(10-26-2015 03:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  What are you basing this on? Should this, should that... is this based on your experience a long time ago? It is an antiquated model we keep championing.

People care about athletics. Just not Rice. , why would you care to watch Rice play?

Because you go to school with the players and you know some of them?

It was several years ago, but I remember reading about the high percentage of students who participated in extra-mural sports.
I can think of several faculty and alum I knew who didn't go to games but had gym memberships.

I don't think it's that we're necessarily non-athletic in contrast to other schools. We just express it differently.

(10-26-2015 03:29 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(10-26-2015 03:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  What are you basing this on? Should this, should that... is this based on your experience a long time ago? It is an antiquated model we keep championing.

People care about athletics. Just not Rice. , why would you care to watch Rice play?

Because you go to school with the players and you know some of them?

But they don't care. So clearly whether you go to school with them doesn't matter to 99% of the student body.

When I was at Rice they had several intramural sporting events scheduled AT THE SAME TIME as the football game. There is an apathetic (sometimes hostile) attitude by most of the general student (and faculty) body toward athletics. At least that's what I observed in my two years there. I believe it has a lot of factors playing into it. From general disinterest in athletics, to rather study for a big exam, and admittedly the athletes may not help the cause when confronted with the attitude.

One exception to this was the CUSA Championship game against Marshall. It didn't matter the weather was awful, the student body showed up. The whole section was packed. Which was awesome. But it made me wonder why don't they come out to support the other times? I remember the previous home game was a beautiful day and it seemed like we had about 12 people in the student section.

(10-26-2015 07:05 AM)Antarius Wrote:  [quote='cr11owl' pid='12553629' dateline='1445858661']
[quote='Owl 69/70/75' pid='12553580' dateline='1445853605']
I called these Hostage Tailgates where they closed the servery and forces everyone to go to the stadium.All it did was piss people off and build resentment against the football program.

Interest has to come from within. It cannot and should not be forced

There are very few times when the library at a major university should be closed.

A Saturday afternoon is not one of those times.

Had the library closed for a football game at any point when I was at Rice, if I noticed, I would have stopped rooting for the team. Football is fun, but classes are more important. It's especially true that classes are much, much more important for those of us who didn't play football.

Some might say, "Well, study on Sunday or something," but remember, we're not University of Houston (and I criticize them for closing their library at night as well as for closing their parking lots for Thursday games -- some of us had much more important reasons to be on campus than simply to watch minor league football). Rice classes often call for extra work. That Saturday library session could be the difference between an A and a B in orgo, which could be extremely relevant for a pre-med student and still fairly important to everyone else.

There were times when I was at Rice when I spent the majority of the weekend parked in the library writing a paper or getting ready for an exam. I did it because I had to. That's part of what Rice is about.

Shutting down essential university functions for a football game, even just a couple of times per year? Ugh. That would be the worst idea since selling KTRU.

I'll cheer for the Owls as long as I live, but I want to keep my Rice fandom in perspective.

(10-26-2015 03:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(10-26-2015 02:47 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  This is where there's a disconnect. Students should flock to games because it's a [b]fun chance to unite with the rest of the student body in a common cause. The opponent shouldn't matter. All that matters is that Rice is playing. Nothing else.[/b] Sure, the 11AM kickoffs don't help, but that shouldn't be nearly enough to keep students away from the stadium in such large numbers. It must be the culture at Rice that causes this. There must be such a focus on academics that students don't care anything about athletic competition. Athletics needs to be promoted and pushed at Rice. All those students are missing out.

What are you basing this on? Should this, should that... is this based on your experience a long time ago? It is an antiquated model we keep championing.

People care about athletics. Just not Rice. if you grew up watching OU play due to your parents, where you go tailgate and see a 100 thousand people get excited and then come to Rice, why would you care to watch Rice play? Its far more fun to relax in your room, eat breakfast, drink beer and watch the Top 25 play high quality football in HD.

Should or should not is as irrelevant as our Bowl wins. The question is do they and if not, can they be interested.

Any student who would take the attitude you just described shouldn't be admitted to Rice. Any student admitted to any university should not only be proud to be there, but also excited about cheering it on at any opportunity.
If there are Rice students sitting in their dorm rooms studying during a football game, I can almost forgive that. If there are students sitting in their dorm room, drinking beer, and watching some other game during a Rice football game, something is fundamentally wrong.
It's a deep problem that has many layers. Any student that would rather watch movies or some other football game over a Rice home game has real issues. It's not about a conference affiliation or whatever "directional" university we're playing that day. It's about a lack of school spirit and pride. The university is not engaging these students. It isn't promoting the "athletics side" of the college experience nearly hard enough. A school like Rice should have a small, but very energized student body. They should love Rice so much that they can't wait for the next game so they can scream it from the top of their lungs!

