[NU Sports] Attendance

[WildElk2 at aol.com]

Master of the Obvious Dept.: The 12 game schedule has made it  more difficult 
to get decent crowds, although Mark Murphy is on record that he  will take a 
win at home in front of 15,000, as he feels that more wins will  eventually 
equal more people.
   With the BTN,  there may be more flexibility of starting  times.  Maybe we 
can  ask the BTN for more 2:30 PM games (as well as  an occasional night 
game)?  11:00 AM kick-offs have to keep at least a few  people away.  The Duke 
game is perfect example, as it produced  6,7,000 more than the 
Northeastern/Nevada games.
   Get a series with Northern Ill..  A five year series with  3 games in 
Evanston.  This would help both programs , who struggle with  early season 
attendance issues.
   Schedule a "home" game outside of Dyche Stadium. This is not a  paycheck 
game like the one we disgustingly played vs. Ohio St. at Cleveland  Municipal 
Stadium in the early Nineties.   There are plenty of small  stadiums across the 
country that hold 20,000-25,000.  An example would be  Hershey Park Stadium 
in Hershey, Pa., which holds 20,000.  In 2009 we play  Towson; a perfect game 
to make it easy for east coast alums and  fans.   Notre Dame is playing "home" 
games in San Antonio and  Jacksonville in the near future.
   On the day of the game, if we have a 20,000-25,000 ish crowd,  sell the 
end zone  and goal-line seats for $5, and advertise the hell out  of it via 
newspapers, radio, TV.   Just get people here; they'll buy  hot dogs, programs, 
and once in a while, they'll get a junkie hooked like me,  who paid $4 for end 
zone seats circa. 1980.   In the same vein, bring  back Band Day and sell all 
those crappy seats for a $1 for each band  member.  
   Crowds(?) of 16,000, 17,000, and 20,000 for a conference game  is 
unacceptable.   Time to take steps to change.
   As far as the Illinois game, I anticipate a hard-hitting  nail-biter, but 
I'm picking Illinois to win, as after 4 straight wins, it's  Illinois's turn.  
They will not take us lightly, and after 4 straight  losses and so much on 
the line, I see no let-down.  We need to stop the  run, period.  With that said, 
I see a 31-27 Illinois win.    If we can stop the run , we'll give ourselves 
a chance to win.
 
    GO CATS!!!    Eric
   



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