mapei
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,088
|
Post by mapei on Nov 30, 2011 21:10:56 GMT -5
Well played. I actually had not noticed!
|
|
|
Post by hoyaatheart55 on Nov 30, 2011 21:15:13 GMT -5
If I could get into GU, I'd be in the student section for most every game better believe that! I will be at the Memphis game for my first Hoya game ever though.
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
|
Post by lichoya68 on Nov 30, 2011 21:18:13 GMT -5
MAYBE hoyas students should lose their admission to the hilltop if they DONT SHOW UP WHATA YA THINK ??
|
|
RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,610
|
Post by RusskyHoya on Dec 1, 2011 1:38:13 GMT -5
Its just too bad that Hoya Blue/no current students participate on the board...no real way for us to get the pulse of what is actually going on around campus. Then again, any students on Hoyatalk are probably the few at the game too ;D jkhoya12 is a current student. Then again, he probably has a LifeAlert bracelet that says his catatonic body must be brought to every Georgetown sporting event possible. FLHoya has long espoused a theory of economic-like cyclical boom-bust to describe the performance of Hoya Blue and similar groups. As much as I had hoped that my generation had established something more durable and enduring, it appears that has not been the case. Ironically, men's basketball attendance is probably the most inelastic of all the sports in terms of the effect that Hoya Blue efforts and other gimmicks have. For these games, students take their cue from the national media: they're not going to mistake IUPUI for Memphis or South Florida for Villanova. I remember the 2008 Tuesday-night game against USF. Even when Hoya Blue was at its (imho) peak, with plenty of effort going into ginning up turnoout, all of 8,316 (officially) came out to watch the #6 team in the country in a Big East game. If you really want to gauge the impact of Hoya Blue and athletic promotions in general, you have to look at the other sports. In any case, I think student groups like HB work best when the leadership and most committed members don't come across as all being part of one in-group. Ideally, they should all be friendly and get along well, but you start running into problems when the group's leadership is seen as just one big clique. I fear that is what has happened now - just as it was in the years before GUHoya2007 took over, the people running the club are more interested in the partying and socialization aspects than in sports promotion and development, campus spirit building, etc. I could be wrong, of course - I'm "on campus" but very much removed from the day to day of undergraduate life - but that's what it feels like. I remember when we had actual events to drum up campus spirit, like a "Stag Bar-B-Que" for a game against Fairfield and a t-shirt exchange in which we traded IBHB shirts for other schools' gear. We did stuff for lacrosse. I convinced the group to do both a pre-game pep rally/cookout and a road trip to Philly for a moribund football team. We heckled the hell out of the Louisville volleyball team, to the point that the AD staff had to come over and tell us to stop making USSR references. It may have been all of about 10 people, but by God you knew where Hoya Blue was at the football games, thanks to those pots and pans. I didn't notice any of them this season, despite the banner year. Someone raised the issue of scarcity in the non-game observation thread and it is very relevant here: you're much more likely to get people to do all of that stuff when the carrot of preferential standing for Big East Tournament and NCAA Roadtrip tickets hangs in the balance. I don't know how many people - if any - camped out for Big East tickets last year, but it was surely a shadow of the spectacle several years ago, when the entire McDonough lobby was filled overnight and there were still dozens of people awake and abuzz when Kevin Kelly came in to work at 4:45 am (to say nothing of when JTIII showed up with breakfast the next morning). The pursuit of scarce and desirable goods does motivate people like little else. There's no scarcity for Savannah State or NJIT - and everyone knows it. There's plenty more to be said about Hoya Blue shortcomings, but ultimately, even a well-oiled machine wouldn't have made much of a difference in terms of attendance in this case.
|
|
GUHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,083
|
Post by GUHoya07 on Dec 1, 2011 2:33:33 GMT -5
I'd have to agree with most of what RusskyHoya has said. While I do believe more should be done by Hoya Blue to increase excitement about basketball on campus, it's the other sports that are hurt even more than basketball. When we brought 20-30 people to a football, volleyball or soccer game it was a very noticeable presence that in many cases had a noticeable effect on the game. I was quite frustrated to see that there was no organized Hoya Blue presence at the games I attended this season.
