WIU vs Montana (9/15/2018)

leatherneckcountry
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ST_Lawson wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:30 pm
GV Dad wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:12 pm I would say that number was a low estimate, but it was every bit of the 4,000+ reported. Still completely baffles me how we can't get twice that at the games.

A comment on the beer sales. I talked with the Supervisor, she said the school really isn't sold on the beer sales yet. But, their numbers were very positive, and I for one didn't notice any rowdy or unruly fans. Then again, maybe that was me? LOL
Of course, you're pretty much preaching to the choir on this one. Most people here would be at every WIU football game if they could. A portion of it could be explained by the decrease in enrollment, but we used to draw probably 3-4 times as many fans when the enrollment was maybe twice what it is currently. Hopefully with the win, we can get good turnout for Homecoming, but I'm not really sure what to do to get people to show up.
Is it cost?....because most schools charge a lot more than we do for tickets, plus students get in free at all of our sporting events.
Is it because people can watch the games streaming online now?...idk...to me, there's nothing quite like actually being there, but maybe people just feel like they'd rather sit at home on their couches.
I don't really know the answer, but apparently nobody else seems to either. Attendance is down at a lot of places (hell, even Alabama reduced the number of seats in their most recent stadium renovations, and Coach Saban has, in the past, complained about lack of student attendance throughout the game), so it's not just us, but it does feel like it's hit us harder than many other places.

Beer sales - seemed like people were interested, and I also saw no issues with anyone getting rowdy or anything. Didn't notice any problems from my perspective, and if it brought a few extra $ to the university/athletics department or a few more people to the game, then I think it's a win. Obviously we'll see how the rest of the season goes, but so far, so good.
I think there are a lot of factors start time I would love to see the games start at noon. Temperature it was really warm yesterday i felt like crap when i got home. Time many people don't want to sit around for 4hr games there were several people around me getting frustrated every time there was a 2 minute media timeout.
wiu712
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I was talking with a couple from Montana at the University Union Food Court before the game. The woman said: "We just love the old-time look of your football stadium". The man added: "It's certainly unique". :lol:
Last edited by wiu712 on Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
alabamagrizzly
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Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2018 5:15 pm

Great game and an even better comeback. McShane put y’all on his back when the game was on the line. I was more disappointed in the the Griz fan attendance then the outcome of the game(just barely). We normally travel pretty well but there wasn’t 200 of us there, counting the team and the staff. Wish we woulda represented better.
GV Dad
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alabamagrizzly wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:48 am Great game and an even better comeback. McShane put y’all on his back when the game was on the line. I was more disappointed in the the Griz fan attendance then the outcome of the game(just barely). We normally travel pretty well but there wasn’t 200 of us there, counting the team and the staff. Wish we woulda represented better.
Had several interactions with Griz fans, all very very nice people. Hope you had a great time in Macomb!
GV Dad
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leatherneckcountry wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:42 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:30 pm
GV Dad wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:12 pm I would say that number was a low estimate, but it was every bit of the 4,000+ reported. Still completely baffles me how we can't get twice that at the games.

A comment on the beer sales. I talked with the Supervisor, she said the school really isn't sold on the beer sales yet. But, their numbers were very positive, and I for one didn't notice any rowdy or unruly fans. Then again, maybe that was me? LOL
Of course, you're pretty much preaching to the choir on this one. Most people here would be at every WIU football game if they could. A portion of it could be explained by the decrease in enrollment, but we used to draw probably 3-4 times as many fans when the enrollment was maybe twice what it is currently. Hopefully with the win, we can get good turnout for Homecoming, but I'm not really sure what to do to get people to show up.
Is it cost?....because most schools charge a lot more than we do for tickets, plus students get in free at all of our sporting events.
Is it because people can watch the games streaming online now?...idk...to me, there's nothing quite like actually being there, but maybe people just feel like they'd rather sit at home on their couches.
I don't really know the answer, but apparently nobody else seems to either. Attendance is down at a lot of places (hell, even Alabama reduced the number of seats in their most recent stadium renovations, and Coach Saban has, in the past, complained about lack of student attendance throughout the game), so it's not just us, but it does feel like it's hit us harder than many other places.

Beer sales - seemed like people were interested, and I also saw no issues with anyone getting rowdy or anything. Didn't notice any problems from my perspective, and if it brought a few extra $ to the university/athletics department or a few more people to the game, then I think it's a win. Obviously we'll see how the rest of the season goes, but so far, so good.
I think there are a lot of factors start time I would love to see the games start at noon. Temperature it was really warm yesterday i felt like crap when i got home. Time many people don't want to sit around for 4hr games there were several people around me getting frustrated every time there was a 2 minute media timeout.
1) One thing I didn't know until after the game, they moved the Student Sect to the West side. This really made the East side look bad. But maybe it will increase their attendance if they don't have to look into the sun.
2) Lack of "acceptable" hotel/motel rooms is a big issue for us out of the area folks. We had a family member reserve a room at the Macomb Inn, because everything else was booked. They wound up leaving after seeing their room. Someone needs to buy that place that wants to put some $$ into it.
3) Really enjoyed the band they had playing in Q lot before the game! Hope they keep having bands for all the games.
4) I really hoped Family Day, and having all the rooms booked would mean much better attendance. Didn't expect 10,000, but thought 6-7,000 would be possible.
5) The 2018 signing class families have the start of a pretty fun tailgate crew. Any of you Leatherneck nationers are welcome to come by and join us! Just reach out, and we'll let ya know where we are located.
leatherneckcountry
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GV Dad wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:24 am
leatherneckcountry wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:42 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:30 pm

