Balsy Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 It seems to me that if the students are looking for something of value for going to the game, the school would spend a lot of time thinking about what would be of value to the students and still never be able to make everyone happy.I don't think you understand what I'm trying to get out GP1. Foster an atmosphere that makes you feels as if you (as a student) are connected with it, and that there is a sense of community.Bobbleheads IMO = dumb. Unless it's Zippy. The Flag they're doing for the Season ticket holders on the other hand is a good change...now do something similar for your freaking students. In fact I was at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago to buy a gift for someone and I heard two students talking about how they wish there was a cool Akron flag they could buy...how about we hand a cool one out to students so they can display their Akron pride OUTSIDE of the game?You gotta get students to buy into the atmosphere, and make it feel legitimate instead of making it feel "second rate". They certain made a few changes this season that make the overall experience better and seem more legitimate...but from the nose bleed student section it still has the feeling of second-rate. Just saying.Also tell your freaking professors to wear Akron stuff, not OSU crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 2) With that said, there's two different debates that have morphed into one here. I don't think the crowds in general have been bad - I've actually been pleasantly surprised with most turnouts. The issue - and the reason for this thread - is low student turnout and impact on the game, not the crowd size in general. Two completely different topics IMO. I was saying they are the same...better handouts = more students. The die-hards are already there. Give something to entice the non-diehards to start getting involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Is it possible that the level of competition that we are beating is possibly getting as boring to the casual supporters as it appears to be getting to some of the long-time regulars? Even some people on this board? Does the game-day anticipation wane after you spend 10 years pretty much doing the same thing? This is an excellent point. The product of basketball consists of two teams. When one is really good (the Zips) and the other is average at best (the MAC) then the product isn't as good. Since we are Zips fans, we think the Zips being good is good enough. Not everyone thinks like us and people look for different things. The rest of the MAC badly needs to get good or at least play a better brand of basketball. I don't think die hard fans are sick of watching the Zips win. I think they have had a belly full of the rest of the MAC and it makes it hard for them to attend sometimes. There is nothing wrong for fans to seek more substance in their entertainment choices.The question of a marques win generating more attendance is one that I have trouble connecting all of the dots with in terms of believing there is a long term benefit. I think it assumes a lack of sophistication with the basketball consumer. A win is something that happens in the past. Upcoming games happen in the future. Marketing Departments can only attract people to the future. They can attract people to a future game using a past game, but the future game had better have the same quality as the past game. If the Zips beat UNC one week and then play Central Michigan the following week, how is a person who knows anything about basketball supposed to get excited about the CMU game?...The players don't even get as excited. If they go to the CMU game, will the quality of the overall product on the floor be enough to bring them back again?All the Zips can do is keep winning and hope that somehow the rest of the MAC gets more entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Last year, when the students were breaking attendance records, the idea of a student section in the upper south bleachers was played up pretty heavily. This year, not a peep.It's inconsistency across seasons that creates the problem. How many different student seating sections, slogans, promotions, and whatnot have been tried for one year, only to be abandoned in favor of a different message the next? Every time a slogan comes along and the students go out and buy the shirts, it gets abandoned and it becomes uncool to wear those shirts.Also, the problem with moving the students to a side section isn't with having all the seats filled with donors. A large portion of the blue chars are owned by companies. The problem is that it's all scattered throughout the seating area, and the season ticket holders resist the idea of moving to a different section than the one they've sat and mildly cheered in for the past twenty years. It's certainly possible to fit the students, season ticket holders, and corporate tickets in, but it would require moving and consolidating where those types of tickets are within the lower bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I don't think you understand what I'm trying to get out GP1. Foster an atmosphere that makes you feels as if you (as a student) are connected with it, and that there is a sense of community.Going back to giving $10 away to X number of students. I think I'm really on to something meaningful here. If you want to use a BB game to foster community, I think this idea would work just as well and it could be sponsored by a local drinking establishment. The first (insert number here) of students 21 years of age and older attending the game get $5 cash and a wrist band. If they go to Drinking Establishment X after the game and show their wristband, they will get another $5 cash, or pick another amount. After the game, all of the students who attended could go to the bar and drink and talk about the game. Getting drunk with my fellow classmates and sharing commonalities, like a basketball game, when I was in school made me feel a lot more part of the community than a flag would have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Bobbleheads IMO = dumb. Unless it's Zippy. It sure appears like you are right this time. Proenza bobblehead night draws 3,000 (announced)? For a big matchup? Tons of no-shows in the lower bowl.What a downer after a decent crowd to play crappy BG last weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 It sure appears like you are right this time. Proenza bobblehead night draws 3,000 (announced)? For a big matchup? Tons of no-shows in the lower bowl.What a downer after a decent crowd to play crappy BG last weekend. You're a pretty negative guy.If the Buffalo game was played on the weekend, the crowd would have been 1.5k bigger. The Zips aren't battling for first place, they're battling for 4th place. On a Tuesday night. Against Buffalo. 