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Post by sleepy on Oct 28, 2024 9:42:59 GMT -8
I get the criticisms. They are well-deserved. I've been to two games this season -- and in both, he made decisions that were cringe-worthy re Lewis' drive to win.
BUT... Overall, there are other things. First, you have to know that the two games I've shelled out the ridiculous price for a cheap seat were for Oregon State and WAZZU. I still remember the hot, steamy night at Snap for OSU. Lord, was that awful. Not the weather -- the Aztecs. The amount of yellow hankies in motion that night, you'd have thought it was Three Rivers Stadium and the Steelers were in the building. Two nights ago... Not so much. A respectable amount of penalties. Also, Oregon State: Zero points. Wazzu, we scored quite a few points until they curiously underperformed in 4Q. They even flashed some creativity. Competitiveness... No comparison. They were in the game until the end against a team looking for a playoff spot. In short, what I see is a team that's become far better than it was in late August. That's basic good coaching. I see it in the softball teams I start over with every spring and fall. The team improves, even if the record is suspect. Lewis can coach.
NOW... What does that mean for the college game in an era when your whole roster can turn over from one season to the next? Hell, you can lose big chunks off your roster within the first four weeks. I don't know. That's why I'm not a season ticket holder anymore. The brand I'm used to for over 5 decades: the guy comes to campus a 190 lb-zit-faced nothing three months after Senior Prom and leaves the same campus 4 years later weighing 235 with a marketing degree. That's always been the bargain struck, and I could get behind it. That's pretty much gone. Instead, Lewis has to re-recruit each player every year, replacing those he can't land. Does that mean we are looking at a carbon-copy every year of "Well, we sucked to start back in August, admittedly. But, man, are we rolling now and can't wait to get to the New Mexico Bowl and Central Connecticut State to show what we can really do -- once we figure out who's on our roster for the New Mexico Bowl..."
But SDSU Football has a bigger problem. I walked around the stadium on Saturday night -- and at 55 years I'm one of the young whippersnappers. The Aztec fan base is old as dirt, and year by year becoming fossilized. I saw one pee-wee football team, and a group of three tweens. That was it as far as kids. Otherwise, you were a SDSU student who stuck around for halftime -- or you got mail from AARP earlier in the day. I didn't bring my tween Saturday night because of the 7:30 kick, which also meant that I couldn't bring my wife -- and from what I could see in the stands the Aztecs could have used her presence. That's 2/3 of a household not present at the stadium, not buying a ticket, not buying cotton candy, not buying a hat, not stocking memories of "Hey! This is fun! Can't wait to come back!"
Aside from the Utah State roadie, I don't even know that I'll be back this season. But... As to my original point: The guy can coach. I'm just sorry he has to coach in this era.
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Post by RiffelBooks on Oct 28, 2024 10:28:17 GMT -8
I agree with your comments. Lewis deserves our support for a couple of seasons. We really have to avoid quick knee-jerk reactions and see how things actually develop. Things are trending the right direction, and it will be interesting to see how we fare Friday night.
Regarding the geriatric crowd, we're paying now for all those years in the late 80s and 90s when students never showed up.
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Post by aztecx on Oct 28, 2024 11:31:24 GMT -8
I agree with your comments. Lewis deserves our support for a couple of seasons. We really have to avoid quick knee-jerk reactions and see how things actually develop. Things are trending the right direction, and it will be interesting to see how we fare Friday night. Regarding the geriatric crowd, we're paying now for all those years in the late 80s and 90s when students never showed up. Anyone calling for Lewis to be fired after a 3-4 start are just being silly. They just want to bash on the program. But they are the first clowns to jump on the bandwagon. |
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Post by jdaztec on Oct 28, 2024 11:38:01 GMT -8
Well said Sleepy and I agree with everything you said. i bet SDSU's attendance problem is prevelant throughout the nation except for those places where college football is and always has been the "thing to do", mostly The South and The Midwest. San Diego Sports to me has always been a "Pet Rock" kind of town. People get involved not because they are big sports fans ( I know there is a core of true sports fans but Im talking about the masses) but because it is a "happening.\", there is a "buzz". Joining the original PAC 12 might have done it, for SDSU Football to thrive they will have to find another way for it to be the thing to do.
