Facts that our Orange Friends Can't Ignore

[SubbaBub]

A "faily meaningless game" - against #2 Duke. Meaningless? Really?

Since the game has yet to be played, you have no basis to say what the split of BC and PSU fans will be. I suspect it will be more 50-50 as there are a ton of BC students and alums in NY and NJ. We shall see.

To your last question of me - No, BC would come nowhere close to selling out the XL. Why would they? They come nowhere close to selling out their home games at Conte Forum! That is the state of BC BB at the present time. Again, that's part of my limited point. BC doesn't have the numbers of BB fans to drive to Conte at the present time, much less to CT. For FB, they do, and fans will make the drive. Ditto for Uconn BB fans to the IZOD, or the TD Garden, etc.

I'll think that at least 2/3rd of that building will be wearing blue and white. FSU was a 30/70 loser to PSU in the Orange Bowl. There may be more PSU fans in the BC section than BC fans.

 

[SubbaBub]

Lived in Manhattan in 2012 and 2013 while working for a client. While its not always a simple drive, it's not that hard to get to the IZOD from CT...certainly worth the trip to see a game against Duke (let's not pretend this was a game against some mid major).

To your last point, do you really want to debate football attendance at home games?

I am not disputing your point about the comparison to the Orange. I was only responding to the "reach" comment by another poster.

This entire thread is about UConn being a more dominant draw at the box office in the NYC area that Syracuse. It's been a point of contention between the two fan bases for the last few years. Now that there has been a fair sample, the results are what the results are.

 

[BC1978]

I'll think that at least 2/3rd of that building will be wearing blue and white. FSU was a 30/70 loser to PSU in the Orange Bowl. There may be more PSU fans in the BC section than BC fans.

That's just not a factual statement. BC sold out its allotment - and it was not PSU fans calling BC for the overflow. BC sold its allotment on a priority system - First, Large Flynn Fund donors; second, season ticket holders who were also Flynn Fund donars; third, just season ticket holders. Student tickets were sold specifically to BC students. There were very few tickets from the allotment left after those four cuts. The BC sections will be all BC fans, trust me.

 

[BC1978]

This entire thread is about UConn being a more dominant draw at the box office in the NYC area that Syracuse. It's been a point of contention between the two fan bases for the last few years. Now that there has been a fair sample, the results are what the results are.

I actually agree with you. I was only responding to Dooley's point about "reach", not the other points.

 

[pnow15]

At this stage, there is only one relevant fact: Syracuse is driving off with the Prom Queen, and we're stuck home, locked in the bathroom with an old copy of Penthouse magazine.

 

[SubbaBub]

At this stage, there is only one relevant fact: Syracuse is driving off with the Prom Queen, and we're stuck home, locked in the bathroom with an old copy of Penthouse magazine.

With our frank and beans caught in our zipper. Curiously, with our beans lodged on top of the frank.

 

[Fishy]

At this stage, there is only one relevant fact: Syracuse is driving off with the Prom Queen, and we're stuck home, locked in the bathroom with an old copy of Penthouse magazine.

Can you stop posting?

 

[husky91]

Isn't this enough to get an invite to the ACC, it should be? I saw Warde at the game appearing to be monitoring the situation while devouring a thing of nachos.

ESPN called it a pro UConn crowd in their blurb.

It looked pretty even on TV

 

[Dooley]

I actually agree with you. I was only responding to Dooley's point about "reach", not the other points.

So, are you disputing UCONN's reach into NYC or Boston? Or both?

If UCONN scheduled a neutral game at TD Bank, do you think the game would sell 15+K tickets and mostly consisting of UCONN fans? Just like BC alum work/live in New York, UCONN has alum in and around Boston. And yes, I know that there will be a fair amount of UCONN fans who live in CT that would drive the 1-2 hours to TD Bank.

 

[CAHUSKY]

At this stage, there is only one relevant fact: Syracuse is driving off with the Prom Queen, and we're stuck home, locked in the bathroom with an old copy of Penthouse magazine.

Actually, they drove off with the prom queen in a Ferrari (ACC) but we pulled up next to them at a stop light in our 1978 pinto (AAC) grabbed the prom queen and had a threeway with her and Syracuse sister in the backseat (won the National Championship).

