Technician has it backwards, mistake-ridden, and wrong

10-11 Basketball Fans Media36

Ahh…to be young, idealistic, and inexperienced. I don’t hold it against them. I’ve recognized the issue with student editorials and journalism even when I was a student.

Nonetheless, we have to highlight this viewpoint from Technician that “Poor attendance equals poor performance”.

Fact: After their game Sunday, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski was asked about scheduling and blamed lackluster attendance on having Sunday games versus Saturday games. Ken Tysiac commented on Coach K’s observation and pointed out that N.C. State should be used to low attendance at their games.

Opinion: There are things that can be done cooperatively by the RBC Center and N.C. State Athletics Department to increase attendance at men’s basketball games. Improving the attendance for these games can improve the endowment, fan moral and possibly build up the team for a win

Before I get going here… can any SFN community members spend some time teaching us about the “morals” of fans? Exactly what is this “fan moral” of which Technician speaks?

Now…to the obvious ‘backwardization’ of Technician’s chicken and egg position that just doesn’t equate in any way, shape or form.

NC State has ranked amongst the Top 25 in attendance for every year since the RBC Center opened in 1999. How has that ‘fan support’ translated into wins over that period? I’ll answer that question for you — NC State has generally performed the WORST of the entire subset of schools that have generally ranked in the Top 25 of attendance over the last decade.

So…if we have had great attendance for an entire decade; yet have failed to win more while we have had that great attendance…how can the conclusion be made that we need more great attendance so that we can win more?

How long would it have taken Technician to try to do a little research and apply some facts and data to support their ‘opinion’? On one hand, it is sad and scary that this level of ‘analysis’ is coming from our college kids. On the other hand, if these kids really want permanent roles in the media then they are definitely well on their way to fitting in perfectly. (Must read)

Obviously, the headline and the position of the view should be, “Poor performance equals poor attendance”…and the very fact that we are having to blog this entry means that “Poor analysis equals poor editorial”.

As a parting shot…the following quote came from an NC State message board discussing this topic:

Picked up the school paper today. They can’t even get the major headline to the sports section right. It says “Wolfpack upsets rival UNC, 99-72”. They may be trying, but they are just not very good. How you do report the score wrong? That’s the most important thing in sports reporting.

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10-11 Basketball Fans Media

36 Responses to Technician has it backwards, mistake-ridden, and wrong

  1. PackerInRussia 02/23/2011 at 1:14 PM #

    I like how the “fact” that the opinion is based on is also an opinion.

  2. VaWolf82 02/23/2011 at 1:33 PM #

    I don’t buy the argument that an off-campus arena has a significant impact on most students. Years (and years) ago, the on-campus housing was about 5,500 students with a total student population something over 20,000. So when you combine the every-day commuters and the on-campus students with cars, I find it hard to believe that many students would have difficulty getting to games that they want to attend.

    Put another way, I never had problems finding a lift to C-F for football or Crazy Zacks for a different game. So it shouldn’t be a problem today.

  3. GoneFishin 02/23/2011 at 2:05 PM #

    Got-Damnit. It’s my lack of “Moral Fiber” that has caused the demise of NC State B-Ball…

  4. pyejam 02/23/2011 at 3:00 PM #

    as a student why would i want to go to a game if i have to park out by the football stadium, walk to see us get blown out, walk back and sit in traffic. All this of course becomes worth it if we win some games. I didn’t even request a ticket to the UNC game. It will take plenty of beer and sitting in the recliner to get through this one.

  5. LRM 02/23/2011 at 3:11 PM #

    Percentage attendance is a case where numbers never lie, but never tell the entire truth, either.

    Very few of the 300+ DI college teams play home games in 20,000+ seat arenas, so you have to consider demand, not just capacity — the Carrier Dome seats 35,000, so do they have attendance problems when only 20,000 show up? How many games since 1999 has there been a capacity crowd at the RBC?

    If the RBC had been designed for college basketball only, it would’ve likely been built to a capacity of 15,000 similar to Comcast or John Paul Jones, and percent attendance would’ve been 90+ most games this season. Would our attendance suddenly no longer be a “problem?”

    Consider Clemson Memorial, averaging around 77,000 — 93% of the 82,000 capacity. Does that mean they have attendance woes compared to C-F, which averages 57,000, or 95% of its 60,000 capacity? They average 20,000 more fans — far more than C-F capacity — but have more empty seats.

    The RBC is no different. Demand is down, but that doesn’t mean attendance is poor when compared to the rest of the nation. In fact, you could make an argument that demand is suprisingly high for the results we’ve seen over the past five years.

  6. DividedWeFall 02/23/2011 at 3:16 PM #

    Yea we’re in the top 25 for attendance, and yea that is in large part due to our capacity.

