Average Men's Attendance

[chickod]

I'm not sure if the leagues are doing the best job of marketing themselves. HEA is leaps and bounds ahead of where they were in regards to social media, but I don't think that has quite paid dividends yet. And yes, college life is downright luxurious compared to even ten years ago. (Can I get a mulligan?)

Yeah...we had a bed, desk and hot plate. In a cinder block 12x8 room.

(I bet they don't even know what a "hot plate" is...)

[NorthMike]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Yeah...we had a bed, desk and hot plate. In a cinder block 12x8 room.

(I bet they don't even know what a "hot plate" is...)

Hotplate? !!

[Sean Pickett]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Yeah...we had a bed, desk and hot plate. In a cinder block 12x8 room.

Some BU dorm rooms are still cinder blocks (although more like 18x12 for a double), but the hot plate has been replaced by a microwave and a mini-fridge.

Sean

[icehawk]

Well, I'm certainly not in the "target demographic" (lol)....but I can tell you this. At least as it applies to myself, there would be almost a direct correlation between the sports I PLAYED and the ones I WATCHED. We played baseball EVERY DAY after school for probably ten years when I was a kid. We would imitate the players we saw on TV (Yaz adjusting his hat, Tiant's crazy pitching motion, etc.). Naturally, the things you "imprint" when you're young tend to stay with you most of your life. What I notice today is that kids don't play sports unless it's "organized." We would just go out in the yard and play. OK - you can say "well, there was nothing else to do," and that's sort of the point. There are so many other distractions today, plus the fact that parents feel that every SECOND of their kids time has to be planned. We didn't have control freaks for parents. We just did our own thing with our friends. They didn't check up on us every second. So what happens with these "organized" sports? The "good" players play and the rest of them sit around and watch. And most of these kids don't play ANY OTHER TIME except the "organized" time. We ALL played, no matter how good we were, because we weren't "competing" to see who was better. And we played every day. EVERYBODY played, and we had FUN. And we developed skills, which can only be honed through repetition. When you play once a week, unless you have natural ability, you don't really develop. So once your parent takes you out of the "organized" environment, you lose interest. With us, there was no pressure from parents, coaches, or anyone else. We played because we wanted to and we loved it! And then when we got junior high and high school, we weren't "burned out."

Also, my Dad TOOK me to games. I went to my first Red Sox game when I was six. I went to my first Bruins game when I was eight. Dropping your kid off at the soccer field isn't the same thing. It's kind of like, "OK, kid, get out of my hair for a couple of hours." Not the same as when you are indoctrinated into it and someone takes an interest in exposing you to it and teaching you.

It was a different time. I know people will say (and have said it already) that I can't "adjust" to today's "technology." Well, #1 that's not true because I am a software developer and that's all I do all day every day. What I can't adjust to is people's inability to separate themselves from it in every aspect of their lives. They live in a different reality, and I'm sorry, but to me it's not for the better.

Bottom line: Why would you go to a game that you never had any interest in? And how do you develop "interest?" You INVOLVE yourself in it by either having played or watched. A huge number of kids today don't do that. Heck, they hardly go outdoors. A friend of mine had a son who did nothing but sit in front of a video game console ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Scary...

One of the best posts I've ever read in here and it's spot on. I can definitely relate. Well done.

