My section was dry but the students and the fans that were there were engaged. Hats of to Bryson and Nate those guys really got me hyped during the game. Great additions to the team. We keep winning they will come. I was actually expecting the students not to show with finals and all. Good on them.
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These three college age girls snuck down to some empty seats in front of us. It seemed like they weren’t even watching the game with their cell phones out and doing selfies but sure enough, when ever there were free throws or the clap your hands thing, the student section training showed up.
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The couple next to us were bringing it, shout out to them if they’re on the board. Aymiel Fleming and 2 other UHF players were behind me for a some of the game. They were fun to hear also. The hand clap is catching back on i think and also the key jingling thing which i havent seen in 2 years. I wish we had more chants, at some point i heard 2 different chants from student section and spirit of Houston at the same time. Have to work out the kinks but its getting there maybe.
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Thanks! We plan to continue doing this. We are offering advertising spots on the back to help print them out. We hope they get picked up enough for multiple sections to have them too.
I call it “muscle memory”! Whatever works!
Official attendance - 5,587 so lots of no shows.
I still can’t believe that is Hoffheinz under there somewhere. The building is freaking beautiful.
But, we were never going to start selling out immediately with the non conference schedule we have. And for those wondering where the fans are, have you guys even watched a Rockets game? Cause they aren’t there either. And that’s a team that came a half away from probably going on to win the NBA Finals last year. Crowds are really just starting to show up in force for the Astros. It took beating FSU & OU to even get the city to notice the football team.
Houstonians are always slow to get behind their teams. Always. Just keep winning and people will come around.
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Showing your age. Must not have been around for the first year Drexler was a coach. I think a few of us older guys were hoping a better team, better coach and better facilities would have the same impact as a popular ex player as coach.
If memory serves we had about five thousand per game in the seventies, then with PSJ we
went up to around eight thousand and then during the Dark Ages we went down to about one
thousand. Last night it looked like about two thousand.
If memory serves actual (not official due to all the season ticket sales) attendance dropped off really, really quick during that first Drexler year.
But this is a good point, at least as it relates to sales of season tix. It is kind of weird that hiring a local legend to coach could push more ticket packages than all the great things we have going now.
Coach Sampson is a big known named coach. If we don’t sell out LSU… This attendance thing will never happen, unless we give out free tickets.
At least we have a Lot going for our program like a beautiful arena and practice facility in the best part of UH campus. Easy to get there, too. Excuses are done.
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Depends on where you’re coming from.
I left Cypress for the Oregon game at 4:15. Was going to stop and eat, but 290 was shut down for construction so took 99 to I-10. Didn’t know there was a wreck and construction on I-10. We got to UH around 7:00!! 2 hours 45 minutes to go 35 miles. NOT an easy commute!
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People often mistake reasons for excuses. If some fans don’t show up for a short period of time, some could have reasons, some could have excuses. If over a period of decades, you hear all these excuses and eliminate all that are possible, reasons are all that are left.
We are a winning team, we have a newly renovated arena, we are in a solid basketball conference, we have a legitimate coach and we have student support. We proved in the 80’s that going back to back to back Final Fours and having a nationally recognized brand only sold tickets when it remained a Final Four team. That isn’t sustainable.
After going to the Lamar game and seeing that crowd, I realized, it’s time to stop blaming fans for not coming and start blaming ourselves for having expectations that they will come.
There comes a time to be OK with being a university in a pro sports town that will draw 3k fans on weekdays against the Lamars of basketball and sell out games on Saturdays against the Oregons and someday this year we will find out what attendance will be like after a loss.
UH has done everything they can but give away tickets which in turn would probably make less people buy tickets so time to stop worrying about attendance, understand where we are at and enjoy what is happening on the court.
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Saturday traffic, especially this time of year, is like rush hour all day long.
It’s all about the students. As we grow the core of students that come to most/all of the games, we’ll grow regular attendance down the road.
In the short term, beating known teams and getting ranked will draw people in, and the great experience of watching in the new arena will help bring them back. We’re gaining on it for the first time in a while.
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Agree with much of your sentiment, but the other thing to remember is that other than some very brief moments during the Penders tenure, prior to the end of last year we haven’t been nationally relevant in a really long time. Sustained success will continue to build a fan base. Gonzaga didn’t have a waitlist for season tickets in the 80’s and 90’s like they do now. Same with VCU prior to the last decade and several others. Even though we have structural challenges with attendance, the more we win the better it will get.
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https://twitter.com/strailer77/status/1070419302883475457?s=09
Corey Davis’s mom is not happy with the support from Tuesday.
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I was sitting in my seats 2 rows behind where Corey’s mom sat for the Oregon game and I did not see her there on Tuesday.
Watching that game convinced me that we need someone that can drive the lane. We just don’t have anyone that can penetrate.
This is what I mean by expectations. The Lamar crowd was the real fan support. The crowd that was at the Oregon game are just basketball fans with no ties to the university. Giving away cheap tickets doesn’t attract people that care about UH.