where do we go from here?

[Chief]

On generating more excitement for the program and boosting attendance. I would love to see the Dahlberg be as intimidating of an environment as WA Griz one day. Wishful thinking but who knows

 

[becker2117]

On generating more excitement for the program and boosting attendance. I would love to see the Dahlberg be as intimidating of an environment as WA Griz one day. Wishful thinking but who knows

hopefully the last 4 games here has gotten some peoples attention! there is no reason we cant have rowdy football and basketball games..i have been begging for an enviorment like that in dahlberg for along time now and it was a BLAST.

 

[Grizfan-24]

Frankly it is hard matching a game day environment for basketball with football. I think my frustration is that people expect that basketball environment (pre-game/post-game) is the same as football.

I think continued success is going to put people back in the seats, and the last five game run did a lot to help that. I for one am tired of the gimics to get people in the seats. Truly either people want to show up for a 15 or so home game schedule a year or they don't. I don't think tailgates or ancillary things bring in consistent attendance.

There are just so few people left from the era where people knew what it meant to go to Griz basketball games. The best thing that can happen is getting the people who do care, to bring as many people along as they can. Cause i am quite sure that people will enjoy the product. Tinks and the crew are building something special, and once they go, they'll keep coming back.

 

[becker2117]

Frankly it is hard matching a game day environment for basketball with football. I think my frustration is that people expect that basketball environment (pre-game/post-game) is the same as football.

I think continued success is going to put people back in the seats, and the last five game run did a lot to help that. I for one am tired of the gimics to get people in the seats. Truly either people want to show up for a 15 or so home game schedule a year or they don't. I don't think tailgates or ancillary things bring in consistent attendance.

There are just so few people left from the era where people knew what it meant to go to Griz basketball games. The best thing that can happen is getting the people who do care, to bring as many people along as they can. Cause i am quite sure that people will enjoy the product. Tinks and the crew are building something special, and once they go, they'll keep coming back.

haha this is exactly what i do...i ask people all week if they want to come...it usually works pretty well, but i think they just end up thinking im a psycho path lol

 

[Grizfan-24]

I would have paid anything to be there last night.

I live in southern Idaho and all I was talking about work is watching the game on ESPN, they were like 'why is that important.' Then I said some really snarky comments about the state of Idaho, the desolate pile of refuse that is southern idaho and that convinced them that UofM basketball and sports is better. Snarky works.

 

[BWahlberg]

Gotta book some stronger non-conf games first off.

Honestly the big challenge is the amount of games over the nearly 1.5 month wintersession where a lot of the potential atmosphere the students provide is not there also... not sure how to overcome that.

 

[Grizbeer]

Few thoughts here in no particular order or even directly related to the question at hand:

** Brint is right, Wintersession is the killer with no students on campus. That isn't going to change. However a couple alternatives - tap into the COT during January - these are local people, who are still in town, and not all of them are 50 year olds going through job re-training. COT students can buy the athletic pass now of course, but offer a Wintersession Pass (maybe $10?) for student pass for all games during Wintersession to COT students (and include high school kids enrolled at COT in dual credit classes)

** I agree with GF24 - no more gimmicks to attract a crowd. It cheapens it for everyone

** If I was a student I wouldn't want to go to a game with all the old people who go to the game. What young kids wants to go to an old person's party? Sometimes you need to go backwards to go forwards. need incentives to move the old people out of the lower bowl and away from students (more comfy seats, free entrance to the skyclub, free metamucil, free kids seats in the lower bowl, whatever it takes) Griz BB will not flourish when the average age of attendees is 60+

**The attendance levels during the Griz heyday were not sustainable, so we might need to to think of new benchmarks for what is success. Think about this - 9,000+ people at a BB game night in and night out, student enrollment of about 8,000, city population under 30,000, county population around 70,000. Does any really think it was normal for 1 of every 3 - 4 people to be at a college basketball game? Add in that Missoula High Schools also drew a lot of fans, that is a lot of basketball attendance. Of course the population has grown, but it has also aged considerably. Attendance when Heathcote took over were closer to what they are today.

**When Griz BB was in it's heyday the drinking age was 18 then 19. Kids could drink, go to the game then go to a bar. Now when 18 - 20 year olds want to drink they are looking for a party. I think this has an effect on attendance for college kids.

**The people (generation) who created the zoo and enjoyed those sideline seats - still have those sideline seats. Like most things with the Baby Boomer generation, they demanded and got everything when they were young, and they have kept demanding and getting as they get old. A vain attempt to try to stay young, I suppose. Time to pass the torch and step back and let the younger generation have their time.

** I agree with GF24 that basketball and football crowds experience are not the same, and shouldn't be - witness the crowd cheering when Weber was on defense, like they were trained at the football games. Pretty tough to apply football crowd noise rules to basketball, possession changes too quickly and there is no snap count to disrupt.

** I don't know why but it really irritates me to see Griz fans show up at the big games wearing their Griz football attire at basketball game. That is probably more of a "me" issue.

** no offense GF24, but it also irritates me when people who don't live in Missoula say they would do or pay anything for a chance to live in Missoula/Montana and to go to the games. Apparently "anything" excludes actually sticking around Montana and taking the lower wages or sacrificing to live in Montana - the restaurants here are full of waiters and waitresses who substitute teach while waiting for that full time teaching job to open up - these people are giving a lot to still live here). I used to be one of those people who talked about "one day" as I passed up lower paying jobs in Montana to make more elsewhere. Finally I realized it was my fault I didn't live in Montana, I was the one choosing not to live here to make better wages elsewhere. Been making lower ages ever since, and have never regretted the decision. Maybe I am like the ex-smoker who can't stand other people who smoke? None of this irritation applies to those who serve in the military.