Usf is a G5 school

[NewEnglandBull]

1 hour ago, John Lewis said:

I fully understand the feeling expressed watching and the feelings after the game, trust me.

What I don't understand is how pulling away from the program is what some may consider a good idea. It's the worst possible idea in my opinion.

I have held 4 season tickets since the first season. I provide additional giving to the scholarship fund and other endowed funds through the Bulls Club and have for years. Pulling that support when times are tough is not something that helps us get better.

Perfect! Yes, at the end of the day this is where many of us got our degree. I owe this university with my livelihood. Although this does not directly relate to athletics, it is a manifestation of it. Good or bad I am all in...

Edited September 30, 2019 by NewEnglandBull

[Triple B]

1 hour ago, puc86 said:

What would you suggest would be a more constructive and effective way for the average fan to express themselves besides voting with their dollars? If people have lost faith in the program and no longer are enjoying the return on their investment why is USF entitled to their money? If everyone on here not only didn't pull funding but actually gave another $2k what tangible change would they see to justify that added expense? Because that effectively happened with the Beast dissolution and we appear to have squandered it. The program is not better off than it was 10 years ago, this is a problem and the problem is not that of the consumer. People have demonstrated that they are willing to support USF and the university has gone out of its way to destroy any good will it has ever had with its alumni, its boosters and the community. Maybe instead of always testing the boundaries of support USF could give people a reason to be happy with parting with their time and money. 

The program is not better off than it was 10 years ago because of our backward slide into your beloved AAC. Withholding money will do nothing but exacerbate that problem. *****, moan, whine, email but withholding something that could be key to any hopes we have of getting back there is beyond clueless.....

[puc86]

7 minutes ago, Triple B said:

The program is not better off than it was 10 years ago because of our backward slide into your beloved AAC. Withholding money will do nothing but exacerbate that problem. *****, moan, whine, email but withholding something that could be key to any hopes we have of getting back there is beyond clueless.....

I have not conveyed anything regarding myself but there is very few things in life that annoy me more than a company feeling they are entitled to people's money. If consumers choose not to give a company money it is never the fault of the consumer and always the fault of the company. Some people have reached their limits on whining, moaning and emailing and feel their concerns are not being addressed at some point people will defect and take their money with them. There is absolutely nothing that makes USF football enjoyable for the majority of people and they already are not using the tickets they are wasting their money on, at some point things need to change and there has to be a return on investment or people will say maybe I should stop making myself miserable and setting my money on fire. Now I get why it would be worse for the University if the funding dries up more than it has already but to think it could be any worse for the average fan is clueless. If USF football was a store, a restaurant or any actual business that did not have an emotional bond with some it would already be out of business and would have completely earned it. 

[John Lewis]

1 hour ago, puc86 said:

What would you suggest would be a more constructive and effective way for the average fan to express themselves besides voting with their dollars? If people have lost faith in the program and no longer are enjoying the return on their investment why is USF entitled to their money? If everyone on here not only didn't pull funding but actually gave another $2k what tangible change would they see to justify that added expense? Because that effectively happened with the Beast dissolution and we appear to have squandered it. The program is not better off than it was 10 years ago, this is a problem and the problem is not that of the consumer. People have demonstrated that they are willing to support USF and the university has gone out of its way to destroy any good will it has ever had with its alumni, its boosters and the community. Maybe instead of always testing the boundaries of support USF could give people a reason to be happy with parting with their time and money. 

Some great questions here and I will try to answer as best I can.

I'm not sure what the most effective way there is for our fans to express their displeasure besides voting with their dollars. However, I do know that we have an AD who will listen to our fans, who will speak to our fans and he has proven that in his time here. I also know that pulling dollars from a program that needs to raise more than we have is also not effective. We are right in the middle of a campaign to build a facility that will transform the program we are most passionate about and because we're in a  tough situation people want to run from. This doesn't help us move forward at all. Obviously, I cannot tell those who post here, or who I talk to personally, how to spend their dollars, but I can say that we can't move in the direction we all want if support wanes.

You do bring up an interesting point about the dissolution of the Big East. I wouldn't agree that we have appeared to have squandered anything because we, and the other members, were left in the cold by Syracuse and Pitt. This surely is a cause of the program not being the same as it was 10 years ago. 

