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cheek. Put them in the seats. Cheeks. Cheeks. Support the institution. Put them in the seat. Cheeks in the seats. Let me see. Pull up to the game, baby. Let me see them. Cheeks in the seats.
What is going on everybody? It's your girl Sheena. Welcome back to another episode of Queens of the Yard. We bring you H.B.CU sports culture, community, and all the conversations happening beyond the sidelines. And listen, I'm still recovering from homecoming. I I've been sleeping in every day. I had me a grand old time. But beyond the football, the band, the dates, alumni reunions, and trying to make every event on the schedule, somebody explain why we need a vacation after homecoming. Like, you got to pre-work up to homecoming. And then you need a vacation after homecoming. And if you saw me in Jackson, let me know. You already know we had us a good time. Okay, but let's talk about tonight. We're going to get back to Jackson. We got a whole situation about Jackson. We're breaking down the biggest football games across D1 and D2, seeing who packed the stadiums with our favorite segment, Cheeks in the Seats, and giving our women athletes their flowers. Plus, women's basketball is almost here, so we're looking into some matchups that you need on your calendar. And finally, we're going to talk about Jackson State, okay? Cuz we're definitely talking about it. My co-producer brought me my cup. I stopped by the online campus um because I am online and um they had some goodie bags for us. Some really cool things. I stopped by campus, but we'll get into that. We'll get into that. So, thank you. Y'all know Jackson got to be on the show. Y'all know he got to show his face. So, before we get started, y'all know how we do. Drop your school in the comments. Where you representing from? Are you watching? I know we're a little earlier than normal. Uh we normally jump on at 7, but um we had some stuff going on today at WSSU campus, so we moved the time up a little bit this week. And you can always watch the replay at YouTube, HB.CU Game Day, and on Facebook. So, let's jump into it. Where my notes at? Where me notes at? All right. Football recap. Swack and beyond. Let's start with D1 because this weekend gave us everything. What was that? Sorry. Thought he broke something, child. Okay. For I got to start with Jackson today and Florida&M. Let me set the scene. It's homecoming. Okay. Jackson, Mississippi alumni back. The tailgates are packed. I mean, the tailgates are packed. The Sonic Boom doing what Sonic Boom does. And everyone expecting the Tigers to handle business. But Maybe if you had some other plans. The Rattlers took a 17 to 12 lead in the third quarter and suddenly homecoming was a little uncomfortable. And let me tell you, I sat on the sunny side of the stadium. There are two sides to the stadium. There's a regular shaded side just because of the angle of the stadium. And then there's a sunny side. Let me show y'all this tan. Like, can y'all see that? This tan is insane. And that's just from sitting in this. And it was like 70°. It wasn't even hot. But that sun about took your girl out. between the Sun and the Monos. Honey, I almost didn't make it. But let me tell you, Jackson State showed up in the fourth quarter answering 15 unanswered points and walked away with a 27- 17 victory. I sat
and I'mma tell y'all that marching 100. I Oh, that's my song right there. I can do it. I had to refrain from doing the little hand sign while I was there because I I just love me some March 100. I saw them in band of the year last year and I fell in love. I love the little feet thing that they do like the short little steps. Like I could talk on and on about FAMU band. I love me some Sonic Boomer to South of course, but that FAMU band they my favorites. I I'm just they just my favorites. It's what it is. Jackson State improved to six and one overall and three- one in conference play. So, we saw the um early prediction for the Celebration Bowl this year. And Jackson State is predicted to win or to go to Celebration Bowl for the swack. So, what y'all think? Are the Tigers still the team to be in the SWAT or has this conference come a lot more competitive than other people think? Um I know Grahamlin is doing their thing right now. So, that's somebody to watch for. That's who I'm looking out for. And I I really uh of course I'm rooting for Jackson State cuz I want to see Jackson State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in December. Um I will definitely be there. If you're going to the Celebration Bowl, throw it in the chat. Um the afterparties are Oh, I'm ready. I'm so ready. It's like a homecoming. It's It's like a I ain't going to say mid-season, but like end of the year celebration. It literally is a celebration bowl. So I I really enjoy it. Um who else is rolling in the swag? Alabama&M was again beat or excuse me play great. What we we clapping? The Bulldogs, Alabama&M Bulldogs put up 61 points, beating them 61 to 31. And this the same Gramling team that handled Jackson State, their first loss the week before. So who believes that? Steve and his dang on Dr. Umar. So, it tells me the swag is unpredictable and nobody should be getting comfortable right now. A&M is making a serious statement about where it belongs in the conference conversation, but can they keep that momentum when the games get bigger? I wonder who else they play. Let me pull up Let me pull up some more. Not
Where we at? Where we at? Where we at? Let me look.&M. Who am got on their calendar? Their schedule rather. Um, let's see. They play Alabama State. They Craig Prairie View. I'm going to be on the lookout for that game. Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley State. Hey, they got to end their season against Mississippi Valley State. Hey, they've been making some noise here recently. So, we gonna see what that looks like. Um, let's see who else rocked out. Let's go. Let's go around the board. Hampton lost to Sacred Heart. It wasn't wasn't it Hampton's homecoming child. Malem State got their first win of the season against Bluefield State 43 to4. I was so excited about that. I hate that I missed that game a little bit because I was having a blast in Jackson and I really really hate missing that home game and I miss y'all. Like the press box text me said they miss me. I miss y'all too. Uh, Virginia Union is still rolling along. They beat Buoie.
