one year dropped, both from a quality and quantity perspective?

 

[BuffTE41]

Why do you think it's so down compared to last year? It can't be because students don't care as much because the longer this goes on, the more likely that is. Do other programs have the same one year dropped, both from a quality and quantity perspective?

Yes, the NFL, college football and basketball attendance across the country is dropping like a rock.

 

[cubuffs85]

Yes, the NFL, college football and basketball attendance across the country is dropping like a rock.

I'm just talking about 2012-13 to 2013-14, not over the last 30 years. Why has CU fallen so much compared to last year? They sold out of season tickets, it looked like we were going up.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Attendance at football and basketball games across the country is down. In our conference, we're not UofA, but are currently better attended than over half of the teams in the conference. That's a positive trend. You want to see bad attendance, watch a video of the 2006 MBB team. All I'm saying is don't rock the boat too much, we can't afford to piss off students and lose support at this critical juncture where our team is right on the edge of breaking through to the Sweet-16.

Our attendance being horrible not that long ago feeds right into my point: We went from bottom of the barrel attendance to having fantastic attendance the last few seasons. That's why it can and should be improving even more so now that we're in the most anticipated CU basketball season in years. There's no "rocking the boat" by asking students to attend a basketball game of a top 20 team in order to get tickets for the biggest game of the season. And the Pac-12 has, by far, the most pathetic fan support of any major conference. Patting ourselves on the back for out-drawing Stanford and Oregon State while making excuses for not being anywhere close to Arizona doesn't fly.

 

[BuffTE41]

I'm just talking about 2012-13 to 2013-14, not over the last 30 years. Why has CU fallen so much compared to last year? They sold out of season tickets, it looked like we were going up.

I don't know.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Yes, the NFL, college football and basketball attendance across the country is dropping like a rock.

And yet schools like Alabama with little to no basketball tradition or even a good team this year are out-drawing CU right now (while facing DII opponents).

 

[Buffnik]

I'm just talking about 2012-13 to 2013-14, not over the last 30 years. Why has CU fallen so much compared to last year? They sold out of season tickets, it looked like we were going up.

There were a few important differences last year.

For the opener, we were hanging a Pac-12 champion banner/rock.

Our next game against AFA followed winning the Charleston tourney.

So there were some significant momentum builders to start the year.

And I don't know if it can be stressed enough how import it was for every single non-conference home game being on a weekend last year for getting students and other fans there in numbers and wild. The only home game on a weekday was CSU, and that game draws no matter what day of the week it's on.

Attendance so far this season hasn't actually been bad, it just hasn't progressed. But that, I think, has had more to do with a less fan-friendly schedule than it has to do with any dip in fan support. As evidenced by season ticket sales and 2,000 students showing up to a mid-week WBB game to lock in KU tix, fan support is pretty damn good. Heck, parking was a bitch for a 10am game last Saturday.

 

[rolandftw]

I guess I'm weird. I thought that the students who cared about hoops would simply take in a women's game, cheer on the team, and pick up their tickets at the end. Thought it was a win-win way to go about things. It's how I would have gone about things as a student. I'm having a difficult time understanding the reaction of the students. Is it that they consider women's basketball to be so incredibly uncool that going to a game is perceived as a sort of punishment to them?

I don't think that everyone that cares about men's basketball, cares about women's basketball, just like not everyone that likes the NBA also likes the WNBA. It's not really a big deal, but the KU game was an opportunity to further promote the men's program imo. To me, it's similar to the Buffs Madness event where there seemed to be more of a focus on the women's team then the men's team at least in some of the advertisements for it. Doesn't really make sense on any level to me. And I personally like women's basketball, and find it usually an entertaining game to watch.

 

[cubuffs85]

Our attendance being horrible not that long ago feeds right into my point: We went from bottom of the barrel attendance to having fantastic attendance the last few seasons. That's why it can and should be improving even more so now that we're in the most anticipated CU basketball season in years. There's no "rocking the boat" by asking students to attend a basketball game of a top 20 team in order to get tickets for the biggest game of the season. And the Pac-12 has, by far, the most pathetic fan support of any major conference. Patting ourselves on the back for out-drawing Stanford and Oregon State while making excuses for not being anywhere close to Arizona doesn't fly.

