With all the kids who came on that Friday I expect to a large crowd. They are afternoon games too.

I think we made them all WBB fans so they will be at home watching Notre Dame play UConn unless they set the dvr to record the game on ESPN :p
Hope to see you all Sat. & Sunday - Villanova vs. Sac State (Saturday's second game) should be fun to watch

Weird. Bringing 5 people to the gaze but we are going to a concert at the Freight that night. Plus my wife is flying out to Viet Nam that night so we will have dinner together. So I may not see the second game.

I'm excited to be there for Cal's game tomorrow. Will be there for both games on Sunday (hi, I am new, this is my second post, go bears!)

Nerd_Vernacular;842610445 said:

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I'm excited to be there for Cal's game tomorrow. Will be there for both games on Sunday (hi, I am new, this is my second post, go bears!)

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Be sure to come back and post your impressions after the games!

Nerd_Vernacular;842610445 said:

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I'm excited to be there for Cal's game tomorrow. Will be there for both games on Sunday (hi, I am new, this is my second post, go bears!)

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Welcome, Nerd_V. You are obviously a person of taste.

wvitbear;842609730 said:

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So I may not see the second game.

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Well lucky or not, looks like you can see the 1st game with Cal :headbang

The show at the Freight was unbelievable. One out of two ain't bad.

There were maybe 1000 at the Cal game today, and I'm being generous. Almost all were season tickets holders, although a bunch of the regulars were MIA. Did not not notice hundreds of school kids with their parents. Maybe they were attending Furd's kids day game.

GOCAL73;842612083 said:

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There were maybe 1000 at the Cal game today, and I'm being generous.

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The official attendance was just 612. Being less generous I'd estimate half of that. Too bad, a lot of people missed a great show.

I wonder what the overlap of the "regulars" who didnt show up today that also didn't show up for School Haas Rock game was? Comparing or even insinuating that the 3500 from Kids Day would not encourage return attendance is absurd. That was by far the largest crowd of the season, and the incentive for kids to return includes reading a specific amount of books to earn a free ticket, not just a freebie ticket for whenever they want. Additinally there are several weekend promotional games later this season that include kid friendly activities which I expect will draw more young fans. I'm sick and tired of complaints about a program and event that our coaching staff and the players seem to value a great deal. Instead of a ting selfish and bitter, , we should all be listening to Coach Charmin and making sure we bring 5 friends to the next game!

All but a few hundred missed not only a most entertaining win, but also an NCAA record 80 three-point attempts by one team. [URL="http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/wbkb/2015-16/releases/20151206wpunnm"][COLOR="#0000FF"]Sac State story[/COLOR][/URL]

stu;842612198 said:

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All but a few hundred missed not only a most entertaining win, but also an NCAA record 80 three-point attempts by one team. [URL="http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/wbkb/2015-16/releases/20151206wpunnm"][COLOR="#0000FF"]Sac State story[/COLOR][/URL]

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And a fun, entertaining game!

GOCAL73;842612083 said:

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There were maybe 1000 at the Cal game today, and I'm being generous. Almost all were season tickets holders, although a bunch of the regulars were MIA. Did not not notice hundreds of school kids with their parents. Maybe they were attending Furd's kids day game.

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Methinks a few of you are misunderstanding what their stated purpose in the kids game is. It's not so that the next game 500 extra kids show up with their parents because they had fun a week ago. It's to build their excitement for CAL and the WBB team over the years. Later this season a few of those kids may convince their parents to take them to a game. Next year two or three games. A couple of the girls might start playing basketball because they want to "play for Cal" after seeing our team. Who knows, one of them might end up being recruited by Cal.

You keep thinking about it simplistically because you (the collective you, not you particularly) didn't get the chance to see a game. Others think about growing the SPORT and the program over the long term. Grassroots ... it doesn't happen overnight. And if all else fails, just tell yourself it was a road game that you wouldn't have seen anyway.

Islander670;842612361 said:

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Methinks a few of you are misunderstanding what their stated purpose in the kids game is. It's not so that the next game 500 extra kids show up with their parents because they had fun a week ago. It's to build their excitement for CAL and the WBB team over the years. Later this season a few of those kids may convince their parents to take them to a game. Next year two or three games. A couple of the girls might start playing basketball because they want to "play for Cal" after seeing our team. Who knows, one of them might end up being recruited by Cal.

