bobbyake Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 We're spoiled with pro teams in the north. Here's 2012 attendance figures much higher than soccer overall. I'm not denying baseballs popularity over soccer at the college level but the popularity dwindles as you go north. Back to the subject, I'm rooting for Can't because anytime a local team does well, it reminds the local OSU frontrunners that local schools are worth rooting for too. Also, how often do we talk about college baseball on here? Can't's trip to the CWS could help overall interest in college baseball in this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 I'm coaching youth sports and can tell you your 100% wrong. I've seen so many good youth baseball players quit for spring soccer. Ive seen extremely talented high school football players quit for soccer. Kids gravitate to sports they are good at? Or, they gravitate to sports they can get on the field in because they couldn't perform well against the others in the sport they quit? If you aren't very good at something, go do something you don't have to be very good at. Only in America would a kid not good enough to use both hand and eye coordination quit baseball for soccer. Baseball takes some talent. Soccer at the youth level takes the ability to run a lot and kick a ball...and act like you have been shot if someone touches you....everyone is a winner and nobody has to be "the man". The reason Americans are so horribly bad internationally (Let's face it, our national soccer team is a joke. ESPN is probably praying they can pull their heads out of their @$$es long enough to win a couple of games to keep people watching over the summer.) is because we don't deploy our best talent for soccer. It is playing other sports. In Europe, soccer is the sport kids play and the other sports are what they play if they can't play soccer. I may not know a lot about soccer, but I can turn on the US national team and see they don't have much talent compared to their European counterparts. European players are also very aggressive and attack the game...American soccer players tend to be passive and meek compared to the European players, which is why they shy away from sports like football and basketball. I know this is the point where a soccer fan sites a handful of Americans who are "just as good as the Europeans". Maybe, but they have minor league soccer teams in Europe who could beat the American national team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 The best athletes play the sport they're best at, not what they prefer. Where in the world did you ever find the data to make this a definitive statement? It's not true, and I'm sure every one of us on this board has a personal example of it. But, let me start at the top. Michael Jordon left basketball to play baseball. If your formula is true, it's because he was a better baseball player? And on a personal level, my nephew was a phenomenal youth soccer player who once scored all of his team's goals in a 5-0 win, but he stopped playing, and has played basketball ever since, and sits at the end of the bench, and is now a Senior. Listen....we get it....you will do whatever it takes to one day try to convince us all that soccer is going to rule the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 How many MLB games has anyone here ever turned on and heard an MLB announcer say "That guy played for 'powerhouse' K ent State. K ent is one of the elite collegiate baseball teams in the country."? Every time I watch an MLS game with a former Akron player playing, I hear how great The University of Akron soccer program is... I had hoped we had moved away from obsessing over K ent about anything, and that the posters on this board wouldn't even bring up the CWS. I tried to refrain from posting, but when people on this board make STUPID statements like "American kids who tend to not do well at other sports gravitate to soccer so the gene pool isn't as great so the talent is equally bad for all teams", I have to say something. Some of the best, smartest, most dedicated, and proud athletes at The University of Akron are OUR soccer players. I cannot believe you would dis them like that even if you don't like the sport. I'd like to throw around a bunch of expletives here, but that will accomplish nothing except getting me banished from this board. I'll just say that I'm embarrassed by the lack of UA pride demonstrated here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 How many MLB games has anyone here ever turned on and heard an MLB announcer say "That guy played for 'powerhouse' K ent State.What college do you usually hear the announcers say? It's MLB, stars don't go to college (with minor exceptions), it's not NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 What college do you usually hear the announcers say? It's MLB, stars don't go to college (with minor exceptions), it's not NFL. Thank you. Exactly my point exactly when comparing our soccer National Championship to K ent being in the CWS, and the subsequent media coverage, which in K ent's case is mostly limited to Cleveland/NEO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 ...limited to Cleveland/NEO.Would that not be your target market if you were trying to get an extra 10,000 students by 2020? