Football Schedule SUCKS for me!

[Eric]

I just got a look at the 2003 football schedule. In a word, it SUCKS! Not the opponents, but the start times. EXTREMELY FAMILY UNFRIENDLY.

Hofstra advertises itself as "Great Family Entertainment at an Affordable Price", then schedules 4 of their 6 games at 7pm. (My kids go upstairs around 7:45pm, and are in bed by 8:15). The 2 games not at night...Delaware...noon on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and Homecoming, October 11 at 1:30.

Guess I'll be at one game this year. I hope these ****ty times mean that the home games will be televised. (And no, Justin, I don't care if they're broadcast on WRHU or on the web. I don't get WRHU out here, and the webcast is generally fair to poor.)

[CTBob]

Agree Eric. Its amazing that the one game that should be at night (Rosh Hashanah) is at 12:00.
I dont have the same problem with the kids as you do, so I usually dont mind the night games. Also less traffic for me getting home at 10:00. But the Rosh Hashanah time is perplexing. It would be different if all the games were during the day; but as long as a majority are at night, why not this one?

[Justin]

Well looks like only the UD game is the one I won't be in studio for. And Eric, please PM me with your comments about the webcast. Usually it works for most people so if we can do anything to fix it to make it better for you. Do other people who live in Suffolk have the same problem?

We've gotten calls from all over the US and the WORLD with people who have been able to listen to the webcast so don't know why it does not work very well for you.

I like the 7 pm start time. Don't have to get up early and people will be awake after getting trashed the night before and will be at the game before getting trashed again. Also since it's over by 10 pm, lot's of time to go out after and do stuff! :D

AND AS ALWAYS, WRHU WILL BRING YOU ALL THE GAMES THIS YEAR-HOME AND AWAY ON THE HOME FOR HOFSTRA SPORTS, 88.7 FM WRHU!!!!!!!

[Justin]

All the times for the home games are in the football brochure I posted a while ago:

University of Maine-7 pm

Elon College-7 pm

University of Delaware-noon

Northeastern University-1:30 pm

University of New Hampshire-7 pm

Villanova-7 pm

[Justin]

IF IT'S ON TV, WATCH IT WITH THE SOUND OFF AND YOUR RADIO TUNED TO 88.7 FM, WRHU OR THE WEBCAST AT WRHU.ORG!!!!!

[stuball888]

Still what I dont understand is how the university with a jewish president, schedule a game on Rosh Hashana.

[Eric]

IF IT'S ON TV, WATCH IT WITH THE SOUND OFF AND YOUR RADIO TUNED TO 88.7 FM, WRHU OR THE WEBCAST AT WRHU.ORG!!!!!

Except the webcast is 30 seconds or so behind the TV broadcast...not to mention the worse sound though my computer speakers than my TV and my TV doesn't constantly cut out the sound while "buffering"...

[The Bottom Line]

i have to sympathize for the members of the DUTCH NATION who have family committments and kids that will prevent them from enjoying the games; now we'll be down to 231 people at the games.

so you guys are wondering why they need a new a.d.?

i don't think they have in mind that some people are jewish; pro football has been played on christmas eve in the past if i can recall correctly... and having a jewish prez isn't the end-all for scheduling games. remember, there is another team involved on the other side of the field. sorry folks. if you want to complain, complain about not having jewish holidays off from work- as a catholic i'm pining for that equality.

if i'm to look at the brighter side of this, let's assume that summer runs late and we can avoid some sweltering games early on with maine and elon. also, it's better for tailgating, as "dinner" will be served out in the lots instead of brunches.

Not to sound, what is the word I'm looking for, unsympathetic I guess....but THIS IS NOT A JEWISH SCHOOL PEOPLE!!!!!!

Cry me a lake about some holiday. New Years Day is a National Holiday and they play football games. I even think I remember some football games (pro) being played on Christmas. (Definitely the NBA has games on Christmas day).

If we were Yeshiva, yes, I agree, we shouldn't be playing on the Jewish Holidays, but come on people.

This is a private, secular school. Hofstra really doesn't have to give any heed to any religous observance. I was shocked when I first got to Hofstra that I had a 4 day weekend because of the Jewish Holidays. Not only had I never heard of any of them coming from Central California, but I started to ask if we were a Jewish School!!?? To throw more salt in the wound, I soon learned we wouldn't observe Columbus day? Jewish Holiday's but not the celebration of the discovery of the "New World"? I thought we had Dutch founders? Jewish Dutch? I guess there are some, no doubt, but not the norm. I mean, I have a few orthodox Jewish friends, and if we started to observe those Holidays we would cut our seasons in half pretty much.

