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First UTEP Fan Council Meeting

NewGenMiner915

New guy
Dec 17, 2014
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10 of my takeaways from our first UTEP Athletics Fan Council meeting that had an impact (in no particular order). I got the lucky draw and will be serving on a 3 year term! I kindly ask to keep this thread on topic and not derail it.

1. The Mine Shaft as the players entrance in the Sun Bowl is back!

2. Conference affiliation is a hot button topic that many El Pasoans are passionate about but don't really understand.

3. Tailgating was the number 1 issue brought up by fans, but there is no consensus about what part of tailgating is the issue. We worked through several of the issues brought up by fans in getting a good grasp of what is needed to change.

4. Social media and community outreach has been getting a large push and will continue to grow over the summer and into the sports seasons. Follow every one of UTEP's pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc including coaches and staff.

5. There are several things in the athletic budget (or not in the budget) that I did not know and put us behind the 8 ball for schools in other states and just other schools in general (i.e. we don't get appropriated funds from the state for athletics.

6. Being a Miner Maniac will now be pushed to students from the start at freshman orientation. Several other student involvement initiatives are in the works.

7. We need to do a better job of developing rivalries with other schools in Conference USA.

8. We have very little to no traditions anymore. We need to work on building a good mix of old and new traditions that will stand the test of time and will survive any changes in coaches, AD, etc. This is probably the point that will take the longest to develop, but is very important and was discussed at length.

9. There is a great mix of individuals that were selected for the Fan Council and I saw first hand how different perspectives can clash but also how they can give others insight as to the how and why they think that way.

10. Changing the narrative about UTEP largely has to come from us as fans. We are a "trust the process" generation and need to wait for many of the things we discussed to take form. But that doesn't mean we should sit back and wait for something to happen either because there are things that we can control. Every Person Makes A Difference #EPMAD is the motto that UTEP Athletics is pushing fast and furious, and really holds true. All of us can make a difference and we should.

There was a lot discussed at our meeting (went from a 2 hour meeting into a 3 hour meeting, that should say a lot) that isn't just limited to these points. I would love the opportunity to share that with anyone that wants to talk about it, feel free to shoot me an email at oloy@sbngcpa.com so we can do coffee or lunch. GO MINERS! #EPMAD
 
NewGen,

Thanks for your report. I really like the Fan Council idea. I can see many benefits from it. We as fans are a very important factor in the success equation.

Every person makes a difference.
Don’t only wish us success, come and help us win! Coach Dímel.
Either lead, follow, or get out of the way! LI
 
1. I personally don’t like it. I don’t like the players walking down the stairs. I would have preferred the old school motorcycle entrance from the early 2000’s.

2. I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. You need to have A. Winning program B. Strong tv market and or C. Modern facilities. We have none of that.

3. No comment since I don’t know what the problem with tailgating is.

4. Our UTEP athletics twitter page is the most followed in CUSA and is easily top 10 of all the G5 teams. Too bad Stull never took advantage of it. As Kappy said once Senter took over its like our social media is on steroids.

5. This I would like a better explanation of. By looking at the numbers we have one of the highest athletic budgets in the conference but the worst return from our investment.

6. Good idea.

7. UTSA has been developing into something. RICE is constantly kicking our ass. We can’t get seem to be on the same page with UNT. When we are good they suck and when they are good we suck.

8. Completely agree. The little tradition we had or were forming was ruined by the AD not pulling the trigger on the fire button of his coaching buddies.

9. Agree again. From the bios I read and the pictures I saw on Twitter it looks like all walks of like are represented at the council.

10. We live in a “I want it and I want it now” World. We’ve lost the ability to work hard and save for the possessions we acquire. That can transfer over into our expectations for the the athletics department. Just because we have new people in charge does not mean they can magically turn this around overnight. All fans will have to contribute to it. Don’t wait for the wins to come, go and help the athletes win the games. Attend the games, cheer loudly on third downs, stand up and make noise when there is 10 seconds left on the shot clock. Every little way we can contribute will help out when it’s all pooled in together. Some can donate four figure checks while others all they can do is buy an extra GA ticket. The point is do something beside complain.
 
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Since we are only going to be playing UTSA in basketball home and away we have to make them our rival.
 
10 of my takeaways from our first UTEP Athletics Fan Council meeting that had an impact (in no particular order). I got the lucky draw and will be serving on a 3 year term! I kindly ask to keep this thread on topic and not derail it.

