Hi everyone, I've been a reader of these message boards for about a month now, but I finally took it upon myself to make an account.
I have been a lifelong Northwestern fan and season ticket holder, much credit to my dad, and am actually attending NU next year. I live in a neighboring town of Evanston, but without giving away too much personal information, I want to address the issue of attendance at Northwestern sporting events from my perspective.
At my high school, just 10-15 minutes away from campus, the Wildcats are not far and away the most cheered for college. Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Notre Dame, and Indiana are all right up there. This is different from schools with strong fan bases, where any small town near Ann Arbor will have an overwhelming amount of Michigan fans, for example. Colleges rely on the city they reside in as well as nearby towns to provide support, and this is somewhat lacking for Northwestern.
Part of it, in my opinion, has to do with the affluence of Evanston and the rest of the northern suburbs. People move from all over the country to live in these communities and have their children attend school here, continuously some of the highest rated educational institutions. These people have often graduated college and have other interests than rooting for Northwestern. One of my best friends is a Wisconsin fan, another loves Villanova. I even know diehard Duke and Stanford fans who all have no reason to root for Northwestern. Another one of my friends is a season ticket holder but he likes Vanderbilt and Ohio State. We often assume that season ticket holders love Northwestern and wonder how over half of Ryan Field is clad in Nebraska Red, well, because people buy season tickets yet have no interest in cheering for Northwestern. It will always be tough to have a dominant home crowd and to create something more than a neutral location.
As for the lack of students at games, put a winning product on the court/field and they will attend. My dream is to see the entire lower bowl full of Northwestern students, not just the sections behind the baskets, similar to Duke or Florida, but realistically to a lesser extent. These past two weeks have been a great step forward for the program, both men and women's, and I'm excited for what next year holds. I think we're just one or two years away.
I'm well aware that I haven't endured the hardships of the 80's and the 34 game streak, but I've been told all about it. I also understand that Northwestern athletics is much better than it has been in the past, but I don't see why we can't start to develop some of these highly touted recruits and experience some very successful seasons. Thank you if you made it this far.
I have been a lifelong Northwestern fan and season ticket holder, much credit to my dad, and am actually attending NU next year. I live in a neighboring town of Evanston, but without giving away too much personal information, I want to address the issue of attendance at Northwestern sporting events from my perspective.
At my high school, just 10-15 minutes away from campus, the Wildcats are not far and away the most cheered for college. Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Notre Dame, and Indiana are all right up there. This is different from schools with strong fan bases, where any small town near Ann Arbor will have an overwhelming amount of Michigan fans, for example. Colleges rely on the city they reside in as well as nearby towns to provide support, and this is somewhat lacking for Northwestern.
Part of it, in my opinion, has to do with the affluence of Evanston and the rest of the northern suburbs. People move from all over the country to live in these communities and have their children attend school here, continuously some of the highest rated educational institutions. These people have often graduated college and have other interests than rooting for Northwestern. One of my best friends is a Wisconsin fan, another loves Villanova. I even know diehard Duke and Stanford fans who all have no reason to root for Northwestern. Another one of my friends is a season ticket holder but he likes Vanderbilt and Ohio State. We often assume that season ticket holders love Northwestern and wonder how over half of Ryan Field is clad in Nebraska Red, well, because people buy season tickets yet have no interest in cheering for Northwestern. It will always be tough to have a dominant home crowd and to create something more than a neutral location.
As for the lack of students at games, put a winning product on the court/field and they will attend. My dream is to see the entire lower bowl full of Northwestern students, not just the sections behind the baskets, similar to Duke or Florida, but realistically to a lesser extent. These past two weeks have been a great step forward for the program, both men and women's, and I'm excited for what next year holds. I think we're just one or two years away.
I'm well aware that I haven't endured the hardships of the 80's and the 34 game streak, but I've been told all about it. I also understand that Northwestern athletics is much better than it has been in the past, but I don't see why we can't start to develop some of these highly touted recruits and experience some very successful seasons. Thank you if you made it this far.