I say, play on! Night, day, Jewish holiday or not.

(And I say this with my favorite Uncle being a Jew from West Hartford, CT.)

[JoeyBagODonuts]

time for some new speakers, Eric :idea:

[Eric]

"D"

We know this is not a "Jewish" School (though there are certainly a lot of Jews at Hofstra, and in the NY Metro Area). However, it's a valid complaint that one of the two games NOT at 7pm has to be the first day of Rosh Hashanah. It would be nice if they HAD to schedule a game on the holiday, that they schedule it at night...but considering that they have a bye week the next week, one wonders why they had to play on the holiday...it's not like they have to play every weekend, like MLB...

It's just par for the course from the U sometimes. I remember a few years ago when Hofstra GOLD (Graduates of the last decade) decided to go to a Yankees game. There are 13 home weekends in a baseball season...plenty of dates to choose from...and what did they pick? You got it...Rosh Hashanah. :roll:

But my chief complaint is all the 7pm games. I might make it to one game besides Homecoming, since my father has expressed interest in attending a game, but let's face it, most people with young kids are not looking to be out until 10:00 or 10:30 with them, then getting them to bed at around 11:00pm. (And kids or not...I don't know many wives whose idea of going out on Saturday night is going to a Hofstra football game)

I've said for years that a perfect game time would be 4:00 or 4:30pm...tailgating starting around 1:00 or so, and it would be over by 7:30, kids in bed by 8:00...or for other people, not killing their entire Saturday night. Go to the game, and then a late dinner, even.

HU uses the slogan "Great Family Entertainment at an Affordable Price", which it is...but not at 10:00PM!

I am sympathtic to people with families. And I definitely agree that a 4:30 game (like the NFL has) is a perfect time.

But I'm sticking to my guns on the Jewish Holiday issue. If we were a Jewish chartered school, then OK. But we're not...so that's the way it goes.

[Eric]

But I'm sticking to my guns on the Jewish Holiday issue. If we were a Jewish chartered school, then OK. But we're not...so that's the way it goes.

True...and I wouldn't care so much if it wasn't for the fact that I won't be able to attend most of the other games because of the start times...if the other games were at 1:30 or whenever, I wouldn't care about the UD game...I only pointed out it was on Rosh Hashana in my first post b/c I knew someone would ask why I wouldn't be going to the UD game if it was during the afternoon.... :)

[The Bottom Line]

i regretfully have to side with alex on this one. if nebraska has the same schedule in terms of game time, do you think they'd be pissed out in the heartland? let's not let our faiths slant our outlook on the big picture.

perhaps religion and football don't mix, but who said they had to? we've got choices in life, and that even extends out to being able to make it to a football game, temple or church (alright, i do consider one hundred yards of green grass a sacred ground...)

what about... babysitters? granted, a football game may not be the ideal date, but are we so attached at the hip that we can't spend a few hours away from the ladies on a saturday night? (please remember i posted this the first time i miss a game so i can have a nice slice of hypocracy next fall)

you can't please all the people all the time; so we might as well take it out on the married jewish people with children :wink:

[JoeyBagODonuts]

You can't compare Hofstra and Nebraska.
Nebraska can schedule their games at 3:00 in the morning and still sell out (as they have every game since 1962).

Hofstra needs to be a little more creative in EVERYTHING it does (game times, promotions, etc.), in order to encourage as many people as possible to attend games, not to discourage them.

I don't think the point is that they shouldn't play on a Jewish holiday. The point is that Hofstra needs to avoid scheduling games at such times that it will discourage a large percentage of it's not-too-large fan base from attending.

[il suo mama]

The point is that Hofstra needs to avoid scheduling games at such times that it will discourage a large percentage of it's not-too-large fan base from attending.

think about it...........that's what they did!

as evidenced by the poor attendance at early games the last two years, they are trying to make changes for the better.

looks like a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

and p.s. TBL won't be missing any games in the future since his lovely better half is becoming as die hard as the rest of us! :)

"Regretfully agree" See...was that so hard TBL? LOL

[The Bottom Line]

the question, alex, is if you'd have phrased your post the same if i'd posted before you...lol.

joey, hofstra could schedule a game at 3 in the morning... and still get the same attendance as if they scheduled at every other possible time as they've done in the past. so yes, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[JoeyBagODonuts]

Personally, it would probably be EASIER for me to attend games at 3:00 in the morning. I would still get home before the kids are up for breakfast.
But I certainly am in the minority on THAT one.

