Spring Game Clips

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Óglaigh_na_hÉireann

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To be honest, I'm surprised we don't sell out the spring game every year---at least under Weis' tenure. People are proud that 41,000 showed up... c'mon, this is Notre Dame. We have the largest fan base in the country. We havn't seen football since January, you'd think more people would appreciate the opportunity to see the Irish take the field again.

How come Ohio State can sell 70,000 tickets and we can't match that? I don't buy that our fan base's lack of centralization is the problem, I think it just isn't committed to the program.

The same is true of Notre Dame basketball. Why some people call themselves Notre Dame fans is beyond me. I'm going to make a controversial statement here and say that we have one of the shittiest fan bases in the country. We have a small group of loyal followers who do what they can when they can, but the rest suck.

And my excuse is that I couldn't be in South Bend because a cousin of mine in Pennsylvania was having his confirmation. I'll be there next year for sure---tickets only cost $8-12---and hopefully help us come a bit closer to 80,000.
 
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tgolden

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I'll be there next year for sure.

But thanks for the clips. Yeah, West is tiny, but Grimes might be tinier.
 
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Gizmo

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I think lack of centralization is definately a problem. While ND does have a large contingent of fans in Illinois and Indiana, they have just as many fans living all over the country. The average ND fans has to really budget their time and money to see a game, much more so than any other fan base in the country. I live in FL, and though I flew up for the spring game I will only be able to see as few as two and as many as four home games this year. I simply cannot afford the flight/hotel/car that I need for every home game and using vacation days becomes an issue as well. Ohio State fans on the other hand grow up in Ohio, go to school in Ohio, and live in Ohio. It's much easier for them.

Consider school size as well. ND has an undergrad population around 8,000 while Ohio State is around 44,000. Subway alumni help make up for this deficiency, but they live all around the country whereas Ohio State's non-alumni fans live in Ohio. I hate excuses too, but I think these are some legitimate reasons why we should consider 41,000 a very good crowd. Look at UF for instance. Huge state school that loves their football and they drew 45,000 for their spring game. I think this is more a matter of Ohio State having a fervent and loyal fanbase living nearby than our fanbase sucking.

I'll agree with you to a degree on basketball. It's been years since we've enjoyed real success and our fans have either forgotten or never been exposed to ND Basketball tradition. Hopefully we can right this ship soon because despite not having great success in the tournament we've had some great teams, players, and coaches over the years.

Thanks for the clip, BTW.
 
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tgolden

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Gizmo said:
I'll agree with you to a degree on basketball. It's been years since we've enjoyed real success and our fans have either forgotten or never been exposed to ND Basketball tradition. Hopefully we can right this ship soon because despite not having great success in the tournament we've had some great teams, players, and coaches over the years.
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Well, there was the women's basketball team which won the NC in 2001, was ranked number one for a big span of the season, and was led by the Player of the Year. And I believe they only sold out 2 games that year. That's sad.
 
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Gizmo

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tgolden said:
Well, there was the women's basketball team which won the NC in 2001, was ranked number one for a big span of the season, and was led by the Player of the Year. And I believe they only sold out 2 games that year. That's sad.
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I assumed he was only talking about men's basketball, but even if that assumption is incorrect you really can't compare women's basketball to men's basketball. I'm not trying to put down the women's accomplishments and effort, but the men's game features players who are bigger, stronger, and faster and is considered more "exciting" by the general public. With the exception of a few schools like Tennessee and UConn, women's teams will never outdraw men's teams. I have little to no interest in watching women's sports because there are a number of men's sports (both professional and amateur) that I would much rather follow. Our women's soccer team won the NCAA Championship last year but Irish fans weren't in a tizzy because it wasn't football or men's basketball, both of which will always outdraw any other sports on campus regardless of their or other Irish teams' success.

And FWIW, there was a couch burned on the north quad after the women's basketball team won it all. Ask West Virginia fans; that's considered celebrating.
 
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tgolden

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yeah, I know, that's the problem. I just figured basketball was basketball which has a big following in the US. That's why I didn't mention women's soccer or fencing. But since he was commenting on fan support, I figured I'd throw women's bball in there, since over the last decade, although not this year, they have fielded one of the strongest teams on campus.

Obviously ND's biggest following is in football. That's the team I follow the most. But you'd still think that a good women's team would get a little better support at such a spirited school.
 
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