MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[NW Hope Fan]

Hope is officially the #1 team in the new D3 poll.

Uugg! Falling from this high is much more painful.

If you expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed.

Don't get me wrong... I'm excited for this team, but recognize what the distinction brings. And yeah... I do hate to be disappointed! I'd rather be a top 10 team now, and hold up the number 1, the third weekend of March.

[Dutch_Man]

Oh how I have dreamed of Hope holding up the number 1 in the 3rd weekend of March..... I like to think that this Hope team has the mental toughness to hold down the #1 spot from now till the NCAA tourny and beyond. From what I have heard within the locker room, this team is "all business" at practice. I think it shows with their ability to close out games... Wheaton, Indiana W., Calvin and at Albion. I may be missing some but in my mind these were TOUGH games!

Only time will tell to truly see how mentally/physically tough this Hope team truly is.... Leading off - Kzoo. On Deck - Calvin.

Is it March yet?!?!

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Hope is officially the #1 team in the new D3 poll.

Uugg! Falling from this high is much more painful.

I must say, this struck me as a very odd first reaction to achieving #1 in the country. 

Anybody want my tickets for Saturday's game at VNA?  I don't think I can stand to watch this one.  Hope has MVP player(s), humungous game changing center, coach of the year, number 1 national ranking, and the ever popular Dew Crew.  Calvin, a team that is barely over .500, lost four quality seniors from last year's team, has 4 previous starters that didn't even suit up this past Saturday, a coach that "realist"ically needs to be fired, a mascot that hasn't even been seen this year, and a student body that only shows up for one game a year.  If Calvin can keep the margin within 30, we can probably call it a moral victory.  Go Knights?   

Has student attendance really been that bad?  It is usually pretty good in recent years. 

Student attendence and student "participation" are two different things.

Perhaps we should spend some time debating the semantics of "shows up".   

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope is officially the #1 team in the new D3 poll.

Uugg! Falling from this high is much more painful.

I must say, this struck me as a very odd first reaction to achieving #1 in the country. 

I agree - no reason to fear being number 1 - it's a position this team has earned.  Does it increase the "target on our back"?  You bet it does but as sac has pointed out, that can be a good thing to prepare this team for the future.

Anybody want my tickets for Saturday's game at VNA?  I don't think I can stand to watch this one.  Hope has MVP player(s), humungous game changing center, coach of the year, number 1 national ranking, and the ever popular Dew Crew.  Calvin, a team that is barely over .500, lost four quality seniors from last year's team, has 4 previous starters that didn't even suit up this past Saturday, a coach that "realist"ically needs to be fired, a mascot that hasn't even been seen this year, and a student body that only shows up for one game a year.  If Calvin can keep the margin within 30, we can probably call it a moral victory.  Go Knights?   

Has student attendance really been that bad?  It is usually pretty good in recent years. 

Student attendence and student "participation" are two different things.

Perhaps we should spend some time debating the semantics of "shows up".   

Attendance pretty much tells the story.  Average home attendance below for the last 4 years - assuming a crowd of 4600 on Saturday (which has been the rough average for the last few rivalry games at VNA).

11-12 season  1362
10-11 season  1842
09-10 season  2135
08-09 season  2586

[KnightSlappy]

MIAA efficiency numbers through 10 games.

Team	OEff	DEff	Eff. Margin	xW	xL
Hope	113.4	87.3	26.1	9.7	0.3
Calvin	104.3	91.6	12.7	7.3	2.7
Adrian	97.1	88.7	8.3	6.5	3.5
Trine	98.8	94.6	4.2	5.8	4.2
Alma	98.9	107.8	-8.9	3.4	6.6
Kalamazoo	94.3	103.5	-9.2	3.3	6.7
Albion	95.8	105.4	-9.6	3.3	6.7
Olivet	96.8	119.2	-22.4	0.9	9.1

The story here is that Calvin is probably better than their record indicates.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Attendance pretty much tells the story.  Average home attendance below for the last 4 years - assuming a crowd of 4600 on Saturday (which has been the rough average for the last few rivalry games at VNA).

11-12 season  1362
10-11 season  1842
09-10 season  2135
08-09 season  2586

Wow, that is striking.  I think several factors are to blame.  Yes , winning championships and earning tournament appearances is a major factor, but I also wonder if the new VNA has actually hurt attendance.  Here's my thinking.  With increased seating capacity comes more empty seats (assuming the same number of people as before show up).  The effect can be twofold: 

1.  less "urgency" to get tickets in advance to see a game.  People who plan on just walking up to the ticket window the day of the game can more easily have their plans changed by life's busy-ness or weather, whereas a ticket in hand usually means that one makes it a priority to actually show up.

