Kruger's Open Letter to Fans

[Soonerman]

Seriously, I doubt if Soonerman or anyone who might have pointed an accusing finger at the "old people," meant it as an insult. I think they're referring to the same people Kruger called out; donors who purchase tickets to reserve seats but rarely use them. Most are indeed members of an older generation.

Yup, no insult intended and no need for anyone's panties to get in a wad. Just heard a lot of crap from my days as a student about our attendance and participation while not much was made of the incredulous numbers of empty donor and reserve seats that look just GREAT on television when empty. And probably even better to the recruits.

Looks like Lon is finally fed up with it (in his own, perfectly polite way that only he can do), and rightly so.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

It's difficult for me to express how much I loathe the anti-old people posts one encounters here on occasion and frequently on the football boards--especially given that it was the emotional and financial support of these old folks that got our athletic programs to the level we enjoy today.

I'll just have to take satisfaction, I guess, from the fact that those making these posts will soon enough (if they're lucky) be old folks themselves and they too will be forced to listen to the yammering of arrogant young fans who think there's some sort of nobility and inherent value in being able to stand on your feet for a couple of hours.

goes both ways old man. young people ***** about old people and old people ***** about young people. Both is warranted

 

[skyvue]

goes both ways old man. young people ***** about old people and old people ***** about young people. Both is warranted

The difference is, most of those old folks have been supporting the program for years and many have legitimate reasons why they might not be able to make it to a game and/or be as loud and active as the students and recent grads might be when they do attend games.

The young fans don't really have any such excuses for not showing up and/or not being engaged when they do, and in comparison, they haven't done squat for OU athletics.

Just so it's clear: I'm not speaking of myself in defending the older fans. I'm not (yet) old and I've been in NYC since a year after I graduated from OU, so I can't claim to have done anything in support of Sooner athletics that anyone should be grateful for.

But I am speaking of my father, who, for decades, put all the money he could afford toward his support of OU athletics. He can't afford season tickets any more and he doesn't make it to very many games but he watches every last one of them on TV. And it's true that when he does get to a game, football or basketball, he doesn't stand up very much, but he's been avidly supporting OU athletics since the late 1940s and at nearly 86, I figure he's entitled to keep his seat. He can yell just as loudly from his seat as he could standing up.

I agree that season ticket holders of all ages need to be proactive in seeing that their seats are filled every game. If Soonerman had left it at that, I likely wouldn't have responded. But he had to throw in the oft-heard standing jab, a silly complaint I'd be very happy to never again encounter here and elsewhere.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

The difference is, most of those old folks have been supporting the program for years and many have legitimate reasons why they might not be able to make it to a game and/or be as loud and active as the students and recent grads might be when they do attend games.

The young fans don't really have any such excuses for not showing up and/or not being engaged when they do, and in comparison, they haven't done squat for OU athletics.

Just so it's clear: I'm not speaking of myself in defending the older fans. I'm not (yet) old and I've been in NYC since a year after I graduated from OU, so I can't claim to have done anything in support of Sooner athletics that anyone should be grateful for.

But I am speaking of my father, who, for decades, put all the money he could afford toward his support of OU athletics. He can't afford season tickets any more and he doesn't make it to very many games but he watches every last one of them on TV. And it's true that when he does get to a game, football or basketball, he doesn't stand up very much, but he's been avidly supporting OU athletics since the late 1940s and at nearly 86, I figure he's entitled to keep his seat. He can yell just as loudly from his seat as he could standing up.

I agree that season ticket holders of all ages need to be proactive in seeing that their seats are filled every game. If Soonerman had left it at that, I likely wouldn't have responded. But he had to throw in the oft-heard standing jab, a silly complaint I'd very happy to never again encounter here and elsewhere.

yawn. so in short you are complaining about a group of fans that complain about a group of fans. got it.

 

[skyvue]

yawn. so in short you are complaining about a group of fans that complain about a group of fans. got it.

No, you don't really, but you're apparently in need of a nap, so I'll leave it there.

 

[Soonerman]

tl;dnr

 

[SoonerTraveler]

First off, the following comments do not apply to fans that live a great distance from Norman or those that have disabilities. They are excluded from the following Groups or categories. Also, we all agree that those with tickets that cannot use the tickets, should try to get others to use them. So, here we go ...

The age-old argument about the “age thing” is futile. Support and attendance is not really an age thing. That misses the point. There are passionate OU basketball fans representing all age groups that DO attend the games; just not enough of them. I will group fans using a different criteria than age.

