Best attendance

[Flying Dutch Fan]

That's right, I forgot that it started in the best facility board.  We've referred to it, and re-used and abused it so many times on the MIAA board that I forgot it didn't start there.

[Gregory Sager]

The original discussion between David and Scott in the Best Facility room that started the whole pictoral running joke with the condiments wasn't particularly inspired. This is one of those cases in which the ongoing reoccurrences of the running joke are much funnier than the original context. 

[David Collinge]

The original discussion between David and Scott in the Best Facility room that started the whole pictoral running joke with the condiments wasn't particularly inspired. This is one of those cases in which the ongoing reoccurrences of the running joke are much funnier than the original context. 

Sheesh.  No more karma-boosting for you! 

[Gregory Sager]

I thought that I was paying you a compliment, David. A condiment compliment ... yeah, that's the ticket.

After all, you're one of the primary perpetrators of the running joke in its ongoing state, n'est ce pas? So you get the credit for its extracontextual humor.

Man, we really are dissecting this thing to death, aren't we?

[diehardfan]

Man, we really are dissecting this thing to death, aren't we?

That's your job Greg, it's what we pay you the big bucks for. 

[Knightstalker]

Hard for me to believe ... apart from Wheaton (IL) College, of course, where every night is Steak Night. 

lol... it's not quite like that, but yeah, our food is really good... my sis used to get really excited about going to our dining hall when she visited

one year, when the ratings came out, and we were picked as #2 in the nation, we had a fancy meal (lobster, prime rib and shrimp type stuff) a fancy cheese and olive display, and the best... a big ice sculpture of a #2... 

good stuff

"a big ice sculpture of a #2..."

This could be seriously misconstrued... It's all the more funny considering it was DHF who posted it...Sorry.

You know how hard it was for me to refrain from posting about that?

[diehardfan]

"a big ice sculpture of a #2..."

This could be seriously misconstrued... It's all the more funny considering it was DHF who posted it...Sorry.

You know how hard it was for me to refrain from posting about that?

So I'm sweetly innocent... it's why you guys like me. 

[David Collinge]

From Neil Simon's Murder By Death:

Lionel Twain (boasting to his dinner guests that he is the world's greatest living detective): I'm the greatest, I'm number one!
Sam Diamond: To me, you look like number two, know what I mean?
Dora Charleston: What DOES he mean, Miss Skeffington?
Miss Skeffington: I'll tell you later. It's disgusting.

[Mr. Ypsi]

In a (probably futile) effort to hijack this board back to its name, I wonder what the attendance rankings would look like relative to enrollment?

My guess is that the top 3 would remain the same (whether or not in the same order); any surprises after that?

On the other hand, if this board is fated to be the milestone/party board, I've got no problem with that!

[diehardfan]

I'd definitely be interested to see those numbers... there are a couple schools where the attendance figures would be higher than the enrollment! 

[Knightstalker]

The best I had was when my brother was in the Coast Guard stationed in the Hamptons on LI.  They were patroling the LI Sound on the other side of the Island and got a call and had to tow a lobster boat in to port.  We were visiting at the time and he came home with at least 15 medium sized lobsters that were so good.  He and my dad went to a place my brother knew and got several pounds of bay scallops and a bunch of cherrystones for steaming.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'd definitely be interested to see those numbers... there are a couple schools where the attendance figures would be higher than the enrollment! 

Your wish is my command!

I used the NCAA attendance numbers (NOT guaranteed in terms of accuracy!) and Pat's enrollment figures (I checked the websites for the top five attendance schools, and all five differed from Pat's numbers, but I went with Pat - in four of the five schools, their number was higher than Pat's, so I decided that might be a marketing ploy [I sure hope Pat's numbers are current!]).

Attendance (I intended to do a top ten, but Witt was #11, so:
  1. Hope
  2. IWU
  3. Calvin
  4. Wooster
  5. Lincoln
  6. UWSP
  7. Otterbein
  8. Lawrence
  9. Maryville (TN)
10. Willamette
11. Wittenberg

Top 11 by percentage of enrollment:

  1. Maryville   126
  2. IWU         120
  3. Hope        101 (only 93% if website enrollment figure is used)
  4. Lawrence   98
  5. Lincoln       94.4
  6. Wooster     93.8
  7. Willaette    70
  8. Wittenberg 59
  9. Otterbein    50
10. Calvin        48
11. UWSP        18

I suspect the top six ARE the top six, but there are probably plenty of other schools who would fit between 6 and 11.

[David Collinge]

At Wooster, there is little connection between the enrollment and the attendance at basketball games.  Men's hoops is supported by the local community, most of whom have no other connection to the College. I've been to games there where the townies outnumbered the students by at least 10 or 15 to 1--and I'm talking about conference games while the school was in session.  I suspect that the same is true for IWU, Hope, and probably others--maybe the whole list.

Perhaps it would be relevant to compare attendance to the population of the local community.  Places like Wooster, Holland, and to a somewhat lesser extent Bloomington have limited competition for the entertainment dollar, and a perennially competitive local basketball team is a good draw in these towns, even if the student body is largely indifferent.

Just a theory.

[Mr. Ypsi]

David,

Excellent post!

Back when I was a student, I thought the crowd was mainly students - in retrospect it was probably at least half 'townies' (there were a LOT of children there!).  When I attended the IWU-Chicago game (12-04), attendance was AT LEAST three-quarters non-students.

Trying to rank attendance by area-populations seems to be even MORE problematic.  Poor NYU, NPU and CalTech have NO chance against the truly rural schools!  I think we've reached a dead-end on attendance rankings.

But at least I responded to April's request!

[diehardfan]

But at least I responded to April's request!

Thanks!

I actually thought hope was going to be #1. Interesting stuff anyway.