[NU Sports] Attendance ideas

[CHerron604 at aol.com]

A couple of points.

Not sure how to raise this tactfully - but why is RW less of a media presence in a major market city like Chicago ?

Is there something about personalities ?  GB, the likeable rogue, drew well.  RW, the sober disciplinarian, draws not so well ?

GB was a Chicago media phenomenon - Chevy commercials, air time on TV and sports-talk radio, etc.  I recall the Chicago ABC affiliate had a season-long celebrity golf challenge, with Bears, White Sox, Cubs, Bulls - GB was featured here also.  And GB even had an eponymous restaurant/bar in downtown Evanston.

RW talks on WGN-radio to the morning-drive guy (probably a contractual thing), and I hear him sometimes on their 6-9pm sports block, but he is not really a presence on the other sports-talk radio outlets or on TV.  And it's probably a personality thing, but he doesn't have nearly the 'man-about-town' image (for good or bad) that GB had.

Also, I'll echo a lot of others - an 11:00 start time, combined with miserable Chicago traffic and chaotic parking can not be a boon to attendance.  As a 20-year season-ticket holder (box 230), with a pass to the West lot, I am amazed at how long it can take me to get from McCormick and Green Bay Road to the West lot and (eventually) my seat.  The ride in from Joliet isn't bad, til you reach the O'Hare area.  Then it really gets bad right around the stadium (Evanston police misdirecting traffic don't help).  Punching the parking passes is slow and about as low-tech as can be - send out a book of 6 parking coupons, and have us hand those over en-route to the lot entrance.  Finally, the hoops you have to jump through to get to your seats - gates closed, student-only gates, non-helpful ushers, people seated in the wrong seats, etc.

All of that said, I imagine I'll be back next year for more...

Chuck Herron   Tech '85