Syracuse Football: Why is this still called the Loud House?

For years and years the Syracuse football team has resided in the Carrier Dome. Should we still reference it as the “Loud House”?

So that is the question … The Carrier Dome has long been called the Loud House a moniker that the fans and the University are very proud of … but is it deserved? I approach this question as a long standing season ticket holder (if 7 years is considered long standing).

I have climbed the hill in the Indian Summer’s of Central NY. While a more appropriate name would be the Hot House as despite its name the Dome contains no air conditioning, but I digress. I have climbed the hill in the freezing rain and snow that we are famous for in CNY.  During that stretch I have seen attendance fluctuate widely.

The average attendance since I moved to the Syracuse area is 38,720. The numbers have ranged from a high of 45,854 to a low (this year) of 32,102. To put these numbers into perspective, currently 35% of the seats in the ‘Loud House’ are empty. Having been to the games and seen the empty seats, I suspect even those numbers may be inflated.

So now on to the why. Is it a win-loss issue? So let’s break down the historical win loss record for Syracuse, which is 701-521-49 (apparently there were a lot of ties back in the day). A bowl record of 15-9-1, five conference titles and one National Championship.These numbers don’t include 11 victories vacated by the NCAA during the 2004-2007 seasons.

Where does this place them all time? 46th on the list if you include the wins vacated by the NCAA (since they actually happened and did impact attendance) it comes out to a .580 winning percentage (39th on the all time list). This is above Stanford, BYU, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and this list of perennial college football power houses goes on and on. And over the more recent span of 7 years we have been talking about the Orange have been to three bowl games (2010, 2012, 2013) winning them all. So for this discussion I say no it is not a win loss issue.

Is it a talent issue/star power issue? At first glance this may seem like it, but I dispute that I will not go back to the low hanging fruit of Ernie Davis, Jim Brown, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka or Donavan McNabb, Dwight Freeney, Art Monk instead I will offer you Chandler Jones (first round pick in 2012), Justin Pugh (first round pick in 2013) and Ryan Nassib (fourth round pick in 2013) and of course our most recent Heisman candidate Riley Dixon (seventh round in 2016) currently punting for the Denver Broncos. Currently  there are eleven players from Syracuse suiting up on Sundays. So for this discussion I say no it is not a talent/star power issue.

A facilities issue? The Dome construction finished in September 1980. It is by far the largest domed structure in college football. Currently there is a move afoot to renovate the roof and bring the long awaited air conditioning to the Dome. So for the purpose of this discussion I say no it is not a facilities issue.

So let me summarize.  I have not cracked the attendance issue at the Loud House.  We have a prestigious program with a rich history of winning, talented players with a world class facility.  So I offer to my fellow Central New Yorkers … Get off your ASS and get to the LOUD HOUSE now!