Anything and everything about Liberty Flames football. Your comments on games, recruiting and the direction of the program as we move into new era.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke, Class of 20Something

#594386
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 21st, 2020, 4:30 pm
SumItUp wrote: January 21st, 2020, 2:45 pm
ballcoach15 wrote: January 21st, 2020, 10:28 am I dream of the day that LU plays a SEC team in a Bowl game, that's televised on ESPN to a national audience. That will spread the Liberty message to millions.
What is the Liberty message?
Conservatives good. Libruhls bad.

Oh. And Jesus.
Sounds good to me. Glad to see your catching on.
#594389
Geraldos Mustache wrote: January 21st, 2020, 5:43 pm Back on track - here's another idea...

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). www.fca.org
Great organization!
Seems like a natural partnership, right? Would be cool if LU Athletics were a sponsor of FCA.
Does anyone know if we are doing this?
Others can chime in on if things have changed, but during my time (06-10) FCA wasn’t huge on campus because athletes felt they got the benefits of FCA naturally through Liberty’s culture.
#594393
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 21st, 2020, 7:30 pm
Geraldos Mustache wrote: January 21st, 2020, 5:43 pm Back on track - here's another idea...

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). www.fca.org
Great organization!
Seems like a natural partnership, right? Would be cool if LU Athletics were a sponsor of FCA.
Does anyone know if we are doing this?
Others can chime in on if things have changed, but during my time (06-10) FCA wasn’t huge on campus because athletes felt they got the benefits of FCA naturally through Liberty’s culture.
If FCA was a thing at LU in the early-mid-nineties, I was unaware.
#594407
Remember how Spirit FM used to do the VBS express? They would set up a small table at different churches VBS's and give out Spirit FM frisbees. LU athletics should have a VBS express where the Sparky Mascot shows up at VBS and gives away some LU gear and they can promote the Flames Kid's Club at these events. LU games are great family events. People don't realize how affordable the kid's club makes it.
#594427
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 21st, 2020, 7:30 pm
Geraldos Mustache wrote: January 21st, 2020, 5:43 pm Back on track - here's another idea...

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). www.fca.org
Great organization!
Seems like a natural partnership, right? Would be cool if LU Athletics were a sponsor of FCA.
Does anyone know if we are doing this?
Others can chime in on if things have changed, but during my time (06-10) FCA wasn’t huge on campus because athletes felt they got the benefits of FCA naturally through Liberty’s culture.
I'm not talking about FCA at Liberty. I'm talking about marketing to every FCA chapter at every other University in the country. I'm an NIU alumnus. They have FCA at NIU. Would be cool if Liberty Athletics could be a sponsor for FCA and create awareness about LU sports to Christian athletes attending secular universities. FCA has hundreds of chapters nationally. They have conferences. They have newsletters and many other forms of written (digital and printed) communication.
#594428
Geraldos Mustache wrote: January 22nd, 2020, 1:37 pm
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 21st, 2020, 7:30 pm
Geraldos Mustache wrote: January 21st, 2020, 5:43 pm Back on track - here's another idea...

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). www.fca.org
Great organization!
Seems like a natural partnership, right? Would be cool if LU Athletics were a sponsor of FCA.
Does anyone know if we are doing this?
Others can chime in on if things have changed, but during my time (06-10) FCA wasn’t huge on campus because athletes felt they got the benefits of FCA naturally through Liberty’s culture.
I'm not talking about FCA at Liberty. I'm talking about marketing to every FCA chapter at every other University in the country. I'm an NIU alumnus. They have FCA at NIU. Would be cool if Liberty Athletics could be a sponsor for FCA and create awareness about LU sports to Christian athletes attending secular universities. FCA has hundreds of chapters nationally. They have conferences. They have newsletters and many other forms of written (digital and printed) communication.
Wouldn't that raise some recruiting red flags?
ballcoach15 liked this
#594561
Purple Haize wrote: January 20th, 2020, 11:16 am
Regardless. Bad idea and for the same reasons (free student tickets).
This, in spades. A lot of schools offer free* student tickets, hoping to increase attendance, and it has the opposite effect. My son considered North Texas (scholarship offer didn't quite cover all expenses), and they tout their free student tickets. Their attendance is abysmal, and it's embarrassing to die-hard fans. He ended up going to Northern Arizona his freshman year before his mission (full-ride, but FCS), and students get in free to all sports. They also have horrible student attendance.