7. We need to do a better job of developing rivalries with other schools in Conference USA.

ODU is doing good job of that so far, at least as far as basketball is concerned.
 
UTSA needs to be build a gym that can host a d1 basketball game.
Or maybe they can rent out the AT&T Center. That would be a major upgrade. I would like to see the CUSA tournament hosted there every once in a while.
 
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Just saw of picture of people in fan council. Where are the young people? The youngest age looks like 40 to 50 years old.
 
They will posting bios, individual pictures and emails on the UTEP athletics website sometime soon. There are young people on the council from 18 to 80 years old.
 
UTSA should be our rival. They are the school we should be most concerned about. I wish we would have handled things differently and this wasn't the case but this is our reality. My number pet peeve about UTEP athletics is the constant propping up of the non-existent rivalry with NMSU. I really wish Senter would have dropped them from the schedule in all sports. Propping up that non existent rivalry has held back UTEP athletics. When I saw Senter embrace it and promote it on social media I almost threw my computer out the window.
 
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UTSA should be our rival. They are the school we should be most concerned about. I wish we would have handled things differently and this wasn't the case but this is our reality. My number pet peeve about UTEP athletics is the constant propping yo if the non-existent rivalry with NMSU. I really wish Senter would have dropped them from the schedule in all sports. Propping up that non existent rivalry has held back anrt YTEP athletics. When I saw Senter embrace it and promote it on social media I almost threw my computer out the window.
I can't speak for Mr. Senter but the nonexistent rivalry with NMSU was brought up by him and acknowledged by everyone. Scheduling is a future topic at our meetings. Those games with NMSU really prevent us from putting a better game on the schedule.
 
I can't speak for Mr. Senter but the nonexistent rivalry with NMSU was brought up by him and acknowledged by everyone. Scheduling is a future topic at our meetings. Those games with NMSU really prevent us from putting a better game on the schedule.

Thank you for keeping us informed about the fan council meetings.
 
There are at least 3 current students at utep that are in their 20s or younger, and quite frankly were the most vocal of everyone. It was pleasant to hear their perspective. I myself am 27 so I have that young perspective too.



So that is 4 young people out of how many in the council? I thought one of the main goals was to get students to go to games?
 
So that is 4 young people out of how many in the council? I thought one of the main goals was to get students to go to games?

There was an application, maybe not too many students filled it out. So, that's why there are only two full time students on the council.
 
There was an application, maybe not too many students filled it out. So, that's why there are only two full time students on the council.


Just a suggestion keep the same people and just maybe expanded for any students that want to join. Maybe a add a student that lives in Juarez . Try and gets ideas of how to the juarez students to go to games. Thise
 
They are changing 10 people every year, so next year 10 spots will open up. If the first year is a success then more people will want to be apart of it. I think students will be more incline to apply if they see more success from the teams as well or when the semester starts again.
 
Just a suggestion keep the same people and just maybe expanded for any students that want to join. Maybe a add a student that lives in Juarez . Try and gets ideas of how to the juarez students to go to games. Thise

Let's focus on building the fan base first, then we can start asking about Juarez students. I don't think its changed from when i was there, but they could care less about the sporting events.
 
There are a couple of problems with the tailgating rules.

1. You can't exactly leave a hot grill unattended. It sucks that only one person can stay behind to watch over stuff.
2. It was also fun when you tailgate post game. I think 3 hours after the game ends is ok, or perhaps a specific area that allows post game tailgates past the 3 hour rule. A special fee for tailgating in that area could be an option. I know there is a fee for RV parking already.

As far as the Miner Maniacs go, UTEP must get students going with it at orientation. It cannot wait until new students get on campus. I would suggest that the first (pick a number) student that sign up and attend all football games get to travel for free to 2-3 away basketball games. Then put something in place for those that attend basketball games get to travel to an away football game. You could also include attendance of the Maniacs to the other sports as well. Reward them with something for attending games, credit at the book store or concession rewards.
 
Let's focus on building the fan base first, then we can start asking about Juarez students. I don't think its changed from when i was there, but they could care less about the sporting events.


Juarez students are part of the fan base.
 
Juarez students are part of the fan base.

just because they attend the university doesn't make them automatic "fans"

You cross the bridge, take the bus up to campus (the brio or another one) and then go back. No desire to stay longer than that (unless staying at a relatives for the weekend). Again, might change changed because there were quite a few I knew who didn't want to stay past sunset....granted, that was when the cartel violence was high.
 
