They all desperately want the students to come though. They'll give them bad seats or price them higher but it is a big problem when the students stop showing up. It's one of the many reasons that Dave Brandon is no longer there.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Michigan was dead wrong on their thoughts about the students and essentially have admitted as much.

Schools want students to come out and fill the stands. Along with the public. They want both.

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oh, NIU is trying at basketball. They just can't get the talent. I do agree they'll be good this year. I really like their coach. The stadium is really too far west, and empties right onto route 38, which is not smart. They're getting ready to tear down some dorms to hopefully ultimately connect the rest of the campus to the convo and the football field, but that's a little ways away.

When I was at NIU they were halfway decent my first year, took an art class with a couple 6'10"ers. but it went downhill from there.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Michigan just drastically cut the price of their student tickets for next season because students don't go. Those students are the ones years from now cutting the big checks to Universities. But I guess you could argue that with all the TV money coming in schools will no longer care about getting money from there alumni.

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I just checked NIU's basketball history and I guess last year they went 15-17 after going 5-25 and 5-26 (?) in previous years. One of Izzo's old assistants is coaching the team now. Maybe they're movin' up!

Haven't made the dance since '96. Wasn't that when @TheKapMan was an assistant coach?

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I went to that game in Richmond. Lost by a basket to Texas Tech.

TJ lux!

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Surprised that NIU BBall can't get more public league talent. Pretty sure there are some future Donald Whiteside's that can be had.

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When they did the first stage remodel of the stadium, they moved the Block I student section from the 35 yard-line to the new stadium end zone section.

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You know me like that.

NIU has really been blessed with QB over the past decade. This current group makes up for that. This is some of the worst D1 quarterbacking I have ever seen.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Donnie can still play...he comes out every once in a while and takes people to the woodshed in city league

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

When I attended in the mid-80's (yeah I know I'm old), NIU was touting the biggest recruit they'd ever brought in...Dennis Douglas from state champion Quincy. Unfortunately he was the far less talented of the Douglas brothers (Bruce starred at U of I). He was fat and slow and picked up the nickname of Dennis Doofus. Ultimately his failure was erased when Kenny Battle came in and began shattering MAC records and backboards. Attendance was actually pretty good for those couple of years.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

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GOB: "My God, what is this feeling?"
Michael: "Could it be love?"
GOB: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite. It's... it's like my heart is getting hard."

You aren't kidding, sister.

One guy can kinda run, one guy can kinda throw but is a statue, and the other guy.........I'm waiting to find the strength of the other guy. But Carey's philosophy of "None of them are good, so lets play all of them every game!" is really pissing me off.

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I really thought Maddie would be a dynamic running option out of the QB position...letdown... you have to stick with Hare at this point but he was missing throws all over the place last night and despite looking extremely goofy, he can run at times and be effective doing so.

They have got to rely on the running game to get to Detroit, Toledo's on their 3rd QB next week coming into Dekalb so that should help, but the fighting boat rowers may be a tough fight to close this thing out

_________________
GOB: "My God, what is this feeling?"
Michael: "Could it be love?"
GOB: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite. It's... it's like my heart is getting hard."

NIU Atttendance this season:

Thursday 8/28 - Presbyterian - 12398 - 76 and cloudy
Saturday 10/4 - Kent State - 15620 - 48 and cloudy
Saturday 10/11 - Central Michigan - 20122 - 60 and sunny
Saturday 10/18 - Miami of Ohio - 11211 - 45 and cloudy

Even going back to the Orange Bowl year - the highest attendance that season at home was 18372 against Kansas.

Ya it's a never ending bitch fest on our board, I think there really is nothing much they can do until they pull in better opponenets....

Being next to Chicago kills it, shame cause if you went to a game, tailgated and attended the game it's a fun experience and pretty damn cheap...

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GOB: "My God, what is this feeling?"
Michael: "Could it be love?"
GOB: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite. It's... it's like my heart is getting hard."

