Return on your Investment as a Hog Fan

[Großer Kriegschwein]

8 win on an average year.

Win 10-11 games in a season every 4-5 years.

Down year no worse than .500


I would be satisfied. 

[BigBrandonAllenFan]

7- 9 wins and enjoy friends at the tailgate

#HogLife

There you go.  Stay grounded in the reality of wins and losses...Just enjoy the spirit.  I like that concept.

[Ex-Trumpet]

Considering I got my degree at UA, my wife got her degree at UA, and my daughter is a senior at UA (on schedule to graduate this spring), my ROI has been tremendous!

[12247]

This team owes me nothing.  This program owes me nothing.  As for what i expect in any walk of life, I expect total effort.  You never expect the results from a 30K person you hired as you would the 150K person you hired.  Its to different things.  But I do expect the same level of effort and the same refusing to be denied from both.  That is why I wouldn't expect Arkansas to win the NC every year but do expect the same amount of effort as if they had won it annually.   AND WE DAMN SURE DON'T GET THAT EFFORT AND IT SHOWS.

[ricepig]

The problem (for the UA) is that I am in the market for entertainment and the product on the field isn't entertaining enough for me to spend my entertainment dollars on it.  It's actually hard to watch now.    Of course, the UA and other programs understand that my (and others like me) meager $2000-$4000 per year spending means nothing compared to the revenue the new seating being built for corporate fans will generate.     That's not to mention the TV money the SEC provides to the UA.    Fact is they don't really need me or fans like me anymore and that's ok.  I was never going to win the "best fan" award anyway.   Bottom line, for me, is that for my dollars to be spent on UA Football there has to be results on the field that keep me entertained and interested.   Now UA Baseball, that's a different story.  Great product.  Great results.   

Well, that and it doesn't cost much for baseball games, haha.

[ricepig]

This team owes me nothing.  This program owes me nothing.  As for what i expect in any walk of life, I expect total effort.  You never expect the results from a 30K person you hired as you would the 150K person you hired.  Its to different things.  But I do expect the same level of effort and the same refusing to be denied from both.  That is why I wouldn't expect Arkansas to win the NC every year but do expect the same amount of effort as if they had won it annually.   AND WE DAMN SURE DON'T GET THAT EFFORT AND IT SHOWS.

Maybe that is their maximum effort?

[Uncle Remus]

I think that a return on my investment is putting a competitive team on the field week after week.  Ideally, I would like to see us have a run at the West 3 times every 10 years.  I know that Alabama has practically made that impossible for most teams to compete for that title, but I would love for that game to have those implications when we play them every other year or every two years.  Then, the rest of the season is meaningful.  They slip up every now and again and it gives us something to hang on to for the rest of the season and really get involved in.  Would love to see us make it to the SEC Championship game 1 or 2 times a decade.

What I would not consider a return on my investment is to have a program going through something similar to Ole Miss or Texas A&M.  We all knew when Ole Miss started jumping up that recruiting board with some of the top classes in the nation every year what was going on.  Some of us had personal stories from recruits that confirmed it long before it hit the newspapers.  Now, their program has the potential to be set back 10 years because of the perceived success of 2-3 years.  Seeing our program in the headlines for those reasons would make it hard to be a supporter and make you ashamed to mention your loyalty out of state or in the company of other SEC program supporters.

Also, look at what is going on at A&M.  It's been obvious that there has been some sort of chaos going on within that program for 2-3 years.  They sold their souls to have the Manziel era and they are reaping those consequences still to this day.  No one player...no matter how great...is worth selling your program down the river to keep him on the field and cover up problem after problem.  That is mainly why I have no problem today with the decision the University made in parting ways with BP.  It hurt to see him go as we all loved what we saw on Saturdays, but if our only real consequence of his actions while he was here is the John L. Smith year and some heavy duty rebuilding(including rebuilding relationships destroyed with Arkansas High School Coaches), then I count us lucky.

[bphi11ips]

Good reply to the topic the OP brought. Takes the emotion out of it, for the purpose of the OP. Many people can not do that with things they invest time and money into.

Without the emotion of fans college sports would just be an extracurricular activity for student athletes.  The only way to measure ROI in this context is by the positive emotional response of the investor, although I would suggest it is a bit obnoxious to try and shoe horn the investment anyone makes in a favorite team into an ROI model. 

