POLL: Why the Decline in Attendance

[hansen]

If BC thought that the price to pay to get the former was worth it, it would have been done years ago.

Nevertheless, this still means it is within their control.

I agree that the reason BC doesn't have longer tailgate hours is because BC doesn't want to have longer tailgating hours.

That's sort of what I said. It would be in BC's control to move the campus to Springfield, build a huge stadium and allow tailgating all day as well. So fuck them for not doing so. Bastards.

Greasing the pockets of the right people would get it done. Not saying they should but like anything, if you want it bad enough and have the money to do it, then It could be done.

[dtwalrus]

Things BC can control and doesn't do a good enough job at now
-- Better football
-- Better game day experience
-- Better scheduling
-- Playing seven home games. The extra game is now bringing down the average attendance. Some of those years only had five home games.
-- Marketing to non-Alum local fans

This is something that jumped out at me as well. Watering down the home schedule to get 7 home games instead of 6 works when your crappy games (UMass, UConn, Army, Navy, ect) still draw 38K and your good games draw 43K+. But the math changes when your good games aren't as good anymore and the crap we need to stuff in there to get to 7 games only draws (a generous) 30K.

Sacrifice those 30K ticket sales from Howard, play a 6-game schedule, go on the road and guarantee a better slate of home games down the road. It'll drive up the attendance average. Right now, with our average at 34K a seven-game schedule gives us 238K per year. Even at 7 games that's barely better than the total attendance in '04 with only 5 home games (216K) and is worse than the 6-game schedules from '00 to '04.

[2001Eagle]

I used to regularly attend home games, but have not done so for a few years now. Aside from the normal family development where my kids are now old enough that they are playing football in the fall--daughter is playing soccer (girl's soccer being the only acceptable form of an otherwise useless sport)--which constricts the ability to travel for a Saturday game, the other part of it is the gameday experience, which still thoroughly sucks. Even if you are like me and willing and able to shell out the money to have prime on campus parking, great seats, etc., at the end of the day, the time it takes to get into your space and the time constraints placed on tailgating, catching up with friends, etc. makes it not worth it. A football weekend is supposed to be entertaining and on some level a time to unwind. There just isn't time to do it at BC and the Jack Booted Thugs pestering people only devalues an at best precarious value proposition.

Living in DC, it is a much easier pull for me to drive to any of the Virginia or North Carolina schools--or even Clemson, where the game day experience is either exponentially better or at the least, far less of a hassle. With the addition of Pitt, I now have another place to watch BC that is within four hours of driving and offers better facilities and game day experience.

The bottom line is that BC must significantly improve the on field product to get people to come to an experience that otherwise sucks. It's a shame to, because the atmosphere in he early 90s was about as good as it was anywhere--Win, Lose, Booze.

To play devil's advocate, are you comparing the gameday atmosphere as an adult to that as a student? Is this just the dissatisfaction of a 40 year old not finding drunkenness as fun now as when they were younger? Or are there people on this board that were "mature adults" in the 90's who can attest to the fact that the gameday atmosphere was just more fun? When did this change? The fence? When was there an escalation in BCPD gameday crackdowns?

I'm not trying to be a dick. My personal experience was loving gameday as a student, especially in the mods. When I came back for my first game 4 years later, it was way different.

I recognize that the game day experience will be different for a 19,20 or 21 year old kid than it will be for a guy in his early 40s. It is just the overall atmosphere. There were literally no rules when I went to school. Shit, my junior year before the Miami game we dragged a fucking pony keg into the stadium and wedged it in the bleachers a few hours before kick off (luckilly it was a cold and rainy day that kept the thing cold) and nobody said a thing. It was festive. I have a couple of family members who graduated in the late 70s and early 80s--so they were in their mid 30s or early 40s during my time at school and I've asked them if they notice a difference and they are unanimous that the atmosphere began to change from their perspective in the late 90s or thereabouts and that it has gotten progressively less fun ever since. That sounds about right to me. I had direct friends going to BC and living on campus through 2000--I don't think there was much difference between my experience and their experience from what I observed, but now that I have some younger cousins who have attended and graduated in recent years I am shocked by how much less fun they have. Part of that is that they are Millenials and suck a lot, but there is little doubt that some sort of clampdown was put in place around 2002 or so.

