Here is somethin' interestin' I found in my junk mail box:
Dear Cougar Fans,I wonder what happens if they don't get 17,961 fans to attend - do they get kicked out of the NCAA or jes' lose their Division IA status.As most of you know, our last football game this season will be against Louisville on November 20th, at Robertson Stadium. The primary purpose of this letter is to emphasize that attendance for this game is VITAL. Your attendance will not only help us WIN, but it is essential in our meeting the new NCAA attendance requirements. For a greater understanding of why your attendance at our November 20th game is so important, please read the following statement:
NCAA EMPHASIS ON ATTENDANCE
This year, the NCAA has placed a stronger emphasis on actual attendance for football games. The NCAA is requiring all Division IA institutions to average no less than 15,000 in actual, not merely paid, home football attendance. The standard operating procedure for most universities, including UH, is to announce the number of tickets distributed as the attendance figure for each game.
Institutions will now be audited on the actual number of fans who enter the stadium for each game. Under the new NCAA attendance guidelines, an institution will not be eligible to participate in a bowl game after the second time it fails to meet the NCAA attendance requirement within a 10-year period. Furthermore, the third time an institution fails to meet the NCAA attendance requirement within the same 10-year period; it loses its Division IA status.
With this noted, in order for UH Athletics to meet the NCAA required average of 15,000, we must have at least 17,961 fans in attendance for our game versus 12th ranked Louisville on November 20th. Therefore, we are calling on all Houston Cougar fans to come out and support "Your Home Team" as we take on the Louisville Cardinals, currently ranked #12 in the nation, on Saturday, November 20th at 4 p.m. We need an enthusiastic crowd and we need fans "inside" Robertson!
Get Your Tickets Online:
http://uhcougars.collegesports.com/tickets/hou-tickets.htmlAll remaining tickets are $5! Come early to the game to be one of the 1st 5,000 fans to receive a FREE Cougar T-shirt. Every fan will receive a coupon good for a FREE hot dog at the game upon entering the stadium. In addition, Radio Disney will be inside Robertson Stadium providing entertainment for kids.
Make sure to tell your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to come out on Saturday, November 20th as we look to defeat top-ranked Louisville for the 2nd time in three years. Order your tickets now by calling the UH Cougar Ticket Office at 713-GO-COOGS or log on at UHcougars.com.
Thank you for your continued support.
Dave Maggard
UH Athletics DirectorGO COOGS!!!
The poor attendance at U of H games may have more to do with the nature of the school, however, than the level of the team's playin' abilities. U or H, unlike UT, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and the like does not have a huge on campus population. Most people that attend there live off campus, and, because of the lack of attractive and affordable off-campus housin' in the local area, most students commute from other parts of the city. The football games at my undergrad institution, University of Texas at Arlington, faced exactly the same problem when I was there in the late 70's and, at that time, the school decided to dispense with their football program all together. I recently heard that they subsequently re-initiated the program.
Actually, I could easily swing the $5. It is the 10+** hours for the round-trip drive to Houston, the $100 worth of gas I will use, and the fact that I didn't attend any football games durin' the three years that I attended law school at U of H that leaves me less than inclined to attend the event. I didn't even catch any basketball games durin' my time there, my first year of law school bein' the last of the three years in which Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler led Phi Slamma Jamma to the NCAA Finals.
As far as I know, the Cougar football team ain't been competitive since Robert Newhouse, the guy charged with single-handedly gettin' U of H membership in the now defunct-Southwest Conference, graduated.
FB - Robert Newhouse - Newhouse came to the Cowboys from the University of Houston in the 2nd round of the 1972 NFL draft where he ended his collegiate career as Houston's all-time leading rusher. As a Cowboy he led the team in rushing with 960 yards in 1975 the same year he also caught 34 passes. He threw a memorable touchdown pass to Golden Richards in Superbowl XII against Denver. He is the Cowboys 5th all-time leading rusher with 4,784 yards rushing. His career average was just over 4 yards per carry. - [Michael D. Green @ Dallascowboyz.com][Addendum: I did fail to mention that I visited often with Shasta, the cougar adopted as the UofH mascot, who was caged near the law school facility.]
*Another point of inane trivia: One of the other members of my law school class was the cousin of John Mellenkamp, the singer formerly known as Cougar.
**It takes 'bout 5 hours each way, not countin' stops for DP and such, and ya jes' never know what kinda traffic jam ya are gonna get stuck in for several hours anytime ya travel in Houston. And, to think, but for a failed first marriage and the tumble of failin' savings&loan in the mid-80's, I might still be makin' my home in Houston.
Posted by Tiger at November 17, 2004 09:22 AM | TrackBack