Hilltopper Posted January 26, 2014 Report Posted January 26, 2014 I work for a university with a student population of 6,000 (25% of that of Akron). The city population is 30,000 (10% of that of Akron). The team is around .500 in a league that is less competitive than the MAC and the team is meh... and their coach will give a leg to have a player of the caliber of Tree, Quincy, Harney, Jake, Reggie, or Pat. The students all have big screen TVs and video game consoles. If you're a student, you need to come early to home games because otherwise you won't get a seat! On game days (or the day before, the game is all what students talk about (well 80% of them). The record doesn't matter, the opponent doesn't matter either. On thanksgiving break, the dorms were open till Sunday (rather than Friday evening) because students wanted to delay going home until after the Saturday game. Akron doesn't lack numbers, it is not the TVs, it is not the MAC. It is the lack of pride and identity at UA. I can't put my finger on it! It could be that a lot of our students only went to Akron because they couldn't go to tOSU? is it because they don't live on campus, they don't feel as committed and attached? Those are the things you need to look at. How big is your arena? Quote
skip-zip Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 I work for a university with a student population of 6,000 (25% of that of Akron). The city population is 30,000 (10% of that of Akron). The team is around .500 in a league that is less competitive than the MAC and the team is meh... and their coach will give a leg to have a player of the caliber of Tree, Quincy, Harney, Jake, Reggie, or Pat. The students all have big screen TVs and video game consoles. If you're a student, you need to come early to home games because otherwise you won't get a seat! On game days (or the day before, the game is all what students talk about (well 80% of them). The record doesn't matter, the opponent doesn't matter either. On thanksgiving break, the dorms were open till Sunday (rather than Friday evening) because students wanted to delay going home until after the Saturday game. If this is true, I think it brings the lameness of today's Akron students into proper perspective. And people are debating Saturday morning games vs. Weekday evening games? When we have 30k students and are just trying to get maybe 500 to 1,000 to attend a FREE Division I basketball game? Ridiculous. Quote
LZIp Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 If this is true, I think it brings the lameness of today's Akron students into proper perspective. And people are debating Saturday morning games vs. Weekday evening games? When we have 30k students and are just trying to get maybe 500 to 1,000 to attend a FREE Division I basketball game? Ridiculous. The student attendance record was broke multiple times last season. Give it a rest. Quote
Balsy Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 If this is true, I think it brings the lameness of today's Akron students into proper perspective. And people are debating Saturday morning games vs. Weekday evening games? When we have 30k students and are just trying to get maybe 500 to 1,000 to attend a FREE Division I basketball game? Ridiculous. I was at the Toledo game...there were more than 500 students there...if not 1000...so I'm not sure why all the hate on the students. Hate on Joe Akron for not attending the 11am Zips game. Quote
zippy5 Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 The student attendance record was broke multiple times last season. Give it a rest. Yeah I don't really understand it. We're having the best student attendance in a while. Another point.. I don't think that's a coincidence that there are also a lot more on campus living options. Quote
Dave in Green Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 @Ada Zip, great post. You bring up a lot of interesting points. I can't really put my finger on the difference in the various levels of student interest at different schools either. I remember my experience at Louisiana Tech in the 1968-71 time frame when there was huge student interest in all the basketball and football games. We just never thought not attending was an option. Obviously at some schools it's much different. I wonder if the difference is related to older students passing on the passion or indifference for their college sports teams to incoming students, and everyone just takes it for granted that it's a high or low priority? Quote
Quickzips Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 There are really two separate issues here. One is student attendance, the other is the AK Rowdies. I can't speak much to student attendance overall, but the Rowdies really need to be disbanded. They had a chance to be something special a few years ago, but too many years of poor leadership, poor planning, poor marketing and overall cliqueness has killed any momentum they might have had. Make one big student section (somewhere in the JAR) that is open to students on a first come, first serve basis. The only requirement is that you have to be wearing an Akron shirt. Quote
Valpo Zip Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 How big is your arena? 5000 seats. Quote
Valpo Zip Posted January 27, 2014 Report Posted January 27, 2014 Nice! That's an impressive job inspector Dave! I didn't mean to make this a guessing game. I just wanted the topic to remain the Rowdies and Akron students. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.