Of course, you're pretty much preaching to the choir on this one. Most people here would be at every WIU football game if they could. A portion of it could be explained by the decrease in enrollment, but we used to draw probably 3-4 times as many fans when the enrollment was maybe twice what it is currently. Hopefully with the win, we can get good turnout for Homecoming, but I'm not really sure what to do to get people to show up.
Is it cost?....because most schools charge a lot more than we do for tickets, plus students get in free at all of our sporting events.
Is it because people can watch the games streaming online now?...idk...to me, there's nothing quite like actually being there, but maybe people just feel like they'd rather sit at home on their couches.
I don't really know the answer, but apparently nobody else seems to either. Attendance is down at a lot of places (hell, even Alabama reduced the number of seats in their most recent stadium renovations, and Coach Saban has, in the past, complained about lack of student attendance throughout the game), so it's not just us, but it does feel like it's hit us harder than many other places.

Beer sales - seemed like people were interested, and I also saw no issues with anyone getting rowdy or anything. Didn't notice any problems from my perspective, and if it brought a few extra $ to the university/athletics department or a few more people to the game, then I think it's a win. Obviously we'll see how the rest of the season goes, but so far, so good.
I think there are a lot of factors start time I would love to see the games start at noon. Temperature it was really warm yesterday i felt like crap when i got home. Time many people don't want to sit around for 4hr games there were several people around me getting frustrated every time there was a 2 minute media timeout.
1) One thing I didn't know until after the game, they moved the Student Sect to the West side. This really made the East side look bad. But maybe it will increase their attendance if they don't have to look into the sun.
2) Lack of "acceptable" hotel/motel rooms is a big issue for us out of the area folks. We had a family member reserve a room at the Macomb Inn, because everything else was booked. They wound up leaving after seeing their room. Someone needs to buy that place that wants to put some $$ into it.
3) Really enjoyed the band they had playing in Q lot before the game! Hope they keep having bands for all the games.
4) I really hoped Family Day, and having all the rooms booked would mean much better attendance. Didn't expect 10,000, but thought 6-7,000 would be possible.
5) The 2018 signing class families have the start of a pretty fun tailgate crew. Any of you Leatherneck nationers are welcome to come by and join us! Just reach out, and we'll let ya know where we are located.
Yeah the macomb inn has really went down in recent years. It actually seems like attendance has went down since students moved over there regular fans don't want to be around the students. I always sit on the east side just hate the west side if i was going to be on that side I would just sit on the hill. I just like being by the band.
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sealhall74
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GV Dad wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:24 am
leatherneckcountry wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:42 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:30 pm

Of course, you're pretty much preaching to the choir on this one. Most people here would be at every WIU football game if they could. A portion of it could be explained by the decrease in enrollment, but we used to draw probably 3-4 times as many fans when the enrollment was maybe twice what it is currently. Hopefully with the win, we can get good turnout for Homecoming, but I'm not really sure what to do to get people to show up.
Is it cost?....because most schools charge a lot more than we do for tickets, plus students get in free at all of our sporting events.
Is it because people can watch the games streaming online now?...idk...to me, there's nothing quite like actually being there, but maybe people just feel like they'd rather sit at home on their couches.
I don't really know the answer, but apparently nobody else seems to either. Attendance is down at a lot of places (hell, even Alabama reduced the number of seats in their most recent stadium renovations, and Coach Saban has, in the past, complained about lack of student attendance throughout the game), so it's not just us, but it does feel like it's hit us harder than many other places.

