Topic: Herd crowd could be small...

[GreenSteve]

How many fans will show up at Edwards Stadium Sunday night?

That is the biggest question involving Marshall's game against Southern Miss at 8 p.m. Sunday.

It is the first Sunday night game in modern MU football history.

The timing of the game, coupled with Marshall's 0-6 record and the fact that fans can stay home and watch the national telecast on ESPN are all reasons for attendance concerns.

Marshall already has sold almost 23,000 tickets for the game in the form of season tickets and a mini-season ticket package that included the West Virginia University, Southern Miss and Alabama-Birmingham games. Just because 23,000 tickets have been sold doesn't mean there will be 23,000 fans sitting in Edwards Stadium Sunday night.

Some knowledgeable crowd projections are as low as only 15,000.

A turnout of that diminutive size is a huge concern to Marshall Coach Mark Snyder.

"I sure hope not," he said. "It's youth football night. All the youth teams across the Tri-State -- cheerleaders, football players -- get in for $10, I believe is the fee.

"I took 10 minutes out of my day yesterday (Monday) to go down to ‘The Dawg' (radio station WDGG-FM) to cut a radio commercial because we do need a big crowd.

"These kids need our support."

http://www.dailymail.com/story/Sports/MU+Sports/2007101728

[field pass]

I agree, we all need to help anyway we can.  With national coverage its all on the line.  We need to avoid a bad loss telecast nation wide.  

It would have been more advantagous if We Are Marshall had come out during a winning tenure and the same goes with nationally televised games.  Wish we could take rain checks on these nationally televised games until we get the program back to its winning ways.

Never the less, the stakes are higher for exposure and recruiting momentum.  Let get out there and support the kids and the program!!!!

[pdunn]

Hope it doesn't rain.

[ru4mu2]

Sun - Huntington, WV
Oct 21  Sunny
 82°/46° 20%

[Thunders]

Attendance will be bad I am afraid but I will be there and I will cheer on my team. Those who do not show upo because the team is not doing well should never come back to a game again because they are not true fans. Plain and simple.

Students should be ashamed of themselves if they do not show up to this game. If they don't they obviously don't care about their school and classmates.

[IM4DHERD]

I'm afraid that in coming years people will no longer have the excuse of watching the national coverage of the game vs. going to the stadium.

.

[VegasHerd]

I'm driving in from South Carolina for the game.

[Krash]

Attendance will be bad I am afraid but I will be there and I will cheer on my team. Those who do not show upo because the team is not doing well should never come back to a game again because they are not true fans. Plain and simple.

Students should be ashamed of themselves if they do not show up to this game. If they don't they obviously don't care about their school and classmates.

Again with the true fan crap. Marshall needs every fan they can get, "true" or not.

[ru4mu2]

I'm with you Krash.  I will be a True fan until about halftime, then I will be a True Dad and take the 5 and 2 year old home.  Thing is, if we were 6-0, I would do the same thing.

[richmondherdfan]

yeah, the days of us choosing to watch it on national TV or go to the game might be coming to a close if we continue our huge slide in football.

[Krash]

I'll be a "true fan" 500 miles away with work Monday morning...

[HerdNerd in Cincy]

Guys, it only takes a few games to turn around the slide.  If we were to win 3 in a row, people would be pumped to feel 3-0. not 3-6.
True slides take a while, but we all thirst for a winner, and our enthusiasm jumps when it arrives...

[Thundering Accountant]

This will be the 3rd home game I have missed since 2000. I am missing it because I live three hours away and have a Calculus II test.

Guess I'm not a true fan.

[HerdnBucks]

A turnout of that diminutive size is a huge concern to Marshall Coach Mark Snyder.

"I sure hope not," he said. "It's youth football night. All the youth teams across the Tri-State -- cheerleaders, football players -- get in for $10, I believe is the fee."

http://www.dailymail.com/story/Sports/MU+Sports/2007101728

Marshall marketing at its finest.  Choose the first Sunday night game in school history so it will interfere with church youth programs, make it  a TV game that starts after 8 and promises to stretch near midnight on a school night and then designate it "Youth Sports Night".  I guess Christmas Eve at midnight wasn't available.

[Photo by]

... I guess Christmas Eve at midnight wasn't available.

It's also Brian Piccolo's birthday and the Hindu holiday Diwali. Notably celebrated at Dunder Mifflin.

[ThunderValley]

Attendance will be bad I am afraid but I will be there and I will cheer on my team. Those who do not show upo because the team is not doing well should never come back to a game again because they are not true fans. Plain and simple.

I don't agree with you Thunders. If you don't show up because the team is doing bad has nothing to do with being a 'true' fan.
I have been going to games since 1960 so don't tell me I am not a fan if I chose not to go.
 I have the choice to go to this game or not. So don't sit there and try to tell me something you don't know anything about.

[W0lfman]

You know what coach?  I sure hope the crowd isnt that small either....but as you like to say "it is what it is."  Win more games and they will come.  Enough talk, its time to produce.  We never had to worry about stuff like this in the past.  15,000 in attendance is a joke, but an understandable joke considering all things involved.

