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Post by bikeman on Jan 1, 2019 10:13:59 GMT -5
Not necessarily true, young male bball fans, family and friends, all who live in central Mass, have recently attended Providence College and BC games. They would love seeing a higher level HC. YES, who the opponent is does matter
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Post by hchoops on Jan 1, 2019 10:24:59 GMT -5
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Jan 1, 2019 10:25:40 GMT -5
To some, sure, opponent does matter. Can't argue that. But not all. I know for a fact people that have attended minor league sporting events over professional events solely because of cost.
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Post by unhfan on Jan 1, 2019 10:40:13 GMT -5
I still don't think we are considering the most feasible target audience. I have a hard time believing the average family of 4 with LIMITED disposable income would not enjoy going to 2-3 HC games per season to watch this current team. I do have doubts about HC's motivation to reach out to these people. I also believe most of those folks who would have interest in a higher level HC basketball program align demographically with those of us in the former Section F....that is, 2 aging groups of people. I think this like at UNH is the biggest problem for Holy Cross the age of the fan base. The core of the fan base is retired folks who are up there in age. It’s the same problem that UNH faces. Young people are more into professional sports because as they’ve grown up in this area pro sports were king! Now the current fan base grew up just as pro sports were beginning and were not a huge draw.
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 1, 2019 11:28:41 GMT -5
You've got to get the kids when they are very young, whether that is going to Mass or going to a college basketball or football game. With apologies to 8485, for young kids, a mascot counts (I'll say no more). They have to go and get the bug before they even understand the difference between pro and college. By teenage years, it is too late.
Agree with NAD that cost makes a huge difference for young families as well as the length of the trip and the venue. Hart/Luth and Fitton are fine enough venues. Location in Worcester more convenient than Fenway or Foxboro. Need ample free parking and a price that families can afford - not $10+ per ticket. This should be viewed in terms of outreach to the community, not a money-maker, especially since we are never going to make money. Pack the Hart Center. Pack Fitton Field with huge, enthusiastic, young fans and the town/gown issues will mostly go away.
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 1, 2019 11:32:41 GMT -5
Paying $15 for general admission to the dark stands at Iona, I would agree. There were not that many youngsters there on a day when I would have expected to see more of them.
A family price for the whole brood could pay off in many ways in the long run.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Jan 1, 2019 11:57:10 GMT -5
Wonder why they did away with Autograph Day? That always drew a lot of kids.
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Post by ndgradbuthcfan on Jan 1, 2019 12:26:51 GMT -5
You've got to get the kids when they are very young, whether that is going to Mass or going to a college basketball or football game. With apologies to 8485, for young kids, a mascot counts (I'll say no more). They have to go and get the bug before they even understand the difference between pro and college. By teenage years, it is too late. Agree with NAD that cost makes a huge difference for young families as well as the length of the trip and the venue. Hart/Luth and Fitton are fine enough venues. Location in Worcester more convenient than Fenway or Foxboro. Need ample free parking and a price that families can afford - not $10+ per ticket. This should be viewed in terms of outreach to the community, not a money-maker, especially since we are never going to make money. Pack the Hart Center. Pack Fitton Field with huge, enthusiastic, young fans and the town/gown issues will mostly go away. Anecdotally, in the fifties, my Dad took to me HC football games (Penn State was one) and basketball games (ND at the Boston Garden) and made me a fan for life.
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Post by thecrossisback on Jan 1, 2019 12:32:19 GMT -5
As a teenage fan, I think people can become interested in the team again, but HC needs to really stress that they are Worcester's team with an affordable option and good athletic teams. I think there is probably an older fan base with college sports, but that doesn't mean that a younger fanbase can't arise. The College really needs to stress that they are really Worcester's Team. Ticket cost, promotions, game times, ads in every Worcester paper and on television. Get on the radio, put ads on instagram and other social media platforms. The teams also have to get involved with the community and surrounding towns and high school sports teams. Would be nice to play some more games in places like the DCU Center, But we all know the problems that arise with this. I only say the DCU because the Hart Center is really not downtown Worcester. But for now to quote the late great Al Davis "Just win, Baby!"