Anyhow, they beat Buy 48 to7. Dang, boy. Y'all didn't even get double digits. God, I thought that was good. As we don't have the capacity. No, they don't have as we don't have the capacity.
North Carolina ant pulled out a win against Chicago State 27 to 12. West Virginia State got me in the way. West Virginia State beat Wheeling 302 24. And Virginia State is still on a roll 76 against Shaw. And y'all know I had Shaw on my board. Like I was on the Shaw train hard and they've been losing. I got to jump off the train so they can win again. Maybe I'm the bad luck. I always think that like when I get to rooting for a team and they start losing like oh I'm the bad luck I gotta go I can't I can't be on the bandwagon no more. So, um, mano get together, okay? Cuz I've been a fan, okay? Don't make don't make me lose my fandom so early in in the game, okay? Clark Atlanta, they beat Allen 17 to 14. Skated I don't buy. Fanville State beat up on Elizabeth City State 43-7. Oo, yikes. Johnson C. Smith is still rolling 40 to6 against Lincoln, PA. Benedict beat up on Ed Waters 45 to 24. God again Alabama&M beat Garland 61 to 31 Alabama State who I think is next on&m's calendar. Uh they came out victorious against Arkansas Pond Bluff 21-5 Prairie View. Hold on. My kid is getting picked up. Hello. Hey, I'm good. How are you?
Sorry about that. You guys mommy calls. Okay. Prayer view&m beat Alorn 41 to 38. Alorn State. Don't want to leave that out. Um Bthoon Cookman, they beat up on Mississippi Valley State 34 to 14. My Jackson State beat Florida A&M 27-7 and Tuskegee, you're welcome. Tuskegee beat up on Albany State 17-4. Howard some other notable ones, Howard was victorious against Morehouse 31-7 and Tennessee State handed Morgan State a loss. Um who's projected to go to the Celebration Bowl in our early Who believes that? Because if you believe that I need Steve is unhinged with Dr. Ubar Tennessee State beatable Morgan State 25-6. So who y'all looking out for right now? Like who who y'all looking out for? I told y'all Steve said in the chat like WSSU did win when I wasn't there. Maybe I'm the problem. Like maybe it's me. like maybe it's me. I I won't deny that. I won't deny it. Okay, it is what it is. Let's see. So, I round up. Um cuz we spent a lot of time talking about the swag and the MAK, but there's some good football in the SIA and the CIAA. So, drop your picks in the comments. Who y'all think going to win next week? How's your alma mater doing? I did miss Johnson C. Smith homecoming. It was the same weekend as Jackson State homecoming. I will be there next week, though. I'm going to miss Jiho for Jack for Johnson C. Smith, so that should be notable, right? Okay. All right. So, yeah, BSU got Jackson or BSU has um Johnson C. Smith and then BUU back to back. So, they gonna have to jeans. We gonna really see what they they about. Oh, dang. Found another straw. I don't know what to tell you, my boy. I'm sorry. But I want to know who can constantly win games, protect the football, and win when things don't go according to plan because that's what separates a good football team from a championship football team. And with the Celebration Bowl conversation heating up, every single conference game matters. So, we've been talking about the games. Are you there? Are you Are you in the stands? Let's see that cheeks in the seats graphic. I want to see who had they cheeks in the seats. Okay, it's time for one of my favorite segments. You already know because it's not always who is winning on the football field. It's who's showing up in the stands. It was homecoming heavy, so I expected some big numbers this weekend. But let's think about what we're measuring. Attendance matters because ticket sales, concessions, parking, sponsorship, visibility, and fan engagement all play a role in the business of college athletics. And y'all know I love talking about the business of sports. Okay, so let's get some numbers. Let me move here. Here. Coming in at number one is my alma mo Jackson State with 44,173
plus me. I was there. I was a cheek in that seat. Well, all my cheeks was in the seats. All four of my cheeks was in the seat burning two butt cheeks and two space cheeks. Two two is four.
