Fans need to be 'electrifying' all the time
Off the foul Pohl
Bart Pohlman
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Sports
After Arkansas' last-second 74-72 loss to Tennessee Wednesday night, one number seemed to jump off the stat sheet.
Estimated Attendance: 15,055.
For those who don't exactly excel in mathematics, that's more than 4,000 empty seats in Bud Walton Arena.
That's not good, especially when the Razorbacks were playing their biggest conference game of the season.
Granted, the fans in attendance were loud and into the game, and they tried as hard as they could to carry the Razorbacks to victory.
But think how much louder the arena would have been if all 19,368 seats had been filled with screaming Hog fans.
It's not like it hasn't ever happened.
When the arena first opened in 1993, sellouts didn't happen every once in a blue moon. In fact, the average attendance in that first season was 20,134 - nearly 1,000 more than the arena's original capacity of 19,200.
For the Oklahoma game this season, a crowd of 19,604 cheered the Hogs on to victory.
Against Texas, a slightly less than capacity crowd of 19,012 watched Arkansas defeat a bitter rival.
But then Arkansas hit Southeastern Conference play, and the losses started coming.
And as the losses came, so went the fans.
Attendance has dwindled throughout SEC play, which doesn't exactly help lead the Hogs to victory.
The atmosphere during the Alabama game was certainly eerie - only 14,157 people were in attendance because of the ice storm - but it was also electric.
The student section was so energetic, it prompted Pelphrey to write a letter to the editor to the Traveler thanking students for supporting the team despite the hardships that accompanied the ice storm.
This season, the student section has been far more energetic than in years past. It appears to be filled to capacity for every game.
It's a shame the rest of the arena doesn't always fill out in the same way.
Part of being a fan is supporting your team through the ups, downs and everything-in-betweens, not just during the ups.
Estimated Attendance: 15,055.
For those who don't exactly excel in mathematics, that's more than 4,000 empty seats in Bud Walton Arena.
That's not good, especially when the Razorbacks were playing their biggest conference game of the season.
Granted, the fans in attendance were loud and into the game, and they tried as hard as they could to carry the Razorbacks to victory.
But think how much louder the arena would have been if all 19,368 seats had been filled with screaming Hog fans.
It's not like it hasn't ever happened.
When the arena first opened in 1993, sellouts didn't happen every once in a blue moon. In fact, the average attendance in that first season was 20,134 - nearly 1,000 more than the arena's original capacity of 19,200.
For the Oklahoma game this season, a crowd of 19,604 cheered the Hogs on to victory.
Against Texas, a slightly less than capacity crowd of 19,012 watched Arkansas defeat a bitter rival.
But then Arkansas hit Southeastern Conference play, and the losses started coming.
And as the losses came, so went the fans.
Attendance has dwindled throughout SEC play, which doesn't exactly help lead the Hogs to victory.
The atmosphere during the Alabama game was certainly eerie - only 14,157 people were in attendance because of the ice storm - but it was also electric.
The student section was so energetic, it prompted Pelphrey to write a letter to the editor to the Traveler thanking students for supporting the team despite the hardships that accompanied the ice storm.
This season, the student section has been far more energetic than in years past. It appears to be filled to capacity for every game.
It's a shame the rest of the arena doesn't always fill out in the same way.
Part of being a fan is supporting your team through the ups, downs and everything-in-betweens, not just during the ups.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brian
posted 2/06/09 @ 12:15 AM CST
come on, get real. as long as a team is winning less than 20% of their conference games and only 1 of 3 at home the fans ain't gonna be there. first the teams have to earn the fans, not the other way around. (Continued…)
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