Week 5 (Buffalo) Thoughts

[GP1]

48 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

Someone told me the University apparently thought it cheapened the product.

I've heard this as well.  It's a strange conclusion the university would draw considering they are a member of a Conference that purposely cheapens it's product playing on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. 

 

The taxpayers of Ohio are paying for Mac sports. I think if a taxpayer of Ohio wants to go to a Mac game, they should get free general admission tickets to a couple of games for any sport they want. I don't think it would be overly difficult to create a program that automatically emailed the vouchers once you filed your taxes. I don't know if the stadiums would fill or not, but at least people would get what they are paying for. 

[Zips08]

This is kinda random but you know who undercuffler reminds me of...? Alex Ramart. Change my mind.  

Edited October 5, 2023 by Zips08

[feetg10]

3 minutes ago, Zips08 said:

This is kinda random but you know who undercuffler reminds me of...? Alex Ramart. Change my mind.  

You mean these 2 aren't the same guy?

[LoyalZIP]

In all fairness to Undercuffler, I once said the same thing. Funny enough, it was in the first half of that NIU game last year. A few throws later and we blew them out. That said, he is probably close to Ramart on the list of worst QBs to ever start a game for Akron, at least in the last 20 years.

[Hilltopper]

3 hours ago, zippy-claws said:

The guy they got was evidently in the kiddie pool, FWIW!  There are HUNDREDS of unemployed marketing managers from the private sector, and if you don't think they could step in and run this program efficiently and spectacularly successfully, you've got institutional bias way beyond compare.

Maybe UCLA should hire one of them too.

 

https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2022/09/03/look-ucla-sets-record-low-attendance-at-rose-bowl/

[Hilltopper]

3 hours ago, Lee Adams said:

Amen. I can't count the number of Acme/Zip games I went to. Unfortunately, I am that old. That game was publicized all over the area by Acme and the media. Ya, the tickets were cheap but people showed. They had people parachuting into the Bowl among other entertainment attractions every year. If only for a short period of time people were interested in Akron football. Most of that is when Akron was DII. But they won. Then it stopped. Someone told me the University apparently thought it cheapened the product. Don't know that for sure. But, I have wondered for years why the University wouldn't reach out to local business to do something similar now. At least they might get some relativley big crowds a few times a year. The players would sure notice. And, it would sure make it a lot more attractive for the general public to attend a game or two.

That said, Akron football never has, never will be a consistently big draw. But, the Athletic Department does nothing to try to improve visibility.

During the hayday of the Acme-Zip game there were only a couple of games a week on broadcast TV and livestream wasn't even a word yet.

[72 Roo]

5 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

During the long tv timeouts, have a a small group of the band go throughout the stadium and do a 2-3 minute quickie song.  It could be the drum line, tubas, trombones, or flutes do a mini concert.  Have the dance team do a routine like they do during basketball timeouts.  Do something other than have people get awards that nobody hears or listens to.    

Ohio State does this and the crowd loves it. You never know what band section will show up- percussion, trumpets/cornets, tubas, etc. They split up and hit all general sections of the Shoe. It is another element of game activities that the Zips should borrow. This ain't rocket science.

[Spin]

On 10/2/2023 at 3:54 PM, Zippy87 said:

 

I'm going to push back on this. First, we have an example in-house to show winning doesn't necessarily = attendance (MBB). Second, there are glaring weaknesses this athletic department has had for *years* that have held it back.

 

There's no creativity, no fun, barely any marketing/promotions - these are things you have to do to draw fans even when you're winning and especially when you're not.

 

Different sport, but we go to quite a few Rubberducks games. It's not because they win - I couldn't even tell you their record this year and quite honestly, don't care if they win or lose. It's because they are super-creative with marketing/promotions/ticketing, they engage with their supporters and make them feel valued, and their in-game entertainment is fantastic.  We always have fun at those game. I was so bored Saturday I probably won't go back.

 

We do none of this well, and it's beyond embarrassing for a D1 Athletic Department to be so bad for so long. 

 

...and a lot of people STILL can't understand why people in this area will drive 130 miles to see a school they never attended but have a loose connection with it's name. IT IS AN EXPERIENCE. It's a party atmosphere. There's 100,000 fans in the stadium. It's easy to get caught up because THEY USUALLY WIN. We haven't seen .500 football in HOW MANY YEARS? The picture I posted at the Spring Game is what an Akron atmosphere feels like. There was nobody else in sight (I shot from the upper deck, but still). If the Worthless Nuts had a farting contest, 20,000 people would pay to watch, and it would draw decent ratings on TV. In Akron you can fart in the stadium and nobody else would be close enough to hear. (I usually don't talk like an 8 year old but this is where we are at).

 

Between being the football laughing stock and the mismanagement of the baseball program, it's hard to get behind the rest.

 

 

[Blue & Gold]

7 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

During the long tv timeouts, have a a small group of the band go throughout the stadium and do a 2-3 minute quickie song.  It could be the drum line, tubas, trombones, or flutes do a mini concert.  Have the dance team do a routine like they do during basketball timeouts.  Do something other than have people get awards that nobody hears or listens to.    

Our band did this the first few games at the Info 10 years ago. The first game was a sellout & it was a lot of fun having the band hop around to the different sections.  The second game had 20K & it still worked well.  But as attendance dwindled it became awkward for the band to pop up in a section & basically serenade 5 ppl. 😂

 

Hopefully, one day, attendance could get back to around 15K & I'll bet the band would start doing this again.

 

But you are right, it was GREAT when they were doing it the first couple games 10 years ago.

[1981 grad]

56 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Our band did this the first few games at the Info 10 years ago. The first game was a sellout & it was a lot of fun having the band hop around to the different sections.  The second game had 20K & it still worked well.  But as attendance dwindled it became awkward for the band to pop up in a section & basically serenade 5 ppl. 😂

 

Hopefully, one day, attendance could get back to around 15K & I'll bet the band would start doing this again.

 

But you are right, it was GREAT when they were doing it the first couple games 10 years ago.

I thought they had done it before but my memory fades with age.  I don't care if they serenade 5 people, it beats the blaring music we have now.  I bet the students would also have fun roaming the stadium with their intruments entertaining the crowd

[ZippyRulz]

I wouldn't care about them roaming around the stands if they just had a repertoire of songs they could play throughout the game during timeouts, like basketball pep band stuff instead of the PA noise.

[GP1]

4 hours ago, Spin said:

 In Akron you can fart in the stadium and nobody else would be close enough to hear. 

 

 

Wanna bet?

[Hilltopper]

17 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Ohio State does this and the crowd loves it. You never know what band section will show up- percussion, trumpets/cornets, tubas, etc. They split up and hit all general sections of the Shoe. It is another element of game activities that the Zips should borrow. This ain't rocket science.

They used to do this before Covid. The band has the option to play as much as they want. As a former trumpet player, I can tell you it is impossible to play at every available opportunity in a five hour football game day. Remember it is not just what goes on in the stadium. There is also all the pregame activities on campus before they arrive at the stadium.