I went to my first basketball game this year when given free tickets. I did not pay the increased price this year and no longer have season tickets. It's my choice not to go just like it's the students' choice to go or not. While at the game, I witnessed a very weak support from the students and was informed it has been like this all year. What's the deal? Are they protesting something, or just don't like basketball all of a sudden? At a time when the current young guys need all the help they can get, why do the students not show with access to free tickets? Why don't the school take the tickets and offer them to sidewalk fans for free to come to the games if the students don't want them? I'd take'em.

It's all about winning. Put an exciting, winning team on the floor and they will come. Same with the Titans, notice the drop in club level and upper deck the past couple of years?

Not true Brad.  This team wasn't even getting a chance to win before no one showed up.  That section has been empty from day one except for the UK game, and after that effort, one would think the students would be all in.

Maybe CKS should go around to all the fraternities and sororities and drum up some business?

I don't think it's quite as simple as being only about winning. It's about being An Event. Football games are An Event, even when the team isn't doing well, doesn't have high prospects of winning, and to some extent, even when it isn't a big name opponent. Having a winning team playing a big game helps to stir up enthusiasm, but it's never going to be the same kind of sell as football game day in South, especially since we're now a football school. 

I really like the idea of asking fans in the upper sections to move down to court level after a certain point in the game. It would really help the atmosphere and would look better on TV, too.

VandyWhit wrote:

I really like the idea of asking fans in the upper sections to move down to court level after a certain point in the game. It would really help the atmosphere and would look better on TV, too.

Whit, my complaint about moving people down to be more visible is that fans of the opposing teams would be the first to jump on that offer. Might not look better on TV if that entire section turned orange, or blue, etc.  Now if the ushers would "patrol" the movement, and keep those of non VU-ilk out, I could go for that.  But, I would rather be empty looking that overrun by the enemy looking.

Underdog, they had a chance to beat Marist and did not so after that it was going to be difficult for kids to get excited after that , also they lost to a bad Nova team soon after.

The plot thickens!

Student support has been lagging, but it was especially bad for the Arkansas game b/c a ton of kids were down in NOLA for Mardi Gras. Priorities!

Nashmann wrote: Maybe CKS should go around to all the fraternities and sororities and drum up some business?

The thought of that actually made me lol

Doxito wrote:

Nashmann wrote: Maybe CKS should go around to all the fraternities and sororities and drum up some business?

The thought of that actually made me lol

Again, if that's the approach we're looking for, we need the guy who just got fired at Old Dominion instead of CKS. Or better yet, Larry Eustachy.

Do you think that CJF would need to go to the frats and beat his drum coming off a win in ATL for the SEC Championship?  This is the equivalent of what CKS would be doing.  Granted, the team is rebuilding and has taken their lumps, but unless my memory is cloudy, we have been very competitive at home and have put a fun, hard working product on the floor.  A product that the students should at least invest two hours a week in IMO.  There really is no excuse for the lame support (or lack of) by the students.

TwoSaints wrote:

Doxito wrote:

Nashmann wrote: Maybe CKS should go around to all the fraternities and sororities and drum up some business?

The thought of that actually made me lol

Again, if that's the approach we're looking for, we need the guy who just got fired at Old Dominion instead of CKS. Or better yet, Larry Eustachy.

Well, they need to pull their heads out of their collective rears and remember that Vanderbilt treats athletics like a business.  If they don't start coming to games, Vanderbilt will take their seats and sell them to season ticket holders.  This will end a wonderful, fairly unique tradition of having the students on the sidelines.  It will result in them being behind the benches and in a much smaller section (thus making ticket allotment even that much worse - especially for the UK and UT games).

So, students, pay attention.  Whatever the allotment strategy is, I'm sure it's a lot easier than it was when most of us on this board who are alumni were here as students.  So, stop looking a gift horse in the mouth and show up for games.

Otherwise, no one at the University will listen to you when they come to take your seats.

