A buddy of mine went to the Miami game over the weekend with his wife and kids - I believe she's an alum - it was Ron Harper Day. Apparently they sold more tickets (around 13k) than seats available so people were just jammed into Millet.

Good thing I did that. Game is sold out.

Considering our history and this rivalry, I would never thought we would be heading to Clown Town with a sold out venue. I know from many discussions over the years Fiami alum/fans were jealous of our following and attendance. Please wake me up from this nightmare.

There is a lesson here for the leadership and marketing folk (assuming we have them). I understand winning makes all things possible. We all know this.

The O-zone is gone. It was such a good idea and the students rallied behind it. Hell, I had my "Old-Zone" tee shirt and wore it with pride. Who is making an effort to get something like that group back in the stands? I do see the 110 heavily involved at our home games. Cool. They should be.

Get on the same level as the students. Social Media (unfortunately) rules their world. I am sure there are some students on campus that have the passion. I am thinking the passion shared by people such as D-Lo, Shabamon, The Situation, Optimist, JSF, and bigtillyoopsupsideurhead.

Is there something else to do on campus on a snowy Tuesday or Saturday that I do not know about? It's not like the Convo is miles away from student dorms/housing.

I have a few thoughts. I have a couple boys I coached in baseball growing up going to OU, I met them for dinner and took them to the NIU game. It was the first game they attended. They said we are "terrible." I educated them that we are not terrible, but sure we are not dominating the MAC. These boys are legit sports fans, basketball fans. They have a lot of pride in Ohio University. They were frequently checking other scores around the country including Kent/Miami, Ohio State, etc. They seemed to have a good time. I told them the Akron game was on Friday and it should be a good one. I got there and saw them in the student section and was so proud. Then I watched them march right out of the convo with 2 minutes to go in the first half as Akron stomped us. Sigh.

Bottom line the bandwagonry is as bad as it has ever been. National attention is everything. The influx of Miami fans are total frauds, and will be gone just as fast as they showed up.

As for the student section, it breaks my heart. I was encouraged in our first 2 games of the year but it has been BAD since. Norm, and the other older gentleman who...let's just say, does not look like the type of guy young people want to get within 10 feet of...have got to go. Tons of other random fans are down there all the time. I've seen opposing fans in there, children, etc. and not during break when who cares but while school is in session. It is time to start enforcing students only. It kills the vibe. Sorry Norm, come over to the old zone and direct us...let the students do their own thing.

I don't care about the politics, but I do find it weird that we have Chick-fil-A promotions and no. . .Chick-fil-A.

This actually would be a legitimate gripe. I was told by an Athens educator the closest CFA is in Parkersburg? Canes (gross) was just built this year so probably not too long before a CFA comes to town.

Same as it ever was at any MAC school. There will be a portion of students that assume their team sucks if they are not getting at least top 25 votes. Miami isn't breaking attendance records if they're 18-4. Maybe they get 3,000 in for UMass and 7,000 in for NIU (as long as the president pays for it). And that's really unfortunate because 18-4 is a really really good basketball team. If any Miami student gives me crap in Oxford, I'm asking how many football games they attended.

By chance, did your guys attend the WVU football game? Did they attend any football games after that?

Agree pretty much with everything AR. I love the comment "The influx of Miami fans are total frauds, and will be gone just as fast as they showed up."

Why? Because it is true. They ain't coming to pack Yager anytime soon either.

Like most of you, I ask myself what am I going to do to flip this situation? Not sure yet. I'll be more active with the Baseball Program. Giving to the program is a lock but it will be peanuts compared to what they need. Many baseball programs across the country have champagne taste with beer money.

Heartbreaking is the right word. Looking back to my travels in the 80's, 90's, 2000's, 2010's, etc., I feel like the 25-40 year old alums do not share the passion we had. My world centered around OHIO and being at as many events as possible.

I enjoy the hell out of the football and basketball games. Life got in the way the last few years but things are improving. I'll be there.

For those that care, baseball alumni weekend is in April.

The WVU game saw as good a student turnout as I've seen at Peden in a long time. And they continued to show up in big numbers all year, including Nov. weeknight games. Those same students showed up in good numbers for the first two basketball games (Akr St. and Ill St.) but have tapered off since.

My son is a freshman and hasn't missed a home game in football or basketball except for basketball games played during break (although he joined me for two of those games). His buddies, who also attended most if not all football games, are less interested in going to basketball games because of the team's lack of success.

Edit: Just got a text from my son. He's in the Convo watching Ohio play WMU and has Miami-UB game on his phone. I know, like his dad, he needs to get a life.

Their point guard missing two late free throws to open the door for a possible Buffalo (who in reality is not very great) win shows the fatigue starting to set in. They could very well lose at Marshall. Or even at home on Friday the 13th.

Yes they very enthusiastically attended the WVU game, and they went to the Ohio State game in Columbus. I think they went to only 1 other game all season. Like I said, it is all about the national brands and recognition...they just can't get into the MAC as a conference and lose themselves in our little corner of the world. If Sportscenter doesn't care about it, they don't care about it.

Not only is the closest CFA 30 miles away, but it's only a row or two. Never a whole section like at other schools. And it's always one of the lower level seats. Give it to someone in the cheap seats! They're more likely to be motivated by a free prize.

The other thing I noticed is that up until a few years ago you could score a free shirt at like every third home game if you showed up early enough and now it's absolutely zero unless you're a student. They went from passing them out like candy to not at all; one extreme to the other.