There are certainly advantages we had when we turned around Hoya Blue. The basketball team was on the rise and it didn't take as much to get people excited in my opinion. Standards had been pretty low, so once we started winning consistently and were ranked that was a significant source of excitement on campus. That doesn't seem to be good enough anymore. We've been consistently ranked the past few seasons and won plenty of games, but the post season disappointment seems to be the focus on campus. Students seem entitled and apparently nothing short of winning a national championship would be enough to grab their attention.
Still though, more needs to be done to promote basketball. I work on campus so I have a pretty good feel of what's going on daily, and I still get the Hoya Blue emails, so I generally know what they're doing. There are some very simple things requiring very little effort that can be done to spread the word about basketball, get people excited, and create a better culture of support for the team on campus.
As Russky mentioned, the t-shirt exchange was very simple and raised awareness. Have two Hoya Blue members stand in Red Square. When they see a person walk by wearing a shirt of any kind from another university, offer them a free Hoya Blue shirt in exchange and talk up the next home game. Not only does this catch that person's attention, but others walking by while it happens take notice as well.
We also did this in front of the dining hall and taped syracuse shirts to the ground directly in front of the doors that everyone walking in and out literally had to step on. That sort of thing catches peoples attention and makes them realize that basketball is a big deal and that we hate syracuse.
We also regularly put up huge banners in Red Square for home games regardless of the opponent. I don't know how much of an effect it had, but when everyone walking through Red Square sees it in front of them, at least it reminds them that there is a game coming up and I'm sure it at least gets kids asking each other "Hey, are you going to the game on Wednesday?" We also plastered the campus with flyers for each game. Maybe this didn't do all that much, but at least people could see we were trying. I walk around campus every day and I can't remember seeing a Hoya Blue flyer advertising anything.
Maybe do something ridiculous once in a while like throw oranges at pictures of jim boeheim and gerry mcnamara. We might have gotten in a bit of trouble for this, but it was totally worth it. Things like this really get people's attention and are a lot of fun for everyone involved.
I'm sure there's plenty of other ideas we never even came up with that would be great. The problem I currently have is that I just don't see the effort. I don't think we were the biggest group of marketing geniuses, but we were extremely passionate and dedicated a lot of time to the cause. I'd like to see some more effort, that's all.
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
|
Post by lichoya68 on Dec 1, 2011 8:50:17 GMT -5
nuf talking just FILL THE BOOTH STARTING THIS SAT go hoyas beat bama
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
|
Post by lichoya68 on Dec 1, 2011 8:51:17 GMT -5
with this modern technology thingy can blue text ALL students about the game the day before every game JUST A THOUGHT go hoyas
|
|
nodak89
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Roy Roy Royyyyy!!!
Posts: 1,881
|
Post by nodak89 on Dec 1, 2011 8:57:53 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by jkhoya12 on Dec 1, 2011 14:07:56 GMT -5
Its just too bad that Hoya Blue/no current students participate on the board...no real way for us to get the pulse of what is actually going on around campus. Then again, any students on Hoyatalk are probably the few at the game too ;D jkhoya12 is a current student. Then again, he probably has a LifeAlert bracelet that says his catatonic body must be brought to every Georgetown sporting event possible. FLHoya has long espoused a theory of economic-like cyclical boom-bust to describe the performance of Hoya Blue and similar groups. As much as I had hoped that my generation had established something more durable and enduring, it appears that has not been the case. Ironically, men's basketball attendance is probably the most inelastic of all the sports in terms of the effect that Hoya Blue efforts and other gimmicks have. For these games, students take their cue from the national media: they're not going to mistake IUPUI for Memphis or South Florida for Villanova. I remember the 2008 Tuesday-night game against USF. Even when Hoya Blue was at its (imho) peak, with plenty of effort going into ginning up turnoout, all of 8,316 (officially) came out to watch the #6 team in the country in a Big East game. If you really want to gauge the impact of Hoya Blue and athletic