Turn on the Clemson @ Wake game right now.

Maybe half-full, but probably not. One of Wake's biggest home games of the year, in one of the smallest stadiums of all of the P5 schools.

edit: I just saw the other angle. One side is about 3/4 full, the other side is 1/2 full. And I looked at their schedule, this is definitely Wake's biggest home game of the year.

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But all the North Carolina schools except NC State are abysmal football schools, aren't they?

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They are a "big school" playing a HUGE school. And it is not raining.

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I've never claimed to be Mr. College Sports, but I was under the impression that Wake Forest and Duke, and to a lesser extent UNC, were basketball-obsessive with little to no interest in the football side. I would never expect there to be anyone at a Wake Forest game. Maybe I just feel the NIU hype more because I'm in the thick of it, but it seems like there's a big gap between perception and reality. I mean, I knew they weren't selling out the place, but to read that there are only about 10,000 people at NIU games surprised me.

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The scheduling at NIU this year was horrible. Only 3 Saturday games, all in a row in one month, and Presbyrterian (sp?) to open the season on your only Thursday night game. Inexcusable.

My bigger point is that the attendance for the MAC games this week was terrible mainly because it's weeknight games. When the weather sucks in November, that makes it worse. I think that attendance is down for all schools on weeknight games, with the exception of about the top 10%, and schools like Michigan, Alabama, and ND aren't playing on Thursday nights.

Although to be fair, Thursday night is better than Tuesday or Wednesday for games.

NIU's biggest home game of the year is this coming Tuesday. Weather forecast is terrible. No way I would consider going to that game - it's almost strategically impossible and, again, the weather. It will look like a graveyard on TV.

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Our attendance has gradually gone down since i went to NIU. Back in 2003-2005 we were getting pretty good crowds.

The students have generally done a good job showing up. We consistently get 5-6k students despite being a "commuter" school. If you look at our games you will see the East side (where the students sit) is consistently pretty full except for maybe the top corners. The attendance issue is with the local community and general fans on the West side. They aren't showing up and haven't for a while. Yes, the schedule has sucked. Yes, its difficult for fans to travel on a weekday when they have work. But this program has been good for a while. They should be selling out games no matter what.

Hopefully the better amenities in the future proposed upgrades will make the overall experience more enjoyable so the general fan will want to show up. Somehow the athletic department is going to have to convince the community. The DeKalb/Sycamore community has never really embraced NIU or its students.

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NIU Football:
2011, 2012, & 2014 MAC Football Champions

So, this is the day of a huge game for the Huskies, playing the first game of a round robin with Toledo and Western Michigan for the division title. I would at least expect a story in the newspaper and some talk from the board alums.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Huge game for NIU, but I don't trust this team at all.
I fully expect them to lose in front of 2,000 freezing people.

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Leavin the office at 4 to head up to Fatty's for some sodas to warm the soul before heading to the stands! Spank you going?

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GOB: "My God, what is this feeling?"
Michael: "Could it be love?"
GOB: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite. It's... it's like my heart is getting hard."

Nope

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Fred Mitchell from the Chicago Tribune writes lots of articles on NIU. Huskiewire.com is a good place for reporting too. Rockford Star coverage seems to be less than usual.

Just don't know what to expect from this team this year. They are so inconsistent. The defense looks good against Northwestern, Kent State, and Ball State but then completely stinks against UNLV, Miami, and CMU.

Toledo has a really good running back with Kareem Hunt. I wouldn't be surprised if he shreds our D. Hopefully we ride the tails of Cam Stingily and feed him the ball often.

I hear its supposed to be cold back in Illinois.

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NIU Football:
2011, 2012, & 2014 MAC Football Champions

Get some cajun friend potato salad! I miss that stuff!

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NIU Football:
2011, 2012, & 2014 MAC Football Champions

Yes, that stuff was excellent.

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I'm not sure Toledo will score much tonight.
RS Freshman QB making his first ever start on the road in crappy/windy weather. Good luck.

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