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Post by aztecx on Oct 28, 2024 11:50:09 GMT -8
Well said Sleepy and I agree with everything you said. i bet SDSU's attendance problem is prevelant throughout the nation except for those places where college football is and always has been the "thing to do", mostly The South and The Midwest. San Diego Sports to me has always been a "Pet Rock" kind of town. People get involved not because they are big sports fans ( I know there is a core of true sports fans but Im talking about the masses) but because it is a "happening.\", there is a "buzz". Joining the original PAC 12 might have done it, for SDSU Football to thrive they will have to find another way for it to be the thing to do. SDSU is going to have to cultivate a new type of Aztec Fan. The prior fan wants to: Drive to the game, tailgate with plenty of room, pay reasonable ticket prices. New fan will need to: Take the trolley to the game, go to a bar or party area, pay higher prices. One is not better than the other, just different. I think people are just going to have to adjust to how they go to the games. And this will cost San Diego State some of their long time fans. |
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Post by RenoAztec on Oct 28, 2024 12:46:08 GMT -8
We need to be able to finish the games. But otherwise I see improvements each week.
I think we even have a shot at a bowl game. 6-6 would be amazing, and we can do it.
How close were we to beating the #22 team in the nation, in coach's first year. Check out the game stats, more yardage, even in first downs and time of possessions. We still need to clean up penalties but otherwise nice job.
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Post by fisherville on Oct 28, 2024 15:37:20 GMT -8
We are definitely improving, offensive lind still was far from perfect but they are improving even with the injuries. O’Neil has improved a incredible amount since the first couple of games. It’s definitely a tough loss to swallow and Lewis deserves some criticism, but we also had some losses like this early in rocky tenure and it improved. Well at least till the burnout. There are fair criticism’s to raise, saying we are hopeless/lewis is a loser/lewis needs to be fired is just from dumbies.
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Post by gigglyforshrigley on Oct 28, 2024 16:31:53 GMT -8
Good post
The older fan base is because SDSU sucked in the 2000s, so students didn't come. Also (and more importantly) the tickets are way too expensive for young people living in San Diego
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Post by jdaztec on Oct 28, 2024 16:43:07 GMT -8
I will continue to pay the going rate for my season tickets ( 32 years now) but I agree with those that believe the prices are too high. I wonder if they have done the analysis to determine if the tickets were say 35 % lower would we have a close to full house ? If so they should do it ! If they have done that level of review and it's not the ticket cost but just the level of fan interest that is the problem I can see why there isn't much interest in dropping the ticket prices.
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Post by sdsuball on Oct 28, 2024 16:48:23 GMT -8
Well said Sleepy and I agree with everything you said. i bet SDSU's attendance problem is prevelant throughout the nation except for those places where college football is and always has been the "thing to do", mostly The South and The Midwest. San Diego Sports to me has always been a "Pet Rock" kind of town. People get involved not because they are big sports fans ( I know there is a core of true sports fans but Im talking about the masses) but because it is a "happening.\", there is a "buzz". Joining the original PAC 12 might have done it, for SDSU Football to thrive they will have to find another way for it to be the thing to do. SDSU is going to have to cultivate a new type of Aztec Fan. The prior fan wants to: Drive to the game, tailgate with plenty of room, pay reasonable ticket prices. New fan will need to: Take the trolley to the game, go to a bar or party area, pay higher prices. One is not better than the other, just different. I think people are just going to have to adjust to how they go to the games. And this will cost San Diego State some of their long time fans. Building SDSU West should help, right? Put kids closer to the stadium. Our team has improved, no doubt. |
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Post by aztecx on Oct 28, 2024 16:51:18 GMT -8
I will continue to pay the going rate for my season tickets ( 32 years now) but I agree with those that believe the prices are too high. I wonder if they have done the analysis to determine if the tickets were say 35 % lower would we have a close to full house ? If so they should do it ! If they have done that level of review and it's not the ticket cost but just the level of fan interest that is the problem I can see why there isn't much interest in dropping the ticket prices. I am sure they do some type of Revenue maximization program. Problem is you need good assumptions with regards to price points that would attract people to the game. I was a 30+ year ticket holder. When building Snapdragon, I did surveys that asked what we would be willing to pay for certain seats. I remember saying I would not pay any of the prices they were suggesting. So, the athletic department did do research. When we saw the pricing they came up with I thought a lot of folks must have said they would pay the prices. I guess the question comes down to whether you want max revenue vs. max attendance. |
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Post by aztecx on Oct 28, 2024 16:53:54 GMT -8
SDSU is going to have to cultivate a new type of Aztec Fan. The prior fan wants to: Drive to the game, tailgate with plenty of room, pay reasonable ticket prices. New fan will need to: Take the trolley to the game, go to a bar or party area, pay higher prices. One is not better than the other, just different. I think people are just going to have to adjust to how they go to the games. And this will cost San Diego State some of their long time fans. Building SDSU West should help, right? Put kids closer to the stadium. Our team has improved, no doubt. I guess SDSU West might help with student attendance. But I don't know if it will help the fans who want a more "tailgate centric" experience. |
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Post by jammer on Oct 28, 2024 16:56:44 GMT -8
I'm all in with coach Lewis. I like what I see! I'm not sure how NCAA football will workout with NIL. But I back coach Lewis.