Ok, we should definitely bring back that atmosphere! That sounds awesome! Here I am thinking I'm clever with my bourbon flask with two fingers of ice on the bottom for FSU...

Wasn't as familiar with the 90's crackdown. That was before my time. But the 30 minute rule, mod fence and increased BCPD presence in the mid-2000's was definitely very noticeable.

I think the noticeable crack down came in 1998 after that dip shit MIT kid drank himself to death in an hour. The whole fucking city went bananas about underage drinking. I remember BC having spotters with binoculars on the roof of Conte looking into the student section to kick out kids with flasks and smuggled beers. what a ridiculous bunch of bullshit. look, I get the fact that people should go in on time, but the real truth is that people (non-nerds, non-tuba-steaks, non-higgi etc) like to be buzzed/drunk when they watch a college football game. If you cant drink in the stadium, you may need some extra time in the lots to get to the right level of drunk that will carry through halftime.

[DavidGordonsFoot]

I think the noticeable crack down came in 1998 after that dip shit MIT kid drank himself to death in an hour. The whole fucking city went bananas about underage drinking.

Excellent point, that incident had a palpable effect on campus and beyond.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

in fairness to the memories of the early 90s - those teams sucked up until 1992-1993. bicknell's last 3-4 years and coughlin's first year were total shitshows and i don't remember a whole lot of people in the stadium for most games. the stadium was not yet expanded and just about anyone could pile in with just about whatever they wanted... smoke, drink, etc. and unless you threw up or were an outlandish asshole you would be left alone.

something started to change when miami came to campus the saturday before thanksgiving, 1991. they were #1 and the game was going to be played at night (the first time in a long time that bc hosted a night game that mattered, from what i understand). the weather was unseasonably warm for late november and the game was going to be packed (especially with only 32k seats). sometime halfway through the 1st quarter, the stands started to reach and then surpass capacity. they had no where to put the kids and alums that continued streaming into the game. people started getting diverted to the field in the end zones and sidelines because they just ran out of room. then, the unthinkable almost happened. bc had a chance to win with a minute left - down 5 with the ball on their side of the field. the place was going fucking nuts and the rent-a-cops and real cops alike couldn't keep control. foley ended up taking a stupid sack after a couple incomplete passes and a hail mary didn't connect to allow miami to win (but not by enough).

the game was chaos. monan was pissed, the school was pissed, the cops, neighbors, anyone without a fun bone in their body said it was too much and had to change. from that point on, things got a little more difficult to get away with. from 1992 onward it got progressively worse. the sweatahvests started caring about who sat where and what you were doing while you were in your seats but more importantly, the team got better. 1992 could have been a real highlight season if 1993 didn't show what potential the school (and coughlin) had - a reminder to what troy's uncle already proved more than a decade ago.

once 1994 rolled around and the stadium got expanded, there was too much focus from the neighbors that had to be heeded by the administration, the cops, etc.

i remember going back for the 1994 domer game and not only was the stadium completely different post-expansion but the vibe was different too. the staties were already turned up a notch on assholicness and there wasn't much flexibility from the ops folks inside the arena either.

so, although i don't even like sports, i'm going to point at the 1991 miami game as the turning point. sure, there were sellouts and great games after that, but the fact that some of the guys "guarding" the doors of conte kicked said doors open for anyone wandering by with a desire to get in the game and a picture of alexander hamilton during the miami game... that changed the landscape of alumni stadium.

maybe it's as whoever said above that i only felt that way because i was a student... but fuck them because i think my version is better than whatever you broomstick riders can come up with between dice rolls in your running game of magic: the gathering.

