Loyola Stream??

[rlh04d]

WOW ....7 pages about a stream for a UNI/ LUC game and WSU controlles the conversation

Strangely there aren't many Evansville fans on here derailing threads by throwing temper tantrums about how little respect we're giving UE's record these days.

[Dean Wormer]

WOW ....7 pages about a stream for a UNI/ LUC game and WSU controlles the conversation

Strangely there aren't many Evansville fans on here derailing threads by throwing temper tantrums about how little respect we're giving UE's record these days.

Probably because the poster is one and the same.

Like I said previously, every fanbase has a couple.

[uniftw]

I was on the positive side of Loyola being added. I chose to believe that they could build into a top flight program. They still could. Hell, we're only in year 2 with them.

My issue is they were sold to us as bringing this giant market, 10 million people in their MSA, and that made them a home run. I could go for that if we didn't already have 7 of the 9 other schools in the conference within 5.5 hours of Chicago and already have CSN Chicago as part of the TV deal. It's even more obvious that the Chicago MSA doesn't seem to care about Loyola with their attendance. We can make all the excuses we want and say "UNI fans shouldn't throw stones" and blah blah blah. UNI has 1/100th the MSA Loyola does to draw from. To use the MLB as an example...Loyola is the Chicago White Sox and UNI would be more like Milwaukee and/or Kansas City. Based on pure numbers alone Milwaukee and KC shouldn't even be close to the White Sox in attendance just based on "raw numbers".

Their athletics programs are bottom 2-4 in every single sport in every sport they sponsor. Now, the MVC is a solid step up in competition from where they had been, and I'm not dismissing their potential cieling as an MVC member.

I probably came down way to hard on what I saw attendance wise for the UNI game and I will apologize for that. I'm not against Loyola at this point but am starting to see a lot more of what WSU was "complaining" about at the time of the addition.

We can say what we want about UNI being lucky to get in when we did and the same things being said about UNI 20 years ago. Sure. I'll buy that. You also have to realize the climate of NCAA realignment vs what it was in 1992, urgency to maintain what the MVC has become vs what it was in 1992, etc... I get it, UNI since 2003 is VERY different than UNI 1992-2003. It's easy to forget that time frame and what UNI used to be. I understand that. I know about the games in the UNIDome that had 350 people at them in the late 1990s during the Sam Weaver era.

The questions becomes is the time frame for Loyola going to be 10-15 years, and if so was it the right move?


As for comparing Loyola's attendance at UNI to SIU....
#1 Loyola had a better record, that's going go typically draw better
#2 Most tickets are sold by about a week before the game. At that point UNI had only 1 loss. The loss to Evansville 3 days before the Loyola game had little impact on that one but it likely did on SIU
#3 Loyola was a 2:30PM tip off time on a Sunday afternoon. WIU was a 7:10PM tip off on a Wednesday night. Weekend day games will ALWAYS draw more than a weeknight 7PM tip, unless every game is sold out 100%
#4 Loyola was ESPN 3 only. SIU was on Panther Sports Network which put in on in HD on every TV in the state of Iowa and Missouri State was nationally broadcast on ESPNU. Those will also affect attendance.

[Rambler63]

Their athletics programs are bottom 2-4 in every single sport in every sport they sponsor. Now, the MVC is a solid step up in competition from where they had been, and I'm not dismissing their potential cieling as an MVC member.

Loyola made the MVC conference tournament final in softball last season and lost by one run. In men's soccer this year, they beat #20 Northwestern, beat eventual champion SIUE, and tied with regular season champ Missouri State. Not an MVC sport, but men's volleyball won the National Championship last year, is ranked #1 this year, and has won 38 consecutive matches. Through not quite two full years, the only last place MVC finish Loyola has had was its first year in men's basketball, when they split with UNI.

As for comparing Loyola's attendance at UNI to SIU....
#3 Loyola was a 2:30PM tip off time on a Sunday afternoon. WIU was a 7:10PM tip off on a Wednesday night. Weekend day games will ALWAYS draw more than a weeknight 7PM tip, unless every game is sold out 100%

Five of Loyola's eight conference home games so far have been on Wednesdays. Loyola is averaging 3202 for conference games on weekends, two out of three of them with its marquee player out with an injury. That's not very good, but not a total catastrophe at 70% of capacity. It's just more than half what ranked, healthy, 26-2 UNI gets for weekend games.