1.) In the most recent reporting, UTEP has roughly 24,000 students. During Natalicio's Retirement Press Conference she stated that about 1,200 students currently come from Juarez. Thus Juarez students account for less than 5% of the UTEP student population. Even if you gained half of all Juarez students, then you are only increasing attendance by 600 people. Historically, UTEP has never had a high number of Juarez students(only 1,048 in 2014 and 1,109 in 2015). Seems like it would be a poor utilization of marketing time and efforts to market to such a small percentage of the student population. Instead it makes much more sense to market to the 95% of your students that do not live in Juarez.

2.) El Paso has a population of over 700,000, there are more than enough people here to fill our 51k and 12k venues. Our marketing resources need to be spent here. It would not be smart to go to Juarez and dilute our resources there. There is enough population and opportunity in El Paso to accomplish what we are trying to do.
 
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In no particular order:

Not a fan of the Mine Shaft - seeing players gingerly walking down stairs doesn't really strike fear into opponents. Just use the tunnel and have the team run out, its goofy when the players just stand around at the bottom of the stairs waiting on their teammates. Bad idea.

So the "mas con menos" mantra is dead, now we are saying the opposite?

Don't agree on developing rivalries with C-USA schools, we tried that in aligning with Texas schools in the past. Develop geographic/regional rivalries, especially in recruiting hotbeds of SoCal and Texas (San Diego State, Fresno State, UNM, Arizona, Texas Tech, TCU (hoops), etc). Trying to align with UTSA is repeating past mistakes.

Organize fan trips to away games (like Las Vegas, Frisco, etc) - stop making it only for the Gerry Rubins of the world, hell Mary Haskins worked at Sun Travel for decades, they cant organize a fan trip for 50-70 people?

Stop making it that we "have to support" the teams. Put a product on the field that is worth watching and people will go, get away from the Stull mentality of we need to support no matter what, screw that. Would you go on a dinner date at crappy restaurant that you know the service and food sucks and then go watch a movie with a Rotten Tomato score of 30%? No, if I know UTEP has a chance to win and its competitive, I go. I dont go watch a 1-9 team or a 11th place basketball team just because I am an alumni. Its not a charity, unless UTEP wants to continue treating it as such. College athletics is a business, Senter, Dimel and Terry make really good cash - if its a charity then let them earn $45k like all the other charity CEO's in town. Earn your pay with wins.
 
just because they attend the university doesn't make them automatic "fans"

You cross the bridge, take the bus up to campus (the brio or another one) and then go back. No desire to stay longer than that (unless staying at a relatives for the weekend). Again, might change changed because there were quite a few I knew who didn't want to stay past sunset....granted, that was when the cartel violence was high.




Its not just the students you want to target but also the famlies. Im sure there is a bunch of Jaurez Utep Alums.. And it was just one idea of bringing fans to the games. Was there any other ideas brought up in meeting how to fill up the seats ?
 
Stop making it that we "have to support" the teams. Put a product on the field that is worth watching and people will go, get away from the Stull mentality of we need to support no matter what, screw that. Would you go on a dinner date at crappy restaurant that you know the service and food sucks and then go watch a movie with a Rotten Tomato score of 30%? No, if I know UTEP has a chance to win and its competitive, I go. I dont go watch a 1-9 team or a 11th place basketball team just because I am an alumni. Its not a charity, unless UTEP wants to continue treating it as such. College athletics is a business, Senter, Dimel and Terry make really good cash - if its a charity then let them earn $45k like all the other charity CEO's in town. Earn your pay with wins.

Ive brought up this argument many times. People just don’t seem to get that “real fans” can think this way. They think “real fans” go no matter what and that you should go, just to support.

El Paso has been supporting UTEP athletics for 50 years, what has UTEP athletics given back to El Paso the last 50 years? Not much. If you want better support, win some fvcking games.
 
