The NIT: A chance to win a ring.

I’ll have a preview for NU’s game with Milwaukee up tomorrow night, but I just want to say that I think the best thing to about this (aside from NU’s first postseason home game in 17 years) is the fact that this is a chance for NU’s players to win rings. You can, as was said on the Big Ten Tournament broadcast, win rings in four ways: win the regular season league title, win the league’s tournament title, win the NCAA tournament, or win the NIT (maybe they give CBI or CIT rings too, but you get the point). That means the Wildcats have a legit chance to win a ring and that’s something they should take pride in trying to do because a lot of teams don’t have the same chance. It’s something that I know Juice Thompson will take pride in trying to accomplish and I hope the underclassmen try to play as hard as Juice does in order to give him a shot at ring. I also hope NU fans show up in good numbers to support the Wildcats. To host a postseason game is a rare opportunity for Northwestern and it should be something fans enjoy. There isn’t much time, but I hope the ticket office gets the word out to those NU fans that are football season ticket holders, but not basketball season ticket holders. Attacking that market strongly could help fill Welsh-Ryan up with purple and that’ll hopefully help push NU to an opening round win over the Panthers in what should be a good game. I’m excited and I hope others in Wildcat Nation are as well. This wasn’t what we wanted when the season started, but it’s also better than I thought things might be in the middle of the year. Therefore, I’m looking at this is a positive step for NU basketball right now.

Help Keep Welsh-Ryan Purple and White

“I think he’s upset at all the orange that got in the building.” – Bill Raftery when Luka Mirkovic urged the crowd to make noise as he went to the bench Saturday.

I don’t know if Luka was really upset about the orange on Saturday, but I was. That’s the point of this rant or, I suppose, ramble.

Let me start this commentary by saying that I get that technically people are free to do whatever they want with tickets they purchase. However, after my experience at Welsh-Ryan on Saturday, I think something needs to be done with the way Northwestern and NU fans handle the distribution of their season tickets. I’m very fortunate I get to sit where I do at Welsh-Ryan. It comes from thirty years of family season tickets, but nonetheless, I do appreciate how lucky I am to watch games from just a few rows behind the scorer’s table. I realized how lucky I was when I made my road trip to Champaign when we sat in about row 20 and one my friends was thrilled because according to him it was the best seat he ever sat in at a basketball game while I was thinking, “this is worst seat I’ve ever sat in at a basketball game by far.”

The point is that my seat at NU is one of the best in the arena and I know a number of loyal NU fans that would love to have the seats in front of or behind me. However, on Saturday in the four seats behind me were three Illinois fans and a lone NU fan, in front of me were four Illinois fans, and to my right were one Illinois fan and one NU fan. The aisle was to my left. When two of the Illinois fans behind me arrived, they were a little lost and showed me their tickets because they needed a little help finding their seats. Because I’m a good guy I showed them were to sit, but I noticed their tickets looked just like mine—in other words a season ticket holder gave their tickets away and not for the first time.

The fact that we have NU season ticket holders with great seats giving away there tickets upsets me. I’ve talked about this before, but I have to talk about this again. I know Northwestern wants the money season tickets holders generate, but if somebody never comes to a game and gives their tickets away to visiting fans I have to wonder if their tickets are worth the money it generates. After all, what those people are essentially doing is making the fan experience for loyal fans worse. Now, I’m not going to stop attending games because I was surrounded by Illinois fans, but that’s me. I know people who in similar circumstances have considered dropping their tickets because they and their children are constantly made to feel uncomfortable in their season tickets because of obnoxious visiting fans surrounding them. I personally feel that Northwestern should do what I did after the game and turn on the CBS broadcast and look at just how much orange was clearly visible in sections 110-113. It was an embarrassment for NU’s first ever CBS game and it really ticks me off. NU should then try and assess just how that much orange got into some of the best seats in Welsh-Ryan. It might not be realistic to pull season tickets at this point, but I think it would be worth spending the rest of this season and next season gathering data as to what seats are filled by Northwestern fans. If season tickets are never filled by NU fans then its time to go to those people and tell them they are free to keep their tickets, but they will no longer be in TV camera range and let people who are in the upper reaches of the arena in purple every game come and sit down in the lower level.

Related somewhat to this are the NU fans who bring fans from other teams. The point of view I advocate here will probably be met with some hostility, but I stand by it. I say to all NU fans, please don’t bring fans of other teams to our games unless you’re married to one of them. Not to say how great I am, just prove I practice what I preach; I did chose not to bring my Illinois friends who took me to Champaign for their home game to Evanston for this game. You might say that just proves I’m a bad friend, but I didn’t bring them because I can’t stand it when people bring orange, red, or green-clad people and sit them around me. Therefore, I wasn’t going to be a hypocrite and subject anyone else to that. My friends are my friends, they know me and understand me so they weren’t surprised that I didn’t want them going crazy for the Illini in great Welsh-Ryan seats. Now, let’s be honest, people are free to disagree with me, but again, personally, unless you’re married to someone who went to another Big Ten school, it would please me a lot if you wouldn’t bring your Illinois/Wisconsin/Ohio State/Iowa/Michigan State fan friends to Welsh-Ryan and then have sit behind me and cheer their obnoxiously for their school. You might say, “What does it matter if I bring my best friend to this game? He/She is one person.” The problem is that a quick look around shows you aren’t the only person to use that logic and we’ve ended up with 50% visiting fans in an NU season ticket section. The same thing happened for the Wrigley Field disaster even though Northwestern’s ticket office tried to limit ticket sales to just NU people. Then they seemed confused what happened. Let me tell you what happened NUDAR, NU fans bought tickets for Illinois people!

So call me a jerk or someone who values their basketball team over their friends, but I as NU fan am making a solemn request to all NU fans that from this point on until NU makes the Final Four in basketball or wins the Rose Bowl in football and we develop our own powerful fan base that no NU fan buy tickets and give them away to fans of other schools unless the person you bring is more than a friend (e.g. your spouse). It’s a sad fact, but our fan base isn’t that great and is easily overwhelmed with visitors and if we help them get in (e.g. buy/give away to them tickets) then we create a hostile environment for our own team which lowers their odds of winning. NU was very lucky on Saturday that Illinois never got ahead, because if they had chants of I-L-L-I-N-I would have rained down on the court, momentum would have totally swung, and Illinois would have used it to cost to about an eight point win. I’ve seen it happen before; you can help stop it from happening again.

End of rant/ramble. Now feel free to rant/ramble back.