Coming in second was Alabama&M versus Gramlin State with 14,000 and Howard versus Morehouse with almost 10,000. So I did pull um our usual numbers. We had a lot of unverified numbers this week and instead of trying to, you know, pull together a bunch of unverified things, I wanted to make sure to um get what I could verify. So, that's what we looking like. So, we had some cheeks and deceits and let me talk. Okay, let's talk about the cheeks and deceits at Jackson State cuz I was there. Jackson State
as a current student. We gonna have to talk about the logistics of game day. I don't know who is over. I know Winston Salem got a lot of flack for the lines on the field, but I'mma tell you what, you are in my hot seat this week because from the light when you turn on the main street to get into Vet Memorial Stadium to the parking lot is give or take 1500 ft. It took almost two hours to get from that light to the parking spot. I was in line. Now, mind you, the gates opened at like the parking lots opened at like 10:00. I got there around 11:15, 11:30. Do I know where your batting gloves are? No. Did you check the book bag? Yes. All the pockets? Oh, do y'all know where Jackson's bout and gloves are? I don't. So,
the parking was atrocious. I was sitting in the like like I said, me and a thousand other people were sitting there trying to get into the parking lot. There's no parking direction whatsoever. There are no people out there doing it. I'm sitting. So, we don't have the capacity. They They did not have the capacity. So, we don't have the capacity. So, the police are finally getting there at 11:30. Mind you, the stadium itself opens at 12:00. The police finally get there, open up the, you know, start directing traffic. They got reserve, they got VIP, and they got general parking. All of which you had to like pre- purchase. So, I park in general parking. But come to find out after I done hit the interwebs, the people who had reserved parking, it was not um it was well it was 2:00 p.m. local time. So it was 300 p.m. Eastern time, but 2:00 p.m. local time. So I'm still talking in Jackson local time. So mind you, um we get there, finally park, finally walk to the stadium. Everybody and their mama tailgating. There's one tailgate area which surprised me for the magnitude of the school. Like everybody and their mama went to Jackson State. Every Jackson State reminds me a lot of ENT where a lot of local people go to Jackson State. Um you definitely have, you know, folks that come from out of town to go to Jackson State like myself, but you have a lot of local people that come to Jackson State. So, I would have guessed that the tailgate area would have been much bigger, but it it wasn't. It wasn't. There were a lot of RVs. Like the center line is all RVs and then you have two other, you know, lines of tents and whatnot. Now, I'mma tell you what these people put on for it wasn't just like your regular tent with a grill and a No, they had a whole like hospitality suite set up, tables, chairs, catering, and you could literally like I was worried about where I was going to tailgate at. I was there with my friend and his friend met us there and his friend like they're both local to Jackson. So, we walked all over with them. I drank to my heart's content. We ate to my heart's content. I know we stopped at like 10,000 freaking tailgates and my son be a little iffy so I can't do everybody's size but the meats, okay? I had ribs, fish, chicken, like I had all the meats, okay? It was Arby's for me. So I had all the meats. But it was really cool because, you know, everyone was so welcoming. Like it it was just a really dope experience. Folks had TVs out. So by the time we came out of the stadium after the game, like I'm a football head. I can sit and watch football all day every day. So I like to catch all of the games that I can. So when we came out, the Alabama Tennessee game was on. So I sat down, tailgated again, got another plate, and sat out and watch the game until we left. Now, we did walk through and let me tell you, the deeper you get into the tailgate, the scarier it gets. Lord have mercy. WSSU has, you know, different lots and they're similar crowds in each lot. You know what I mean? Like one lot, you got your older alumni, you got your, you know what I'm saying? Them and then you got your younger alumni and then the gravel lot is for the youngans. Okay. For the white ends of Woodston. And that's how it was in Jackson State. The deeper you got into that parking lot. Y R. Okay, we going to call them Y. The Young Rams. Fair enough. Fair enough. But the deeper you get into that parking lot, baby. Baby, I almost got into a fight. Some girl was like challenging me to a staring contest. Mind you, we're like neck to neck, side to side, coming through this, you know, area where you can walk through. Honey, I I mean I'm I'm reformed, okay? I'm I've grown up, but I ain't that grown, honey. I thought I thought it was going to I thought I was going to have to take my earrings off. Please don't challenge me to a staring contest cuz I am not letting go. Okay, my pride will not let me take my eyes off you. So, we look like two owls staring at each other, head almost to the back on some exorcist stuff, looking at each other. And I'm like, why is this why is this girl staring at me? Girl, you young, but I got old ho fighting at me. Like, I've been fighting longer than you've been alive. It's not right. And I know y'all know better than that. Please stop. Steve, you have hit your Dr. Umar limit for this episode. No more Dr. So, we make it down to the end. We loop right around and come back. We don't hang out. Okay. We come right back up. Um Jarvis said he was at Jackson State. It was pretty lame compared to our FAMU homecomings. FAMU is another homecoming I plan on getting to. I believe FAMU is this weekend, right? Um so, I would love to come down to Tallahassee to FAMU um and see one of the FAMAU. I think it's on my schedule for for next year. I don't think I'm going to make it down there this weekend. I'm still trying to recover from that drive back from Jackson this because I had planned to stay on Jackson through the week, but by Sunday, I was ready to come home. I miss my baby. I miss my mom. I miss my own house. So, I pushed it back on Saturday or on Sunday, but um I can see why you say that. I was I was surprised. Um Friday, I went out on the yard and it was cool. Um, it ain't no nastier than dang going um to Jackson. That drive from Jackson to Gibsonville is 10 and a half