 

[BoatShow]

A "faily meaningless game" - against #2 Duke. Meaningless? Really?

Since the game has yet to be played, you have no basis to say what the split of BC and PSU fans will be. I suspect it will be more 50-50 as there are a ton of BC students and alums in NY and NJ. We shall see.

To your last question of me - No, BC would come nowhere close to selling out the XL. Why would they? They come nowhere close to selling out their home games at Conte Forum! That is the state of BC BB at the present time. Again, that's part of my limited point. BC doesn't have the numbers of BB fans to drive to Conte at the present time, much less to CT. For FB, they do, and fans will make the drive. Ditto for Uconn BB fans to the IZOD, or the TD Garden, etc.

What's the average crowd for a Duke game at Conte? Is it usually the lone sell out of the year?

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Lived in Manhattan in 2012 and 2013 while working for a client. While its not always a simple drive, it's not that hard to get to the IZOD from CT...certainly worth the trip to see a game against Duke (let's not pretend this was a game against some mid major).

It's 'simple' to get from one side of the river to the other on a Thursday night around 6:30/8:00 PM. Really. Do you own or have enough money to afford taking a helicopter? There was no mass transit connection to IZOD for this game, so taking the train was out unless one took a cab from Rutherford or Secaucus. From Manhattan, that means 45 minutes minimum. By car, it took me 60 minutes to get there by car from Bergen County, i.e. I did not have to cross the river. To cross the river, the only real way to drive north to the GWB and down I-95. Taking the Holland Tunnel is foolish with the Pulaski Skyway out. The Lincoln tunnel is tough as they dedicate 1 of the 4 travel lanes to bus only. I checked Google maps for a friend who wanted to drive down from Stamford to IZOD at 6:00 PM and scalp a ticket and it was 2 1/2 hours by car.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

So, are you disputing UCONN's reach into NYC or Boston? Or both?

If UCONN scheduled a neutral game at TD Bank, do you think the game would sell 15+K tickets and mostly consisting of UCONN fans? Just like BC alum work/live in New York, UCONN has alum in and around Boston. And yes, I know that there will be a fair amount of UCONN fans who live in CT that would drive the 1-2 hours to TD Bank.

BC would never schedule a game with UConn at TD. They average 4,200 per game (2013) on campus, which is outside of the NCAA D1 Top 100 (UConn is #33 at 10,700). Just looking at the experience that PC had with UConn fans, TD, while not as UConn heavy as MSG, would turn into yet another UConn home game.

 

[Dooley]

It's 'simple' to get from one side of the river to the other on a Thursday night around 6:30/8:00 PM. Really. Do you own or have enough money to afford taking a helicopter? There was no mass transit connection to IZOD for this game, so taking the train was out unless one took a cab from Rutherford or Secaucus. From Manhattan, that means 45 minutes minimum. By car, it took me 60 minutes to get there by car from Bergen County, i.e. I did not have to cross the river. To cross the river, the only real way to drive north to the GWB and down I-95. Taking the Holland Tunnel is foolish with the Pulaski Skyway out. The Lincoln tunnel is tough as they dedicate 1 of the 4 travel lanes to bus only. I checked Google maps for a friend who wanted to drive down from Stamford to IZOD at 6:00 PM and scalp a ticket and it was 2 1/2 hours by car.

I think this guy just tries to belittle any sort of positive press that UCONN fans receive because it's part of the BC fan DNA to protect what they think is "their" turf. Outnumbering #2 Duke in a state that they have a significant presence on a weeknight for a regular season basketball game (that doesn't carry the same kind of regular season game weight as football does just because of sheer volume of games played) is impressive. Not all UCONN fans in attendance drove 2-3 hours to get there. Like it or not, UCONN has a very strong alumni population who live in the NYC DMA and I'm going to guess that the majority of UCONN fans in attendance probably lived inside of it.

For BC fans, the longer that the rest of the country is kept in the dark about UCONN's presence in NYC, the longer we will be shunned out of a P5 conference and the longer they can continue to hold a recruiting advantage over us. So, of course, every UCONN fan who went to the Duke game drove from Storrs. Meanwhile, BC sold out its allotment of Pinstripe Bowl tickets and will have a 50/50 split against friggin' Penn State because BC has a huge alumni base in New York.