Almost Time to Tip Off Season with Hoops and Snoop on Friday

So on Friday Northwestern tips off the basketball season with an event at SPAC, essentially an open practice with a few other items tossed in hopes of entertaining the fans that show up. It reminds me a bit of the Halloween Hoop-la events which occurred while I was in school. Basically, the event is an effort to bring both the men’s and women’s teams some level of exposure on campus so their fellow students might come and see them play. It is in no way a bad idea, though, attendance at the old Halloween Hoop-la events was never that great. It was mostly the same diehards who showed up to every game whether it was Iowa or Texas Pan-America.

The one positive that might help attendance is that NU is trying to dovetail the event with the Snoop concert at Welsh-Ryan Arena the same day. It’s a shame that it doesn’t seem Snoop and the Hoops will be anywhere near each other on the day of Hoops and Snoop because brining them together might have seriously boosted attendance at the event. Of course, the logistics and cost of such an event probably would have needed to be arranged much earlier than it seems this event was planned. Still, perhaps NU making a big deal about transportation directly to Welsh-Ryan from SPAC will help. Plus, with no football game Saturday morning perhaps students will venture to SPAC for an NU sports fix. I’ve heard that going to football games has actually become expected for most people on campus, so perhaps that same level of enthusiasm will translate to hoops this year as well.

I will not be in attendance Friday at either hoops or Snoop, so if anybody goes and wants to provide a report please e-mail it to me at welshryanramblings@gmail.com and I’ll be more than happy to post it. You could also simply leave your report in the comments section. In addition, I’d really like to expand the amount of coverage on this site, but I’m also finding myself with less and less time to do so. Therefore, if anybody out there in internet land wants a platform to talk about NU hoops at times this year, also please feel free to e-mail me. Basically, I’m looking to get up some more non-postgame analysis pieces and I’d also be more than willing to share pre and postgame write-ups as well. I’d also promise not to stick you with the preview of Mount St. Mary’s. I don’t really have any requirements that I’m looking for beyond being an NU hoops fan who will share reasoned analysis from time to time, but if you were one of those diehards in the mid-2000s that I sat with at those Halloween Hoop-la events and lousy games against Penn State I’d be happy to hear you thoughts on a potentially strong season.

More Schedule Thoughts...Looking for Positive Momentum

Northwestern’s basketball schedule has now been discussed in great detail on this blog, other blogs, and message boards over the last several days. The consensus is that the Wildcats schedule features a fairly weak and boring non-conference slate. Also, most agree they would like to see Northwestern take on more local teams such as DePaul and Loyola.

Based on the numbers I have to agree with the first statement (though a silver lining might exist) and I absolutely agree on the second. I don’t know what happened to NU’s series with DePaul. Starting in the mid-2000s it seemed then NU AD Mark Murphy had made a commitment to reestablish a yearly series, but it disappeared last year. However, when last year’s schedule was released both teams indicated the series would resume this season. Something obviously prevented that. I know DePaul has a new coach, but wouldn’t a contract have been in place which required the game? I really don’t know, but I think that’s a notable missing game on NU’s schedule. NU hasn’t played Loyola in a very long time. The story is that Bill Carmody refuses to play them due to some controversy over a recruit or recruiting. This makes no sense to me. First off all, do NU and Loyola really cross recruit that much? Second, if you really don’t like another team or coach isn’t the best way to deal with that dislike by betting them? I’d think so. Now, Loyola wouldn’t be a huge resume boosting win (neither would DePaul) but at least playing those schools might generate a little local excitement and if nothing might put some more people inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. I mean as much as NU’s marketing has improved, Arkansas-Pine Bluff is tough sell even if they did make the NCAA Tournament.

Now, what’s the silver lining of NU’s weak schedule? Well, one thing that can’t be substituted for is success. Northwestern beat Minnesota in football today 29-28 and although it was a rather unimpressive win, it helps guarantee a good crowd for next week’s game at home against Purdue. Frankly, Northwestern’s fans (especially student fans) have a reputation for being quick to stay home after a loss and a loss to last place Minnesota would have really reduced the Ryan Field crowd. Now, at 5-0, even if it was a “weak” 5-0, Northwestern has started to generate some positive momentum from casual fans and students. That’s a major step in the right direction. Therefore, the fact that Northwestern can realistically start the basketball season 10-0 at least offers the same possibility of early momentum. Sure, it’ll will also potentially be an “weak” 10-0 and any loss (like losing to Minnesota would have been) might be considered a bad loss, but I’d like to confident that like their football counterparts, NU’s men’s basketball squad is reaching for a point where they avoid such bad losses.

Another advantage to good football and basketball starts comes in recruiting. High School kids have short attention spans. They don’t watch every play of a game very often and sometimes don’t watch games at all. Instead, they go on-line and look at highlights, polls, and blogs. What they’re seeing now is a 5-0 Northwestern football team that might find a way to crack the top-25 in the coaches’ poll in the next two weeks. If NU starts the basketball season as successfully, it might generate some much needed energy in recruiting. Now, that might be more hope than fact, but it is possible. Of course, a poor start against a weak schedule could have the opposite result. Bottom line, I know people are disappointed about the schedule, but consider how good it feels to see the football team 5-0 and building momentum towards a successful Big Ten season. Basketball could do the same thing based on the schedule they have setup.

Northwestern Marketing Hits Media: Hope for a Georgia Tech Sellout?

Is NU reusing an old idea in the new marketing campaign?

Northwestern has launched a new marketing campaign that started just a week ago and begins in full force just as football starts and single game football tickets go on sale. This campaign right now is obviously focused on football, but one has to assume we will see basketball related marketing as well. Interestingly, the campaign touting Northwestern as “Chicago’s Big Ten Team” is very similar to a past campaign from the start of the last decade (see picture above). Some people have objected to this. Basically, they feel that NU is trying to repeat a failed strategy. I somewhat disagree. Yes, NU has tried to hit on being a “Chicago” team before. However, Northwestern really hasn’t ever spent a great deal of money in marketing. That is changing. I’ve seen full page ads in the paper, radio spots, and billboards which will be up year round. That’s a far cry from the past then NU basically didn’t market outside of the NU community. If NU is every going to truly make a dent in a very competitive media market in Chicago, it is important that NU be visible on a regular basis. Having daily ads helps with this a great deal. It also probably isn’t a coincidence that this campaign is occurring in the same year NU is scheduled to play football at Wrigley Field. No place in Chicago says Chicago sports more than Wrigley and so NU is trying buy some Chicago goodwill from that move as well. With season ticket sales up a reported 30% perhaps it is already working.