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Post by unhfan on Jan 1, 2019 14:11:16 GMT -5
I teach in New Hampshire and I can tell you I see very few students wearing college gear. Everything is either the NFL or NBA. On the rare occasion a student does wear college gear it’s one of the big time programs Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Duke etc.
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Post by possum on Jan 1, 2019 15:03:51 GMT -5
In order to get young kids to games need to get parents to take them or in the case of HC fan base grandparents. Thought idea of $2.00 tickets was good idea but timing was not good should try again at a 2 or 4pm Saturday start time.
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Post by hc87 on Jan 1, 2019 16:55:10 GMT -5
It may not be a two-sided rivalry anymore, but it can't be denied that there was more excitement, more HC fans attending a road game at BC this year than in a very, very long time.
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 1, 2019 17:41:45 GMT -5
Of course it s not a rivalry anymore, which died decades ago. To answer mm67's question, IMHO, the very definition of rivalry is that it is perceived as such by both parties. Just as it can't be one-sided, there cannot be more than 2 parties to a rivalry.
All that said, any athletic event between the two schools have been and will continue to be looked at with much more interest than just any other school because of the long history and the fact that so many of us who remembered the rivalry are still around at both schools. As we all die out over the coming years, these games will become less and less important until the day when some youngster has to do whatever the equivalent to Google is 30 years from now now gather the history and why it was so important.
Unless, of course, if we can pass down this glorious rivalry to our grandchildren via oral history.
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Post by hchoops on Jan 1, 2019 18:44:04 GMT -5
As I have done with my 2 HCGrad children
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Post by thecrossisback on Jan 1, 2019 18:56:05 GMT -5
It may not be a two-sided rivalry anymore, but it can't be denied that there was more excitement, more HC fans attending a road game at BC this year than in a very, very long time. Still believe BC and HC should play more and even play an exhibition every year alternating between Boston and Worcester. The crowd would be insane. Maybe this could show off the team to different fans that don't usually see the team play. It might even bring some of these fans back to other games.
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Post by hcpride on Jan 1, 2019 19:26:49 GMT -5
For a rivalry to exist does it need both schools to consider it so or can it be one-sided? Honestly, I do not have an answer. Anecdotally, in my contacts with BC folks, one of whom played a sport at BC and happily sent his child to HC, HC was and is not a particularly big rival. There does not appear to be the same intensity on their side as on ours. Also, the folks who I do meet have expressed nothing but respect for HC unlike some posters on this board toward BC. Maybe, it's me in old age but instead of "raging at the dying of the light," and filling my soul with dislike of BC, I have a great deal of respect and affection for our nearby fellow Jesuit school. LoveHC My sad BC rivalry anecdote is two summers ago when I was sporting my HC sweatshirt and the young woman behind the deli counter was wearing a BC Eagles sweatshirt. After learning she was a junior at BC I pointed to my sweatshirt and said that once upon a time my old college and her college were academic and athletic rivals. She looked quizzical and I further explained it was long before she was born...I am not sure she believed me so I said it might have been before her parents were born. She retained her quizzical look...I then realized (upon further discussion) she had never heard of Holy Cross. I have to say she was very polite (although a bit skeptical).
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Post by hchoops on Jan 1, 2019 19:28:16 GMT -5
Where was this encounter ? was she a recruited athlete ? A legacy ?
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Post by Tom on Jan 1, 2019 19:37:05 GMT -5
It may not be a two-sided rivalry anymore, but it can't be denied that there was more excitement, more HC fans attending a road game at BC this year than in a very, very long time. Still believe BC and HC should play more and even play an exhibition every year alternating between Boston and Worcester. The crowd would be insane. Maybe this could show off the team to different fans that don't usually see the team play. It might even bring some of these fans back to other games. If we're talking about men's basketball, when was the last time HC played an exhibition game against a D-I opponent?
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Post by hcpride on Jan 1, 2019 19:50:59 GMT -5
Where was this encounter ? was she a recruited athlete ? A legacy ? LOL. I've gotten used to the NYC high school Holy Cross misidentification - and the lack of knowledge that my own high school seniors exhibit regarding HC nowadays - but this took me a bit by surprise. I didn't ask for her full details (I may have already been approaching that 'creepy old guy' image with my rambling tale in any case.). I think many/most BC students have at least heard of us (although you have to remember they draw nationwide and not necessarily a Catholic population) even if they have absolutely no idea we were once rivals.
