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(08-17-2018 03:44 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-17-2018 03:18 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  That's one of the problems with our fan base: 9-3 is a good year but most of the people who call themselves UC fans act like that type of season is pedestrian. How many times has this university seen 9-3 or better? How many teams each year go 9-3 or better? Why does record even matter- why can't just be fans and show up to games. There are only 6-7 home games in any given year. Its a short season-- let's enjoy.

Now we're getting somewhere. See, it's the Paul Dik Syndrome! Who cares, right? Could it be fans in the burbs don't want to travel to the urban core? Are they intimidated? Unfamiliar places? Do any of the bars surrounding campus throw a pregame party? What was the one in CowTown - Heiney Gate? I got it - freegin' get an Octoberfest or micro brew pregame event during some home games and that will bring folks out! Ribs? Adrifrigginaticos. How about early bird free parking? Incentives for more students to attend? Senior Citizen/Retirees busing and direct drop off/pick up service. Veterans? See Rag - marketing/advertising/sponsorships!

I'm sorry. I'm not making fun of you. I give you an A for effort and some original thinking. It's quite refreshing.

But the thought of UC actually doing something for... free. They make the custodians check all couches on campus for loose change.

(08-18-2018 06:31 AM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  

(08-17-2018 03:44 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-17-2018 03:18 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  That's one of the problems with our fan base: 9-3 is a good year but most of the people who call themselves UC fans act like that type of season is pedestrian. How many times has this university seen 9-3 or better? How many teams each year go 9-3 or better? Why does record even matter- why can't just be fans and show up to games. There are only 6-7 home games in any given year. Its a short season-- let's enjoy.

Now we're getting somewhere. See, it's the Paul Dik Syndrome! Who cares, right? Could it be fans in the burbs don't want to travel to the urban core? Are they intimidated? Unfamiliar places? Do any of the bars surrounding campus throw a pregame party? What was the one in CowTown - Heiney Gate? I got it - freegin' get an Octoberfest or micro brew pregame event during some home games and that will bring folks out! Ribs? Adrifrigginaticos. How about early bird free parking? Incentives for more students to attend? Senior Citizen/Retirees busing and direct drop off/pick up service. Veterans? See Rag - marketing/advertising/sponsorships!

I'm sorry. I'm not making fun of you. I give you an A for effort and some original thinking. It's quite refreshing.

But the thought of UC actually doing something for... free. They make the custodians check all couches on campus for loose change.

No doubt. But, change won't happen for change's sake. It takes people to email and call the folks that make those decisions. If I'm UC Athletics, I do everything I can to build interest in attending 6 home football games in one freegin' calendar year that are not just "sellouts" from ticket sales but ACTUAL BUTTS IN SEATS. If they can't figure that out or have folks on staff that are unwilling or unable to do this then hire folks who can get it done. They can hire me to whip some folks up in to shape and establish a marketing/advertising/sponsor/event partnerships strategic plan. There is no excuse to have a 1/3 to 1/2 empty renovated Nippert Stadium IMO. None.

Doc and the rest of the local newspaper provide outdated takes.

Regarding UC football, the coaching staff is on the hot seat to produce a bowl game and a winning season because the 2019 schedule is brutal. Alabama A&M, Miami U, Ohio, Tulane, and ECU are must win games. Cats then need to find a way to win at UConn or SMU or steal a game against USF or Navy at home. Road games against UCLA, Temple, and UCF are going to be really difficult. If this is another 4-8 type season then I can't see how 2019 is better. That year includes road games at Ohio State, Marshall, Houston, Memphis, and USF. Not to mention home games against UCLA and UCF. Even if you UC finds six or seven wins in 2018 matching that total is going to be very difficult in 2019.

(08-18-2018 09:23 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  Doc and the rest of the local newspaper provide outdated takes.