The question, though, is will those sales be consistent next season and will anybody who bought football tickets this year because of the Wrigley game be motivated to buy basketball tickets as well. Well, one good thing for marketing basketball is you’ve got a ton of potential basketball season ticket buyers at football games. When you consider that a crowd of even 20,000 is about three times NU’s average attendance in basketball that means that somehow if NU could make just 3,000 of those 20,000 football fans into hoops fans Welsh-Ryan could be sold out every game. Sure, some football fans have other issues which allow them to make Saturday football games and not make basketball games, but out of the multitudes of NU football fans who don’t come to basketball games at least a few thousand must exist who could come, they just aren’t motivated to do so yet. One suggestion I do have is that I’d like to see NU’s big basketball matchups promoted during football games. It’s hard to sell the Chicago State game, but it can’t be that hard to sell fans on watching ACC runner up and NCAA Tournament qualifier Georgia Tech. If Northwestern was smart they would make a concentrated effort to sellout the Georgia Tech game (Nov. 30th 6PM CT ESPN2) during football season. I’d like to see ads for tickets during timeouts or maybe even a deal for tickets to that game for season ticket holders. That game will most likely be the jewel of NU’s non-conference schedule and it’s on national TV. Aside from how having a sellout crowd would help energize the team. Seeing a packed gym on TV would also impress recruits in a critical recruiting year.

Getting fans in the stands is a start and the next key is getting them to comeback. The other great thing about trying to pack the place with football fans for Georgia Tech is that it will probably be a great game with a good atmosphere (similar to top football games). Experiencing that atmosphere would hopefully make those people comeback. I’d also love to see NU football season ticket holders who aren’t basketball season ticket holders bombarded with ticket package deals. For example, a Big Ten game only package or a package that has the Tech game along with Michigan State and Illinois. Something that at least gets large pro-NU crowds in Welsh-Ryan for key games. Bottom line, building a larger fan base for football might be an achievable goal long term, but doing so for basketball should be even easier. Hopefully NU will have saved some money to try and make that happen. Personally, I encourage everyone to try and get your non-basketball fan friends to buy Georgia Tech tickets. When Georgia Tech (and ESPN2) arrive in Evanston on Nov. 30th let’s have them see a sea of purple.

Full Student Section Can Make a Difference

Welsh-Ryan can be a very tough place to play when students pack in below the baskets. (nusports.com photo)

As we go through the rest of the season, I think one off the floor aspect which could help NU is a full student section. NU’s students have done a really good job of filling the seats beneath the baskets so far this season when in school. I hope that continues.

Thursday, the ‘Cats play a non-conference game against Texas-Pan America at 6:00PM. On the face of it, that day on the schedule looks like Welsh-Ryan Arena could be a dead zone, but I’m hoping that will not be the case. UTPA is the first home game of Winter Quarter and the first home game for students since NU busted into the national media spotlight for its Kevin Coble-less success. Yes, the ‘Cats are somewhat out of the spotlight thanks to the underwhelming game last week vs MSU, but it could also be a very entertaining game as these Wildcats have shown the ability to play a little “showtime” style basketball when facing an undermanned opponent and UTPA, with just one win so far, is pretty undermanned.

In fact, I think this would be a great game for students who don’t always attend home games to attend in order to get a look at the team’s ability. Hopefully, they’ll like what they see and comeback when Purdue, Wisconsin, and the rest of the Big Ten come to town.

With this post I want to specifically encourage the students who attend all the time to try and bring a friend or two out to the game Thursday night. I know it's tough, but see if you can get them hooked on the Wildcats. At least you've got a 10-3 record to help your sales pitch. It’s very clear the ‘Cats seem to feed off the energy of the student section and I bet they’d love to see the place packed not only for the “big guys” but for any contest they play. I also bet the players would appreciate seeing a large crowd after the MSU loss. These guys are Northwestern athletes, they’re smart, and they know the crowds at NU tend to shrink after losses, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Let’s make Thursday an exception the rule.

I also believe a full student section of purple has to be intimidating to those teams that come into Welsh-Ryan. Because it’s different in design than most college arenas Welsh-Ryan has been known as a tough place to shoot. When student fans that are nearly on the court can start screaming at players as they come to the free throw line the place can get even more intimidating.

Finally, I’d like to hear from students about what sort of buzz exists on campus for the ‘Cat hoopsters. Did Saturday have a negative impact? Are people planning on going to upcoming games or watching road contests? Send in your e-mails to welshryanramblings@gmail.com and let me know what’s being said in Sargent and LR2 (and other dorms and classrooms) about the ‘Cats.

Details on Football Season Ticket Holder Event Before Sunday’s Game

A lot of people don't seem to know about NU’s football season ticket holder event on Sunday so just going to post the e-mail sent to season ticket holders and do my part. Also, I want say something positive as I think the event is a good idea to lure football fans to Welsh-Ryan. Still, it seems like it should have been better promoted beyond just e-mails. I do like how Coach Fitz adds his name to the invite.

The Text of the e-mail reads:

Dean Wildcat Fans,

Thank you for your incredible support as a 2009 Wildcat Football Season Ticket Holder. We hope you can join us for the Fan Appreciation Party before the Wildcat Men's Basketball game on Sunday, December 13 from 2:30 pm - 4 pm in the N Club on the second floor of Welsh-Ryan Arena. Please let Tracie Hitz know if you plan to attend by sending an e-mail to t-hitz@northwestern.edu by Friday, December 11.

If you would like to stay for the Men's Basketball game that day at 4 p.m., you can either redeem in advance the complimentary basketball ticket coupon you received as part of the full football season ticket package, or you can purchase tickets for only $20 on the day of the game. Plus, it's Kids Come Free Day, so one paid ticket gets two kids in the 8th grade and under in FREE. There is no charge to attend the Fan Appreciation Party.

Go 'Cats!

Tracie Hitz and Coach Fitz

NU Hosting Football Season Ticket Holder Event Before N.C. A&T Game

Northwestern is hosting an event for football season ticket holders before the game Sunday against North Carolina A&T. I think this is a great idea and I’m hopefully it will generate some return customers from football fans who don’t traditionally show up for basketball games. I know people aren’t impressed with NU’s 22,000 fans for football, but when you consider that getting 4,000 people to a non-conference basketball game is a victory, 22,000 looks pretty good. While I realize there are reasons some football season ticket holders don’t come to basketball (i.e. a 2 hour drive is easier to make on a Saturday or Friday night than a random Tuesday) the fact is I’d be confident in betting there are at least 2,000 NU football season ticket holders in Chicago who aren’t basketball season ticket holders. This is a group NU needs to target. If you add those 2,000 fans to the 3,500-4,000 that show up regularly at Welsh-Ryan it would mean that NU could have close ¾ of the Welsh-Ryan full every game. That would be an impressive total for Northwestern. Therefore, I encourage anyone who reads this to encourage any football season ticket holders they know who aren’t regulars at Welsh-Ryan to attend the event Sunday and stick around for the game. Hopefully, they’ll find reason to return.