 

[Dooley]

BC would never schedule a game with UConn at TD. They average 4,200 per game (2013) on campus, which is outside of the NCAA D1 Top 100 (UConn is #33 at 10,700). Just looking at the experience that PC had with UConn fans, TD, while not as UConn heavy as MSG, would turn into yet another UConn home game.

I'm not suggesting scheduling BC. I'm suggesting scheduling a game against another program. Syracuse? Providence? Notre Dame? We played against Gonzaga there years ago and the attendance was 18K. Why not schedule some other games? It wouldn't matter who UCONN played against - the game would sell 15+K tickets. No doubt about that.

 

[Fishy]

BC doesn't have turf.

They have a sidewalk that rings the campus.

It doubles as a walkway and as the furthest orbit of their influence.

 

[BC1978]

I think this guy just tries to belittle any sort of positive press that UCONN fans receive because it's part of the BC fan DNA to protect what they think is "their" turf. Outnumbering #2 Duke in a state that they have a significant presence on a weeknight for a regular season basketball game (that doesn't carry the same kind of regular season game weight as football does just because of sheer volume of games played) is impressive. Not all UCONN fans in attendance drove 2-3 hours to get there. Like it or not, UCONN has a very strong alumni population who live in the NYC DMA and I'm going to guess that the majority of UCONN fans in attendance probably lived inside of it.

For BC fans, the longer that the rest of the country is kept in the dark about UCONN's presence in NYC, the longer we will be shunned out of a P5 conference and the longer they can continue to hold a recruiting advantage over us. So, of course, every UCONN fan who went to the Duke game drove from Storrs. Meanwhile, BC sold out its allotment of Pinstripe Bowl tickets and will have a 50/50 split against friggin' Penn State because BC has a huge alumni base in New York.

Dooley, since you asked me a direct question above, I will respond. My premise is simple. When a Uconn or BC plays a sport in a region a few hours drive from their core fan base, they will always have a big crowd there, to the extent they have a good fanbase to begin with (see my comments above on BC BB). Will some of that big crowd be locals who happen to be fans? Sure, but the vast majority will be fans making the drive to see their team play. If by "reach" you mean the ability of fans to travel to see the game, then I agree with you.

Regardless of what you may think BC fans "want", do you really think that the BiG, or any other P5 Conference, "is in the dark" about any team??? That's just silly. These are big businesses that invest lots of money in market research. They are run by folks who are sophisticated executives, and they have the vast resources of analysts, consultants, and all kinds of other folks advising them. They know the real TV numbers for every school. Not the cherry picked numbers that all of us as fans like to throw around. They know the real attendance numbers. Not the tickets sold and tickets distributed information that fans like to selectively parrot. They know the true market penetration for any program. The idea that these people who matter are "in the dark" about these issues is just silly, IMO.

 

[Dooley]

So if one program can sell out MSG and TD Bank, that doesn't demonstrate potential reach whatsoever? What does it demonstrate? It must be something good. Either you say that the program has reach OR that the program has a very strong traveling fanbase. Either one is good. But I'm sure you'll say that the same 15-18K fans who live in Storrs drive to New York/New Jersey and Boston for all UCONN games.

And please spare us the talk about market research and explain to us how Pitt is in the ACC and not UCONN. Still want to stick to your "real TV numbers" theory?

 

[BC1978]

So if one program can sell out MSG and TD Bank, that doesn't demonstrate potential reach whatsoever? What does it demonstrate? It must be something good. Either you say that the program has reach OR that the program has a very strong traveling fanbase. Either one is good. But I'm sure you'll say that the same 15-18K fans who live in Storrs drive to New York/New Jersey and Boston for all UCONN games.

And please spare us the talk about market research and explain to us how Pitt is in the ACC and not UCONN. Still want to stick to your "real TV numbers" theory?

