AK - We don't have a "solid middle of the road B1G team" anymore. We are a bottom feeder and might not win any B1G games this season. Face it, we suck, again.The really sad thing is I know just like thousands of others that the day season tickets arrive is like Christmas. Most of us wait seven long months for football season to begin and now by the end of September people are throwing in the towel.
I have a wedding in Nantucket this weekend that should be a very nice affair but I would trade this weekend in a heartbeat to be at the stadium tomorrow. Do you people forget how much all of us prayed to get into the Big Ten?; How much we wanted RU to play a big time schedule?; to play in a great stadium;? to have a tailgating scene that is the envy of many major colleges?
Nobody ever said this gig was going to be easy. But we asked for it and we got it. We have a solid middle-of-the-road Big Ten team even with Kyle Flood.
You want to help bring us to the next level? Stop bitching and whining and support the program with both your wallets and your fannies in the seats at 11:30 tomorrow.
Well at least I feel better now.
Well Magoo has 4 "he can't give away"My tailgate is now growing for tomorrow's game - looks like a few people will be looking for tickets.
Not even close to true. Maryland has a much worse fan base. northwestern does too. Its hard to say with Indiana because they have been so bad.Worst fan base in the B1G. Fans get what they deserve.Comments above support this.
Really looking forward to another homecoming.
On a related note, the apathy is here in New England also. I run the Rutgers Club of New England. We hold game watches at a sports bar here in Boston. The turnout is usually not great but not bad, usually 20-25 alumni will show. For the Louisville game in 2006 we had over 50, which was our best attended game watch ever.
This past weekend at the PSU game watch THREE people attended - myself and two others, and one of the other two was the girlfriend of the alum and was not an RU grad. So two RU alums showed up. Now the notice of the game watch went out from the university to 3,500 alumni in the Boston area. I supplemented that with emails to hundreds of alumni on my list, I put it on our Facebook Group page, and I even posted it on this message board.
You can do the math. Less than 1/10 of 1% of the Boston area alumni who received notice of the event showed up - and we were playing PSU, our purported arch rival, on a Saturday night with beautiful weather. It was very disappointing.
I did receive a few email responses from people saying they were angry about what has transpired at RU over the past weeks and that they weren't going to attend for that reason and didn't think this team deserved their support. My position is you support the university and the remaining 85-90 guys on the team who don't get in trouble and work their tails off. Again, very disappointing.
Outstanding post.
But why skip homecoming and in some lame attempt to make a statement by saying "I am not going" when the team of players who have done nothing wrong are going to go out there and play for Rutgers? If anything, a show of support from the fans would be a nice gesture on homecoming. All of the people who have been accused of doing something wrong have already been punished.
Do whatever you want to do. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I hope the team continues to improve, because they must improve if they want a shot at winning 6 games or more this season, and I still believe that can happen. I am not writing them off because of the WSU and Penn State losses.
and its HOMECOMING. Wow..a leading indicator for a very underwhelming crowd. Nice weather and what, we're taking Kansas for granted?
RU has done a really poor job of pushing the Homecoming angle. Not Big time at all from what I can see. Fireworks? A Band? Fly over? Unveiling the Bowl Game Banner ? Open House at the Hall Center? Anything special?
I get like daily email blasts from the Univ ....but not a thing to excite about this weekend..shame.
and its HOMECOMING. Wow..a leading indicator for a very underwhelming crowd. Nice weather and what, we're taking Kansas for granted?
RU has done a really poor job of pushing the Homecoming angle. Not Big time at all from what I can see. Fireworks? A Band? Fly over? Unveiling the Bowl Game Banner ? Open House at the Hall Center? Anything special?
I get like daily email blasts from the Univ ....but not a thing to excite about this weekend..shame.
I honestly can't believe you're trying to pin, what looks like will be the case tomorrow, lousy attendance, on the athletic department not marketing Homecoming. We were 3-0 the stadium would be full tomorrow, regardless of anything else, so let's be real here 1984.
BTW - in the past two weeks, I probably received 10 different emails about homecoming, either from the athletic department or from various sports teams or the alumni sensation.
Not even close to true. Maryland has a much worse fan base. northwestern does too. Its hard to say with Indiana because they have been so bad.
Another person with a complete lack of perspective.
Here's reality - for a team that has had ONE top 25 finish since moving to FBS almost 40 years ago, we have a very solid fan base. But like EVERY fan base, people are more excited to see us when we are good, and more excited to see us when we are playing good teams.
We aren't good and Kansas is awful.
On a related note, the apathy is here in New England also. I run the Rutgers Club of New England. We hold game watches at a sports bar here in Boston. The turnout is usually not great but not bad, usually 20-25 alumni will show. For the Louisville game in 2006 we had over 50, which was our best attended game watch ever.
This past weekend at the PSU game watch THREE people attended - myself and two others, and one of the other two was the girlfriend of the alum and was not an RU grad. So two RU alums showed up. Now the notice of the game watch went out from the university to 3,500 alumni in the Boston area. I supplemented that with emails to hundreds of alumni on my list, I put it on our Facebook Group page, and I even posted it on this message board.
You can do the math. Less than 1/10 of 1% of the Boston area alumni who received notice of the event showed up - and we were playing PSU, our purported arch rival, on a Saturday night with beautiful weather. It was very disappointing.
I did receive a few email responses from people saying they were angry about what has transpired at RU over the past weeks and that they weren't going to attend for that reason and didn't think this team deserved their support. My position is you support the university and the remaining 85-90 guys on the team who don't get in trouble and work their tails off. Again, very disappointing.
You lost all credibility with Lane Kiffen as a suggestion.We were blown out by a bad Penn St. team that is out recruiting RU. And their coach is no game day genius.