hours. And I stopped at Bies. I stopped at Bies. And you know, I'm from Florida, so that Florida drive ain't nothing for me. Especially going just to Tallahassee. Like I'm from South Florida, so when I drive, it's like a 12 hour drive. From here to Tallahassee ain't but but six hours or so. Six, seven hours. So, it ain't too bad. But I was really surprised at um now they did have a lot of stuff for you to do. Um I was also surprised that the care Yes, baby. Bye. Be safe. Behave yourself. Okay. Um you got to go through every boondock Georgia. I still be flying. I don't I'm coming down one. I'm take I'm guessing you took US one. Bye, Bubba. Jack is going to his best friend's baseball game, so he will be not joining us for the rest of the show with his little poppy cuz he's got to say something. Hey. Um, but for um 44,000 people to be in that stadium, it felt like it. And the stadium itself is kind of like I it's kind of old. The stadium, the campus, it it needs some renovations. Uh I would like to see some renovations. Uh we'll get into the h history of Jackson um in a few, but um you can definitely tell I took away the same feeling that I had when I go to Baltimore. Like you can see where it has so much history, so much potential, but you can also see where um they lack funding and infrastructure. I don't know if those streets of Jackson have ever been paved ever since the first time they laid down roads in Jackson. They laid them down and never looked back. Like I was just really surprised at um just the lack of upgrades across campus. The athletic center was nice. Like where they play baseball. What's up Jackson? What's up? Okay. Um where they play basketball at is nice and they were doing some construction on some of the roads um there in Jackson while I was there on campus. But um I was kind of surprised at at the campus itself. I really love um like the little main area where we had the um um like the yard thing and it was really cool. I got to meet Lou Young. I got to meet um the head ball coach for Jackson State. I got to meet head ball coach for Tulu. Um I was really glad to be there with my friend cuz he knew everybody. I I didn't know a lot of these people. Um this picture is in front of the library. I really love the library. The library is huge. I think um it's it might be bigger than ENT's library. ANT has a really big library. I think it might be bigger than ANT's library. I went to ANT for a good two weeks and spent a lot of time in the library and I thought it I thought um Jackson State's library is extremely nice. It's one of the nicer buildings on campus. They have really cool fountains in front. They have this like baby blue water. That's me and Lou Young. He we had a good time. We actually talked for a while. Um, he was like I was telling him it was my first time at homecoming and he was like, "What? You missing out? This my favorite homecoming." So, he had him a blast. And if you watched all of his content, he had him a blast. He had an afterparty um at I can't remember where the place was, but he had an afterparty that, you know, after the game that day. So, he had him a good time in Jackson. Did he invite Did you invite him to WSSU? I did not. I'm really selfish when it comes to WSSU. I don't want it to be overcrowded. I know everybody loves for people to come to their homecoming, but I'm selfish with my Rams, okay? I like being able to walk through in peace and quiet. I like being able to maneuver without being able to, you know, touch shoulders with everybody. I don't want to do that when I'm at home. So, no, I didn't invite him. He can stay where he's at. If you want to come, Lou, if you want to come to WSSU homecoming, you're more than welcome. Holl at me. Okay. But I I wasn't I was I again I was in the moment in Jackson. I won't say I wasn't thinking about WSSU, but at the moment I wasn't. Um Lu Graalot would be We need to keep him over at the 1892 crew side. We going to keep him over in the the what is that? The east lot. We we gonna keep him over there. We're not sending L to the gravel. We Lou, you can't go to the gravel lot. Okay. One walkth through is all you allow over there because it's a different situation over here. I did the gravel a lot last year and wow I had to remember I was from Newport News, Virginia. Okay, let me tell you. Um uh that was another funny thing I saw. Um I want to say it was inside the H.B.CU. I can't remember. Somebody did a graphic and they always tease like don't bring your wife or your partner to homecoming. Like I don't have those problems. I don't have anybody. I don't have no past at college so I can bring whoever I want. And I'mma always bring somebody. So I it's never awkward for me. So I always just think that's funny like how people react when um they say, you know, don't bring your partner or you know don't bring your person if they didn't go to a H.B.CU. Um, I could definitely see why they say that though because it it's a lot of explaining. Like you got to explain why we act the way we act at homecoming because they don't do that at PWI homecomings or you know any other type of cultural situation. So it is very different. Homecoming is a very unique experience. Being at a H.B.CU is a very unique experience. Um, like I said, y'all know I go online, so I don't have a bunch of classmates to link up with. I don't have, you know, a bunch of clubs that I was a part of. Like I don't have any of that. So I just got to go with my t-shirt on and tell somebody like, "Hey girl," you know what I mean? But I mean, I built great relationships at WSSU cuz I'm local to the campus and I participate. I give back. I do things on campus. So I built, you know, a good little, you know, community of my own Rams at WSSU, but I didn't really have that at Jackson. I can't say that for, you know, going forward because I did meet a lot of cool people. I did meet a lot of folks that are there to Jackson. So when I go back, it's like, okay, Sheena's coming back. Y'all know what time it is. So very unique experience. Um, so that's it. Okay, that's all I'm That's all I'm going to say about Jackson and the homecoming experience. Um, concession. Well, that's not all I'm going to say. Actually, concession lines. The only line that wasn't unbearable was the alcohol line. And let me tell you, I drunk Monaco. I had never had a Monaco and them things good. Baby, cut water. Better watch your back because them monos are good. I had a couple of those, but there was no line for it. If I wanted something to drink, that's