promotions in general, you have to look at the other sports. In any case, I think student groups like HB work best when the leadership and most committed members don't come across as all being part of one in-group. Ideally, they should all be friendly and get along well, but you start running into problems when the group's leadership is seen as just one big clique. I fear that is what has happened now - just as it was in the years before GUHoya2007 took over, the people running the club are more interested in the partying and socialization aspects than in sports promotion and development, campus spirit building, etc. I could be wrong, of course - I'm "on campus" but very much removed from the day to day of undergraduate life - but that's what it feels like. I remember when we had actual events to drum up campus spirit, like a "Stag Bar-B-Que" for a game against Fairfield and a t-shirt exchange in which we traded IBHB shirts for other schools' gear. We did stuff for lacrosse. I convinced the group to do both a pre-game pep rally/cookout and a road trip to Philly for a moribund football team. We heckled the hell out of the Louisville volleyball team, to the point that the AD staff had to come over and tell us to stop making USSR references. It may have been all of about 10 people, but by God you knew where Hoya Blue was at the football games, thanks to those pots and pans. I didn't notice any of them this season, despite the banner year. Someone raised the issue of scarcity in the non-game observation thread and it is very relevant here: you're much more likely to get people to do all of that stuff when the carrot of preferential standing for Big East Tournament and NCAA Roadtrip tickets hangs in the balance. I don't know how many people - if any - camped out for Big East tickets last year, but it was surely a shadow of the spectacle several years ago, when the entire McDonough lobby was filled overnight and there were still dozens of people awake and abuzz when Kevin Kelly came in to work at 4:45 am (to say nothing of when JTIII showed up with breakfast the next morning). The pursuit of scarce and desirable goods does motivate people like little else. There's no scarcity for Savannah State or NJIT - and everyone knows it. There's plenty more to be said about Hoya Blue shortcomings, but ultimately, even a well-oiled machine wouldn't have made much of a difference in terms of attendance in this case. Remind of that when I'm elderly....great idea.
|
|
|
Post by LizziebethHoya on Dec 1, 2011 17:28:33 GMT -5
The best part about that picture? That the "GUHoya2007"-mullet still exists on the internet besides facebook. Agree with everything Rusky and GUHoya2007 have said, although I'm not on campus and I can't admit to having attended any football/soccer games this year to see this first-hand. I just remember at homecoming hearing one of the current HB members (who I think is on the board) say they have never been to a football game. I mean, it seems like they just aren't doing much. This is nothing against them as people, this is just against what the organization looks like right now. Even the website above hasn't changed much since 2007, which is nice for me because its a nice reminder of my college years. But seriously, the most recent pictures shouldn't be from 2007. If the AD needs to start offering "carrots" to lure people to the games, so be it. In my opinion, they should have never stopped. Need to show appreciation to the student fan base, no matter how big or small it happens to be.
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
|
Post by lichoya68 on Dec 1, 2011 20:22:17 GMT -5
JUST FILL THE BOOTH ON SATURDAY AND EVERY GAME nuf said JUST DO IT PLEASE
|
|
vcjack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,875
|
Post by vcjack on Dec 2, 2011 12:18:31 GMT -5
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
|
Post by lichoya68 on Dec 2, 2011 13:09:47 GMT -5
beat bama ..no excuses for studs .. SHOW UP AND FILL THE BOOTH ...support your classmates who will be exhausted sat am ...yup exhausted ....so come out to the booth.... and fill it..
|
|
tgo
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 799
|
Post by tgo on Dec 2, 2011 14:30:38 GMT -5
for those who dont know there is some context here besides ucla's poor start, they are playing a long way from campus while Pauley is being renovated this year, it likely takes an hour, maybe more, to get from campus to an evening game, the arena is awful, parking is expensive and it is basically on the USC campus. for students who are used to walking to the games thats a big change. i dont know if they are doing buses the way GU used to when we played way out in Landover at the Crap Centre but even if they do, it was tough to get many people out there for a weeknight game against a bad team and we hadnt been spoiled the way ucla fans have.