Half of the secondary is in jail.
The future looks bleak. Don't try to sugarcoat it anymore.
Get a Schiano or Lane Kiffen both proven recruiters.
Or the guy from NIU. At least we know he can coach.
Or it's going to get worse.
It's not rocket science: If you win they will come - in droves. Can you imagine a good, competitive RU football team (I'm talking a ranked team, doesn't have to be top ten but top 25, or maybe even a team getting some votes ) and tOSU and MSU coming to Piscataway. It would be bedlam. Is that too much to ask for? I should add the team should be without off field issues.
Did you go to HC last year? 5-3 Rutgers playing Host to 5-2 Wisky...people where bitching about playing such a tough foe for HC. Great atmosphere for the 48k that were there. The upper corners were empty until the end of first qtr (then the stadium emptied)..first year in B1G against a classic powerhouse on HC and still didn't pack out HPSS.
Guess in the end it really does take just winning. And by winning Rutgers being top 20 or something to get folks to come. Again my basic point is that HC should trump some of the fair weather issues.
Knight - People deal with losing in different ways. I'm bringing the family, so I obviously don't support the "protest by staying home" method. That just takes away from my enjoyment of the day.
The bottom line is that if we continue to get caught up in frivolous "scandals", coaching is perceived to be inept and the losses continue to mount, then that will effect ticket sales and donations. If ticket sales drop in a big way and the big time donors start pulling back, then you will see a problem. But if a few hundred to thousand paying customers stay home this weekend, it will have no effect and will only hurt the kids. With that said, I can't sit here and yell at somebody because they decided to not go or stay in the lot. Who am I to blame them after the past month?
1. I don't care about perceptions. I care about reality and truth. Some make decisions on perceptions. That's fine for them, not me.
2. I am not yelling at anyone. However, the posts I quoted above are sad to me.
3. I live by Jimmy V's mantra--"Don't give up. Don't ever give up. After what I went through last year with a health scare, I reaffirmed my core principle to always maintain a positive outlook about everything in my life that is important.
4. Rutgers Football and the New York Mets define about 1-2% of what contributes to my happiness, probably less.
5. I find it comical that some have written off the season after 3 games. Maybe the last 2 weeks are an omen of a horrible season ahead. I'm sure the debbie downers on this board will wave it in my and other's faces "see, I was right, I told you so." If that is where you derive your happiness, then rock on.
6. However, maybe the team will fix its problems and get better. I would like the think that they will. If they do not, then changes will be made at the end of the season or sooner. People will be happy. But many will still complain when the new staff is announced should this happen. Its the nature of being a fan.
7. 80-85 student athletes will be on the field tomorrow representing Rutgers, the school I chose to attend more than 30 years ago. I am proud to be a Rutgers alum, regardless of what happens on the field and off the field.
8. I will take in the beautiful stadium that has been built, the scoreboard and all of the pageantry and think about how far we have come since I went to my first game in 1985. I will also enjoy the time at my tailgate, seeing friends, and having a great time with the folks in my section of the stadium. I only get 6 or 7 opportunities per year to do this, and only once per year on homecoming.
I am proud to be an alumnus of Rutgers University.
delete
I have no issue with anything you say and we need our core fans to feel this way. Nobody is questioning your commitment. However, you stated that we are "the worst fans in the B1G". You repeated this. Others continue to do this and claim our fans are part of the problem. I disagree. They are not, have not been and will not be the issue unless they all walk away.
We need hard core fans like yourself to keep this train moving. But to ignore the problems, noise and perceptions outside of our littler universe is simply covering up your eyes to reality. Perception is important to the program especially if our administration does nothing to stop it. We need the middle of the road and bandwagon fan to take this to the next level. I know guys like you and me will be there next season. But lets not make a judgment of the fan base because some people are pissed off or ignore the bigger picture because we live in a bubble.
Fair enough. Some in our fanbase are the worst fans in the B1G.
This.Noon start doesn't help. 1-2 record doesn't help either. Bad PR in recent weeks as well.
When selling, can you scan the tickets so stubhub can have the print ticket option? Or do the actual tickets need to be mailed to the buyer?I had something come up this weekend so I posted my tix on stubhub. Two buyers gobbled them up within a couple of hours. People are coming.
And a proven non-winner on the field. The only thing a good recruiter/bad coach is good for is setting it up for the next guy down the line to succeed right off the bat.He is a proven big time recruiter. Flood isn't.
When selling, can you scan the tickets so stubhub can have the print ticket option? Or do the actual tickets need to be mailed to the buyer?
I am not sure it has been proven that fans will come in droves consistently even if we win. So when the team is struggling and we are playing an opponent such as Norfolk or to a lesser extent a poor Kansas team then don't expect much hype given what has happened with the program both on and off the field the last few weeks. I will be there tomorrow but not with any real anticipation. There is also a larger issue at play and that is getting people off the couch to attend sporting events live which is why I am not sure they are coming in droves even if we win. Are TV ratings will be better but not sure any attendance jump that will require expansion thats for sure. Do the Giants still sell out all there games? I know the Jets don't. I hear the stadium was certainly not full last night. Better TVs and a disdain for bad weather are issues for football attendance at all levels.
AK - We don't have a "solid middle of the road B1G team" anymore. We are a bottom feeder and might not win any B1G games this season. Face it, we suck, again.
Well Magoo has 4 "he can't give away"
please remind me what that was Nuts. Sat thru almost every game RU has played home last 37 years. Including the Plow game vs. WVU. Nothing comes to mind. I recall a sunny and dry day....and last year's HC was literally played in the worse weather one could ever imagine to deal with on HC.