Of course there will always be some who measure ROI by the negative emotional response their favorite team elicits.  Hogville's populaion is skewed by this group.

[hogsanity]

Without the emotion of fans college sports would just be an extracurricular activity for student athletes.  The only way to measure ROI in this context is by the positive emotional response of the investor, although I would suggest it is a bit obnoxious to try and shoe horn the investment anyone makes in a favorite team into an ROI model. 

Of course there will always be some who measure ROI by the negative emotional response their favorite team elicits.  Hogville's populaion is skewed by this group.

I agree with those statements.

[oldhog63]

From a monetary standpoint, I consider this an entertainment expense and the entertainment value (game day experience) has definitely gone down, but not yet to the point of finding a different type of entertainment to spend although I have gone from not even thinking about spending elsewhere to wondering if there is something better.

From an emotional standpoint, if this was a market investment, it is one I would have sold a long time ago and just taken my losses. But, since I am a lifelong fan, I will always pull for these guys through thick and thin. Having said that, I have had to adjust my approach to the games from all in emotionally to just enjoying the game. It was becoming too draining to invest that fully emotionally with this program considering the attitude of the current leadership, especially that of the AD. Losing the way we did the end of last year and this year to TCU no longer completely ruins my day.

[phadedhawg]

meh, kinda hard for me to quantify since I live out of state.  I rarely find myself in Arkansas during football season, but when I do, I make an effort to go to a game.  However, I do pay for a very expensive cable package to get the SEC Network in Seattle.  Arkansas isn't enough to justify that expense but it opens a lot of other conference networks and lots of soccer too so I guess it's worth it in the end. 

I'm a fan out of habit as much as anything else.  Everyone in the office will watch Arkansas highlights before Monday so they can ask me what went wrong.  lolol  I'm mostly going thru the motions.

Football season lost a lot of it's enjoyment when Arkansas and the Seahawks developed a similar problem, very weak offensive lines.  It makes for 2 frustrating days of football each week.  Back when only Arkansas sucked it bothered me less bc the Seahawks would usually play good the following day.  Not so much anymore.   

[bphi11ips]

From a monetary standpoint, I consider this an entertainment expense and the entertainment value (game day experience) has definitely gone down, but not yet to the point of finding a different type of entertainment to spend although I have gone from not even thinking about spending elsewhere to wondering if there is something better.

From an emotional standpoint, if this was a market investment, it is one I would have sold a long time ago and just taken my losses. But, since I am a lifelong fan, I will always pull for these guys through thick and thin. Having said that, I have had to adjust my approach to the games from all in emotionally to just enjoying the game. It was becoming too draining to invest that fully emotionally with this program considering the attitude of the current leadership, especially that of the AD. Losing the way we did the end of last year and this year to TCU no longer completely ruins my day.

Now we're peeling back the onion and getting to the heart of the matter.  Putting aside hogsanity's valid point that the success or failure of a football team should have zero impact on one's sense of self-worth, is it a good or bad thing when a loss no longer ruins our day?  The answer probably depends on who you ask.

I had a wonderful time at the TCU game with my 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter.  We drove all night to get to Fayetteville after my son's game Friday night in Nashville.  The walk from Baum to DWRRS was a great way to get geared up for the game.  After the game we walked up the hill, past Old Main, and had dinner on Dickson.  After dinner we walked past the Greek Theater, the dorms, and fraternity row on the way back to the car.  I don't remember a single moment of anger.

From 1970 or so until 2006, a game like TCU would have not only ruined my day, it would have ruined my week.  No one wanted to watch a game with me.  I threw an orange threw the kitchen wall in 1977 when A&M hit a buzzer shot to beat one of Sutton's teams 39-38.  Basketball can really get emotional when all you have is a radio.  The dog hid under the bed during football games.  Didn't matter which dog.  They all did.

Something happened in 2007.  I didn't necessarily want the Hogs to lose, but I remember the sense of calm losing to Tennessee gave me.  And my feelings about Tennessee are the same as they used to be about Texas - no fruit sucks like the big orange.  But I knew that day that the loss put us one day closer to the day Houston Nutt would leave.  As much as I hate to lose at anything, I hated that guy and what he did to his team worse. 