[b0mberMan]

Sure TRE, that definitely started it. But the school really buttoned up and got serious about football after IB awarded Coughlin all those championships.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

Sure TRE, that definitely started it. But the school really buttoned up and got serious about football after IB awarded Coughlin all those championships.

you'd have a point if nospace made that award contemporaneously with the play on the field but as the award wasn't made until 2012ish then i think your argument stinks and you are a jerk for making it

edit - nospace is also a jerk but he's at least a jerk with PRIDE

[twballgame9]

Sure TRE, that definitely started it. But the school really buttoned up and got serious about football after IB awarded Coughlin all those championships.

you'd have a point if nospace made that award contemporaneously with the play on the field but as the award wasn't made until 2012ish then i think your argument stinks and you are a jerk for making it

edit - nospace is also a jerk but he's at least a jerk with PRIDE

I thought his magazine was called TIGHT, not PRIDE

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

Sure TRE, that definitely started it. But the school really buttoned up and got serious about football after IB awarded Coughlin all those championships.

you'd have a point if nospace made that award contemporaneously with the play on the field but as the award wasn't made until 2012ish then i think your argument stinks and you are a jerk for making it

edit - nospace is also a jerk but he's at least a jerk with PRIDE

I thought his magazine was called TIGHT, not PRIDE

his PRIDE (inward emotion) gave him the strength to beat off to TIGHT (homo naked magazine intended for men that either hate or are afraid of women) during a vacation that he was sharing a bed with two girls

sure, those girls probably show up somewhere on the lbl meter but the sadness of even his fantasy situation remains sad

[dtwalrus]

in fairness to the memories of the early 90s - those teams sucked up until 1992-1993. bicknell's last 3-4 years and coughlin's first year were total shitshows and i don't remember a whole lot of people in the stadium for most games. the stadium was not yet expanded and just about anyone could pile in with just about whatever they wanted... smoke, drink, etc. and unless you threw up or were an outlandish asshole you would be left alone.

something started to change when miami came to campus the saturday before thanksgiving, 1991. they were #1 and the game was going to be played at night (the first time in a long time that bc hosted a night game that mattered, from what i understand). the weather was unseasonably warm for late november and the game was going to be packed (especially with only 32k seats). sometime halfway through the 1st quarter, the stands started to reach and then surpass capacity. they had no where to put the kids and alums that continued streaming into the game. people started getting diverted to the field in the end zones and sidelines because they just ran out of room. then, the unthinkable almost happened. bc had a chance to win with a minute left - down 5 with the ball on their side of the field. the place was going fucking nuts and the rent-a-cops and real cops alike couldn't keep control. foley ended up taking a stupid sack after a couple incomplete passes and a hail mary didn't connect to allow miami to win (but not by enough).

the game was chaos. monan was pissed, the school was pissed, the cops, neighbors, anyone without a fun bone in their body said it was too much and had to change. from that point on, things got a little more difficult to get away with. from 1992 onward it got progressively worse. the sweatahvests started caring about who sat where and what you were doing while you were in your seats but more importantly, the team got better. 1992 could have been a real highlight season if 1993 didn't show what potential the school (and coughlin) had - a reminder to what troy's uncle already proved more than a decade ago.

once 1994 rolled around and the stadium got expanded, there was too much focus from the neighbors that had to be heeded by the administration, the cops, etc.

i remember going back for the 1994 domer game and not only was the stadium completely different post-expansion but the vibe was different too. the staties were already turned up a notch on assholicness and there wasn't much flexibility from the ops folks inside the arena either.

so, although i don't even like sports, i'm going to point at the 1991 miami game as the turning point. sure, there were sellouts and great games after that, but the fact that some of the guys "guarding" the doors of conte kicked said doors open for anyone wandering by with a desire to get in the game and a picture of alexander hamilton during the miami game... that changed the landscape of alumni stadium.

maybe it's as whoever said above that i only felt that way because i was a student... but fuck them because i think my version is better than whatever you broomstick riders can come up with between dice rolls in your running game of magic: the gathering.

This post is so good it's bordering on CONTENT!

[mod6A]

from experience with my friends that still live close enough to regularly attend games: it was spaz plus the dbs plus the staties. they could not justify paying that much for a shitty coach/team where the tailgating was just so hard to do. i think if you removed any one of those things, more people would have kept it going. some will come back, but it will take a long time...

[mod6A]

also i would like to write in scrush4 for the poll.

[twballgame9]

For the record, I stopped going because of Spaz year 3 and returned because of Daz year 2 and for no other reasons. I also go to watch football.

