Northwestern fan support (!?)

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cncmin

cncmin

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That was absolutely pathetic today. We complained about Gopher support at the Dome or, sometimes, in low-end bowl games....but holy cow that looked like a big high school football crowd, or maybe a D-IAA crowd out there today. Our fans there were louder than them, our cheerleaders more readily abundant; even their band was quiet. That was really a Big Ten football game?

Northwestern fans, do you guys have any reason for the poor showing today? It didn't seem like any more than 20k fans there.

The comparison between that, and between what we now see at TCF, should help us all realize how good we finally have it, and that Minnesota football is back on the map!
 

Yet, they have 3 B10 Championships in the last 15 years. Fancy stadiums only go so far, but today's game looked like a glorified HS crowd....
 

Art Vandelay said:
Yet, they have 3 B10 Championships in the last 15 years. Fancy stadiums only go so far, but today's game looked like a glorified HS crowd....
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Well, they didn't win 3 B10 championships off campus under a tarp, though, right?
 

It's pretty much Chicago... they have to compete with pro teams, other events, and the sights and attractions of Chicago.
 

Their alumni have to be spread out all over the place as well, a school with that small of an enrollment doesn't create too much of its own fan support.
 




Maturi said on the pregame that only Penn State ranks behind Northwestern (in the Big Ten) in number of grads living in the Chicago area. Weird.
 

wait! what?

FWIW...that's one of the best screen names on this board.
 



Northwestern has no fan base. Chicagoans don't care about college sports, and the school isn't big enough to create a consistent fan base.

At one point in the fourth quarter, during a timeout, we could hear the Gophers coaches talking to the defense on the sideline. We were about halfway up the stands, yet could still hear them clearly. It'd be nice if, one time, it came down to us and Northwestern for a bowl bid - that's one fan base we have beat.
 

Could someone there estimate the number of maroon and gold in attendance today? Looked like a nice little group on tv.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
Northwestern has no fan base. Chicagoans don't care about college sports, and the school isn't big enough to create a consistent fan base.

At one point in the fourth quarter, during a timeout, we could hear the Gophers coaches talking to the defense on the sideline. We were about halfway up the stands, yet could still hear them clearly. It'd be nice if, one time, it came down to us and Northwestern for a bowl bid - that's one fan base we have beat.
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Evanston is about an hour drive from Chicago depending on where you live.......
 




I think posters on here have described the problem pretty well.

First, its a smaller school with fewer alumni. Second, it has next to no athletic tradition. Third, Chicago sports scene is not very interested in NW at all. Fourth, because it is a national private school that gets students from all over with very high academic standards their grads move all over and most do not stay in Chicago. This leads to basically no fan base and small crowds for football.

The real question is...with all of these facts that separate it from the rest of the Big Ten one has to wonder why NW is still in the Big Ten. I can see why the conference wants a school in Chicago, and Big Ten alumni that live in Chicago get to see their teams play in town every other year. And I know they help the conference's academic profile a ton....but still....should NW really stay in the Big Ten forever?
 

swmngo4 said:
I think posters on here have described the problem pretty well.

First, its a smaller school with fewer alumni. Second, it has next to no athletic tradition. Third, Chicago sports scene is not very interested in NW at all. Fourth, because it is a national private school that gets students from all over with very high academic standards their grads move all over and most do not stay in Chicago. This leads to basically no fan base and small crowds for football.

The real question is...with all of these facts that separate it from the rest of the Big Ten one has to wonder why NW is still in the Big Ten. I can see why the conference wants a school in Chicago, and Big Ten alumni that live in Chicago get to see their teams play in town every other year. And I know they help the conference's academic profile a ton....but still....should NW really stay in the Big Ten forever?
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I agree...and since Iowa is the only school whose state doesn't touch a Great Lake, is in a state that is totally unimportant, the only good sport they have is wrestling, and because their fanbase is full of obnoxious assholes, kick them out too. The Big Ten will automatically become the best conference ever.
 

cncmin said:
I agree...and since Iowa is the only school whose state doesn't touch a Great Lake, is in a state that is totally unimportant, the only good sport they have is wrestling, and because their fanbase is full of obnoxious assholes, kick them out too. The Big Ten will automatically become the best conference ever.
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But that would mean all the hate I have for Iowa would have to be transplanted to a team/fan base that really wouldn't deserve it. I guess I could try and hate Wisc. more, but I'm pretty sure that isn't possible.
 

swmngo4 said:
The real question is...with all of these facts that separate it from the rest of the Big Ten one has to wonder why NW is still in the Big Ten. I can see why the conference wants a school in Chicago, and Big Ten alumni that live in Chicago get to see their teams play in town every other year. And I know they help the conference's academic profile a ton....but still....should NW really stay in the Big Ten forever?
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I think we need to be careful here. Not long ago there was a thread on Rival's national board that discussed the future of the Big 10 conference. The consensus was that the most logical school to eliminate from the Big 10 was Minnesota because of it's historically inept football program. Although I managed to put an end to that thread by providing details about the history of Minnesota's contribution to Big 10 sports history, it is undeniable that the Gophers are held in very low regard by most college football fans.

