Who does Sioux Falls Support

[SCSU]

As a sports fans from Central Minnesota I am curious about the Sioux Falls sports market.

I was wondering who has a larger following in that city?

SDSU, Augie, USF, or USD

Also, does the media take sides?

[rjacks21]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

I live in the Twin Cities, so I limited to the internet for my Jackrabbit updates, but it sure seems that the news stations (KSFY, KELO) favor USD.  They always headline with USD and mention the Jacks in passing, if at all.   I think Chris Solari of the Argus does a good job of reporting on the Jacks.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

I think that's like asking a Chevy dealer which is better, Chevy or Ford.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

SCSU's original question, I mean. Not rjacks response.

[SCSU]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

I think that's like asking a Chevy dealer which is better, Chevy or Ford.

I wouldn't think that it would be a fair question if there are supporters for more than one program in Sioux Falls.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

I wouldn't think that it would be a fair question if there are supporters for more than one program in Sioux Falls.

I'm not picking a fight. Just saying that asking that question to a board full of Jacks supporters is probably not the best place to get a bias-free answer. I think on a pure volume standpoint, SDSU would probably have more alumni thus more supporters. Would that mean we are the most popular team in Sioux Falls? Got me. I would think a very strong argument could be made that SDSU's basketball team is the most popular team in the state. But, any USD supporter would probably laugh at that.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

I think the SDSU Basketball programs have the potential of being the media and fan favorite in the state. I think DIAA football is percieved by many fans to be not much better than DII. Basketball has always been king in the state and at SDSU and when sports fans in Sioux Falls and around the state see the Jacks playing the likes of Kentucky, Illinois and Minnesota it's easy to rally around them. There is a very loyal contingent of fans in Sioux Falls who follow the minor league teams with passion in the city. Many of these fans either didn't go to college at all or in the region. I'm not sure what the solution is to get these fans on board. I think SDSU and USD alumni are relatively evenly dispursed in Sioux Falls. I know Nebraska has a huge football following in Sioux Falls. Sitting at the crossroads of three states there are a mix of teams that the city follows. Maybe Mike can share more insight.

[bisonmike]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

When I lived in SF I noticed a lot of support for the local minor sports, skyforce, canaries, storm etc. They all seem to have a great following. As for a college sports nobody really cared about augie, and I never really heard anyone ever talk about SDSU. I think USF used to get more press than everyone. I think that's because the are usually competing for a NC in football every year. There were a lot of Nebraska fans in the area too. As far as pro sports there is alot of support for Vikes/twins/t-wolves, but I did notice alot of fans for St. Louis and KC.

[bisonmike]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

When I lived in SF I noticed a lot of support for the local minor sports, skyforce, canaries, storm etc.  They all seem to have a great following.  As for a college sports nobody really cared about augie, and I never really heard anyone ever talk about SDSU.   I think USF used to get more press than everyone.  I think that's because the are usually competing for a NC in football every year.  There were a lot of Nebraska fans in the area too.  As far as pro sports there is alot of support for Vikes/twins/t-wolves, but I did notice alot of fans for St. Louis and KC.  

I should elaborate. I was thinking just football in the area of college sports. SDSU did get some press when the b-ball season came around.

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

I should elaborate.  I was thinking just football in the area of college sports.  SDSU did get some press when the b-ball season came around.

That's pretty much my experience the five years or so that I lived in Sioux Falls.

[mmiller_34]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

i think that we can all agree that the sioux falls media sucks at reporting anything big about jacks football. but i think they will come around, the UC Davis game was a start. the next day they had a big headline about the jacks beating the aggies in the argus leader, but that might only be because it was in sioux falls.

but i just hope we can draw in more fans from sioux falls that will make the trip and watch the jacks in coughlin. i mean, hey.. if we starting filling our stadium consistantly. we only need 4000 more seats to be a 20,000 seat stadium... and how sweet does that sound. just a thought.

[JackJD]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

One move that tends to draw not only attention but also puts some bodies in the seats: recruit some of the top talent from Sioux Falls. We already have a few and every time we add a kid from Sioux Falls or Watertown or Mitchell, a few more fans from those towns will drive in to watch.

See what happens when #1 JaRon Harris starts getting more and more playing time and starts lighting it up with some impressive speed. And when Ryan Berry moves into the starting QB spot, half of Watertown will drive down there (no college or minor league teams to compete). I remember seeing lots of Watertown people in Frost when Brian Norberg was the starting guard.

[JackJD]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

During a couple of the games at CAS this season, I joked that SDSU added a mortuary science major. The proof was all the embalmed people sitting silently in the stands.

[Mike_H]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

It is always funny to read on this board about how biased the media in Sioux Falls is toward USD. We get the same complaints from USD fans concerning SDSU!

Go to a high school football game and you will see coats for the following colleges: Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Augie, USD, SDSU, and USF. It is pretty much in that order, although I did notice a few more SDSU coats last season. Every now and then a Northern coat will catch my eye, but those are tough to spot since they look a lot like Roosevelt. Again, this is for college coats only. There are obviously coats from high school and pro teams in the crowd also.

I know that is very un-scientific, but that is the view that I have from behind the crowd sitting up in the press box.

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Who does Sioux Falls Support

It is always funny to read on this board about how biased the media in Sioux Falls is toward USD. We get the same complaints from USD fans concerning SDSU!

Go to a high school football game and you will see coats for the following colleges: Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Augie, USD, SDSU, and USF. It is pretty much in that order, although I did notice a few more SDSU coats last season. Every now and then a Northern coat will catch my eye, but those are tough to spot since they look a lot like Roosevelt. Again, this is for college coats only. There are obviously coats from high school and pro teams in the crowd also.

I know that is very un-scientific, but that is the view that I have from behind the crowd sitting up in the press box.

I happen to think Mike H is largely right on this one. When it comes to media reports, the perception of bias depends, at least in part, on the stance of the reader, listener, or viewer.

If people think the Sioux Falls media is pro-USD, they should take a stroll around the newsrooms of the Argus, KELO, KSFY, and KDLT. You can't swing a cat without hitting an SDSU graduate in any of those places. Want evidence?

Go here: http://www3.sdstate.edu/Academics/Co...tion/Index.cfm and scroll down about two-thirds of the way. Just above a photo of a handsome new professor in the department, there is a picture of Prof. Jim Paulson who recently had dinner in Sioux Falls with just a few of the TV journalists at those stations who graduated from SDSU. It's a big crowd. And those are just the recent SDSU grads who staff the newsrooms down there. All three stations' news directors are SDSU grads, for example. It's a long list.

The Argus is largely the same. I can think, off the top of my head, of about 20 SDSU grads in that newsroom, which probably has 50 total employees. And I can think of maybe one or two USD-trained journalists there.

SDSU gets plenty of play within those newsrooms.