[DavidGordonsFoot]

in fairness to the memories of the early 90s - those teams sucked up until 1992-1993. bicknell's last 3-4 years and coughlin's first year were total shitshows and i don't remember a whole lot of people in the stadium for most games. the stadium was not yet expanded and just about anyone could pile in with just about whatever they wanted... smoke, drink, etc. and unless you threw up or were an outlandish asshole you would be left alone.

something started to change when miami came to campus the saturday before thanksgiving, 1991. they were #1 and the game was going to be played at night (the first time in a long time that bc hosted a night game that mattered, from what i understand). the weather was unseasonably warm for late november and the game was going to be packed (especially with only 32k seats). sometime halfway through the 1st quarter, the stands started to reach and then surpass capacity. they had no where to put the kids and alums that continued streaming into the game. people started getting diverted to the field in the end zones and sidelines because they just ran out of room. then, the unthinkable almost happened. bc had a chance to win with a minute left - down 5 with the ball on their side of the field. the place was going fucking nuts and the rent-a-cops and real cops alike couldn't keep control. foley ended up taking a stupid sack after a couple incomplete passes and a hail mary didn't connect to allow miami to win (but not by enough).

the game was chaos. monan was pissed, the school was pissed, the cops, neighbors, anyone without a fun bone in their body said it was too much and had to change. from that point on, things got a little more difficult to get away with. from 1992 onward it got progressively worse. the sweatahvests started caring about who sat where and what you were doing while you were in your seats but more importantly, the team got better. 1992 could have been a real highlight season if 1993 didn't show what potential the school (and coughlin) had - a reminder to what troy's uncle already proved more than a decade ago.

once 1994 rolled around and the stadium got expanded, there was too much focus from the neighbors that had to be heeded by the administration, the cops, etc.

i remember going back for the 1994 domer game and not only was the stadium completely different post-expansion but the vibe was different too. the staties were already turned up a notch on assholicness and there wasn't much flexibility from the ops folks inside the arena either.

so, although i don't even like sports, i'm going to point at the 1991 miami game as the turning point. sure, there were sellouts and great games after that, but the fact that some of the guys "guarding" the doors of conte kicked said doors open for anyone wandering by with a desire to get in the game and a picture of alexander hamilton during the miami game... that changed the landscape of alumni stadium.

maybe it's as whoever said above that i only felt that way because i was a student... but fuck them because i think my version is better than whatever you broomstick riders can come up with between dice rolls in your running game of magic: the gathering.

The more things change...

To the Editor:
I am not writing here to admonish the noble and mature nature of the typical BC student, not to defend the sanctity of the football tailgate. But neither am I about to laud the part of the BC police, the Boston City Police, and perhaps the main culprit, the BC administration, for their actions leading up to, during the course of, and following the BC Miami game.

As I entered Alumni Stadium with a group of other friends just before the 7:30 kick-off, a large wave of humanity surged through Alumni's tunnels and sent many, mostly innocent but anxious fans sprawling, and divided our enthusiastic pack. This impressed me as being the work of merely a few intoxicated individuals(not necessarily BC students either. Later, I witnessed more than a handful of locals antagonizing BC and Miami students alike.) Yet, when I and the two friends I was separated with sidestepped the rush by slipping onto the field's end zone sideline for a brief respite, we were hastily and rudely accosted by two officers. They repeatedly kept shoving us in the back, prodding us as if we were stray cattle, despite not one combative initiative or response on our behalf. Instead of helping our good-natured cause (after all, not too many can say they attended the flood that was the previous evening's pep rally), they frantically added a few more unwilling members to the swelling fray inside. It's a "miracle" in of itself that a full-scale, British like soccer riot didn't erupt. Granted, these and the rest of the on-duty officers were probably very tense as a resuIt of the nearly deafening din, the charge led by some fans, and even a few gate hoppers; but to release this anxiety by indiscriminately inflicting severe beatings(that I witnessed perched above the Miami fan section) and generally behaving as criminals themselves is unprofessional to a point beyond reprimand. If these officers cannot handle the task, then their positions and responsibilities should be reassigned. Whatever happened to "to serve and protect" the public good?