Also, remember the game on December 16th versus North Florida will be on ESPNU. Without the students Welsh-Ryan make look pretty dead on national TV (and it’s a lot more national now with ESPNU’s increased distribution) therefore let’s try to get as many as possible out to that contest as well.If NU is smart they'll fill the seats behind the baskets with people who they move for the lower level or make the night a group night and have the groups sit in the student section.

Three Points December 2nd

1. I want to link to website known as Stadium Journey which recently visited Welsh-Ryan Arena. You read and comment on their assessment of NU’s home venue here: http://stadiumjourney.com/?p=917

2. NU’s women’s basketball team has matched the men’s team’s 6-1 record so far this year. The means that the NU basketball programs are a combined 12-2. The next game for the women’s team is December 3rd when they host Clemson in the women’s version of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

3. I urge fans to temper their expectations as the Big Ten is seriously tough this year, but here are some accomplishments from last night which NU players, coaches, and fans have to be proud of. Some of these are long time (or first time) feats and some are just good signals.

- Won a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game on the road for the first time

- Won 2 years in a row in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the first time

- Beat a non-conference BCS team on the road for the first time since Dec. 2005

- Blocked 9 shots in the game

- Won in spite of 17 turnovers

- Grabbed 10 offensive rebounds

- Beat 3 straight non-conference BCS schools (I feel like this could be a first)

- Won 5 straight games for first time since 2006

Three Points - Edition # 1

I’ve decided to start a new feature here on W-RR where at the end (or start) of each week I’ll briefly discuss three issues from the previous week that I haven’t really talked about. For the most part I’ll stick to men’s basketball, but with the season now very much underway it will also be a chance to talk about football and women’s basketball as well. I’ve named the feature Three Points because I’ll discuss three issues, but also because NU likes to shoot threes.

1.I want to once again mention NU’s women’s basketball team getting off to a 1-0 start on Friday night by beating Toledo 73-64. You might think I’m overstating this, but this is a big win for that program. Toledo won 18 games last year and has a good chance to win their division in the MAC. In addition, NU center Amy Jaeschke showed she can use her size to dominate games. She scored 27 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the win.

2. This Saturday is Northwestern’s final home football game of the year. Wisconsin will likely bring a number of fans so it’ll be the biggest crowd of the season at Ryan Field regardless, but I’d like to see NU fans buy up the remaining tickets and support the ‘Cats after their two road victories the last two weeks.

3. NU’s students deserve major recognition (which Coach Carmody gave them) for the way they showed up against NIU. Now, the students who showed up need to get even more of their friends to come along and completely overflow both sides of Welsh-Ryan when Butler comes to town. The only time the NU student section ever got so full that students were turned away was when #1 Illinois came to NU in 2005. The goal for this year should be to rival that student turnout on multiple occasions.

Did Northwestern Miss An Opportunity to Promote the Basketball Programs?

This weekend’s football game between Northwestern and Penn State will probably feature the largest attendance of the season at Ryan Field. It is also the only scheduled matchup in Evanston to feature a starting time in the afternoon. Back in 2005, NU took advantage of an evening start against Michigan to showcase both the men’s and women’s basketball teams in an event NU termed Halloween Hoop-la. While the event wasn’t exactly Michigan State’s Midnight Madness, it did feature NU alum Mike Wilbon as MC and was a nice way for some football-only NU fans to get some exposure to both basketball programs.

Given that NU is expected to feature competitive (and potentially very good) teams in both men’s and women’s hoops, I am surprised, and a little disappointed, NU isn’t attempting a Halloween Hoop-la type event this year. Yes, such an event would be impossible with an 11:00 am kickoff, but ESPN did NU a huge favor in scheduling this game for 3:30. Even better, the game was set for 3:30 before the season even started so a basketball preseason event could have been promoted all year long.

If there was ever a year when NU’s men’s team needed early fan support this is it. The Wildcats play a series of tough early season foes either in Evanston or Chicago. The Wildcats take on nationally ranked Butler in just their second game and the non-conference schedule also features Notre Dame (in Chicago) and Stanford at home. The Wildcats also play North Florida on national TV (I’m not sure why), but nonetheless I’d hate for those who tune into to that game on ESPNU to see a ¾ empty Welsh-Ryan. It’s embarrassing for the school and the program.

Given the need for fan support in those early games, and all the others, I am really surprised NU didn’t setup some event to try and promote the hoops squads this weekend. Yes, NU has done some nice things with giving football season ticket holders basketball tickets for both men’s and women’s games, but this is perhaps the one weekend all season when a large collection of non-season ticket holding NU fans are going to be in Evanston. That is the group NU needs to win over in order to pack both Ryan Field and Welsh-Ryan. Please keep in mind, I’m not saying NU needs to turn this people into season ticket holders. That might be impossible, but it doesn’t hurt to try and motivate them to show up to some big games. The games when NU needs the most support. I bet a good percentage of causal NU fans don’t even know that NU is hosting NCAA Tournament media darling Butler at Welsh-Ryan this year. If they did, they might want to show up for the game. They’re showing up for JoePa after all. Sure, you could just give out basketball schedules as people walk in. That would be something to at least cerate awareness. But for people to really connect to the team, it would be nice for them to see the team practice and then hear from the coaches and players as was done in 2005.

I don’t know why NU stopped any sort of preseason event. I’d like to think there was some reason. There were on campus Hoop-la events for students before 2005. They weren’t heavily attended, but they did get the team’s core fan base to interact with the squad and gave the women’s team some moments in the spotlight. It didn’t help attendance much, but more success is expected now. Maybe NU’s athletic depart thought it was a losing proposition, but I can’t really see how. If the team practices from 12-2 and the event starts at 2:30 with a scrimmage what is lost? The gym still needs to be open and the lights still need to be on, so it’s not like it costs extra for the facility. Yes, NU might need some ushers, but NU needs ushers for the football game anyway, so they’re already paying people for that day. Plus, the team still gets a full practice in. That’s the most important thing to me. All they have to do is stick around for another half hour and have people cheer for them. I don’t think many athletes would have a problem with that.

Regardless, we can all still do are part this weekend. If you see NU fans who are showing up for their one game a season remind them about the big basketball game vs Butler. Also, don’t forget to tell them about North Florida on December 16th because there aren’t even going to be student sections to make the crowd look halfway decent on that night.

