It’s been said before. We’re not saying anything new. Our sports writers have written about it, the athletic department has attempted to address it and nothing has worked.
It’s been mentioned and discussed on message boards like ay-ziggy-zoomba.com, and even the most rabid Falcon fans have actually said they’ve given up.
Bowling Green’s major sports — football especially — could be the best teams in the nation with the worst fan base. Saturday’s game against Division 1-AA Liberty drew a paltry 13,906, a week after quarterback Josh Harris led the Falcons to the unthinkable, a 27-26 last-minute win over then-No. 16 Purdue, which brought the football team some much deserved national attention.
We’ve heard the excuses: Liberty was a small school, and the result — a big Bowling Green victory — was inevitable. But statistics often tell the whole story: 1-1 Central Michigan, a team that will likely get hammered when they come to the Doyt for Homecoming, drew 12,128 against Eastern Kentucky. They nearly lost. Buffalo — Buffalo! — drew 20,324 for a humiliating loss to hapless Colgate. Kent State played a Division 1-AA team in Youngstown State, and drew 20,172.
Yes, a Youngstown State-Kent State matchup outdrew a game involving a team that was ranked 16th in the nation at one time last year.
The Falcons are a much better team than Buffalo, Central Michigan and Kent, but let’s play Devil’s Advocate. CMU, UB or Kent ends at 11-1 and 7-1 in the MAC. The Seattle Bowl is looking for a MAC team to play against Washington. Who will they take? Marshall and Toledo are taken. Who will they take? Probably the team with the best attendance.
Anyone who is not naive will admit that attendance is involved in a sick cycle in big-money, big-time college athletics. 6-6 Big 10 schools will go to a bowl game and receive a large paycheck over a 10-2 Bowling Green team who happened to not win their conference and can only draw 13, 906 for a game.
From there, BG will not receive the exposure they deserve, outstanding players like Josh Harris will continue to be passed over for late-season awards and the program will continue to struggle in scheduling, recruiting and will continue to be hampered by financial problems. No one is expecting the BG fan base to rival Ohio State’s overnight, but this campus, as well as the community surrounding it, is capable of giving its teams the support they are worthy of.