|
|
CAHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,598
|
Post by CAHoya07 on Dec 2, 2011 16:10:25 GMT -5
for those who dont know there is some context here besides ucla's poor start, they are playing a long way from campus while Pauley is being renovated this year, it likely takes an hour, maybe more, to get from campus to an evening game, the arena is awful, parking is expensive and it is basically on the USC campus. for students who are used to walking to the games thats a big change. i dont know if they are doing buses the way GU used to when we played way out in Landover at the Crap Centre but even if they do, it was tough to get many people out there for a weeknight game against a bad team and we hadnt been spoiled the way ucla fans have. But wait, the article says that UCLA's temporary home is a 17-mile trek, that really can take over an hour!? Oh right, forgot, LA sucks... (Also a town filled with fairweather fans, why do you think they haven't had a pro football team in over a generation? Well, other than U$C. ;D) Anyways, served on that board with 007, Russky, Lizziebeth, etc. We weren't perfect but you definitely couldn't deny that the passion and effort were there. Maybe we were just a little hungrier, having not been spoiled by high expectations which, in turn, have turned into disappointed disillusionment the past couple seasons. It's a shame to see a perceived lack of effort and passion from current Hoya Blue, since I've met a lot of them and they seem like really nice people. With a volunteer organization, you're only as good as you want to be, and the effort you want to put forth. But enough with this. The next three home games, while not against marquee opponents, are on Saturdays, which should boost attendance. Hopefully we can get some good crowds, including some better looking student sections. The team is on the up and up. I can only imagine that the fans will follow closely behind. Hoya Saxa from the West Coast. Hopefully I'll be able to provide some help in terms of attendance in January and February.
|
|
RBHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,133
|
Post by RBHoya on Dec 2, 2011 18:31:04 GMT -5
I just remember at homecoming hearing one of the current HB members (who I think is on the board) say they have never been to a football game. If that's true it's extremely disconcerting--to the point where it actually makes my stomach turn. I'm at a distance now so my only exposure are the emails and bits and pieces I hear from others. But it sure sounds like it has gone back to something similar to what it was before Hoya Blue became an official student organization and before GUHoya2007 became president. I also noticed while watching the Midnight Madness broadcast that during the shooting contest where there was a student member for each team, and the 4 student representatives were all Hoya Blue board members (per the website bios, which seem to be the only thing on that website that's been updated in ages). Nothing like a little patronage. I'm sure they're still getting preferential treatment from the AD and if they're not even making a full-hearted effort to be a presence at every single on-campus home game, that's really a shame. If we see them put a couch in front of the student section for them and their friends, we'll know for sure it has fallen apart. Obviously, I agree with the sentiment of 007, Rusky, CA, SoCal et al. Hoya Blue is not about doing minimal promotional work for the AD in exchange for handouts or preferential treatment. It's about building school spirit and enhancing the Georgetown community through athletics (and occasionally other methods). If you're just going through the motions of emailing and flyering, you're doing it wrong. The outside-the-box ideas like Stag barbecues, t-shirt swaps, orange throws, football roadtrips, random banners & posters for players or teams, etc. etc. are the essence of the organization. If these types of things are not happening anymore, and especially if the group's members aren't going to home games other than basketball anymore, then "Hoya Blue" as I knew it and as we built it is dead in everything but name.
|
|
lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
|
Post by lichoya68 on Dec 3, 2011 16:47:04 GMT -5
pathetic again studs today pathetic. too bad you missed a great coming out party for our two great big men frosh tyler adams and mr. hopkins GREAT games by them.. sooo hope blue gets SOMETHING GOING HERE. sad attendance by the students COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR CLASSMATES. heck the probably got back at four am friday morning from bama and came out to play CANT YOU ALL GET TO THE BOOTH TO FILL IT.. please plea to hoya blue DO SOMETHING
|
|
|
Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Dec 3, 2011 16:59:18 GMT -5
I actually thought the students were a lot better today. The student section they had set up was full. Obviously not the 2 whole full student sections I'd prefer, but better than IUPUI.
|
|
chep3
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,314
|
Post by chep3 on Dec 3, 2011 17:03:47 GMT -5
Whoever thought it was a good idea to start that Utah State chant in the student section, it wasn't. First off, I'm not sure we should be cribbing it at all. USU does it to perfection, and it feels odd stealing that from them. Second, if we are going to do that, please only do it when he have both student sections up. Third, don't do that when we're up 30 points playing NJIT. Of course we're going to win.
|
|
mapei
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,088
|
Post by mapei on Dec 3, 2011 17:21:25 GMT -5
I actually thought the students were a lot better today. The student section they had set up was full. Obviously not the 2 whole full student sections I'd prefer, but better than IUPUI. That was my impression as well. Even on the "empty" end, there were students going way up along at least one of the corner sections. if you think today was bad compared to, say, a lesser OOC game last year, you either weren't there or weren't paying attention. I do think some of the cheers sounded a little weird - I'm not familiar with Utah State but maybe that's one of the ones that came across that way.
|
|