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Topic: Attendance and a tangent

Topic: Attendance and a tangent

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The Optimist
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Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/28/2012 11:34:10 AM

Normally these threads are sad. This one should not be.

We have a perfect storm brewing... I'm taking 100 foot waves (I am a terrible swimmer). Football is great so that carryover effect that is always mentioned will be stronger than ever. We are currently ranked #25, and we return EVERYONE from a Sweet 16 team. Even for haters of mid-majors, I really think it is unlikely for us to be unranked. In fact, I think we see a jump into the teens to start the season. With the way our schedule sets up, we could get dangerously high in the rankings as the season progresses. I am sure pollsters will knock us especially hard for bad losses, but those may not come until after we climb very very high in the polls (hopefully they don't come at all). If we can get wins against Memphis and Richmond... Wow... The soft scheduling may not bode great for attendance, but football has shown us what winning does. We also have that switch to semesters that has long been talked about as helping attendance. I haven't looked at how our games set up (Saturday, Sunday, weekday) other than the opener and Richmond. The opener should be beyond electric on a Saturday with no Ohio football and the Richmond game should be as well. Those two games could be sellouts, and I am not talking tickets sold. Our average attendance figures and total attendance figures this year will outnumber multiple MAC schools combined. We are going to outnumber respected major programs.

Talk me down. It is a good time to be an optimist.

I've seen crazier things happen.

OUVan
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/28/2012 12:20:56 PM

The Optimist wrote:

I really think it is unlikely for us to be unranked.

I will be shocked if we are ranked to start the season. Out of sight, out of mind. Too many money schools in the voters subconscious.

Bobcat110alum
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/28/2012 12:32:43 PM

OUVan wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

I really think it is unlikely for us to be unranked.

I will be shocked if we are ranked to start the season. Out of sight, out of mind. Too many money schools in the voters subconscious.

Have to agree. It's been too long since those final rankings have come out and the big boys will have reloaded and made waves in the press. It could happen soon enough though as long as we grind out wins and knock off Memphis and Oklahoma!

B.S. Journalism, 2012.

bobcat72
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/28/2012 12:44:09 PM

Agree. Between the Sweet 16 Celebration and Dad's Weekend, the opener may well surpass Miami from last season.

Students are gone for the Richmond game (Thanksgiving Break), so I would seriously doubt we approach sellout for that one. Should be a good fan/community crowd, though.

The Optimist
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/28/2012 1:01:29 PM

bobcat72 wrote:

Students are gone for the Richmond game (Thanksgiving Break), so I would seriously doubt we approach sellout for that one. Should be a good fan/community crowd, though.

That is too bad, still should be good as you said. I always assumed Thanksgiving was the last Thursday in November as opposed to the 4th Thursday in November.

I've seen crazier things happen.

anorris
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/28/2012 2:11:03 PM

Portland game should be our first true, 13,080+ sellout in quite some time. I don't know when the last one was. Trent-era?

Bobcat110alum
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 11:54:32 AM

I just saw the commercial promoting all those $1-$10 tickets. While I can understand the desire to sell the place out, why make these tickets so cheap? Maybe it's just me personally, but I figured we would be able to get pretty close to capacity without having to give away tickets. It would be a bad analogy to compare this game to the NMSU football game since we had the benefit of the Penn State win, but there should already be a significant amount of buzz for this one (Sweet 16 appearance, same team returning, ridiculously successful MAC coach taking the reins)

B.S. Journalism, 2012.

bobcat72
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 12:53:00 PM

I think the difference between this and NMSU is that we've generally been a lot closer to selling out Peden than we have the Convo. For NMSU, add in more season ticket holders + some increased student buzz and you get a record crowd. The Convo AVERAGES 7,000+ empty seats per game. That's a lot of empty seats to fill...

Monroe Slavin
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 2:00:14 PM

Perhaps also the buzz for basketball is not at height yet, the tourney having been 7 months ago and this being the heart of football season.

No swagger; just a quiet confidence and determination to prove that last season was only the beginning. Do it right on the floor.

Where's the band?!
WHERE"S THE BAND?!

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Bobcat110alum
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 7:23:41 PM

Alright, I can agree with that. Maybe it's been just a bit too long since March and we need to build the buzz again for the bball team. Plus, if we do sell it out and have a solid victory the promotion will have done its job.

B.S. Journalism, 2012.

RSBobcat
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 9:15:50 PM

The most single most important factor to how big attendance figures in the Convo are, and always will be - students. And students get in free. $1 tickets for anybody and everybody - and the place does not fill up w/out at least 3 to 4 thousand (maybe more) students.

RS Bobcat

The Optimist
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 9:59:26 PM

You are crazy if you do not believe the students will show up. When we make the sweet sixteen students believe.... I cannot put it more simply than that. Seniors this year believe in bobcatnation... Freshman have literally come into an enviorment most alums can't imagine.. OUr football team is undefeated, and we are a hoops school....

That O-Zone is going to be jumping..................

Last Edited: 9/29/2012 10:01:05 PM by The Optimist

I've seen crazier things happen.

