Syracuse Students Wear Their Finest Silver To The Game
by Sean Keeley on Oct 12, 2009 11:15 AM EDT
29 comments
When the announcement was made that the attendance for Saturday's game in the Dome was 40,144, a snicker rose up in the press box, on Twitter and amongst those on hand for the game. The chances that was accurate were minute and all anyone had to do was look around to see that 35K might have been more believable...and even then...
But there was one empty section in particular that folks noticed in the mostly-silver crowd. The student section. Or more specifically, the gaping hole of emptiness where the student section should be.
Images like this set off a spirited discussion on Twitter and around the Intertubes during the game, chiefly...what the hell is wrong with the Syracuse students?
First off, we should commend the Syracuse students who DID attend. Not that attending a Division 1 football game at your university should be considered special but your fandom and support goes a long way. In a year or two when the rest of thm jump on the bandwagon we'll look to you to lead the way.
(Except for the key jingle thing. I mean, I'm not as anti-key jingle as many are out there. I'm just happy you guys are paying attention. And not doing the wave. But if I had my choice, I would choose for you to not do the key jingle. I would choose for you to clap. Or yell. Or stomp your feet. Or jump up and down. Or some combination of any of those things. So, in conclusion...whatever.)
As for the rest of the student population...oy. NOW, I did speak with a few students who shared their explanations and lucid arguments as to why SU students wouldn't show up. Ticket prices, four years of futility, so many home games in a row, late Friday night frat parties and noon game start-times. I understand all of those arguments. They are rational. They make sense.
But...sorry, no.
Maybe it's just me. I grew up a fan of college football. But more than that, I grew up a fan of sports. When I decided where I wanted to go to college and although Syracuse's athletics programs weren't a deciding factor, they were an extremely welcome bonus. Once there, it never occurred to me to NOT go to a Syracuse football game.
Obviously, I'm one person and was one student. But I met a lot of other students during my time there. And we had no problem filling up the student section when I was there. Not a problem at all. Packed the sucker. To the point where it was a fire hazard. Sure this was the McNabb years but it's not like every game was an epic showdown. There were plenty of crappy Rutgers games and crappy Temple games and crappy MAC school games. And yet we will went.
Why? Cause that's what you do. You go to a college with a prominent football program, regardless of how things were last year or the year before that. You wake up early on Saturday. You dust off your hangover by cracking open a beer at 9 a.m. You go outside in 30 degree weather and fire up the grill for a delicious and highly un-nutricious meat breakfast. You put on your dirty SU t-shirt or jersey. You put your beer in a red cup and head out towards the Dome. You cross the quad while the band plays and other fans shuffle by. You squeeze your way into the Dome and get sucked in through the wind tunnel. You buy a Dome dog and a beer. You do the "student ticket-tricker" so you can get ten of your friends next to you in a three-seat radius. You go nuts when SU runs out on the field. You act like a screaming buffoon when the TV camera is pointed at you. You die on every bad play, you're reborn with every good one. You stick with the team as long as you can. You leave only when the game is over or completely out-of-hand. You go home and pass out.
This is what you do.
If you went to Montclair State or NJIT or Roger Williams College or Scranton University or NYU or LeMoyne College or any of the thousands of colleges and universities that do not have bigtime college football programs, then perhaps you do something productive with your Saturdays like studying or quilting or Meals on Wheels. But that's not you. You go to Syracuse. You go to the Dome on Saturdays. You wear Orange and you yell obscenities at our opponent and their cheerleaders for three hours until the clock hits triple zeroes. End of discussion.
I know this is just me bloviating. The response I'm sure will be "how can I get fired up for this program after the last four years?" My response to you is "How could you not?"
Stop being so short-sighted. You have the rest of your life to be a cynical "realist." There's absolutely no reason to start all that crap in college.
The Greg Robinson Era is over. This is a new time. Yeah we got our asses kicked this weekend and by South Florida last weekend. Guess what, we should have. They have better talent. So did Penn State. Yeah we're 2-4. And we're probably going to finish around 4-8 this year. So what? Next year we're going to be 6-6. The year after that? 8-4. Oh, THEN you'll come by on Saturdays and grace us with your presence? Oh, how thoughtful.
Look, I don't think you're any different than any other fanbase in America. We like winners. We don't like losers. And there's only so long we stick around for losers. Believe me, I get that and I'm with you. But how could you not take this as a golden opportunity to be there to root for this team? They might not win all the time but they bust their asses unlike any Syracuse team in recent memory, surely that evident. Aside from the West Virginia game this team has stayed in every game they've played into the fourth quarter. Considering the talent gap and what these guys have been through the last four years, I'd say that grounds for appreciation, if not so much celebration.
