AllWeatherFan said:
Exactly. Please, all you old-timers who attend basketball games, start acting younger, for god’s sake! :lol:
As I recall, Coach Tinkle often exhorted the fans to show up and be loud. He often gestured to the fans during games. It’s all part of the coach’s job. He wasn’t “angry” about it, and neither is DeCuire.
Tinkle and Krysko whined about the poor attendance more than Travis has. This isn't a new situation. I think it's been a consistent decline since about 1995 when football usurped basketball in the hearts of most Griz fans. I've been to almost every Griz home football and basketball game for over 30 years, so I haven't changed my allegiance one iota and it frustrates me that I literally can not GIVE away my extra b-ball tickets (they've been used twice all year), but I attribute the decline to the students apathy especially the football team's presence. When I was a student EVERY footballer was at EVERY basketball game and the student attendance alone was around 2000. I honestly can't recall seeing one footballer at a b-ball game this year,although there must be a couple, but they are certainly not a presence anymore. They suddenly quit being a presence after the 95' Championship season, and the rest of the student population followed suit and the student attendance is usually around 200 now. I don't pretend to know how to reverse the trend and I don't think the lack of Montanans on the team has anything to do with it or the quality of non-conference opponents. People are not growing up living and dying by the b-ball team like they use to in Missoula and if students who get in free don't go to the games, it's a lost cause. It's the same core 2000 (50 year olds+) fans every game, with a couple exceptions for the MSU game or a league-championship-type game vs. Weber and has been for about 20 years.