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Post by Ignutz on Jan 1, 2019 23:38:38 GMT -5
For a rivalry to exist does it need both schools to consider it so or can it be one-sided? Honestly, I do not have an answer. Anecdotally, in my contacts with BC folks, one of whom played a sport at BC and happily sent his child to HC, HC was and is not a particularly big rival. There does not appear to be the same intensity on their side as on ours. Also, the folks who I do meet have expressed nothing but respect for HC unlike some posters on this board toward BC. Maybe, it's me in old age but instead of "raging at the dying of the light," and filling my soul with dislike of BC, I have a great deal of respect and affection for our nearby fellow Jesuit school. LoveHC My sad BC rivalry anecdote is two summers ago when I was sporting my HC sweatshirt and the young woman behind the deli counter was wearing a BC Eagles sweatshirt. After learning she was a junior at BC I pointed to my sweatshirt and said that once upon a time my old college and her college were academic and athletic rivals. She looked quizzical and I further explained it was long before she was born...I am not sure she believed me so I said it might have been before her parents were born. She retained her quizzical look...I then realized (upon further discussion) she had never heard of Holy Cross. I have to say she was very polite (although a bit skeptical). Sounds like maybe she just wasn’t very bright. Should we be surprised?
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Post by unhfan on Jan 2, 2019 5:26:45 GMT -5
My sad BC rivalry anecdote is two summers ago when I was sporting my HC sweatshirt and the young woman behind the deli counter was wearing a BC Eagles sweatshirt. After learning she was a junior at BC I pointed to my sweatshirt and said that once upon a time my old college and her college were academic and athletic rivals. She looked quizzical and I further explained it was long before she was born...I am not sure she believed me so I said it might have been before her parents were born. She retained her quizzical look...I then realized (upon further discussion) she had never heard of Holy Cross. I have to say she was very polite (although a bit skeptical). Sounds like maybe she just wasn’t very bright. Should we be surprised? 😳 I think it should tell you as some posters have already stated that the rivalry is only in the mind of Holy Cross fans of a certain generation!
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Post by hcpride on Jan 2, 2019 7:23:07 GMT -5
Sounds like maybe she just wasn’t very bright. Should we be surprised? 😳 I think it should tell you as some posters have already stated that the rivalry is only in the mind of Holy Cross fans of a certain generation! Since my East Coast (but not MA) public high school seniors have (mostly) never heard of HC and about 5-6 per year apply to Boston College (about 2 attend BC each year), I should not assume they'll learn about HC in college. Why would they? I can imagine more of the same from many other BC students who come from all over the country. One of the eye-opening stats from BC is that more of the students in their accepted applicant pool are cross-accepted with University of Southern California (USC) than HC.
So it is not as though a student from the East Coast (but not MA) is surrounded at BC by kids who chatter about HC...so I guess I should not have been a bit surprised that she never heard of HC (and of course had absolutely no idea there ever was a rivalry with HC in her grandfather's day).
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Post by hchoops on Jan 2, 2019 7:31:31 GMT -5
Was she aware of any of her school’s football opponents this season ?
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 2, 2019 7:34:02 GMT -5
Perhaps not. Remember, BC does not get that many students at their home football games (relative to the size of their student body).
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Post by hcpride on Jan 2, 2019 8:08:47 GMT -5
Was she aware of any of her school’s football opponents this season ? This was two years ago .
"My sad BC rivalry anecdote is two summers ago when I was sporting my HC sweatshirt and the young woman behind the deli counter was wearing a BC Eagles sweatshirt. After learning she was a junior at BC I pointed to my sweatshirt and said that once upon a time my old college and her college were academic and athletic rivals. She looked quizzical and I further explained it was long before she was born...I am not sure she believed me so I said it might have been before her parents were born. She retained her quizzical look...I then realized (upon further discussion) she had never heard of Holy Cross. I have to say she was very polite (although a bit skeptical)."
(Not sure all/most BC students are tuned in to all their football opponents' names in any case...ACC and otherwise)
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