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Topic:  Atmosphere differences

Topic:  Atmosphere differences
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bobcat695
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Location: Parkersburg, WV
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  Message Not Read  Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 12:21:22 PM 
The brand of football we watch in Peden is 2nd or 3rd tier entertainment. I did the rare day/night doubleheader yesterday. Athens to start the day, Morgantown for the nightcap. The level of fan involvement, gameday atmosphere, tailgating, and stadium feel isn't even comparable. I had infinitely more fun at WVU than I did in Athens yesterday.

Average ticket prices were about double what Ohio charges for big games (Homecoming/Parents Day). They had Oklahoma at home, Ohio gets BG or UMass for a "big" weekend game. I believe my attendance and financial commitment will continue to shift to where I am more entertained. I suspect there are far more former Ohio season ticket holders/donors than there are future season ticket holders/donors. The MAC product just isn't very good and eventually the value of the entertainment dollar and time will drive people away.

"You can't un-fist a fist pump." - Saul Phillips 1/24/15

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shabamon
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 12:34:37 PM 
You dont say!!!!
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Bobcat1996
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 12:35:38 PM 
Check the budgets of the two schools you watched in Morgantown compared to the teams that played in Athens yesterday. The astonishing amount of cash those conferences get compared to MAC schools is ridiculous.
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Mark Lembright '85
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 12:38:46 PM 
To be fair, you’re talking two much different worlds. MAC football is almost by definition much smaller. The infrastructure and the $ the MAC schools allocate ito football is infinitely smaller, and that’s not a bad thing. The MAC in football has never ever been what I consider major league (i.e. schools with stadiums larger than the entire population of Athens County) and never will be. And that’s OK.

Edit: And I agree; the atmosphere, the tailgating, the games at P5 schools are a lot of fun!

Last Edited: 11/24/2018 12:47:15 PM by Mark Lembright '85
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SBH
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 12:55:03 PM 
I had the opportunity to see "Hamilton" on Broadway. A student production at Ohio isn't even close. They ought to close down the theater program.
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Pataskala
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 1:13:41 PM 
Unless you use recorded fan noise, you're not going to get the same "feel" from a 25,000 seat stadium as you will from a 70K-100K seat stadium. But then recorded crowd noise would have the same feel as studio wrestling.

I don't think the administration wants the same tailgating atmosphere at Ohio as exists at bigger schools. They want a family atmosphere at Ohio rather than the all-night cocktail party you find at the bigger schools. That's a way to encourage future generations of Ohio fans rather than relying so much on big corporate sponsors and wealthy alumni to fill the seats in the future.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.
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Doc Bobcat
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 1:21:41 PM 
I’ll take the “atmosphere” at Athens over anywhere anytime.

No doubt game day “atmosphere” at Madison Wisconsin or Athens Georgia rocks....but just drop me off at the Skull or Luckys or the Cats Eye or wherever...I’ll take this “atmosphere” thank you.
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MonroeClassmate
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 2:06:59 PM 
I went to the St. Eds vs Olentangy Liberty last evening.

Crappy old stadium, had to walk through mud to get from the parking lot. No video screens to hypnotize.

Guess what? I was entertained by the hitting the catching the blocking and the scoring all for $10 bucks.
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bshot44
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 2:17:26 PM 
Mark Lembright '85 wrote:
To be fair, you’re talking two much different worlds. MAC football is almost by definition much smaller. The infrastructure and the $ the MAC schools allocate ito football is infinitely smaller, and that’s not a bad thing. The MAC in football has never ever been what I consider major league (i.e. schools with stadiums larger than the entire population of Athens County) and never will be. And that’s OK.

Edit: And I agree; the atmosphere, the tailgating, the games at P5 schools are a lot of fun!


Not disagreeing with you at all ... P5 atmosphere for big games will always win out.

But, just for a second, imagine had Ohio played Toledo last year or Buffalo this year on an October/November Saturday afternoon?

You don't think Peden would've been a pretty fun atmosphere? Sold-out or pretty close at least?

