After the last week+ I have some stuff to get off my chest, so if you'll indulge me...
First of all, congrats to Ohio State. No one can say they did not deserve this championship after everything that they endured this season with injuries to quarterbacks and earning the title on the field.
That being said, I'm really not looking forward to the aftermath of this win. As we've hammered out a million times on here, the fans will be unbearable, we know this. But it's not the fans that I'm more worried about, it's the Cincinnati media. What if this whole "why doesn't Cincinnati care about Ohio State" blitz was just a precursor to a change in the way sports will be covered next fall? What if they come to the decision that it makes more financial sense to spend more time shoving Ohio State down our throats and less time covering the Bearcats? Before you scoff, really think about it for a second. Media is a business and covering things because "you're supposed to" is at an all time low.
In addition, apathy towards UC by the casual fan, and even some of our committed fans, is higher than ever. Crappy conference situation with no way out in the near future (yes, I do not buy for one second that we're headed to the Big 12 until I hear something much more official than internet rumors) and a very fickle fan base to begin with mean UC has a harder road than ever back to relevance.
I can tell you that Urban Meyer and Ohio State aren't stupid: their goal is to win back Cincinnati and take out anyone who stands in their way, aka UC. Last night as I drove home from work just south of Dayton, I saw 3 different digital billboards with "Go Buckeyes" messages and an ad on Pandora that was not for the game but just a generic Go Ohio State type commercial that they had to have purchased. They know the last area in Ohio to not fully buy in to Buckeye land is ripe for the picking and they're going after it.
Now maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe the night is darkest just before the dawn and our ticket out of the AAC is coming. But right now this just feels like the future of UC sports is resting on the edge of a knife and could very easily head either way. They could head to a new conference, inject a whole bunch of excitement into this area, or they could be stuck in AAC mediocrity and lose everyone but the hardcore fans, relegating their future to little more than MAC status. Sadly, if the latter happens, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the poor fan support and lack of vision by previous administrators.
All this being said it leads me back to my original point, where are things going from here? I know a HUGE part of all this is out of our control with conference realignment, but isn't there something more the Athletic's Department can do to firmly take control of the Tri-State back? Is it a lost cause? Not enough money? Partners in the media finally throwing up their hands and saying "We're done wasting our time with you?"
I don't have the answers, and maybe I'm just being Chicken Little yelling "The sky is falling!" But all I know I want UC to thrive, and I know we'll never be on the same level as Ohio State, but is it so much to ask to be able to not be relegated to where we are now or worse? To have a seat at the table and have a little respect. Ohio State, the school not the fans, used to just let us be and now they're going to go for the jugular IMO.
I will NEVER give up on this city, this school or their teams. I'm a proud alum and always will support the Bearcats, I just wish more people felt the same way. I know I'm preaching to the choir on here, we're not part of the problem, but how can UC change the minds of those in the Tri-State before it's too far gone?
Thank you for letting me rant and get all these thoughts out of my head. Feel free to commence with the group therapy, or ritualistic destruction of this post, whichever makes you happiest. As always, Go Bearcats and see you at Fifth Third on Saturday!
My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
(01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
Maybe for a few days. National championships are rare accomplishments. In a couple days Cincinnati will go back to talking about Andy Dalton and the Bengals non-stop even though their season is over.
(01-13-2015 09:50 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
Maybe for a few days. National championships are rare accomplishments. In a couple days Cincinnati will go back to talking about Andy Dalton and the Bengals non-stop even though their season is over.
We'll still get our daily doses of wall to wall Bengals and Reds coverage-- particularly in the form of radio.
What we will soon see is the reduction in UC football coverage in the Enquirer. The Enquirer already canned Bill Koch and moved Tom Groeschen over to the basketball beat full time. It is my understanding that they are planning on hiring some part-timer to cover the football team. What we willl likely see is an increase ini OSU coverage in the Enquirer. It will be easy for them to cut and paste articles run out of the Dispatch (who now owns the Enquirer anyway).
Perhaps it is time for some of us to send correspodence to the sports editor at the Enquirer to encourage their coverage of our beloved Bearcat football team.
(01-13-2015 09:57 AM)CliftonAve Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:50 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
Maybe for a few days. National championships are rare accomplishments. In a couple days Cincinnati will go back to talking about Andy Dalton and the Bengals non-stop even though their season is over.
