From: DU Clarion
by Alex Proletti
With a hockey team that has won seven national championships and is a perennial contender for the NCAA tournament, you would think more students would show their support.
by Alex Proletti
With a hockey team that has won seven national championships and is a perennial contender for the NCAA tournament, you would think more students would show their support.
The Pioneers are at the end of their regular season and hunting for the NCAA playoffs, and yet there was a disappointingly low number of students supporting them in their final home game of the season, which happened to be senior night, against North Dakota last weekend. It's been a season long trend.
Against UND, who has arguably turned into our biggest rival, the student showing was embarrassing. On Friday, a total of 671 student tickets were sold, including the 368 season tickets, but only 228 students attended the game, a meager 34 percent. Saturday was even worse, selling a total of 583 student tickets, including 368 season tickets, and only 166 students (28.5 percent) came to the game.
The numbers from the then-No.1/2 Minnesota series, which is arguably one of the finest programs in college hockey, are almost identical, with 761 tickets sold for Friday and only 259 students, 34 percent, coming out to support. Again, Saturday's numbers were worse with 542 sold and only 159 students (29.3 percent) in attendance.
The lack of support for such key games is disappointing; DU boasts an incredible program, and students can't even show up for the huge games against UND and Minnesota. I will give credit to the student body, we always pack the CC games, but those are not the only big games for this program.
For all of you who own season tickets, you paid $72 dollars for those tickets that you continually allow to go to waste. Why not go?
Denver is on the playoff bubble, according to the latest Pairwise rankings, trying to keep above the No. 16 spot to clinch a playoff bid, but how are they supposed to do so without the support of their school behind them?
So where is everyone? We have a hockey team with 10 NHL draft picks and they are supported by a feeble number of fans at games.
There are certainly those devoted fans who pack the front few rows of the student section every game, but with a school of 5,000 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students, we should be more than capable of packing more than several rows.
The players consistently work to perform at their best to represent the University of Denver, yet they are met with only a handful of students supporting them. Hockey is DU's biggest sport, so where is the school spirit?
Since the Pioneers clinched home ice for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, which begin March 9, students have at least one more opportunity this season to watch the Pioneers play on our home ice.
We need to get out there, pack our student section and support our Pioneer hockey players. We shouldn't be a school that only packs their student section because CC is here, or ESPN is covering a basketball game, so we look like a real school with spirit. We should be packing every game so we are a real school with spirit.
34 comments:
Excellent editorial.
School spirit has come a long way in the past five years. Great turnout for the lacrosse on Saturday against Michigan. Stunning improvement in basketball support. The CC games in recent years have been epic. The student senate funds have done wonders for school spirit.
We need to continue to improve the game night experience at Magness. The Athletic Department has made tremendous upgrades in Cheerleaders, Band & Dance Team. But they need to do a better job of implementing student input and ideas.
At the end of the day the Boone mascot issue is emblematic of the way the university is run in a "top down" manner. Every other University has a mascot/logo voted on by the students. DU says, "You aren't intelligent enough to understand the complexities of the issues."
There's a disconnect between the upper administration, the alumni and the students and its a "Mile [High] Wide."
Great article.
Have they thought of having some type of promo or give-away's for the students at the game (liking give out free Boone t-shirts to the first 500 students, etc).
I've never been to the Magness, but would better or more concessions draw more students? After all, they are starving college kids, like we all once were.
Just some thoughts.
Ever since DU made drastic changes to its image several decades ago, the student population changed right along with it. This used to be a blue collar (nearly bankrupt) sub-par academic institution with great hockey support (Bleacher Creatures anyone?). Now it's a white collar school with a generally affluent student body. Most of DU's students come to the school so they can stay at Daddy's mountain home in Vail where they can ski and do designer drugs on winter weekends instead of chugging cheap beer and hurling frozen chickens onto the ice at big time college hockey games every Friday and Saturday night.
Part of the problem is accessibility. And I mean accessibility of the team, it's players, etc. Back in the good ol' days, you could get to know the players because they socialized like, well, normal people. Now, the only way you get to know players is if you're a good looking gal...
I had a buddy who was in class with the same hockey player all through freshman year a few years ago. He even worked with the player on a project...now said player rarely even takes the time to say "hi" to my buddy when they see each other around campus.
