Zach article/Our soft OOC schedule

A few thoughts - 

1. As this is a St. John's home game the school needs to get students there. You can't charge them much and need to provide transportation. There has to be a student section behind one of the baskets.
2. We do have an aging fan base. We have also lost fans over the last twenty years as the product has been lacking and people move away. 
3. I think to some extent building enthusiasm for the basketball team ties in with improving enthusiasm for the university. St. John's is a very good school with some excellent programs but it isn't a school that excites most young people.
4. I have many fond memories of CA but its not an adequate facility for a Big East program. You need to have comfortable seats, and more amenities. Look at what AMC was doing with its movie theaters. Nobody would go to a movie theater like CA. Maybe we don't have the fans for a much larger arena but without an upgrade I don't see how you can sustain a program at this level. If the school can't raise money for a vastly improved arena, I think the long term hopes for the program are limited.
5. The lower bowl at UBS is the vast majority of the seats and looks to me as though it will be close to full. That should make for a loud crowd if we stay in the game. I think we need an upset to build excitement for the Big East season.

 
 
Andrew post=443627 said:
A few thoughts - 

1. As this is a St. John's home game the school needs to get students there. You can't charge them much and need to provide transportation. There has to be a student section behind one of the baskets.
2. We do have an aging fan base. We have also lost fans over the last twenty years as the product has been lacking and people move away. 
3. I think to some extent building enthusiasm for the basketball team ties in with improving enthusiasm for the university. St. John's is a very good school with some excellent programs but it isn't a school that excites most young people.
4. I have many fond memories of CA but its not an adequate facility for a Big East program. You need to have comfortable seats, and more amenities. Look at what AMC was doing with its movie theaters. Nobody would go to a movie theater like CA. Maybe we don't have the fans for a much larger arena but without an upgrade I don't see how you can sustain a program at this level. If the school can't raise money for a vastly improved arena, I think the long term hopes for the program are limited.
5. The lower bowl at UBS is the vast majority of the seats and looks to me as though it will be close to full. That should make for a loud crowd if we stay in the game. I think we need an upset to build excitement for the Big East season.
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as others have said, give free tickets to youth programs. That will help w the crowds and help build a fan base. Also make the prices competitive for students, especially at MSG and UBS, students can’t drop a $ 100. Have to really increase student involvement which will increase alumni involvement when they graduate.


 
 
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Beast of the East post=443632 said:
We already give tickets to youth groups at CA.  every ubs tickets must be paid for. No freebies for sju
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have to improve fan base , takes an investment and creativity. Like I said, everything should be done to increase student involvement. My daughter went to FSU, football games are free for students, despite the fact that they have a great product.
 
 
richard A Steinfeld post=443633 said:
Beast of the East post=443632 said:
We already give tickets to youth groups at CA.  every ubs tickets must be paid for. No freebies for sju
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have to improve fan base , takes an investment and creativity. Like I said, everything should be done to increase student involvement. My daughter went to FSU, football games are free for students, despite the fact that they have a great product.

Most state universities charge an activity fee and tickets are then "free". My son is a freshman at Maryland. He has suffered through some Big Ten beatdowns in football and  has been to most of the early season basketball games. He is getting his/our money's worth.
 
 
SJU has had problems drawing fans to games for many years not because CA is old fashioned but because college basketball just doesn’t have move the needle among sport fans. In fact SJU is at the top of the heap among metropolitan colleges but that’s not saying much.
Stoney Brook and Hofstra built new arenas of about 4500 capacity and are half full for most games even though both schools have large dorm numbers. Manhattan and Fordham have antique arenas that hold about 3500 and I’ll bet they haven’t had ten sell outs in 25 years. The MAAC conference held a triple header two years ago at the Nassau Colisseum and couldn’t sell 4500 tickets between six schools.
The only drawing card is a top 25 SJU team playing atop ten team or a top big east team. I have no solutions but I know that high schoolers and college students are among the most interested college fans but getting to arenas ,even CA is just too much trouble without a car. The UBS arena will draw the Islanderfan but very few will go to the trouble of taking public transportation for a college bb game.
 
richard A Steinfeld post=443633 said:
Beast of the East post=443632 said:
We already give tickets to youth groups at CA.  every ubs tickets must be paid for. No freebies for sju
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have to improve fan base , takes an investment and creativity. Like I said, everything should be done to increase student involvement. My daughter went to FSU, football games are free for students, despite the fact that they have a great product.

