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Build paved parking lots and they will come.Honest thought/question. Say football has couple decent seasons and by the time the stadium comes around, 4-8, 3-9, 2-10, etc... does anyone really expect 50-60K to show up? We can't even get 20K to SBS.
Just playing devil's advocate.
Boosters and fans. Which usually translates to alumni. Where UNLV is tiny. You call them excuses. It's reality. You expect a city of many transients to band together for the greater good of the community? Good luck with that pipe dream, let me know how it goes.
I'm not worried about traffic and members. Never have been. I didn't start the site for traffic and numbers. It's just a place for fans. If they want to be here, cool, welcome ... if not, that's cool too, have a great day. I don't know what you want me to tell you. My motivation has never been numbers, money, any garbage like this. Just want to get together with fans, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
Basketball and football both suck equally.
The real problem is paved parking lots.
Friday payday and what do people do? Detail their car for that pimp weekend.
Going to dirt parking lots ruins that. And then they charge people to grill on a grass lot.
That's what's wrong with unlv football right there
Bull, I think you're the best unlv football fan on this board.
Unlv has too much to compete with.
I think the last unlv football game I went to was against Arizona. We got thrashed before half time.
You'd be crazy to want to come back to more...and for 30 years plus.
My nephews are getting older. I gotta choose between unlv football and and whatever football day he will be on.
Then you got NFL which is way more entertaining than either unlv or high school football.
It's a tall order for unlv football to compete against.
Would love for unlv to invest in a rugby 7's or boxing club level team.
Now those are fun to watch
We have made all the necessary things to position ourselves for a P5 consideration (e.g. Pro stadium, medical school, new athletic director that has some type of pedigree, up and coming football coach) all we need to do right now is win in basketball and football in the next 3 years. If it's still not enough to be a strong contender for a P5 alignment then I say make a new conference with better teams.
I'm not going to shed tears over something like this that I have no control over. All I can do is go. Try to get friends to go. But when CSU beats you by 50, said friends really don't want to go anymore.Haven't used the word excuses.
Reality is UNLV is still a relatively young university. This means a smaller alumni. Smaller alumni base impacts boosters. There is no arguing that.
However the fact remains. If we are not in a P5 conference when conference alingment happens, basketball will suffer.
We can argue who's at fault for the state of the UNLV's athletic department till the cows come home. It pointless. Its chicken or the egg. I can't control what other people do.
I can however say, by not supporting football people are hurting basketball and ultimately the entire athletic department.
Their money to spend it where they please.
I am merely pointing out that I personally don't want to see any tears shed, should we not make a P5 conference from the 'We're a basketball school because 25 years ago' crowd. The one that ignored football this entire time, BUT will be standing there slack jawed asking 'what happened' if we end up back in the Big West.
I don't believe I ever intimated you were worried about traffic or numbers?
Agree. Doesn't mean bust. Bust as we know the current environment though. I agree, many would be in our position and something else would form.If UNLV doesn't make the P5 cut, it won't be the only team. There will be others with a similar dilemma. My guess in that They create another CFS league with the best of the rest, with the top current FCS programs. It could be a fun league. So I wouldn't say its P5 or absolute bust.
But of course you want P5. It solves so many problems and raises the bar exponentially for both football and basketball.
If we miss out basketball will suffer. I don't know if basketball will change much if a new football division is made. I think there are too many good basketball teams out of the p5 now that will be tough to do. However, schools like UNLV will be at a huge disadvantage just from a budgetary standpoint. They will be even less competitive when paying for a coach.
But I think it all goes back to Bulls point about supporting basketball and not football. There are may who are "die hard" basketball fans who won't show up for football games. That's where the logic factor does not seem to kick in. Football is the key to surviving. Attendance matters, a lot. Increase attendance by 8k and football can sustain itself financially. That is freaking huge right there. Nevermind p5.
Plus Football seats are cheap and games are fun to go to. College football, even shitty team is an entertaining product. Sure it sucks to be destroyed, but there is still excitement at the beginning of games. Go, tailgate, and leave early if you must. Support the program because the whole school needs it. And it's beloved basketball program.
I'm not going to shed tears over something like this that I have no control over. All I can do is go. Try to get friends to go. But when CSU beats you by 50, said friends really don't want to go anymore.
Of course it's possible.But said friends go to basketball after the middling basketball results?
I say again, its possible to support both programs..
Just wait until Rebs have a couple winning seasons under those belt. They'll be out in droves at LV Stadium. You along with them.Of course it's possible.
But whether basketball sucks or is middling - it has a history, it resonates with the people that do go, it was a source of pride. That football does not provide any of that isn't basketballs fault or fans fault.
You can't plaster the way you do things as the only way, the right way. You're the outlier, not the norm. Expecting a huge mass of people to become completely different.... not happening. Ever.
