How do you feel about "Fear the Talons?"

And now with a real poll...

I don't love it, but it is ok and certainly better than nothing.

Like: Its nice to see marketing

Dislike: Not very original. Also, in the big 3, we haven't been fear inducing at all (Baseball isnt as fear inducing as it used to be)

(09-12-2016 05:47 PM)grol Wrote:  How do you feel about "Fear the Talons?"

Anyone who has seen our football team play would rather be "Near the Saloons".

I preferred "Fear the Curtain".

Silly.
It's unoriginal, high-schoolish, and will induce only laughs, if anything.
Equally as unoriginal and the high-schoolish -- the inflatable owl and smoke machines in the endzone.

Any advertising is good advertising. May fall short of inspiring, but better than nothing by a long shot.

The whole H-town takeover thing makes me roll my eyes. It is excellent marketing, I will give it to UH.

Fear the Talons also makes me roll my eyes a bit.

I think we should have a billboard that is simple and says:

'STUDENT Athletes'
(with a picture of one of our athletes in a chemistry lab and another winning a championship)

or

'Success... in the classroom and on the field.

or one that my wife and I laughed hard about:

'Sometimes God gives with both hands... Rice- Intelligence AND Athleticism.'

(09-12-2016 10:06 PM)seniorowl Wrote:  The whole H-town takeover thing makes me roll my eyes. It is excellent marketing, I will give it to UH.

Fear the Talons also makes me roll my eyes a bit.

I like the H-town takeover thing more than fear the talons, but nothing better than fear the talons has popped into my head, making it hard to criticize. I'm glad they are being proactive. I'm sure they have a lot of smart people who brainstormed for the best possible phrase to use. If someone thinks of something better, can't hurt to email to the athletic department.

This is going to sound totally anti-intellectual, but if I'm a casual fan, I don't want to go to a football game played by a bunch of nerds/smart people.

I want to go to a game played by a bunch of tough, mean guys.

Obviously, I want our SAs to perform great in the classroom and do great things post-football, but I don't think the whole "in the classroom and on the field" is a great marketing strategy.

(09-12-2016 06:29 PM)Barney Wrote:  Silly.
It's unoriginal, high-schoolish, and will induce only laughs, if anything.
Equally as unoriginal and the high-schoolish -- the inflatable owl and smoke machines in the endzone.

As mentioned if you have some ideas please send them to Tanner Gardner and Jana Woodson. This isn't a smackdown of your feeling about Fear the Talons but a reflection of the fact these folks are very interested in what we think. There were numerous things that the Fan Committee came up with last year that the department implemented. The grab and go concession stand that is being rolled out this year came from an idea last year's Committee had. Another suggestion passed on this year was to let season ticket holders see the menus of the new concession offerings before the first game...which we received in this week's email.

Modern universities try to promote themselves in the same way--and with the same gaudy sensibilities--of pro sports (NFL, NBA, etc.). The pyrotechnics, the shiny stadia, the Arena League Football-type uniforms with shiny helmets, even the dancing girls (I'm not talking about cheerleaders; I'm talking about the dance squads that look like the Rockets Power Dancers).

Rice Athletics really can't compete with that. Even if it tried, it just comes off as a bit . . . silly. Like the nerdy kid trying to act super cool.

I think Rice needs to cut against the grain and go in the opposite way. Have the slogan and sensibility be "OLD SCHOOL." Sell itself with a more preppy, Vineyard Vines, Ivy League-ish vibe. If the football poster had a picture of the starters sitting in a group picture (traditional football team photo arrangement), all with matching blazers and blue/gray repp ties, and khaki shorts, that would be VERY different from what people are used to seeing with the UH, TSU, A&M, UT, etc. posters. Imagine that preppy group photo with the tagline beneath with something like WE CAN PLAY below it (similar to the Rice baseball bumper stickers I put together years ago).

We're already there with the clean, classic, tasteful football and baseball uniforms. I would rather see the generally used typeface be collegiate block letters (and numbers) on all uniforms (except baseball, which should continue to use OE typeface). The OE R should remain as the logo, however (that's a classic that should remain for decades at Rice).

Of course, you do the above, but for the whole thing to really work its best, you need to actually be able to play. You need to look like a prep but actually know what you're doing when it's game time.

