SAN ANTONIO — It is nearly impossible to change human habits. Just ask any of them. Ask yourself, actually.
The Texas Longhorns played their first season in 1893, and they didn’t even have a coach.
The Texas A&M Aggies played their first season in 1894. They went 1-1. I’m not sure if that bowl eligibility back in those days?
But the point to be made is this. San Antonio has been an alumni mecca and generational family fanbase for college football outside the city for a hundred years, give or take. The UTSA Roadrunners are in the middle of playing their 12th season. That’s still very much in the infancy of things. Texas and Texas A&M have that century head start. It’s okay. UTSA Football is fighting against some things that have been in place since before grandma and grandpa were even born.
I was in the Alamodome press box as we counted down to kick off between Western Kentucky and UTSA. We were noticing that the crowd wasn’t entirely all that, not even as good as the week previous with Houston area program Texas Southern inside the Dome. I posted on Twitter about it in the days following showing a comparison between the home San Antonio crowd, 22,000+, and the home crowd at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcus at 25,000 and change. The tweet caught peoples attention and generated healthy conversation, which I suppose was the point. The last part of my post was telling UTSA football fans that they had to do better. The vast majority of folks agreed, and they also made suggestions.
It seems that some people don’t like the job that UTSA marketing is doing getting out the word, not that the ‘word’ doesn’t spread easily enough in 2022. I’ve been told the UTSA Athletics Marketing Department is small, essentially one staffer strong. I’m sure they could do more, yes, but how in the world in today’s techno age does everyone not know what is going on? I’m not gonna get on the university for that. It’s not 1975. Information is easily obtained. Easily.
Some students responded to my tweet and used the distance between campus and the Alamodome as their reason. I’m not gonna argue against that either. Having your college football stadium on campus would work more wonders than one of the best indoor venue’s in the country already does. Some students talked about the hassle of getting to the bus and getting downtown. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never done it. But I’ve had one parent tell me their college student said it’s wonderfully convenient. They love it. Cleary it depends on the mood and football DNA of said student.
The university student population, and grown-ups, made for an amazing scene as UTSA won the Conference USA Championship last season, but it’s also about showing up in the guts of the season, not just when the conference title is on the line. That’s how you establish tradition and crowd support.
Some of the Twitter responses talked about the cost of parking, and the cost of concessions. Is this a new issue? I know I get a parking pass and media credential, but I’m not that far out of the loop. Don’t we already know that going to college athletic events, especially football, is like the movies these days? You’re gonna open your deep pockets. It’s the way of the athletic world.
I’ve also heard from fans that pointed out that both the Longhorns and Aggies had huge network national games that day. True. Texas kicked off with Oklahoma at 11 a.m. That game was in the books two plus hours before the Hilltoppers and Roadrunners got underway. The Aggies kicked at Alabama in the primetime window two hours after the UTSA game started. Maybe that kept people home. I’m sure it did, actually. But that many? I just really expected better.
Some people responded to my post by playing the opponent card. I think when I was young and dumb I subscribed to this argument, but not anymore. That sports ideology works at the professional level, not with D1 athletics. You SHOULD be there to support home team regardless of who they are playing. That’s really as simple as the argument gets.
And I’m circling back to the most difficult argument of them all. Some fans said, hey, not everybody really cares about UTSA Football, and I think that’s right. San Antonio, like every major metro, is a melting pot city. We’re also a destination city. There is SO much to do in our city. People have options, and being inside for four hours on lovely late summer/early fall Saturday’s is not on everybody’s radar. Jeff Traylor has talked countless times about building the brand, that ‘210 Triangle Of Toughness’.
He wants UTSA to be San Antonio’s team. Retired and former head coach Larry Coker often said the same thing. But I’m telling you San Antonio has had Orangebloods and Aggies for decades with each new family generation engrained with what the previous learned. That’s hard to overcome. UTSA has made some progress, but it’s gonna be slowing moving, and it’s likely that it’ll never entirely change. Big 12 college football is immensely popular. Much more popular than Conference USA. And that’s not a knock, that’s just the fact of the matter.
This is the 12th season of UTSA football. So that means eleven university graduations have taken place during that window. Do the math on that. That’s more than enough graduates, with many to spare, to fill the Alamodome every weekend. Why are they not? Lots of reasons we can assume. But why are the ones that took professional jobs in San Antonio not doing it? I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them. And I’m sure UTSA will keep winning in the meantime. Oh, and this weekend is Homecoming. I’ll be curious to see what those attendance numbers look like. #BirdsUp