Just my opinion here, but I think last year was the perfect storm in terms of rising basketball program with the football program at it's lowest levels. I think fans are waiting for CU to now go to the next level, as someone else already said they aren't the "up-and-coming" program anymore. I believe that's the main reason for the lack of enthusiasm. Believe me, I don't like it but to the rank-and-file fan, they don't feel bothered to show up to these "directional" OOC games. The investment in season tickets for both students and people who don't hold courtside seats is well worth it if they just show up to Kansas and Pac-12 games.

 

[Bone Buff]

I'm going to go with average CU fan does not realize how important non-conference play is basketball.

 

[cubuffs85]

There were a few important differences last year.

For the opener, we were hanging a Pac-12 champion banner/rock.

Our next game against AFA followed winning the Charleston tourney.

So there were some significant momentum builders to start the year.

And I don't know if it can be stressed enough how import it was for every single non-conference home game being on a weekend last year for getting students and other fans there in numbers and wild. The only home game on a weekday was CSU, and that game draws no matter what day of the week it's on.

Attendance so far this season hasn't actually been bad, it just hasn't progressed. But that, I think, has had more to do with a less fan-friendly schedule than it has to do with any dip in fan support. As evidenced by season ticket sales and 2,000 students showing up to a mid-week WBB game to lock in KU tix, fan support is pretty damn good. Heck, parking was a bitch for a 10am game last Saturday.

Great points. I think the first game being the first banner almost anyone had seen for basketball was huge. The season opener would've drawn well in the first place being the time it was, but that added an incentitive.

I think the games not being so compact has had an effect, although I'm not sure how much of a bump they really saw from winning the Charlestown Classic.

The schedule was definitely more favorable time-wise last year. Even the weekend games haven't been optimal, be it the 10 AM start or playing directly against the Broncos.

All this said, I'm just sick of making excuses. You could do this every weekend. Great point with wbb game attendance, shows you if you make the students have to earn something they'll show up. They'll just cry and moan about it in the process.

 

[Fight CU]

I guess I'm weird. I thought that the students who cared about hoops would simply take in a women's game, cheer on the team, and pick up their tickets at the end. Thought it was a win-win way to go about things. It's how I would have gone about things as a student. I'm having a difficult time understanding the reaction of the students. Is it that they consider women's basketball to be so incredibly uncool that going to a game is perceived as a sort of punishment to them?

no. it's beacuae they're entitled, bitchy, spoiled, sacks of **** who can't be bothered to actually leave their creature comforts to get something they want.

 

[Quattro]

No, I just don't think CU is in a comparable with Arizona right now. Maybe if we add 5,000 seats and have a winning tradition for 25 years. Right now I think 9-10,000 is a good average attendance for us.

So we should aim to have lower attendance than last year?

 

[J-R-K]

No students care about women's basketball and none will care. Trying to manufacture interest is pointless and even filling the student section for one game-in which students literally payed not attention and sat their socializing, on their phones, or in many cases literally doing schoolwork is also pointless and demeaning to the women. No being at the game was not the worst thing ever but while there were things I would rather be doing I didn't have any plans or obligations that night so it wasn't a huge deal, but that wasn't the case for other people. As others have pointed out there were more viable options for distributing tickets notably how it was done for the Zona game last year.

Some of you are acting like the school is somehow doing as a favor by allowing us to go to the game, keep in mind this isn't a pro sports team, its a college and we're the students. And while the tickets are a great deal, we still have to pay for them, its not free. This was also horribly executed by the AD. There was a 30 minute line-in the cold, just to get into the arena, at the same there were multiple other entrances that had no wait at all but we weren't allowed to use those, instead 2000-plus people were allocated three turnstiles. At the end of the game the smart thing to do would have been to spread the tables out throughout the court and allow students to enter the court from anywhere in the arena, instead everyone was told they had to be in the student section-from which there is just one access point to the court, and all of the ticket tables were crowded right in front of this.

The student behavior at the end of the game-which hadn't even been decided yet, was extremely embarrassing and uncalled for. Crowding the aisles and constantly booing because the last minute was taking to long even though it was still a one possession game was ridiculous. That being said while unfortunate the behavior after the game was understandable. It was 11:30, people wanted to get out of there and were pissed they had to be there in the first place, again everyone was inexplicably jammed into one quarter of the arena with one entrance to the court, there was a concern that the amount of people admitted may not have been exactly precise and there wouldn't be enough tickets for everyone, and also consider mob mentality leads to people acting in a way they wouldn't otherwise. Plus this douche bag assistant AD grabs the mic and starts screaming at people, doesn't clearly explain things and doesn't try to establish any repour which only leads to backlash towards whatever he's saying. Yes students need to behave better but this was a dumb idea by the AD in the first place and was poorly executed.