RSBobcat
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 9/29/2012 10:56:39 PM

The Optimist wrote:

That O-Zone is going to be jumping..................

???? Who said they wouldn't? It still takes a lot of $1 ticket paying non students to fill the Convo.

How many times has it actually Ever "Sold Out"?

RS Bobcat

anorris
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 12:07:14 AM

RSBobcat wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

That O-Zone is going to be jumping..................

???? Who said they wouldn't? It still takes a lot of $1 ticket paying non students to fill the Convo.

How many times has it actually Ever "Sold Out"?

Using the 13,080 figure, twice. 13,083 against Kentucky in 1997, and 14,102 against BG in 1970. Last year's Miami crowd was our #4 crowd all-time, and the fourth above 13,000, behind those two and Miami from 1997 (13,021).

The Optimist
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 7:38:01 AM

RSBobcat wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

That O-Zone is going to be jumping..................

???? Who said they wouldn't? It still takes a lot of $1 ticket paying non students to fill the Convo.

How many times has it actually Ever "Sold Out"?

I was not attempting to point fingers.. Just saying I expect student attendance to reach "next level" status this year.

Last Edited: 10/1/2012 2:44:05 PM by The Optimist

I've seen crazier things happen.

LoganElm_grad09
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 1:38:28 PM

I think we'll be rockin' the Convo this season. Football's sucess helps, but last year's run is going to be a huge selling point early on. Just need to win those games. NO Robert Morris mishaps.

RSBobcat
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 8:45:03 PM

Agree w/both above - students will reach "next level" this year - FBall success continues a good "Big Mo" going forward into the winter.

Certainly don't need another "Bobby Mo" lapse.............could be a buzz kill

RS Bobcat

OhioCatFan
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 9:51:54 PM

The Optimist wrote:

I always assumed Thanksgiving was the last Thursday in November as opposed to the 4th Thursday in November.

You have FDR to thank for that. The original Thanksgiving Day holiday was set by presidential proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War. Lincoln specified the last Thursday in November. FDR changed it to the 4th Thursday because in a particularly bad Depression year that made one more shopping week before Christmas. In those ancient times, people didn't generally buy stuff for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. In most years it doesn't actually make much difference because the 4th Thursday is usually the last Thursday, but in some years, like this one, it gives you those extra shopping days if you're "old school" in your shopping behavior.

Last Edited: 10/1/2012 9:53:08 PM by OhioCatFan

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MonroeClassmate
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 10:04:54 PM

Quote:

ANorris: What was the crowd size of the 1974 BG Game? It was the biggest in my years on campus. Bill Brown, Walter Luckett, George Green, Craig Love, Ullas Paine and Larry Slappy, and my personal favorite, Denny Reisch (sorry for the name misspelling of names)

RSBobcat
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 10:44:21 PM

Point made - in 40 years only a couple "sell-outs". Therefore - "why sell tickets so cheap"...............

We're not the only school that has to do this to fill seats. I love it that we have the capacity to put 10K plus in OUr arena - makes for a big time home court advantage w/a mid major/rural Appalachia location program. Even if we get to consistent top 20 for a few years running - it will still take major promotions to consistently fill that big place up game in game out. Good problem to have, ?, I don't think it's really a problem at all. 8K to 10K avg blows away the rest of the MAC - blows away vast majority D1 in the country.

RS Bobcat

anorris
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/1/2012 11:29:46 PM

MonroeClassmate wrote:

Quote:

Can't tell you off hand -- those numbers came from the 2011-2012 media guide, with last years' Miami attendance from the box score. Only other number in the guide was 12,824 vs. Miami in 1994.

Finding those figures back more than about 5-8 years can be quite tough.

Last Edited: 10/1/2012 11:31:55 PM by anorris

OhioCatFan
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/2/2012 8:18:36 PM

I was there with my sister. It was little sisters' weekend. The attendance, from memory, was something on the order of 14,500. It was SRO. The fire marshal said that they would never allow that many people into the arena again. I think the actual capacity for basketball is 13,030, again from memory. Those with actual hard facts can correct me.

RSBobcat
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/6/2012 8:02:11 PM

The Optimist wrote:

That O-Zone is going to be jumping..................

I keep thinking things would change quicker - but - where were they today?

RS Bobcat

The Optimist
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/6/2012 9:14:45 PM

RSBobcat wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

That O-Zone is going to be jumping..................

I keep thinking things would change quicker - but - where were they today?

The student crowd wasn't terrible, not like the 1st couple games but still solid and they stayed the entire game. No one left early.. Even if we are ranked, noon games should be banned in Athens. Yes, this shouldn't be the case, but it is and always will be. At OSU many kids don't go out on Friday nights so they can wake up for noon Saturday games. That just isn't going to happen in Athens.

I've seen crazier things happen.

catfan28
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RE: Attendance and a tangent

Posted: 10/6/2012 10:15:00 PM

I thought the student crowd today wasn't bad at all for a noon game. Frankly, I expected much worse.

Noon kick-offs do not mesh with the Athens/OU culture. As we've discussed before, the same applies to the Sunday basketball games. Just a bad time to have a game at a school known for what happens on Friday and Saturday night.

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