It's been a looooooong time since Ohio played a meaningful MAC game on a weekend afternoon. Thanks #MACtion

The MAC will never compete in terms of a good atmosphere (relatively speaking of course) mainly because ESPN won't let them. You can't create an atmosphere with these shitty midweek games.

I think Athens on a October/November Saturday with a sunny 50-degree day would be a pretty cool scene for an Ohio football game.

Sad that we'll never find out.

Thanks MAC.
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Bobcat1996
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 2:35:41 PM 
Agree with you bshot again. The midweek games ruin the fan experience.
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89Cat
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 9:36:37 PM 
[QUOTE=Pataskala] Unless you use recorded fan noise, you're not going to get the same "feel" from a 25,000 seat stadium as you will from a 70K-100K seat stadium. But then recorded crowd noise would have the same feel as studio wrestling.

A better comparison is Marshall. Similar size stadium. We don't get near the "feel" as the Marshall fans provide. We have about 500 hundred loud fans on the student side. When I yell on the tower side I feel like I'm disturbing the peace. Perhaps everyone on the tower side is hung over or they are just waiting for the 110.
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mcbin
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 10:34:39 PM 
I get what you're saying but I hope you're not implying you can get this superior experience with around double the cost. Where your seats are in Peden vs WVU stadium, I'd wager is more than 2x the cost. The endzone area in Peden vs WVU where we hung out yesterday, I'd wager is more than 2x the cost. Probably way more on both. It's really not too expensive to get the best seats in Athens. And with the option of $150 family season tickets there are certain expectations that should probably come with it. It's not an apples to apples comparison IMO, other than maybe the record of the two teams this year.

Not saying the atmosphere shouldn't be better - it can and should be better.

But I shudder to think what it would cost in Columbus or WVU to get what I get in Athens. I'd guess it's more like 20X for what I get in @tOSU, and like I said I have no guess about WVU without research, but with a 9 figure athletics budget I'm sure they're not letting anyone play for free :)

Totally up to you on what you spend your $$ on though.
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Sam bobcat
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/24/2018 10:41:32 PM 
SBH wrote:
I had the opportunity to see "Hamilton" on Broadway. A student production at Ohio isn't even close. They ought to close down the theater program.




Lol...good one

Last Edited: 11/24/2018 10:42:51 PM by Sam bobcat
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BillyTheCat
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 1:05:14 AM 
MonroeClassmate wrote:
I went to the St. Eds vs Olentangy Liberty last evening.

Crappy old stadium, had to walk through mud to get from the parking lot. No video screens to hypnotize.

Guess what? I was entertained by the hitting the catching the blocking and the scoring all for $10 bucks.



That game was a beat down, not sure how entertained anyone was. Game was never in doubt.
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CafTud
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 1:19:24 AM 
bobcat695 wrote:
The brand of football we watch in Peden is 2nd or 3rd tier entertainment.


First tier with an asterisk, maybe.

Second tier would be FCS:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/nyregion/columbia-foot...

The third tier looks like this:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-11-16-860...

Last Edited: 11/25/2018 1:35:13 AM by CafTud
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OhioCatFan
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Location: Athens, OH
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 2:09:06 AM 
Doc Bobcat wrote:
I’ll take the “atmosphere” at Athens over anywhere anytime.

No doubt game day “atmosphere” at Madison Wisconsin or Athens Georgia rocks....but just drop me off at the Skull or Luckys or the Cats Eye or wherever...I’ll take this “atmosphere” thank you.


+1

In general I agree with this comment. I will only add that if the students would get more involved they could greatly improve the game-day atmosphere in the stadium itself. Staying for the whole game and cheering more loudly would make Peden A real rocking place that could be the envy of the rest the MAC. This kind of atmosphere would also, IMHO, really help improve recruiting. In this century, I think I’ve seem only maybe a total of five games with great student intensity from beginning to end. If this were a more regular thing I think it would feed on itself and we could develop a truly unique Athens product. It’s not the size of the stadium, or the age of same, it’s the intensity created by those IN the stadium. In this regard we are sometimes our own worst enemies.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

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bshot44
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 9:35:38 AM 
OhioCatFan wrote:
Doc Bobcat wrote:
I’ll take the “atmosphere” at Athens over anywhere anytime.