The point is, decades ago, anyone could get to know one of the team and would build loyalty to the team, want to visibly support it, etc. Now, many folks go, "oh, we have a hockey team? Great...I don't know any of them." And unless you were a hockey fan to begin with, why would you go?
I also think college hockey games are too damn long with way too many stoppages.
TV timeouts every five minutes, meetings with coaches after every penalty, video reviews, 15 minutes or so between periods. Jeez even the National Anthem was painful on Saturday night with the American Idol wanna-be dragging out every frickin' note.
Somebody needs to figure out how to shorten the game night experience by 30 minutes.
Nerd Alert
I'm a DU student who loves to go to hockey games but one thing I feel is that with the recent surge of school spirit at other sports, hockey has kind of been left behind. The school has huge build ups for the first lacrosse playoff game last year and for the first ESPN basketball game here, which is great!, but then when it comes time to hockey and the end of the season and playoffs, it seems that its forgotten. Where was the build up and hype for the two recent hockey games televised on NBC Sports recently?
I love all this school spirit and support for other teams going on but I feel that hockey has been put on the back burner when in reality we still need to increase the school spirit at hockey games too. Its obvious that the students will support it, just look at the turnout to the basketball games this year, but perhaps more marketing and promos need to be done before the hockey games to draw the students in. Frankly, most students may not even know when the games are because there is not much of an anouncement that there is a hockey game that weekend.
Great piece...
DG, I agree that continued improvement in the game night experience will help; but IMHO, DU's student attendance will be an issue until the university either begins scheduling "regular" classes on Fridays (as opposed to only labs and study sessions) or global warming claims the ski areas.
Almost all DU students have three day weekends, but with only a little juggling it is possible for a DU student to have FOUR day weekends. Every weekend. All ski season. Particularly easy for upperclassmen/women to pull off, a student can spend from 7:50 AM to 8:50 PM in class on Tuesdays and Thursdays...AND THAT'S IT. The kids then find friends who have access to places in the mountains, bug out on Thursday night, and don't return until Monday.
This phenomenon is particularly exacerbated when the mountains receive a good dump of snow...like has happened the last couple of weekends (and appears to be poised to happen again this weekend).
Now, from what I understand, there are some rumblings about resuming some Friday classes, but that's a double-edged sword. When asked privately, recruits will frequently mention DU's "athlete friendly" schedule among their reasons for choosing DU. When athletes don't have classes on Fridays, they miss less when they travel for weekend games; and, when home, they have the entire day to devote to training, rehab and practice. That's a definite plus no matter what sport you play.
Also, as mentioned in other posts on this topic, another issue is far more "cultural" in nature...and MUCH harder to fix.
See, the majority of DU students don't come from Denver...and, a fairly sizable chunk of 'em don't come from the US. These kids don't grow up DU fans and many of them don't grow up hockey fans at all. As such, they don't feel a compulsion to attend hockey games when they get here.
DU isn't like North Dakota, where going to hockey games is "the thing to do"...and the culture hasn't yet been sufficiently developed to create an environment where incoming students immediately "get" that going to hockey games is what you do on Friday and Saturday nights.
Though things have definitely changed for the better in the last handful of years, there is undoubtedly a long way to go. A little help and support from the administration would be a good thing...as would DU's unequivocal embrace of Boone as the official mascot.
...
So, I just "refreshed" the page to see what else had been posted and the comment that particularly struck me was, "unless you're a hockey fan to begin with, why would you go?"
Exactly. This is the attitude that DU needs to overcome in order to improve student attendance at the hockey games.
The answer to that question needs to be, "because it's a blast to go to the hockey games...duh!" Until DU figures out how to get the average student to say that, attendance at hockey games will always play second fiddle to the myriad other diversions that a city like Denver can (and does) provide.
du student -
I'll admit that it's blatantly criminal on the part of the athletic department to not promote hockey in the way it deserves, particularly for games that are nationally televised.
But, it's also lazy on the students' part.
You all have the internet on your phones, your computers, your iPads, and, hell in your underwear for all I know. You don't need someone to tell you when hockey games are scheduled.
Lots of good comments so far.
One thing the students are experimenting with Spring Quarter is having a Committee working on building the student section at the Lacrosse games.