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Would that not be your target market if you were trying to get an extra 10,000 students by 2020? Are they trying to get 10,000 quality students, or 10,000 morons? There are a lot of ways to "grow". Not all of them are always good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Are they trying to get 10,000 quality students, or 10,000 morons?No, we (U of A) are. My point was, a run to the CWS like they are having would help us if we did something similar. Everybody around the area is talking about it, and tuning in to watch the games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 No, we (U of A) are. My point was, a run to the CWS like they are having would help us if we did something similar. Everybody around the area is talking about it, and tuning in to watch the games. I guess I could have asked the question of any school. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the same number of students with a higher quality of student entering the school? For example, Harvard has 27,000 students.?.? Since this is a sports forum, I'll put it another way. Wouldn't the MAC better off with fewer, high quality teams than adding teams like UMASS? More isn't always better. Dr. Proenza is a smart guy, but this is a backward way of thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 No, we (U of A) are. My point was, a run to the CWS like they are having would help us if we did something similar. Everybody around the area is talking about it, and tuning in to watch the games. It's true, and it's actually making me sick. Today's Beacon has Ken+ baseball pictures on the front of the Sports section AND on the Front Page of the Paper !!! And again, I will say this....they haven't even started the damn tournament yet !!! I was in a bar in Akron when they were playing Oregon a few days ago. The Ken+ game was on one TV when I got there. But by the middle part of the game, so many people were asking what was happening that they turned ALL 5 TVs over to the friggin Ken+ game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyake Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 But, let me start at the top. Michael Jordon left basketball to play baseball. If your formula is true, it's because he was a better baseball player? If you reread my post, it might help you. Jordan played basketball because he would have had to get a normal job had he persuid baseball. Sometimes you're built for a certain sport no matter your athletic ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Everybody around the area is talking about it, and tuning in to watch the games. I'm not sure who you mean by "Everybody". No one has mentioned it at work. I congratulated a K ent grad on their making the CWS, but I've not heard anyone else mention it. I work in Cleveland...so, perhaps by "Everybody", you mean in the Akron and K ent areas. At any rate, it doesn't really affect me. So, good for them. BTW, I didn't vote in the poll because you forgot the "I don't care" or "It doesn't matter to me" option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted June 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I didn't vote in the poll because you forgot the "I don't care" or "It doesn't matter to me" option.But yet you have posted multiple times on the subject in an off topic forum, kind of odd. I'm not sure who you mean by "Everybody". No one has mentioned it at work.By typing "everybody" here is what I mean. More than a dozen people in my office have mentioned something to me. There are multiple articles in local papers for weeks on the subject (check today's PD & BJ). Sports Illustrated's Extra Mustard has posted the video of the hit that one the game. I have received multiple emails from clients that are not Ken+ fans asking me what I think of Ken+s run. I was at a bar in Stow last Sunday night where the majority of the patrons were watching and interested in the game. The TV is usually tuned to the MLB Sunday night game or an NBA playoff game which a handful of people watch. Every local news is running highlights about the team. Cribbs is chartering a bus to Omaha. On Ken+s rivals page fans are discussing it. I'm no Ken+ fan, I hate Ken+, but to ignore the "buzz" they are getting over this run would be naive IMO. I could provide you with many more links (support for my point) but the whole changing the word ken+ to can't thing prohibits me. Sorry. PS I am going to guess my feeling will be that I say I am rooting for ken+, but when the game is almost over, if they lose, I will still feel pretty good. It will be like when the Browns play the Ravens. Being a Steeler fan, I want the Browns to win, but when it comes down to the end of the game and the they end up losing, well I still feel pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 But yet you have posted multiple times on the subject in an off topic forum, kind of odd. I should have been more direct...you should add a 3rd option "I'm neither cheering for K ent nor against K ent because I don't obsess over them." so that I could vote. You're correct in that I should never have read any of the posts in this thread. I felt compelled to reply when I read posts that had gone into smacking our own accomplishments. Then it went south from there into our exchange. Sorry about that...I'll stop now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Holy crap! The Can't loss to Arkansas led the Channel 3 TV news tonight, and took up the first 5 minutes of the broadcast with multiple reports. I'm not sure the Zips' national championship win in