At least they have 1 poster who gets it. they're bad for 3 reasons; horrible fan support, bad coaching, and the fact that the only really good player they have is Calhoun.

My favorite was the thread regarding OHIO and Akron playing the other night

Someone explain to me how Athens, Ohio can, for special games, draw well over 10,000 fans to a town in the middle of nowhere and BG figures 4700 is the most they can hope for today and for the next 40 years.


What I do not understand is the rationale every other school uses to justify the attendance.

OU has 22,000 students. Athens alone has that many residents, plus surrounding population (although limited). There's virtually nothing to do within 1-1.5 hours.

Or  What else is there to do but bowling and the Bobcats in Athens?.

Any  number of variations of the same thing are found on most opposing fanboards

I read this same sentiment on every opposing fanboard yet in the years I have been in the Convo the really well attended games are not so much locals filling it up as it is folks travelling 1 - 3 hours or more making up the bulk of any attendance swell. I have long lamented that SEO is actually underappreciated as a target audience.

I do think that we are a bit of an anomaly when it comes to fan support within the MAC.  While I certainly would not proclaim us as the best fan base ever, I would definitely say we are one of the best.  I think most of our students come to Athens out of true desire and embrace the entire college experience.  Although we do have commuters most of our students pick up from home and relocate for 4+ wonderful years.  This develops, in time, a deep passion for all things Ohio.  They get hooked on football or hoops as a student and it has them coming back for more as alumni.

Many other schools in the MAC I think have more students who end up attending their university out of convenience or necessity.  They have to stay close to home and probably barely have enough time to make it to class, let alone support the teams on the field or court as they have to go to work, take care of family etc.  

I also think that Southeast Ohio really supports our teams well.  Combine them with our students and we are really blessed to have the support we do. I think our players reward us for our support with bowl games, NCAA runs etc. and it helps perpetuate the cycle! 

Ohio has is in its favor is brand. The campus is broadly regarded to be the best in the state. I found the numbers online where only 13% of the students attending the school are from SE Ohio. Miami is 40% SW Ohio. Ohio State is 60% Central Ohio. The school is the most broadly representative in the state. Alumni are more driven than the passive types you find at Bowling Green.

I think they had a similar post about attendance a while ago, and one of the comments mentioned disdainfully that Ohio grads think their school is the greatest thing ever. Um, is that the best insult you have? The only MAC school that comes close to Ohio with respect to overall affection for their university is Fiami, and we’ve seen that they’re too cool to pay attention to hoops and football. We blame anemic attendance around the league on the Big Ten or playing hapless teams. The real cause is apathetic students and alumni who never felt a shred of passion for their university.

More reasons to find a new neighborhood to play our games in.

I've never understood that argument either. Outside of having a mall, what does Athens lack? And are we supposed to believe that there are 1,000's of BG, Akron, and Miami fans that wake up on a Saturday and think "I could go to the basketball game today, but I'd rather go to the mall." 

Well maybe that's believable for the Miami fans. 

This post was less about jealousy towards our home crowds than it was more about questioning why Stroh holds only 4700. I agree with that poster; to cap it so small says that their administration does not believe demand for Bowling Green basketball tickets will ever exceed what it can provide for the next 40 years. BG's enrollment and setting is not that dissimilar from Ohio and Athens. What if BG basketball gets really good within that time. There's a lot of ticket revenue that won't be earned and that's a lot of business that area restaurants and hotels will not be able to serve. So build an 8000 seat arena. Tarp it and put up curtains like at Miami. Make the upper deck retractable like at NIU. It may look funny for now, but it at least you leave the possibility open to have a big time college basketball atmosphere years down the line.

I'm not sure what the figures are for BGSUcks, but I'd guess that the hometowns of around 90% of its students are no more than an hour away.  I grew up about 45 minutes from there and 8 or 10 kids (out of 68) from my high school graduating class went there.  Makes it real easy for kids to pop home over a weekend, even during the winter.  And I'd guess that free meals/laundry/cash are still as attractive to college kids today as they were 40 years ago.