[pefloresjr]

I usually try to avoid joining discussions where no clear answer is possible but yesterday I was talking to a friend at my office who is a longtime season ticket holder at Berkeley.  He is keeping his tickets because he is a real fan but his biggest complaint about the 59er Raid offense of Sonny Dykes was that it was boring.  He described it as the same short and crossing patterns over and over and over, resulting in a possession that used very little clock time regardless of whether they scored.  Then their gassed defense would try to hold off the other team but the opponent would usually score, especially in the later stages of the game.  So, all that exciting scoring can also be boring. 

Regarding Stanford's attendance, I agree that the small student body is a major factor in the crowd size.  However, it goes beyond the size of the student body.  I think that most Stanford students are focused on other things and just aren't sports fans.  I arrived in 1982 and still have a group of about 12 close friends from my freshman dorm who still live in the Bay Area.  I am the only one who has season tickets and only one of the others had tickets for a few years.  It wasn't because of the quality of the team, it was because my friends are just not big sports fans.  They are happy when we win but are not going to commit time to going to games.  Many will attend one of our tailgate parties each year, but not actually go to the game.  As Stanford admissions have become more and more elite, I think this effect has only gotten worse.  To get admitted, Stanford students generally need to demonstrate deep commitment to, and excellence in, some academic, social, political, or athletic area.  Those who are not focused on athletics make for an interesting group of students doing some extraordinary things, but they do not tend to create a group of rabid sports fans.  The students do seem to show pretty good attendance these days but I am always surprised at how early they clear out. 

Being bored at the games will certainly hurt attendance but I don't view the last decade as boring.  There have been some real clunker games but every fan of every team I know of has to live through those. 

Cheers,
Pete F.

[pefloresjr]

I usually try to avoid joining discussions where no clear answer is possible but yesterday I was talking to a friend at my office who is a longtime season ticket holder at Berkeley.  He is keeping his tickets because he is a real fan but his biggest complaint about the 59er Raid offense of Sonny Dykes was that it was boring.  He described it as the same short and crossing patterns over and over and over, resulting in a possession that used very little clock time regardless of whether they scored.  Then their gassed defense would try to hold off the other team but the opponent would usually score, especially in the later stages of the game.  So, all that exciting scoring can also be boring. 

Regarding Stanford's attendance, I agree that the small student body is a major factor in the crowd size.  However, it goes beyond the size of the student body.  I think that most Stanford students are focused on other things and just aren't sports fans.  I arrived in 1982 and still have a group of about 12 close friends from my freshman dorm who still live in the Bay Area.  I am the only one who has season tickets and only one of the others had tickets for a few years.  It wasn't because of the quality of the team, it was because my friends are just not big sports fans.  They are happy when we win but are not going to commit time to going to games.  Many will attend one of our tailgate parties each year, but not actually go to the game.  As Stanford admissions have become more and more elite, I think this effect has only gotten worse.  To get admitted, Stanford students generally need to demonstrate deep commitment to, and excellence in, some academic, social, political, or athletic area.  Those who are not focused on athletics make for an interesting group of students doing some extraordinary things, but they do not tend to create a group of rabid sports fans.  The students do seem to show pretty good attendance these days but I am always surprised at how early they clear out. 

Being bored at the games will certainly hurt attendance but I don't view the last decade as boring.  There have been some real clunker games but every fan of every team I know of has to live through those. 

Cheers,
Pete F.