3k is fine. The crowd was vocal and gave the team a big lift. There's nothing to grouse about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZip0510 Posted March 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 It sure appears like you are right this time. Proenza bobblehead night draws 3,000 (announced)? For a big matchup? Tons of no-shows in the lower bowl.What a downer after a decent crowd to play crappy BG last weekend. I don't think it's fair to assess a bobblehead's effectiveness based on a Luis Proenza bobblehead...5,403 attended LeBron James Bobblehead night last season (a Saturday matchup vs Buffalo) and 5,247 attended Keith Dambrot Bobblehead Night a few weeks later (another Saturday matchup, this time against BG). Also, 4,217 attended this year's matchup against Coastal Carolina on Replica Ring Giveaway Night, about 1,000 more people than tonight's attendance. Good giveaways that people want absolutely work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 It was a loud crowd. For once, I didn't even care about the number. It didn't look bad, and everyone was into it. No 500 greeks leaving at halftime, no hundred parents watching their kid in the halftime show and leaving, just 3k showing up to watch us play buffalo for 4th place, as the captain said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 ... Also tell your freaking professors to wear Akron stuff, not OSU crap.This sounds like a great subject for Jim Tressel to address. He could remind all the tOSU fans who are employed by UA that he wears a blue sweater vest instead of a red one because he's proud to be at UA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Getting drunk with my fellow classmates and sharing commonalities, like a basketball game, when I was in school made me feel a lot more part of the community than a flag would have.For those who are the age of 21, sure. I actually like the idea you gave. For the new fans, the freshman...I don't think it will work. However they did do "Zippy's Wallet" for the game...which gave students discounts on concessions as well as free food. It's heading in the right direction... I think?Also, 4,217 attended this year's matchup against Coastal Carolina on Replica Ring Giveaway Night, about 1,000 more people than tonight's attendance. Good giveaways that people want absolutely work. Couldn't agree more.This sounds like a great subject for Jim Tressel to address. He could remind all the tOSU fans who are employed by UA that he wears a blue sweater vest instead of a red one because he's proud to be at UA.If only he would, that would be fantastic. One class that I had on a Friday evening during football season, the prof would wear State Ohio shirt every day. A group of guys and I decided that we would wear over-the-top, all-out Akron Zips gear from head-to-toe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 I had lunch at Polsky's on Tuesday, February 25, the day before we had a road game at Miami. In the 45 minutes that I was at Polsky's, I saw three students wearing Miami gear. As a whole our Students don't get it. In addition to students wearing other college gear, I always see students wearing their old high school jackets, shirts or sweatshirts. The students need to take pride in their/our university, which is easier said than done. Students need to be proud of who they are and what our great university is about. I know...it is a free country, but for their four(ish) years on campus, can't they open their eyes and embrace one of the true gems of Northeast Ohio? There are a lot of great student supporters and they deserve credit for working hard. But, how do we change the culture as a whole? That is Tom's job. Go Zips!Your post took me back to my freshman year at Akron. When I reached the front of the registration line (most of you young whippersnappers will have no clue what I'm talking about here) for my second quarter at the U, there was an attractive sorority girl working the table. She noticed I was wearing my high school letter jacket. She looked at me with disdain and asked why I would wear such a thing. I don't remember the answer I spoke, but I know the answer in my head included the word bitch. Fact of the matter is I couldn't afford a new jacket. Good news is the high school letter jacket was soon replaced with an Akron letter jacket, and I still hate sororities to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 You're a pretty negative guy.If the Buffalo game was played on the weekend, the crowd would have been 1.5k bigger. The Zips aren't battling for first place, they're battling for 4th place. On a Tuesday night. Against Buffalo. 3k is fine. The crowd was vocal and gave the team a big lift. There's nothing to grouse about.A drop of 1,000 when everyone was predicting/hoping that attendance would trend upward over the last 3 games, following a win last Saturday, playing a quality opponent, a MAC tourney bye on the line, and a bobblehead giveaway night ? Yes, disappointing. NOTE: Student participation made a nice reappearance last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 You realize that it was Mardi Gras. Instead of bobbleheads, they should have given out blue and gold beads. Give masks to the students. Play it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Saturdays generally (always) have much better attendance than any other day of the week for pretty much any event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 You realize that it was Mardi Gras. Instead of bobbleheads, they should have given out blue and gold beads. Give masks to the students. Play it up.Yeah! Zippy masks or something...to be ridiculous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Akron Zips M Bball @ZipsMBBIf the #BEATKENT game wasn't enough, the first 1,000 @uakron students & @TheAKROWDIES will each get 1 of these items: pic.twitter.com/eHUTC8Fk5a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Akron Zips M Bball @ZipsMBBIf the #BEATKENT game wasn't enough, the first 1,000 @uakron students & @TheAKROWDIES will each get 1 of these items: pic.twitter.com/eHUTC8Fk5a Touche Athletic department, touche... Clearly the Athletic department has been following us right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Now...with getting students out to the game...The Zips better blow out Can't state in a thrilling, exciting game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZip0510 Posted March 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Touche Athletic department, touche... Clearly the Athletic department has been following us right?Absolutely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Touche Athletic department, touche... Clearly the Athletic department has been following us right?The K.e.n.t game is ideal for this type of promotion because normally the contest between these two teams is very poorly attended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted March 7, 2014 Report Share Posted March 7, 2014 The K.e.n.t game is ideal for this type of promotion because normally the contest between these two teams is very poorly attended.sending my imaginary reps your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted March 7, 2014 Report Share Posted March 7, 2014 The K.e.n.t game is ideal for this type of promotion because normally the contest between these two teams is very poorly attended. I had the same thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staton14 Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Most students at a game in the KD era. They didn't give a number but I would guess about 1,000. Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 That's like the 5th time the records been broke in the past two years. Good stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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