 
I think  students pay $5 to attend Alabama football games. Granted the seats are up in the rafters. 
 
In 30-40 years, when all us old guys are gone, they'll be talking about SJU basketball the way people talk about CCNY and NYU basketball today. Depressing thought for the day. 
 
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Winning helps for sure. Having said that, there is no getting around the fact that when you attend a Big East Tournament, fan support for other BE teams whether its Nova, Marquette, Butler, Hall or whoever is always as good or better than ours despite it being our City. Probably because NYC is a pro town with lots of other things to do/teams to follow but doubt it will change absent a consistent top 20 team.
 
NCJohnnie post=443640 said:
Winning helps for sure. Having said that, there is no getting around the fact that when you attend a Big East Tournament, fan support for other BE teams whether its Nova, Marquette, Butler, Hall or whoever is always as good or better than ours despite it being our City. Probably because NYC is a pro town with lots of other things to do/teams to follow but doubt it will change absent a consistent top 20 team.
NC in order to have much of a crowd advantage at MSG, we need to draw the impartial college basketball fan. We can't do it with just our fan base. In order to draw the impartial basketball fan, we have to have a team that excites them. Bottom line, as you say, a top 20-25 program will do the trick. This is a tough town; when you're on top the entire city is with you, but  when you're not, you're on your own. 
 
Many excellent points have been made by passionate SJU basketball fans, of which I consider myself one.

But all these comments are coming from those that do attend SJU games, for the most part.  I attend as many games as I can before heading to Florida in mid-January.  The issue is not the fans on this website.  The issue are the hundreds (or thousands) of alumni in the area, that don't give a hoot, and the lack of messaging from the university.  We get over-communicated from Delaware University, where my son graduated from in 2010!

I would say they communicate 100 fold more than SJU, and I graduated from SJU!
 
NCJohnnie post=443640 said:
Winning helps for sure. Having said that, there is no getting around the fact that when you attend a Big East Tournament, fan support for other BE teams whether its Nova, Marquette, Butler, Hall or whoever is always as good or better than ours despite it being our City. Probably because NYC is a pro town with lots of other things to do/teams to follow but doubt it will change absent a consistent top 20 team.
Amen--too much competition for fan entertainment dollars--Nets/Knicks, Rangers/Islanders, Jets/Giants, Mets/Yanks, WNBA team, Pro soccer team, 2 minor league baseball teams.  In addition, Boadway/Off broadway theater,.Lincoln Center, Carneigei Hall.  College Basketball becomes a "niche" enterprise whereas in many places (Bloomington, Indiana/Creighton, etc.) college sports are THE only game in town  
 
At CA, SJU should not have any open seats.  Students have until 1 week before game, then they are donated to schools, VFWs, American Legions, etc.
 
Average ticket price at CA is $12.  Additionally we give a lot of tickets away.   Sju cannot give away tickets to ubs or msg without paying for them first.   

In Mullin's last season we averaged 5500 at CA, and 16,500 at MSG, the best attendance for us since 1992.

To talk here that this may be our best team in decades, heap praise on CMA, Cragg, and Shanley, yet not buy tickets to the best opponent on our schedule is really disgraceful IMO.    When we are playing 3 or 4 games at MSG and the rest at CA we will have no one to blame but our fans or lack thereof.

College bball is not dead.  Absurd statement.  March madness is described as the biggest tournament on earth.   Creighton can sell out home games with mediocre teams.   Villanova sells out games with tons of men and women students, alumni, and family with a much smaller alumni base.  

What Norm Roberts or Mike jarvis did in 2003 to 2007 is irrelevant.    We have a tourney caliber team capable of beating Kansas, who came within 1 possession of beating Indiana in a sold out away game.   Every reason for not showing up is weak, unless you are just too far away.   

