Tall-boy over at BU Hoops has a great new post up about BU Basketball's renewed effort to get fans in the stands, spear-headed by none other than new head coach Pat Chambers himself. Tall-boy outlines what appears to be Chambers' road map, and concludes that there is reason to be optimistic about the future of BU ball.
I want to agree, but I'm gonna hold off on jumping on the bandwagon just yet. I think it's cool Chambers wants to share his experience at BU with the fans and student body via his blog and Twitter, but I don't think that gets you more fans directly. Maybe it makes you seem like a more approachable person, but that just doesn't connect, for me, to getting people at basketball games at which you will have little to no interaction with them. I don't think the warm and fuzzy feelings former coach Dennis Wolfe (or lack there of) gave to fans or students made a big impact on whether or not fans came to games.
The same somewhat extends to him being out there meeting students. He's going to be busy coaching at games, not kissing babies and mingling with the Peeps. And let's not exaggerate who he is here - this isn't Coach K, or Bobby Knight, or Rick Pitino out there, it's Pat Chambers. It's "Cool, I'm meeting the head coach of BU Basketball," not the"Cool, I'm meeting a living legend" that happens when you meet Jack Parker. But it is the right direction.
The only thing I would be wary of from this is the "Tessie" Effect - something losing it's coolness factor from overexposure. "Things are good in moderation" - don't forget that.
As for playing more in Agganis, bless his heart and best of luck to him.
On the other hand, the plan for his players to get out there, meet with, and act like normal college students when they're with (GASP) other college students is a big winner. I think BU's attendance at non-men's hockey/basketball games was up this year because athletes from different teams got to know each other and, in turn, wanted to support each other. This wasn't because they were athletes, but because they're college students and friends. If Chambers want more people to show up, he need to get his boys out there to have some facetime with the people he's trying to bring in.
And then during shootaround and during games, let the boys have fun and interact a little (in a non-Ron Artest way) with the fans they bring in. A little finger pointing at the crowd from John Holland after a big dunk will only fan the embers in the crowd stoked by his play. It connects the fans to the players they are friends with and rooting for, creating a great in-game experience that will bring people back to fill seats, win or lose.
In the end though, it really does come down to one thing for Chambers and BU Basketball right now: winning. Victories bleed ink, and ink is nectar to fans. And considering the gift-wrapped line-up Dennis Wolfe begrudgingly left for Chambers, he needs to take advantage of a veteran line-up while he has it to get him those victories.
Get this team to win. The rest will come.
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