In my mind, however, the police force was simply an unprepared accomplice to the mastermind behind these troubles- the BC administration. From what I have learned from reliable sources, more than 43,000 tickets were sold for the game. It doesn't take an accounting genius to figure that those numbers fail to correspond to the 32,000 seats available in Alumni. Moreover, these same sources confirm that the BC student section- the bread and butter of vocal support- was oversold twice that of capacity. It's one thing to be unsympathetic to football students-fans, many of whom were seniors wishing to enjoy their last game together in the company of friends and other fellow students. It's quite another unjust, avaricious, and ignorant are the adjectives that immediately spring to mind- to actually think that a primetime, nationally televised contest against number one Miami would be rendered half-crowded under normal ticket-sale procedures.

I think the lunacy of the whole ordeal was best captured in the bizarre comments of an attending officer, whose words recorded in the Sunday Globe seemed to convey the message that it was idiotic for those who held game tickets to operate under the assumption that they could enter the game once the first quarter had already begun. Again, I should emphasize that all parties- the police, the fans and the BC administration are guilty here. Yet, just as quickly, I would strongly suggest that the administration and police each take a hard look in the mirror(and troubleshoot accordingly) before shifting the entire burden of blame on the students. It seems to me that the school's athletes and coaches are poised and ready to make a return to big-time college athletics. Given the accommodating schedule and television exposure, BC could once again lie on the brink of expanding and spreading its proud and reputable tradition to distances far and wide. Let's not allow a real tragedy fostered in part by an incompetent security layout and good old-fashioned stupidity mar the future progress which awaits both the program and the school.

John Battaglia A&S '92

[MilitantEagle]

As others have said, there are a ton of factors. One not mentioned, unless I skimmed this thread too fast, is that the NFL has exploded over the last twenty years, especially in New England. The Patriots were about to move to St. Louis in the early 90s and now they are the third most valuable sports franchise in the world (behind the Cowboys and Real Madrid). It's a Pats town now.

Increase enrollment!

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

notice how he said he was in with his friends before kickoff and that there was already a crowd of people inside.

we didn't need announcements, warnings or jack booted thugs to tell us to go to the stadium... we knew it was time to go because football.

you nerds suck and have sucked for 15 years. it doesn't take an accounting genius to figure that out but this one has the balls to point it out to you.

i think, in honor of dee, we should change the school motto to "ever to pussy-dick around." buncha pussy-dickers (and not in the "dick-inserted-into-pussy" way that was popular during my time on the heights)

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

what a ridiculous bunch of bullshit. look, I get the fact that people should go in on time, but the real truth is that people (non-nerds, non-tuba-steaks, non-higgi etc) like to be buzzed/drunk when they watch a college football game.

Again, I think that my issue is quite the opposite....... I like my Mai-Tai's, bud-light lime rita's and skinny girl vodka way tooo much during games.

this is the worst attempt at quoting a post that i have ever seen. angry dick should not be attributed with that rambling. for those that don't speak retard, here is what higgi was trying to point out...

what a ridiculous bunch of bullshit. look, I get the fact that people should go in on time, but the real truth is that people (non-nerds, non-tuba-steaks, non-higgi etc) like to be buzzed/drunk when they watch a college football game.

now go back to zomezing different, jharvard02

[Dick Rosenthal]

in fairness to the memories of the early 90s - those teams sucked up until 1992-1993. bicknell's last 3-4 years and coughlin's first year were total shitshows and i don't remember a whole lot of people in the stadium for most games. the stadium was not yet expanded and just about anyone could pile in with just about whatever they wanted... smoke, drink, etc. and unless you threw up or were an outlandish asshole you would be left alone.

something started to change when miami came to campus the saturday before thanksgiving, 1991. they were #1 and the game was going to be played at night (the first time in a long time that bc hosted a night game that mattered, from what i understand). the weather was unseasonably warm for late november and the game was going to be packed (especially with only 32k seats). sometime halfway through the 1st quarter, the stands started to reach and then surpass capacity. they had no where to put the kids and alums that continued streaming into the game. people started getting diverted to the field in the end zones and sidelines because they just ran out of room. then, the unthinkable almost happened. bc had a chance to win with a minute left - down 5 with the ball on their side of the field. the place was going fucking nuts and the rent-a-cops and real cops alike couldn't keep control. foley ended up taking a stupid sack after a couple incomplete passes and a hail mary didn't connect to allow miami to win (but not by enough).