soccer produced as much coverage as the Flush's loss many games away from the college baseball national championship. The reality check is that even the numbest of TV talking heads gets baseball and is mystified by soccer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Holy crap! The Can't loss to Arkansas led the Channel 3 TV news tonight, and took up the first 5 minutes of the broadcast with multiple reports. I'm not sure the Zips' national championship win in soccer produced as much coverage as the Flush's loss many games away from the college baseball national championship. The reality check is that even the numbest of TV talking heads gets baseball and is mystified by soccer. That's what I keep saying. And it sucks for us, but it is indeed a harsh reality check. This story already far surpassed our soccer national championship in media attention a long time ago. Just the Josh Cribbs sponsored Omaha bus trip alone is getting tons of media attention. I can only imagine what would happen if they could win title. It would be an absolute disaster for us in terms of our competition for attention with Ken+ among NE Ohioans, if it hasn't already reached that point already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 And it sucks for us, but it is indeed a harsh reality check. This story already far surpassed our soccer national championship in media attention a long time ago. There is media attention and then there is media attention. Another harsh reality is very few people watch the local news so the attention is almost meaningless. Can't was on a nice run, but they were completely out classed yesterday. The run is coming to a close in the near future and the players will fade into the background of college athletics where college baseball is mostly played. I'd take a national championship in any sport compared to that outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyake Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 There is media attention and then there is media attention. Another harsh reality is very few people watch the local news so the attention is almost meaningless. Can't was on a nice run, but they were completely out classed yesterday. The run is coming to a close in the near future and the players will fade into the background of college athletics where college baseball is mostly played. I'd take a national championship in any sport compared to that outcome. Those that watch local news are of the older demographic whom are the same people that don't like soccer and think baseball is still America's pastime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akzipper Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Most of all...people are used to Akron soccer winning. Compare to pro sports. What would make the bigger national news story next year, the Heat making the finals or the Thunder? Obviously the Thunder, because the Heat are expected to make it. People like the underdog story much more than the "oh them again...". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootforRoo44 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 All I know is that it was wonderful watching Can't get beat up in that game Saturday. I absolutely loved it. There's nothing better than seeing your rival get all of the bandwagon fans jumping aboard and talking, and then tanking it big time on national television and losing them all in one fell swoop. The next game should be entertaining as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 They're getting more media coverage for getting to the CWS than for their Elite 8 run in basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 They're getting more media coverage for getting to the CWS than for their Elite 8 run in basketball. Maybe on a local level, but there is no way on the national level. Nobody watches local news except for old people who watch the 6:00 evening news before going to bed. There is no way a school gets more national coverage for the CWS than for the Elite 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Maybe on a local level, but there is no way on the national level. Nobody watches local news except for old people who watch the 6:00 evening news before going to bed. There is no way a school gets more national coverage for the CWS than for the Elite 8. You are absolutely correct. One of the things I liked about living in the Central time zone was that the evening news came on at 10 instead of 11 each evening. Now I would have to load up on one of them high-powered energy drinks to stay awake that long. I'm looking for the Portage County boys to make a statement by beating the number one ranked Gators later today. Of course due to the late start time I won't be able to watch it until Tuesday. Thank goodness for VCRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 You are absolutely correct. One of the things I liked about living in the Central time zone was that the evening news came on at 10 instead of 11 each evening. Now I would have to load up on one of them high-powered energy drinks to stay awake that long. I'm looking for the Portage County boys to make a statement by beating the number one ranked Gators later today. Of course due to the late start time I won't be able to watch it until Tuesday. Thank goodness for VCRs. Shame on you, Zipmeister Long live "the Beta"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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