Men's Basketball: Mail From A New Season Ticket Holder

Editor’s Note: I’d like to thank Lake the Posts for pointing out an error in the original headline of this story. I wrote the story fast and didn’t proofread. To some it’s not a huge deal, but the fact is I should have seen it and known better. – The WRR Management.


I got an e-mail recently from an individual who was rather upset. Thankfully, he wasn’t upset at me, but at NU’s ticket office. It seems this gentleman wanted to buy two season tickets for this upcoming basketball season. He was excited at all the good press for NU and wanted to, “go from attending five games to attending fifteen.” NU actually has 20 home games this year, but you get the point. This guy wanted to become a season ticket holder. In addition, he said that he had hoped to get season tickets somewhere in the lower section of Welsh-Ryan. Apparently, he believed this wouldn’t be a problem given that at the games he attended last season, he saw a ton of empty seats in the lower sections. However, it turned out he was unable to get the seats he desired. He was told that despite the fact those sections are never full, they are sold. This individual did purchase two tickets in the upper level of the purple section, but he said he was disappointed that as somebody who planned to attend every game, he couldn’t get a better seat than somebody who only attends a few.

The fact is I’ve heard versions of this story repeatedly. We all have taken a look around Welsh-Ryan and seen a ton of empty seats in good sections. These seats are in fact sold. I believe in many cases they are sold to corporations that simply don’t use them very often. Now, while I’m not really in favor of pulling the tickets of corporations which have been long time season ticket holders, I’d like to hold them to some standard of support. I believe NU should start monitoring the use of these tickets, especially in the premium lower-level purple seats. Other schools do this by either filming the crowd at games, or by having ushers know who actually owns each seat. If NU finds that certain corporations are using their seats less than 50% of the time, or are giving those seats to opposing fans, I think those corporations seats should be moved to a less desirable location. Maybe NU could create a section for corporate season tickets. It’d be recognizable as the entirely empty lower section when NU plays Central Connecticut State.

As the mail I’ve gotten show, plenty of NU fans and alums exist who would attend every game, support the ‘Cats, and feel thankful to have good seats. Now, I know to some this might be controversial, some readers might even be high ranking members of the corporations whose seats I want to move, but the fact is NU needs NU fans in the good seats every single game. There just aren’t enough NU basketball fans in general. Those who really want to commit to showing up at Welsh-Ryan shouldn’t have to sit above empty seats. The other thing is that as much as I love NU basketball, I can’t possibly think of any corporation that would think tickets to an NU basketball game was a really good way to reward a top employee or a real treat for a client unless that person was an NU fan or NU is using some product they want a client to see. If the people who get the corporate seats are NU fans, they can buy NU tickets on their own at some point, and they shouldn’t mind if fans who attend every NU home game have better seats. If they are viewing some product NU is using they don’t have to view that product from some of the best seats in the arena. I suspect the truth is many of corporations hold on to NU season tickets to give to clients who are fans of other Big Ten schools to which its impossible to get tickets for. For example, Wisconsin fans who make the trek from Madison or who live the Chicago area and can’t get a seat in Madison or worse Illini fans that can’t make it to Champaign. This needs to stop. So I’m asking NU’s Athletic Department, please make good seats available to good fans.

Memorabilia: Schedule Cards

One piece of memorabilia which I’ve always found interesting are the schedule cards schools produce to let fans know the schedule for the upcoming year. In some ways I think these are the most important documents produced each year by a school. It is these cards which allow longtime fans to make plans for season attendance and they are the document you can pass out at restaurants, bars, parades, and other community events to let potential fans know when your team is going to be playing at home. Given this fact, I think producing schedule cards which draw the attention of fans is very important. I also think, as can be seen below, that putting information about the promotions going on during the season is a great idea. This is possible now that NU has actually moved away from producing the traditional cardboard schedule cards of years past and now produces small three-fold pamphlet like schedule cards. This to me is a great improvement as you can get those promotions on the card for potential fans to read about. Also, you can also show more pictures which can catch the eye of someone who picks up the card as the wait for a table at bars or restaurants.

Without a doubt, pictures can catch a person’s eye. So, the question becomes what pictures would best catch people’s eyes for future Northwestern basketball schedule cards. Well, the idea to promote a team’s best players is certainly a strong idea. I loved the fact last year that NU’s schedule card included not just senior Craig Moore, but also star sophomore Michael Thompson. This year I’d like to see Kevin Coble join Thompson on NU’s schedule cards and posters. Promoting star players is one of the most important things to do in schedule cards and posters to lure potential fans. People love to watch stars play and to follow teams with stars. In the case of Northwestern, the man to promote is probably Coble. While Thompson has had some great games, after what Coble did last year against Michigan State, there are probably a lot more basketball fans in the Chicago area (and hopefully around the nation) that recognize his name. Putting him on schedule card might get some basketball fans to come to NU games to see him play, even if they aren’t big Northwestern fans. This could become even more useful if Coble starts the year with a few early season games like the one he had in East Lansing.

Below, you can seen that in the early 1990s NU made an effort to promote the team by putting star center Kevin Rankin on the front of their schedule cards for a few years. A really like the 91-92 card as it shows an eye-catching action shot. Looking forward to this year, I’d love to see similar shots of Coble and Thompson. The 92-93 card, which was e-mailed to me by reader Jon Solomon (who is also the editor of Princeton Basketball.com which you should all check out at http://www.princetonbasketball.com/blog/) was eye-catching in another way. NU changed from the traditional photo to a purpleish color scheme. This certainly helps the card jump out at the eye, but I wish Rankin were doing something more interesting than shooting a free throw. The 95-96 card is similar in that it has a really cool Northwestern Wildcats logo along the side, but then the picture of the team huddled isn’t that exciting. If you want someone to pick up a card that is sitting at the entrance of a restaurant or keep something given to them at a community parade, you need catch the person’s eye. This is even more important now that NU is putting the season’s promotions on the back of the schedule cards. Looking at the cards with Rankin, NU also probably missed the boat by not saying who he was next to his picture. The NU staff did a great thing in recent years when they started putting players names next to their pictures on posters and schedule cards. As much as I'd like to think so, I don't think many non-NU fans can name many NU players on sight.

If I were asked, I’d love for this year’s card to be similar in design to last year’s, but get a picture of a Coble dunk and Thompson releasing a floater instead of simply dribbling or shooting a free throw. Also, keep the information on promotions as they can give people a reason to come out to Welsh-Ryan. After all, most sports fans love giveaway days, and the first giveaway should be a schedule card so people know when to come back.