[Eric]

I'm with ya Joe! 3:00am games!!! I get up at 4:30 most days anyway so what's the difference? :lol:

Even 3:00am on Rosh Hashanah...go from the game to the Temple and sleep through the Rabbi's sermon like most people do anyway. :D

[CTBob]

This discussion of religion is starting to make me a little uncomfortable - but the issue was never if there should be a game or not. It was why when all the other games were at night (except for Homecoming), was this one on this Holiday was scheduled for 12:00. And I think that's a question I would like someone at the school to answer.

[The Bottom Line]

jesus christ, let's call in al sharpton, jesse jackson and joseph lieberman. the scheduling isn't to our liking, what an outrage. and this discussion about religion- all this anti-semitism is alarming; we should have the nassau county district attourney investigate us all.

[Eric]

This discussion of religion is starting to make me a little uncomfortable - but the issue was never if there should be a game or not. It was why when all the other games were at night (except for Homecoming), was this one on this Holiday was scheduled for 12:00. And I think that's a question I would like someone at the school to answer.

Actually, my original issue was why are most of the games at 7pm? It just happened that one of the two games NOT at night is Rosh Hashanah...and like I said, I only mentioned that game, because when I was complaining about the late start times, and how I would probably only make it to one game this year, that the reason I couldn't make the other afternoon game was for religious reasons...I don't care if they play on Rosh Hashanah or not...or if the game is during the day or night that day...just makes no sense (to me) to have all night games, except homecoming and that one...

I can't remember them ever scheduling night games in November...for a place advertising "Great Family Entertainment at an Affordable Price", having games at night is not family-conducive. Even if my kids were a little older, I wouldn't keep them out until 11:00 at night. All i can do is hope this schedule backfires on them, and they go back to mostly day games in 2004.

Since Jacob likes going to FB games, and Jane went to CW Post, maybe we'll head over to Post for some games this year...all of their home games are at 1:00pm.

[JoeyBagODonuts]

Most of Stony Brook's home games are at 6:00 this coming season, with one game (homecoming, perhaps?) at 4:00.

Just for fun (and to beat our favorite dead horse some more), I checked out their attendance figures from last season:

<pre>
9/14 6:00 8136 sunny & 65
9/28 6:00 6331 clear & 73
10/19 4:00 6472 cloudy & 56
11/9 1:00 4672 sunny & 68
11/16 1:00 1767 rain & 52
</pre>

So, their only game with bad (that is, less than Hofstra's average) attendance, was for a rainy day in mid November.

On Thursday, June 12, they are having a pre-Father's Day Family Nite at South Shore Mall in Bay Shore. One of the things going on is that the Seawolf mascot will be there, giving away FREE football tickets (while supplies last). Why doesn't Hofstra do stuff like this :?: :!: :?: :!: :?: :!: :!:

[Eric]

Good info, Joe!

Though remember, last year was the first one in their new stadium, which would probably account for much of the high attendance.

As for your question...I think we all know the answer to that one. ;)

[JoeyBagODonuts]

I just looked at the Hofstra site to compare attendance stats.
The only day that both HU and USB played at home was Nov. 9.

Both games started at 1:00
USB drew 4672
HU drew 3235

Here's the odd part:
USB reported the game-time weather as Sunny & 68
HU reported the game-time weather as Partly Cloudy & 57

I guess we can attribute the attendance difference to:
1) New stadium at USB
2) HU had a 3-6 record going into the game. USB had a 6-2 record.
3) The weather is apparently much nicer in Stony Brook than in Hempstead.

[il suo mama]

neigh........neigh......cough/cough.........neigh

thunk

[Booker]

thank you, but this horse died so long ago hat there is nothing left for the vultures to feast on.

It is a parents perogative as to when they want there kids up until. Maybe everyone witha beef can send harry, and the A-10 letters of when exactly they are available and they can schedule the games around your day.

With high school games, and the plethora of college games on LI, this gives HU some added advantage in getting some more people in the stands. People who are really into football can go to an early game and catch a late game. people can also go about their day (shopping, yard work, etc...) and still get out to a game. Will it work,who knows, but can it get much worse than what we have. People don't show up at Noon, 1, 3, 4 so lets try 7 p.m. Didn't we play at 7 against Delaware in 2000? We had a pretty good crowd (1/2 Hen Fans) for that.

Some people will never be pleased with anything.