Once I figured out how much better it feels to not get angry about a loss, I started enjoying games a lot more.  My wife and kids will even watch games with me.   

I don't get the feeling that winning is any less important to this administration or coaching staff or these players than it was to any group that came before them.  I don't feel like they let me down when they lose (never did even when I got mad about every loss).  If it hadn't been for Nutt, I may still not know how liberating it is to let go of my anger over something that is completely out of my control.

Arkansas has been in various degrees over my lifetime a highly successful athletic program that has operated with a high degree of integrity.  If I have ever developed any personal sense of worth from Razorbacks athletics, it is because my sense of worth is bound up with my pride in being an Arkansan and a graduate of the UofA.  It is because the people who raised me were proud of the same things.  I would not be proud right now to be a fan or alum of Ole Miss.  Same goes for Auburn, A&M, SMU or any of the programs I know that have tried to win at all costs.  It's not worth it, big money or not.

I'd rather go 3-9 the right way than hand $15,000 to a recruit on an official vist or pay one $250,000 to switch commitments.  It happens.  A lot.  My sense is we'll be closer to 9-3 than 3-9, but if not, my ROI will be the enjoyment I get out of anticpating, watching, and reviewing every game.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Now we're peeling back the onion and getting to the heart of the matter.  Putting aside hogsanity's valid point that the success or failure of a football team should have zero impact on one's sense of self-worth, is it a good or bad thing when a loss no longer ruins our day?  The answer probably depends on who you ask.

I had a wonderful time at the TCU game with my 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter.  We drove all night to get to Fayetteville after my son's game Friday night in Nashville.  The walk from Baum to DWRRS was a great way to get geared up for the game.  After the game we walked up the hill, past Old Main, and had dinner on Dickson.  After dinner we walked past the Greek Theater, the dorms, and fraternity row on the way back to the car.  I don't remember a single moment of anger.

From 1970 or so until 2006, a game like TCU would have not only ruined my day, it would have ruined my week.  No one wanted to watch a game with me.  I threw an orange threw the kitchen wall in 1977 when A&M hit a buzzer shot to beat one of Sutton's teams 39-38.  Basketball can really get emotional when all you have is a radio.  The dog hid under the bed during football games.  Didn't matter which dog.  They all did.

Something happened in 2007.  I didn't necessarily want the Hogs to lose, but I remember the sense of calm losing to Tennessee gave me.  And my feelings about Tennessee are the same as they used to be about Texas - no fruit sucks like the big orange.  But I knew that day that the loss put us one day closer to the day Houston Nutt would leave.  As much as I hate to lose at anything, I hated that guy and what he did to his team worse. 

Once I figured out how much better it feels to not get angry about a loss, I started enjoying games a lot more.  My wife and kids will even watch games with me.   

I don't get the feeling that winning is any less important to this administration or coaching staff or these players than it was to any group that came before them.  I don't feel like they let me down when they lose (never did even when I got mad about every loss).  If it hadn't been for Nutt, I may still not know how liberating it is to let go of my anger over something that is completely out of my control.

Arkansas has been in various degrees over my lifetime a highly successful athletic program that has operated with a high degree of integrity.  If I have ever developed any personal sense of worth from Razorbacks athletics, it is because my sense of worth is bound up with my pride in being an Arkansan and a graduate of the UofA.  It is because the people who raised me were proud of the same things.  I would not be proud right now to be a fan or alum of Ole Miss.  Same goes for Auburn, A&M, SMU or any of the programs I know that have tried to win at all costs.  It's not worth it, big money or not.

I'd rather go 3-9 the right way than hand $15,000 to a recruit on an official vist or pay one $250,000 to switch commitments.  It happens.  A lot.  My sense is we'll be closer to 9-3 than 3-9, but if not, my ROI will be the enjoyment I get out of anticpating, watching, and reviewing every game.

Ditto. I want to win as badly as anyone and just hate it when we lose, especially if we give it away. But maturity brings a different viewpoint, one where you are thankful for the day and the people with whom you shared the day and everything that surrounds it (the total experience). These times are limited and each one should be enjoyed.