Of course it's possible.
But whether basketball sucks or is middling - it has a history, it resonates with the people that do go, it was a source of pride. That football does not provide any of that isn't basketballs fault or fans fault.
You can't plaster the way you do things as the only way, the right way. You're the outlier, not the norm. Expecting a huge mass of people to become completely different.... not happening. Ever.
You don't have to tell me about the destructive nature of apathy and the lack of commitment. I'm fully aware. Apathy is the worst. But it's not something you choose, it finds you one way or another. It's UNLV's own fault that fans become apathetic. It hasn't been knee jerk jumping off the bandwagon for fans, in which case, I would blame the fans. For football, there's never been a wagon for fans to jump on. That's the fault of football. For basketball, it's been a quarter century of wearing fans down. That's not on the fans. That's on UNLV as far as I've seen it. As for not making huge strides towards the P-5 over the past 30 years, that's on UNLV. They control their fate, the fans don't. There's a lot of interplay between money, support, and winning and we can talk chicken/egg all we want but part of that equation is always winning at an appreciable level. UNLV hasn't.I'm not plastering anything.
You are missing my point.
I am not telling boosters how to spend money. I am not telling fans how to fan or what they should care about.
However there are ramifications to apathy..This encompasses admin, boosters and yes fans as well.
We won a title a quarter of a century ago. People that truly were a part of that time and can appreciate it are either heading into their 40's or looking into a reverse mortgage.
You know very well there is a contingent of boosters or fans that spend upwards of $2000 for RAF/Tickets for basketball that would have no problem seeing football fade away. This group is the one that will be standing there bitching about the administration, other boosters etc. if we are left out of the P5.
While we were building the Mendenhall Center Utah, TCU, Cincy went all in on football. I'm not telling anybody how to spend their money. It's theirs, they earned it. Just don't expect change when you continue to prop up one program and allow another to fail or wallow in mediocrity.
This isn't hyperbole. This is fact. We ignored football. Those schools embraced it. They are in P5 conferences (or like Cincy poised to be) we are fingers crossed hoping to get added.
History is great when you learn from it. History is great when you can celebrate it and put it in perspective.
History ain't so great when it becomes an anchor.
I'm a Steeler fan, I don't crow about the 70s. I was 5. It has no impact on the now...I recognize the greatness, I just don't expect Jack Lambert to walk out of the tunnel any time soon.
Other schools went all in on football. We went all in (with what resources we had) on basketball.
People are free to fan however they want. If all you (again not YOU you, but general public) want to do is support basketball great. That's your choice.
But again, don't be upset/shocked/surprised if in 5-10 years UNLV is playing on the road in a conference game in front of 2500 fans at Cal State Socialista instead.
So in short.
Fan how you want. Support what you want. Just realize lack of support has consequences as well.
This site can be a nice platform for UNLV athletics as a whole. It can offer content, allow for good discussion and build excitement. Of course basketball will generate more traffic/conversation. That's fine. However it doesn't help when the lead story on the football recruiting page is four years old.
You don't have to tell me about the destructive nature of apathy and the lack of commitment. I'm fully aware. Apathy is the worst. But it's not something you choose, it finds you one way or another. It's UNLV's own fault that fans become apathetic. It hasn't been knee jerk jumping off the bandwagon for fans, in which case, I would blame the fans. For football, there's never been a wagon for fans to jump on. That's the fault of football. For basketball, it's been a quarter century of wearing fans down. That's not on the fans. That's on UNLV as far as I've seen it. As for not making huge strides towards the P-5 over the past 30 years, that's on UNLV. They control their fate, the fans don't. There's a lot of interplay between money, support, and winning and we can talk chicken/egg all we want but part of that equation is always winning at an appreciable level. UNLV hasn't.
We agree on that.We haven't seen marked improvement because we have done the same things over and over and.......
The next two years are key. If the team can break .500, it would go a long, long way into getting and keeping some butts in the seats.Also for me, the frustrating part is these next couple of years are freaking huge. TV contracts are going to expire and perhaps are only window in the next 15 years (or ever) to be a part of the P5 club could be coming up soon.
Showing support for football is more important now than it has ever been. Sure a uptick in interest and fan support for a historically poor team with low support does not do much on its own, but combined with the new stadium, practice facility, med school, etc it can help. Tremendously. Acting like you belong IS a factor. Sure the team needs to win, but the fans also need to show up.
In fact increase in attendance SHOULD be even expected, and if it doesn't happen it will hurt the cause.
There needs to be a big campaign to get out and support football, and it really isn't there. There is still a wait and see, you have to prove it to me first attitude. I get it, but it doesn't mean that it isn't short sighted and frankly stupid.