No doubt game day “atmosphere” at Madison Wisconsin or Athens Georgia rocks....but just drop me off at the Skull or Luckys or the Cats Eye or wherever...I’ll take this “atmosphere” thank you.


+1

In general I agree with this comment. I will only add that if the students would get more involved they could greatly improve the game-day atmosphere in the stadium itself. Staying for the whole game and cheering more loudly would make Peden A real rocking place that could be the envy of the rest the MAC. This kind of atmosphere would also, IMHO, really help improve recruiting. In this century, I think I’ve seem only maybe a total of five games with great student intensity from beginning to end. If this were a more regular thing I think it would feed on itself and we could develop a truly unique Athens product. It’s not the size of the stadium, or the age of same, it’s the intensity created by those IN the stadium. In this regard we are sometimes our own worst enemies.



Agree. The Marshall game a few years back comes to mind.

Scheduling & #MACtion didn't give it a chance this year or most years.

You can't expect a raucous atmosphere for Howard & UMass. And the only other home games were Saturday beatdown of BG and the midweek nonsense.

It's an incredibly flawed setup. Screws the players from ever really getting a great homefield experience.

I can't imagine many recruits are wowed by a home game experience?

Go back to more Saturday games and letting MAC teams play some big games on campus in late fall on Saturday and we'd see better atmospheres across the league
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bobcat695
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Location: Parkersburg, WV
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 11:35:49 AM 
That's my point exactly. I can think of 3 or 4 games in the past 28 seasons that would be classified as an electric, exciting atmosphere (Pitt, a few Marshall games). Our fans only stand up to cheer for anything when the 2nd quarter clock hits 0:00.

To Ben's point about cost, here is my math: I have 9 tickets this year (down from 14 for the past 10+ seasons). I have 5 in Sec 105 (40 yd line), 4 GA and the total is around $850. I donate another $2,000 to the OBC. My all-in cost is a little less than $3,000/year. For that, I receive my tickets, 1 Green Lot and 1 Blue Lot parking pass, and unlimited access to the Sook Center porch where I can buy $3.50 bottles of water.

To switch my football budget to WVU, I can get 4 tickets on the 30 yard line and a parking pass to the paved tailgate lot 100 yards from the stadium for $3,150. Those tickets get me 6 games next season on Saturdays and include Texas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas Tech and two non-conference games. If I do not use them, they have incredible resale value or I can give them to clients. I have not used more than 5 of my 9 tickets for any game in Peden in the past 3 seasons. My extras are always offered for free and I can't give them away.

I understand the budget differences, but I am comparing the value as a consumer. I am tired of low budget football. I am driving to a football stadium on a Wednesday night and watching a boring product with no engaged fans. We have no traditions, very little passion, and no true success (8-4 and T-2nd in MAC East doesn't count as success). At least Ohio basketball has given us some of those things in the past.

"You can't un-fist a fist pump." - Saul Phillips 1/24/15

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bshot44
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 11:54:45 AM 
bobcat695 wrote:
That's my point exactly. I can think of 3 or 4 games in the past 28 seasons that would be classified as an electric, exciting atmosphere (Pitt, a few Marshall games). Our fans only stand up to cheer for anything when the 2nd quarter clock hits 0:00.

To Ben's point about cost, here is my math: I have 9 tickets this year (down from 14 for the past 10+ seasons). I have 5 in Sec 105 (40 yd line), 4 GA and the total is around $850. I donate another $2,000 to the OBC. My all-in cost is a little less than $3,000/year. For that, I receive my tickets, 1 Green Lot and 1 Blue Lot parking pass, and unlimited access to the Sook Center porch where I can buy $3.50 bottles of water.

