Seawolves Fans

I think Hammer has a fair point in regards to ethnicity. I don't want to turn this into a ethnic war. It may indeed be one of the factors that affects attendance. But I also think its one of the factors that can be minimized with relatively less effort if the proper conditions are in place. I would put myself as an example...


I attended SBU. I'm a native of the Dominican Republic (known as a baseball powerhouse). Raised and still live in the Bronx and part of an ethnic group (Hispanic) which statistically tends to be more interested in soccer than American football. But hey, there it goes. I make my 90 minute drive to Stony Brook every Saturday to catch a football match-up. The point being that you can find young adults like me that can learn to enjoy the sport and the atmosphere. If you create a fun atmosphere for the students they will follow. Its like some sort of positive feedback loop or "network effect". I didn't know much about football before attending SBU. But when I attended the freshmen weekend opening game I was immediately interested.

Those barriers can easily be torn down if you make it fun. At the end of the day, we all need something to entertain us and keep us sane. I also noticed that the students that DO attend the football games tend to be pretty diverse which proves the point that it is possible to draw a diverse crowd of students. It all depends whether SBU athletics admins are willing to put the effort...

Now that I'm pursuing my MBA I realize that proper marketing is crucial.

well then sorry but if that is what you guys think is factual no need to even raise any other issues. Sad- I am out

Hammer. I had to read this a few times to ensure you stated what you did. I am a but disappointed in your statement. So now its the Asians (who make up 24 per cent-compared to the 35 per cent white at SBU) fault for not coming to the games and of course they dont like sports? I am guessing you've never been outside of the country to any Asian sporting events (basketball is normally PACKED as is Baseball. soccer and now even in China and Japan football leagues and teams are being played locally with a lot of success?. I asked SH about two years back why we don't see more of the SBU Professors at the games (BTW- 68.1 per cent WHITE and the only time they do is to get some type of recognition or an award) and he just stated that seems to be an ongoing issue and for various reasons (probably maybe they just dont give a rats a$$)

The fact is (as I raised several years back) and others have stated is that this is just NOT a college sports area, and really never has been nor WILL be. But if it were not for all those "Asians" coming to SBU and the boatload of money they bring in to the University (Charles Wang BTW) we might be still in a smaller conference with us never competing either academically or in sports.

For the record. I agree with your points too. Very good. Why aren't our professors backing our winning program? How can we draw them in? Should we provide them ticket discounts for their families? should the department have an outreach program to call them before the season starts to sell them season tickets? Should we create a preferred section for professors in LaValle Stadium? Professor game night? Who knows. So many ideas off the top of my head.

In regards to academic contributions. Asians like all other student groups have made valuable contributions to the University. No one is getting singled out here in negative light. The University wouldn't be what it is today without its students, alumni, and philanthropist. Charles Wang made seven figure contributions for the beautiful Wang Center.

I was a little adamant about posting something like this for fear of someone taking what I said the wrong way. But because this a open Forum where we can talk about anything related to SB, I figured it wouldn't be a issue. I am not going to sit here all day at work explaining my reasoning. If someone takes offense to the truth, so be it.

Cool so then heres my last post.  The truth is you made all sorts of references to Asians but seem to leave out all the others who dont attend the games since we are normally at around 60 per cent filled (of course without all the freebies). Wonder if you singled out another minority you would be so applauded? And this is not the first time on this so called "open forum" the Asian issue has been raised. Oh and BTW as a FACT you stated "sports" but nice trying to cover it up. Go back and read your post. Gotta run, my Chinese food just arrived.

Take care. I think you are the racist one. I am not, and I won't site here to defend what I wrote. A fact is a fact..

Thank you ecasadoSBU. You clearly understand what I was portraying.

agreed

While I agree on the surface SBU doesn't have the demographics of a typical large state school with a rabid fan base, I know first hand it's possible to get Asian students out to games. Over my years at SBU, I had a Chinese roommate, and several Korean roommates who attended SBU though the foreign exchange program. All went to multiple football games. Foreign students want some of that typical American college experience, it was part of the draw of attending college in the United States. We can tap into that, but in order to do so we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot with dumb crap like charging for parking, charging for tailgating, banning fraternity tailgating, the re-entry policy, etc. We can do this.

The fact that a relatively benign comment meant to drive discussion would drive someone away from this forum is unfortunate, but it's a conversation that we ought to be allowed to have. SBU doesn't have large numbers of African Americans, Southerners, and Texans, three major demographic groups who tend to consume lots of football related content (yes I know all three of those groups can heavily overlap). We need to be free to discuss how we'll navigate these challenges as an athletic department as our marketing approach to our students may need to change. That's all.

I agree 100%, VASeawolf. This is an open forum and we should be able to talk about whatever is on our mind. [EDITED BY MODERATORS]

With that said. I believe SB is making a big mistake not allowing us to re-enter the stadium if you walk out. Tailgating is an integral part of going to a college football game.

This past game half of my tailgating members went out to the car at the end of the 3rdQ and could not return back to their seats.

What we are going to do with the Villanova game is. I am going to bring a portable big, flat monitor and hook it up to my Laptop and watch the game in the parking lot at halftime. You watch how this will take off and more fans will stay at their tailgate lot and watch the game on TV..