the game was chaos. monan was pissed, the school was pissed, the cops, neighbors, anyone without a fun bone in their body said it was too much and had to change. from that point on, things got a little more difficult to get away with. from 1992 onward it got progressively worse. the sweatahvests started caring about who sat where and what you were doing while you were in your seats but more importantly, the team got better. 1992 could have been a real highlight season if 1993 didn't show what potential the school (and coughlin) had - a reminder to what troy's uncle already proved more than a decade ago.

once 1994 rolled around and the stadium got expanded, there was too much focus from the neighbors that had to be heeded by the administration, the cops, etc.

i remember going back for the 1994 domer game and not only was the stadium completely different post-expansion but the vibe was different too. the staties were already turned up a notch on assholicness and there wasn't much flexibility from the ops folks inside the arena either.

so, although i don't even like sports, i'm going to point at the 1991 miami game as the turning point. sure, there were sellouts and great games after that, but the fact that some of the guys "guarding" the doors of conte kicked said doors open for anyone wandering by with a desire to get in the game and a picture of alexander hamilton during the miami game... that changed the landscape of alumni stadium.

maybe it's as whoever said above that i only felt that way because i was a student... but fuck them because i think my version is better than whatever you broomstick riders can come up with between dice rolls in your running game of magic: the gathering.

I don't know--while the Miami game was out of control (that was the game we brought a keg in with us) the next year was no different. The Michigan State game had some outrageous tailgating and even after the murderous beat down Notre Dame put on us, the Syracuse debacle was also incredibly festive. As far as the next year went, Duchie and I went back for the Miami debacle and were thoroughly plastered and partying without any interference from law enforcement. The next year when we prison raped Notre Dame was also an out-of-control shit show. Duchie and I ended up on top of the goal posts while our fat little friend and William Patterson College graduate desperately hung upside down from the cross bar in an effort not get killed. At the "gambling scandal" game against Notre Dame a year or two later you could still party in the Mods and everyone was cool with the fact that I decided to trash Billy Brindise's room. The infamous goal line stand game a few years later was also a collosal yard sale/gong show. The night game against Notre Dame in 2001 was also pretty festive. I recall there was some restriction with respect to heading into the Mods, but it wasn't to difficult to get around it.

I didn't really notice it sucking balls until the 2003 Notre Dame game. It was so fucking awful I stayed at Citiside and didn't go to campus until a few minutes before kick off. After Porter's great triumph I got the hell out of there and went into the city to watch the Yankees gack up the World Series to the Marlins in Game 6. the first time I ever wanted to get away from campus The next year, I went to the Rutgers game with the throwback jerseys with a bunch of I-banker alums who graduated between 1978 and 1982 and were all big donors. One of them got kicked out for bringing in a flask of Johnnie Walker Blue--although we all had flasks on us and were largely able to get away with drinking them through the course of the game. With that said, seeing them target 40-something alums who were not being wild or getting out of control for having a couple sips of an upscale blended whiskey (a contradiction I know), led me to believe that the whole situation was pure shit. My experience at the first FSU game and subsequent Clemson games were equally boring and awful and I was glad to miss the Florida State debacle in 2007 as I know of a few arrests and general harrasment perpetrated by the Jack Booted Thugs.

[ATLeagle]

Things BC can control and doesn't do a good enough job at now
-- Better football
-- Better game day experience
-- Better scheduling
-- Playing seven home games. The extra game is now bringing down the average attendance. Some of those years only had five home games.
-- Marketing to non-Alum local fans

This is something that jumped out at me as well. Watering down the home schedule to get 7 home games instead of 6 works when your crappy games (UMass, UConn, Army, Navy, ect) still draw 38K and your good games draw 43K+. But the math changes when your good games aren't as good anymore and the crap we need to stuff in there to get to 7 games only draws (a generous) 30K.