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Thanks for the info on the fan council. Keep it up. As far as rivalries goes, the passion to beat some of the teams on our schedule isn't there to any great degree. The passion is probably stronger against ODU than UTSA, in basketball at least, so go figure. As far as the in state conference matchups goes, one main reason for playing UTSA, North Texas or Rice is that UTEP alumni in the respective cities can see the Miners play in person. If you look at attendance figures of games over the years, UTEP fans will run between 35 and 45 percent of the crowd at their venue. If that is the case, I won't kick too much about playing the in state schools. It would do UTEP better if those schools stepped up on attendance. Those schools fans don't seem to show up at a UTEP home game in any great numbers. And that is a reason to try scheduling Texas Tech or Texas. Those fans will show up for a game even in El Paso. Let's keep moving forward. Go Miners.
 
In no particular order:

Not a fan of the Mine Shaft - seeing players gingerly walking down stairs doesn't really strike fear into opponents. Just use the tunnel and have the team run out, its goofy when the players just stand around at the bottom of the stairs waiting on their teammates. Bad idea.

So the "mas con menos" mantra is dead, now we are saying the opposite?

Don't agree on developing rivalries with C-USA schools, we tried that in aligning with Texas schools in the past. Develop geographic/regional rivalries, especially in recruiting hotbeds of SoCal and Texas (San Diego State, Fresno State, UNM, Arizona, Texas Tech, TCU (hoops), etc). Trying to align with UTSA is repeating past mistakes.

Organize fan trips to away games (like Las Vegas, Frisco, etc) - stop making it only for the Gerry Rubins of the world, hell Mary Haskins worked at Sun Travel for decades, they cant organize a fan trip for 50-70 people?

Stop making it that we "have to support" the teams. Put a product on the field that is worth watching and people will go, get away from the Stull mentality of we need to support no matter what, screw that. Would you go on a dinner date at crappy restaurant that you know the service and food sucks and then go watch a movie with a Rotten Tomato score of 30%? No, if I know UTEP has a chance to win and its competitive, I go. I dont go watch a 1-9 team or a 11th place basketball team just because I am an alumni. Its not a charity, unless UTEP wants to continue treating it as such. College athletics is a business, Senter, Dimel and Terry make really good cash - if its a charity then let them earn $45k like all the other charity CEO's in town. Earn your pay with wins.

Well, I’m regards to your last point. If we go with that mentality, I’m shocked we haven’t declared chapter 11 bankruptcy. No attendance=no cash flow. I’m sure that with this group we’re not going to hold on to coaches for years on end.

As for organizing trips for away games, I like that idea. Needs to be organized to where I can buy tickets from the athletic dept, not the other teams dept.

Forgot to add but you need a certain amount of guaranteed seats for the group discount for airlines/hotels. If you don’t meet that benchmark no group discount.
 
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To me supporting the team only when they win sounds like bandwagon fans. I’ll support them regardless of the w/l record. Depending on how much we are winning is how much I’ll support. Bad losing seasons = G/A tickets. Average .500 season = Silver tickets. Winning records = gold tickets. No matter what happens UTEP can count on my support. It’s up to them to get their full value out of me.
 
To me supporting the team only when they win sounds like bandwagon fans. I’ll support them regardless of the w/l record. Depending on how much we are winning is how much I’ll support. Bad losing seasons = G/A tickets. Average .500 season = Silver tickets. Winning records = gold tickets. No matter what happens UTEP can count on my support. It’s up to them to get their full value out of me.

I’m not saying “only when they win”. If they have continuous crappy seasons and keep the same crappy coach, that means they don’t care, why should we? Does anyone really feel good about attending any of the football games last year? Wouldn’t it have been better to do something else for those 3-4 hours you wasted?
 
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I’m not saying “only when they win”. If they have continuous crappy seasons and keep the same crappy coach, that means they don’t care, why should we? Does anyone really feel good about attending any of the football games last year? Wouldn’t it have been better to do something else for those 3-4 hours you wasted?
I wasn’t there but my money was. You’re right in that BS didn’t care and most of the base didn’t either. We can pass the blame around everywhere for the current state of UTEP Athletics. As much as the leadership is responsible so is the lethargic fan base. If we had 40k fans constantly sending emails, letters, and making calls expressing their displeasure Natalicio/BS would have been forced to make changes sooner. Instead people stop showing up and the few who do complain are overruled by the big money boosters.
 
Well quit complaining and whining, already !!!!! we all got what we wanted. NEW COACHES, NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, and soon a NEW UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT. What is everyone still crying about ?!?!?!?!? Be happy and show some support already. Or I guess we'll see you all when the teams are hitting on all cylinders !!!! Leave last year and past seasons in the past. Move on and Help the program forward !!!!
 
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