Guest Mastodon Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 Click Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zip88 Posted October 23, 2004 Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 What is the final rule on attendance? Is it the confusing probation, warning, off probation... triple secret probation or what?? Right now, after two home games against no name opponents... and I do know we lost to one of them... the Zips are avg 12,000. Ball State game -- rain is expected and I don't see more than the usual 8,000 die hards, family and friends crowd for this one... So going into Marshall game MTSU 17,000 :blink: Buffalo 7,000 Ball State 8,000 Avg just over 10,000 Here's what I hope happens.... Win Sat vs Ball State... Followed by a week of ESPN/Marshall hype.. on-campus excitment about ESPN2.. Talk of possible Bowl appearances etc... And Marshall travels well... 25,000 to 30,000... Win it and excitement builds for Miami game... would be for Lead in MAC East and inside track for GMAC Bowl..I know I may be dreaming .. but I'm on a roll -- don't stop me now ..... 25,000 come out to see Charlie in his last home game with all that on the line... Bam... 17,000 avg... all without any "gimmicks"... It's usually right about here my wife reminds me that I'm talking about the Zips... Just beat Ball State.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted October 23, 2004 Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 Attendance at games has always been a source of irritation for me. For the life of me, I can't understand why the people of Akron do not go to the games. Where else can you go to a Division I football game, buy a ticket for around $10 and sit on the almost the fifty yard line if you want (guarantee if you sit on the visitors side). Let's face it though, the blame lies directly on the shoulders of U of A alumni. All they would need to average 15,000 people a game is to have each graduate of the school attend one game a year. Along with the general public, they would easily get over 15,000 per game. Instead, U of A graduates are sitting around their homes watching OSU plow the ball into the line 40 times a game while claiming they are life long OSU fans. I like OSU well enough, but I'm not going to miss a Zips game to watch that bore fest. I'll go one step further. If the suburban "men" who graduated from U of A could muster the gonads to tell their bit@#y housewives to stay at home and watch the kids for one Saturday a year, they could average over 15,000 also. Instead, they load up the mini van with the two kids and allow themselves to be taken to the in-laws for a fun game of cards and a Bet Midler movie. After all that, they get to go home with their wives and hear about how tired she is to do anything (if you know what I mean). Doesn't a football game sound more fun than this? Ask yourselves this, what would Al Bundy do? Finally, we all need to do more, me included. All of us work somewhere, I'm assuming. Do the best you can to ask people to go to the games. Organize a tailgate party for work where you get 10 people to go to one game a year. Buying hot dogs for ten people isn't asking that much. U of A has corporate sponsorship programs where you could get group discounts on tickets. I'm sure the ticket office would be glad to help. Here is another idea. Get a bunch of guys from your neighborhood to go to the game. The wives can stay at home and complain about you guys. That's their favorite sport anyhow. Tell them you are going to tailgate before and after the game. Make hot dogs at the tailgate before the game and you guys can all go to the Platinum Horse after the game for another type of tail-gate. Use your freaking heads for crying out loud. Just get more people to the games. Look, I kid about a lot of this stuff, but I think there are two things that will cure the problem. One is winning. With Marshall out of the MAC next year, we are that much closer to winning the MAC east. Secondly, that new stadium on campus MUST happen. The thought of the Rubber Bowl is more depressing than uplifting. See everyone at the game tonight. Go Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipsrifle Posted October 23, 2004 Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 Great Post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Morgan Posted October 24, 2004 Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 I'll go one step further. If the suburban "men" who graduated from U of A could muster the gonads to tell their bit@#y housewives to stay at home and watch the kids for one Saturday a year, they could average over 15,000 also. Instead, they load up the mini van with the two kids and allow themselves to be taken to the in-laws for a fun game of cards and a Bet Midler movie. After all that, they get to go home with their wives and hear about how tired she is to do anything (if you know what I mean). Your completely wrong about me buddy! For your information........it wasn't a Bet Midler Movie, it was "On Golden Pond" with the Fonda's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted October 24, 2004 Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 I stand corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ***GUEST_Zipsrifle Posted October 24, 2004 Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 OK, Last night was a classic example of why this rule is stupid. It was supposed to rain for the game last night. Everyone knew it was supposed to rain. Nobody showed up and guess what.....it rained. So, what happens to a school like Akron, who is on the bubble for attendence? Say it's the last home game of the season and, hypothetically the team has been averaging about 17,000 per game. It is supposed to be 30 F with nasty winds and freezing rain. About 6000 people show up.....well, don't meet 15,000. The weather REALLY hurt attendence last night, 7, 426 in attendence. You know what, it looked like a hell of a lot fewer people than were at the Buffalo game. Last night looked like 7,500 attendence. All I've got to say is that we're going to need the bowl packed for the final 2 games. I think in the 3 games we've played at home we've had about 30,000 total attendence. So, we need 45,000 