Capel on life at a football school

[OUHoops]

Pretty good article today by ESPN — Lingering in the shadows isn't always bad — with quotes from hoops coaches at "football schools" such as Capel, Billy Donovan, Rick Barnes and Doc Sadler on "lingering in the shadows". Here is the excerpt from Capel:

"Sure we have to fight it because other schools use it against us," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. "Certain programs send out negative mailouts or will just tell kid, 'You don't want to go there. That's a football school.' If we can get in front of them, get them on campus, we can show them that isn't the case at all. But we have to fight it because it's being said."

Certainly the early years aren't easy. Capel, who spent his college career in front of the adoring Cameron Crazies, played to sparse crowds in his first season at OU while folks tried to figure out just who this young new outsider was. Even as the Sooners were sprinting toward a 30-win season in 2008-09, they were outdrawn by an Iowa State program that finished 4-12 in league play.

 

[BigTime]

That last sentence burns me a little. First off, Hilton is larger than LNC, so I would hope that ISU outdraws OU. Secondly, last season was the best attendance (butts in the seats) that we have had in as many years as I have followed the sport. You would think that Dana could give the fans some credit. It really ruined the article for me.

 

[BanjoCharley]

Size of the arena should have no bearing on attendance. If it did, we could enlarge LNC to 45,000 seats and expect crowds of over 30,000. It doesn't work that way.

 

[McJacknife]

Size of the arena should have no bearing on attendance. If it did, we could enlarge LNC to 45,000 seats and expect crowds of over 30,000. It doesn't work that way.

Exactly. If we were filling our place to the brim consistently, it might be a different story.


That being said, it's getting better at the LNC. We've just got to keep it up.

 

[Cheno]

Size of the arena should have no bearing on attendance. If it did, we could enlarge LNC to 45,000 seats and expect crowds of over 30,000. It doesn't work that way.

Exactly right. There is no excuse for Iowa State having bigger attendance than Oklahoma last year. The excuses need to stop and people just need to show up. I think this is the difference between keeping Coach Capel and not.

 

[BigTime]

Size of the arena should have no bearing on attendance. If it did, we could enlarge LNC to 45,000 seats and expect crowds of over 30,000. It doesn't work that way.

True, but we would then need to know ISU's attendance to see if indeed that the size made a difference.

What I am saying is that Dana ought to go by percentages inside of numbers.

The lowest conference attendance (and again, we are talking butts in the seats here) that OU had last year was just over 9500 for the Nebraska game (Wednesday night against a weak team). EVERY other conference game was over 10k with several being sell outs (butts in seats). LNC holds around 12K. If I recall, Hilton holds close to 15K. I would need to see their butts in the seats % to be able to tell if Dana's statement is accurate or not.

Those of you that know me, know that I care a lot about this attendance stuff. While I am not satisfied with last year, I do think we need to celebrate last season because it was a GIANT step in the right direction. I don't think Capel is going anywhere if we continue to support the team like last seasonl

 

[AdaSooner]

That last sentence burns me a little. First off, Hilton is larger than LNC, so I would hope that ISU outdraws OU. Secondly, last season was the best attendance (butts in the seats) that we have had in as many years as I have followed the sport. You would think that Dana could give the fans some credit. It really ruined the article for me.

BT, it burns me, too. But I'm not sure that claim is accurate.

ISU's own web site (see link below) shows the Cyclones with an average of 11,965 per home game, and you can bet that's tickets sold, not butts in seats. By the same token, OU's average attendance (see web link) was 11,490 last season.

So, what's the big deal? Am I missing something?

http://www.cyclones.com/fls/10700/STATS/MBB/2008-09_MBB/teamcume.htm?DB_OEM_ID=10700

http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html

 

[MsProudSooner]

Also, isn't Iowa a basketball crazy state overall - somewhat like Indiana? I know that when I was growing up, Iowa was described as the state that was most supportive of girl's basketball.

 

[DenverSooner]

Size of the arena should have no bearing on attendance. If it did, we could enlarge LNC to 45,000 seats and expect crowds of over 30,000. It doesn't work that way.

That is a fundamentally false statement. I don't know if the size difference between Hilton and the LNC had any bearing on total attendence this year but I can guaranty if ISU sells out all of its games and OU sells out all of its games, ISU has sold more tickets. If all the people show up, ISU has more fans at the games.

 

[sanguinetti]

ISU has always had great attendance at Hilton. historically, i'm not sure the comparison means that much vis a vis our record and success last year.

 

[BigTime]

ISU has always had great attendance at Hilton. historically, i'm not sure the comparison means that much vis a vis our record and success last year.