 

[sackman]

I hesitate to ask, but...

Would Mike Bohn have done something like this? I kind of doubt it.

Anyway, I feel that this has more to do with a serious lack of connection between the students and the University than anything else. There's still no buy-in. No school passion. CU students are not Buffs. That's what we need to work on - turning students into Buffs.

 

[prime teets]

No students care about women's basketball and none will care. Trying to manufacture interest is pointless and even filling the student section for one game-in which students literally payed not attention and sat their socializing, on their phones, or in many cases literally doing schoolwork is also pointless and demeaning to the women. No being at the game was not the worst thing ever but while there were things I would rather be doing I didn't have any plans or obligations that night so it wasn't a huge deal, but that wasn't the case for other people. As others have pointed out there were more viable options for distributing tickets notably how it was done for the Zona game last year.

Some of you are acting like the school is somehow doing as a favor by allowing us to go to the game, keep in mind this isn't a pro sports team, its a college and we're the students. And while the tickets are a great deal, we still have to pay for them, its not free. This was also horribly executed by the AD. There was a 30 minute line-in the cold, just to get into the arena, at the same there were multiple other entrances that had no wait at all but we weren't allowed to use those, instead 2000-plus people were allocated three turnstiles. At the end of the game the smart thing to do would have been to spread the tables out throughout the court and allow students to enter the court from anywhere in the arena, instead everyone was told they had to be in the student section-from which there is just one access point to the court, and all of the ticket tables were crowded right in front of this.

The student behavior at the end of the game-which hadn't even been decided yet, was extremely embarrassing and uncalled for. Crowding the aisles and constantly booing because the last minute was taking to long even though it was still a one possession game was ridiculous. That being said while unfortunate the behavior after the game was understandable. It was 11:30, people wanted to get out of there and were pissed they had to be there in the first place, again everyone was inexplicably jammed into one quarter of the arena with one entrance to the court, there was a concern that the amount of people admitted may not have been exactly precise and there wouldn't be enough tickets for everyone, and also consider mob mentality leads to people acting in a way they wouldn't otherwise. Plus this douche bag assistant AD grabs the mic and starts screaming at people, doesn't clearly explain things and doesn't try to establish any repour which only leads to backlash towards whatever he's saying. Yes students need to behave better but this was a dumb idea by the AD in the first place and was poorly executed.

ahhh so close

 

[GoonieBuff]

It's funny because sports is such a unique business. With your restaurant example, if the food is bad, most likely you aren't returning. Yeah there's exceptions like it's a bar that has every game in America, and the food is secondary.

But you stick (or are supposed to) with your teams through thick and thin. If CU were the normal business, it would've gone out of business with how it's football program was run. With the restaurant analogy, the entree has failed for most of the last decade. CU basketball is the appetizer that's good, not great. And it can't support the restaurant on it's own. Cross Country and skiing are amazing side dishes.

I just started salivating.

 

[GoonieBuff]

I bleed black and gold.

Being a realist does not conflate to being immature. (not sure how I'm being immature anyways) You need to understand the mentality of the CU student. Yes many of them are douchers, but you have to work around it to get them into the games and not force the issue with weird events like we saw the other night.

All things considered CU basketball attendance has been pretty damn good recently, not a lot of people pack out their arenas in November.

Attending a women's basketball game in which you get tickets afterwards is a "weird" event? Making students slide on their butts around the perimeter of the main campus in order to pick up tickets would be a "weird" event. I get that women's basketball isn't for everyone. I'm not a fan, but I've attended games of former athletes who I've coached just to support them. The "weird" event should've been looked at like this for the non-women's basketball fans - a chance to get KU tickets and an opportunity to cheer on CU Buffs! I don't watch much soccer, but I sure bragged to anyone who'd listen that the CU women have beaten two ranked teams to get to the NCAA soccer sweet 16.

Students didn't even have to like the game, but at least be respectful and cheer on the Buffs who were playing their asses off on the court. It's like when I've been dragged to musicals, plays, etc. that I had no interest in. I tried to make the best of situation and went in with an open mind. Not only would it make my loved one happy; maybe I could also learn something.

 

[GoonieBuff]

You know I eat regularly at a thai place that has terrible service doesn't accept cash and often can't make change. Recently went to take out only. I keep wondering if it is some social experiment to see if people would keep coming back no matter how you treat them....until I try the food. It is so good and the best Thai in Denver by far probably top 10 best food in Denver. If only she treated her customers good.