To your question, I say that it means that a program has a strong traveling fanbase, for which I have credited Uconn BB, if the game is within driving distance. For games in far away regions, don't get me started on that. With few exceptions, I believe MOST programs do not travel as well as their fans would like to have you believe, especially to, say for example, far flung 2nd tier bowl destinations, where fans often balk at spending thousands of dollars to travel over the holidays to see what is basically an exhibition game against an all-to-often less than exciting opponent, and where the game will be televised anyways. But I digress.

IMO, my comment on the market research is valid. I never said it was the ONLY consideration - but, IMO, it is naive to think that Conferences don't understand those numbers and take them into account.

In the case of Pitt, IMO, sure, they were helped by (ahem) strong positions by some Conference members. That said, for FB (the major consideration), I would think the market numbers for Pitt would be similar to other programs that were considered. IMO, no conference is going to take a program where the result will be they will make less money, regardless of the feelings of some of the members.

 

[UConn9604]

Being able to pack a venue within a couple of hours drive of your core fanbase does not show "reach"' IMO. It shows that you have fans that are able to make a relatively short drive to watch their team play. By your logic, BC will be demonstrating its "reach" in NYC this week as it has sold out its Pinstripe Bowl allotment in less than a week and will be playing in a sold out Yankee Stadium where a big chunk of fans will be BC fans.

Serious question: what was the size of the allotment? How many seats were you required to buy? My guess is that we brought more fans to the East Regional at (20,000 seat) MSG than BC will bring to the Pinstripe Bowl at (49,500 seat) Yankee Stadium.

 

[CL82]

You know it would be nice if a passing reference to BCU wouldn't immediately cause their fans to come by. Is there like a spray or something we can apply to the forum to keep out the verm...ah un invited guests?

 

[BC1978]

Serious question: what was the size of the allotment? How many seats were you required to buy? My guess is that we brought more fans to the East Regional at (20,000 seat) MSG than BC will bring to the Pinstripe Bowl at (49,500 seat) Yankee Stadium.

Have no idea, Uconn9604. Have heard everything from 11,000 - 17,500, but I have no idea. I also don't know how many additional fans bought their tickets outside of BC (over and above the allotment) as we all know that fans frequently take this route.

I will have a better sense once the game starts, as it will be clear just how much of Yankee Stadium is populated by BC fans and how much is populated by PSU fans.

According to some reports, the Pinstripe Bowl Director indicated the Bowl sold out within 36 hours of the schools being announced, so that is pretty telling, IMO.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jack_mccluskey/status/544916586843619328

 

[Samoo]

Dooley, since you asked me a direct question above, I will respond. My premise is simple. When a Uconn or BC plays a sport in a region a few hours drive from their core fan base, they will always have a big crowd there, to the extent they have a good fanbase to begin with (see my comments above on BC BB). Will some of that big crowd be locals who happen to be fans? Sure, but the vast majority will be fans making the drive to see their team play. If by "reach" you mean the ability of fans to travel to see the game, then I agree with you.

Funny you should mention that. We actually have a very good comparison in sport at which BC historically excels. What was the BC percentage of the crowd when #3 ranked BC played UCONN in hockey at XL Center? My guess is there will be more UCONN fans at the return game in February than there were at the Hartford game if tickets are freely available.

 

[Samoo]

Have no idea, Uconn9604. Have heard everything from 11,000 - 17,500, but I have no idea. I also don't know how many additional fans bought their tickets outside of BC (over and above the allotment) as we all know that fans frequently take this route.

I will have a better sense once the game starts, as it will be clear just how much of Yankee Stadium is populated by BC fans and how much is populated by PSU fans.

According to some reports, the Pinstripe Bowl Director indicated the Bowl sold out within 36 hours of the schools being announced, so that is pretty telling, IMO.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jack_mccluskey/status/544916586843619328

What's pretty telling is that both schools are within an comparitively easy daytrip drive when compared with just about every other bowl.

 

[billybud]

I will certainly be watching the Pinstripe Bowl.

Sure hope that it is blowing snow...a snow game is an entertaining sight for us southern boys. Although I saw a light snow in the trees at my NC cabin at Halloween, I haven't seen snow on the ground in 25 years.

Going to New York city around the holidays is still on my bucket list. Hope to check it off before I check out.