There can be no debate that Northwestern's football program has been more successful than Minnesota's over the last 40 years. Given that fact, it doesn't seem to be a good idea for any Gopher fan to advocate their elimination from the Big 10.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
[/B]
I think we need to be careful here. Not long ago there was a thread on Rival's national board that discussed the future of the Big 10 conference. The consensus was that the most logical school to eliminate from the Big 10 was Minnesota because of it's historically inept football program. Although I managed to put an end to that thread by providing details about the history of Minnesota's contribution to Big 10 sports history, it is undeniable that the Gophers are held in very low regard by most college football fans.

There can be no debate that Northwestern's football program has been more successful than Minnesota's over the last 40 years. Given that fact, it doesn't seem to be a good idea for any Gopher fan to advocate their elimination from the Big 10.
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Agreed big time. They've had plenty of success and we of all are in no place to bring this up. Leave that for the OSU and Michigan jerks.
 

What's crazy about this - is that with that absolutely pathetic following, they still didn't make that much less revenue than we did for the 2008 fiscal year:

Minnesota
FB Revenue — $24,275,876
FB Expenses — $9,306,397
Men’s recruiting expenses — $866,117

Northwestern
FB Revenue — $21,080,405
FB Expenses — $12,113,946
Men’s recruiting expenses — $482,588

From this article:
http://scottdo.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/iowa-fb-revenue-comparisons-with-iowa-state-notre-dame-big-ten/

Obviously, we'll be making more with our new stadium, but even at the dome, we averaged about 50k, I would guess they had 20-25K there today...I can't believe they can make as much as they do.

Another interesting fact - we're 4th from the bottom in revenue, but 4th from the top in recruiting expenses. Which makes sense, since we've clearly put a huge emphasis on recruiting - means we're spending like the big boys.
 

cncmin said:
I agree...and since Iowa is the only school whose state doesn't touch a Great Lake, is in a state that is totally unimportant, the only good sport they have is wrestling, and because their fanbase is full of obnoxious assholes, kick them out too. The Big Ten will automatically become the best conference ever.
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Post of the year!
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
[/B]
There can be no debate that Northwestern's football program has been more successful than Minnesota's over the last 40 years. Given that fact, it doesn't seem to be a good idea for any Gopher fan to advocate their elimination from the Big 10.
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I agree with the sentiment, but let's change that to 20 years. Northwestern had a 34-game losing streak from 1979-1982, the longest in Division I-A college football. Northwestern and Macalaster were synonymous with historically bad college football during that time.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
[/B]
I think we need to be careful here. Not long ago there was a thread on Rival's national board that discussed the future of the Big 10 conference. The consensus was that the most logical school to eliminate from the Big 10 was Minnesota because of it's historically inept football program. Although I managed to put an end to that thread by providing details about the history of Minnesota's contribution to Big 10 sports history, it is undeniable that the Gophers are held in very low regard by most college football fans.

There can be no debate that Northwestern's football program has been more successful than Minnesota's over the last 40 years. Given that fact, it doesn't seem to be a good idea for any Gopher fan to advocate their elimination from the Big 10.
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Lemme guess - this Rival's thread was made during our 1-11 season and was packed with Hogeyes and Fudge Padgers.
 

Yea, Northwestern is a smaller school with high academics. Check out how they compare to a few other smaller schools with good academics:

Rice: 5,000 students, 19,000 fans in the stands (and their football team is awful, and has been for years)
Wake Forest: 7,000 students, 30,000 fans in the stands
Stanford: 15,000 students, 37,000 fans in the stands
Baylor: 14,000 students, 36,000 fans in the stands

Northwestern: 18,000 students, 20,000 fans in the stands

Pretty sad in Wildcat Nation. By the way, I'm guessing there are not a ton of Baylor grads that stayed in the city of Waco.
 

GopherLady said:
Another interesting fact - we're 4th from the bottom in revenue, but 4th from the top in recruiting expenses. Which makes sense, since we've clearly put a huge emphasis on recruiting - means we're spending like the big boys.
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Actually, GL, according to that link, we're #2 in recruiting expenses, behind only Michigan.

I'd be interested in seeing the same list from the Mason years.
 



Donovan said:
Yea, Northwestern is a smaller school with high academics. Check out how they compare to a few other smaller schools with good academics:

Rice: 5,000 students, 19,000 fans in the stands (and their football team is awful, and has been for years)
Wake Forest: 7,000 students, 30,000 fans in the stands
Stanford: 15,000 students, 37,000 fans in the stands
Baylor: 14,000 students, 36,000 fans in the stands

Northwestern: 18,000 students, 20,000 fans in the stands

Pretty sad in Wildcat Nation. By the way, I'm guessing there are not a ton of Baylor grads that stayed in the city of Waco.
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Seeing as how Wake plays in a stadium that seats approx 30,000 I don't think you should be including them on this list. :)
 

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