You keep thinking about it simplistically because you (the collective you, not you particularly) didn't get the chance to see a game. Others think about growing the SPORT and the program over the long term. Grassroots ... it doesn't happen overnight. And if all else fails, just tell yourself it was a road game that you wouldn't have seen anyway.

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+1
Also some kids may now be interested in pursuing music (Cal Band) or Science (halftime chemistry experiment). Getting over 3000 kids on campus in and of itself is a major accomplishment !

Women's basketball in general needs to be marketed better and the male oriented sports-communications world needs to stop boxing them out.

The pro sports oriented media and advertising complex know their bread is buttered by the big 3 pro men's sports; and the pro team back offices don't want to suffer from incremental competition for local basketball fan dollars (BTW even when they sucked in previous years, do you know what it cost to go to a Warrior's game???)

Don't think the kiddies will be here for Nebraska game as it is their dinner time. Darn! This legion of new Cal fans need to show themselves eventually, right? Isn't that why we are playing a regular season game at 11:30am in a weekday?

I don't see the primary purpose of this event to be as an attendance builder. Instead, it is designed primarily to introduce young kids to the college environment and to give them some effective role models, along with a good time at the game. Our team loves to do this as part of their own personal growth. I am going to make a financial contribution this year to help it continue.

Yall's seem kinda mad about this thing. I thought it was nice for the kids. I actually took off of work that day to go see the game. Being there with all those screaming kids was a lot of fun. These are Bay Area kids, maybe a lot of them are from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and backgrounds, similar to some of Cal's athlete's. It can only be positive for those children. I can't think of any way that it might be negative for them.

Nerd_Vernacular;842613254 said:

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Yall's seem kinda mad about this thing. I thought it was nice for the kids. I actually took off of work that day to go see the game. Being there with all those screaming kids was a lot of fun. These are Bay Area kids, maybe a lot of them are from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and backgrounds, similar to some of Cal's athlete's. It can only be positive for those children. I can't think of any way that it might be negative for them.

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I think the concept is wonderful. But, would they scream any less if the opponent was Vanguard? Don't think it would make a bit of difference to the young kids, most of whom know nothing about WBB. If the goal is positive role models and exposure to college, what difference does it make if the game is regular season or exhibition? Season ticket holders shouldn't have to take off work to support the team. Contrary to popular myth, not all of us are retirees. Sorry just believe that Cal WBB should serve the interests of their fan base first and foremost. I think this promotion can be re-worked so that everyone wins.

GOCAL73;842613489 said:

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I think the concept is wonderful. But, would they scream any less if the opponent was Vanguard? Don't think it would make a bit of difference to the young kids, most of whom know nothing about WBB. If the goal is positive role models and exposure to college, what difference does it make if the game is regular season or exhibition? Season ticket holders shouldn't have to take off work to support the team. Contrary to popular myth, not all of us are retirees. Sorry just believe that Cal WBB should serve the interests of their fan base first and foremost. I think this promotion can be re-worked so that everyone wins.

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+1

Though I am (mostly) retired.

Speaking of promotion...I listen to KNBR every morning (because I'm sick of politics and news in general) and repeatedly hear ads promoting the Cal men's basketball game at Haas on Saturday (and other games) but nary a mention that there's a women's game the same day. If Cal expects fans in the seats then Cal needs to do a better job promoting the team. In that thirty second spot, they could have squeezed in a quick mention of the Cal women's game....Stanford does this (on KNBR)....I've never heard an ad that includes CALWBB.

The media, and the world in general, has no obligation to women's sports or women's basketball. Of course it's a chicken-and-egg thing: If more people come, the media will cover; but without media coverage, it's unlikely more people will come.

And the bottom line for attendance isn't marketing or game times or kids' days -- it's winning, plain and simple. If the Cal women's basketball team gets to the Final Four three out of four years, attendance will go up (and maybe even some female students will deign to watch). One year won't do it, as has been shown, but consistent excellence is the best way to increase attendance in "minor" sports. (And even attendance in football and men's basketball is dependent on winning ...)

