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#1 in Attendance ?


Cheese Head

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I'm pretty good at math. UW averaged 11,431 fans in a building that seats 15,237. That's an impressive 75 percent of capacity. Way to pack the place.

I did my part, I went to two games at the Kohl Center.

I suspect UND beating UW in attendance will continue to be the exception rather than the rule in the future. UND selling to capacity because of a very new arena coincided with UW having an awful season as the warm glow has worn off their newish building. Until someone builds something bigger, I would still expect UW to lead the NCAA in attendance most years in the medium-term future (unless UW stays a cellar-dweller).

For now, I'm quite happy to see UND packing in over twice as many fans per game as they did just 6-7 years ago, and being #1 is a great testament to the building, its staff, and the team. While the joke is that there's nothing else to do in G.F. on a Friday night, making it "the event" in town was not a sure thing; going to the hockey games was something only a few thousand people did on Friday nights when I last lived there in the early 90s.

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And we stunk last year!

It is good that you can admit that the Badgers stank last year. As for leading the country in average attendance while putting a crappy team on the ice, my guess is the Badgers will have a shot again this year to prove that last year wasn't a fluke.

Although the Badgers have a great incoming class and can do nothing but improve upon last year, I am not expecting much from them again this season.

A lot of Badger fans have deluded themselves (at least from what I have read) into thinking that their freshmen will turn the program around THIS season.

Suter is their only freshman that will have a significant impact, if he stays of course. As for the others, unless their last name is Parise or Vanek, history has shown that they, as freshmen, will not fare particularly well in the WCHA.

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I think the general consensus among Badger fans, is that things cannot get any worse after last season. We have good goaltending, a top rated freshman class and a decent sophmore class going into next season. (which will hopefully translate into a middle of the pack league finish) Until we get better on the ice I can only bring up things like "attendance" with Sioux fans. ;)

I'm hoping it won't be too far down the road that a Badger-Sioux series REALLY means something. There aren't to many rivalries in college hockey that can top the Badgers & Sioux.

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I think the general consensus among Badger fans, is that things cannot get any worse after last season. We have good goaltending, a top rated freshman class and a decent sophmore class going into next season.

Sounds eerily familiar to what AA fans were saying last summer.

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I think the general consensus among Badger fans, is that things cannot get any worse after last season.

Sure it can...you could lose to Anchorage.

I'm hoping it won't be too far down the road that a Badger-Sioux series REALLY means something.

I hope the BADgers can get better in the future. The huge six way Sioux, Gopher, Bucky, JBSU, Duluth, and Mankato rivalry is great for college hockey. The better the teams are, the sweeter it is when we beat you all ;)

So we now have a Wisco fan on the board. We now have representatives from the Sioux (obviously), Gophers, Mankato, Duluth, and Wisco, as I understand it.

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Not really trying for one-upsmanship, just fun with numbers.

Madison County, population 406,000 (not to mention 2 mil in Milwaukee)

Grand Forks County, population 64,000 (not to mention 0.15 mil in Fargo)

(North Dakota, population 634,000)

11,431 fans per capita by county:

0.028 Madison

0.179 Grand Forks (over six times!)

In order to match the per capita, UW would need 72,600 average fan attendance!

I enjoyed a similar "per capita for fun" discussion showing how ND had more in-state boys per capita (5 at the time) than Minnesota did, back when they were 100%.

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Madison County, population 406,000 (not to mention 2 mil in Milwaukee)

Grand Forks County, population 64,000 (not to mention 0.15 mil in Fargo)

(North Dakota, population 634,000)

11,431 fans per capita by county:

0.028 Madison

0.179 Grand Forks (over six times!)

In order to match the per capita, UW would need 72,600 average fan attendance!

I enjoyed a similar "per capita for fun" discussion showing how ND had more in-state boys per capita (5 at the time) than Minnesota did, back when they were 100%.

Yes, but the more important question is this:

What else is there to do in Grand Forks County BESIDES watching the Sioux play?

Especially on a cold night in January. While I don't know the answer myself, I can bet that there is significantly more things to do in Madison as opposed to Grand Forks.

And the mention of 2 million in Milwaukee is irrelevant. It's still a significant distance from Madison to Milwaukee.

Plus, not to nitpick, but it's not "Madison" county - it's Dane County (as in the former Dane County Memorial Coliseum).

