DrewD007
- Woodridge, IL
I am looking at things from an outsiders perspective. As soon as I call out this fanbase for not showing up, even when we are a sub par team, I get hammered with excuse after excuse. Followed by negative comments about the product on the field. If you take my comments personal, then you need to check yourself. Tell me what I am saying that is so outlandish, because other football programs that you strive to be like, have this.
I do not hope to be like Iowa or Wisconsin. They are successful teams within the B1G, but realistically will never compete vs a top 10 team. When you fall short of that goal, you end up being Purdue...and Minnesota….and ILLINOIS.
Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State are all fan bases that show up every time. Again, Nebraska was 0-6 and the stadium was packed. "We don't have their history". So what? Is history going to help you find the stadium? That is what GPS is for. I merely point out, having game day fan support is a huge benefit to not just the current team, but also in the recruiting world. We don't have that, other teams we are fighting recruits for do. If you don't want to spend your Saturday at an IL game, that is your choice.
"We should be winning" - don't show up - don't get recruits - lack of a talented roster - keep losing.
To be completely honest, I don't think Urban Meyer is a good coach at all. His team's always play down to their competition and rarely seemed prepared. But they win, because they are the Kentucky of college football. They throw the best athletes out there and let them win.
"this is a ghost town, good luck getting 1k friends to show up, I am not driving 2.5 hrs". I don't care about your personal situation. I am not calling you as an individual out. If this is the product our fan base is going to provide, we are going to have a very low ceiling. And apparently, a very low floor.
Using Nebraska is a terrible example. They've had like 3 losing seasons in the past 50 years. The main way to cultivate fans is when they're students and making it a habit to come to games. Unfortunately, Illinois has been generally terrible for the past 25 years making students unwilling to come out to the games. Since they don't go to games as students they don't come back later. Not to mention Lincoln is a lot larger metropolitan area than Champaign-Urbana. Additionally, nearly 2/3 of instate alumni live in the Chicagoland area meaning at least 2 hours both ways. It's a big time investment for what is generally a bad product.
It truly is a vicious cycle though. Fans don't come because we're generally bad which hurts recruiting which keeps the team bad which keeps the fans away.