[The Bottom Line]

the horse's corpse is starting to stink.

let's just be greatful that we have football to watch here in the DUTCH NATION. there will be no more football being played by that school in jamaica on utopia parkway; perhaps their fans can come out to watch some. could you imagine your team being taken away?

[stuball888]

Bookers right! I am all for the later games. At 7pm we can still have an evening out. We can start the tailgates at 5PM and really get into the art of burning animal flesh! Lets give it a try because attendence cant get much worse.

[JoeyBagODonuts]

Upon further review, I say "Let's go for it" too.
I was thinking that our evening games had been at Noon and 7:00 already, but they've been primarily at 1:30 and 6:00 recently.

At 7:00, I may actually be able to get the kids to bed early and then head out to the Stadium.

I am not particularly fond of Noon, as it leads to breakfasty-type tailgates (hey, there's always room for doughnuts, though!), but in looking at attendance numbers the past couple of years, they seem to be better at Noon than at 1:30.
(considering we haven't drawn over 3300 at a 1:30 game the past 2 years, it has to be an improvement)

I think the earlier question, though, is whether the administration realized it was a holy day when they set the time of the Delaware game. Not because "they shouldn't play on Rosh Hashanah" but because "there is a significant percentage of fans who will not be able to attend a game on Rosh Hashanah, and we need all the fans we can get"

[AbsolutBlueHen]

C'mon now, guys, how much family fun can a butt-kicking from the Hens be? Just kidding. You can't use the scheduling conflicting with religion as a factor here. Next, some of the 132 Hofstra fans will tell us it's because Long Island is Mastercard country.

[Rob]

havent they tried all the differnt times you all want already?

[Eric]

Well you guys have convinced me. 7pm games are a stroke of genius. We'll sell out the stadium 6 times now. I edited the thread title to reflect what I really meant. :roll:

Cuz you know, 13000 people have been staying away from games because they want to go to the mall and cut the grass in the afternoon, and go to Hofstra games at night.

We all know that there are a core group of fans that will go no matter what time the games are...Noon, 1:30, 6:00, 7:00 or 3:00am. What they need to do is promote the games and market the team, which is another subject thats been beaten to death too. But hell, with 7pm games, they can forget all that cuz this is what we've needed all along! :roll:

[stuball888]

This horse is dead. Send it to the glue factory! LOCK THIS THREAD! I cant stand it no more! :roll: :wink:

[Uncle Buck]

(And kids or not...I don't know many wives whose idea of going out on Saturday night is going to a Hofstra football game)


Eric, this may not be so bad. Take the wife and kids out all day on Saturday, i mean really get them spent. Then, after dinner, give the kids a bath, shortly after it's bed time for them, and bang, your eating hot dogs and watching football by 7pm. Sure the kids don't get to go, but look at it this way, none of those annoying bathroom breaks every ten minutes.

Kristen can have me all day, then wham, i get football in the evening. Then again, i had it written into my pre-nuptial that football and oxygen would be treated equally, i need both to live.

[The Bottom Line]

for those of you who think he's crazy, uncle buck forbode me from arranging any of my subsequent marriage plans during the season.

however, he did not, unlike junior seau, name his children "heisman" and "trojan".... though it was a struggle as his wife and myself had to talk him out of it in the nursery.

welcome back, dutch. have a seat and stick around for awhile.

[Eric]

however, he did not, unlike junior seau, name his children "heisman" and "trojan".... though it was a struggle as his wife and myself had to talk him out of it in the nursery.

...besides , they'd be silly names for a girl. :lol:

[Booker]

Nobody expects a sellout at 7:00 p.m. I was just giving some reasons why 7 is a good start time.

As far as marketing the team goes, what can really be done? I have said it before...if you don't know about Hofstra's athletic program and the success it has had in some sports, then you have not been paying attention.

Combine that with the generally apathetic student body and majority of alumni (apathetic students become apathetic alums) and you have crappy attendance.

If student services/spirit support/athletics can get students interested, there wouldn't be an attendance problem.

I agree, the root problem is with the students.

But still, there are plenty in the community (Nassau County has 2 Million People) that can be marketed to to squeeze out at least 10,000 a game.

Home Lacrosse games should have much greater attendance...why don't they?

Again, the University doesn't market to its own students (I've had plenty of people at the Bersar's office and Admissions tell me the only thing Hofstra [upper administration] cares about from its students is whether they pay or not. I've had some personal experiences to back that up as well), which has to be least half of the focus to turn this tide of apathy. But doing absolutely nothing (or near nothing) in an area as wealthy and populous as Nassau county is inexcusable.

