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Post by whoanellie on Sept 15, 2014 12:49:45 GMT -5
I was going to start a new thread but I think this will do for now. The cold hard truth is ...the weakest link in the Elon Athletic Program is the spirit of the fan base. It just sucks young and old. Blame on it on whatever but it just does. It hurts that there is just no backing from local and students and especially local alums. It is a really good product and I do what I can but there just is not enough interest or classic apathy that just sucks that We have 7228 fans and A&T brought 2,000+. Totally frustrated but I am sick of all the excuses.
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Post by fc4life on Sept 15, 2014 13:24:45 GMT -5
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Post by whoanellie on Sept 15, 2014 15:01:30 GMT -5
yep just another lame-backside excuse you can cut it anyway you want ...any excuse will do They You & Me ARE the weakest link pathetic
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homer
Elon Only
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Post by homer on Sept 15, 2014 15:08:15 GMT -5
It may be an excuse, but any excuse is a hurdle apparently. In order to increase enthusiasm and participation, you've got to make it easy for students to get to and worthwhile. A winning team would help...
But there have got to be some things the school and athletic department can do to make Saturdays special and can't-miss. I imagine they're open to ideas...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2014 15:13:28 GMT -5
Because it's been so long since I graduated, (drinking age for beer & wine was 18), I have no concept of what is acceptable any more. I have described several times on this board what football games were like & I've seen others do it as well so I won't bore you again. Just suffice it to say that when I was in school, there was NOTHING you'd rather do than show up to a Fightin' Christian game on Saturday afternoon. Frankly, today if someone tells me I have to "register" for something I deem trivial or at least unnecessary, I will nearly always decline. I understand a student's mentality to a certain degree: I'm working hard on my studies & am just looking for a way to blow off some steam for the weekend. Having to register just to have some fun does seem a little control freakish. Why not just have a party at your apartment or fraternity house & enjoy many games without the specter of getting in trouble for slightly stepping out of line? Not only that, loud and obnoxious works for football crowds. Often that includes drinking. Frankly, after watching our nearly completely dysfunctional fans on Saturday night, we apparently need to supply a few full mini bottles with game programs on entry into Rhodes.
Just out of curiosity, what is the incidence of fans staying in the parking lots & tailgating during the game?
Do other schools require their students to register in order to tailgate?
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Post by fc4life on Sept 15, 2014 15:38:06 GMT -5
Me, a weak link...that's a good one.
Yes, lots of students loiter in the tailgate areas. However, the school has tried to shut them down at game time. Most just leave or go home to drink at halftime.
The crowd in the fourth quarter of a tight game with a local rival was a joke.
Let the kids party. I've been around this country for games and the atmosphere at elon is as sterile as they come.
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Post by topher99 on Sept 15, 2014 15:52:18 GMT -5
The registration is just to reserve a space for one of the tents along the road. There are only so many spaces out there.
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Recent Grad/Athlete
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Post by Recent Grad/Athlete on Sept 16, 2014 11:21:12 GMT -5
I agree with the point made about letting students drink and tailgate. That would probably help somewhat.
However, if any of you are hoping to get big, rowdy student-based crowds like App St, James Madison or any other number of regional counterparts, I can assure you that it is not going to happen. With the demo/geographics of Elon's student body changing to a mostly mid-Atlantic and New England based population, the students just do not have the same attitude towards college gameday as kids from the south like myself. Most students from these regions do not care for college football, and a significant portion of students do not even take an interest in sports at all. We've got a lot of wealthy, smart students at Elon, which will be great for future alumni donations, but it leaves our student sections abysmal. Even in basketball where some of these kids show up, most of them are too cool to get into the game and get rowdy. At most colleges, athletes are the big guys on campus. At Elon, the frat kids run the campus and athletes tend to come closer to the bottom of the totem pole. As long as Elon targets rich kids from up north to make up their student body, our student fan support will suffer.
It's a serious challenge to recruiting IMO when most quality recruits show up expecting an FCS football atmosphere and the crowd is smaller and quieter than most of their high school games.
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fc97
Elon Only
Posts: 646
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Post by fc97 on Sept 16, 2014 13:28:10 GMT -5
The school doesn't want rowdy fans. They want a nice, quiet, peaceful stadium that has a good image. That is CLEAR. That is seen with the tailgating rules, the student tailgating rules, etc.
Further that, there are those of us tired of shelling out $50 + parking + gas + food to see near guaranteed losses.
I know this sounds bad, but I am not shelling out any more money until we can compete. It just costs too much for what I get out of it.
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Post by elon77 on Sept 16, 2014 14:22:09 GMT -5
The school doesn't want rowdy fans. They want a nice, quiet, peaceful stadium that has a good image. That is CLEAR. That is seen with the tailgating rules, the student tailgating rules, etc. Further that, there are those of us tired of shelling out $50 + parking + gas + food to see near guaranteed losses. I know this sounds bad, but I am not shelling out any more money until we can compete. It just costs too much for what I get out of it. That's not too bad, try shelling out the $40,000.00 plus tuition I have paid the last 7 years + parking + gas + food + lodging ( I'm from up North, Virginia ) AND I still love to come every chance I get. Long Live Elon!
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fc97
Elon Only
Posts: 646
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Post by fc97 on Sept 16, 2014 14:45:00 GMT -5
This isn't a contest of who pays more. I hope there's been more than one person using that 40,000 per year.... for 7 years. What that means to me is that you have reason to come down and visit someone.
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Post by elonfirefighter on Sept 16, 2014 14:48:09 GMT -5
try A&T Your looking at 180 for season tickets + Over 100 for parking privileged and your donation to the Aggie fund Per NC AT fan. Yes I hate paying for game ticket + 10 parking($50 season) + 25-30 food/drinks + 60 Gas from Charlotte. Some Colleges you couldn't even get a game ticket for what we pay total per game.
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Post by whoanellie on Sept 17, 2014 10:14:30 GMT -5
You ALL make my point the Elon -Phan base IS the weakest link a whole generation with a 10% participation rate on support even with ALL the top flight PR support is just not acceptable Away game support regardless of the F-ning record is a show of support whether you were a Fight'n Christian or a born again Phoenix This is the time to come out and put your coins on the table. As for me I cannot look at the Website and not be so GD proud of where the school i attended and received a degree from. And to not give them an optimistic approach . To let the "new" coach get a new culture winning back into the psyche He and every team needs that support. The school is working it's collective arse off to have an atmosphere with live bands and also groups of alums can do their own thing. Students that are drinking under-age and binge drinking already. That is a different matter. But Men's and Women's Greek life has really been absent the last few years except half-time at Homecoming. that like 1500 folks. Someone needs to rattle their chain. Bring a friend get a date, just come out and mentally channel for the Phoenix
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2014 11:01:32 GMT -5
Dam right, Whoa! I concur! I remember standing on the wall at Burlington Memorial Stadium, as a Kappa Sig pledge singing our version of the school song. Mum-ma mum-ma mum-ma... Some of you will know what that means.
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fc97
Elon Only
Posts: 646
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Post by fc97 on Sept 17, 2014 11:03:37 GMT -5
Winning brings people out..... listen to how people (including myself) talk. It's one thing to have had a great number of years or decades, but winning brings people out. The years under Lembo we had a 1800 person increase in average attendance. That shows winning will bring support. Winning for a decade will bring people back all the time.
We don't have that. At Elon, the product will dictate who shows up. There's just been too many bad products over the course of 20 years since the move to D-II for people to not consider football an utter joke. Until it isn't a joke, this is what you get.
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