Away Games this Season

[lehigh90Participant]

I usually like to get to a couple away games each season, particularly those schools that draw well at home. Those games can be more exciting than Stabler, which has been very disappointing lately. My saddest Lehigh moment was when Lehigh beat Lafayette recently to make the tourney, and Lehigh was on Spring Break, and Lafayette had the overwhelming majority of fans. When did the students stop showing up?

My usual trips are not on the schedule this season:

Rider – tiny gym of 1500 that can sell out and gets loud
Princeton – nice atmosphere, although crowds way off, lately
Big 5 (St. Joe’s last year, Penn, Drexel, etc)

I was pretty disappointed at NJIT last season (middle school gym 200 fans), and Lafayette had a really small crowd, when Lehigh won there.

Can anybody recommend some good away games that will draw a good crowd and create a good college game experience for myself and my kids. I can’t make FDU tonight, but I would think that will be a museum atmosphere. Looking at the schedule, I would think the best bets would be Fordham and St. Peter’s in the early going (both have proud traditions). I can’t think Bryant or Wagner would be that great. Cornell and the Virginia games are too far.

Then in the PL, has anyone seen away games at Bucknell, Army, Navy or American? I would think Bucknell has a great atmosphere. That might be worth the drive. Colgate is too far and pretty down (although I like new coaching hire there), HC is too far. Lafayette, I know from going many times. Thanks in advance for any info.

[LU65Participant]

Sad, sad, sad…..I share your disappointment in the attendance numbers, especially ours in light of the CJ era.
Here’s a look at the numbers from last year.

Average Home Attendance (2010-11 Season)

LU’s OOC Opponents in 2011-12

Iowa St 12,102
St. John’s 8,431 (including all venues)
FDU 785
Liberty 2,819 *
Fordham 1,938
Cornell 2,307
Wagner 1,528
Michigan St. 14,747
St. Peter’s 886
Bryant Not Available
• Site of 2K Classis Sub-regional where LU will face W&M, Liberty, and E. Kentucky

PL (all games – OOC and PL)

Bucknell 3,191
Navy 2,397
American 1,929
Holy Cross 1,830
Lafayette 1,614
Army 1,245
Lehigh 931
Colgate 628

I’ll be at the Rothman Center tonight for the FDU game. Will report findings tomorrow. Since it’s their home opener and a “new-look” team full of transfers I’m expecting something north of 1,000. Still not great.

Highly recommend a trip to Bucknell and the two military academies – especially when combined with tours of the grounds, parade, etc. No reason to head north to Colgate. Should Holy Cross get it going this year, the Hart Center can be fun.

[Bison137Participant]

Yes, Bucknell would definitely be the first choice. If BU and LU are as good as I expect this year, then that game will be sold out and raucous. Army is nice as far as touring West Point, but they will likely have less than 1000 fans (virtually no cadets) in a 5000+ seat arena. Navy is a better choice as far as the game environment – although also unlikely to have many Mids. Colgate definitely is not worth the trip. Their true average crowd is likely less than 400 and Cotterell is similar to your local H.S. gym, only larger. AU and especially HC have good crowds when they’re winning. Not much when they’re losing. HC this year would be a far better trip than AU.

[Bison137Participant]

"lehigh90" wrote:

When did the students stop showing up?

To be honest, in 1993. Since then only one season (1995) has seen the inflated official average attendance get above 1600+. Disappointing that the good LU teams of this decade have only had official attendances of 1200-1600 (real attendance often lower). Last year was the most disappointing.

In modern history, LU has only had two years with official average attendance above 2100: 1988 and 1992. Only two other years above 1765.

[lehigh90Participant]

Thanks for the replies. Definitely Bucknell and Army, Navy, and American, which is what I had thought for the most part.

I remember Lehigh drawing good crowds in the late 80’s with Queenan and Polaha, and continuing to draw with the Mbonu and Krisansky teams that followed. That was pre-PL ECC games, and you had some good teams in the league with Drexel and Michael Anderson and some good Towson teams. In those years, the fraternities all pretty much had a contingent that came to the home games, and some who travelled to tournament games. Also, local alums always had a presence. I moved far away in the mid 90’s and rarely saw any games. When I got back to the area in the early 2000’s, the mood at Stabler was gone. I guess the Dave Duke and, especially, Sal M eras will do that. It seemed a little livelier in the Billy Taylor years, at least the year he took them to the tourney. But, it is rare now to see more than 100 students at a game, which is pathetic. Football draws pretty well it seems, but the teams have been stronger. I don’t know about wrestling matches, but they drew well from my memory. Makes you wonder how they get any players to go there. Go to a game for your official visit, and probably get less fans than their high school games. Frustrating.

[Bison137Participant]

"lehigh90" wrote: Thanks for the replies. Definitely Bucknell and Army, Navy, and American, which is what I had thought for the most part.

I remember Lehigh drawing good crowds in the late 80’s with Queenan and Polaha, and continuing to draw with the Mbonu and Krisansky teams that followed. That was pre-PL ECC games, and you had some good teams in the league with Drexel and Michael Anderson and some good Towson teams. In those years, the fraternities all pretty much had a contingent that came to the home games, and some who travelled to tournament games. Also, local alums always had a presence. I moved far away in the mid 90’s and rarely saw any games. When I got back to the area in the early 2000’s, the mood at Stabler was gone. I guess the Dave Duke and, especially, Sal M eras will do that. It seemed a little livelier in the Billy Taylor years, at least the year he took them to the tourney. But, it is rare now to see more than 100 students at a game, which is pathetic. Football draws pretty well it seems, but the teams have been stronger. I don’t know about wrestling matches, but they drew well from my memory. Makes you wonder how they get any players to go there. Go to a game for your official visit, and probably get less fans than their high school games. Frustrating.

Here are official average attendance figures from 1985-2000, starting with 1985:

1015
1124
1471
2339 (1988)
1556
2097
2077
2827 (1992)
1406
1459
1765 (1995)
1028
1140
1406
931
1129 (2000)

If it is anythigng like today, some of the figures are overstated.

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