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Promoting Basketball

I think UM75 has nailed most of the problems with Griz (and most college) BB attendance. to solve the problem you have to solve who goes to the games, and who doesn't, because there is a direct link between the 2 (what college kid wants to go get rowdy in front of grandparents, and what grandparents want a bunch of rowdy kids in front of them). All those people who refuse to stand and tell you to sit down at football games? They make up the season ticket base for basketball.

I also think you can draw a pretty distinct connection between the decline of college basketball attendance and the rise of Showtime in LA. Remember the plush Gold GAA seats where the mighty and important used to watch the Griz from midway up the seating? After seeing Nicholson courtside with his shades on at the forum, or Spike Lee standing on the court heckling officials in the Garden respectable plush seating away from the court wouldn't due - it was courtside or bust for the well heeled and I-come-to-games-so-people-see-me crowd. The people who actually want to got to the games to watch the game? eh, well... and those plush seats? Well they are still there, but they are maroon now. Know who sits in them? Hardly anyone, cause anyone who has a ticket there also has a an entrance to the Skyclub. If you are one of the first 10 people in the Skyclub you can watch most of the game, otherwise you can sort of watch it on tv. But that doesn't matter, because almost everyone there would rather talk about the snow conditions at Snowbowl anyways, or when they are going to Whitefish or Big Sky again. The Skyclub is always packed, although fewer than a dozen people know the score or even who won.

How to fix attendance at Griz basketball games? That is the topic that first drew me to eGriz well over a decade ago. Trying to get the football fans from out of town to drive over is a folly. Trying gimics to draw UM students is even more hopeless - it isn't their team, and it sure as hell isn't their scene. Dahlberg belongs to the same people who had their fun there in '70's and '80's and refused to let go and give it to the new generation. Trying to recreate that era is hopeless.

So how to save Griz basketball? Kill it. Make it so uncomfortable and unpleasant for the current season ticket holder base that they give up their tickets. Jack up the price of season tickets so high that the older base is insulted and gives them up, then lower the cost of GA tickets to almost $0 and get rid of ushers and security so the freeloaders can sit where they want. Same with parking, charge a fortune of season pass, but get rid of attendants so anyone can park where they want. Move the parents section to the plush seats, and close the Skyclub to everyone during the game.

Then go after people who love basketball and want to be there. Carve out sections for high school students and let them run amok in there. Schedule high school basketball games before weekday Griz games - parents travel across Montana during weekdays to watch their kids play, certainly a Sentinel/BHS, Hellgate/Capital, or Big Sky/Glacier game will draw some fans during the week. Partner with the 7 tribal colleges to extend complimentary student admission, and run a bus from the reservations on weekends, and from Pablo from every game. Schedule a Tribal Colleges game before weekend Griz games. Give the south floor seating area to the Kyiyo club, get rid of the seats and encourage them to bring drums.


If all of this madness doesn't work? Sell beer.
 
All good. Adding my disjointed thoughts/observations after 40 plus years season ticket holder for both men and women. 1. Students need to be courtside on the east where they can heckle and torment the opposition as they did during Heathcote days. 2. Christmas break needs to be limited to two weeks. Lengthening the break to cram in a semester so some faculty can earn extra needed bucks and a few students can get catch up credits would keep those seats empty for five weeks. 3. Have winning teams. 4. There are two types of fans--basketball junkies and see and be seen socialites who are there for the show. Both are necessary. 1& 2 have to happen, but won 't, before we pack the house again.
 
How about we get a fundraiser started where people line up for a chance to pee down RE's leg for a paltry $10??? He does that daily anyway, so I'm sure he'd be game for it.
 
mondayamqb said:
2. Christmas break needs to be limited to two weeks. Lengthening the break to cram in a semester so some faculty can earn extra needed bucks and a few students can get catch up credits would keep those seats empty for five weeks.
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Well, this is a major problem. The BB team plays a substantial part of its season when the campus is virtually empty. The long, long break, from about December 9 through the end of January, with an alleged "winter session" thrown in there for one or two credit classes, is a complete joke. Students hate it. Faculty hates it. Parents hate it. Facilities Services hates it because they have to staff, but have few students to serve.

