What happened to Alumni Arena?

Last weekend, after the women's basketball team defeated Kent State on the road for the first time in school history, head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald remarked on how much she appreciated the fact that 20 fans made the two hour drive to Kent, Ohio for the victory.

If 20 Buffalo fans, mostly members of the True Blue whom I have nothing but respect for, can make such a difference, then you would think home games at Alumni Arena would be lock-victories.

But the men have lost their last two home games, both Mid-American Conference (MAC) matches. Maybe that's because they do not have the talent to win games, or maybe it's because they're a young team that does not have experience winning. But even Ohio coach Tim O'Shea remarked that the crowd was sparser and not as active as they had been in the past.

The women, who have defeated Miami (OH), Akron, and Kent State on the road during the MAC season, have also lost to Ohio, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan at home. By the way, that Bowling Green team that came into Alumni Arena and smacked the Bulls across the face is the same Falcons squad that lost to Miami (OH), who the Bulls defeated earlier in the season.

So for those who never took AP calculus, the men and women's basketball squads are 0-5 at home during conference play this season.

Just four years ago, Sports Illustrated ranked Alumni Arena as the best home court advantage in the MAC. Three seasons ago, Buffalo was .6 seconds away from the winning the MAC title. Two seasons ago, Buffalo was getting votes to be in the top 25.

Now, last Wednesday night, there was a smattering of boos for Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon; the chants of 'Reggie, Reggie' were inaudible.

What happened to the Alumni Arena crowd?

The second of course was Buffalo's victory over Northern Illinois in its first-ever home playoff game. That was as intense a crowd as I have ever witnessed.

Again I ask, what happened to the crowd? It is not just the students. The locals have not shown up this season as in past years, and those who do must thing that they are in a library. The noise from any other section besides the students is non-existent, so much so that the simple task of doing the wave is a chore that most times cannot be accomplished.

Less than 3,000 people in attendance for a home game against local rival Canisius? Atrocious. Especially considering that last year when Buffalo played Niagara at home, there were over 5,000 fans present. If you go back to the 2005-06 season, the last time Buffalo played Canisius at home, there were over 6,000 fans people at the game.

In past seasons, there was a blitzkrieg from Buffalo athletics to get students and locals into games. You couldn't turn on the TV without seeing a commercial about an upcoming game. Every game day, there were players in the student union passing out flyers, there were players in the dorms drumming up support for the team. It was impossible to get away from the men's basketball team. But that was the thing, you didn't want to.

For two and a half seasons, from midway through the 2002-03 season until the end of the 2005-06 season, the University at Buffalo was a basketball school. And now? Who knows? Maybe it's a rugby school. You definitely can't say the students are pro-football, because the Bulls had a winning record in the conference for the first time in school history, and still no one showed up at the games.

What's the solution? At the Ohio game, staff passed out these coupons for Wendy's, like this would be a reason for students to show up.

How about this: any student who shows up for 95 percent of the men's and women's basketball games gets their name in a drawing for...half a year of free tuition. This would be chump-change to the University and if advertised correctly would surely bring in the students.

Now, about the locals? How about buy two season tickets, get a third for free. These tickets aren't being sold anyways, so the school wouldn't be losing money by doing this.

After they are in the arena, it's the job of the players and promotions to keep them there. Another ploy they may want to use is having local bands or other acts play during halftime instead of the "Tim-Bits" or whatever the name of that youth basketball league is. How about getting that girl who did some crazy stuff while on a tricycle. Now that was entertainment.

As the late great Owen Hart used to say, "enough is enough, and it's time for a change."