Flagman wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 7:16 pm
It is what it is. Each of us has to do our part. I was there.
I concur. It has to start with people that care deeply about the program being involved. I think there are two things that folks on this forum should think about: 1). In the mid-80s, some of the "leaders" in athletic giving got together with the athletic department leadership and organized a campaign where they got out and sold season tickets to people they knew--alumni, people they did business with, their neighbors. They were committed to the process of building the base. 2). One of the problems with Furman games these days is a lack of coordination/leadership in getting the crowd engaged. It is dead in there because it appears to me that everyone is waiting for someone else to quit sitting on their hands and generate some enthusiasm. Part of it is lack of direction from within the athletic department to get people engaged, the other part is you and me, all of us. I noticed that there are about 50-60 students that are now there, standing and making noise throughout the game. I could see from my seat, that the Sigma Chi tent on the mall had more than 50-60 people in it well into the first quarter. I choose to focus on those 50-60 that are in the stadium and making noise. How do you build on that? How do you incentivize their behavior? I remember some guys who used to sit either at the top of section eight or the bottom of section three that did the "move that chain" bit back in the day. Whether you hated it and thought it was a Georgia Southern knock-off, the point is that they were doing something to get engaged. There's going to be a lot of off-season work by Clay, his staff and his team. They'll be better next year. Question is, what are we committed to doing to generate some energy of our own and see if it grows? What is the athletic department committed to doing that changes the dynamic at the stadium? Will we sell tickets to alumni, business associates, neighbors? To idly use this forum to continue b******* about the empty seats and lack of enthusiasm might make you feel better, but it isn't helpful. The team will get better. Attendance increases will respond at some level, not like 18 years ago. There is an opportunity to build a fan base, but the work will be incremental: ones and twos and threes.
I'm not an alumni but I have deep ties to Furman and choose to be there on Saturday instead of my alma mater It is a better experience for me. You build with what you have instead of what no longer exists. If we are committed, we'll push for more planning and engagement from the marketing part of the athletic department and we'll do our part to start bringing people in with us...and we'll get off our fannies and let other people know it's okay to be enthusiastic. Maybe we need to have a UFFP section for the like minded to sit (or stand) and cheer. It's all about commitment and the right approaches. OK, I'm done.