This is not just a couple of anomalies; there is an inversely-proportionate relationship between "free" tickets and attendance. As has been pointed out in this thread, anything given for "free" isn't valued. It reminds me of a class I took at ASU (post-baccalaureate, seminar). It fit the time slot I needed, but it was one of those classes where you don't know the topic beforehand. It turned out to be a semester of women's suffrage. Along with the "usual and customary" liberal clap-trap, I once mused that it would be interesting to see research on voter participation compared to enfranchisement. My liberal professor surprised me when she said that research had already been done, and that I was exactly right. Voter participation was never higher than when only white, land-owning males could vote. Contrary to conventional wisdom, each successive wave of widening the franchise led to less proportionate voter participation, not more (black males, women, anyone over 18, etc.). While nobody (including myself) was arguing that these groups** should not have been given the vote, it was interesting to me that the intensity of value placed in voting depends on how "precious" or "special" it is. I think measures over the last 20 years have only borne this out more: the easier you make it to vote (automatic registration with vehicle registration, mail-in ballots, etc.), the lower out proportionate voter participation is. This seems completely counter-intuitive to progressives, but I think the principles of investment and value apply.***

*"Free" student tickets actually aren't free. They are paid for in the omnibus list of student "fees" ($250 "athletic fee," or its equivalent). I think even a Pac12 school like ASU now does "free" student tickets, too, but I guarantee they're billed for them in their fees. We'll see how the student section appears at the BYU game this year . . . :D All students are charged this fee, but of course, most don't go to the games.

**Well, other than 18 year-olds. I still think that the voting age should be 21. It was a political ploy during the Vietnam War. Yes, "if they're old enough to die, they're old enough to vote," but it was a cynical move that favors the Democratic Party. Probably more so in 2020, with 18-25 year-olds and their voting and political ideas.

***I think the same absolutely applies to tickets. Tickets given away like nothing aren't valued, and it communicates subtly that they aren't of worth or valuable. The trick is to create a product that is truly valued, so that students want to buy tickets, go to games, and be part of it. I remember the excitement of buying my season football and basketball tickets, and seeing what the lottery assigned you for what game (my Notre Dame tickets were on the 50 yard line! Others were randomly in the end zone, on the 20-30, etc.). I bought two basketball season tickets for dates, and then two football as well when I got married.

I also can't reconcile high percentages of voter participation in Europe compared to the US's anemic voter turnout. I'm not sure why Europe has such high percentages. I'm glad that only those motivated to vote do, but it's interesting to compare other countries to the US. I do think our attempts to make it more and more easy to vote depress overall participation.
#594623
Ill flame wrote: January 23rd, 2020, 8:19 pm Should just get rid of the athletic fee and start making students pay? What's the solution here?
I would say so, yes. I don't think you would have any fewer students attending games if they had to buy tickets than currently attend with "free" tickets. Charge $10 or so, and try to instill snowballing interest in attending games.

What is the dating scene like at Liberty? At BYU, getting married is a priority for most students, and sports (especially football and basketball, and volleyball, too, but far fewer seats) are "low-hanging fruit" for quick and easy date ideas. During the heyday (80s and 90s), before our program decline, basketball and football were "can't miss" social events, even for less-interested fans. I think the rising cost of everything in the interim, plus more competing free-time options, work against game attendance at a lot of universities. Tickets are so expensive, compared to several decades ago!

But, I think that fans should be expected to buy tickets. The mere act and fact of having bought them imbues them with worth and value in a way that isn't the case when they are "free" or just given.
#594702
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 24th, 2020, 11:23 am Liberty's entire student culture is built around the idea if we give kids things to do for free (sports games, snow flex, all the student activities, etc) then they'll be less likely to partake in the things we don't want them to be doing.
And it works fairly effectively. Look at what Midnight Madness games draw for a multitude of sports.







#594782
Class of 20Something wrote: January 25th, 2020, 12:27 pm
Jonathan Carone wrote: January 24th, 2020, 11:23 am Liberty's entire student culture is built around the idea if we give kids things to do for free (sports games, snow flex, all the student activities, etc) then they'll be less likely to partake in the things we don't want them to be doing.
And it works fairly effectively. Look at what Midnight Madness games draw for a multitude of sports.



My daughter sang the national anthem at the Midnight Madness game last night...
Dondi Costin - LU President

The recent statements by Costin on moving away […]

There’s a cerebral side to the game. And it&[…]

NCAA Realignment Megathread

Duke Gonzaga B12? https://larrybrownsports.com/co[…]

FlameFans Fantasy Baseball

We are on!!! Hope to see everyone tonight at 9:30[…]