Beer sales - seemed like people were interested, and I also saw no issues with anyone getting rowdy or anything. Didn't notice any problems from my perspective, and if it brought a few extra $ to the university/athletics department or a few more people to the game, then I think it's a win. Obviously we'll see how the rest of the season goes, but so far, so good.
I think there are a lot of factors start time I would love to see the games start at noon. Temperature it was really warm yesterday i felt like crap when i got home. Time many people don't want to sit around for 4hr games there were several people around me getting frustrated every time there was a 2 minute media timeout.
1) One thing I didn't know until after the game, they moved the Student Sect to the West side. This really made the East side look bad. But maybe it will increase their attendance if they don't have to look into the sun.
2) Lack of "acceptable" hotel/motel rooms is a big issue for us out of the area folks. We had a family member reserve a room at the Macomb Inn, because everything else was booked. They wound up leaving after seeing their room. Someone needs to buy that place that wants to put some $$ into it.
3) Really enjoyed the band they had playing in Q lot before the game! Hope they keep having bands for all the games.
4) I really hoped Family Day, and having all the rooms booked would mean much better attendance. Didn't expect 10,000, but thought 6-7,000 would be possible.
5) The 2018 signing class families have the start of a pretty fun tailgate crew. Any of you Leatherneck nationers are welcome to come by and join us! Just reach out, and we'll let ya know where we are located.
The ironic thing is back in the 70s, the Macomb Inn was the Holiday Inn and by far the best place to stay in town. Visiting teams would always stay there. Lounge always had some good live entertainment going on the weekends. I agree, would love to see someone put some dollars into it, probably raze it first, and rebuild it big enough so that visiting teams did not have to come in from Peoria or Quad Cities. Macomb Western Conference Center has a nice ring to it and could be a place for the University to host their RPTA interns. Nothing quite like on the job training.
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GV Dad wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:24 am 1) One thing I didn't know until after the game, they moved the Student Sect to the West side. This really made the East side look bad. But maybe it will increase their attendance if they don't have to look into the sun.
2) Lack of "acceptable" hotel/motel rooms is a big issue for us out of the area folks. We had a family member reserve a room at the Macomb Inn, because everything else was booked. They wound up leaving after seeing their room. Someone needs to buy that place that wants to put some $$ into it.
3) Really enjoyed the band they had playing in Q lot before the game! Hope they keep having bands for all the games.
4) I really hoped Family Day, and having all the rooms booked would mean much better attendance. Didn't expect 10,000, but thought 6-7,000 would be possible.
5) The 2018 signing class families have the start of a pretty fun tailgate crew. Any of you Leatherneck nationers are welcome to come by and join us! Just reach out, and we'll let ya know where we are located.
1. Is there even an official student section anymore? There used to be over on the east side next to the band, but it kinda petered out after a while. I know that a lot of students sit on the west side in the far north section, but I don't know if that's an "official" thing or just where they end up because it's the home side and general admission in that section. My family and I normally sit on the east side next to the band as well, but Saturday was just too darn hot to be over there looking into the sun the whole game. I sat on the west side for the first time in a long time and probably my second time in the last 22 years. You're right that the east side looked bad, but I think it'll be a lot better once the weather cools off.

2. Hotels have kinda always been an issue around here, especially on football weekends. The problem is, there's very little else going on in town that gets the hotel rooms all booked up throughout the year and it seems like there's quite a bit of "turnover" of hotel ownership and name changes. I think the Hampton Inn is the only one I haven't seen change names/ownership at least once, and that's primarily because it's a comparatively new hotel. Hotels will do fine during specific times of the year, but outside of that, they have trouble getting rooms filled. Maybe I need to turn my basement into an Airbnb on football weekends...although I'm not sure my wife would like that idea.

3. Having the bands at tailgating is a nice thing that they started doing a few years back. Occasionally, they've had some acts come who were "big name" acts from earlier eras but that the parents would recognize...Rick Springfield, .38 Special, Dennis DeYoung (from Styx). They had to cut that when the budget impasse hit, but they've started doing good but more "local" (and cheaper) bands that still work out well. I haven't heard if they're having anyone at this year's Homecoming yet though. Last year they had the Air Force pop band Starlifter with WIU alumnus Denver Murphy.

5. I'll be busy with Alumni Band at Homecoming, but I'll try to stop by at one of the later games to say hi.
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sealhall74 wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:40 am The ironic thing is back in the 70s, the Macomb Inn was the Holiday Inn and by far the best place to stay in town. Visiting teams would always stay there. Lounge always had some good live entertainment going on the weekends. I agree, would love to see someone put some dollars into it, probably raze it first, and rebuild it big enough so that visiting teams did not have to come in from Peoria or Quad Cities. Macomb Western Conference Center has a nice ring to it and could be a place for the University to host their RPTA interns. Nothing quite like on the job training.
Yup, I remember when that was the case. They had a lounge area, restaurant, had events there...the hotel had a pool, which was kinda a big deal at the time....it was a pretty nice place to stay.
Between the Macomb Inn and the old gas station there, it's like that area has nearly been abandoned now though.
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GV Dad
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ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:53 am
sealhall74 wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:40 am The ironic thing is back in the 70s, the Macomb Inn was the Holiday Inn and by far the best place to stay in town. Visiting teams would always stay there. Lounge always had some good live entertainment going on the weekends. I agree, would love to see someone put some dollars into it, probably raze it first, and rebuild it big enough so that visiting teams did not have to come in from Peoria or Quad Cities. Macomb Western Conference Center has a nice ring to it and could be a place for the University to host their RPTA interns. Nothing quite like on the job training.
Yup, I remember when that was the case. They had a lounge area, restaurant, had events there...the hotel had a pool, which was kinda a big deal at the time....it was a pretty nice place to stay.
Between the Macomb Inn and the old gas station there, it's like that area has nearly been abandoned now though.
It seems like the way it is set up now would be perfect. You could close off sections in the Off season times, but open them for peak. It really just needs be deep cleaned and get a makeover. It is what it is, a place to sleep and shower instead of driving home after games. I don't need anything fancy, just a $70 a night place to lay my head without worrying about catching diphtheria or bitten by vermin while I sleep.
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