Where are all the fans?
by George Kay
As we head toward the home stretch of the Wyoming basketball season, it seems like the proper time to assess where we stand.
I had the pleasure of witnessing an outstanding basketball game last week at Swede Erickson-Thunderbird Gym, where the Casper College men defeated Western Nebraska by a 77-68 score.
It was an enjoyable game between the two rivals that are usually at or near the top in the Region IX men’s standings.
The team from Scottsbluff is nearly always well stocked with talent, that many times moves on to solid Division One programs.
Last week, the T-Birds were able to overcome a sizeable deficit to hand the Cougars the nine-point loss, although the game was much closer than that.
Gary Becker has put together a very interesting mixture of talent at CC. Jeremiah Wilson stands out for his ability to score from the outside. He led the T-Birds, scoring with 26 against WNCC.
It is a shame that there wasn’t a better turnout of fans to enjoy this performance. Becker gets some excellent contributions from his in-state players too. Casper product Brian Ridgeway is effective with his overall floor game and is able to deliver with some key hoops as well.
The T-Birds are in the hunt and well could be a solid threat in the final weeks of Region IX play.
The Wyoming Cowboys remain a mystery. Last week, the Pokes looked good in beating TCU, but then stumbled on Saturday at Air Force. At present, the Cowboys are mired near the bottom of the Mountain West Conference standings.
They may well have to win a pigtail playoff game to even earn a berth in the conference tournament in March in Las Vegas.
At times, Coach Heath Schroyer’s team shows real improvement and at other times, the Pokes appear quite hapless.
One distressing aspect of this Cowboy season has been the lack of attendance at home games. Last week’s game against TCU drew a turnout of 4,721 to the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, and that is pathetic.
Earlier this month, Wyoming played Brigham Young on a Saturday in Laramie and attracted less than 6,000 fans to the Double-A. That kind of turnout for a game featuring the Cowboys’ traditional rival is embarrassing.
Compare that meager turnout to past home games against BYU. Back in 2003, a crowd of 15,418 showed up in Laramie to see Wyoming play the Cougars. The previous year, the crowd for the game against BYU was 11,189.
And it was nearly the same in 2000. In 2001 and 2004, more than 10,000 showed up for the games against the team from Provo.
Something is happening, as we see a continuing trend showing decline in the Cowboys’ home attendance, far below the turnout of 16,089 for the Utah game in 2002.
Admittedly, Wyoming fans won’t respond to a team that doesn’t win consistently, but an Arena-Auditorium attendance of one-third of capacity just doesn’t cut it.
This Cowboy team has been less than scintillating at times, but certainly the prospect of a major college basketball game against an attractive conference opponent should produce a much better response.
Perhaps it is a case of “win and they will come,” but it may be unrealistic to expect our Cowboys to dominate a well-balanced conference to that degree.
Certainly, it isn’t all that convenient to drive to Laramie in the winter season, but if we can’t make that trip, how about turning out for a Casper College basketball game instead?
There is a lot of entertaining basketball left this season, and it would be a shame to miss it.