I can see why it would be hard to make change if they don't accept cash.

What's the name of the place, and where's it at? I drive too far for my favorite Thai place because there are so many that just plain suck (places that you can tell microwave the meat to heat it up, etc.), so I'm always on the lookout for a closer Thai joint.

 

[absinthe]

No students care about women's basketball and none will care. Trying to manufacture interest is pointless and even filling the student section for one game-in which students literally payed not attention and sat their socializing, on their phones, or in many cases literally doing schoolwork is also pointless and demeaning to the women. No being at the game was not the worst thing ever but while there were things I would rather be doing I didn't have any plans or obligations that night so it wasn't a huge deal, but that wasn't the case for other people. As others have pointed out there were more viable options for distributing tickets notably how it was done for the Zona game last year.

Some of you are acting like the school is somehow doing as a favor by allowing us to go to the game, keep in mind this isn't a pro sports team, its a college and we're the students. And while the tickets are a great deal, we still have to pay for them, its not free. This was also horribly executed by the AD. There was a 30 minute line-in the cold, just to get into the arena, at the same there were multiple other entrances that had no wait at all but we weren't allowed to use those, instead 2000-plus people were allocated three turnstiles. At the end of the game the smart thing to do would have been to spread the tables out throughout the court and allow students to enter the court from anywhere in the arena, instead everyone was told they had to be in the student section-from which there is just one access point to the court, and all of the ticket tables were crowded right in front of this.

The student behavior at the end of the game-which hadn't even been decided yet, was extremely embarrassing and uncalled for. Crowding the aisles and constantly booing because the last minute was taking to long even though it was still a one possession game was ridiculous. That being said while unfortunate the behavior after the game was understandable. It was 11:30, people wanted to get out of there and were pissed they had to be there in the first place, again everyone was inexplicably jammed into one quarter of the arena with one entrance to the court, there was a concern that the amount of people admitted may not have been exactly precise and there wouldn't be enough tickets for everyone, and also consider mob mentality leads to people acting in a way they wouldn't otherwise. Plus this douche bag assistant AD grabs the mic and starts screaming at people, doesn't clearly explain things and doesn't try to establish any repour which only leads to backlash towards whatever he's saying. Yes students need to behave better but this was a dumb idea by the AD in the first place and was poorly executed.

Wow - well said.

 

[absinthe]

I hesitate to ask, but...

Would Mike Bohn have done something like this? I kind of doubt it.

Anyway, I feel that this has more to do with a serious lack of connection between the students and the University than anything else. There's still no buy-in. No school passion. CU students are not Buffs. That's what we need to work on - turning students into Buffs.

I think we have found the place Mike>Rick

In these lesser sports and in putting buts in the seats (at any cost) Mike got college fan behavior better. I think Rick will learn.

 

[tante]

I can see why it would be hard to make change if they don't accept cash.

What's the name of the place, and where's it at? I drive too far for my favorite Thai place because there are so many that just plain suck (places that you can tell microwave the meat to heat it up, etc.), so I'm always on the lookout for a closer Thai joint.

Thai street food on Montview and Peoria. Go on Weds to Sat. They are closed Sun and Mon. Order Panang with chicken, medium high.

 

[GoonieBuff]

Thai street food on Montview and Peoria. Go on Weds to Sat. They are closed Sun and Mon. Order Panang with chicken, medium high.

Thanks. That's 1 minute closer than my go to place according to google maps.

 

[Buffnik]

Good post by J-R-K.

By far the best explanation for why students were upset about this event.

Some of it provides the reasons for some of the student behavior - reasons, not excuses.

The AD handled this poorly.

But what got me upset and I haven't gotten over is how this upsetness was vented into disrespect and even direct verbal assault by some students toward our women's basketball players. That made it really hard for me to have any sympathy or even want to listen to any complaints. It's like when I'm dealing with my 5 year old. If he throws a tamper and lashes out, he doesn't get rewarded. If instead he explains his side to me in a calm, rational way he gets rewarded a bit - I'll tilt the wheel in his favor even if I also have to explain why he's wrong.

 

[FLounder]

Duke student camp out for literally months. To get UNC tickets. Yes months.

 

[cubuffs85]

Duke student camp out for literally months. To get UNC tickets. Yes months.

That's nothing they should have to attend a women's basketball game against a decent opponent.