what I had to drink cuz I been standing in the concession line and waiting for an hour and a half, missing the whole quarter of football, getting concession. I was not doing that. It It just wasn't going to happen. So, my like my plea to the AD is tap in on those logistics because the logistics are mediocre. Like I had a better time at VU. No to VU, but I had a better time at VU than I did at Jackson State just because of all the things. The bathrooms were ridiculous. Like you couldn't pull your clothes down because they were going to get wet. The whole floor was wet. Like the tissue was up on top of the thing. Like you we got to do something about that experience. Especially if y'all want to invite people to homecoming. Y'all want to say y'all got a great home and the greatest show on earth is what y'all named the homecoming. Baby, we got to do something better. Like, shout out to being able to, you know, do good on the field and having, you know, all of the things with the Sonic Boom and the J sets. Like, it was really neat. Like, the game itself was cool. You had Mississippi National Guard do a flyover and one of the the pilots for the flyover is a Jackson State alum. So, that was really cool. Um, I love fireworks, honey. And they got fireworks. Every time we scored, there was some fireworks. During the national anthem, there was fireworks. So, I was in firework heaven. Okay. The DJ was amazing. The DJ was amazing. I had a good time, but the actual like the logistics of the game, zero out of 10. Would not recommend. Okay. Um the scoreboard there's like a old school scoreboard on one side and then there is a newer video board on the other side and then two smaller video boards like on the field. So it gets a little chaotic when you try to figure out what you know what you looking at. You can't they don't have like a possession indicator which really pisses me off like who got the ball. I honestly I'm watching the game I can see who got the ball but if I look up at the board I want to know who got the ball. So, Jackson State, get it together. Game eight out of 10. Experience overall two out of 10. It and I'm going tell you, it was the other alumni that made it to a two because they, like I said, they fed me. The experience tailgating was amazing. But, oh, why are we talking about tailgating? You people who wait until the end of the game to record the parking lots and then get on social media and fuss about the trash that's left behind. Baby, ain't no dumpsters out there. Where do you think people supposed to throw their trash at? There's some trash bags tied to a few poles, but there are people contracted after every single game. It's not just a homecoming thing. There are people contracted to come in late night the next morning to clean it up. So you posting this it like how much money is Facebook paying y'all to go viral off of some trash? Like please please with it. The trash is going to get picked up. There's nowhere for people to dump trash at. So you can't Oh, we got to take better care. Honey, it's somebody getting paid to come clean this trash up. It's part of the game day logistics. Like, they coming to get the trash. Crying on Facebook about people leaving their trash is really ridiculous. Like, have you never been to homecoming? Do you not know anything about this? Let me let Sheena tell you that there is somebody to come clean up their trash. You don't need to video the empty parking lot full of trash to put on social media to try to show like give a negative light to these schools. We don't need that. Stop doing it. Somebody's coming to get the trash. If it's that important to you, you go pick up the trash. Okay. Okay. I'm coming down. I'm coming down. I'm coming down. I'm coming down. So, that takes me back to the business of attendance. So, your packed homecoming stadium is great, but what happens to next week? Are the fans coming back? Are they buying season tickets? Are they joining your booster organizations? Are they supporting women's athletics? Okay, cuz if you can attract thousands of people for homecoming, the next question could be, how do we convert these visitors into consistent supporters? So, again, I'm at Jackson State right now. One of the classes I'm taking is sports finance. And that's something that we really dig into in that sports finance class is how do you convert people? How do you keep people coming back? And I'm going tell you, if I was a season ticket holder at Jackson State, I'd be pissed off cuz I that experience is not anything I will ever want to do again. So, you really got to lock in. It's just is more than what your team is doing on the field. The entire experience, you're spending 12 hours at this stadium. You got to make sure everything is on point. at least some of the things at one point. I got to be able to park like there are no bathrooms in the tailgate area. Where are people going to the bathroom at? I don't know. I don't want to know. But you got to think about those things when you're talking about underfunded H.B.CU trying to get people to be in your your booster clubs, your athletic pro, you know, boosters. You got to give them something to boost. Okay. So all my ads that are listening, log log in and do a little work and what your game day experience is like. Come out of the suites and walk around the stadiums, walk around the parking lots, walk around, get to experience it as if a you're a consumer and see what the consumer experiences it because you're going to get into the game. You got a badge. You got a pass. You're an employee. But the people that you need to depend on to come support athletic program, you need to know what that experience is like. And it needs to be your job to make sure that they're getting the best experience possible because that's how you're going to get people to join. I wouldn't be a horn if if that was my experience. if I didn't have a good parking experience, if I didn't have a good bathroom experience, if I didn't have a good concession stand experience, if y'all didn't have good vendors, like those things matter when you talking about putting cheeks in the seats. That's what we're looking at as a consumer. Those are the things we're looking at. And you don't want to be going viral because of something that you lacked as an ad because at the end of the day, it's your the whole athletic department is your responsibility. So, Lord have mercy. Okay. All right. A school with 10,000 fans in a 12,000 seat stadium might be created more consistently packed environment