Softball Apathy

[CajunSaint08]

You cannot look at the stands for baseball and softball and not see a big drop in actual attendance. You guys can sugar coat it any way you want, but actual attendance in stick sports -- the ones that are supposedly immune to Martin Hall's influence -- is pretty poor.

And don't you think the present economy should be a direct reflection on attendance? People don't have the discretionary income to be spending on college sports, especially in this town. Unfortunately, that means baseball and softball, which generally have no issues having maxed out crowds, will suffer, regardless of how well they are presently doing. Though I personally have not made every baseball and softball game, I have never missed listening on the radio or watching the website (or stick figures). Though my financial support has weaned, my spiritual support is as strong as ever.

Basketball is another story. I will watch the website and happy when they win, but have not been to a game since 2018, and will not until there is change....

[SlickRick]

Good point on the economic impact on attendance.

[CajunSID]

Whether you want to admit it or not, that "plenty" number is dropping fast

6th in the country in attendance last year dude. 6th.

[SlickRick]

6th in the country in attendance last year dude. 6th.

Great, but it's the butts in the seats. That number is down.

[R1Letterman]

I think there’s some truth to this. Have to admit, when I was a student here in the mid-90’s, I was all about football, basketball and baseball.

I knew the softball program was good, but I never went to a game. It was only until I started working in athletics and with Coach Girouard that I truly appreciated and supported them.

Since nobody on this board played softball (fastpitch not beer league!), unless you had a daughter or relative who played it, hard to associate with it.

It is the most consistent program UL has and Girouard, the Lotiefs and Glasco did/are doing an amazing job keeping it a perennial top 25 program.

I was also in mid 90s. Softball was so good that i often remember trying to get the game just to arrive a little late and be told, its over, mercy rule.

[Turbine]

I'm not saying Cajuns fans don't care about softball.. I'm saying there are far fewer Cajuns softball fans than you think, and the number drops off more every year.

How many years are you saying this has been happening? "every year"

When did it start?

[R1Letterman]

UCLA, arguably the most storied softball program in all of history, DID NOT have their games on the radio the way cajuns do.
We decry being a small market but one could argue their are some advantages.... also their neighbor and conf mate, USC does not even have a team

[BeauCajun]

Great, but it's the butts in the seats. That number is down.

Agree. I’ll give an example. Our row in 207 has about 15 seats. I’m the youngest on my row at 65 y/o. Only 3 of us are at every game.

[SMD7636]

Join softball's social media. They do a great job of fan engagement. Best at Louisiana!

[RaginScotsman]

We did accomplish what 71 some odd teams before us couldn’t do over the last year - beat OU. Now was that a 1 in 10 situation? Maybe. But if we win one game in the WCWS, you finish no worse than 6th in the running for a national championship. Only one non softball sport at UL has even sniffed that.

[ragin50]

6th in the country in attendance last year dude. 6th.

You are correct, the fan support is still very good. Something to consider going forward to attract younger fans and fans in general are the ticket prices. We have one of, if not the highest softball ticket prices in the country. I know some who have stopped buying season tickets because of the high cost.

[RedBug58]

I am a bit puzzled about the apparentapathy on this board as applied to our Softball team.

We have been in one or more top 25 polls just about all season. We have a win which broke a 71 game winning streak over the three time defending national Champs on their home field.

Besides OU, we have top 25 wins over Baylor and Cal. We also have games against Stanford and Texas, both in the Top 10 and Mississippi State, also in the Top 25.

Yes, we have 13 losses. OU, Stanford [2], Texas [2], Baylor [2], California and Mississippi State [2], all in the Top 25 RPI, Miami [33], Louisiana Tech [38] and Liberty [47].

No other team in the country played as tough a non conference schedule as UL and we still have 2 games left with LSU [5] and one with McNeese [37].

We are 9-0 in conference, including a 3 game road sweep of South Alabama [41], and have upcoming series with JMU [52] and Texas State [12].

This team is fun to watch, very talented and a serious National power.

Yet we can't get more than 2-4 pages on a game thread.

What's going on?

It’s not as bad as you think. I rarely post, but I follow this thread during the game. Look at the people following the thread during the game, it’s a ton. I make 8-10 games a season. I use to get one of those punch cards every year when I was coaching so I could bring in my little girls teams. I wish they still offered the punch cards.