To all the football fans...

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Clearly, Duke has a hard-core of knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and frustrated football fans. Anybody who's still on board by this point is pretty hard-core. Folks like Larry Osborne who keep coming year after agonizing year deserve kudos. And sympathy.

Thanks, Jim! I have said for years that going to the football games is my penance for having basketball tickets. But I do love going. I just want us to win.

[jimsumner]

Actually, I do think that rest rooms, concessions, and parking matter. There's a difference between a program that's struggling but trying to get better and a program that's struggling and doesn't seem to much care. Lousy customer service reinforces the perception that Duke doesn't care about football or its fans. By doesn't care, I don't mean the players or the coaches, I mean the administration, the board of trustees, the president.

Even if the die-hards have grown used to this, don't we want to present our best face to visiting teams and fans, media, and yes, recruits and their families? Duke claims to be a world-class university. I think we'd settle for something well under world-class restrooms but something that reflects better on the university and program.

A winning program can more than compensate for running out of pizza in the first quarter. But I would like to elevate the entire package.

[RPS]

ding. ding. we have a winner. put a good product out on the field (ie, a team that wins) and people will show up -- and contrary to what so many people on here believe, it doesn't work the opposite way. the hot dog/bathroom/parking blather that continually gets batted around on here just distracts from the real issues causing duke to be not so good at football.

No one disputes that a winning football team is by far the best way to grow attendance. But you miss some crucial facts. A potenial fan who might consider going to a game (or might even buy a season ticket), especially at the margin and especially with a family, is going to be concerned about the overall experience. I bought Jets season tickets years ago when I lived back east but quickly gave them up because the experience was so lousy, even though the Jets were a good team then. It happens. A good team has a better chance to overcome that, but a poor one -- much less so.

More importantly, a coach in a position like that TR is in -- looking to become competitive -- needs to convince recruits that he can get the job done. Part of doing that is making a good case that he has sufficient support to succeed. Anything that suggests that the university doesn't care and/or doesn't support the program hurts a coach's ability to recruit in a significant way. When a parent brings a recruit to a game at WW, what impressions do you think s/he leaves with?