Sacrifice those 30K ticket sales from Howard, play a 6-game schedule, go on the road and guarantee a better slate of home games down the road. It'll drive up the attendance average. Right now, with our average at 34K a seven-game schedule gives us 238K per year. Even at 7 games that's barely better than the total attendance in '04 with only 5 home games (216K) and is worse than the 6-game schedules from '00 to '04.

The Ohio State and USC series should be the model, not the exception. Bates would argue that Notre Dame is their equivalent (and we are getting really good money for the Fenway game), but I don't think our fan base sees the Irish that way. They want to play Notre Dame annually, but don't view it as special.

Walrus, I don't know how far back you go as a fan, but the 1995 schedule might be the most ridiculous of all time. Coughlin loaded it up then left and then Chet Gladchuck took a big pay day and added an extra game against Ohio State. Henning didn't know what hit him.

1995 Home -- Michigan, Pitt, West Virginia, Army, Miami. Away -- Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Temple, Syracuse, Rutgers. Neutral site -- Ohio State.

No team schedules like that any more. If we scheduled like that now and competed, the computers and ESPN would love us.

[hansen]

Things BC can control and doesn't do a good enough job at now
-- Better football
-- Better game day experience
-- Better scheduling
-- Playing seven home games. The extra game is now bringing down the average attendance. Some of those years only had five home games.
-- Marketing to non-Alum local fans

This is something that jumped out at me as well. Watering down the home schedule to get 7 home games instead of 6 works when your crappy games (UMass, UConn, Army, Navy, ect) still draw 38K and your good games draw 43K+. But the math changes when your good games aren't as good anymore and the crap we need to stuff in there to get to 7 games only draws (a generous) 30K.

Sacrifice those 30K ticket sales from Howard, play a 6-game schedule, go on the road and guarantee a better slate of home games down the road. It'll drive up the attendance average. Right now, with our average at 34K a seven-game schedule gives us 238K per year. Even at 7 games that's barely better than the total attendance in '04 with only 5 home games (216K) and is worse than the 6-game schedules from '00 to '04.

The Ohio State and USC series should be the model, not the exception. Bates would argue that Notre Dame is their equivalent (and we are getting really good money for the Fenway game), but I don't think our fan base sees the Irish that way. They want to play Notre Dame annually, but don't view it as special.

Walrus, I don't know how far back you go as a fan, but the 1995 schedule might be the most ridiculous of all time. Coughlin loaded it up then left and then Chet Gladchuck took a big pay day and added an extra game against Ohio State. Henning didn't know what hit him.

1995 Home -- Michigan, Pitt, West Virginia, Army, Miami. Away -- Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Temple, Syracuse, Rutgers. Neutral site -- Ohio State.

No team schedules like that any more. If we scheduled like that now and competed, the computers and ESPN would love us.

We are getting a payout for the ND game?
How much?

[DavidGordonsFoot]

We are getting a payout for the ND game?
How much?

Don't know, but Maine got $400K...

[hansen]

We are getting a payout for the ND game?
How much?

Don't know, but Maine got $400K...

Also curious about the Howard beatdown. If we paid 400k then Howard must have gotten at least 500 to endure that humiliation (if not more).

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

some lbl told me that maine got $400k. i'm not sure if that helps in this situation

[DavidGordonsFoot]

some lbl told me that maine got $400k. i'm not sure if that helps in this situation

at least you got it

hansen, are you sure you didn't catch any of that fukushima radiation poisoning?

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

some lbl told me that maine got $400k. i'm not sure if that helps in this situation

at least you got it

hansen, are you sure you didn't catch any of that fukushima radiation poisoning?

how much did the visitors in the fukushima radiation leak game get paid?

[DavidGordonsFoot]

some lbl told me that maine got $400k. i'm not sure if that helps in this situation

at least you got it

hansen, are you sure you didn't catch any of that fukushima radiation poisoning?

how much did the visitors in the fukushima radiation leak game get paid?

not sure, but visitors to the fukushimale bar in bangkok pay a lot.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

some lbl told me that maine got $400k. i'm not sure if that helps in this situation

at least you got it

hansen, are you sure you didn't catch any of that fukushima radiation poisoning?

how much did the visitors in the fukushima radiation leak game get paid?

not sure, but visitors to the fukushimale bar in bangkok pay a lot.

but only in the local currency - japanese wang

[HJS]

I'm going to preface this by saying that I was always the type of person that would immediately dismiss anyone that complained about BC's move to the ACC, but after looking at the attendance numbers in detail over the last few days I'm really starting to think that the move from the Big East to the ACC is the biggest precipitant of the drop off.

