8/28 - Leathernecks vs Valparaiso

[Western_101]

Student attendance is as simple as this. The freshman class coming in in 2011 are now Seniors they have never experienced a winning Leatherneck football season.

That is it, that is all.

People don't support losers for the most part.

People on this board have seen the glory years so we know what it is like to experience a winning team and 16,000+ at Hanson Field. Leatherneck success is not a reality to WIU students. They are living in the present.

[wiu712]

The freshman class coming in in 2011 are now Seniors. They have never experienced a winning Leatherneck football season.

Red Neck makes a good point. The current student body at Western has not seen a winning season.

We have seen what can happen with a successful team: big crowds at Western Hall for Men's Basketball.

[BobLovely]

Student attendance is as simple as this. The freshman class coming in in 2011 are now Seniors they have never experienced a winning Leatherneck football season.

That is it, that is all.

People don't support losers for the most part.

People on this board have seen the glory years so we know what it is like to experience a winning team and 16,000+ at Hanson Field. Leatherneck success is not a reality to WIU students. They are living in the present.

This is part of the problem with the lack of recent student attendance at games, no doubt. However, the issues run deeper than simply performance on the field. There was a time when WIU students showed up at the games in larger numbers regardless of the recent on-field record. As I posted earlier, the long standing strong tradition has broken down at Western. Winning will certainly help to re-kindle the tradition. Tradition is often based on recognition and respect of the past. For many years, this rang true at Western.

Bob

[sealhall74]

The 64K question is this: Given we don't have the rich football history with umpteen national championships that say a program like NDSU has, is the decline of school spirit inevitable with each passing generation of student given only average success on the field? I think that is probably the case. I also think schools tend to hold on to the past a little too long. Look at Duke for a great counter-example. They had a rich basketball tradition long before Coach K arrived. They are now playing on the "Coach K Court" not the Vic Bubas court. Rock, is that you I hear rustling in your grave?

[BobLovely]

SealHall 74, You bring up some very good points, as always. A number of the football game traditions at Western have their roots in the Darrell Mudra era [1969-1973] including the Peach Blossoms, the across the field cheers and of course, the "free beer in the end zone" cheer which I believe has now vanished. These traditions were all student driven, as is typically the case with college football traditions, and rightly so. There was no tail gate in that era as no alcohol was allowed on campus. This does not mean that no alcohol was consumed at Hanson Field but alcohol consumption was more of an "after game" activity [plenty of it in some cases] in the bars uptown [see Walt's Office]. Students arrived early, cheered hard, had fun and then continued the party elsewhere. These traditions carried over for decades later as the football team had both winning and losing seasons.

Traditions do come and go. It is the students who create and drive them, not the university. You will see this in Madison on Saturday...

Bob

[Western_101]

I graduated in 1997, internet was still new, I had no computer in my room, I had a word processor, I had a 13 inch TV and got a generous 30 channels.

I went out because that's how one lived life and experienced college.

Kids today, have X-box etc..... high speed internet, streaming video, youtube, facebook, not to mention smart phones that demand hours of their attention.


So they should leave all that to go out and sit in the rain to watch a losing football team in crumbling facilities?

Bob, It ain't that hard to figure out.

Times change....WIU did not keep up.....that dosen't mean there can't be a resurgence, But facilities MUST improve and the product on the field MUST improve.

[BobLovely]

I graduated in 1997, internet was still new, I had no computer in my room, I had a word processor, I had a 13 inch TV and got a generous 30 channels.

I went out because that's how one lived life and experienced college.

Kids today, have X-box etc..... high speed internet, streaming video, youtube, facebook, not to mention smart phones that demand hours of their attention.

So they should leave all that to go out and sit in the rain to watch a losing football team in crumbling facilities?

Bob, It ain't that hard to figure out.

Times change....WIU did not keep up.....that doesn't mean there can't be a resurgence, But facilities MUST improve and the product on the field MUST improve.