Regarding UC football, the coaching staff is on the hot seat to produce a bowl game and a winning season because the 2019 schedule is brutal. Alabama A&M, Miami U, Ohio, Tulane, and ECU are must win games. Cats then need to find a way to win at UConn or SMU or steal a game against USF or Navy at home. Road games against UCLA, Temple, and UCF are going to be really difficult. If this is another 4-8 type season then I can't see how 2019 is better. That year includes road games at Ohio State, Marshall, Houston, Memphis, and USF. Not to mention home games against UCLA and UCF. Even if you UC finds six or seven wins in 2018 matching that total is going to be very difficult in 2019.

2019 will be interesting. You get better by playing tougher competition. It sounds like a we a year or two away from repeaping the rewards of the recent recruiting classes.

Guys, let me know if I should merge some of these posts with the realignment thread

(08-18-2018 05:39 PM)Ring of Black Wrote:  Guys, let me know if I should merge some of these posts with the realignment thread

It always works its way back to that, doesn't it?

Ok, because I'm a fair, stand-up guy, the article below was penned by PDik on Friday. There's still some residual snark in his tone. Hopefully Chad can verify that he was actually seen at CHG...

Quote:Paul Daugherty: Luke Fickell building trust in Cincinnati Bearcats

The eye-rolling part of the program comes quickly and steadily gathers steam. “I look at my players as part of my family,’’ Luke Fickell says.

Uh-oh.

“I have six kids at home, and 110 out here,’’ says Fickell, referring to the expanse of two football fields at Higher Ground, the Bearcats training camp just across the state line.

I check my watch, look at my notes. Fickell uses the word “bonding’’. I seek a polite exit. Not another of those interviews.

College coaches have been lovin’ their players since the beginning of time. And leavin’ ‘em just as fast. You could see how a man might get cynical on the subject.

Then Fickell drops a soliloquy on me that restores my faith in faith. Just maybe, the second-year coach is different.

“When guys ask me who I am, I’m a wrestler," Fickell says. “What’s a wrestler? A guy who might wrestle in front of a thousand people, beat his head against the wall seven days a week, cut weight, do all this crazy stuff, just to go out and fight with a guy.

“There’s not a lot of glory. That’s the way I am, that’s the way I was raised. I’ve been there, I’ve had the success. There’s nothing greater than hard work paying off. That’s what I want these guys to experience. Championships are the euphoria of the work paying off. That’s what drives me.’’

UC athletic director Mike Bohn has asked Fickell to be more… what’s the word? Charismatic? Dynamic? “We gotta get you out there!’’ Fickell recalls Bohn saying to him. Out there: Pounding the regional pavement, attending high school stags and eating flocks of rubber chicken. Talking in optimistic paragraphs!

Fickell can do that. All coaches can do that. We’ve had a few at UC recently who excelled at it. Fickell? “I’d rather see a winner than hear one. That’s why you don’t hear me say we’re gonna do this or win this. I’m much more, ‘don’t listen to what I say, watch what I do.’ ’’

His first team wasn’t expected to do much. It met expectations, finishing 4-8. Fickell reflects on that and decides his message wasn’t quite a bullseye. “Trust, love and respect,’’ he says. There wasn’t enough of it.

“You see what you’ve got when tough times hit. That’s where I was disappointed last year,’’ says Fickell. “Not having a good enough relationship (or) the trust, love and respect not only for me, the whole group. We didn’t have those guys that stuck together. That’s what I was most disappointed in.

“That’s what got us last year. The relationships. Guy makes a mistake (in the secondary) gives up a touchdown, we’re pointing fingers as opposed to knowing how hard the situation is, realizing that and moving on. Unless you’re that much more talented than the other guys, you can’t do it with that selfish nature.’’

During the offseason, Fickell broke up what he calls the “little cliques’’ on his team. “I made guys get to know each other a little better,’’ he explains. “We spent pretty much the whole offseason putting guys in different situations. I made them have honest conversations with each other.’’ He put his players in charge of each other’s daily destinies: Getting to class, doing the work, focusing on positive attitudes.