Plus the fraternities have really jumped behind the lacrosse team in a big way. I heard that one house had every single member at the game on Saturday.
Building an infrastructure for the student section will surely help build excitement at the games.
Anon 11:10: not sure what you mean by DU making drastic changes to its image. DU never did anything to change its image in terms of "blue collar" vs. white collar". DU just recovered from big financial problems in the early to mid 80's. Even when it was troubled financially, it had a generally affluent student population. DU has always been a destination for kids who take advantage of the mountains. Nothing new here. School spirit is evident at many events (some lax games, the ESPN hoops game, some hockey games--especially CC games.) It just needs to be evident on a more consistent basis, and that's where strategies like DG's come in. We're on the right path, but not quite there yet.
I went from 2001-2005 and still to this day consider myself a die hard DU fan. That being said, I am also an avid skiier and would rather go skiing for the weekend, than watch a 2 hour hockey game.
All the students are in the mountains and there's no way the stands will ever be full even if they gave away free tickets. Welcome to Ski U.
DU hasn't been local.blue collar since the "Tramway Tech" days of the 1930s and 40s, long before hokcey,
Since the GI bill and the post WWII boom, DU has been affluent and white collar. Students have always been interested in skiing here. That said, with 5,000 undergrads, we should be able to get at least 500 students at hockey every weekend.
And students - I dont ever want to hear that students don't know when the games are scheduled. The answer to that question is at your fingertips 24 hours a day. No excuses.
Despite the improvements in school spirit, the student turnout for two crucial games against UND sucked. And it's hard to explain. Hell, they serve BEER, which wasn't always the case. Part of it, I think, is an athletic department that gives lip service to student attendance, but doesn't really mean it. Scheduling big games during times when the students are gone, so they can make more money. I know, I know, we're operating close to the margins and need every buck we can get.
School spirit at DU is like an orchid, in need of constant attention and care--prone to unexpected setbacks. And we need more gardeners (okay, analogy time is over). When I was a freshman at Illinois (oh, Christ, another freaking annecdote!) in the fraternity house, we sang the Alma Mater every night after dinner. I mean, every night. On football Saturdays we had open house, welcomed back the alums with a huge buffet, then walked to the stadium. That was then, this is now, I understand. But maybe we can think out of the box a little and come up some solutions to this vexing problem. More student input would be a good place to start.
We used to be the only D1 school that never played its fight song. Now we're the only D1 school that has an authorized, yet unofficial mascot. Wouldn't it be nice if we stop worrying about some theoretical undergrad from Bangladesh who'd get her burka in a twist, and just give Boone the seal of approval?
My bottom line is I'm not convinced the powers that be really want student attendance at the revenue sport(s). And unless and until that changes, we'll be swimming upstream. That doesn't mean we haven't made progress under the leadership of DG and others. It just means it's going to be tougher than it needs to be.
A little historical perspective...
My years at DU were Fall, 1969 - June, 1973.
By all definitions available at the time, it was a "rich-kid school." Nothing "blue collar" about the place. If one were to "inflation-adjust" the tuition, you'd discover that DU, then, was considered one of America's most expensive universities - without the extensive financial aid and loan programs of today.
It was the same size then as now, with far fewer Colorado-raised students.
It had a number of ranked departments and wasn't considered academically sub-par.
We did have Friday classes.
Student support of hockey was intense. The old arena was sold out for every game. Almost 6,000 seats. The student section was always full. Student tickets were available for purchase on game day through the first period - if there were seats.
I belonged to a fraternity. Hockey-related home-game social events were frequently held. There were frat-sponsored road trips to CC games. Rent a bus, have a party.
Skiing was as big a deal at DU then as it is now (snowboarding didn't exist.) Mountain activities didn't get in the way, and there were a lot of family-owned resort houses.
10 per cent of the undergrad population attended games. The rest? Who knows.
When I watch games on TV, I see empty seats in the non-student sections. Are the tickets too expensive for the general public? Doesn't DU promote hockey to the Denver public? And if somebody says it's because of televised home games, then perhaps a new marketing and advertising campaign is in order.
Those are a few thoughts from a distance - both time and geography.
A little historical perspective...
My years at DU were Fall, 1969 - June, 1973.
