Agreed. Now that I take commuter rail to work, there is no way my wife can come to the games unless she wants to either 1) drive in, or 2) take commuter rail to North Station (one hour and twenty minutes), get on the green line (another 20 minutes including if you don't catch a train immediately) and spend $24.00 just to come in so she can meet me. After being gone from 6:00 - 6:30 every day, I really don't want to get home at 12:30 a.m. after a Friday night game, especially if she is not going to the game. And, I come in five days a week and by Saturday I don't really want to come in again. And for those who drive, the parking is what? $12 now?
The problem is, once you stop going it becomes easier and easier not to go back at all. It would cost us $100/game between the tickets, travel (no matter which way we do it) and food. It just isn't worth it at this point in my life. What "they" need to understand is that for those of us who have "been to the top" (I was at ALL of the championship games except for 1971), it's difficult to justify to watch "this" team the last couple of years. And what compelling reason is there for those who have NOT seen them win it all? At least we have the memories, the tradition, the pride. There is no "legacy" for more recent fans (new graduates) - the last time BU had a great team was before those people were in school.
And, I hate to bring up ad nauseum the school "up the road," but the reality is, for the "casual" fan (not a BU die-hard), I think it's obvious where they would choose to go watch a game.
I have watched almost all the games this year on either All Access or TV. I'm still trying to come up with the right word to describe what I have seen. I don't want to say "sluggish" or "tentative," but whoever mentioned a while ago that they just don't seem to have any "energy" was pretty much on target. They're just not really enjoyable to watch (and I'm not even talking about wins and losses). I can recall when Agganis first opened, there was sort of a "rebirth" and an infusion of enthusiasm. It carried through until around 2010 but it has been gone for awhile now. I think until they can find a way to get that back, there are going to be more empty seats.
ADDENDUM: And I even thought about this: BU always seemed to have the best "athletes." They would display a higher skill-level. Maybe that's why they were more fun to watch. Maybe that gap has decreased (or is gone), because that does not appear to be evident any longer. I don't have the confidence that they will someone "find a way" to pull out a win simply on talent alone. Please don't take this the wrong way anyone, but after what we've been used to, it feels as though I'm watching Lowell or Merrimack play. Boring...and I know Lowell wins. And that's the point. Boring...