I know, who am I to talk? I'm all the way over here in Los Angeles. Haven't been to a game since I graduated nine years ago. Fair enough. All I know if, when I WAS there, I never missed a game. Never missed a chance to be a part of the fantastic spectacle that is American college football played at a Division 1 level.
There's 20,000 of you matriculated at Syracuse. Surely 2,000 of you want to watch some football. Yes?
You get a reprieve this weekend and then Akron comes to town. I'm sure even less folks will show up in the Dome for that one. Odd since that's probably our last "sure win" of the season, but whatever. Results required first, then we come back. It's the way of the sports world all over.
Doesn't make it any more bearable to watch our student section go to waste like that.
Of those who were on hand to witness the West Virginia game and the images they gave us, there is one from inside the Dome that sums things up best. I like to call it The Fallen Nacho Pile of Greg Paulus.
A sad, broken pile of Dome nachos and salsa laying on the ground in front of the forlorn SU fan who only wanted to taste their sweet, processed Mexican flavors once more. Instead, the corn chips sit on the concrete floor, to be eaten nevermore. Never a truer metaphor for Syracuse football on Saturday was possible. Incidentally those are, er, were, Orange 44 correspondent John Brennan's nachos
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that is a horrible picture
and it just about sums up my thoughts that syracuse has one of, if not the worst, student sections in college football.
Sean you’re article hits the nail on the head…unfortunately I think that the culture you were a part of in your days at SU is long gone. It is what I expected when I enrolled in Syracuse back in ’04 and I was disappointed. By the end of my collegiate career, it was pitiful. But I understand that because of some of the results.
Still, I think you should support your team, especially when it is 2-3, playing close games, and is playing West Fucking Virginia. I just don’t understand why you can’t roll out of bed and go to the game. It’s just not part of the culture anymore. Most of the students simply don’t care about football (or basketball either – but they just show up because the team is good and that’s more of the “thing” to do). It sucks because there is a group of great die-hards at Cuse. But they are such a part of the minority. I was a huge jackass in the stands and was a serious heckler. For all my efforts, I would simply get people staring at me as to say, “why is he so loud at this game?” This is the problem. Loud, brash, inappropriate cheering is frowned upon.
I went up for the Minny game and was excited, there was a real college football atmosphere around the Dome. Then when I walked inside at about 11:40 the student section was about half full. I know we have a small student population, but to get 2,000 out of 14,000 students shouldn’t be that hard. They should start letting local young kids in that section for free. They’d probably be a whole lot louder than most the students. Plus, they wouldn’t have car keys to jingle.
So, I watched the game on Saturday and thought, this must be one of the worst student sections in college football….worse than a similar school of our size like Boston College. Sure, they may have more success, but they are fucking Boston College. Come on. I’m done trying to fix this, I’m not a student anymore and I think the die hards there are trying their best but their calls are falling on deaf ears. Anyone have any hope for me, or will we have to wait until the team wins 9 games for the Dome to be the Dome again?
by desoto86 on Oct 12, 2009 11:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I have a worse picture...
I sit right above the student section….
This was taken towards the end of the 1st quarter:
http://ruid.com/photos/original/77284-m8b4yj681mhnnpb57kdp.jpg
Feel free to use it if you’d like, Nunesey…
Sidenote: I actually left just after the start of the 4th quarter… so I can’t claim to be the ultimate super fan…
That said, we stopped in at Hungry Chucks on the way down the hill for a quick beer… and the place was packed with students… Many in orange, watching the game from Marshall St.
by kingtidge on Oct 12, 2009 11:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I enrolled in the fall of 04 and part of the reason I was so excited about coming to SU was that they had big time sports. I wanted to be a part of that. To rush the field like we did for the pitt game my freshman year or freak out when Diamond single handedly embarrassed BC.
There is the running joke along the lines of “my parents paid 40k a year for me to watch basketball”… that used to be basketball and football. Thats not the case for kids there now. SU has sucked the last 4 years and the students didnt come there to watch football. These students could care less. If football had been important to any of the current students, they would not be at SU.
The football fans that are there are fans of other schools. They dont break aliegiences anymore just because their school has a football team. Georgia, OSU, USC, Florida, Penn State all have tons of fans at SU. You can see their flags flying off campus.