To compare free tix at a state school that is funded by tax dollars is not free at all - someone else is paying for it.   I dunno , maybe we should wait for Repole to pay for everyone's tickets and send uber's to take us to and from games.
 
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Monte post=443576 said:
newsman13 post=443574 said:
The more likely scenario is we go 3-7 with that schedule.  At that point, we'd be writing about putting the balls away...and about looking for a new coach.
We have another new team with players who need time go gel.  Fantasies are cool...but at one point you need a reality check.  There's a reason why the top majors are playing weaker teams at this point in the season.
3-7? You must not think very highly of this team. 

I think this team is good enough to make a decent run in the tournament.  Just not now.

 
 
Beast of the East post=443649 said:
Average ticket price at CA is $12.  Additionally we give a lot of tickets away.   Sju cannot give away tickets to ubs or msg without paying for them first.   

In Mullin's last season we averaged 5500 at CA, and 16,500 at MSG, the best attendance for us since 1992.

To talk here that this may be our best team in decades, heap praise on CMA, Cragg, and Shanley, yet not buy tickets to the best opponent on our schedule is really disgraceful IMO.    When we are playing 3 or 4 games at MSG and the rest at CA we will have no one to blame but our fans or lack thereof.

College bball is not dead.  Absurd statement.  March madness is described as the biggest on earth.   tournament on earth.   Creighton can sell out home games with mediocre teams.   Villanova sells out games with tons of men and women students, alumni, and family with a much smaller alumni base.  

What Norm Roberts or Mike jarvis did in 2003 to 2007 is irrelevant.    We have a tourney caliber team capable of beating Kansas, who came within 1 possession of beating Indiana in a sold out away game.   Every reason for not showing up is weak, unless you are just too far away.   

To compare free tix at a state school that is funded by tax dollars is not free at all - someone else is paying for it.   I dunno , maybe we should wait for Repole to pay for everyone's tickets and send uber's to take us to and from games.
I've been a season ticket holder on and off for the past 30 years. Most recently during the Mullin years. I was all set to renew when CMA was hired, but then the school decided to raise ticket prices by 30%. So I decided not to renew. That was a business decision by them, and by me. Not sure how many other season ticket holder they lost with that move. It's doubtful, at this point in my life, that I'll ever become a full season ticket holder again. I hate sitting at CA, and its become tougher and tougher to drive out there and back. Maybe I'd get the MSG package again, but not before the school proves to me that they are committed to having a wining program. Not with words, with results.  
 
As beast of east posted college basketball is not dead , in fact in many places it is thriving but in NYC if it is not dead it is certainly asleep. Too many pro teams in too many sports. The worst thing that happened to NYC college basketball  was the formation of the big east conference. It was great for the members but moved the Manhattans, Fordhams etc. to irrelevancy.
It is hard enough for SJU to compete with the pro element, mid major status just don’t hack it in NYC.
 
Monte post=443639 said:
In 30-40 years, when all us old guys are gone, they'll be talking about SJU basketball the way people talk about CCNY and NYU basketball today. Depressing thought for the day. 

Terrifying thought. Since my wife works at CCNY, I can attest to the fact that their entire history of success has been marginalized to a poster on the gym entrance in tribute.
 
Enright post=443654 said:
As beast of east posted college basketball is not dead , in fact in many places it is thriving but in NYC if it is not dead it is certainly asleep. Too many pro teams in too many sports. The worst thing that happened to NYC college basketball  was the formation of the big east conference. It was great for the members but moved the Manhattans, Fordhams etc. to irrelevancy.
It is hard enough for SJU to compete with the pro element, mid major status just don’t hack it in NYC.
There's NYC and then there's Manhattan. This much I can tell you; college basketball is most certainly not dead in Manhattan. In fact, there's a tremendous amount of college basketball and football fans in NYC, from near and far. I was at a bar on the UES all day Saturday and it was all about college football and basketball. When we have an exciting SJU team, those fans from far jump on our bandwagon. When we suck, they are non existent. That's the way it's always been, and the way it still is. 
 
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