And, it breaks the continuity of the Basketball season. The Griz play 13-15 games during finals and over that break. If students even wanted to "follow" the team, they come back to a team that is comprehensively different than the one in early December. Too much has happened.

If it were possible to go back to the Quarter system, all sorts of things besides BB would be resolved more appropriately on Campus, and we would be more compatible with our peer institutions that are on quarter systems. However, simply beginning Spring Semester during the first week of January would resolve much of the pain of the current calendar, support the BB and campus facilities much better, give the kids an early break for job hunting and a longer summer to earn money in. But, UM needs to extract those few extra dollars from students over that one cold winter month, and so economics triumphs common sense, even if the changes might spur enrollment increases because it works better for the students in the long run.

If they need that one month "semester" make it the last one in the Spring. Students who don't need it can take off and start earning money. Students who need to make adjustments for their graduation can make them. Students that want to get some credits and hang and recreate can do so when it is a heck of a lot nicer than in January.

But ask somebody in Main Hall if that is possible, or if they even think there is a problem. You will get the usual blank stares and deer-in-headlights puzzlement: "what is this "problem" of which you speak?" On the other hand, I have now heard good reports from staff on the new VP enrollment. He brings an honest background to the task, and is something of a turnaround artist. Maybe he's the guy to talk to.
 
UMGriz75 said:
citay said:
Basketball players, generally being lean and tall, are perfect models for great fashion, but Montana totally squanders the opportunity.
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Well, with the trending toward ever longer and baggier shorts, which are now practically bloomers, and why even at that ours are about 6" longer than most international teams, it is a mystery what fashion sense or athleticism those things are supposed to highlight.
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The comments of the Significant Other on uniforms, for which I take no responsibility.
"Oh God, get rid of the bloomers. Get short shorts, show some legs boys, then the girls will be there."
Well, she's the one with the genuine wolf whistle, so there it is.
 
gotgame75 said:
How about we get a fundraiser started where people line up for a chance to pee down RE's leg for a paltry $10??? He does that daily anyway, so I'm sure he'd be game for it.
Click to expand...
the problem with this is the way the $10 will get distributed:
$2 to dining services
$1 to pay for the history building
$2 to pay for RE's deferred comp plan
$2 to MSU (cause Cruzado is smart and gets what she wants)
$1 to facility services
$.75 to pay off the Adams Center remodel
$.50 to the Kaimin
$.50 to pay for childcare
$.25 to the basketball program

at this point we are talking about like $.01 per ounce to pee down his leg. In order to get enough volume to make it worth it we are back to where we started - selling beer in the stadium.
 
Noting that Men's Basketball has had its marketing and promotions budget slashed in more than half from last year, even as the overall athletic department budget for marketing has increased, Kent Haslam seems to have offered his opinion on where Men's Basketball is headed. He's not interested or doesn't feel the investment can pay off.
 
citay said:
Entrances and Warmups:
I've always been big on entrances, and the football program has mastered it. The entrance down the tunnel, the human corridor stretching onto the field, the cheerleaders and flags, Monte and the motorcycle-it's part of the football tradition at Montana. Since I never see basketball games in Missoula, I don't know if basketball has anything like that.
But I know this: If I were a coach, my teams would make a flashy entrance, especially for road games. They'd come onto the floor jogging single file, then serpentine into their layup lines. The first guy would be my best dunker, and he'd throw down a thunderbolt to get things started. We'd then break into the fastest slickest passing drills possible. Every second would be filled with drills or warmup exercises, with no horsing around. It's always been my feeling that basketball teams waste valuable practice time by screwing around during warmups. And remember, in almost any arena, you're playing not only to fans but to recruits. You want to put on a show.
Exhibit A: Stephen Curry. His pre-game shooting and dribbling exhibition has become a must-see event. But notice: He's not just putting on a show, he's perfecting his game. Every action he takes has a purpose. Most guys, even pros, just come out and jimmy-jack around for fifteen minutes, squandering precious time to work on their games, and possibly entertain fans. Not Curry. All coaches should take note.
Click to expand...