than a school with 15,000 fans in a 50,000 seat facility. And you can see why. This is why we look at both the reported attendance and stadium capacity when we verify it. Again, this week a lot of the numbers were unverified. So, I didn't go through our full report where we looked at stadium capacity versus stadium attendance. That'll be back hopefully next week. It was a short week for the kid. I tried to do as much as I could do. I'm sorry. Okay. All right. Come to the chat. All my chatters. I want to hear from y'all. Which HB.CU do you think has the most loyal traveling fan base? And here's another question. Would you rather attend a soldout game at a smaller stadium or a game with 40,000 fans in a larger stadium? Because atmosphere matters. And don't forget to tell me which homecoming had the best crowd this year. So, I know we've gotten through quite a few homecomings. Um, who who's had homecoming? Jackson State, obviously. Uh, I want to say Howard just recently had their homecoming. Um, Prairie View had their homecoming last week. Um, who else? We got a couple of more in the books. Of course, we got JHo coming up at North Carolina ENT. And then, um, homecoming for my Ramly at WSSU the next week. So, I'm looking forward to it. I I think I'm partial, me personally, to WSSU's homecoming simply because um, and then we had or Johnson C. Smith last week as well. I heard a lot of good things about Johnson C. Smith's homecoming, which doesn't surprise me. Um I for me, I'm not a giant crowd people like person, so the smaller crowds is what is really attractive to me. And the vendors like I need you to have a really good vendor situation. Um there I didn't see a single Jackson State vendor. Like there were like different vendors that were there selling like their own products, but I didn't see a place for me to buy like Jackson State stuff. Um, I did stop by the campus bookstore and supported my alma mater by, you know, visiting the campus bookstore. That's where I got this pretty cool jersey from. Um, I also have a baseball jersey that y'all have seen before. But, um, I for me, I think the most loyal traveling fan base is Jackson State. And I say that because that is the reason that I chose Jackson State because everywhere that I went, there was a ton of Jackson State people there. Um, we saw what it looked like when they played, I think, Gramlin out in Vegas. Um, Vegas was full of Jackson State folks when we did the CP3 um, tournament in in Vegas. What, 2023? 2020. Yeah, 2023, 2024. It was all Jackson State people went to the celebration bowl last year. South Carolina State and Prairie View A&M. All Jackson State people. So, um, and that was really the nail in the coffin for me that made me want to go was the people I met from Jackson State. So, I feel like Jackson State is the most loyal traveling fan base and my pompoms are still in the car, but I was a part of the pom pom committee. Um, they did, Jackson State people, they did kidnap me at Celebration Bowl. I was walking back from visiting Aurelia down in the sweet area and this guy walked up on me. He was like, "Do you what I've been asking Santa for?" I was like, "Okay." They they swooped me up. It was a group of them. They was like, "Come to our suite." Okay. All right. I had me a blast. I met all kinds of amazing Jackson State alumni. Then I went to an afterparty with them over at the hotel across the street. I had me a blast. Like, I was a tiger at that point. Like, I I was a tiger at that point. Can he fight? I don't know. I didn't even talked to that guy. I had talked to him since the celebration month. I had talked to him, but I'mma tell you, I I I love me some Jackson State. It's definitely the the fans, the people, the alumni that made me such a a diehard Jackson State fan, and I'm glad to glad to be a Tiger. So, all right, we got to wind down again. Uh let's talk some women's sports. Let's see what happened in women's sports last year. Let's shift gears a little bit because my HB.CU women deserve attention. I know we love to talk about football, but there are women competing, winning, and representing our institutions every single week. And that's what we here for. It's literally called Queens of the Yard. Like, I'm not the only queen of the yard here. We talk here to talk about the latest. And around here, we're not waiting to march to celebrate women's sports. So, let's start with volleyball. Across the MIA, SWAC, CIAA, and SIAC, conference play is where teams are starting to separate themselves. Okay? It's the time of the year where every match matters because teams are fighting for that conference tournament positioning and volleyball is one of those sports where momentum can change in a matter of minutes. I don't know if y'all ever sat and watch volleyball game but you could lose just like that. Okay, very very quickly. You could be up two sets and then find yourself fighting for your life in the fifth set. So if you haven't been to a HB.CU volleyball match, I implore you to go put your cheeks in the seats over there at them volleyball games just like you do at the football games, okay? Me included. Me included. Okay. Because they deserve your school. Yeah. Let me see them. The cheeks in the seats. Okay. Let's talk about soccer. All right. We getting close to the conference championships. We watching them compete. Tuskiggee. Y'all still doing y'all thing. Girls, I am so proud of y'all. Okay. Tuskegee ladies are doing their thing. If you want to learn more about H.B.CU soccer in general, check out H.B.CU FC. They're doing some amazing work at highlighting um black colleges. They have a campaign coming up called support black colleges. You get to pick your school color t-shirt um and the 10% of the proceeds go back to that school's soccer program and then um if that school for whatever reason doesn't have a soccer program, then that that money goes towards the athletic program at that school. So um be on the lookout for that campaign. Make sure you're following me everywhere. It kicks off November 1st and I will make sure to let you all know as we go into the next couple of weeks how you can participate in that. Um, but again, check out H.B.CU_FC on Instagram to keep up with all our HB.CU soccer. Okay. Okay. We also got cross country going on right now. Um, these athletes put in work. Okay. We're talking early mornings, long distance training, endurance, and a level of mental discipline that doesn't always get recognized. Um, WSSU is the king, okay, and queen rather of,