Last year's card had a list of promotions next to the list of games (a great idea!)

1992-93 card with Kevin Rankin (again, thanks to Jon for this card)

1991-92 card with Kevin Rankin

1995-96 card, note the cool logo on the side

A Great Time for NU Sports, Basketball Needs Attention as Well

Northwestern's fifth straight women’s lacrosse National Title puts that team in rare company when it comes to team sports domination. Even better, the sport of lacrosse is so east-coast based that NU winning certainly helps drive the school’s profile upwards in a place where NU still probably doesn’t get a lot of attention. Also, for any NU team to win that much shows that it certainly is possible to have a great academic reputation and a great athletic reputation. I must say, I’ve been very impressed with the number of Northwestern alums who have stepped up and written articles about the team and what it means to see National Titles come to Evanston. Michael Wilbon’s article was probably the best, but several other good ones have been written as well.

Another NU sport which is getting a lot of positive press lately is football. Between the idea of playing a game at Wrigley Field (which I must admit I have mixed feelings about) and Coach Fitz showing up at a Cubs game, a Sox game, and on Twitter, has NU football getting a lot of attention. If you want read Coach Fitz’s tweets go to http://twitter.com/coachfitz51.

Actually, it was Fitz’s tweet about meeting with the North Shore mayors which got me thinking about today’s topic. It’s a great idea for NU football to try and reach out to the local community, but it doesn’t seem the same effort is made with basketball. Northwestern seems to miss many chances to promote their hoops squads. Or has given up on chances. Efforts were made in the past with Cat-Chats and such, but recently I haven’t seen as much. For example, at the Spring football game I didn’t see any sign of NU hoops. Now, I know it is to early to sell tickets, but some posters or something would be nice. Also, in the past Illinois has sent both their basketball and football coaches to sign at Wrigley. I see no reason why Bill Carmody couldn’t tag along with Fitz. Yes, NU basketball has made strides in local recruiting, but if they don’t continue to have a local presence those strides won’t last. If the Northwestern’s Athletic Department wants to send Fitz on tour, then Carmody, Hardy, or someone representing basketball should be right besides him. Fitz can be the main spokesperson, that’s fine, but some basketball representative should the Joe Biden to Fitz’s Obama.

Some thoughts on Welsh-Ryan Arena

There has been some talk recently about making changes in Welsh-Ryan Arena. While little doubt exists some work needs to be done, I want to offer some positive thoughts on the Wildcat's home venue and offer so ways to perhaps get some more people to show up. Feel free to add your own.

The best thing about Welsh Ryan is the arena’s small size provides fans an intimate feel not available in the large event center type venues which have become common today. At Welsh-Ryan the fans are right on top of the action. From almost any seat you can get the sense you’re really part of the game. Those who sit on the baseline can literally reach out and touch the players when they inbound the ball from under the basketball. I wouldn’t recommend doing so, but the fact it’s possible tells you how close fans can get. Of course, nobody really knows this as Welsh-Ryan and Northwestern basketball are often so far below the radar they might as well be stealth.

Someone recently made the point that most famous arenas have some sort of nickname which makes them and the program they host easily identifiable. I don’t know if Welsh-Ryan really needs some sort of nickname, but any recruiting expert will tell you high school kids are drawn to colleges for any number of reasons—including the name recognition of the school and its athletic facilities. It’s the marketing principal of branding at work. Every high school basketball player in America knows the University of North Carolina wears powder blue and plays in “The Dean Dome” or Michigan State’s green t-shirt clad students help form “The Izzone”. On the other hand, I doubt most high school kids could pick Welsh-Ryan Arena or Northwestern’s purple jerseys out of a lineup. This needs to change. Maybe a hokey nickname isn’t the answer, I’ll admit it’s probably not, but somehow Northwestern needs to start selling Welsh-Ryan Arena to prospective players and fans. If I were Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody or Athletic Director Jim Phillips, I’d tell anyone who would listen, “When you walk into Welsh-Ryan Arena you’ll get the sense you’re at college basketball game.” In today’s increasingly corporate college sports world there aren’t many institutions who can say this. In recent years a slew of schools have sold naming rights to sponsors in order to build opulent new facilities. These facilities are spectacular, and usually have great food, but they give the college games played in them a watered down-NBA feel. I prefer Welsh-Ryan and other venues where I can get a legitimate college sports atmosphere.

Spring Football Game: How About Some Basketball?

I went to NU’s spring football game Saturday and I was once again pleased with what a great event NU put on. I just wish with the weather would have been nicer as I believe the crowd of 3,250 would have gone up about 2,000 or so with a little more sun. Still, I thought it was great NU kids, and really everyone, on the field and how Pat Fitzgerald stood out in the rain on Randy Walker Terrace to take pictures and chat with fans. Still, as this is a basketball blog I do have a small compliant. I realize spring football is spring football and that basketball doesn’t even have a schedule yet for next year, but I still think this is a missed opportunity. Clearly, there are fans of NU football who are not fans of NU basketball. Many of them might have been at the spring game. Considering the basketball team is coming off its must successful season in a decade I don’t think it would have hurt to at least brought out some merchandise or something to remind people of the program’s existence and the excitement for next year. Now, obviously we don’t want to take away from football, but I think don’t think Pat Fitzgerald would have minded if Bill Carmody, Tavaras Hardy, or a few hoops players hung out with him on Walker Terrace. Fitz has shown himself to be a tremendous supporter of all NU sports and I’m sure he wouldn’t have objected to giving up a little bit of his stage to help promote the improving basketball program. I hope in the future this is something Northwestern considers. NU does use football to promote basketball during the fall, but perhaps getting NU hoops on people’s mind the spring could be the way to increase awareness and make folks aware of what we all hope will be a very strong product come November.

NU Needs Fan Support to Drown Out Illini Nation

A full student section can again help NU win at home. (Photo: nusports.com)

The poor NU crowd situation at Welsh-Ryan is getting some press from the Chicago Tribune here. Bruce Weber does have praise for how tough NU’s students make playing in Evanston, but we can’t discount the negative news that Illinois fans will fill half the arena. Not that the news is unexpected, but it still stinks. With that news, though, the most important people in the arena—other than the players—again become the NU students. Just like against Wisconsin, NU will need great student support to neutralize the cheers from the visitors in the rafters. Any students who are reading this please show up. And please, when Illini Nation starts in with “Ill…ini…Ill…ini” get a chant of “Where’s the Chief?” going in response. The Illinois fans are still a little sensitive about their missing chief. Also, students drag everyone you know to this game. Even if they couldn’t tell you the difference between Craig Moore and Craig Morgan, even if they think don’t know about the great Rowley-Mirkovic debate, even if they’re the people who say incredulously, “We have a basketball game tonight?” It doesn’t matter. Get them into Welsh-Ryan. Also, while you’re working so hard to help NU win, see if you can get the folks in the purple seats to stand up when the fight song plays. Anything is possible for this team, but they can’t do it alone. They need the support of all us who call ourselves Northwestern fans. Heck, even you folks watching around the nation and around the world on ESPN2, make sure you cheer loud in your living rooms. Every bit of support helps. This is our chance, let's not waste it.