We'll still get our daily doses of wall to wall Bengals and Reds coverage-- particularly in the form of radio.
What we will soon see is the reduction in UC football coverage in the Enquirer. The Enquirer already canned Bill Koch and moved Tom Groeschen over to the basketball beat full time. It is my understanding that they are planning on hiring some part-timer to cover the football team. What we willl likely see is an increase ini OSU coverage in the Enquirer. It will be easy for them to cut and paste articles run out of the Dispatch (who now owns the Enquirer anyway).
Perhaps it is time for some of us to send correspodence to the sports editor at the Enquirer to encourage their coverage of our beloved Bearcat football team.
The Dispatch does not own the Enqurirer
Then we burn that motha fu**** down
(01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
This too will pass. The bottom line is WLW will promote whats hot at the moment. Next year we will be talking about New Nippert, 40,000 fans, new tailgating and a shot at the Acesss Bowl (and maybe our transition plan to the Big 12). Kudos to OSU for a great game.
Cincinnati has NEVER received favorable media attention from WLW, so whats new there?
Paranoia running deep this morning
(01-13-2015 10:21 AM)Bearcat61 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
This too will pass. The bottom line is WLW will promote whats hot at the moment. Next year we will be talking about New Nippert, 40,000 fans, new tailgating and a shot at the Acesss Bowl (and maybe our transition plan to the Big 12). Kudos to OSU for a great game. Cincinnati has NEVER received favorable media attention from WLW, so whats new there?
It's not just WLW this time. It's the TV stations and The Enquirer on board as well. The point of my post wasn't to be all woe is me, but to hope that some of you finally feel compelled to do something the way I am.
Hey, they won the National championship, let it go. I don't think they care that much about UC to run a plan to take back Cincinnati. They do not need to. The best talent in the state will go to Ohio State. As long as we are in this crap conference it will be an uphill fight for people outside UC to care. Still, things are tons better than 10 years ago. I see more UC gear being worn than Ohio State in Cincinnati. In fact, I see it worn all over the place. Nippert will rock next year and will be sold out and talked about. We have better recruits than 10 years ago. Basketball is going to be really fun to watch. I think we need to stop being so hung up Ohio State. They played a great game last night.
If UC wins a national championship coverage here would be 100 fold of what Ohio State's was this year . Yes it was awhile ago but I still have my Final 4/Elite 8 full page Enquirer headlines from '92 and '93. It was insane then.
They won the National Championship . Its a news story . It not the end of UC Athletics.
(01-13-2015 10:25 AM)eastside cat Wrote: [ -> ]Hey, they won the National championship, let it go. I don't think they care that much about UC to run a plan to take back Cincinnati. They do not need to. The best talent in the state will go to Ohio State. As long as we are in this crap conference it will be an uphill fight for people outside UC to care. Still, things are tons better than 10 years ago. I see more UC gear being worn than Ohio State in Cincinnati. In fact, I see it worn all over the place. Nippert will rock next year and will be sold out and talked about. We have better recruits than 10 years ago. Basketball is going to be really fun to watch. I think we need to stop being so hung up Ohio State. They played a great game last night.
+1
Like most on here I dislike OSU for the same reasons but they are not a threat to us. Even when we were going to BCS games we weren't going head to head in recruiting with them.
In the words of Aaron Rodgers: RELAX
(01-13-2015 09:57 AM)CliftonAve Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:50 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
Maybe for a few days. National championships are rare accomplishments. In a couple days Cincinnati will go back to talking about Andy Dalton and the Bengals non-stop even though their season is over.
We'll still get our daily doses of wall to wall Bengals and Reds coverage-- particularly in the form of radio.
What we will soon see is the reduction in UC football coverage in the Enquirer. The Enquirer already canned Bill Koch and moved Tom Groeschen over to the basketball beat full time. It is my understanding that they are planning on hiring some part-timer to cover the football team. What we willl likely see is an increase ini OSU coverage in the Enquirer. It will be easy for them to cut and paste articles run out of the Dispatch (who now owns the Enquirer anyway).
Perhaps it is time for some of us to send correspodence to the sports editor at the Enquirer to encourage their coverage of our beloved Bearcat football team.
What's 50% less coverage than 0?