(10-26-2015 03:52 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(10-26-2015 03:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(10-26-2015 02:47 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  This is where there's a disconnect. Students should flock to games because it's a [b]fun chance to unite with the rest of the student body in a common cause. The opponent shouldn't matter. All that matters is that Rice is playing. Nothing else.[/b] Sure, the 11AM kickoffs don't help, but that shouldn't be nearly enough to keep students away from the stadium in such large numbers. It must be the culture at Rice that causes this. There must be such a focus on academics that students don't care anything about athletic competition. Athletics needs to be promoted and pushed at Rice. All those students are missing out.

What are you basing this on? Should this, should that... is this based on your experience a long time ago? It is an antiquated model we keep championing.

People care about athletics. Just not Rice. if you grew up watching OU play due to your parents, where you go tailgate and see a 100 thousand people get excited and then come to Rice, why would you care to watch Rice play? Its far more fun to relax in your room, eat breakfast, drink beer and watch the Top 25 play high quality football in HD.

Should or should not is as irrelevant as our Bowl wins. The question is do they and if not, can they be interested.

Any student who would take the attitude you just described shouldn't be admitted to Rice. Any student admitted to any university should not only be proud to be there, but also excited about cheering it on at any opportunity.
If there are Rice students sitting in their dorm rooms studying during a football game, I can almost forgive that. If there are students sitting in their dorm room, drinking beer, and watching some other game during a Rice football game, something is fundamentally wrong.
It's a deep problem that has many layers. Any student that would rather watch movies or some other football game over a Rice home game has real issues. It's not about a conference affiliation or whatever "directional" university we're playing that day. It's about a lack of school spirit and pride. The university is not engaging these students. It isn't promoting the "athletics side" of the college experience nearly hard enough. A school like Rice should have a small, but very energized student body. They should love Rice so much that they can't wait for the next game so they can scream it from the top of their lungs!

Yes. The football program has attempted the last few years (maybe before I got there too) to extend a hand of friendship to the student body. Try to garner support. We had clinics, would eat lunch in serveries on certain days to invite people to the games, and made a conscious effort to try and be inclusive. Doesn't seem like that strategy has really paid off.

put charging stations and free wifi in the stadium with a student ID or game day ticket streaming Sportcenter or some other 'closed' feed with highlights from across the country (including possibly shots of those students in the stands on the TV they're watching) and maybe they bring their phones or ipads and show up.

Do the athletes have separate dorms from the regular students? If so, why not integrate them? I would think it would only help if the students and athletes really knew one another well. Perhaps we fans need to form a group that rounds up students before games. We shouldn't have to do it, but it may be the kind of thing that's necessary. How about a pep rally the night before home football games, and watch parties at the stadium for road games? Hit this problem from all angles until all vestiges of the anti-athletics resistance are destroyed. Apathy could kill Rice football in the future if it isn't dealt with in a big way.

Winning might help. Or at least playing inspired enough football to warrant support. I'd say that many if the freshmen who came out in the hot sun to watch the listless and pathetic performance against WKU aren't coming back soon.

Let's see what happens to student attendance in men's basketball.

(10-26-2015 03:52 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  Any student who would take the attitude you just described shouldn't be admitted to Rice. Any student admitted to any university should not only be proud to be there, but also excited about cheering it on at any opportunity.
If there are Rice students sitting in their dorm rooms studying during a football game, I can almost forgive that. If there are students sitting in their dorm room, drinking beer, and watching some other game during a Rice football game, something is fundamentally wrong.
It's a deep problem that has many layers. Any student that would rather watch movies or some other football game over a Rice home game has real issues. It's not about a conference affiliation or whatever "directional" university we're playing that day. It's about a lack of school spirit and pride. The university is not engaging these students. It isn't promoting the "athletics side" of the college experience nearly hard enough. A school like Rice should have a small, but very energized student body. They should love Rice so much that they can't wait for the next game so they can scream it from the top of their lungs!

You're taking a 1980's model student that you have in your head, attempting to force that model on the class of 2019 and wondering why it isn't working. Square pegs, round holes.

A student who watches other games rather than Rice doesn't have issues - Rice has issues because we aren't able to interest this student. I guess in your head, the country, Houston, Rice students all have issues?

Rice needs to start playing great ball and then playing good teams and win. Then the fan support will happen. It isn't going to magically appear because people feel it "should" and it certainly won't appear by forcing people to go to games.

(10-26-2015 04:07 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Winning might help. Or at least playing inspired enough football to warrant support. I'd say that many if the freshmen who came out in the hot sun to watch the listless and pathetic performance against WKU aren't coming back soon.