Also: Vote in our first poll to tell us where you expect to see NU after the Big Ten Tournament.

Chicago State at Northwestern is Must See for NU Fans

David Holston will be at Welsh-Ryan on Wednesday--and so should you.
(Photo: Chicago State Athletics)

Since Saturday I’ve read and heard a lot of talk about the level of excitement for the Illinois game on February 12th. While I appreciate the enthusiasm many people have for seeing the Wildcats take on their intrastate rivals on national television, I don’t want people to forget NU has a home game this Wednesday against Chicago State. Naturally, some people are going to react to this news with the response of, “Chicago State, who cares?” The answer is that anyone who is an NU fan should. Why? Well, I suppose I could claim that this is a rivalry, but realistically, despite the teams’ proximity to each other it really is not. Northwestern has never lost to Chicago State, and the odds strongly favor an NU win Wednesday night. However, that is not an excuse to stay home. First of all, the game isn’t on TV (it’s being webcast, but that’s not the same), so if you want to see the contest, the best way to do so is in person.

So, the question becomes, why do you want to see this game? Well, first off, Chicago State is not a total cupcake opponent. They have a 12-11 overall record and possess an outside shot at making a postseason tournament. Second, Chicago State point guard David Holston is one of the most exciting players in college basketball. The 5-8 Holston averages 26.3 points per game, the third most in the country. The anticpated shooting dual between Holston and Craig Moore could be the best under the radar star collision of the season. Most people don’t even know this matchup is occurring, but those who see it will not be disappointed. The third reason fans should show up is very simply the fact Northwestern is a good basketball team right now. If you’ve suffered through the amount of bad basketball most NU fans have, there is no reason to ignore the team when they are playing well. Though the Wildcats have a great chance at the postseason, nothing is guaranteed right now. The team can’t afford to take the night off against CSU and the fans can’t afford to either. I know the team appreciates it when fans, especially student fans, show up and rock Welsh-Ryan Arena. It helps provide energy which allows for the great play we’ve seen in recent games. It helps them win. That’s why the team comes over and shakes hands with the students after each victory. As I walked out of Welsh-Ryan on Saturday, somebody yelled, “Great job student section.” That person was right. The student section did a great job. They helped the ‘Cats win. Now they, and all other Wildcat fans, need to keep it up. Folks, if you have a real reason not to visit Welsh-Ryan Arena Wednesday I can understand, but don’t stay home just because the opponent is Chicago State—that’s a bad excuse. If the opponent was Duke you’d show up. And guess what? Right now for Northwestern, Chicago State might as well be Duke. As Northwestern pushes for their first ever NCAA Tournament bid, every game becomes the biggest game of the year. So on Wednesday, let’s pack the student sections, stand up in the purple seats, and go nuts in the bleachers, as we cheer the Wildcats to win number lucky 13.

Seeing Red (or Green, Black, Gold, Orange, or Blue) at Welsh-Ryan Arena

The Badgers and their fans will be back this week
(photo: edwardblake.net)


This post will focus on attendance at Welsh-Ryan Arena. This is a subject that gets discussed a lot, but it is a topic which has to be on the mind of every Northwestern Athletic Department staffer and fan. Every time I walk into Welsh-Ryan and see something which resembles the picture above I find myself a little disheartened. Welsh-Ryan could be a great home venue, but instead it becomes nearly a neutral site, or depending on the opponent, nearly an opposing team home game. Earlier this year before the Wildcats took care of their team on the court, the Minnesota students in attendance chanted “Gopher home game” as the teams warmed up.

How bad is it?

Clearly the attendance situation at Welsh-Ryan is bad, but I think before possible solutions are discussed we need to figure out how bad. Obviously the visual evidence (as above) shows the crowd disadvantage the Wildcats often face, but I think more specifics can help. Personally this year, I have had what seemed like the entire Purdue student body come down and sit around me. This is despite the fact I am seated in the lower half on the bleacher side of the arena, in what is supposed to be a season-ticket section. The seats next to me, which I would call prime seats, are often occupied by fans from the visiting team. Since many other seats around me are unoccupied as well, these people often have their friends come sit with them as was the case against Purdue. It is a sad statement about the number of season tickets Northwestern sells that these lower levels seats need to be sold to visitors. It is also a sad statement that visiting fans, who aren’t ticketed in the lower section, can come down and sit in them. Perhaps Northwestern’s ushers need to be more on top of fan movement during the game. I notice the ushers always check tickets when people go into the game, but it seems they aren’t making sure people don’t move during the game—at least on the bleacher side. I would also suggest that as happens to premium seat fans at baseball games, that before the game starts, the ushers confirm the fans in the first five or six rows belong there.

Purple Seats

The folks in the purple seats often take heat on their fan performance. It has been pointed out many times the folks in these seats don’t seem to stand up during the fight song and don’t cheer when the team goes on runs. This is sort of true. I look across and see some people in the purple section cheering, but not all. However, I don’t think this is the biggest problem with the purple seats. The biggest problem is the number of seats which are empty or filled by people wearing the opposing team’s color. From the experience of friends, I know it is basically impossible, even for longtime season ticket holders, to get good seats in the lower purple section because allegedly the section is fully sold. However, every game it seems nearly half of these seats are empty or filled with the wrong color shirts. This needs to be correct much more than a few fans who aren’t vivacious enough in their cheering for some. We need to get those seats filled with people wearing purple. How can this happen? Perhaps we should take a lesson from other schools who try and keep track of who fills their season ticket seats. At some schools, the ushers are required to ask where someone got their tickets if that someone isn’t a season ticket holder and is using season tickets. At other schools, video cameras are used to film the seats to keep track of how often seats are used. If a season ticket holder doesn’t use their seat enough, they are at risk of losing them. Perhaps Northwestern should take this approach. I know several season ticket holders in the upper level of the purple seats who have been coming to games for years and every year try to upgrade but can’t. It would be great if they could sit in the lower section of the purple seats as they would actually show up, and, yes, cheer.