I hate to say it, but we are going to have to start winning again before students start coming to SU to watch our football team.
by ryanwk628 on Oct 12, 2009 12:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
wow, just beyond sad. That’s like a women’s basketball type of crowd. I didn’t exactly go to Syracuse during the glory days of football, 2001-2005, but we always filled up the sections on the side, with most of the end-zone section next to the band filled. 6-6 seasons couldn’t keep us back. Sure, it was frustrating to see the team regress through those years, but like you said, big-time D-1 football, there was still nothing like it. And it makes the successes that much better when you stick with the team through the bad.
Basketball was always an incredible experience, especially 2003. But my best dome experiences came on the gridiron, the VT 3OT game, the BC victory the weekend after they announced that they were joining the ACC. That building can be the loudest facility in the nation if people would just show! Damn I miss the dome… Don’t take it for granted, students!!
by FirmKick on Oct 12, 2009 12:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i was guilty toward the end
I’ll admit, toward the end of my 5 years on the hill, I didn’t bother buying season tickets to football, but I watched most games, even the G-Rob blowouts. But there were plenty of highlights during the times I went to the games.
Freshman year 2003 I only bought basketball tickets because I was poor, but I went to a couple football games when my roommate couldn’t go, and of course parents weekend. 2003, Walter Reyes gashing opponents for over 200 yards, like the UCF game I went to when he ran for 241 yards. Or parents weekend, when I fell asleep at the end of the game during the glory days of annihilating Temple, only because I got trashed the night before after the rents dropped me off back on the mount, and I ended up falling asleep on the quad early that morning, and some parent wanted to call DPS on us.
Or who can forget 2004, when I actually bought season tickets, when Cuse stopped Pitt on 4th and 1 in 2OT to send the dome into a frenzy and then us rushing the field to congratulate the likes of Joe Fields, who came into the game for only one snap and threw a 60 yard TD bomb to Jared Jones. And the exciting Florida State game, which was primetime in a packed dome, and a game Cuse outplayed them and should have won. Going to a game hungover, tripping over bleachers, then seeing them beat Cincy and UConn, when they not very good. Or Rutgers! when Coach P OWNED Schiano at the dome.
2005, I had tickets, went to the first game of the G-Rob era which should have been a win vs. WVU in Pat White and Steve Slaton’s first collegiate game ever. After the Buffalo win the next week, the wheels fell off real fast and the breaking point for me was the last home game and loss to USF when they retired 44, which was literally a funeral by that time. 06 and 07 i didn’t bother buying tickets.
The upperclassmen should be the ones leading the traditions to carry on, which clearly I and many peers did not, but was fortunate to experience in the early days. It is sad and I regret not going to more games toward the end, because there are good times to be had in the dome for football games. Drunk, hungover, or sober. I would love to sit in the student section again.
by chicagocuse on Oct 12, 2009 12:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Idea
black out the campus. If students want to see the game, go.
by ryanwk628 on Oct 12, 2009 12:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
you cant do that unless you give them all free tickets
these are college kids already getting fleeced by the school for tuition. while it is a disgrace that the student section was so empty saturday, blacking out the game while the university still charges students for tickets is just wrong
http://ExtendtheGame.blogspot.com
by Calogero on Oct 13, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bravo, Sean.
Somebody get this reprinted in the D.O.
Go, fight, and win.
by Alex O on Oct 12, 2009 12:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
In my time at SU (Fall 2003 to Spring 2007), I saw the attendance regress. This past Saturday was definitely the low point in the last few years in terms of student turnout.
To be fair, there was a lot of exposed metal at that game. It just looks a ton worse when a certain demographic is isolated in one area. Look directly across from the SS in the first level on the 10. Lots of empty seats, but since those are assigned, and not all pushed to the front and wrapped around the endzone, it doesn’t look as bad. It’s more scattered.
That being said, filling 1/4 of the student section is very disappointing. Sitting in the 300s on Saturday, a few explanations floated through my head (aside from a poor performing product), most of which can be applied to overall attendance behavior.
In a very short period of time, we’ve seen more retired numbers, namesake dedications, and ceremonial halftime ceremonies than wins. The game day experience is commoditized.
I imagine Dr. DG walking into his new office on his first day, proclaiming, "Do you realize how behind you are on this marketing thing? All we need to get a bunch of sponsors and donors, bring back an old player or two, retire 44, and WHAM! Throwback merchandise in the house!"