I would also say the the consumer is part of the problem. I'm not talking about those who aren't going to the games now, or donating to the Bulls Club. I'm talking about those who found it convenient to leave once we lost the Big East affiliation and the automatic BCS berth. Yes, that happened during a downturn in the program, but we bounced back. I talk to many people every day and sometime I reach out to those who have not been involved with us for a period of time and it's a shame when I hear that there is not interest in the programs that we play right now. I could care less who we play because I attend game to watch USF. MY TEAM!!

[CousinRicky]

My story re: The Big East has to do with MBB.  We were buying 4 tickets; 2 for my wife and me and we had 4 friends who would split up the other two.  None of the 4 were USF fans but, rather, college BB fans.  When we left the BE, they no longer wanted the tickets.  

[puc86]

4 minutes ago, John Lewis said:

Some great questions here and I will try to answer as best I can.

I'm not sure what the most effective way there is for our fans to express their displeasure besides voting with their dollars. However, I do know that we have an AD who will listen to our fans, who will speak to our fans and he has proven that in his time here. I also know that pulling dollars from a program that needs to raise more than we have is also not effective. We are right in the middle of a campaign to build a facility that will transform the program we are most passionate about and because we're in a  tough situation people want to run from. This doesn't help us move forward at all. Obviously, I cannot tell those who post here, or who I talk to personally, how to spend their dollars, but I can say that we can't move in the direction we all want if support wanes.

You do bring up an interesting point about the dissolution of the Big East. I wouldn't agree that we have appeared to have squandered anything because we, and the other members, were left in the cold by Syracuse and Pitt. This surely is a cause of the program not being the same as it was 10 years ago. 

I would also say the the consumer is part of the problem. I'm not talking about those who aren't going to the games now, or donating to the Bulls Club. I'm talking about those who found it convenient to leave once we lost the Big East affiliation and the automatic BCS berth. Yes, that happened during a downturn in the program, but we bounced back. I talk to many people every day and sometime I reach out to those who have not been involved with us for a period of time and it's a shame when I hear that there is not interest in the programs that we play right now. I could care less who we play because I attend game to watch USF. MY TEAM!!

Thank you for the in depth reply. I completely understand your position and from the business perspective it completely makes sense. What I think some on here are all too quick to dismiss is from the consumer perspective it completely makes sense why some would navigate away from the program. It is unfortunate and I too have no idea what can be done to fix the rift that is growing between consumers and the football program but I do not begrudge those that have had their fill and they obviously have every right to give up and there is nothing that will get worse for them by doing so. 

[John Lewis]

7 minutes ago, puc86 said:

Thank you for the in depth reply. I completely understand your position and from the business perspective it completely makes sense. What I think some on here are all too quick to dismiss is from the consumer perspective it completely makes sense why some would navigate away from the program. It is unfortunate and I too have no idea what can be done to fix the rift that is growing between consumers and the football program but I do not begrudge those that have had their fill and they obviously have every right to give up and there is nothing that will get worse for them by doing so. 

Appreciate your perspective and support.

Winning will help cure some of the ills.

[puc86]

Just now, John Lewis said:

Appreciate your perspective and support.

Winning will help cure some of the ills.

It always does. Everything you do when you win is a great decision and everything you do when you lose is idiotic. Hopefully we get back to some winning but at current losing seems more in the cards for us, it's just an unfortunate situation where likely no one wins. 

[NewEnglandBull]

35 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

My story re: The Big East has to do with MBB.  We were buying 4 tickets; 2 for my wife and me and we had 4 friends who would split up the other two.  None of the 4 were USF fans but, rather, college BB fans.  When we left the BE, they no longer wanted the tickets.  

So they really did not go to cheer on USF?

[CousinRicky]

Just now, NewEnglandBull said:

So they really did not go to cheer on USF?

Not particularly.  They cheered for USF while there but had no ties to the school. One guy was a Kentucky fan, one UNC, one Arizona and the other guy was a Hofstra grad.  They enjoyed watching the BE teams.  The KY guy would have gone in for the next year but the other 3 didn't.