The whole team spent 36 hours at Higher Ground. No cell phones, lots of sitting around a fire, talking. “Finding ways to trust and respect each other better,’’ Fickell calls it.

Will all this kumbaya-ness overcome a lack of veteran talent in a rising and overlooked football conference? Who knows? All Fickell knows is, “you can’t win without it.’’

He won’t go to campus frat houses seeking support, the way Brian Kelly did. He won’t conjure silly slogans, a la Butch Jones. He won’t do anything Tommy Tuberville did. Luke Fickell is very good at being Luke Fickell. “Just the genuine honesty,’’ he says.

“When you pour your heart and soul into something and you’re real, that’s what sells,’’ he says. “If you say that, and if that’s what matters to you, then the money, the different titles wouldn’t be as intriguing to you. That’s what people will see over time’’ with Fickell.

His players didn’t entirely believe him last year. They didn’t trust what he was saying, or who he was. “It takes time for them to see what you’re all about. They’re going to follow when they see it’s about being honest. Like any relationship, it takes time and work.’’ Fickell says.

“It’s about the people,’’ Fickell says. “We have a job because of these 18-to-22-year-olds.’’

PDik Allegedly At CHG

He was there Friday and talked to Fick one on one for a while after practice...

(08-17-2018 04:14 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Could the folks in the Marketing And Fan Development Division of the Athletic Department use some "suggestions" to build marketing/advertising partnerships to bring more folks out and students? Here they are straight from the gobearcats web page:


Brittany Booth
TITLE: Associate AD/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: brittany.booth@uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-0838


Luke Willman
TITLE: Assistant AD/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: luke.willman@uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-1081


Nisha Jaga
TITLE: Director/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: nisha.jaga@uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-1052

Deborah Dixon (No Picture)
TITLE: Assistant Director/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: dixond9@ucmail.uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-2449


Brad Howard
TITLE Creative Services Director
EMAIL brad.howard@uc.edu
PHONE 513-556-0630

Lots of Folks in UC Athletics Marketing/Fan Development Division

How is it that I don't know a single one of them. Epic fail.
I'm not talking about them contacting me personally ala Karen Hatcher passing out gifts to the big money donors.

I just searched my email and I've never received any form of contact from them.

Must be new Bohn hires since the rest of the staff keeps bailing. Poor J Locklier went to Kent State. Talk about a black hole of athletics.

Hmmm. I'm pumped for football this year. Not much longer now!

(08-19-2018 11:21 AM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(08-17-2018 04:14 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Could the folks in the Marketing And Fan Development Division of the Athletic Department use some "suggestions" to build marketing/advertising partnerships to bring more folks out and students? Here they are straight from the gobearcats web page:


Brittany Booth
TITLE: Associate AD/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: brittany.booth@uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-0838


Luke Willman
TITLE: Assistant AD/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: luke.willman@uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-1081


Nisha Jaga
TITLE: Director/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: nisha.jaga@uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-1052

Deborah Dixon (No Picture)
TITLE: Assistant Director/Marketing & Branding
EMAIL: dixond9@ucmail.uc.edu
PHONE: 513-556-2449


Brad Howard
TITLE Creative Services Director
EMAIL brad.howard@uc.edu
PHONE 513-556-0630

Lots of Folks in UC Athletics Marketing/Fan Development Division

How is it that I don't know a single one of them. Epic fail.
I'm not talking about them contacting me personally ala Karen Hatcher passing out gifts to the big money donors.

I just searched my email and I've never received any form of contact from them.

Must be new Bohn hires since the rest of the staff keeps bailing. Poor J Locklier went to Kent State. Talk about a black hole of athletics.

You want more butts in the seats? Simple solution:

WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON

GET RANKED IN THE TOP 10

WIN A CFP BOWL GAME

That's it!

All the other stuff falls flat if you don't have a good product on the field.