[svherd]

Agreed wolf. Can we put this true fan crap to rest, its downright juvenile.

[sdfgoherd]

Sunday night games normally do not draw well and add this disasterous season and it will be that much worse.  I almost passed on the game but will go ahead go - wearing my GREEN sweatshirt! White out - how about laying white pieces of paper on the empty seats and then you will have a true WHITE OUT.

And I can't stand the "true fan" comments. The administration might like Snyder and can keep him forever, but the fans also have a "voice" - is called attendance.  

JUST WIN!

[Up5491yours]

I'm not hearing any mention of the thousands of tickets already sold to this game that are "for sure" not going to be there because they were purchased by WVU fans.   We normally would be able to draw 25,000 for a Sunday night game but now a lot of those tickets have already been sold and are not available to Herd Fans.   The only chance of any decent crowd at all is from a big number of "walk up" ticket buyers, and that is simply not going to happen.

[mr_ash_1995]

"

These kids need our support."

UUUHHHH...coach they really need some guidance and support from your staff and you.  Did YOU not realize that this year the FB program sold more season tickets than ever before???  Do you ever think you let the players down? What don't you do something and try to have a team that improves as the season progresses instead of makin' excuses about injuries or youth movement?  

Personally, I can't make it this weekend.  I have to work OVERTIME both days to pay for my season tickets and donations to MU.  And for the record, I'll BE there next week!  

And another thing, I don't think the WON & LOSS record is the fault of the players. I think they are givin' it all!  Therefore coach please provide the team some support (ie motivation, game decisions, confidence building, etc) during the game...

RANT OVER... :-?

[whf]

I think we may have a very good crowd Sunday night; someway folks will feel a sense of urgency with the team, and get there.

I know of several folks who will definately have to leave around 10PM, which will hurt the second half crowd, but they will be there for the start of the game, when it counts.

Its a good time to quit worrying about the crowd and invite someone to come with us all.  If we can all invite someone, whether they come or not, we will have done something good for the crowd; try instead of bitching about it.

[greenskeeper]

Sadly enough for almost 2 decades I have had an ex college friends get together that I usually arrange for between as little as 6 and as many as a dozen people...this year I cant find 1 person willing to make the trip...I had golf reservations, at stonewall resort and had a night in htown as well...we usually get 18 in and then drink a bit and enjoy the fall weather...this year, not 1 out of our group chooses to attend....NOT 1..so instead of coming alone I'm cancelling too.

This is sad,but painfully true,,, but really I expect the team to lose again and am certain that 8 hour drive back to Atlanta Monday morning would make for an extra long one.

I can remember when 1 loss a season upset me.... :shock: I am as hard core a fan as I know and even I am losing faith...no, I have lost faith.

[Thunders]

Say anyway you like, if you live close by and do not show up because the team is not winning you are NOT a true fan of the Herd. You can't paint it any other way. To me, if you don't go and you have the option to go and you don't live hours away but withing a 30 minute drive to the stadium you should be there. No question. Get pissed all you want at me but I am not the one not going to support the team. I will be there and my wife will be there until the clock says ZERO.

 And seriously, why take a 5 and a 2 year old to a late game in the first place if you don't plan on staying the whole time? That is like torture to a kid that age anyway. They don't even know what is going on let alone want to sit in one spot for a couple hours. If it were my kids I would get the babysitter for a few hours then go to the game and support the team. No matter the outcome.

Sure we need any kind of person to show up for the game but what kind of fan of the Herd are you? Are you a casual fan who shows up when you want?  Are you a bandwagon fan who shows up when we are winning (sounds like some on here)?  Are you a fan who supports the team no matter what the record is?  Some of our "fans" need to redefine what being a LOYAL fan means to them.  Living within a respectable distance to this city on a Sunday night with the team not playing well shows who the LOYAL fans are. I will be there. Not sure about some others.

[Thunders]

I'm with you Krash.  I will be a True fan until about halftime, then I will be a True Dad and take the 5 and 2 year old home.  Thing is, if we were 6-0, I would do the same thing.

Why you bringing them in the first place if you plan on leaving the game? Pretty sure they have no clue what is going on anyway at that age and have the attention span of about 5 seconds. Babysitter for a few hours would probably be the best thing to do in that situation. That is what I would do anyway.

On a different note and nothing to do with the guy above, this fanbase is the strangest thing I have ever heard. Funny how you watch other schools when they have Sunday night games and the stadium is packed till the end. I bet they don't have near the excuse list that Marshall fans have or they would be empty seats also. Let's put it this way, regardless of record, the stadium would be half empty anyway. That is the our "loyal" fans are. They choose to sit at home and flop on the couch when they live 10 min. from the stadium then bitch and moan when we don't do well.

New rule, if you live within an hour of the stadium and you weren't at the game and chose to stay home because of our record or because it is on TV, you can't bitch about one thing the coach or team has done.