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Apparently, we finished 8th in the nation in attendance.
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"Cotton scared me - I left him alone." - B4MSU (Bear Nation poster) in reference to heckling players -
Submitted by The Waco Kid from Hollywood, CA.
Q: Sully: Your thoughts on a All-MWC 1st & 2nd team from what you have seen of the Valley this far. Is it fair to say the MWC could possibly entertain 3 NCAA bids if Mo State, No Iowa, and WSU continue playing at a high level? Last,...how was volleyball attendance this year versus last,...saw a few young athletes here wearing WSU garb for the first time ever, and after asking, they said they played V Ball in high school in Long Beach and thought the "Shockers" name was cool! Is the mojo from the girls speading in Wichita too with attendance, VB interest etc.? Cool to see the school develop a consistent high level team!
Answered 12/14/09 14:57:05 by Paul Suellentrop
A: 1) Way too early. I will say WSU's Toure Murry is making a good run at first team. UNI's Jordan Eglseder, Adam Koch and Kwadzo Ahelegbe are off to good starts. Bradley's Taylor Brown may be the big surprise to everyone outside of Peoria. Missouri State's Kyle Weems is having another good season. 2) The MVC's RPI ranks it 10th among conferences. Three might be a stretch. Two looks reasonable. The Valley could help itself by finishing the MVC-MWC Challenge strong. 3)WSU averaged 2,892, down from 3,177 in 2008.
This bothered me for a couple reasons.
1. "3)WSU averaged 2,892, down from 3,177 in 2008"
WSU had been increasing attendance for years; I hate to see us backslide like this.
2. Suellentrop never really addressed the comments about volleyball. He came up with 2008 and 2009 attendance figures. PERIOD. What a wuss. Where did WSU finish nationally? (8th?) Are we getting interest from volleyball recruiting hotspots like California? Inquiring minds want to know.
Get off the couch, Suelly, and do your job!!!Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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Sounds like you need a Sourdough Turkey Bacon Ranch... "It's all about the ranch!!!!" :DOriginally posted by SpanglerFan316
SFL is back!Comment
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Look at attendance at the last WBB home game: 9196
Pretty impressive, right? Until you consider this http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticl...0&ATCLID=20484
More than 7,000 local elementary and middle-school aged kids will converge on the WSU campus to attend Friday’s game as part of the NCAA Pack the House initiative. Each school was delivered a packet for students to work on during the game dealing with the mathematics surrounding the event.
My grandson was one of the students bussed to this game. WSU Athletics has made a decision to try to make women's basketball the "second sport" in Koch Arena and has largely ignored volleyball. Volleyball has earned its place while WBB is being given everything on a silver platter. I find this objectionable. Has the Athletics department ever arranged for 7000+ kids to attend a volleyball match and have these students count in the total attendance?Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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I didn't bother looking at the video. Do you think Suellentrop is doing his job?Originally posted by SFLSome posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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Next year, we'll lead the Valley in attendance!"Two dribbles and a ham sandwich" ~ Gregg Marshall
Wichita State, a team long on grit, made everything it shot. ~ Normal, Ill. newspaper 2/19/13Comment
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Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
WSU finished in seventh (7th) place according to the NCAA site.Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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Eric Sexton and the WSU Athletics staff believe that women's basketball has more attendance "potential" than does women's volleyball; he and I discussed this recently (i.e. in May.) They might be right. I'll mention some items and, between now (May, 2010) and December (after the 2010 WVB season is over), I hope Shocker fans will post their opinions and observations here.
Women's basketball (WBB): Eric says "Wichita is a basketball town" (or "city" - I don't recall and it isn't important.)
(I agree but I believe Wichita could also be a "volleyball town;" in my opinion, one does not preclude the other.)
It is possible to bring lots of school kids to WBB games because of the time of year that WBB is played; WVB OOC matches occur too early in the school year (and too early for the teachers to need a "break" for the kids) to make busing thousands of kids to WVB matches practical. (I can't really dispute this. Maybe a November WVB match against UNI could be scheduled for an early afternoon rather than for the evening?)
In my opinion, WBB suffers in comparison with MBB. The technical skills of the players are so much more advanced in the men's game that many fans have difficulty enjoying a women's game. I have attended occasional WBB games for many years and find that I enjoy MBB much more than WBB. (I'm sure there are people who enjoy WBB more. I enjoy WBB when I know one or more of the players.)
WBB competes for attention at WSU with MBB, baseball, softball (?), tennis (?), etc.
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Women's VolleyBall (WVB): WSU's WVB team has been invited to (and advanced to the second round of) the NCAA tourney in 2007, 2008 and 2009; I would be very surprised if WSU is not invited again in 2010. After baseball, WVB has the most NCAA tourney success of any WSU sport over the last five years. (WVB 3 invites, 3 victories; MBB 1 invite, 2 victories.)
WSU has been in the Top 10 in average attendance in Division 1 for 4 years (2005 #13; 2006 #10; 2007 #7; 2008 #5; 2009 #7). Eric Sexton & WSU Athletics decided not to have any "reduced price" special promotions (e.g. $1 tickets) for volleyball in 2009; this probably affected attendance and lowered WSU national ranking. (WBB still had special promotions; for example, free tickets and bus rides for elementary school kids.)
The Lambs (& the entire coaching staff) do a great job connecting with the community. The Lambs have been here since 2000 while WBB has had several head coaches (3?) in that time frame. Given her history, Jody will probably move on to a better job if WSU WBB has a lot of success; she was only at her previous job for one year.
WSU has two great WVB rivals, UNI & MSU. KSU often has an excellent team and these matches can bring out big crowds.
WSU WVB does not compete with WSU football; in fact, WVB may be becoming WSU's "fall sport."
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Anyway, what do you think? Which has the greater potential for bringing out the fans?Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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I agree that WBB probably has more potential to generate crowds if they can ever find and maintain success. VB simply doesn't have as wide an appeal as BB. I enjoy both a lot, but I think VB may have maxed out or close to it as far as attendance. Unless they start making serious runs in the NCAA I think we won't see much movement upward.Infinity Art Glass - Fantastic local artist and Shocker fan
RIP Guy Always A Shocker
Carpenter Place - A blessing to many young girls/women
ICT S.O.S - Great local cause fighting against human trafficking
Wartick Insurance Agency - Saved me money with more coverage.
Save Shocker Sports - A rallying cryComment
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I would be happy if WBB could just catch up to WVB in attendance and I think it has the potential to do that. Not sure it can do much more than that. It has quite a ways to go, but I think we are finally on the right track.
WBB has had a couple of sell-outs or near sell-outs in the past (and I am ignoring the school field trip days) but the draw in those games was Jackie Stiles and not WSU WBB. Maybe if we can recruit a Jackie Stiles we can dream about a real big boost in attendance.
While WVB doesn't have WSU football to compete with it does have local high school football and televised college football it competes with. The Friday-Saturday scheduling utilized by the MVC to minimize travel cost is not particularly fan friendly either.
Attending both the Men's and Women's basketball games can be a challenge at times and no doubt hurts the Women's attendance.
Bottom line though, is that some fans simply have no interest in supporting women's sports. There is no doubt that Men's BB and Women's BB are totally different. Personally I like both games, but you if you expect the Women to play like Men you will be dissappointed. However, I have seen some very exciting and entertaining Women's games over the years (and some stinkers too). WVB has the advantage of not having a men's couterpart to be compared directly with.
I think trying to build average attendance for both of these sports to the 4,000 per match/game level is a goal that , while challenging, is doable.
I enjoy both WVB and WBB and I do believe the season tickets for these sports are a very good entertainment value for Shocker fans.Comment
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