ksu sucks

I'm interested to see if you stick to that statement tomorrow morning once your emotions have calmed.

Yeah, good thing we don't have an arena twice that size.

I didn't hear anyone discuss this at the time(perhaps I missed it). What do you guys think about the ref warning Zeke(watch the vid from about the :28 mark)?

Photoshop, anyone?

Exactly. I thought about this a while ago and I came to the same conclusion. Ohio fans seem to be the most insecure bunch in the MAC, and this has to be why. In their defense, it's probably annoying when you travel outside of Ohio and tell someone you went to school at Ohio and the response is Oh, so you're a buckeye! Most of the posters there are old farts. They think it's still 1976 and Akron is still Hilltop High. Times are a changin' and they can't handle it.

lulz Please, tell us more.

Not to mention, Ohio basically can't miss from anywhere on the floor. We look like crap.

Something like VCU, yes. BGSU....hell no.

I'm sure the crowd looks good. It just seems stupid having such a large arena if you can't fill it regurlarly. I can't imagine those 13K games come around very often. Not like it matters. What's happening on the court is all that matters. And right now, Ohio has nothing to be disappointed about.

Yeah, that's my point. I hope we keep that in mind if we ever replace the JAR. Looks like crap when you can't fill half your arena for a marquee game.

There's a reason I'm focusing on the seating...

What was Dambrot yelling about? It looked like he was talking about Cooper?

I'm enjoying the large empty ring of green lining the upper level seating at the Convo. At least the JAR looks somewhat full.

True, but still stupid. Momentum was going in our direction. No reason for that. There are a lot of hotheads on both these teams(Cooper and Diggs especially).

Damn it.

Not in Europe.

Should be hosted on mac-sports.com

Just checked out Ohio's forums. Turns out Dambrot hates OU and it goes back thirty years ago to his days as an assistant under Bob Rupert(!). Dambrot hated those high and mighty Bobkittens because they wouldn't stoop to our level and schedule us. Oh, and Dambrot doesn't actually hate Ohio. He just says things like that to random reporters to get a dig at Can't. He's just evil like that. Yeah, pretty interesting stuff...

Thanks for the encouragement, DIG. I'm not so much giving up on my idea, as much as I am on my ability to convince a few of you. As you mentioned, it really doesn't matter if I convince you. I know the Athletic department reads this stuff. If one of Wistricill's minions takes my idea and tries to take credit for it(by all means, please do) then the response I receive on this forum is irrelevant.

Do 90% of the season ticket holders go out of town for the month of December? No disagreement there. Student attendance has been weak, especially if the number of students in the floor seats is your gauge for overall student attendance. But I wonder how many students are spread out amongst the general admission crowd? I wonder how many of the students who sit in the GA seating are typically in the student section at the Info(that is, until Ianello sucked the life out of the FB program)? The Athletic department should crunch the numbers for this. Something like a ratio of the number of students on the floor vs the number of students in attendance. If there is a disparity there, what's causing it? Hmm... Amen to that. I'm just looking for a short-term fix. If there would be this much resistance to the idea, forget it. It just seems like the University is missing out on a prime chance to convert some of it's OSU-crazed students. But what do I know, anyway...

Dave, I understood your point. You probably know more about the seating situation than I do. I've spent all of my time up in the bleacher seats, bending over to see the scoreboard from behind the rafters. So perhaps I'm too far away to get a feel for the mindset of those with the best seats in the house. How many of them are season ticket holders? I hope not many, because seating down there can be pretty sparse for those December blizzard matches against the little sisters of the poor. At any rate, I wonder how many of those premium paying zips supporters would consider relocating to a different section of the lower chairback area if it meant giving a better student experience and a better game time atmosphere? We're not talking about giving up an entire side of the lower reserves and pushing everyone else to bleachers. Let's just give a few rows of seats to the students, as Taxpayer suggested. I'd be rather surprised to hear many zips supporters reject to such an idea. This team is too good to force the students to sit in makeshift bleachers on opposite ends of the court. Next season will be huge(as is this season). This team deserves better. And to reemphasize my earlier point about short term appeasement: If the university wants to continue seeing sub-3,000 attendance numbers for the next twenty years, then they should continue their current set-up. If they want long-term attendance increases, they're going to need to work on the game time experience for the students. Happy students make happy alumni. I understand the restrictions that the JAR imposes, and if these suggestions are economically infeasible because of that, so be it. I just hope the U is working on a solution. This program, these fans, and Dambrot deserve better.

In the long run, the University is going to have to make some tough decisions. We all remember the football stadium parking lot fiasco. Short-term appeasement can only get you so far.

Wadszip, awesome post. Another factor that I think your post suggested, but didn't mention specifically, is the willingness of the administration to spend money on athletics. In that category, Akron beats just about everyone in the MAC. Also, that may be another reason BG and K-ent will be left out of any expansion. I'm not entirely sure about BG's president, but Lester Lefton seems very reluctant when it comes to athletics. It seems like he has delusions of grandeur when it comes to academics. He spent some time as VP at Tulane and thinks he can turn a state school in Ohio into some kind of Northeastern academic elite. OTOH, Proenza seems to understand how athletics can elevate a university. But enough Can't bashing. Great post!

No, of course not. But as you mentioned, it would be nice to see some changes in the upcoming season(s). I'm sure most of the season ticket holders in the lower chairbacks would consider moving their seat if it results in a better atmosphere for the students and the players. The athletic department should consider simply sending a questionnaire to current and potential season ticket holders. Would they be willing to make a sacrifice to help enhance the atmosphere at the JAR? It's not like there isn't enough room for a scaled down version of Michigan's student section. Give a small section of the lower chairbacks to the students and get rid of the random seating behind the basket(unless needed?). I'm willing to bet that most of the fans would be willing to accommodate such a change. Also, I purposely used the word "modification". If a short-term fix such as the one above isn't possible, there's always the possibility of structural changes in the JAR. Knock down the track and expand seating behind both the hoops, similar to this. Whatever the case, I'm sure the university is checking into all options. I hope something happens soon. This program has so much momentum. I hope a new arena comes around in at least less than ten years! BTW, if Dambrot is still around when it's built, we ought to consider naming the place after him.

I know. I'm just messing with you. But to get back to my original question, I'm willing to bet that if there were a more unified student section at the JAR, we would see something similar to what we had with the Rubber Bowl. Unfortunately, the JAR just isn't going to allow for that without massive modification. I really wish they would give a section of the chair back seating to the students. Half of those people never show up anyway. I like Michigan's set up: Much better than watching a bunch of old farts sit on their hands.