RUSS sounds so good on the radio !! .. BANG !! .. Oh baby what a BIG TIME reason not to attend !!

My OZone experience:

2007/2008 - sat next to the OZone as a high school student once at a Kent road game
2008-2012 - sat in the OZone for every home game with an engaged group of friends as an undergrad
2012/2013 - sat around the ozone with a less engaged group of friends for most games as a grad student

IMO the OZone's enthusiasm declined year over year every season in that period. Regardless of the talent on the team.

I suspect what I was initially exposed to in 2007/2008 was the remaining momentum of the late 90s/ early 2000s OZone leadership. I suspect those years were even better.

At that 2007/2008 Kent road game I remember the OZone SINGING Stand Up And Cheer (audibly).

In 2008 I remember the OOOhoohoOHOHOOH after EVERY 3 pointer and EVERY dunk. I remember the OZone standing up and clapping the O-H-I-O clap every time the band played it.

From there on (2009 -2013) enthusiasm was slowly but progressively reduced to some OOhhhoOOHHHOos after 3s and dunks, some clapping, some standing, some defense chants in rhythm.

During that period the OZone kept getting bigger. In 2008 a big student turnout filled the pull out bleachers. In 2012 I saw my first sellout (Gary Trent Day). By 2013 I remember the home Akron game on a weeknight going mid-way up the upper deck.

The OZone crowds are getting bigger. These students WANT TO CHEER. But no one's telling them what to do. The average fan WILL NOT spontaneously start chants on their own NO MATTER WHO THE OPPONENT IS.

Long story short, the OZones missing leaders, not in title, but in essence. The momentum remaining from previous generations is almost entirely gone.

I disagree. I think it's more of a cultural thing with kids these days. I try to get kids to come cheer with me all the time and most of them have no interest in it. Whether we were good or not or had leadership kids just don't care anymore or don't see the point in it. Maybe that will change with new classes but for the near future it's not going to change. The same thing happened in my high school which makes me feel it isn't just leadership. My freshman year we had a loud student section. Everyone was into to game. Every year after that it slowly declined. Kids would come stand in the student section but it was more to socialize. Very few people were into the game and it's been the exact same in college. Same senario. I haven't been to many games this year cause I work Tuesday nights. I also work this Friday so won't be there again. But when I do make it I'll try to get us rocking again cause this is embarrassing and sad

I mean this in a genuine way. Effort alone doesn't make you a leader. There are many subtle differences between successfully and unsuccessfully turning around and getting people to follow you.

Many of those qualities and traits of a leader come naturally and cannot be easily emulated with effort.

But there is another way to get the results the OZone needs. And effort plays a big role in this approach.

Plan ahead.

More students are showing up than ever. I don't buy for a second that they aren't open to participating in orchestrated chants (like they used to). They left the comfort of their home for the experience, not the seat.

OZONE leaders MUST be the ones to create this experience.

Now when I say plan ahead I don't just mean the chants, the timing and rhythm of those chants, and the clever physical orchestrations of body movement in unison. I don't just mean singing stand up and cheer. I also mean the positioning and leveraging of strength in numbers.

Look around you at the next game. Take note of the people cheering and not cheering. Approach the people who cheer the next game. Tell them you have a space for the vocal supporters to sit in a group the next game. Hand them your sheet of cheers, and the game situations that will trigger those cheers. Sell them your vision.

Get you friends, acquaintances, people that your recognize, people that you don't know, and typical front row OZoners to join you standing shoulder to shoulder, back to front. You need to plan to increase the vocal density (an OZONE within the OZONE).

***DO NOT STAND WITH VOCAL SUPPORTERS IN THE FRONT ROW.***

You're significantly more likely to get an otherwise uninterested fan to follow you when you're cheering BEHIND them. The lead row of the vocal supporters should be the last row of the middle section of the pull out bleachers (adjust forward as necessary for smaller crowds). To the average uninterested person, the front row of a student section (like the front row at church) is to be avoided at all times.

POLICE this section. Give advance notice that only people physically wearing ozone shirts can sit in this vocal section. And then physically enforce that rule. If you can't fill the whole section back to front then estimate the area you need and mark it off with colored pieces of paper representing the seat of a vocal supporter.

You can have the least natural leadership in the world so long as you plan ahead. Just start with getting 30 vocal students in a tight space. If their chants are well orchestrated, if they take pride and show passion in the execution, and there is exclusivity, people will gravitate to this group. Then set a new goal to increase the number.

The OZONE of the past is dead. There needs to be a new movement. And it can start right now with just a small group of vocal supporters that already show up every game.

P.S.

There's nothing to get the people going like a good old fashioned "Kent read, Kent write, Kent State (clap clap)"

This limits the OZONE as much as the soggy pretzels.

I've never seen a crowd leader look to a cheerleader for inspiration.

I agree with this..I absolutely HATE the section of seats in front of the OZONE..

I'll +1 the +1. Great points in both.

I give credit to the O Zone for being significantly better the last 2 games. Unfortunately we were just outmatched vs. Akron, but they did make a big difference in helping us get past Kent. We've had consistently pretty good student crowds during MAC play, so credit where credit is due.

The athletic department bank account certainly doesn't. Have you sat in the seats? They're fantastic. If that's really what is holding the OZONE back, then the OZONE needs some new leadership. Adapt and overcome.

FWIW, I have sat in the seats and genuinely enjoyed the students' enthusiasm behind me. Got a ton of laughs when we sat there for an Akron game two years ago.

KIDS THESE DAYS...................................

Excellent point, and it's not just limited to your examples.

I have snuck down to the O Zone a few times since the courtside seats were added. I will admit, it is harder to sync with the cheerleaders, but it is NOT impossible.

The black seats definitely changed the feel in the O Zone. The 110 moving into the O Zone also changed the feel of the O Zone. Neither are obstacles that cannot be overcome, but I think it CHANGES the approach the O Zone needs to take. Like Shab mentioned, the cheerleaders not being right there places the burden of starting and syncing cheers more on the O Zone. Gotta have a leader to kinda pull that all together...

Speaking of the 110... That could be a positive if we could see the O Zone and 110 synced better... That needs to happen. Half the time the O Zone has no clue what the 110 is even saying.