And the kicker is that there is a lot to be hopeful with the football program. Sanchez is recruiting better than anytime in history. We have a team than has depth and talent (at least on offense) with one of the most promising QB prospects in the History of the program.
Sure the defense has a more than likely chance of being atrocious, but this team will be in a lot of games, that will likely be high scoring and exciting. It is a really easy time to be proactive and to get out and support football. Its just not happening.
plus Tier 1 research institute, very important.We have made all the necessary things to position ourselves for a P5 consideration (e.g. Pro stadium, medical school, new athletic director that has some type of pedigree, up and coming football coach) all we need to do right now is win in basketball and football in the next 3 years. If it's still not enough to be a strong contender for a P5 alignment then I say make a new conference with better teams.
plus Tier 1 research institute, very important.
My point is the community isn't going to blindly support a program that has lost at an astronomical rate for 30 plus years. Is there a more losing program over the past 3 decades? I'm being serious. You want a ton of people to do it based on faith or humanitarianism - that's just not feasible. Grass roots efforts or any efforts, they cannot dig them out of the hole. The program is at a Missouri state. Show me.... I'm not talking about to you, me, Bull and a couple thousand other fans... I'm talking about to the community.
If UNLV was churning out prideful alum, alum that were influential and plentiful.... that's how you get big money. But UNLV doesn't have a ton of grads, most are transient with allegiances elsewhere and while they were here, it's not like Cupid shot them in the heart with the UNLV football arrow.
But I'm not taking this personally. Not at all. The same fans that have been going and supporting will continue to do so. Until we do something and have some sustenance, it'll be the same people out there.
I don't think think you'll see that change. Of course it exists and has existed and it's crippled us. The move needed to be made in the mid-80's... and infusion of money and attention to the football program. But it was heavily neglected and all the eggs were put in the basketball cart.Joe this isn't about fans, its about administration and boosters that continued to chase the impossible dream of recreating 1990.
You know it is not hyperbole when I say there is a strong contingent of boosters that don't care a lick about football. They would just as soon see it fold.
We ignored football. What resources we were able to obtain were poured back into basketball.
It failed.
Nobody expects anybody to shell out hard earned cash to a losing program. However that seems odd when people are pumping out over a grand for mediocre basketball, because history or something..
Realingment is coming. Either we get in or we don't.
If we do, its awesome.
If we don't, well at least we will have the best basketball facilities in the Big West.
Winning cures all. The reason I don't have season tickets is because when we're 1-6, I don't want to go watch us get our brains beat in. I did that when I was a student at UNLV.
It sounds horrible to say, but when there's so many other things to do, family obligations, and better games on high definition television, why am I going to torture myself to go watch a team that looks overmatched?
Joe is right. It is a show me state kind of thing. Have a competitive .500 or above season, and maybe I can talk the wife into season tickets next year. But until then, be smart about it. Make the tickets dirt cheap, give all fans a free hot dog and a beer, market the hell out of it. What's better -- 15,000 paying an average of $25 per ticket for $375,000 or 30,000 paying an average of $15 per ticket for $450,000? Have bands play pre game concerts. Make it an event. Establish some traditions like letting the kids play touch football on the field or something. You have to force most people to come out. Then, once you win, you have a bigger base to draw from, and that's what we want.
I rarely posted the first few years I was on Rebel-Net. But I do remember one prevailing theme when it came to football.
I saw posts/quotes like this over and over.
'I'm not going to support football until I see an effort by the school'
Whelp?
Practice facility will happen.
We have a coach busting his ass on the recruiting trail. (Next years class looks very promising)
We have a coach doing everything possible to secure funds so that football is competing on a level playing field.
We have seen incremental improvement each of his first two years.
The coaching staff is active on social media.
They will play in a new stadium in about three years..
In other words effort.
Now the prevailing sentiment is 'they need to win regularly for me to support'.
Funny how the goalposts keep getting moved. Pun totally intended.
Should UNLV football ever turn it around, it will feel really good to people like Buck, 1986, BC, MV Smith, DCut, Rebelbuzz and the others who post regularly on the football boards and actually support the program, regardless of its struggles.
The funny thing is, the frequent posters on the football boards appear to support UNLV athletics regardless of the sport. They seemingly find no issue being able support football and basketball with equal passion.
Amen.
That one was kicked straight through the uprights.
That's kind of been the nature of UNLV Fans with basketball. Anybody see the crowds last season. So it stands to reason that if football ever finds marginal success, the same would occur. It kinda did with the decent spike in JRob's decent years and then the cliff falling under Sanford.Its true though, next when we are winning consistently, it'll be " Well I ll support the team when we are winning bowl games."
That's kind of been the nature of UNLV Fans with basketball. Anybody see the crowds last season. So it stands to reason that if football ever finds marginal success, the same would occur. It kinda did with the decent spike in JRob's decent years and then the cliff falling under Sanford.