Uniforms:
In football, it's a whole separate topic of discussion. When new uni's are unveiled, you'd think the guys on our football board were at a Commes des Garcon runway during Paris Fashion Week. Oregon is clearly the Ralph Lauren of the football fashion world, and the vibe has radiated out as far as Missoula's Wash-Griz stadium--but not Dahlberg Arena. I take that back slightly: I really liked our slate uni's last year. Very cool. But normally our kids wear ugly maroon uni's that look baggy and bulky, like they just came out a dryer, un-ironed. Basketball players, generally being lean and tall, are perfect models for great fashion, but Montana totally squanders the opportunity.
Nor should this cost money. If we're working with Nike, go to them. Tell them we want something special, and are willing to take risks. Risks mean you might occasionally look foolish, but overall, I bet we'd become known for great looking uni's, for our style. Winning is important, and Montana will win a lot under DeCuire. But it's also about style, about the show, about entertainment. I'll get to see us at least twice this year, once in Los Angeles and once in Eugene, and I'm taking a barf bag. If we come out in those same drab old butt-ugly bulky-baggy maroon uniforms, I'm going to use it.

To be continued...
Click to expand...

Except the half hour he spends trying to kick the ball in the basket of course...
 
Grizbeer said:
I think UM75 has nailed most of the problems with Griz (and most college) BB attendance. to solve the problem you have to solve who goes to the games, and who doesn't, because there is a direct link between the 2 (what college kid wants to go get rowdy in front of grandparents, and what grandparents want a bunch of rowdy kids in front of them). All those people who refuse to stand and tell you to sit down at football games? They make up the season ticket base for basketball.

I also think you can draw a pretty distinct connection between the decline of college basketball attendance and the rise of Showtime in LA. Remember the plush Gold GAA seats where the mighty and important used to watch the Griz from midway up the seating? After seeing Nicholson courtside with his shades on at the forum, or Spike Lee standing on the court heckling officials in the Garden respectable plush seating away from the court wouldn't due - it was courtside or bust for the well heeled and I-come-to-games-so-people-see-me crowd. The people who actually want to got to the games to watch the game? eh, well... and those plush seats? Well they are still there, but they are maroon now. Know who sits in them? Hardly anyone, cause anyone who has a ticket there also has a an entrance to the Skyclub. If you are one of the first 10 people in the Skyclub you can watch most of the game, otherwise you can sort of watch it on tv. But that doesn't matter, because almost everyone there would rather talk about the snow conditions at Snowbowl anyways, or when they are going to Whitefish or Big Sky again. The Skyclub is always packed, although fewer than a dozen people know the score or even who won.

How to fix attendance at Griz basketball games? That is the topic that first drew me to eGriz well over a decade ago. Trying to get the football fans from out of town to drive over is a folly. Trying gimics to draw UM students is even more hopeless - it isn't their team, and it sure as hell isn't their scene. Dahlberg belongs to the same people who had their fun there in '70's and '80's and refused to let go and give it to the new generation. Trying to recreate that era is hopeless.

So how to save Griz basketball? Kill it. Make it so uncomfortable and unpleasant for the current season ticket holder base that they give up their tickets. Jack up the price of season tickets so high that the older base is insulted and gives them up, then lower the cost of GA tickets to almost $0 and get rid of ushers and security so the freeloaders can sit where they want. Same with parking, charge a fortune of season pass, but get rid of attendants so anyone can park where they want. Move the parents section to the plush seats, and close the Skyclub to everyone during the game.

Then go after people who love basketball and want to be there. Carve out sections for high school students and let them run amok in there. Schedule high school basketball games before weekday Griz games - parents travel across Montana during weekdays to watch their kids play, certainly a Sentinel/BHS, Hellgate/Capital, or Big Sky/Glacier game will draw some fans during the week. Partner with the 7 tribal colleges to extend complimentary student admission, and run a bus from the reservations on weekends, and from Pablo from every game. Schedule a Tribal Colleges game before weekend Griz games. Give the south floor seating area to the Kyiyo club, get rid of the seats and encourage them to bring drums.


If all of this madness doesn't work? Sell beer.
Click to expand...
Otherwise known As the nuclear option.


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