By all definitions available at the time, it was a "rich-kid school." Nothing "blue collar" about the place. If one were to "inflation-adjust" the tuition, you'd discover that DU, then, was considered one of America's most expensive universities - without the extensive financial aid and loan programs of today.
It was the same size then as now, with far fewer Colorado-raised students.
It had a number of ranked departments and wasn't considered academically sub-par.
We did have Friday classes.
Student support of hockey was intense. The old arena was sold out for every game. Almost 6,000 seats. The student section was always full. Student tickets were available for purchase on game day through the first period - if there were seats.
I belonged to a fraternity. Hockey-related home-game social events were frequently held. There were frat-sponsored road trips to CC games. Rent a bus, have a party.
Skiing was as big a deal at DU then as it is now (snowboarding didn't exist.) Mountain activities didn't get in the way, and there were a lot of family-owned resort houses.
10 per cent of the undergrad population attended games. The rest? Who knows.
When I watch games on TV, I see empty seats in the non-student sections. Are the tickets too expensive for the general public? Doesn't DU promote hockey to the Denver public? And if somebody says it's because of televised home games, then perhaps a new marketing and advertising campaign is in order.
Those are a few thoughts from a distance - both time and geography.
And one more thought...
Before enrolling at DU, I'd never seen a hockey game. I attended the first game of the season with dorm-mates, not particularly interested. The guy seated next to me explained everything - rules, plays, etc. and I "discovered" hockey. From that moment on, I was hooked.
Tim in LA
As was mentioned above, the Athletic Department has worked hard to attract students to various basketball games.
Lacrosse has taken off in popularity on campus thanks to Tierney & winning.
Hockey has mixed results this season; from sensational student turnouts to poor to disappointing.
The fact is DU has one of the smallest D-1 undergrad enrollments. Tulsa and Rice are smaller but not many others come to mind.
Like many private schools, DU also has 55-45% female to male student ratio these days. Probably not an ideal situation for a sport like ice hockey.
I blame Boone and Kyle Rau. Since they started dating attendance has dropped off.
We've seen some really great student turnouts this year for 3 different sports, so I think the student body does show interest in DU sports.
The challenge is getting them there consisitently against a huge tide of competition that wasn't around in 80s, 70s or 60s. These kids have 500 channels of TV, incredible video games, streaming video, the internet/social media. Add to that pro sports, the Denver scene, skiing and snowboarding, homework (these kids average 3,7 GPAs in high school) and it's an uphill struggle.
All in all, though, I remain optimistic. These kids have shown a lot spirit spirit this year in spots. But like Old Pio said, we can't assume that one great night means they'll all come back for the next game. It takes work,
DU's increases in student attendance in hoops, lax and hockey season ticket sales are bucking a national trend.
"Duke’s student basketball attendance has declined in each of the past five seasons, including last season on the heels of a national title. The Blue Devils are 16-3 this year and ranked No. 6 in the country."
http://www.lostlettermen.com/cameron-lazies-duke-sells-student-tix/
I’ve noticed that students rarely post on this blog. I’m guessing they don’t care what the handful of codgers that post here think. I’m pretty sure that the administration doesn’t give a crap what DG thinks. So why all the bitching? If you’re not going to help pay for a kid to prance about in a Styrofoam head, you’re part of the problem not part of the solution.
@ Unknown/Tim
First of all, thanks for your comments. It's good to get a sense of what things were like in different time periods.
To your questions regarding marketing:
Short answer, no. DU doesn't really market to the wider Denver community at all. Which is a shame, because a family of four could easily attend a DU hockey game for under $100.00.
Try doing that at an Avs game....
Just off the top of my head, here are three things that DU's Sports Marketing folks don't currently do that are almost forehead-slappingly easy to implement:
1) Target Youth Hockey
With the exploding participation levels in youth hockey programs in the area, there's a ready-made DU hockey audience that is hardly ever tapped. IMHO, DU should be targeting youth hockey programs with discounted tickets, giveaways, free DU player clinics, and the like. Get the kids hooked on DU hockey and watch their parents become fans, too.