in the next 2 games. Good thing we've got Marshall and Miami, they travel better to Akron than anybody in the MAC. ESPN in 2 weeks won't hurt either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zip88 Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 In all fairness.... UA hasn't tried to market the program-- ever... this year's Charlie for Heisman and ads in Beacon are the first time I remember any kind of push... The Rubber Bowl is 7 miles from Campus and was almost condemned 10 years ago...It has light poles blocking views and the wind whips thru there making it 15 to 20 degrees colder...especially at nite games in November... UA marketing has never, Repeat never, tried post game concerts or student incentives to attract students or faculty to the games... In the past they convinced Goodyear, Summa Health and other Corporate Partners to buy tickets... back when they didn;t have to have bodies in the stands... now they do. The Zips have an opportunity right now.. I saw two Zips articles on front of Beacon Sports Page on Sunday... If you win, more will follow... Beat Marshall, Beat Miami, Beat Ohio and it all takes care of itself. Even without marketing...Everyone wants to be in on a winner.... Go bowling this year and watch the hype for 2005.... You might even have to stand in line to use the potty.... If MT can pull a Cleveland Indians and time the new stadium to coincide with a rising pprogram... anybody rememebr the sell out streak the Indians had for several seasons in a row??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zip88 Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Only got 16,718... MTSU stops Vandals Sunday, Oct 24, 2004 By The Associated Press MURFREESBORO - Clint Marks threw for one touchdown and ran for another to lead Middle Tennessee State to a 34-14 victory Saturday over Idaho. MTSU allowed fans who came to the game to stay for a free concert afterward by hip-hop star Big Boi, an effort to meet the NCAA's minimum attendance requirements to stay in Division I-A. The game drew an estimated 16,718 people, below what school officials had hoped for. Idaho (2-6, 1-3 Sunbelt Conference) took an early 7-0 lead on Michael Harrington's 20-yard pass to Luke Smith-Anderson. Harrington finished the day 25-of-38 for 200 yards for the Vandals. Middle Tennessee (3-4, 2-2) drove 70 yards to tie it on Lee Baker's 1-yard run early in the second quarter. The Vandals retook the lead on Jason Bird's 5-yard run with 10 minutes left in the half, but from there it was all Blue Raiders. Marks' 5-yard TD run capped a 56-yard drive to tie it 14-all with 58 seconds left in the half. Idaho mishandled the ensuing kickoff and the Blue Raiders recovered, leading to a field goal with 23 seconds left and a 17-14 MTSU lead. Terry Jackson, who led all rushers with 77 yards, broke a 52-yard run early in the third period and scored from the 1 two plays later to put the Blue Raiders up 24-14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest milkman Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 The formula to increase attendance at Zip home games has been debated for years! Even back when Head Coaches Gordon Larson and Jim Dennison led the program, the "experts" have suggested marketing strategies to bring more students and alumni to the games. I remember atteending a post-game concert after a Zip home game about 10 or 12 years ago....I think it was the Gatlin Brothers and it was a beautiful night and a great promotion. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders came to the Rubber Bowl for a Thursday night national TV game against Murray State about the same time, and I still have newspaper clippings from an "Air Akron" campaign that featured QB Mike Johnson. Marketing has not been the problem. I was on a Business Advisory Committee for athletics years ago that worked on increasing attendance at home games and I know how hard those people worked in Athletics. The bottom line is the football program has been hurt very badly by: 1. Years of loseing and never ending promises of winning teams and great recruits. I don't blame the marketing people for building up the product. You have to create excitement to sell tickets......but the expectations never materialized. 2. The Rubber Bowl being seven miles from campus prevented anyone from enjoying the true "college football experience". Grads coming back to campus and showing the family where they attended class and then walking to an on-campis stadum is something a Zip football alum has never experienced. Busing students out to the Rubber Bowl has never worked, and most commuters don't know or care where the Rubber Bowl is. 3. Media coverage is the worst in the MAC. Lack of a major TV station in Akron (Youngstown has three) has hurt any pre-game marketing. The poor coverage of the BJ is legendary. The only thing that will cure the lackof print coverage is winning teams and great crowds. We're kidding ourselves if we think letters to the editor and phone calls to David Lee Morgan will help. Morgan does not determine space the Zips get, or whether he has the option to cover a road game or not. The formula for drawing big crowds to the Rubber Bowl is the same today as it was ten 0r 15 years ago. Win, Win and win again! Winning allows the marketing people to sell more season tickets (how many do we sell now?), forces the media to cover us, and let's us in the front door of big time recruits. I have been following the Zips for years, and feel very good about what JD, Mike Thomas and Mike Waddell have been doing. The on-campus stadium is a must....we all know that. One of the things I judge a football coach on is what shape he leaves a football program in when he's replaced. Whether we like it or not, Lee Owens left the prgram in better shape then when he got it from Gerry Faust. And I think JD will leave the program in better shape when he moves on. Keep the faith....I think the best days of the Zip football program are right around the corner! Sorry to ramble......this was my first post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Excellent post Milkman. Keep them coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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