Not to be a donny downer, but it seems to me that interest in attending and participating in college sports is dropping. Here is some of the anecdotal evidence (not definitive, I know):
1) I posted an article last year from Chronicle of Higher Education, which documented that attendance at college basketball games is dropping nation-wide.
2) Friday mornings we've had a weekly pickup game since 1997. We used to get ~10-15 people from my department alone, downstairs, and there was a second regular group upstairs that had >10 regularly. Attendance in the upstairs group diminished over the years, followed by diminished attendance at our downstairs game. Eventually we fused and now play upstairs. Attendance at the upstairs game has been diminishing since, and we now often have a lot of difficulty getting even 10. Moreover, we are lucky to get one new grad student a year from my department to join, whereas we used to get 2-4.
3) An RSF regular told me the other day that he has noticed reduced RSF use generally, by students and perhaps by others. He said that his impression was confirmed by one of the RSF managers. The RSF manager opined that the reduction reflected online social media interactions replacing actual interactions (including sports) among the younger generation.
4) Despite having a more interesting team in the last few years, and better outcomes, I sense lowered enthusiasm for Cal basketball across the board. My brother in law, a former regular, makes far less effort to show up than he used to, and I cannot get my 15 year old to have much interest unless it is a really big game. (To be honest, he was not even much interested in the televised Cal-Furd game.)
5) There is less electricity in Haas for sure.
We spend a ton of time on this board discussing why Cal's basketball scene is failing to excite full attendance and excitement. The discussion initiated by KoreAmBear about SDSU is an example. They, of course, are not having the problem we are having. But I would argue that there will always be a range of interest in different sites, and SDSU may be to the right on that bell curve. But the bell curve as a whole may be shifting downwards. This coupled with various handicaps we have, some being proximity to pro sports, and others PERHAPS owing to inadequate efforts on the part of our athletic department, is resulting in our current predicament. Not sure there are easy remedies for this.
1) I posted an article last year from Chronicle of Higher Education, which documented that attendance at college basketball games is dropping nation-wide.
2) Friday mornings we've had a weekly pickup game since 1997. We used to get ~10-15 people from my department alone, downstairs, and there was a second regular group upstairs that had >10 regularly. Attendance in the upstairs group diminished over the years, followed by diminished attendance at our downstairs game. Eventually we fused and now play upstairs. Attendance at the upstairs game has been diminishing since, and we now often have a lot of difficulty getting even 10. Moreover, we are lucky to get one new grad student a year from my department to join, whereas we used to get 2-4.
3) An RSF regular told me the other day that he has noticed reduced RSF use generally, by students and perhaps by others. He said that his impression was confirmed by one of the RSF managers. The RSF manager opined that the reduction reflected online social media interactions replacing actual interactions (including sports) among the younger generation.
4) Despite having a more interesting team in the last few years, and better outcomes, I sense lowered enthusiasm for Cal basketball across the board. My brother in law, a former regular, makes far less effort to show up than he used to, and I cannot get my 15 year old to have much interest unless it is a really big game. (To be honest, he was not even much interested in the televised Cal-Furd game.)
5) There is less electricity in Haas for sure.
We spend a ton of time on this board discussing why Cal's basketball scene is failing to excite full attendance and excitement. The discussion initiated by KoreAmBear about SDSU is an example. They, of course, are not having the problem we are having. But I would argue that there will always be a range of interest in different sites, and SDSU may be to the right on that bell curve. But the bell curve as a whole may be shifting downwards. This coupled with various handicaps we have, some being proximity to pro sports, and others PERHAPS owing to inadequate efforts on the part of our athletic department, is resulting in our current predicament. Not sure there are easy remedies for this.