Think about it: Name change, logo changes, Ernie Davis statue (complete with Nike tattoos), numerous Ernie Davis ceremonies, Ernie Davis field dedication, special orange seats for VIPs, the list goes on. Retiring 44 was probably the most contentious offense, and in my opinion, the most egregious. It was as if we were saying, "The era of an SU player being the caliber to don this sacred number is over."
Combine of all that with big increase in the cheesy and annoying advertisements during the game, a widely disliked G-Rob, and an athletic director only really liked by big donors, and you get the situation we have today.
In the last few years, our program has become a caricature of itself. We do a lot of talking, lots of flashy marketing and promotions, but still can’t win games. Ultimately, it makes everything else we do on and around game day a joke – we can’t take it seriously, and the problem compounds.
I have some other thoughts about this, but can’t put them on paper at the moment. Will continue on later.
by Menotti on Oct 12, 2009 1:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
As the person who took the above photo
All I can say is, I agree with Sean’s perspective. And here is one more photo, taken at the same time from the same vantage point – http://www.idiotsonsports.com/2009/10/syracuse-students-dress-like-empty.html
by Russianator on Oct 12, 2009 1:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I was at SU from 2002-2006. I must say I’m guilty, after my sophomore year I stopped attending football games. I was an athlete and I got in for free too, but football was a waste of time. To be blunt, no one wants to see a losing football team and also Syracuse nowadays is more of a basketball school. . Like some are saying here, we will have to win some games in order to get some people there. Plain and simple.
We were out of this game by the 2nd quarter. Why waste your time? I know it doesn’t show good school spirit but its the truth.
With that said the general idea that me and my friends is that Syracuse charges way too much for student section packages. Even as athletes we couldn’t sit in the student section for free, they put us in the 300 level which is complete bull shit. Hell I went to visit my friend at Auburn and all you needed was a valid student ID and you got into the game for free. I think a lot of SEC schools do this (or at least the price is heavily decreased) hence why their student sections are huge (they also win a little bit too). Just a thought.
Now our basketball student section is awesome…but that is another story .
by JRSu1 on Oct 12, 2009 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
As a student...
I’m currently typing this at Schine before my COM 107 class so I’ll elaborate on this further once I get back from class. I was at the game and stayed to the end. I’ve been to all the home games except for the Maine game because I was back at home for the weekend. I’m also a student season ticket holder. And of course, I’m a die-hard Orange fan to go along with being a student. That being said, the student section was just an embarrassment this past Saturday. Right before kickoff I was commenting about how barely anyone was there, and some of us thought that maybe everyone’s just pregaming a little late today and it’ll get better. How wrong I was with that. I mean, it’s not even like this year’s team’s that bad. Out of the home games I’ve gone to, this was the only blowout loss for Syracuse. And this game was against big bad WVU and a victory would’ve put us at .500. Which begs the question: where the hell was everyone? I find it really discouraging that a lot of kids I know have student tickets to these games, but either choose not to go or just show up for the first quarter then leave. In that case, why the hell are you spending 120 bucks on season tickets if you’re not going to support the team? I understand leaving the game early if it’s a stinker, but at least stay till the 4th quarter. The fact that so many people just stay for the first quarter, no matter how the game’s going, however, is down right pathetic. The other discouraging thing is that not that many of the fellow freshmen of mine are sports fans or supportive of SU Athletics it seems. I’ve got to run, but I’ll add onto this once I get out of Newhouse
by RyanMcD29 on Oct 12, 2009 2:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I still think SU charges way too much for student tickets but that’s just my opinion. $120 for season tickets for students is ridiculous, other schools don’t charge nearly as much. That is just if you want football. If I had a choice as to $120 for football tickets or $160 for basketball tickets. I’m picking basketball. You got the band in the crowd. The team is good. It’s just more fun at this point.
This is all goes away once we put a consistently good team on the field. Leaving in the first quarter is a little much, but it was 27-0 at halftime. No one wants to stick around for that.
I don’t think we as fans can complain like this at all. The bottom line is you have to win games or no one is going to show up.
by JRSu1 on Oct 12, 2009 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
But he’s right. Even if the price is too high, a lot of people do have tickets and simply chose not to show up. Obviously the price is not the primary reason that students are not in the student section. They have paid for tickets and are choosing not to use them. I’m sure that part of the problem is the noon start. Part of the problem is the fact that going to football games is just not the thing to do for most people. And I think that part of it is just running out of patience. Of the die hard football attending fans I know, There are very few seniors.
by Orange22 on Oct 12, 2009 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Amen
I’ve been in the front row for football for every game since I arrived on the hill last summer. I really don’t think there is any answer for this other than winning. Our basketball section is great, but football is straight up embarrassing. I don’t think we need to be competing for National Championships, but a bowl bound team every year would probably do the trick.
