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Post by west-texan on Feb 12, 2010 10:46:03 GMT -5
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Post by west-texan on Feb 12, 2010 11:03:12 GMT -5
The same picture above enlarged 2x so you can see the people better. This makes me wonder if we have a generation gap going for D2 sports at WT. I know the most vocal supporters of WT playing at the D2 level are mostly older. They are the ones who pushed for WT to drop to D2 from D1. So I have to wonder if WT playing D2 sports is losing the younger generation of fans. Only a few younger folks can be seen here. And I'm wondering how many of these people are from Canyon and how many drove from Amarillo. Left side:  Right side:  |
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Post by west-texan on Feb 12, 2010 11:28:48 GMT -5
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Post by phantom on Feb 12, 2010 20:14:54 GMT -5
I don't know, w-t. I think a lot of college basketball draws in an older crowd. My dad held season tickets to the Lady Raiders for years. Any time he or my stepmom were out of commission due to various ailments, I was the happy recipient of their tickets. It seemed that outside of the student section most fans in attendance were older. I don't know if that is because the older crowd has more expendable cash for tickets or more free time to go to games, but this does seem to be a trend.
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Post by willard on Feb 13, 2010 18:27:04 GMT -5
W-T, how long has it been since you've been to a BB game at WT? There are two student sections, one at the east end and the other in temporary bleachers at the west end where the "rowdies" sit.....And , for whatever reason, a lot of fans watch the women play and then leave....perhaps because they like women's BB better or because the men's games don't usually start until after 8 pm.....You can argue that attendance might be better if WT were D-I but, even now, WT draws larger crowds than most of the lower level D-I schools in FB, women's BB and VB.....It is real challenge for those lower level D-I programs to survive financially and stay at D-I and it's not going to get any easier.....So you might as well forget about WT going to D-I anytime in the foreseeable future.....or until someone with big bucks steps up and makes a huge, long term financial commitment....That's just a fact of life.....
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Post by itsmyopinion on Feb 14, 2010 19:33:47 GMT -5
YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GRAY HAIR, WT? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by west-texan on Mar 4, 2010 20:33:01 GMT -5
Back to this.
I'm just concerned about the random pictures I see of WT games, that make it appear that WT isn't attracting many 30 and 40 year old folks to games.
I think it's great that the retired folks get out and support WT sports, but we need other people also.
And Phantom is party right...because seniors have more money and time and no kids.
>>> But I am also concerned because it appears that WT has lost the 30 and 40 year olds with D2.
I've been talking to people I know...and even the WT grads only care about D1.
My 30's and 40's friends are saying they want WT to win...but they also say they don't care to drive to Canyon to watch D2 basketball.
>>> We've had 25 years of D2 sports at WT...so what is WT going to do for fans 20 years from now?
WT has got to be going somewhere in sports and advancing to keep the interest.
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Post by west-texan on Mar 4, 2010 20:45:05 GMT -5
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Post by phantom on Mar 5, 2010 21:41:58 GMT -5
Those old dudes in the last picture don't look very excited either.
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Post by west-texan on Mar 8, 2010 13:31:07 GMT -5
Notice those court-side seats with the 1 guy sitting there in the bottom picture.
25 years ago at the Civic Center when WT was playing D1 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
That first row of seats was filled with season ticket holders who all wore striped ref shirts.
It was an organized group who called themselves THE SECOND OPINION.
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Post by west-texan on Apr 26, 2010 7:12:44 GMT -5
He is talking about WT football attendance on a football board. But even though WT and some people who hover around the WT athletic program try to deny it there are many people who want to see the Buffs back at the D1 level where WT was until the mid-80's. The boost provided by a return to D1 would help WT meet Dr. O'Brien's goal of 15,000 students at WT by 2020.  |
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Post by west-texan on May 9, 2010 14:01:57 GMT -5
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