WBB: American Southwest Conference

Ralph Turner · January 23, 2007, 05:22:10 PM

Quote from: thundercat on January 23, 2007, 04:28:39 PM
Quote from: HSUats on January 23, 2007, 02:06:38 PM
I loved this game, two great teams battled in front of a huge rival crowd.

Were there really 2200 in attendance or were the numbers inflated a little for NCAA hosting purposes. Just curious.

Here are the photos from last night's McM-HSU game.

www.abilenesportz.com

The women's game began at 5:30, so there were fans filing in up until the men's started. HSU is known for having larger crowds at their women's games than the men's.

Pat Coleman shot these pictures at the HSU-McM game in Jan 2005.

I don't know what number the fire marshall uses for a capacity crowd, but Kimbrell Arena was looked full last night.

inthepaint · January 23, 2007, 05:43:20 PM

I appreciate the link to the photo source! It prompted me to do some web browsing and I ended up at the HPU page. They have photos on their site of the Lady Jackets in action. Either those photos were taken during the break between semesters or the interest in HPU women's basketball is less than one would expect based on the posts here. The place was empty in those photos! Is the typical home game well attended in Browntown?

Ralph Turner · January 23, 2007, 05:55:44 PM

Also remember that the Brownwood Coliseum has a capacity of 4500, and I can remember a McMurry HPU men's game in 1971 that had nearly that many.

In some ways, ESPN has killed small town athletics. The HPU Jackets were big-time in the Lone Star Conference in the early 1970's, because you weren't seeing 15 D-1 College games and 5 NBA games a week!

dballa · January 23, 2007, 05:57:18 PM

inthepaint, the crowds for the HPU games have been less than stellar. The largest crowd for HPU occured on Saturday at the UMHB games. Other than that the fans really haven't turned out and it's pretty sad. They are missing some great basketball. I know some of the reasons for the small turnout from the Brownwood faithful is that some of the games happen at the same time other events in Brownwood happen such as Monday nights game falling on the same night as the Brownwood football banquet.

But really there is no reason they shouldn't have 1,500 or more fans there every night. There should be well over 2,000 for the HSU/McM games next week. They'll turn out for those big games and support HPU but not the rest of the year.

inthepaint · January 23, 2007, 06:08:15 PM

Quote from: dballa on January 23, 2007, 05:57:18 PM
inthepaint, the crowds for the HPU games have been less than stellar. . . But really there is no reason they shouldn't have 1,500 or more fans there every night. There should be well over 2,000 for the HSU/McM games next week. They'll turn out for those big games and support HPU but not the rest of the year.

I am surprised and understand your perspective. It would seem to me that the community would be excited about their local team, especially in a year like this when the Lady Jackets are on a significant winning streak. Maybe the school administration should do a little more local promotion to rally the community interest.

Thanks for the response, DBalla. This ought to be a great couple of weeks of basketball!

Ralph Turner · January 23, 2007, 06:53:06 PM

Last weekend was Brown County School Kids Night. Any student in the Brown County schools could get in free.

That is a big promotion!

HPU75 · January 23, 2007, 09:18:17 PM

Sadly, things have really changed since the 1960's and 1970's in Brownwood, at least as it relates to HPU basketball. Of course, it was only the men then, but I remember many games (especially in the mid and late 60's when I was a teenager) when the Coliseum was full or nearly full on many occasions. Even when I was in HPU in the 1970's we had some really big crowds. That is, however, a REALLY big venue. I live 2+ hours away now so I don't see all the games. I was at the UMHB games Saturday and there was at least a decent crowd, but of course it still left a lot of room. Surely next week with HSU AND MCM we will get the big turnout. WE WILL NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET!!

inthepaint · January 24, 2007, 11:30:57 AM

Quote from: Ralph Turner on January 23, 2007, 06:53:06 PM
Last weekend was Brown County School Kids Night. Any student in the Brown County schools could get in free.

That is a big promotion!

How many students took advantage of the free offer? The key to get a crowd is to make the whole evening an experience. I attended a Mavericks game recently and was amazed at how electrifying the whole evening was. There is an obvious difference between a professional sports team's budget and that of a small college, but the experience can certainly be magnified a bit. A live band, very active announcer, dance numbers (Baptists?) during time outs, t-shirt give-a-ways, mascots in the stands, discounted concessions, fan participation with free throws, 3-shot contests, etc with BIG prizes, half-time "games" between community leaders and very identifiable figures, lots and lots of music, etc. Electrifying!

Well, enough of this. This board is about basketball, not promotions. I feel better just venting.

dballa · January 24, 2007, 11:44:12 AM

HPU does do a few things. They have a t-shirt giveaway at each media timeout. The Brown County School days do continue into the home games Feb 1st and 3rd against HSU/McM. Also on those days it's "Spirit Week" for HPU. Thursday night will be a white out night where all HPU fans are encouraged to wear white shirts and a blue out day against McM where everybody is encouraged to wear navy blue. They are doing a few things but it would be nice to get that support without having to give something away or have other kinds of promotions.

thundercat · January 24, 2007, 02:20:29 PM

Do you think having games off campus makes a big difference in student attendance? Just wanted to get others ideas. Also, do they still have intramural games on thursday nights? If so that is a huge shame! Most participating in basketball intramurals are the same ones that would be at the games. If it is still scheduled this way they need to look into changing!

sethhpu · January 24, 2007, 02:29:28 PM

I don't think the games being off campus hurts, there just seems like a disinterest in the games. Some of the girls were wanting some support from the crowd and the crowd just sat there instead of getting into the game. It is frustrating from where I was sitting, and yes intrmurals for some odd reason are played on Thursday night.

mcmfan · January 25, 2007, 10:38:06 AM

The big HPU-HSU matchup comes tonight. Should be interesting to see how Coach Briggs sets things up to deal with the Yellow Jackets. With McM on Monday, she seems to assigned Hobbs to contain Richardson. Every time Richardson checked in, Hobbs checked in. When Richardson checked out, Hobbs checked out. Hobbs stuck to Richardson like glue and cut her normal point production in half, so the strategy obviously worked. Will there be a repeat tonight on Meia Daniels?

fanstand · January 25, 2007, 11:15:32 AM

Hobbs and Contrucci will have their hands full with Hoffman and Blalock/ Meia will have Dennard or Walker guarding her. Will be a good match up. Too bad we can't be in two places at once. I would like to see both games, but not bad enough to miss McM L.I.B. and Sul Ross. Don't look ahead to Saturday play strong tonite..

mcmfan · January 25, 2007, 01:45:50 PM

QuoteDon't look ahead to Saturday play strong tonite..

That's the bottom line!

thundercat · January 25, 2007, 02:34:42 PM

I am kind of surprised how quiet this board is with the upcoming games! I guess everyone knows that there is just no way to predict the winner! I am dying to be there for the games! Stupid job! I will be listening intently online though! I am assuming you will be able to connect through the HSU site or will Dallas Houston be doing commentary for the HPU site. Does anyone know? I would love to get Dallas' point of view on the action! He can make me feel like I am at the game! Good luck to the Jackets! Play with confidence!

Is it 5:30 yet?