I have been a season ticket holder for 30 years and a fan for 60. During that time the word marketing and UC football have never come together. Students leave early, did they ever try to create a reason to stay? How about students that leave at the game end get a preference for Big Basketball games? Or have a rock band concert after the game ends?


Sure winning solves all issues but until that happens be creative. All these employees and what do we get?


Try enlisting a UC marketing class for ideas.


Bob Goins once told me until FSU FB became good he had bands invited to every game to create the illusion of attendance.

(08-19-2018 07:40 PM)doss2 Wrote:  I have been a season ticket holder for 30 years and a fan for 60. During that time the word marketing and UC football have never come together. Students leave early, did they ever try to create a reason to stay? How about students that leave at the game end get a preference for Big Basketball games? Or have a rock band concert after the game ends?


Sure winning solves all issues but until that happens be creative. All these employees and what do we get?


Try enlisting a UC marketing class for ideas.


Bob Goins once told me until FSU FB became good he had bands invited to every game to create the illusion of attendance.

You are thinking along the same lines. I wonder if any of those marketing folks are UC graduates? Would be good for some university pride and having "skin in the game." I do like your idea of enlisting marketing students to help with ideas. Also, you don't have to reinvent the wheel - best practices can be found at other college campuses. I still say a pre and post game event - Cliftonfest - for example could create a good draw. Booze, food and live bands. How about enlisting a few Reds or Bengals players to come and mingle with fans? Former Bearcats players? Students who stay the entire game get to partake in a raffle drawing for free stuff. It's endless man. Try something. Anything.

(08-19-2018 07:40 PM)doss2 Wrote:  I have been a season ticket holder for 30 years and a fan for 60. During that time the word marketing and UC football have never come together. Students leave early, did they ever try to create a reason to stay? How about students that leave at the game end get a preference for Big Basketball games? Or have a rock band concert after the game ends?


Sure winning solves all issues but until that happens be creative. All these employees and what do we get?


Try enlisting a UC marketing class for ideas.


Bob Goins once told me until FSU FB became good he had bands invited to every game to create the illusion of attendance.

Let's draw an analogy here:

Let's say you have a product--rotten eggs, and your job is to sell them to the public to eat. No amount of marketing or positioning, or providing incentives is going to get the public to buy and eat rotten eggs.

Your revenue on the product will fall, and until you replace it with a product the public wants to purchase for consumption--fresh eggs, that trend will continue. In order to get that new product, you have to change distributors, and then demonstrate that the product is not only safe, but desirable for consumption.

Until that happens, the public will purchase their eggs elsewhere.

Very simple.

(08-19-2018 10:53 PM)Not Duane Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 07:40 PM)doss2 Wrote:  I have been a season ticket holder for 30 years and a fan for 60. During that time the word marketing and UC football have never come together. Students leave early, did they ever try to create a reason to stay? How about students that leave at the game end get a preference for Big Basketball games? Or have a rock band concert after the game ends?


Sure winning solves all issues but until that happens be creative. All these employees and what do we get?


Try enlisting a UC marketing class for ideas.


Bob Goins once told me until FSU FB became good he had bands invited to every game to create the illusion of attendance.

Let's draw an analogy here:

Let's say you have a product--rotten eggs, and your job is to sell them to the public to eat. No amount of marketing or positioning, or providing incentives is going to get the public to buy and eat rotten eggs.

Your revenue on the product will fall, and until you replace it with a product the public wants to purchase for consumption--fresh eggs, that trend will continue. In order to get that new product, you have to change distributors, and then demonstrate that the product is not only safe, but desirable for consumption.

Until that happens, the public will purchase their eggs elsewhere.

Very simple.

Good Lord.

I don't get it with the criticism of the marketing department. The attendance is good for the games based on our win loss record. And I for one am not interested in the mythical 'casual fan' that some clamber for. Win 7 to 10 games again and forget the loser gimmicks. And the alumni will flock back to I Nip.
10 - 3 resulted in 32,200 average attendance.