(01-13-2015 10:25 AM)Jchuges7 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 10:21 AM)Bearcat61 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
This too will pass. The bottom line is WLW will promote whats hot at the moment. Next year we will be talking about New Nippert, 40,000 fans, new tailgating and a shot at the Acesss Bowl (and maybe our transition plan to the Big 12). Kudos to OSU for a great game. Cincinnati has NEVER received favorable media attention from WLW, so whats new there?
It's not just WLW this time. It's the TV stations and The Enquirer on board as well. The point of my post wasn't to be all woe is me, but to hope that some of you finally feel compelled to do something the way I am.
Local media will focus on the Reds in a day or 2, blah blah Joey Votto, Left Field, Bruce, Pitching, etc.
(01-13-2015 10:25 AM)Jchuges7 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 10:21 AM)Bearcat61 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-13-2015 09:46 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]My worries as well. When 700 ran a promo congratulating O$U this morning I think the writing was on the wall. The local sports guys are going to force feed us Buckeye sports now.
This too will pass. The bottom line is WLW will promote whats hot at the moment. Next year we will be talking about New Nippert, 40,000 fans, new tailgating and a shot at the Acesss Bowl (and maybe our transition plan to the Big 12). Kudos to OSU for a great game. Cincinnati has NEVER received favorable media attention from WLW, so whats new there?
It's not just WLW this time. It's the TV stations and The Enquirer on board as well. The point of my post wasn't to be all woe is me, but to hope that some of you finally feel compelled to do something the way I am.
Wrong Answer, thanks for playing (IMO)
I have not seen any positive effect thus far by complaining to the local media. Matter of fact, WLW and the Enquirer seem to get great pleasure from complaining Bearcats calling or writing in their complaints. The best thing to do is win games, fill up our own stadium, attend our bowl games, and win our bowl games. There was no great media problem when we won our Conference and went to the Sugar Bowl.
(01-13-2015 10:36 AM)Bearcat2012 Wrote: [ -> ]If UC wins a national championship coverage here would be 100 fold of what Ohio State's was this year . Yes it was awhile ago but I still have my Final 4/Elite 8 full page Enquirer headlines from '92 and '93. It was insane then.
They won the National Championship . Its a news story . It not the end of UC Athletics.
Great post. Ohio State's championship has nothing to do with UC other than the Bearcats played them this year. Maybe the local media will start to cover college football. Ohio State will be defending the national champion and UC will reopen Nippert. In Cincinnati they still will be talking about the Andy Dalton and his playoff failures instead of college sports.
(01-13-2015 10:36 AM)Bearcat2012 Wrote: [ -> ]If UC wins a national championship coverage here would be 100 fold of what Ohio State's was this year . Yes it was awhile ago but I still have my Final 4/Elite 8 full page Enquirer headlines from '92 and '93. It was insane then.
They won the National Championship . Its a news story . It not the end of UC Athletics.
There's also nothing else to talk about right now. Bengals are done. Reds are months away from starting. Conference play is just beginning in college hoops, and UC and XU aren't top teams. If you were the sports editor at the Enquirer, what else would you put in the paper?
The local media hurts UC more than anything else.
If UC had better coverage the fan base would grow from more kids growing up to be UC fans instead of OSU, UK, ND ....
(01-13-2015 10:49 AM)HoopsJunky Wrote: [ -> ]The local media hurts UC more than anything else.
If UC had better coverage the fan base would grow from more kids growing up to be UC fans instead of OSU, UK, ND ....
They stink at covering college sports in general. It was better in the 1990's when college basketball was more popular and the pro teams in the city were awful.
It doesn't have to be all UC; however, an increase in college sports coverage would do wonders for all involved. There is a lack of knowledge from the media types in the city surrounding college sports.
No one to blame but ourselves? Why do people say things like this? It makes zero sense. We are the ones supporting UC. What are we to do? Buy more season tickets? Yell at people for not being big enough fans?
What you are really complaining about is the fact that UC does not have a huge fan base....and it doesn't. And with the exception of the margins on the edge, that is not likely to ever change. With the exception of alumni who have moved abroad, this is a local program.
UC us not trying to get in a P5 conference so that we can play in a game like OSU did last night. We are trying to get into a P5 to bring in the cash to just try to stay relevant on the periphery. And yes, the relevancy clock is ticking down. But that has nothing to do with Ohio State or the local media.