Syracuse '12
by blackknight76 on Oct 12, 2009 3:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
On the bright side
at least you can get front row! When i was a freshman the best I ever did was 4th and I got there 4 hours early (we brought home work to kill the time believe it or not)
by ryanwk628 on Oct 12, 2009 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I always get there 3-4 hours early. Dunno why, I guess I’m always blindly hoping there’s some competition. Unfortunately, the front row doesn’t fill up until maybe 45 minutes to kick off at this point.
Syracuse '12
by blackknight76 on Oct 12, 2009 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
There's your solution
Its obvious that the student section has been weak this year, but it won’t stay that way for long. I am a sophomore here at syracuse and out of my group of friends I am the only syracuse football fan (meaning syracuse is my #1 team) in the bunch and we are all rabid sports fans. the kid from cali still loves USC, the kid who’s grandfather played on Notre Dame still roots for Notre Dame over Syracuse (thats understandable), the kid from connecticut still roots for BC over Syracuse (I don’t understand this one because I’m from New Hampshire and I root for Syracuse over BC), and the kid from Pittsburgh roots for Pitt over syracuse (He even roots for pitt over syracuse in basketball, which is bullshit and I’m pissed off at the fact that he won’t root for his own school).
Hell, the only kid in my group that roots for syracuse football was a Duke fan before he came up here, and he doesn’t really pay attention to football. Rhat isn’t the point, we are all sophomores and we pay attention to the game and we root for syracuse but my friends didn’t come to this school for a football team, I on the other hand didn’t have a college football team to root for and when presented with the amazing history of syracuse football and the fact that I actually GO TO THE SCHOOL it was an easy choice for my #1 college football team.
But location does not inspire fandom in this day and age, how many people grew up in tampa bay and grew up a devil rays fan? more often then not you’re going to find that those kids latched onto a winning team (if they cared about baseball if at all) like the yankees or some other team for some asinine reason (I like the colors…). so these kids that came to syracuse last year, born into the G-Rob era (granted the end of an era) couldn’t care for a team that couldn’t produce on the field – they had other teams that they cheered for before, why switch to a horrible program. I tried congratulating guys at AEpi that saturday after the maine game to bring us to 2-2, and people who didn’t know me thought I was a freshman stating “I gave up on syracuse football years ago”.
Which brings me to the freshman class this year, we have a team to root for and god damn it at least the freshman realize this. a new head coach, a new quarterback from duke, and the ideas of hope and rebuilding have at least given one class a reason to cheer on the orangemen. at 5-7, and a good recruiting class, next years juniors (my class) will come back and the new freshman class will be pumped for syracuse football. then finally after a 6-6 season or maybe even (don’t say it) a WINNING season the incoming freshman class will be very excited for football and every class will want to go to the dome and fill up the student section. Just like a football program, good student sections take time.
(oh and when the season started, I wrote down all the starting times of all the games. but at the beginning of the season the west virginia game was listed at 7:05 I woke up at 1 turned on my TV and was disappointed to not only see that the game was on, but we were losing by that much, though I did enjoy Nassib’s showing in the second half)
by j-griff on Oct 12, 2009 4:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
“the kid from cali still loves USC, the kid who’s grandfather played on Notre Dame still roots for Notre Dame over Syracuse (thats understandable), the kid from connecticut still roots for BC over Syracuse (I don’t understand this one because I’m from New Hampshire and I root for Syracuse over BC), and the kid from Pittsburgh roots for Pitt over syracuse (He even roots for pitt over syracuse in basketball, which is bullshit and I’m pissed off at the fact that he won’t root for his own school).”
unacceptable on all counts
Syracuse '12
by blackknight76 on Oct 12, 2009 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
I was a die-hard Notre Dame fan as a kid. Didn’t give a crap about Syracuse. The second I enrolled there I became a huge SU fan.