Students

The second group of fans who commonly take heat for showing up in small numbers are the students. It is true the student section this year seems smaller than in the past. However, I do think the students who are in attendance this year have been very spirited. Perhaps that is because only the diehards are showing up. Naturally, the first thought from some folks when they see a half empty student section is to ask why aren’t the students who are in attendance brining more friends. Well, as a relatively recent graduate, I’d like to address this a little bit. First off, everybody I knew at Northwestern who regularly attended basketball games tried their best to bring friends to games. Sometimes, it worked and the person became a fan, but more often than not these friends simply lined up about a hundred excuses. At this point it becomes pointless to try and persuade them to do something they don’t want to do. I knew people who were actually big sports fans who never wanted to go to basketball games. Part of the reason was they didn’t want to take the time (little as it is), but also because of certain logistical challenges that if you aren’t invested you don’t want to deal with. For example, when it is zero its hard to convince people to stand outside Kellogg and wait for a shuttle that isn’t exactly known for following a regular schedule. Also, Northwestern’s athletic department could do a far better job than they do marketing the fact a game is going to be played. A lot of students don’t regularly check nusports.com for the schedule. They are somewhat fair weather fans, but that’s fine as long at they show up a fair amount. When a sign is put outside Norris or an e-mail is sent the day of the game, it is often too late. Students already have plans. I would suggest sending every new student one of those magnetic football and basketball schedules at the start of the year. I would also give schedules away at dinning halls and at Norris as soon as the schedule is set. Maybe in conjunction with e-mails and signs this would create more awareness. I do think the fact many of the in-game promotions are targeted towards students is a good thing, as are the Chipotle coupon giveaways. College students love the chance to get and win free stuff. I would suggest more of that. Perhaps involving more local Evanston restaurants. I can understand why Chipotle doesn’t want to give away as many free burritos as they used to, but perhaps they and other popular restaurants could offer half price or 1/3 off coupons to students at games. I would also encourage a return of ‘Cat Chats and Coach Carmody’s visits to frat house and various residence halls. Getting students to feel like they are really part of the team helps. I loved hearing this football season that Joel Belding sent an e-mail to students asking them to show up at football games. Maybe Sterling Williams can do the same for basketball?

The bottom line is Northwestern needs fan support this coming week because the red masses from Indiana and Wisconsin will invade Welsh-Ryan in their usual giant numbers. If NU is to have any home court advantage it has to start with the students, but the rest of us must do our part as well. Let’s make noise and make Welsh-Ryan as uncomfortable as we can. Hopefully the day will soon come when we will be joined by many more ‘Cat fans.

Chicago and College Hoops

Last Saturday a number of intra-city of intra-state basketball games took place in and around Chicago. Northwestern fans were obviously focused on the Wildcats matchup with DePaul, but UIC played Loyola and NIU hosted Chicago State as well. As I think about these matchups, I can’t help but think all these teams should play each other at some point during the season. Coaches complain all the time about how hard it is to schedule non-conference games and what a hassle travel is, yet teams right next to each other don’t play. It doesn’t make sense.

This year Northwestern will play DePaul and Chicago State. In the past the ‘Cats have played a home and home series with the UIC Flames, but have not played Loyola in the Bill Carmody era. Rumor has it some rift exists. Personally, I think NU should play all the Chicago area schools. I think it would benefit every school in the Chicago area if they were to play each other. Chicago is without a doubt a pro sports town. People get excited about the Bears, the Bulls, and the Cubs. As a result of this fan focus, the media coverage is geared heavily towards the pro teams in town. This time of year with the NBA and NFL seasons in full swing it is especially hard to get coverage. One way coverage is generated, though, is when the Chicago area schools play each other. After all, Saturday generated nice press in multiple papers and on TV before the games. That’s rare. Usually the best NU and the others can hope for is a post game recap, more and more lifted from the AP.

Now, is this press coverage going to magically boost attendance for these schools? Probably not. Although, despite it being just a hair over 4,000 people the fact is the contest against DePaul was NU’s biggest crowd of the year. Games against UIC and Loyola would likely have a similar total attendance. Chicago State is something of a difference story, but if the Cougars seriously want to compete in Division I garnering the attention of playing local opponents can only help. You might not know for example that 5-8 160 lbs. Chicago State guard David Holston is one of the top scorers in the NCAA. I mean with the Cougars playing in near obscurity how could you? But if his team were to face off against its local opponents and Holston scored 28 points each time, he’d garner a little more attention from the various Chicago media sources.

Of course, this isn’t about Chicago State. My real concern is about Northwestern. I want people to show up at Welsh-Ryan Arena and cheer the ‘Cats. Now, many would say the difference between having 3,200 people for Central Arkansas and having 4,200 for DePaul isn’t significant, but I believe it is. It is significant because each new fan in the arena offers an opportunity to sell the program. Also, Northwestern has many fans who only show up for what they consider “big games” that’s relative at NU obviously, but what they mean is the Big Ten (minus Penn State), the ACC/Big Ten Challenge game, and DePaul. If you add other local rivalries, and make them true rivalries (perhaps a trophy), then those people will show up. Don’t get me wrong, I want these people to show up every game, but I’m a realist.

Also, not to sound like a complainer, because when I show up to Welsh-Ryan I enjoy myself, but I’m sure many of you are like me and would enjoy seeing NU play Loyola more than seeing NU play Texas A&M-CC. I want to win and I don’t really object to directional schools, but if Northwestern wants to reach the top half of the Big Ten they ought to be able to defeat any mid-major even one who is jazzed for a local rival.

Finally, creating buzz for college hoops around Chicago could do a lot of good for families looking for cheap entertainment. When people ask me what I’m doing on some winter evening and I say, “going to the NU basketball game” they are shocked they haven’t heard about the game. The reason is, as we’ve established, the Chicago press isn’t too excited about college hoops. That’s too bad because NU basketball is one of the best deals going. To be able to attend a major college sporting event for less than $20 a ticket is a spectacular deal. I strongly suspect were more people aware of what NU offered more would take advantage. Of course, since NU’s own media budget is so limited they need the free press the media provides. The best way to get is taking on local opponents. After all, I strongly guess the stories last Saturday about the impending NU-DePaul game will be significantly larger than the one’s next Monday abut the impending NU-UMKC game. That is, if pregame NU-UMKC stories exist at all. I’d say the odds are at best we’ll see little capsules with stats.

Further Reading…

Check out ESPN.com on CSU’s David Holston. He comes to NU February 4th. I’d say you should get your tickets now, but I’d be slightly over estimating the level of anticipation that game is generating.