2.  a downgrade in atmosphere.  I've always believed that enjoyment of a spectator sporting event is directly proportional to the energy in the building. This phenomenon can spiral upwards or downwards.  The contrasting size and physical layout of DeVos and Van Noord is a great study in this. In DeVos, all fans sit together below the concourse, in pretty much a continual seating arrangement.  In Van Noord, the concourse separates the lower bowl from the upper bowl.  This, plus the fact that VNA can accomodate ~50% more fans makes it much less intimate.  Energy suffers, fans sit on their hands more, students might even feel "silly" if they start making too much noise, and all of a sudden it feels a lot less exciting to attend a Calvin game than it used to be. 

And no, this cannot be addressed by handing out printed sheets telling students how to cheer and chant.   

[KnightSlappy]

1.  less "urgency" to get tickets in advance to see a game.  People who plan on just walking up to the ticket window the day of the game can more easily have their plans changed by life's busy-ness or weather, whereas a ticket in hand usually means that one makes it a priority to actually show up.

Tickets were always available though, except for the Hope game. You never needed to get them ahead of time.

[KnightSlappy]

Another factor in attendance is probably the fact that homecoming was moved from winter to fall a couple of years back. That weekend usually saw an 'unexpected' spike in attendance for the basketball game.

[oldknight]

There may be one other factor that contributes to attendance decline, though I have no way of knowing how significant it might be. Calvin is now streaming video of games and combined with the radio broadcast, it's pretty simple to sit in your easy chair and watch from there. Of course, this does not affect everyone in the conference equally since not all MIAA schools stream their games yet.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Alvino Ashley makes the d3hoops team of the week.

http://d3hoops.com/awards/tow/2011-12/week11

[sac]

11-12 season  1362
10-11 season  1842
09-10 season  2135
08-09 season  2586

I think its kind of unfair to compare this year and last to the 2010 and 2009 years.

In 2011  Calvin hosted 1 Hope/Calvin game, in 2010 and 2009   Calvin hosted 2 Hope/Calvin games. (Actually 3 in 2009 but the November game drew only 1750)

Also in 2009 Calvin had some odd 4300 crowd vs Trine in early January......opening night of sparkling new Van Noord Arena.

Still, that's a pretty solid trend, and not a good one.

[wiz]

11-12 season  1362
10-11 season  1842
09-10 season  2135
08-09 season  2586

I think its kind of unfair to compare this year and last to the 2010 and 2009 years.



In 2011  Calvin hosted 1 Hope/Calvin game, in 2010 and 2009   Calvin hosted 2 Hope/Calvin games. (Actually 3 in 2009 but the November game drew only 1750)

Also in 2009 Calvin had some odd 4300 crowd vs Trine in early January......opening night of sparkling new Van Noord Arena.

Still, that's a pretty solid trend, and not a good one.

This could be a very disturbing trend if Calvin took pride in hoisting attendance banners.  But this school has chosen to only display championship banners.  Lots of them.   

[realist]

11-12 season  1362
10-11 season  1842
09-10 season  2135
08-09 season  2586

I think its kind of unfair to compare this year and last to the 2010 and 2009 years.

In 2011  Calvin hosted 1 Hope/Calvin game, in 2010 and 2009   Calvin hosted 2 Hope/Calvin games. (Actually 3 in 2009 but the November game drew only 1750)

Also in 2009 Calvin had some odd 4300 crowd vs Trine in early January......opening night of sparkling new Van Noord Arena.

Still, that's a pretty solid trend, and not a good one.

To use stock market parlance:  Attendance is a trailing indicator, and performance (W/L's)  is the leading indicator.  Therefore, I boldly predict:  When performance improves one will see attendance improve, however I would caution that attendance is going to take a long time to reach historic levels.  The downturn occurred in the 07-08 season, and the 08-09, and 09-10 seasons look like classic "dead cat bounces". 

[HopeConvert]

I have talked with more than a few Calvin grads who have told me they won't attend games simply because they get frustrated with the way the team plays, and with the way the team is coached. Not 1226 of them, but still...

[HopeConvert]

I concur in part and I dissent in part.

I've noticed that about you.

I wanted to use concepts with which OK had familiarity.