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Madison County, population 406,000 (not to mention 2 mil in Milwaukee)

Grand Forks County, population 64,000 (not to mention 0.15 mil in Fargo)

(North Dakota, population 634,000)

11,431 fans per capita by county:

0.028 Madison

0.179 Grand Forks (over six times!)

In order to match the per capita, UW would need 72,600 average fan attendance!

Now Kiork, you have to agree there can't be much going on in Grand Forks, if you have the time to churn out these figures? BUT... I like it in a strange way.

So.... if Wisconsin were to average 72,600 fans per game for 19 home games, that would give us 1,379,400 fans for the season. That would mean North Dakota would have to schedule at least 130+ home games to lead the Nation in attendance! Right?

You know it's Summer when you're crunching attendance figures. I'm guilty. ;)

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Yes, but the more important question is this:

What else is there to do in Grand Forks County BESIDES watching the Sioux play?

Especially on a cold night in January. While I don't know the answer myself, I can bet that there is significantly more things to do in Madison as opposed to Grand Forks.

And the mention of 2 million in Milwaukee is irrelevant. It's still a significant distance from Madison to Milwaukee.

Plus, not to nitpick, but it's not "Madison" county - it's Dane County (as in the former Dane County Memorial Coliseum).

The majority of college age people do the same thing whether they live in Grand Forks, Madison, Twin Cities, Houghton, Colorado Springs, etc. They go to bars, drink and be merry.

The only difference is the number of bars to choose from.

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The majority of college age people do the same thing whether they live in Grand Forks, Madison, Twin Cities, Houghton, Colorado Springs, etc.  They go to bars, drink and be merry.

The only difference is the number of bars to choose from.

Exactly. I've always been amused by the elitists in Minneapolis with their "nothing else to do" rant about Grand Forks. As if the Gopher fans would choose the Orpheum over Mariucci on game night. ;) If you're a true fan, it doesn't matter how many options are out there, you watch college hockey on game night.

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And the mention of 2 million in Milwaukee is irrelevant. It's still a significant distance from Madison to Milwaukee.

The per capita difference would be twice as much if I had actually included Milwaukee. Like many in Fargo, I drive the same distance for Sioux home games as those brewers would.

My mistake on Madison/Dane County. I merely did a quick Google search to find census info and didn't look close enough. It even struck me as unusual that both Madison and Grand Forks were the city/county names.

jimdahl hits it on the head when he says that UND has built a quality product--on and around the ice. Like in Madison, people don't show up because they're bored; they show up because it's a fun place to be. (I like his first paragraph, too.) While few can compete when North Dakotans play the per capita card (e.g. most highway lane-miles, most golf courses, etc.), it is nonetheless worth noting that a significant portion of the populous is attending. If only one in 40 felt the desire to attend, it'd be pretty empty.

It's just fun with numbers in the summer.

My last question (rhetorical): how many of those 11,431 fans could see the entire ice? ;)

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I've always been amused by the elitists in Minneapolis with their "nothing else to do" rant about Grand Forks.

Basically, it boils down to the fact that opposing fans know which buttons to push to get you guys all riled up. ;)

You have to remember that "elitists" come in many forms. This board appears to have many for a 4th place team.

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Basically, it boils down to the fact that opposing fans know which buttons to push to get you guys all riled up. ;)

You have to remember that "elitists" come in many forms. This board appears to have many for a 4th place team.

You're absolutely correct...I too have noticed a lot of Gopher fans lurking on this board lately. But they were 2nd in the league last year...not 4th. ;)

This argument would be much more fun if you were a Gopher fan, but my first-hand observations on my trip to Madison this year was that every Badger fan I came across was good-natured and humble. Or maybe they were just drunk. :D Actually, your team left you with little choice last year. But the Madison trip was great. I can't wait to go back.

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every Badger fan I came across was good-natured and humble. Or maybe they were just drunk. :D

Badger fans are pretty humble. My uncle attended UW and is, sadly, a BADger fan. Beer is also pretty cheap in the state of Wisconsin, so yeah, they were probably drunk, too (much like myself at the moment ;) )

No, there isn't much to do in Grand Forks, except for go to the bars, but that doesn't have anyhting to do with the Sioux attendence numbers. If you have a quality program, people will come to your games, it's a fact.

kiork...I can only assume you are talking about the standing issue. I personally could see the entire ice as well as those not in sections 110 and 107. Get over it. There's been 2, count them, 2 threads discussing this issue already.

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