BozoneCat said:
Last I checked, Dahlberg Arena only seats 7,500 fans. I think the Griz will probably average about 4,500 fans over the course of the season, with conference games getting more fans. Could be more, could be less, just a guess. By my math, that only leaves ~3,000 empty seats. Not that this is good, but it certainly is a big difference from 8,000 empty seats.
On a similar note, when did the Griz (or any Big Sky team) EVER sell out every game? I don't know what kind of illusion you got from going to games fifteen years ago, but neither UM nor MSU has ever sold out any games on a consistent basis. UM hasn't even sold out a Cat-Griz game in a few years. I think you are being completely unrealistic in your "facts" and in your hopes for creating an "all-Montana-raised team."
If you want to watch a team that has every player being from Montana, go watch Hellgate play Sentinal.
BozoneCat, there was a time when Griz basketball averaged close to 7,500 to 8,000 fans in the late '70s and early '80s. This was when students would show up like 2 to 3 hours prior to the basketball game to get the best seats in the student section. That 3 hours would be for the Griz-Cat games, other games would be 2 to 2 1/2 hours prior. This was also a time when capacity of stadium was around 9,000 seats. Remodel, which I touch on further down this post, lost 1,500 seats, most of them between the baskets.
I actually have a picture of me in the student section that was in the newspaper. Never see the students like that again. They are no longer on the east side on floor level.
If there is anything Pete is right about is the disconnection of the students. But he states the wrong reason for it, though. JC players, Out of State Players, etc is just not the reason for the disconnection between students or fans.
But, I will say this. Early '80s, during introductions, the students would all stand up and yell as loud as they could. It would be so intimidating to the opposing teams, Griz would often come out fast with plenty of momentum. Griz won many of those games due to those fast starts. Plus, it really didn't take the team to get the crowd going like it does now. Back then, the students would all get up when the team was stagnating and start chanting reall loud, creating energy for the team and that caused the team to get momentum.
But, there was a rule that had a negative effect on the student section. Big Sky Conference created a rule that player introductions had to be done in an alternating style. Introduce one player of opposing team and then home, and then opposing, and so on. This dampered the student section quite a bit. To combat this, the students would hold up a page of the Missoulian acting as if they were reading it when introducing the opposing player. But eventually that ended.
No other team had fans that could intimidate the opposing teams so much as the Griz. So that rule for alternating player introductions was called the Montana Rule.
As for why I am telling you guys all this, is because that rule in a way took a lot of fun out of the game for the students, and a big reason for the small student crowd as it is now. Well, it is small because of the remodel, but the student crowd was declining long before the remodel. Because of the declining student attendance, there really wasn't much choice for Hogan to move them behind the baskets. Plus, With the fun taken out for the students, the lack of excitement spread to the other fans as well, and they stopped coming.
There are other reasons, remodel is the major reason for decline. With a loss of 1,500 seats, and most of them between the baskets, a lot of season ticket holders lost good seats and stopped coming. Plus, I do not think the seats are as comfortable, and many fans may think the same.
And, I will say this. I left Missoula in 1984 for Seattle. Came back in 1988. When I came back, there wasn't even close to the amount of crowd participation (especially from students) as there was in 1984.
But the sad part of all those years after Michael Ray Richardson left (who by the way was an out of state player) The Griz never won a Big Sky Championship until players like Kevin Kearney and Delvon Anderson were recruited (from out of state), along with one of our favorite instate players, Roger Fasting. Thus, proving a team needs to recruit outside the local area along with locally. Plus, Montgomery never could win any Big Sky Championships because he scheduled games against the weakest competition to earn himself a good record as a coach.
So, Pete, you may have one thing correct, but for the wrong reasons. Has nothing to do with JC recruits, out of state recruits, etc.
But, right now, the Griz are much more fun to watch and deserve the crowd support. The Griz may not win the Big Sky this year, but they will win it in the next few years. They will win it on a more consistent basis unlike during the Taylor/Holst years and against a much more difficult schedule. Big Sky Conference is much tougher than it was back when Taylor was coach.
Well, sorry for the long exhaustive post. Many of you will probably glance past it and smirk. But I do believe I touched on some major reasons for loss in attendance. And Pete's reasons do not come close to reason for lack of attendance, except maybe the students.