To switch my football budget to WVU, I can get 4 tickets on the 30 yard line and a parking pass to the paved tailgate lot 100 yards from the stadium for $3,150. Those tickets get me 6 games next season on Saturdays and include Texas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas Tech and two non-conference games. If I do not use them, they have incredible resale value or I can give them to clients. I have not used more than 5 of my 9 tickets for any game in Peden in the past 3 seasons. My extras are always offered for free and I can't give them away.

I understand the budget differences, but I am comparing the value as a consumer. I am tired of low budget football. I am driving to a football stadium on a Wednesday night and watching a boring product with no engaged fans. We have no traditions, very little passion, and no true success (8-4 and T-2nd in MAC East doesn't count as success). At least Ohio basketball has given us some of those things in the past.


Well said. I think ... even with the sustained bowl eligibility success ... the program has plateaued.

A few bowl wins are nice ... wins over Buffalo & Toledo last two years are nice (even if they are painful reminders that the best team didn't win MAC due to self-inflicted wounds) .... but there are no WOW moments.

No big win over P5 teams (sorry ... Kansas doesn't wow anyone) ... no MAC title ... only one MAC title game appearance in last 7 years.

Hard to generate excitement when we can predict the outcome on Aug 15 each year.

Hope things are different in 2019.

But home games with URI & Louisiana in September ... then maybe two more Saturday home games in October with most likely Kent and possibly EMU/CMU ... doesn't exactly generate BUZZ

Add in weeknight games in Peden against Miami & possibly EMU/CMU/WMU/NIU ... the 1500 fans will enjoy the freezing atmosphere on a November weeknight.

Toss in a Saturday road game at BG & possibly Ball/EMU/CMU ... and weeknight roadies at Buffalo & one of Toledo/Ball/EMU

Not a lot of BUZZworthy action.

Just have to hope Ohio is running roughshod over the league? They should at worst be in hunt for MAC East into November ... which we've seen each of the last three years ... and it's not resonated in the stands.

This program needs something BIG like a championship or Top 25 ranking again to jolt some life into the fanbase.

Maybe 2019 will be the year?

Some good pieces to build around starting with #12 ... we'll see if they answer the bell

Last Edited: 11/25/2018 11:55:19 AM by bshot44
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giacomo
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 12:14:40 PM 
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
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bshot44
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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 12:36:38 PM 
giacomo wrote:
Thank you, Captain Obvious.


Rich. And compelling. Thank you for that report.
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SBH
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Post Count: 4,048

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  Message Not Read  RE: Atmosphere differences
   Posted: 11/25/2018 12:48:52 PM 
bobcat695 wrote:
That's my point exactly. I can think of 3 or 4 games in the past 28 seasons that would be classified as an electric, exciting atmosphere (Pitt, a few Marshall games). Our fans only stand up to cheer for anything when the 2nd quarter clock hits 0:00.

To Ben's point about cost, here is my math: I have 9 tickets this year (down from 14 for the past 10+ seasons). I have 5 in Sec 105 (40 yd line), 4 GA and the total is around $850. I donate another $2,000 to the OBC. My all-in cost is a little less than $3,000/year. For that, I receive my tickets, 1 Green Lot and 1 Blue Lot parking pass, and unlimited access to the Sook Center porch where I can buy $3.50 bottles of water.

To switch my football budget to WVU, I can get 4 tickets on the 30 yard line and a parking pass to the paved tailgate lot 100 yards from the stadium for $3,150. Those tickets get me 6 games next season on Saturdays and include Texas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas Tech and two non-conference games. If I do not use them, they have incredible resale value or I can give them to clients. I have not used more than 5 of my 9 tickets for any game in Peden in the past 3 seasons. My extras are always offered for free and I can't give them away.

I understand the budget differences, but I am comparing the value as a consumer. I am tired of low budget football. I am driving to a football stadium on a Wednesday night and watching a boring product with no engaged fans. We have no traditions, very little passion, and no true success (8-4 and T-2nd in MAC East doesn't count as success). At least Ohio basketball has given us some of those things in the past.


See ya.
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