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
by Sean Keeley on Oct 12, 2009 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
ive never been a fan of telling others how to root for their teams
i didnt go to SU but grew up in upstate and have been and always will be a lifelong cuse fan. i know many of my other friends from high school who are the exact same way. i didnt go to a college with big time sports (we were 1-aa in football and a low level division 1 bball program) so my personal situation isn’t the greatest parallel, but i always said if/when my college ever played SU in basketball i would always root for SU over them.
also, one of my high school friends went to university of florida and roots for syracuse over them to this day. i just don’t see how you can tell others that because they now go to a college that isn’t SU (or vice versa) that they should all of a sudden drop the team they grew up with and that everyone in their family has spent their entire lives rooting for. i certainly understand those people that demote the team they grew up with for the school they attend, but just don’t tell me how i should root for my teams.
http://ExtendtheGame.blogspot.com
by Calogero on Oct 13, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lots of people gave up prior allegiances when coming to SU. I stopped rooting for UConn (their admissions people had a lot to do with that) and Kansas basketball (where my mothers family is from.) I wasnt a college football fan at all but having so much pride in my school made me really get into it. I still root for KU on the side, but your alma mater should always be your number 1.
by ryanwk628 on Oct 12, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I rooted for Notre Dame (family ties), and UConn (state), and obviously dropped those two like a Ryan Nassib pass. It wasn’t that hard.
Basketball I was pretty much a Big East fan, with the two aforementioned schools getting most of my attention, though I always like ‘Cuse. Wasn’t hard to learn to hate UConn when I got here though.
Excuses are like assholes, all Hoyas are them and they all stink.
Syracuse '12
by blackknight76 on Oct 12, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t get this at all. Your number one loyalty should be to your college team. It is the only time in your life you will be able to watch every single game a team plays, know the players, have classes with them, party with them, sit in the student section, and have the team really be yours. I am a Michigan State fan because I was born in Michigan but when they play Syracuse, there is not even a question of who I root for. It was fun to watch MSU make the title game last year. I’d watched as many games of theirs as I could and I knew all the players names and yelled at the TV and everything. But that does not compare to the feeling of cheering the SU Lacrosse team to the Championship the last two years. It doesn’t compare to watching every single home Lacrosse game in person in the student section, every away game on TV or the computer, having a friend on the team, having had classes with the players, and getting to celebrate with all my friends.
There is nothing like cheering for your college sports team. You only get four (ish) years of that, so jump on the band wagon. The college you actually attend should be your number one team. That is the POINT of college sports. Your pro teams can still be your home teams. I’m not going to suddenly start cheering for the Bills over the Patriots just because I live in Syracuse, but your college team? Should be your college team.
When I go to grad school (where ever that is) that team will become my second favorite team (behind SU, under grad has to be number 1) and I will suddenly become a die hard fan of theirs despite the fact that I will have never rooted for them before. That’s how it works.
by Orange22 on Oct 12, 2009 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I am an ‘06 grad. I went to most every game my freshman year and sophomore year. The last two years some other things came up with radio and such so I couldn’t make the games. I’ll say that the football student sections are VERY freshman-dominated. 50% of people wear their orange shirt they get at the Dome introduction thing on the first weekend. Maybe the freshmen will give up late in the year or show up a little late for 12 pm games. But THAT FEW in the first quarter? Against a BE team? That is pathetic.
by TRCuse on Oct 13, 2009 2:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
this really just supports something ive always said
the syracuse/greater upstate community and/or alums are bigger syracuse fans than the students. i think to a large extent this is true of uconn fans too, and I think it comes from the “only game in town” syndrome. syracuse athletics are like a pro sports team in upstate.
and while the student section was a disgrace against wvu, and i understand that some people had tickets and still didnt come, 120 bucks for student season tickets to football is absurd. the economy’s tough and the school should be counting their lucky stars that they can still get 20,000 students that are willing to pay their ridiculous tuition/room and board. to charge 120 dollars for 7 home games of a below average football team, and then to charge another 160 for basketball is highway robbery. im ashamed of the poor student turnout on saturday, but if i were a college student right now and my parents weren’t going to pay for my season tickets, i cant be so sure id be willing to dump 120 bucks on season tickets. i mean, thats like 8 30 racks of keystone light right there!
http://ExtendtheGame.blogspot.com
by Calogero on Oct 13, 2009 11:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Perspective from a NNY HS/SU Alum that lives in the South now.
There is complete culture difference between the people that attend Syracuse and the people that attend big time football schools in the SEC, ACC, Big12, etc. In the south, college football is a way of life. Down here, in TX, people build their entire weekend every weekend about their team’s saturday game. I’ve lived down here for a couple years since I graduated from SU in 07 and it really was shocking how different things are.
People live, breath, and eat college football regardless of how terrible their team is. I work with a ton of TX A&M grads who dont shut up about their special teams and 3rd string punters throughout the entire work week. I get jealous this time of year, because all i can say is “LOL Paulus”, or “X days until Midnight Madness!”
by brendoh on Oct 13, 2009 6:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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