Here are attendance numbers by year with the corresponding home schedule (OOC in parentheses):

Before:
1998 - 41,200 - Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, (Navy, Notre Dame)
1999 - 41,347 - Pittsburgh, Miami, West Virginia, (Baylor, Northeastern)
2000 - 39,327 - Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple, (Navy, Uconn)
2001 - 42,640 - West Virginia, Temple, Pittsburgh, Miami, (Stanford, Army, Notre Dame)
2002 - 41,106 - Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Rutgers, (UConn, Stanford, Central Michigan, Navy)
2003 - 42,604 - Miami, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, (Wake Forest, Ball State, Notre Dame)
2004 - 43,190 - Uconn, Rutgers, Syracuse (Penn State, UMass)

After:
2005 - 39,429 - FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, NCST, (Army, Ball State)
2006 - 38,843 - Clemson, Virginia Tech, Duke, Maryland, (BYU, Maine, Buffalo)
2007 - 41,990 - Wake Forest, NCST, FSU, Miami, (Army, UMass, Bowling Green)
2008 - 41,037 - Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Maryland, (Central Florida, Rhode Island, Notre Dame)
2009 - 35,716 - Wake Forest, Florida State, NC State, North Carolina, (Northeastern, Kent State, Central Michigan)
2010 - 38,369 - Virginia Tech, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia, (Weber State, Kent State, Notre Dame)
2011 - 35,709 - Duke, Wake Forest, FSU, NC State, (Northwestern, UMass)
2012 - 37,020 - Miami, Clemson, Maryland, Virginia Tech, (Maine, Notre Dame)
2013 - 33,006 - Wake Forest, FSU, Virginia Tech, NC State, (Villanova, Army)
2014 - 34,270 - Pittsburgh, Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, (USC, Maine, Colorado State)

You spent all that time analyzing the data, but missed the biggest factor. 2005 was the first year BC started scanning tickets... and, as a result, is the first year they started reporting actual attendance (i.e. tickets used). Before 2005, BC only reported tickets sold. Essentially, any comparison between pre- and post-2005 is apples vs. oranges.

[Bryn Mawr Eagle]

When was there an escalation in BCPD gameday crackdowns?

The first escalation was in '94 after the stadium expansion. I have been lead to believe there were practically no rules enforced prior to this time.

The second escalation was '06 when they first instituted the policy of shutting down tailgates 30 minutes before kickoff.

Shutting down tailgates was really badly received. This does also correspond to the timing of the dropoff.

It was poorly received because BC fans don't give a shit about the football team. Shouldn't have to shut down tailgates 30 minutes before kickoff, as everyone should be in the stadium to support the team.

That sounds great in theory, but because of the tailgaiting time restrictions it just isn't reality. It's a f'ing college football game, and since I live 300 miles from campus, have a job, three kids, and lots of shit going on every weekend in the Fall, when I go up it is probably my one chance a year to see my friends and their families, and catch a BC football game on the Heights. I'm there to reconnect with people and take in a game; if all I cared about was the game itself I'd watch it on TV or the computer and not be interrupted by, like, real people and shit. If I want to be able to hang out and tailgate a bit to do so into the 1st quarter, well this is f'ing America and I ought to be able to do so. The jackbooted thugs forcing me to close shop after 2 hours of tailgaiting (since it takes an hour just to get in and set up the tent, grill and food) after dropping almost a thousand bucks on the Shea parking pass, tickets, food, beer, etc., f'ing suck. I should be able to go in (or not go in) when I want.

And fuck all of you who give me shit about this. Go live in North Korea. I'm an American and should be able to do what I want. Fuck yeah.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

so they rejected your request for a rainbow hot tub again this year, eh bme?