2) Engage the Greeks
Since a good deal of the social scene around DU still depends on Greek Life, the athletic department should work closely with the fraternities and sororities to create an environment where attendance at hockey games is a natural extension of Greek Life. I'm envisioning contests between the fraternities and sororities to see who can bring the most members to the game, or design the clever-est sign, or create the best effigy of a North Dakota fan...the possibilities here are endless.
3) Alumni Outreach
Another ready-made DU hockey audience that is hardly EVER targeted by the school. I'm an alum and I live less than a mile from DU. I KNOW I am on their mailing lists, because I keep getting mail and the alumni magazine. Yet, I have NEVER been contacted by the athletic department about anything other than renewing my season hockey tickets.
I could go on. But the point, I believe, is evident....
Unknown, thanks for the nostalgia flash back. I predated you by a couple of years, but your narrative was accurate. I can't speak to now, of course, but in those days DU was crawling with the kids of the rich and famous (Henry Mancini, Joe Louis, Melvin Laird, Dina Merrill & Cliff Robertson, Senator Inouye). I had a fraternity brother whose grand father was CEO of Universal Pictures.
And getting students to the Arena didn't seem to be a problem. 'Course there were fewer distractions in Denver in those days. DU hockey appealed to a carriage trade crowd.
It was a simpler time and DU officials were much more approachable. Hoyt Brawner was an old time AD. I recall vividly the time some rabbit eared official gave Murray the only bench penalty of his career. Hoyt came on the run to the referee's crease and told him if he ever did that again, it would be his last game in the WCHA. Ahhh, feedback. Hoyt also recommended me for my first job. A saint.
I've written before (hey, dude, you're written EVERYTHING before)that part of the problem seems to be the expectations game. If veteran students make it clear the hockey games are the place to be, the new students will get the message. We had a very active FAC in those days, but students still managed to stagger in for the Friday night games.
Our hockey experience was a bit different. I grew up sitting in the West Arena in Chicago Stadium watching Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull (you haven't lived 'till a 120 MPH slap shot hits the glass a few feet from your face!).
Anyway, we've just to work this problem. All the time, every season.
@ Anon 3:50
I pay for my season tickets every year and attend as many games as I am able to...and those that I am unable to attend, I arrange for someone else's ass to be in my seat.
How exactly am I part of the problem?
10% of the traffic on this Blog comes from du.edu IP addresses.
You two weren’t even a gleam in your daddy’s eye when I went to DU. You younger fellas seem to have forgotten more than you remember. Before your time, a lot us used the GI Bill to attend DU after we got out of the service. Frat boys wearing beanies and going through what they considered hell week looked rather childish to us. They weren’t leaders just a bunch of spoiled kids. They certainly weren’t the reason we went to the games. We went because the games were fun and a good value. That’s still true today.
Plenty of students post here, and I've seen first hand how hard the current student leadership has worked to make spirit a priority this year. The results have been very prositive, but there is still work to do.
Another big issue for DU and students is that DU's student quality is up dramatically in recent years - most of these kids are very serious students with high GPAs (3.7+) coming in. These kids are more likely to be leaders/mavericks vs. traditional joiners. You need a lot of joiners to make a student section work.
Still feeling resentful and superior all these years later? Actually, your memory isn't as clear as you suggest: all freshmen were expected to wear beenies. I know, I actually had one of the awful things in my hand, but never wore it.
My sincere suggestion is to let the pettiness go. After all, it's only been half a century. How would you expect college kids to appear in the eyes of mid-20s guys, some of whom had seen combat? If you had matriculated in the normal fashion, you and some of your buddies would doubtless have found yourselves wearing beanies and engaging in hell week. Although not at my fraternity: we eliminated hell week decades ago. Besides, I doubt we would have pledged you, Flounder.
I see that being able to spell isn’t a requirement for being a serious or quality student at DU these days. Are you a UND transfer?
My guess is that you were the model for Animal House character that that kept saying “thank you sir, may I have another”.
Some frat boys take being greek to a higher level.
Spoken like a true bottom
DG packs two seats every game he's at. So you can't blame him.
The Post had a good article about CU sending 50 of their biggest fans to the PAC-10 bball playoffs. I think that is a great idea DU should consider. I remember going to see the WCHA playoffs in Minnesota several years ago and there were absolutely no DU fans. The same would go for Hot Springs...I think that would give our teams a big lift!
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