1010 Not So Happy Hour discussion of Bulls' fan apathy

[Triple B]

I thought the discussion was fan apathy, and then a successfull program. IMO there will never be a championship without passionate fans in the stands.

IMO a stadium full of passionate fans is paramount to winning. So, from that perspective, I'll take the fans.

I'll take 10-12 wins a year and consider USF a success

you can have success without a huge fan base. ask miami. tcu. boise state.

you can have a huge fan base without success on the field ask. south carolina.

it;s the chicken and the egg problem.

I believe we will have success and then get fans in the stands.

I guess you guys believe we will have to have fans in the stands before success.

LOL ... Keep straying further and further away from the original argument about a "successful program". I repeat, there are different measurements of success and you are strictly focusing on on the field results ... which is fine but, IMO, it's not the ONLY definition of a "successful program". It's hard for me to call a football program that's averaged around 80K for the last 12 years or so, unsuccessful ...

this argument started with a radio guy's idea that in order to have success you need to have a rabid fan base. I don't think he meant success in the pocket book. maybe he did. I assumed he meant success on the field.

At the very least, he meant a combination of both ...

why would a fan ever care about how much money we generate?

Because that fan understands that money is the driving force behind everything .... including college football. Since you don't care, does that mean you don't donate?

I think they are more interested in wins than they are dollars and cents. at least i am.

Aren't you the one who wants to bring in all top 10 teams for our ooc home sched and stop scheduling sure wins?  8-)

Notre dame can take their fat bank account and big crowd. I'll take the W any day

LOL ... Come on, man, we're not talking about one game here. Who do you think's happier with their football program's overall "success" ... an ND alum or a USF alum?

[Triple B]

Pretty much everything you said is spot-on. With our current situation at Ray Jay, tailgating is truly a headache.

I still don't understand this "tailgating is a headache" stuff .... just because of a few parking Nazis?? Open grass fields ... even trees in some spots ... I just don't see the big problem. I don't see how it's not going to be a bigger problem on campus ...

The fact that the games have an overall NFL feel to them makes them less fun (like a college game should be) when you have some ass-wad behind you telling you to sit down because he cant see sitting in his seat when we just scored.

I'm convinced that those that keep talking horribly about the feel of an NFL game either have been to only a few or sit in the worst possible section, where they have people telling them to sit down after we just scored a td ... Biggest negative difference is the band as opposed to the piped in stuff, which there is way too much of at both type games at RayJay.

[Bruce Blingstein]

we'll never be able to do this at ray jay

[Rocky Style]

I was listening to this discussion on 1010 again today before class and one thing they said kind of resonated...  We don't have the generations of interest in this program yet.  I finished my undergrad at USF back in 2004 and while I went to the football games, I never went back to campus (hey how about that OCS).  Upon enrolling in grad school at USF and getting back on the campus I have to say I am very impressed with some of the improvements that were made.  I wonder how many grads just graduate and move on with life and don't stay connected with the school?  I imagine we are only now starting to get some tiny second generation football Bulls fans going to games with their dads etc.  The tradition has to keep building.

As for the apathy, this has been a really rough year for fans (and no I am not going to reduce their expressions to "whining" as others on this board methodically and systematically do).  Add on top of that all the conference realignment hilarity and I think it adds another layer into the mix.  Personally, I love going to the games and winning or losing isn't going to change that.  You are still hanging out with your friends, yelling/acting like a fool, cheering, booing refs, eating lots of food, and watching football live.  I am sure there are plenty of these types out there, but having that tradition built with the alumni certainly helps to build that connection that exists outside of just the game.

We have accomplished a lot in a short time, but you can't just suddenly have the same football tradition that established powers have.  It takes time, but hey it's fun to be in on the ground floor.

[Mission9]

we'll never be able to do this at ray jay

Yeah, that's why I go to the games!  :

[hbryan]

He basically said USF fans are "spoiled" and the only thing lacking for USF's program success is broad-based passionate fan support.

PJ pretty much nailed it with that ...

I call BS.  I know JP and JP went to FSU with Skips extended family.  Skip wants broad-based pationate fan support (BBPFS) and probably voices it to JP through his buddy from FSU and maybe even off the record.  I've heard the same from Skips family.  Skip will get the BBPFS if he provides a few big win and memorable seasons.  Tanking against weak/mediocre opponents in our conference will not produce what he or JP thinks is needed.  You cannot put the cart before the horse, there's a path and that path is pretty clear.  CJL proved it when we sold out against WVU.  If Skip can get production on the field and stop losing to bad teams, he'll get what he wants and so with the USF fan base.  Anyone who thinks we should be selling out games with the product currently being provided on the field is dillusional at best.

[USF Bulls Football]

Rocky.. +10000000

[nickd25]

15 yrs of football. It takes time folks.

[Guest TherapyBull]

I agree with the sentiments about the fan base increasing with time. Traditional students over the age of 35 never had a football team to follow. One can expect a certain percentage of students in each 4 year cohort to become game attending fans post graduation, and with time the 60,000 plus threshold can be reached. Wins and quality home opponents will give temporary boosts in attendance.

I'm glad people have brought up the poor commercials for USF. I've been screaming for years that they look like high school productions at best. I think when you put something of poor quality out their it does more harm then good.

[mellobull]

 Another problem that hasn"t been mentioned is Tampa or Florida in general is a transplant state. We have  a lot of folks here that have brought their favorite team support/following with them from way back . That in it self is going to take time for this next generation to catch on to the Bulls . We have fans in Florida from all up and down the east coast not just the so called Big three to deal with .  For instance my whole neighborhood lacking just a couple are from Michigan, and they still follow the Wolverines avidly . Also guys i worked on the job with in the construction field,  Wisconsin, Rutgers , Penn State ..shee whizzz i could go on . Just because the Bulls are now the The college team in Tampa does not mean they are Tampa's college team. Not yet anyway . It's going to take some time as has been said . Winning is one factor yes . But what is going to really help is going on now and will only increase. And that is having our Bulls players returning to the program as coaches. Hell. their is nothing like a home grown coach . And to the surrounding schools as coaches . to get the recruiting swayed to our advantage here.      my two cents ;D   You can now chop liver if you will