Then, how do you explain higher student attendance at other FCS schools? They do not all have winning records. The student side of Hanson Field is hardly crumbling. It is luxurious as compared to what was there before. I understand the lure of technology. I have most of this as well. However, I still attend college football games. There is certainly a lot more to college life than being tethered to the Internet. I believe the football program is on the rise. When the product improves, it will be interesting to see if student attendance also improves.

Times do change. And, apparently so do some wonderful traditions at Western...

Bob

[WIU0812]

It may be like what happened to me the first year at the school I did not even know we were a DI school that may just have been my fault , but I always assumed it was a D II by looking at facilities and since I originally did not choose based on sports I did not go out of my way to find out. I think big key is when they do the West stands they need to build a huge entry way for Q lot one that towers above you when you enter. Need to have one that has like a large purple light up Hanson field on it and can hang big banners like you see at many large schools. All the kids have seen these big school stadiums on TV and it needs a WOW factor.

[Mizzou Rah]

I think a vast majority of it is simple $$. This weekend, our other son went to his first Mizzou game as a student. Sat in the "Tiger's Lair". 1600 students crammed into a spot on the 50 yard line to watch FCS South Dakota State. 80,000 to see a team that Mizzou should handle easily. In addition as has been expressed, Mizzou has built a winning tradition lately. It was awesome! Faurot Field has been totally redone, with a lot of $$$.

Western, it seems to me, does nothing to promote athletics. Where are the videos that we say a few years ago on each group of players? Each coach would talk about his unit? I looked in the local Macomb paper, many articles on local athletics from football to golf. What does the football team get? a couple of paragraphs. Why isn't there more on different players? And I do NOT mean my son either, there are tons of great stories on great kids in this program. Promote them as well. I love the captains and they deserve what they get but until the student body and the area know anything about some of these players I doubt you will get much more attendance.

As I have harped on time and again, Hanson field is a dump. The bleachers are old and dingy. Any student that goes to this facility sees the same thing. How can students, faculty, coaches and players be proud of a facility that I am guessing most teams come to and express the same sentiments. The press box is a joke. My wife and i sat by the press box during the delay Thursday and spoke with an employee who worked at Western 25 years. He reiterated how awful conditions were and seemingly always have been. Look at crowds at Illinois State and I would guess SIU. Money has been spent to renovate their facilities.

Folks, it takes $$ and either Western can't raise or doesn't want to spend it.

My 2 cents worth at least.

[WIU0812]

I think a vast majority of it is simple $$. This weekend, our other son went to his first Mizzou game as a student. Sat in the "Tiger's Lair". 1600 students crammed into a spot on the 50 yard line to watch FCS South Dakota State. 80,000 to see a team that Mizzou should handle easily. In addition as has been expressed, Mizzou has built a winning tradition lately. It was awesome! Faurot Field has been totally redone, with a lot of $$$.

Western, it seems to me, does nothing to promote athletics. Where are the videos that we say a few years ago on each group of players? Each coach would talk about his unit? I looked in the local Macomb paper, many articles on local athletics from football to golf. What does the football team get? a couple of paragraphs. Why isn't there more on different players? And I do NOT mean my son either, there are tons of great stories on great kids in this program. Promote them as well. I love the captains and they deserve what they get but until the student body and the area know anything about some of these players I doubt you will get much more attendance.

As I have harped on time and again, Hanson field is a dump. The bleachers are old and dingy. Any student that goes to this facility sees the same thing. How can students, faculty, coaches and players be proud of a facility that I am guessing most teams come to and express the same sentiments. The press box is a joke. My wife and i sat by the press box during the delay Thursday and spoke with an employee who worked at Western 25 years. He reiterated how awful conditions were and seemingly always have been. Look at crowds at Illinois State and I would guess SIU. Money has been spent to renovate their facilities.

Folks, it takes $$ and either Western can't raise or doesn't want to spend it.

My 2 cents worth at least.

I completely agree and that is kind of the direction where I was going with my last post sang that wiu need a wow factor in order to continue to canton you to show they are a true division 1 schools can continue to impress the incoming studestudents. Here is to hoping they announce the new stands this year.