Let's see what happens to student attendance in men's basketball.

Exactly. My friends came to the Texas watch party after I talked Rice up for the last couple years - we laid and egg and their interest promptly died. My roommate at Wiess actually said to me "I thought you said they were better than when we were there"

(10-26-2015 04:10 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(10-26-2015 04:07 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Winning might help. Or at least playing inspired enough football to warrant support. I'd say that many if the freshmen who came out in the hot sun to watch the listless and pathetic performance against WKU aren't coming back soon.

Let's see what happens to student attendance in men's basketball.

Exactly. My friends came to the Texas watch party after I talked Rice up for the last couple years - we laid and egg and their interest promptly died. My roommate at Wiess actually said to me "I thought you said they were better than when we were there"

I hope you've since sent them the power-point that shows that despite what they perceive, that you were actually right?

As rarely as we won in the 80's, I recall there being tremendous excitement about even relatively minor successes against the 'big boys' of college athletics. They were less enthusiastic in my memory of good plays or big stops or whatever against schools like Miami (in their heyday) than they were about good plays or big stops against even relatively minor 'local' competition (Baylor, Tech, TCU... much less UT or A&M).

Men's basketball support faded. Wilson's teams weren't bad teams, they were .500 teams that phoned it in. Braun brought back some intensity, but not the wins.

Interest in basketball is picking up, and Rhoades hasn't even completed a winning season. Fans would rather watch a bad team try hard than a mediocre team play below its abilities. Fans would rather watch paint dry than indifferent mediocrity.

(10-26-2015 03:37 PM)JSA Wrote:  It was several years ago, but I remember reading about the high percentage of students who participated in extra-mural sports.

I think you mean "intramural" (i.e. "within the walls").

Club sports are indeed extramural, but I don't think Rice's participation rate in those is remarkable (not saying it's low, just unremarkable).

(10-26-2015 04:07 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(10-26-2015 03:52 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  Any student who would take the attitude you just described shouldn't be admitted to Rice. Any student admitted to any university should not only be proud to be there, but also excited about cheering it on at any opportunity.
If there are Rice students sitting in their dorm rooms studying during a football game, I can almost forgive that. If there are students sitting in their dorm room, drinking beer, and watching some other game during a Rice football game, something is fundamentally wrong.
It's a deep problem that has many layers. Any student that would rather watch movies or some other football game over a Rice home game has real issues. It's not about a conference affiliation or whatever "directional" university we're playing that day. It's about a lack of school spirit and pride. The university is not engaging these students. It isn't promoting the "athletics side" of the college experience nearly hard enough. A school like Rice should have a small, but very energized student body. They should love Rice so much that they can't wait for the next game so they can scream it from the top of their lungs!

You're taking a 1980's model student that you have in your head, attempting to force that model on the class of 2019 and wondering why it isn't working. Square pegs, round holes.

A student who watches other games rather than Rice doesn't have issues - Rice has issues because we aren't able to interest this student. I guess in your head, the country, Houston, Rice students all have issues?

Rice needs to start playing great ball and then playing good teams and win. Then the fan support will happen. It isn't going to magically appear because people feel it "should" and it certainly won't appear by forcing people to go to games.

You're right. Rice does have issues. If it can't attract, at least, 300 students to each home game, there's something very wrong with how the university views athletics, in general. You say no students attend games because we suck, don't play exciting football, and are members of CUSA. Some of that may be true, but I believe the problem goes much, much deeper. There's a culture that must be dealt with. There's a culture of apathy towards athletics. The perception at Rice is that athletics diminishes academic integrity. That has to change dramatically. And while all this institutional change is happening, Rice needs to be winning, improving facilities, and playing other Texas schools, period. It's a simple formula.

(10-26-2015 04:22 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Men's basketball support faded. Wilson's teams weren't bad teams, they were .500 teams that phoned it in. Braun brought back some intensity, but not the wins.

Interest in basketball is picking up, and Rhoades hasn't even completed a winning season. Fans would rather watch a bad team try hard than a mediocre team play below its abilities. Fans would rather watch paint dry than indifferent mediocrity.

But when Braun started to win before the giant exodus the attendance was increasing. Unfortunately, the mass exodus absolutely killed that.

Do they still have TGs?

1. The administration and athletic department have to sincerely want a thriving football program. If they don't then it won't happen.

2. Get some very high profile corporate sponsors and support.

3. Build a brand name.

4. Team practicing and playing hard nose smash mouth football

These threads always interest me, because I know that I was definitely an outlier in my time. I could never imagine anything I'd rather do on a fall Saturday than support my university. Of course, I never did a lick of schoolwork between 3 pm Friday and 12 pm Sunday.