okay, the kings and the queens of um, cross country. So, shout out to you, Coach Antonio, for all the work that you're doing over at the cross country world for WSSU and all of the programs. So, to all of our women competing in volleyball, soccer, cross country, golf, tennis, and all the fall sports, we see you. Okay? And if you want to give your program some notoriety, holl at me. I would love to have you and the team on the show. Okay? I'm going to start reaching out to some of these volleyball teams cuz volleyball heat up. Okay? Um but here's something. Of course, I got to challenge our athletic departments because it's not all just on the athletes. What are we doing to market these teams? Other than the cute media day pictures and the fun reels, how are we marketing our teams? Are we do giving them the same energy as we're giving them the football? Are we promoting their games? Are we sharing our highlights? Are we telling their stories? Um, Tuskiggee, I gotta shout them out again because they're doing amazing with their sharing and their marketing of their women's soccer program. Um, that that program is new. Tuskiggee men's soccer program is new. They're doing an amazing job. They really get my vote of confidence when it comes to the marketing of that soccer program. Um, if you haven't checked out Tuskkegee, head over there, follow them on Instagram, support those ladies. They're working really hard. This their first year that making history over there at Tuskiggee. If you want to see more about that, go back a couple of episodes cuz they were on um we had Sariah and um Nina on from that W, excuse me, Tuskiggee soccer program and I I really enjoyed them. So definitely go learn more about Tuskiggee and that amazing things that they're doing and put your cheeks in the seats over there, okay? They normally plays a lot of the times I see them plays on Sundays. Um, so if you're in town for football games, stay at extra day and go to those soccer games.
Um, attendance creates revenue, right? Okay. Sponsorships and long-term program growth. You can't expect to support the teams um that we barely hear about. So, marketing departments, get on it, okay? And y'all will always have a place here at Queens. So, question for my chat. Who is the woman athlete at HB.CU that we need to know about? drop her name and her school and her sport in the comments and we might feature as a future queen of the week. So, I want y'all to get into it. Right, speaking of women's uh sports, we got women's basketball coming up. I'm so excited. WSSU is the current reigning champions of the CIAA women's basketball. They went on to the national D2 tournament last year. So, we got great expectations coming on. I I would like to get Coach Terry on the show here in the next couple of weeks before the season really kicks off, before she gets too busy for us. Um I would love to get her in here um and chat through kind of some things that are going on. So um I'm excited. I'm really excited. You know, last week week before last we had Liv on from Live for Hoops and she gave us a really good rundown of some predictions that she had for our upcoming basketball season across the H.B.CU CU board and all the conferences. Make sure you go back and check out that episode and you follow Live for Hoops. L I V E F O R H O O Ps. Okay. Well, you've seen what happens when women basketball get consistent media coverage, storytelling, and investment. The audience is there. Let me tell you, games was packed out every single women's game last year. Every single game. And I want to see it again this year. And I want the same for your alma mater where you went to school, the local schools. If you're not close to your own alma mater, go to the ones that are close to you. Okay, so let's start with Jackson State Lady Basketball. The Lady Tigers open their season November the 2nd against Arizona State and right out of the gate, they're facing a power four opponent. Then they head to Grand Canyon on November 4th. So, two games that week. Their home opener scheduled against um Mississippi University for women November 9th. Uh, fun fact, I got my uh I took a couple of classes at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus for my associates in military science. So, um, I used to live in Mississippi. Just so if y'all didn't know, I lived in Mississippi about almost four years. Um, at the time that I would have been, you know, normally at Jackson State, I was in the Air Force over in Columbus. and um I you know took took it upon myself to further my education while I was there and I got to go to Mississippi University for women which is really cool. Um so here's why I like seeing HB.CU use play bigger non-conference games like it gives them the opportunity to compete at a different level like does some fine-tuning and it gives some exposure u because we already we just talked about the marketing right it gives programs a chance to measure themselves before conference play begins and it's also a business conversation because we can't ever leave out business are these games being scheduled primarily for competitive development revenue recruiting visibility or a combination of all three because scheduling is a strategy just so We know. Uh, moving along to ENT women's basketball. Um, and let's talk about the Aggies. Okay, they open up November 2nd against Wingate. They also got Nebraska on November 10th and Navy on November 20th. And then a game that I want everybody to be at is November or excuse me, December 16th where they play against the North Carolina Central Eagles. So, that's a rivalry matchup worth watching. And I love when games are an opportunity to bring together alumni, students, and community members across the board. Um because rivalries don't stop at football or men's basketball. We ought to women's basketball, too. Okay. So, now that we done talked about it a little bit, which H.B.C.U basketball program, women's basketball program do you think is going to surprise people this season? What non-conference matchup are you the most excited about? Let me throw that in the chat.
I got back to North Carolina and my allergies went crazy. I was fine in Mississippi, but I got back here, baby, this ragweed is raggedy in me. Okay, so it's not just about March Madness. It's about the whole season. So, I'm challenging everybody tonight to attend at least one H.B.CU women's basketball game this year. Buy a ticket, bring a friend, bring your kids, and make some noise, okay? cuz support got to be more than just a hashtag.