    In 2010 we were in the top 25 for attendance:
    – averaged 13,184/game.
    – Our max capacity is listed at 19,722.
    –> That means we averaged 66.8% of our capacity (and 33.2% of the seats were vacant).

    Top 5 2010 attendance schools’ capacity %:
    (1) Kentucky = 102.6% of capacity (24,111/23,500)
    (2) *Syracuse = 63.9% (22,152/34,616 (Carrier Dome))
    (3) Louisville = 102.8% (19,397/18,865 (Freedom Hall))
    (4) Tennessee = 88.4% (19,168/21,678)
    (5) UNCheat = 81.7% (17,786/21,750)
    (7) Maryland = 93.5% (16,792/17,950)

    *Syracuse plays in the Carrier Dome, which is also where they play football; Still, they average over 22k/game

    If we could average 75% of our capacity then we’d be in the top 15 for attendance; average 80% then we’d be in top 10. But we have averaged in the 60’s-70’s for the past 5+ years so I don’t expect that to change.

    I’ve made proposals to Athletics and they’ve fallen on deaf ears, but I agree wholeheartedly that if those seats aren’t being filled then FILL THEM! We were able to install a “stand-by” line for football, I was under the impression that we were going to do the same for basketball (which would solve that problem). again, deaf ears.

    go State.

  7. Wufpacker 02/23/2011 at 3:37 PM #

    “As a daily reader of Statefansnation I’m surprised to read you criticizing another website for a spelling error.”

    I haven’t read all of the posts on this thread as of yet, so if the post quoted above has already been addressed please disregard.

    That being said, writing “moral” when you mean “morale” is more than just a simple spelling error. It’s simply a symptom of the disease….the disease being poor work ethic and/or dedication to putting out a quality product. The Technician might be a student publication, but it is a publication nonetheless. It is not like typing a post on a blog or message board and, as far as I’m concerned, spelling counts.

    The spelling mistake isn’t disastrous in and of itself, but as I said above it is a symptom of the bigger overall problem. The lack of researching the issue at hand before writing about it (and that goes for more than just this one published article) is the biggest issue IMHO.

    Despite our historical attendance having been better than expected given the product on the floor, in the end, the statement, “There are things that can be done….by the….N.C. State Athletics Department to increase attendance at men’s basketball games,” is very true. It just wasn’t supported by the proper arguments and/or explanations.

    I think we all know what those things are that can be done, and hopefully those things are in the works currently.

  8. CylonWolf 02/23/2011 at 5:21 PM #

    “Just having a large arena guarantees nothing. State ranks in the Top 25 because people are BUYING tickets IN SPITE of the product put out on the court.”
    Youre missing the point. Lets say Cameron has a packed house for a game (9300), so 100% capacity. Lets say RBC has 12000. Thats 60% capacity. More people, sure…but I have a hard time calling 60% capacity “great attendance”. Yes, sometimes it actually gets to be more than 60%, but its not much more.

    One other thing about that article: its not about just telling people they need to come to games; its about suggesting ways to get people to come to games. Truth is, we could be Top 10 in the country right now, and the place would STILL not be packed. Geez, that other coach had us in the Top 20 for most of his last season, yet I dont recall the place ever being packed unless the other team wore blue. Thing is, there are a lot more problems with attendance other than just general fan apathy.

  9. choppack1 02/23/2011 at 7:20 PM #

    “You could easily have extended this observation to the constant message board mantra about Reynold’s. There are people that believe State would win more games if they still played in Reynolds.”

    Actually – if you read a recent article in SI regarding officiating, you’d realize that this is possible. It seems that the further the fans are away from the action, the more “freedom” they have to be less biased. OTOH, the closer fans do appear to sway officials.

    Now don’t get me started on ACC refs. It seems to me that if you make the contention that the SI article made: That officials are undeniably swayed by trying to please home fans – that officials have flunked a major objectivity test and you open the door to the possibility that yes, officials can be swayed by perceived superiority of one program/coach to another.

    As far as the location – it makes it easier NOT to attend a game. The atmosphere isn’t as fun – and I think that’s obvious to anyone who attended a game there. There’s nothing special about the RBC – unless you are a hockey fan.

    I suppose they could sell beer – do a Thirsty Wednesday or something – but having been to a lot of stadiums, I’m pretty much convinced that the RBC sucks. The arena will only be special when the team or opponent is special. It will be like Fulton County Stadium – why would you go there if something else remotely more interesting was going on.

  10. LRM 02/23/2011 at 8:37 PM #

    I wouldn’t go to Fulton County Stadium because it’s been a parking lot for the past 15 years.

  11. PackerInRussia 02/24/2011 at 8:34 AM #

    “That being said, writing “moral” when you mean “morale” is more than just a simple spelling error.”

    The real question is: does the writer realize that “moral” and “morale” are two different words or did he/she simply leave off the “e” (equally unacceptable, but not equally heinous of a crime).

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