Crowd support
Published: 1/7/2008 3:32 PM
Last Modified: 1/7/2008 3:32 PM
Attendance at home football games has been a point of contention the past few years at Oklahoma State, and it will stay a hot-button issue when the West End Zone comes on line this fall.
Attendance at OSU's home basketball games, or the lack of it, is starting to become a major point of contention now that the Big 12 season is ready to start this weekend.
Now we can add another OSU coach who is voicing concerns about home crowds for their particular sport.
Wrestling coach John Smith was very pleased that his Cowboys went to top-ranked Iowa and beat the Hawkeyes 19-14 before 14,332 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena last Saturday. The crowd was the seventh-largest in NCAA history for a dual meet.
Smith was happy that such a large in-house audience showed up for the big match. On the other hand, there was a hint of jealousy in Smith's voice about the crowd.
"We need to let the OSU people know that's what we need," Smith said of Iowa's crowd. "That's important. When recruits across the country see that (Iowa) is putting 14,000 people in here and they have the choice between Oklahoma State and Iowa, that could be the edge. We have to do a better job to work and fill our arena. In the end, it does make a difference."
Smith's points are valid. The Bedlam home match this season at Gallagher-Iba Arena drew just over 4,000. The previous three years, the OU match drew crowds 8,697, 7,988 and 7,014 in Stillwater.
Wrestling gets lost in the shuffle because it's competing with basketball. OSU, though, is one of those few schools where there is legitimate passion for the sport. However, it appears the passionate legions in orange and black are fewer than those wearing Iowa's black and gold.
--- Matt Doyle
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