1. Fans that have tickets, and go to the games.

2. Fans that have tickets, and do not go to the games.

3. Fans that do not have tickets, and do not go to the games.

4. Fans that do not go to the games, yet they complain about others that do not go to the games.

Group 1 is my favorite group.
Group 2 at least supports the program, and is better than Group 3.
Group 4 is the lowest of the low.

 

[MisterF]

Easy fix. Take every game off tv except for a handful. To easy to cone home from work tired, and just say heck with driving to Norman, I'm watching on tv.

 

[tycat947]

Easy fix. Take every game off tv except for a handful. To easy to cone home from work tired, and just say heck with driving to Norman, I'm watching on tv.

Would have to raise ticket prices to $100-150 per seat per game to recoup the lost revenue from TV.

 

[skyvue]

Would have to raise ticket prices to $100-150 per seat per game to recoup the lost revenue from TV.

You're right, but MisterF makes a good point, I think: Increased television coverage has had a big impact on the size of our crowds.

Living so far away, I love that all of our games are on TV, but it's a mixed blessing.

 

[scrybe]

Maybe the games should be blacked out in and around Norman and the OKC metro area, and broadcast to all of those (like me) who live outside the area.

Yeah, I'm sure that suggestion will be well received.

Oh, and I agree with everything skyvue has said, and I applaud him for doing so.

 

[colston15]

Every football games is televised and we still see 85,000, or something close to that, there every Saturday.

All we need is 9 or 10,000 people 10-12 times a season and we can't even get that.

It's a culture and we don't have it for hoops and never will.

 

[campbest]

If Lon & company take care of the wins, people will show up.

 

[tycat947]

You're right, but MisterF makes a good point, I think: Increased television coverage has had a big impact on the size of our crowds.

Living so far away, I love that all of our games are on TV, but it's a mixed blessing.

Very true. It's not just TV coverage but smart phones, tablets and wi-fi make it possible to watch games almost anywhere and at anytime. I think increased TV coverage had a small impact until all the mobile devices came along then it really started to affect attendance in most all collegiate sports and all universities. It's starting to affect football now, which is unfortunate. The price of technology and why Boren/Castiglione are being very careful on OMS expansion, or lack thereof.

 

[DenverSooner]

I am middle aged and probably old to the current students but I think something some young people might not understand appreciate about people that graduated before 2000 is that it is hard for older people to really understand why a student wouldn't want to go to the games. Each decade you go further back, I suspect it is even harder.

I started college in 85. Back then if you had a TV it was most likely a 13 inch TV. There was no high definition and not very many games were on TV. It really wasn't until the late 80s and early 90s that larger TVs became a bit more affordable for young people but they still weren't high definition. Most of my friends that had 20 inch or larger TVs got an old one from their parents as they purchased 25 or 27 inch TVs. I may remember incorrectly, but I think 27 inch TVs came out while I was in college. So for a lot of us it was miss the game or watch it on a fairly small TV. Therefore, to the real fans it was almost always better to attend the games in person.

 

[DenverSooner]

I think some of us older fans need to realize had all of the games been on TV and big screen high definition been available in our day, we might have stayed home drinking and doing other things while watching the games on TV.

 

[skyvue]

Every football games is televised and we still see 85,000, or something close to that, there every Saturday.

All we need is 9 or 10,000 people 10-12 times a season and we can't even get that.

It's a culture and we don't have it for hoops and never will.

I agree, but we'd see more fans if fewer of the games were televised.

Not that I want fewer of our games televised, but it has an impact.

 

[coolm]

I think basketball needs to start changing how they do things in anticipation of the smaller crowds. That is why I said for YEARS AND YEARS that the fieldhouse needs to be redone and used as the main basketball venue. Make it a cramped, close, loud environment where tickets are near impossible to get and suddenly you have a hot commodity. I think our venue should have no more than 5k seats.

 

[Max Power]

I think basketball needs to start changing how they do things in anticipation of the smaller crowds. That is why I said for YEARS AND YEARS that the fieldhouse needs to be redone and used as the main basketball venue. Make it a cramped, close, loud environment where tickets are near impossible to get and suddenly you have a hot commodity. I think our venue should have no more than 5k seats.

I don't think that is the answer. If you do that, you have to make up from the lost revenue of selling 11K plus season tickets, which the team does. That means only big donors can afford the tickets, causing the 5k arena to sit empty most nights. Now all that said, i don't know how you can increase attendance since the athletic department relies heavily on donors

 

[Sooner04]

It all begins with the students. Including the Sooner Showmen, the team, the trainers and the cheer squad, the total student attendance in the first few home games has averaged between 150-200.