4 - 8 resulted in 28,800 average attendance.

It really is not that complicated to understand.


Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using CSNbbs mobile app

(08-20-2018 07:40 AM)Bearcatdh58 Wrote:  I don't get it with the criticism of the marketing department. The attendance is good for the games based on our win loss record. And I for one am not interested in the mythical 'casual fan' that some clamber for. Win 7 to 10 games again and forget the loser gimmicks. And the alumni will flock back to I Nip.
10 - 3 resulted in 32,200 average attendance.

4 - 8 resulted in 28,800 average attendance.

It really is not that complicated to understand.


Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using CSNbbs mobile app

Outside of winning the only other thing that can help fill up the stadium is game time weather and game date. Nobody wants to watch a losing team in bad weather during the middle of the week.

(08-19-2018 07:40 PM)doss2 Wrote:  I have been a season ticket holder for 30 years and a fan for 60. During that time the word marketing and UC football have never come together. Students leave early, did they ever try to create a reason to stay? How about students that leave at the game end get a preference for Big Basketball games? Or have a rock band concert after the game ends?

This is not a UC issue. This is an issue across the country for all but a select group of schools. Games are longer, traditional rivalries are gone, more games are at night where there are other activities to do.

I love watching UC football, but 4 hours is a long time to sit and watch teams wait around for commercial breaks to end.

I didn't renew this year. Eh, flame me. Watching a team that looks lost is frustrating when you are driving over an hour down from Dayton, staying four hours for the game, and then getting home after midnight on a weeknight. Decided this year I'll just sit at home in the comfort of my home and watch whatever games are televised.

Maybe I'm just getting older and interests are evolving, but I'm finding myself less and less interested in watching football. I think it is because the games take so damn long. You lose a whole afternoon to watch a football game.

I like Fickel. I like how he's recruiting. I like what he's saying. I feel like he's doing it the right way and genuinely cares.

(08-19-2018 10:53 PM)Not Duane Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 07:40 PM)doss2 Wrote:  I have been a season ticket holder for 30 years and a fan for 60. During that time the word marketing and UC football have never come together. Students leave early, did they ever try to create a reason to stay? How about students that leave at the game end get a preference for Big Basketball games? Or have a rock band concert after the game ends?


Sure winning solves all issues but until that happens be creative. All these employees and what do we get?


Try enlisting a UC marketing class for ideas.


Bob Goins once told me until FSU FB became good he had bands invited to every game to create the illusion of attendance.

Let's draw an analogy here:

Let's say you have a product--rotten eggs, and your job is to sell them to the public to eat. No amount of marketing or positioning, or providing incentives is going to get the public to buy and eat rotten eggs.

Your revenue on the product will fall, and until you replace it with a product the public wants to purchase for consumption--fresh eggs, that trend will continue. In order to get that new product, you have to change distributors, and then demonstrate that the product is not only safe, but desirable for consumption.

Until that happens, the public will purchase their eggs elsewhere.

Very simple.

Everyone on here keeps using business analogies as though Dr. Seuss is teaching marketing courses now.

It's not simple. I'm not sure why anyone thinks it is. Fielding a competitive college football team is really, really hard. Most coaches get about 3 years to prove they can do it. And the turnover rate is remarkably high for those who can't. So let's scrap that talking point all together.

The Ad does, however, have control over the marketing of our product. The results on the field may stink, but it's not true that everyone in attendance is looking for success on the field. On the contrary, the key to bringing people back to Nippert is to make the games "cool" again (not simple). Fortunetly, we have a wildly successful third division soccer team in our stadium that can teach us a thing or two about creating a hot ticket with tremendous effort. But instead of taking cues from their success, we'd rather sit around and b**** about our administration, our coaches, and everything in between.

It's not simple. But there are realistic goals which can be achieved no matter what's happening on the field.