Oh I agree with that as well. Best fans in the conference imo. I just want Dana to realize that OU fans really, really improved last year. She paints us out to be totally apathetic.

 

[Cheno]

Even as the Sooners were sprinting toward a 30-win season in 2008-09, they were outdrawn by an Iowa State program that finished 4-12 in league play.

This was her comment. Her point is good. OU was a top 5 team much of the year and had the runaway college POY and #1 pick in the draft and attendence was still below a pathetic ISU team. I don't get it.

 

[triplefatty]

This was her comment. Her point is good. OU was a top 5 team much of the year and had the runaway college POY and #1 pick in the draft and attendence(sp) was still below a pathetic ISU team. I don't get it.

Simple really, regular season college basketball isn't all that popular. Especially when your football program is completely badass.

 

[AdaSooner]

This was her comment. Her point is good. OU was a top 5 team much of the year and had the runaway college POY and #1 pick in the draft and attendence was still below a pathetic ISU team. I don't get it.

Yes, but the difference in OU's average average attendance and that of ISU was a measly 465 fans per game (see my post above). Keep in mind, the 11,490 tickets OU sold for each game is only 38 below LNC capacity. In other words, we could hang people from the rafters and still not match the numbers at Hilton Coliseum.

While I would love to see every game sold out and a packed house in actual bodies in seats, I'm happy with the progress we're making and I'm not going to get all bent out of shape because ISU sold a few hundred more tickets than the Sooners had the capacity to sell.

 

[FaithfulSooner]

BT don't let this get under your skin. Just keep doing what you're doing to promote the program. There is no doubt that progress has been made. Keep up the good fight brother. The fans will eventually come. I truly believe that. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!:clap

 

[Cheno]

Yes, but the difference in OU's average average attendance and that of ISU was a measly 465 fans per game (see my post above). Keep in mind, the 11,490 tickets OU sold for each game is only 38 below LNC capacity. In other words, we could hang people from the rafters and still not match the numbers at Hilton Coliseum.

While I would love to see every game sold out and a packed house in actual bodies in seats, I'm happy with the progress we're making and I'm not going to get all bent out of shape because ISU sold a few hundred more tickets than the Sooners had the capacity to sell.

Okay, I see what you mean. I wish there was a way to get the tickets sold all to the games. Is it time to not tie baskeball tickets to football tickets?

 

[rrrsooner]

I have to agree with BT some on this one. If OU sold out several games last year yet were limited to 3k or so less on those "sold out games" than Iowa St.... one can't tell or know if we had 3k extra seats (butts in chairs ) if we would have sold them....you know we would have sold "some" extra seats on those games and thus our overall attendance average would be higher for the season.

However, the point that was missed in the article was the large increase in attendance over the course of last season and the excitement that was OU basketball. This year will be crucial to keep that up as if we don't, at some point Capel will move on I suspect. We've moved in the right direction....let's keep that going.

 

[BigTime]

I have to agree with BT some on this one. If OU sold out several games last year yet were limited to 3k or so less on those "sold out games" than Iowa St.... one can't tell or know if we had 3k extra seats (butts in chairs ) if we would have sold them....you know we would have sold "some" extra seats on those games and thus our overall attendance average would be higher for the season.

However, the point that was missed in the article was the large increase in attendance over the course of last season and the excitement that was OU basketball. This year will be crucial to keep that up as if we don't, at some point Capel will move on I suspect. We've moved in the right direction....let's keep that going.

Thank you! That is all that I am saying. Progress has been made, and I think that OU fans should get some props rather than being drug in the mud with digs like Dana presented in that write-up.

We have to keep progressing this year though.

 

[MNsooner]

Size of the arena should have no bearing on attendance. If it did, we could enlarge LNC to 45,000 seats and expect crowds of over 30,000. It doesn't work that way.

It mostly effects sellouts so if the LNC sells out 5 times a year and is smaller that effects the average.

 

[McG78]

One point people fail to mention about OU basketball attendance is the geographic area our season ticket holders encompass. There are many OU basketball season ticket holders who live in Dallas, Tulsa, Little Rock, etc. No one is going to drive 3 hours for a Wednesday night game unless it is a great matchup. Additionally, these people find it hard to unload there tickets to people willing to go.

OSU's season ticket holders primarily reside in Tulsa and OKC. It is a lot easier to make that trip. Similarly, ISU's fan base resides primarily in Des Moines (a very short drive).

If OU expanded its arena to 40,000, the number of butts in the seats would greatly increase because there would be a lot of new season ticket holders who reside closer to the arena. Selling standing room only tickets helps but few people won't to take the risk of having to stand all game or be moved around a lot.