All right, women's basketball. Let's talk. Let's go back to Jackson State because I can't stop talking about it. Y'all will get what I missed last week while I was partying my face off. Okay. Um, I talked about a lot of negative things about the school, but I'm getting my graduate degree in sports management out of Jackson State and being a part of that tradition means something to me. So, let's talk about the institution itself. Okay, let's learn. Let's have some learning time here about Jackson State. So, Jackson State University was founded in 1877 as Nachez Seminary in Nachez, Mississippi. 1877. Nah, that's 20 30 years older than a lot of the institutions that we we follow. We know um a lot of land grant universities came about in the 1890s. Um, but if we looking all the way back 1877, um, and that was just a decade after the end of slavery, 10 years, okay, in Mississippi, an institution created to educate black Americans at a time when access to higher education was extremely limited. In 1882, the institution moved to Jackson. Over the years, it continued to grow, expanded its academic programs, and served generations of students. And then officially in 1974, it became Jackson State University. So when we talk about H.B.CU history, we're talking about institutions that were built out of necessity, resilience, and determination. They're not just schools. They were placed in black communities to create opportunities for themselves and future generations. Um, and that legacy continues today. So, first there is some culture that you know makes Jackson State special and it's the I love that is the one of the biggest things and one of the first things that I learned about it. Um and that that compassion really goes deep into the school into the alumni even into the students everything is the so if you know you know then of course there's our beloved sonic boom of the south which has a rich history in H.B.CU GCU um band. We have the J sets. Um we're talking like top top five bands, right? You know, I ain't going to say right now, but like ever in my opinion. Um and they're not just halftime shows. These are part of the culture. When you think of Jackson City, you think of the sonic boom in the south. You know, sometimes before you think of the football team, that football team is going to have its ups and downs. It's going to go back and forth, but the sonic boom is going to boom every single time, every single year. And then they produce some amazing band directors that go out into other universities that go out into the high schools and the middle schools and they teach this culture to you know the next generation. So Sonic Boom in the South really gets you know I my vote for one of the best programs because of the influence that it has across the H.B.CU marching band landscape. Um I have already talked about my experience. I I couldn't hold on. So So I'm not going to go through that again. But I I just want to know um and talk a little bit of course about the business side of homecoming. So we travel, so you're looking at local economic impact. You're looking at the flights into the local airport, the you know impact in the airport itself, and then local ride share. Those are people who live there locally that are coming to pick you up from the airport that are coming to do these things. And then we're looking at the restaurants, the hotels, um local vendors, the clothing businesses, the barber shops, event promoters, and everything that's happening around the football game. HB.CU homecomings are huge income driver or economic drivers for the surrounding communities. I know they're talking about up to $40 million of impact for G-Hel coming to uh North Carolina ENT or coming to Greensboro, North Carolina. Uh you can't find a hotel in the city. People are all the way out in Gibsonville, McLeanville, Kernersville, Winston, all all the way around. So, it not only impacts, you know what I'm saying, right there on Market Street, but you're looking at a 30 to 40 mile radius of impact when you look at homecomings. And I'm sure it's the same for every local H.B.CU in that area. The way that it impacts the local economy is amazing. Some people do some of their best times of the year at homecomings. So, what makes your homecoming special? We've had someone mention Fam Muse homecoming, Jackson State, we got JHo coming up, we got, you know, WSSU coming up. We had Howard Prairiew. Um, like what makes your homecoming special? was what makes it different than the other one? How do you know when you're at your homecoming that this is what makes this thing special? So, I want to know talk about it in the chat. But y'all know I have ran my mouth for 55 minutes before we get out of here. Who's your queen of the week? I know we hadn't done queen of the week in a while. So, I want to get back to that because we had a really good time with that. So, I want y'all to nominate your queen of the week, whether she's an athlete, a coach, administrator, sports information professional, or someone working behind the scenes. I want to celebrate their contributions. Um, I talked to Dr. Mon'nique Smith the other day. Um, really amazing amazing work when it comes to um, propelling like black and H.B.CU women administrators um, in the collegiate space. I love her podcast. is something that I listen try to listen to frequently. Um, and like I said, I had a chance to talk to her and she's just really, really amazing. She was the former SID over at St. Paul College. She's currently a professor at Hampton University. So, um, she's doing some great work. So, she's my queen of the week. I'll be sure to post more information and share more information about her. Um, so let's see. Final rundown, my final thoughts. I think that's about it, right? I think that's about it. We covered football. We covered attendance. We covered Jackson State thousand times. We gave our women athletes some love. We looked into the basketball season and the history and traditions of Jackson State University. But here's one thing I want to take I want y'all to take away. And y'all know what I'm about to say. H.B.CU athletics is more than just wins or losses, okay? It's about opportunity. It's about community. It's about culture. And we want to make sure that the next generation has something amazing to build on. So, keep showing up. Keep putting those sheets in the seats. Keep supporting these athletes and buying those tickets and keep telling their stories. Okay, I know that's what Queens of the Yard is going to do. I'm your girl Sheena. It's been Queens of the Art and HB.CU Game Day podcast. Make sure you like, share, subscribe, and remember, every crown tells a story. Until the next time, queens. I will see y'all on the yard. Peace.