(09-12-2016 11:43 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  This is going to sound totally anti-intellectual, but if I'm a casual fan, I don't want to go to a football game played by a bunch of nerds/smart people.

I want to go to a game played by a bunch of tough, mean guys.

Obviously, I want our SAs to perform great in the classroom and do great things post-football, but I don't the whole "in the classroom and on the field" is a great marketing strategy.

Agree. While I like the "in the classroom and on the field" approach, that's because I went to Rice and it matters to me.

Frankly, the advertising really shouldn't be targeted at Rice students and alumni. When you take that into account, we need to focus on athletics in our advertising.

I think the media and the alumni of UT, etc would react positively to advertising that touted our academic/athletic relationship . . .. but it wouldn't put butts in the seats. they'd nod their head, and say, "yep, Rice does it right", and then plop down on their couch and watch the SEC or Big 12 on TV instead.

There's not a selection for "meh, it's better than nothing"

(09-13-2016 12:33 AM)Barrett Wrote:  Modern universities try to promote themselves in the same way--and with the same gaudy sensibilities--of pro sports (NFL, NBA, etc.). The pyrotechnics, the shiny stadia, the Arena League Football-type uniforms with shiny helmets, even the dancing girls (I'm not talking about cheerleaders; I'm talking about the dance squads that look like the Rockets Power Dancers).

Rice Athletics really can't compete with that. Even if it tried, it just comes off as a bit . . . silly. Like the nerdy kid trying to act super cool.

I think Rice needs to cut against the grain and go in the opposite way. Have the slogan and sensibility be "OLD SCHOOL." Sell itself with a more preppy, Vineyard Vines, Ivy League-ish vibe. If the football poster had a picture of the starters sitting in a group picture (traditional football team photo arrangement), all with matching blazers and blue/gray repp ties, and khaki shorts, that would be VERY different from what people are used to seeing with the UH, TSU, A&M, UT, etc. posters. Imagine that preppy group photo with the tagline beneath with something like WE CAN PLAY below it (similar to the Rice baseball bumper stickers I put together years ago).

We're already there with the clean, classic, tasteful football and baseball uniforms. I would rather see the generally used typeface be collegiate block letters (and numbers) on all uniforms (except baseball, which should continue to use OE typeface). The OE R should remain as the logo, however (that's a classic that should remain for decades at Rice).

Of course, you do the above, but for the whole thing to really work its best, you need to actually be able to play. You need to look like a prep but actually know what you're doing when it's game time.

I agree generally on the uniforms, except I really wish we would add some combination of: stripes on the pants, numbers or stripes on the sleeves, and/or a stripe on the helmet. I like the clean look but we are now TOO vanilla.

Billboard at Southwest Freeway at Buffalo Speedway

(09-13-2016 07:49 AM)grol Wrote:  Billboard at Southwest Freeway at Buffalo Speedway

Oh my. Nice.

Sure, it's a little quirky. But it must be quirky. We're Rice.

Just this week, for Baylor only, though: "Don't fear the talons. Nothing to worry about, nothing to see here. Just go about your business"... <swoop>

(09-13-2016 08:21 AM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(09-13-2016 07:49 AM)grol Wrote:  Billboard at Southwest Freeway at Buffalo Speedway

Oh my. Nice.

Sure, it's a little quirky. But it must be quirky. We're Rice.

Just this week, for Baylor only, though: "Don't fear the talons. Nothing to worry about, nothing to see here. Just go about your business"... <swoop>

Love it! The Owl matches the one behind the student section in Tudor which I really like.

(09-12-2016 11:43 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  This is going to sound totally anti-intellectual, but if I'm a casual fan, I don't want to go to a football game played by a bunch of nerds/smart people.

I want to go to a game played by a bunch of tough, mean guys.

Obviously, I want our SAs to perform great in the classroom and do great things post-football, but I don't think the whole "in the classroom and on the field" is a great marketing strategy.

Completely agree. If people have the option of watching/attending, say, Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt or two top 25 teams, which one do you think the vast majority of America is going to tune in to?

I have never understood the argument that legions of fans will come because our players are good students/intellectual. That is sprinkles on top of icing on top of the cake. The icing and cake are the actual quality of the play and competition, and right now, we just have sprinkles.