[The Bottom Line]

how many of us here wouldn't give a hoot about hofstra sports if we didn't know someone who plays/played for them? (stugots- put your hand up). come on, there are kids out there who could tell you more about teams in the pac-10 than they could about teams that play 10 minutes from their big-screen tv's.

the marketing here is non-existent, and the school does a great job of alienating themselves from the general public with their country club mentality... outside of their drive for collecting tuition, of course, as our administrator states.

for that, every time i see a piece of mail from hofstra university take up space in my mailbox, it goes quickly into the trash like yesterday's news. football tickets are the only time i'll spend a nickel on those greedy bastards. geez, i'm not even an alum!... so now multiply that feeling out by the thousands of local alums who probably do the same; then factor in the country club mentality of an institution that feels it is not necessary to market (or would make excuses that it doesn't have the budget to do so...), and poof! 3,400 at a game!

when this place decides it needs to start spending more time paying attention to the folks outside of the black iron gates that wall themselves in/keep others out, then you'll see some response from the community, and hence some trickle-down effects to the attendance.

hmmm... how you wish they read these boards and actually heed the complaints....

[Eric]

As far as marketing the team goes, what can really be done? I have said it before...if you don't know about Hofstra's athletic program and the success it has had in some sports, then you have not been paying attention.

We've hashed out what can be done for years. I'll give you an example from personal experience.

When I was a student, I was involved (to say the least) with the Screaming Dutchmen. Every semester we had 3 big weekend parties at Hofstra USA, plus 2x a month, smaller events on Thursday nights as fundraisers. Well, one year, "USA" was pretty dead. Most events not sponsored by a fraternity/sorority were very poorly attended. (One of our events drew less than 100 people). We had one of our big parties coming up and had shelled out $2200 for a band. We knew we were in trouble if we didn't sell out (1000 people) USA. (We were limited to a $3 cover charge for a band). So we printed up 1/4 page fliers and stuck one on every single door in the res. halls. We hung up full page fliers in the bathroom stalls. We printed fliers in mirror-image format and hung them on bathroom walls so when people were shaving/brushing their teeth and looking in the mirror, they appeared legible.

Come Saturday night, we were nervous as hell. Our budget was on the line. Well...9:00 comes...we look outside the doors...and there's a line stretching from the door to the street. We got our 1000 people, and had to turn away people at the door!

Now...what does the U do for games? Post a sign on the Student Center marquee? You have to reach out to students. Send a schedule card to every alum living in a 20-mile radius of campus, with a coupon for "buy one get one free" tickets, or hot dogs, or a free game program. I actually had one person in the administration tell me that "they put the information on the web site, we can't force people to go there and read it."

Believe me...there's a LOT they can do. :)

Great story Eric.

This is going back to earlier threads...but I'm all for Harry getting out of there. Shake things up, new mentality, out with the old, in with the new.

The staus quo is hurting our recruiting, no doubt, and we need to stay competitive. The U has the money..they have tons of it, don't let anyone tell you differently.

[stuball888]

TBL I was attending games before I knew anyone on the team. But yeah we do have problems with attendence. One thing I would is have students who are taking marketing or mass communications a group[ assignment on how to increase attendence at the games. Give them a budget and let them fly with it. See what the outcome is. You get some students involved at a minimal cost.

Good idea Stu...and I don't know anyone on any of the teams and I still follow them. It has to be seen as a community event, just like anywhere else where there is a following for college athletics.

[The Bottom Line]

stugots, your kids went/will go to hofstra; you have a vested interest to show up until they take your key to the hofstra arena away. i have a feeling one day a long while ago you got lost on your way to a cw post game and found yourself in hempstead.... and have never left. btw, the people who run the student center want you to stop taking all the sugar packets and spoons from the cafeteria every morning.

alex, you were an athlete here once... of course you're going to follow them. it's not like any of us randomly decided to follow kings point soccer; we have ties to this place in one way or another... myself through uncle buck, the greatest living 300 lb+ running back in school history.

True TBL, but I do know plenty of my baseball bretheren who don't at all...so its not a guarantee, although one would hope it would be.

[The Bottom Line]

that's a damn shame if the alum don't keep ties or follow the squad later on. then again, with the current vintage, there's not much to follow. it's like being a met fan.

one benefit of football season is that games are on the weekend, enabling any former players in the area to make their way out without being bothered by work.

with hoops and other sports, you can't say the same since the games are weeknights for the most part. still, seeing former players doesn't consititute a fan base. some work needs to be done, and if a new a.d. is in the near future, you may see some efforts to reign in the fans.