I wouldn't be so tolerant if I thought a coach was abusing players. I want no more of that.

And, no matter how much we tend to expect out of these players, they are still just kids (big kids, but still just kids) and the beloved son's of their parents. We might want to consider how we might feel if they were our kids and we read some of the crap posted here by some of our posters at times. It is just a game and not life or death and regardless of the outcome, the sun will come up tomorrow.

Good post, amigo.

[orvillesghost]

I don't expect anything really.

I want to win, tickled to death if we could have a really good season but I enjoy the games, going up a couple of times a year, being a part of it all.

If we never win the SEC, it wont kill me or really matter that much to me.

There was a time I couldn't imagine saying that..i guess age changes you.

[Hogs-n-Roses]

I have always been and will always be a Hog fanatic. It was never, we gotta be in contention for me to go and spend. I've spent dozens of Saturdays at opponents stadiums knowing a L was coming when we left home on Friday. I always knew we would be back in contention reasonably soon so I got into the experience of college football in a big way.

I liked going to opponents stadiums/cities and staying in certain motels and eating at certain restaurants... I also got into the other things available on the road. Couple of examples. I am a WWII buff n have been to the USS North Carolina while at a game at S. Carolina and we always eat at a seafood place out on the beach. Also went to the Yorktown and we eat at a crab shack on the beach in that fair city. If you want a good old patriotic cry go to the Yorktown at sunrise and sing the Star spangled banner with the old timer sailors from that ship. Tell them that your a Razorback and your just there to thank them for their service. There are many other great stories being a Hog fan has blessed me with. Leaving Austin TEXAS AFTER WE HAD BEATEN THEM 2 times in a row with James Rouse n company, then After Matt Jones n crew did it getting to write in shoe polish " tic tac toe that's 3 in am row Texas on our winshied. There's no way to put a value on any part of my Razorbacks experiences and hope we make some changes so I can get back to it.

Everyone has their own personal view of how to spend their money and on what. I always felt like it was worth every dime till 6 years ago. I didn't like the moves made over a couple of year period and felt like the only way to have change was thru the pocketbook and butts in the seats.

[12247]

Rice, I sincerely hope what we see on the field is not maximum effort.  I do not believe we have our players feeling good enough about the situation and knowing exactly what they need to do and not being hesitant.  Our players do not proceed with wild abandon.  Our players seem to expect the worst and sure enough, they often get the worst.  I love our players and I do not believe we get their best due to poor coaching.  I think they are talented much better than what shows up on the field.  Anyway, this is not the thread to get off where I am going.  This team owes me nothing.

[JJHog]

I look forward to those Special moments you can share with other fans- hope we have 2-3 per year-a nice surprise when you can say - how bout those hogs! And not complain most of the time

[Joe Davis (USS Razorback)]

Other than three hours of weekly entertainment I expect nothing.  My self worth is not wrapped around how a group of 19-24 year old young men perform against the other group of 19-24 year old men.  I look forward to the season(s) starting.  Sometimes I wonder when it will end.  My investment is waiting for that golden moment.  The year that the stars align.  The year you look back at the "this close" moments, the "meh" seasons, and the eating "Crowe" lows and just smile.

But I am a Cubs fan, so there's that.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

Arkansas football has been a horrific ROI since switching conferences.

If the Hogs were a Wall St. stock they be something like VNCE. Vince IPO'd a couple years ago, popped to $29 and has steadily declined to now trading under a dollar and is at risk of being delisted.

Hogs are a penny stock that no once notices now.

[Inhogswetrust]

Arkansas football has been a horrific ROI since switching conferences.

If the Hogs were a Wall St. stock they be something like VNCE. Vince IPO'd a couple years ago, popped to $29 and has steadily declined to now trading under a dollar and is at risk of being delisted.

Hogs are a penny stock that no once notices now.

Kind of depends on how one defines ROI doesn't it................................It isn't always about money with some folks. When one defines it as spending time away and having fun with family, friends, creating memories and to be entertained knowing entertainment is not always as good as you might like then it is priceless. That's the deal...........discretionary entertainment spending never comes with a specific certain monetary enjoyment. I like certain restaurants but that doesn't mean even meal at them is always the best. Same with going to movies, music concerts, traveling to places, etc.