There are many issues involving collegiate women's sports, but the most important factor to me is that Cal students (and students at most other schools) don't go to women's games. That creates excitement and atmosphere and fun, but as long as female students especially prefer men's basketball to women's basketball, it's going to be hard to generate more attendance.

Marketing and the media are not nearly as important in terms of boosting attendance: Winning and getting students to want to go to games, just as they want to go to the men's games, is what would change things.

ClayK;842613587 said:

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The media, and the world in general, has no obligation to women's sports or women's basketball. Of course it's a chicken-and-egg thing: If more people come, the media will cover; but without media coverage, it's unlikely more people will come.

And the bottom line for attendance isn't marketing or game times or kids' days -- it's winning, plain and simple. If the Cal women's basketball team gets to the Final Four three out of four years, attendance will go up (and maybe even some female students will deign to watch). One year won't do it, as has been shown, but consistent excellence is the best way to increase attendance in "minor" sports. (And even attendance in football and men's basketball is dependent on winning ...)

There are many issues involving collegiate women's sports, but the most important factor to me is that Cal students (and students at most other schools) don't go to women's games. That creates excitement and atmosphere and fun, but as long as female students especially prefer men's basketball to women's basketball, it's going to be hard to generate more attendance.

Marketing and the media are not nearly as important in terms of boosting attendance: Winning and getting students to want to go to games, just as they want to go to the men's games, is what would change things.

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I understand media having spent pretty much my entire career working in it...that includes having worked for a women's sports publication and NFL & MLB publications. At any rate, I'm not naive enough to believe that an ad or two on KNBR would bring throngs to see the women's game, but a tad more "visibility" could do no harm. Stanford does promote their women's basketball on KNBR fairly often (I'm in the car a lot these days so listen often) and I was merely suggesting the Cal could squeeze in a brief mention of its women's program from time to time. There are tons of things to do in the Bay Area and that's often a negative in terms of drawing more families with kids to Cal games, but if we put in on the radar (more often) then when more direct marketing is done to those demographic groups the fathers (for example) might be more inclined to say "hey, that sounds like fun." When Joanne was here we actually had a pretty great marketing person working for women's basketball....Cal was making a concerted effort to develop the program and change the climate. There were some great crowds then and I believe with a little more effort directed at families with kids, Cal could do better. I just get that sense that Cal Athletics marketing isn't doing a whole heck of a lot at this point to leverage what is a really great team (product) into one that can attract more fans. I will never pretend that your average Joe sports fan will change his mind and suddenly care about women's basketball....but there are plenty of Bay Area families (and dads (and of course moms) with daughters) who do care about doing fun stuff with their kids (at the right price) and if Cal women's basketball is put on their radar, more good things may come.

I do agree that more emphasis should be placed on attracting students to games....again, during Boyle's era, they had some could student turnouts thanks to promotions and give aways...

Good points ... every little bit helps.

I wonder what it would take, or if it's possible, to get more female students to come to games. There must be a fair number of female students who were high school athletes, and it would be great if female athletes from all the intercollegiate and club sports would band together and support each other by attending games. I'm just guessing, but my bet would be that the women's volleyball (or basketball or field hockey) team is much more likely to attend a football game or a men's basketball game than a women's basketball (or volleyball or field hockey) game.

If they don't support each other, why should anyone else?

What I want to know is where4 are all the students from Women Studies. I'm sure they would all support Title IX and would frown on calling the women's team the Lady Bears, but why don't they buy a ticket. Put your money where your mouth is.

wvitbear;842614338 said:

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What I want to know is where4 are all the students from Women Studies. I'm sure they would all support Title IX and would frown on calling the women's team the Lady Bears, but why don't they buy a ticket. Put your money where your mouth is.

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Just because you believe in equality doesn't mean you want to watch a basketball game.

I think bringing a youth basketball org, or a HS or youth basketball team to watch a cal women's team is the most obvious group to try to attract

It has gotta be the best value event you can find
Fun environment, see a college campus, fun to watch and root for the team, and tickets are so inexpensive

I tried to get the youth basketball group to a game (if you get 75 there they will make it an event for you, such as meet the team or halftime scrimmage

My org turned it down because it was too far

However if there is any team or org who wants to do this, please PM and maybe I can donate to make it happen

Our school will be bringing 30 for the Washington game.