This is the third year that freshmen are housed at the Commons, on Peabody campus.  Attendance has slowly become worse over this time.  In the old days, attending a basketball game was easy - walk across the street from Branscomb.  Now, it is an effort in the cold, and if attendance is not started during freshman year, it is not now part of the students' lives.  Now, three years in, we have 3 years of classes where attending games is not part of the traditional undergraduate culture, and it is showing, especially in a year where we have so many young players who don't have the wins to show for their efforts.  It is a real shame. The university needs to market these games to the students better- shuffle them over, have pregame parties with food for them, whatever.  With football this past year, there were only 5 home games while school was in session - and they are mostly on weekends with no class the next day, with good weather, and they are associated with parties - much easier to attract students! Much easier for our fair-weather student fans to attend.

As a Vanderbilt student maybe I can provide some insight. Basically the team this year is not very exciting, has a losing record and hasn't gotten that much better than the beginning of the year. Everybody was excited about last year's team and this past football season so everyone has kinda been depressed about the basketball team. Most of us just care about our grades and studying more than going to a weekday basketball game that is not a rival, which is why you see low turnout

I don't really think it has anything to do with commons, the team was good last year and you had to show up early to get a seat, nobody is really excited about a rebuilding year and school is tough, we have a lot of seats to fill and not a large student body.

Take away the students seats and who the hell would go in their place? Bad product equals bad attendance by all! Maybe if the administration had cheese and crackers, warm mittens and a comfortable shuttle service they might think about it? At least season tickets will not go up.

I appreciate your honesty and I'm certain that a student posting on this board is not to blame here, but Vandy didn't suddenly get tough academically. It was always hard, but basketball was always a priority for us. I went to games the night before tests and papers and just slept less. I got three VU degrees and basically didn't miss a game for the eight straight years I attended--even though a lot of those were the lousy VBK coached years.

Also, even if the weeknight excuse were valid, those Saturday afternoon games are easy to attend. This is extremely disappointing for the alumni and other Vanderbilt basketball fans to behold.

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--- vandy735 wrote:

I don't really think it has anything to do with commons, the team was good last year and you had to show up early to get a seat, nobody is really excited about a rebuilding year and school is tough, we have a lot of seats to fill and not a large student body.

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I'd never thought about that, but it's a good point. I'm pretty certain that this is the fifth year of the freshman Commons. Last year's graduating class was the first freshman class to live over there. 

There's a world of difference in location between Branscomb and the Commons. It isn't just the distance and the resulting time it takes to get there, at Branscomb you're close enough for the game day atmosphere to seep into the dorms with the additional foot and car traffic so nearby. The Commons is literally as far away as you can get and still be on campus. 

Last year was the first year when all undergraduates had been introduced to college life at the Commons. The administration has really tried to get them invested in football, with t-shirts that they wear to the first game, pregame tailgate, and running onto the field before the game.  If the admin has done anything comparable to get them invested in basketball, it's escaped my notice. It'd be a great idea to do something (or do more) to reach out to freshmen, something like giving them priority seating for the first big basketball game of the season, along with shuttles, pregame food, etc. 

iluvvandy wrote: This is the third year that freshmen are housed at the Commons, on Peabody campus.  Attendance has slowly become worse over this time.  In the old days, attending a basketball game was easy - walk across the street from Branscomb.  Now, it is an effort in the cold, and if attendance is not started during freshman year, it is not now part of the students' lives.  Now, three years in, we have 3 years of classes where attending games is not part of the traditional undergraduate culture, and it is showing, especially in a year where we have so many young players who don't have the wins to show for their efforts.  It is a real shame. The university needs to market these games to the students better- shuffle them over, have pregame parties with food for them, whatever.  With football this past year, there were only 5 home games while school was in session - and they are mostly on weekends with no class the next day, with good weather, and they are associated with parties - much easier to attract students! Much easier for our fair-weather student fans to attend.