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Post by RiffelBooks on Oct 28, 2024 19:26:01 GMT -8
I will continue to pay the going rate for my season tickets ( 32 years now) but I agree with those that believe the prices are too high. I wonder if they have done the analysis to determine if the tickets were say 35 % lower would we have a close to full house ? If so they should do it ! If they have done that level of review and it's not the ticket cost but just the level of fan interest that is the problem I can see why there isn't much interest in dropping the ticket prices. I am sure they do some type of Revenue maximization program. Problem is you need good assumptions with regards to price points that would attract people to the game. I was a 30+ year ticket holder. When building Snapdragon, I did surveys that asked what we would be willing to pay for certain seats. I remember saying I would not pay any of the prices they were suggesting. So, the athletic department did do research. When we saw the pricing they came up with I thought a lot of folks must have said they would pay the prices. I guess the question comes down to whether you want max revenue vs. max attendance. Looking at the last two home games, Aztecs tickets are pretty much in line with what the Padres are going for, and they sell out nearly every game, so baseball fans are paying those prices for quite a few games each season. Aztecs football has fewer games, thus higher prices, but not that much higher. |
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Post by junior on Oct 28, 2024 19:53:48 GMT -8
Felt like the only fans there were from WSU … total embarrassment whenever the home crowd was prompted by the canned announcement to "make some noise" and responded with - Crickets. But that meter sure jumped -must've been measuring silence, though.
The WSU Go Cougs call easily drowned out any wimpy SDSU effort to "make some noise" They even drowned out the band at several points during the game. Wow.
Whether it's the demographics of the crowd, the inability of the team to get people excited about them, the lack of a crowd, the crappy field condition, the band needs amplification like they had to do at Q, or the absence of canopies, that combination is absolutely brutal at home games. And it only seems to get worse at every game.
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Post by zurac315 on Oct 28, 2024 19:53:50 GMT -8
Does anyone remember what the price of a ticket was in the 1960s? I went to every home game with my folks but really have no idea what they paid and would be curious to know.
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Post by zurac315 on Oct 28, 2024 19:59:08 GMT -8
Felt like the only fans there were from WSU … total embarrassment whenever the home crowd was prompted by the canned announcement to "make some noise" and responded with - Crickets. But that meter sure jumped -must've been measuring silence, though. The WSU Go Cougs call easily drowned out any wimpy SDSU effort to "make some noise" Whether it's the demographics of the crowd, the inability of the team to get people excited about them, the lack of a crowd, the crappy field condition, or the absence of canopies, the combination is absolutely brutal at home games. And it only seems to get worse at every game. I wish I knew what the answer is. I grew up in San Diego but lived in the dorms for two years while in college. I did manage to talk four or five guys into going to the games and we certainly got crazy while there. But getting people to go even back then wasn't easy. That was circa 1972. I'm envious when I see crowded stadiums with involved fans. Of course, we have managed to do it in basketball. |
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Post by Ambivalent_Fan on Oct 28, 2024 20:00:33 GMT -8
Aztec Football <yawn>…
Most undergraduates are under 21 and would prefer to do their drinking in the parking lot or at a fraternity house back on campus…with loud music…plenty of girls…and a party atmosphere
What exactly is awaiting them inside the stadium?…expensive beer?…the pep band?…boring / losing football?
The SDSU administration is lying in the bed they themselves made…the SDSU West was procured to expand into a higher-learning campus…not to promote pathetic semi-pro football
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Post by zurac315 on Oct 28, 2024 20:03:11 GMT -8
I'm all in with coach Lewis. I like what I see! I'm not sure how NCAA football will workout with NIL. But I back coach Lewis. I agree that the state of college football these days is very troubling. And I don't know that we can survive the constant turnover in the team every year due to NIL and the portal. I think that is one of the reasons that Hoke completely lost interest. I think that he was tired already and all that change was just too much. |
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Post by myownwords on Oct 28, 2024 20:06:16 GMT -8
Aztec Football <yawn>… Most undergraduates are under 21 and would prefer to do their drinking in the parking lot or at a fraternity house back on campus…with loud music…plenty of girls…and a party atmosphere What exactly is awaiting them inside the stadium?…expensive beer?…the pep band?…boring / losing football? The SDSU administration is lying in the bed they themselves made…the SDSU West was procured to expand into a higher-learning campus…not to promote pathetic semi-pro football Unfortunately Aztec football is tepid and insipid, but most assuredly NOT intrepid |
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