[Wi.Huskies Fan]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Well, I'm certainly not in the "target demographic" (lol)....but I can tell you this. At least as it applies to myself, there would be almost a direct correlation between the sports I PLAYED and the ones I WATCHED. We played baseball EVERY DAY after school for probably ten years when I was a kid. We would imitate the players we saw on TV (Yaz adjusting his hat, Tiant's crazy pitching motion, etc.). Naturally, the things you "imprint" when you're young tend to stay with you most of your life. What I notice today is that kids don't play sports unless it's "organized." We would just go out in the yard and play. OK - you can say "well, there was nothing else to do," and that's sort of the point. There are so many other distractions today, plus the fact that parents feel that every SECOND of their kids time has to be planned. We didn't have control freaks for parents. We just did our own thing with our friends. They didn't check up on us every second. So what happens with these "organized" sports? The "good" players play and the rest of them sit around and watch. And most of these kids don't play ANY OTHER TIME except the "organized" time. We ALL played, no matter how good we were, because we weren't "competing" to see who was better. And we played every day. EVERYBODY played, and we had FUN. And we developed skills, which can only be honed through repetition. When you play once a week, unless you have natural ability, you don't really develop. So once your parent takes you out of the "organized" environment, you lose interest. With us, there was no pressure from parents, coaches, or anyone else. We played because we wanted to and we loved it! And then when we got junior high and high school, we weren't "burned out."

Also, my Dad TOOK me to games. I went to my first Red Sox game when I was six. I went to my first Bruins game when I was eight. Dropping your kid off at the soccer field isn't the same thing. It's kind of like, "OK, kid, get out of my hair for a couple of hours." Not the same as when you are indoctrinated into it and someone takes an interest in exposing you to it and teaching you.

It was a different time. I know people will say (and have said it already) that I can't "adjust" to today's "technology." Well, #1 that's not true because I am a software developer and that's all I do all day every day. What I can't adjust to is people's inability to separate themselves from it in every aspect of their lives. They live in a different reality, and I'm sorry, but to me it's not for the better.

Bottom line: Why would you go to a game that you never had any interest in? And how do you develop "interest?" You INVOLVE yourself in it by either having played or watched. A huge number of kids today don't do that. Heck, they hardly go outdoors. A friend of mine had a son who did nothing but sit in front of a video game console ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Scary...

Very well put. Things have certainly changed over the years. My ma had to yell from the door in the summer months to come in for supper....and then again when the sun went down.

[Happy]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Yeah...we had a bed, desk and hot plate. In a cinder block 12x8 room.

(I bet they don't even know what a "hot plate" is...)

My share of the rent was $112.50. Even 30 years ago, that didn't rent much luxury in Minneapolis.

[AKSWF]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Some BU dorm rooms are still cinder blocks (although more like 18x12 for a double), but the hot plate has been replaced by a microwave and a mini-fridge.

Sean

Had a friend that brought his treadmill, we had a quad with a "living room" and it filled up almost half the space.

[chickod]

Had a friend that brought his treadmill, we had a quad with a "living room" and it filled up almost half the space.

Ha ha! If we put a treadmill in there one of us would have had to sleep in the hallway (oh wait...I did plenty of that anyway when my roommate had his girl over...) :eek

[Split-N]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Had a friend that brought his treadmill, we had a quad with a "living room" and it filled up almost half the space.

It's all about me, eh?

[ericredaxe]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Ha ha! If we put a treadmill in there one of us would have had to sleep in the hallway (oh wait...I did plenty of that anyway when my roommate had his girl over...) :eek

How come you didn't join the fun?

[Yuppie Scum]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Very well put. Things have certainly changed over the years. My ma had to yell from the door in the summer months to come in for supper....and then again when the sun went down.

I remember when coke was a nickel!!!!

[LTI Alum]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

Yeah...we had a bed, desk and hot plate. In a cinder block 12x8 room.

(I bet they don't even know what a "hot plate" is...)

Our luxury was the old kettle style popcorn makers.

[Runsub5]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

I remember when coke was a nickel!!!!

Me, too, except it was PepsiCola. A nickel vending machine that dispensed a glass bottle. I can't remember the size.

[chickod]

How come you didn't join the fun?

Um...I don't think this is going in the right direction...

[Drew S.]

Re: Average Men's Attendance

I wanted to bring this thread back where we're a month into the season. Are people losing a lot of interest in non-confernece games? I'm surprised BU and BC had such small attendances against what truly is a great Denver team.