There's no legitimate excuse for Loyola's crappy attendance for the UNI game. But If UNI fans are going to make excuses for unimpressive mid-week attendance for a nationally-ranked team at home, at least offer reciprocal consideration for Loyola drawing embarrassing numbers for a Wednesday night game with -20 wind chills and its best player injured.

[uniftw]

There's no legitimate excuse for Loyola's crappy attendance for the UNI game. But If UNI fans are going to make excuses for unimpressive mid-week attendance for a nationally-ranked team at home, at least offer reciprocal consideration for Loyola drawing embarrassing numbers for a Wednesday night game with -20 wind chills and its best player injured.

The issue is 10 million people live within 20-30 miles of your arena.

This isn't football, they aren't watching the games outside. Granted, I haven't been in Loyola's arena but I would imagine that much like the McLeod Center it's climate controlled.

[unipanther99]

This isn't football, they aren't watching the games outside. Granted, I haven't been in Loyola's arena but I would imagine that much like the McLeod Center it's climate controlled.

Lets be honest, our fan base essentially invented using the weather as an excuse for poor attendance. Chance of 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow in the Cedar Valley.

[uniftw]

This isn't football, they aren't watching the games outside. Granted, I haven't been in Loyola's arena but I would imagine that much like the McLeod Center it's climate controlled.

Lets be honest, our fan base essentially invented using the weather as an excuse for poor attendance. Chance of 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow in the Cedar Valley.

Isn't there an inherent difference between it being cold and possibly 5 inches of snow with an 8 PM tip?

[unipanther99]

Isn't there an inherent difference between it being cold and possibly 5 inches of snow with an 8 PM tip?

Maybe to a degree, but it's what you're used to. I'm assuming there's a lot of walking and/or public transportation involved for Loyola fans who attend their games. Brutal cold and wind isn't fun to walk in along the shores of Lake Michigan. Just like Highway 20 in Iowa isn't fun to drive on with 3 ft. drifts.

My point is, we both use excuses. If the fact that our excuses might be slightly better than theirs lets you sleep better at night, so be it.

[goramblers2011]

There's no legitimate excuse for Loyola's crappy attendance for the UNI game. But If UNI fans are going to make excuses for unimpressive mid-week attendance for a nationally-ranked team at home, at least offer reciprocal consideration for Loyola drawing embarrassing numbers for a Wednesday night game with -20 wind chills and its best player injured.

The issue is 10 million people live within 20-30 miles of your arena.

This isn't football, they aren't watching the games outside. Granted, I haven't been in Loyola's arena but I would imagine that much like the McLeod Center it's climate controlled.

A big problem is--the commute in the Chicagoland area is much, much different than in any other MVC market. Traveling 20 miles in, for example, Terra Haute is not the same as traveling 20 miles in Chicagoland, especially during rush hour.

If a fan lives and works out in the suburbs (which MANY do), it is extremely difficult to get off work at 5:30/6 and make it down to Rogers Park by 7 in Chicago rush hour traffic. I'd actually be in favor of weekday games starting at 8 CST for this reason.

[Cdizzle]

There's no legitimate excuse for Loyola's crappy attendance for the UNI game. But If UNI fans are going to make excuses for unimpressive mid-week attendance for a nationally-ranked team at home, at least offer reciprocal consideration for Loyola drawing embarrassing numbers for a Wednesday night game with -20 wind chills and its best player injured.

The issue is 10 million people live within 20-30 miles of your arena.

This isn't football, they aren't watching the games outside. Granted, I haven't been in Loyola's arena but I would imagine that much like the McLeod Center it's climate controlled.

A big problem is--the commute in the Chicagoland area is much, much different than in any other MVC market. Traveling 20 miles in, for example, Terra Haute is not the same as traveling 20 miles in Chicagoland, especially during rush hour.

If a fan lives and works out in the suburbs (which MANY do), it is extremely difficult to get off work at 5:30/6 and make it down to Rogers Park by 7 in Chicago rush hour traffic. I'd actually be in favor of weekday games starting at 8 CST for this reason.

Wait, so now you're telling me the huge Chicago market is a reason Loyola has terrible attendance? I'm so confused.