Chattanooga Is Home

The last two evenings I have watched Randy Smith’s two part interview with the Univeristy of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s athletic director, Rick Hart. WRCB doesn’t have the video on their site, but Randy does have a blog entry regarding the issue. However, WRCB must need a lesson in blogging 101 because there is no permalink to the entry. Since there is no permalink to Randy Smith’s blog, I will publish it here:

Apathy Is A Hard Thing To Overcome.
by Randy Smith
UTC Athletic Director Rick Hart is hoping that apathy is not settling in on campus, but I’m afraid it already has. It was here a long time before Hart started his job last summer. UTC’s attendance at men’s basketball games has been cut by more than 50% since 1991. The Mocs averaged 5400 fans per game that year, and that total was down almost 2,000 from the average attendance in 1983, the first year the Arena opened. The attendance for the 2007 season is listed at a little more than 2,000 fans, but many games there were fewer fans than that in the seats. Why would fans choose not to come see the Mocs play? They have not won many this year, but Chattanooga college basketball fans have been spoiled by their teams. If they win, they will come. Period, hands down. Attendance at Lady Mocs games has actually increased year by year under head coach Wes Moore, but in a rebuilding season, the Lady Mocs have won 21 games heading into their regular season finale against Wofford. While UTC hoops fans are a bit worried about attendance at McKenzie Arena, Mocs football fans haven’t been turning out in droves either. But since Finley Stadium opened in 1997, the Mocs are just 37-62 and have had just two winning seasons in that time, both 6-5. If teams win, attendance will go up. If they win big, attendance will go up drastically. That’s the nature of the fans anywhere, even Chattanooga. But here is a tip for Rick Hart and Chancellor Dr. Roger Brown. Employees at UTC including faculty members need to show they care. If they don’t, how can fans in the community be expected to care? Apathy is a hard thing to overcome.

Being in the south, football is king and the SEC is the best conference in the country. I can only guess that part of the reason that the Mocs don’t have a ton of local support is because they are not part of the SEC.

Here in Chattanooga I see people supporting Auburn (War Eagle!), Tennessee, Georgia, and Bama. I notice the stickers on their cars and choice of apparel seen on casual Fridays. I rarely see people supporting UTC in the same manner.

Randy states that a big part of getting fans to show up is to start winning. And while I agree with that statement, I think that a big part of winning a game in any sport comes from the support in the stands. How do we get more fans in the stands?

I offer five ways:

Employees (including faculty) need to show they care. This comes straight from Randy’s post. He has a great point- if they don’t care, then how can we be expected to care?

Get area businesses involved. This worked so well when Chattanooga rallied together to have the NCAA put the championship football game here. Businesses gave away free tickets, and the stands were packed. And neither team playing that game was from Chattanooga. Somehow Chattanooga found it in their hearts to help that cause. If businesses get more involved in supporting the Mocs, then it attendance could dramatically improve.

Get the Mocs out in the community. First, I want to point out that I’m not saying UTC doesn’t support Chattanooga. But, what if I saw Scrappy (the Mocking Bird mascot) around town promoting upcoming events? The Sugar Mocs section states they perform at special events on and off campus, but where? I think if I saw the Mocs out and about more, I would probably remember that they exist and want to go to games.

Four letters- S. W. A. G. Stuff we all get. Incentive.
My in-laws are Auburn supporters and go to home basketball games as often as possible. Usually when they return home from a game they have something that was given to them just for walking into Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum- license plates, hats, light switch covers. Other sports programs from the NBA to baseball teams do the same- Bobble Head night seems to be really popular. I think that emphasizing the swag will be one way to get people to show up. (I know I would.)

Spend money to make money. It was mentioned in one of Randy’s interviews that UTC has always had the lowest paid coach in the Southern Conference, which explained some of the high turn over of coaches. To build a quality sports team, you have to have longevity. If the coaches keep leaving, there isn’t time to build the teams and develop those wins that help bring in the fans. UTC should strongly consider their tactics for retaining their coaches.