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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Eastern Michigan Game Attendance Last Night
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71 BOBCAT
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Posted: 3/12/2013 9:45 AM
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302, that's right 302. You can't make a number like that up. Pitiful. Should EMU remain in the conference? Aren't there NCAA attendence requirements for a school to remain in D-1?






GO BOBCATS
Ted Thompson
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Posted: 3/12/2013 9:48 AM
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100%Cat
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Posted: 3/12/2013 11:20 AM
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That is well beyond sad...
Casper71
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Posted: 3/12/2013 1:18 PM
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How can anyone say with a straight face that EMU has D1 support in students, fans or resources when it comes to FB or BskB?  I just don't get why something isn't done about them.  Either they need to really step their game up or the Conference administrators and member institution representatives need to get them out of the way. 
Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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Posted: 3/12/2013 2:30 PM
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They should put tarps on all but one section of their arena. 
UpSan Bobcat
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Posted: 3/12/2013 2:37 PM
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That's 3.2 percent of capacity. A 9,500-seat facility for 302 fans.
Mark Lembright '85
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Posted: 3/12/2013 2:52 PM
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And that's a very nice facility EMU has too!  Truly a shame.
OU_Country
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Posted: 3/12/2013 3:30 PM
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Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
And that's a very nice facility EMU has too!  Truly a shame.


Here's a question:  What, if anything, does EMU do to TRY to get butts in seats.  Clearly not enough. This has to be part of the AD's job, right?
Ted Thompson
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Posted: 3/12/2013 3:41 PM
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OU_Country wrote:expand_more
And that's a very nice facility EMU has too!  Truly a shame.


Here's a question:  What, if anything, does EMU do to TRY to get butts in seats.  Clearly not enough. This has to be part of the AD's job, right?


I would argue that at some point it is the Commissioner's job. In fact, I would say the Commissioner's top priority should be to grow fan bases at member institutions. Without that, nothing else changes. And I've seen nothing to indicate that there is any type of sharing of Best Practices.
OUVan
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Posted: 3/12/2013 4:00 PM
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The MAC has too many schools that share the same interest in bettering their programs as EMU does and Miami is headed in that direction.   I was just reading on the MAC board that BG will keep Louis Orr another year because they don't want to pay him a year he's not coaching.  You put all this money into a brilliant new arena and you don't care if you alienate your fanbase.  EMU has operated like this for years so it's no wonder they have no fans.  It feels like the league is dying around us.
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Posted: 3/12/2013 5:52 PM
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OUVan wrote:expand_more
It feels like the league is dying around us.


I'm beginning to feel this way too. What other school - at this moment - feels like an athletics program on the rise??? Football, basketball, facilities, ticket sales, student support, etc??

Looking holistically - with "off-the-cuff" impressions - here's my take on each school...

BEST OF THE REST
1. Toledo- Good football, basketball on probation but looking up. Close to OUr level in attendance.
2. NIU- Great football year (can it be sustained?)...but basketball is terrible. Attendance is weak given success!
3. WMU- Decent basketball, so-so football recently. Pretty good attendance/support.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK
4. Kent State- Football on the rise, basketball on the decline. Traditionally low attendance. Bad facilities.
5. Akron- Very strong basketball, Terrible football...but excellent facilities. Oh yeah, Terry Bowden + Jim Tressel!
6. CMU- Abysmal basketball, decent football. Above-average support for football, but nothing for hoops.
7. Buffalo- Decent basketball. Outside of Turner Gill's year - bad football. Support is actually decent, though.

LOTS OF WORK TO DO
8. Ball State- Recently medicore in both sports, football may be improving some. Poor attendance/support.
9. Bowling Green- Medicore football, but maybe getting better. Basketball getting worse. Poor support.
10. Miami- Bad football, worse basketball. Terrible support/apathy. But, they have hockey!!
11. EMU- Need I say more?
SBH
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Posted: 3/12/2013 6:05 PM
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bobcat72 wrote:expand_more
It feels like the league is dying around us.


I'm beginning to feel this way too. What other school - at this moment - feels like an athletics program on the rise??? Football, basketball, facilities, ticket sales, student support, etc??

Looking holistically - with "off-the-cuff" impressions - here's my take on each school...

BEST OF THE REST
1. Toledo- Good football, basketball on probation but looking up. Close to OUr level in attendance.
2. NIU- Great football year (can it be sustained?)...but basketball is terrible. Attendance is weak given success!
3. WMU- Decent basketball, so-so football recently. Pretty good attendance/support.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK
4. Kent State- Football on the rise, basketball on the decline. Traditionally low attendance. Bad facilities.
5. Akron- Very strong basketball, Terrible football...but excellent facilities. Oh yeah, Terry Bowden + Jim Tressel!
6. CMU- Abysmal basketball, decent football. Above-average support for football, but nothing for hoops.
7. Buffalo- Decent basketball. Outside of Turner Gill's year - bad football. Support is actually decent, though.

LOTS OF WORK TO DO
8. Ball State- Recently medicore in both sports, football may be improving some. Poor attendance/support.
9. Bowling Green- Medicore football, but maybe getting better. Basketball getting worse. Poor support.
10. Miami- Bad football, worse basketball. Terrible support/apathy. But, they have hockey!!
11. EMU- Need I say more?


Kent is in the midst of a $60 million fundraising campaign specifically for athletics.  Includes $10 million in upgrades to basketball facility, addition to IPF and monies for enhancement of basketball program in general (presumably recruiting budgets, staff salaries, etc.).  I think they know they need to refocus on basketball to get back to where they were in terms of competitiveness. Meanwhile, their shift of monies to football certainly produced a quick turnaround.

EMU, in my opinion, is an irreversible situation.  They hurt all other programs in the conference.  Maybe it's a cultural issue within the school itself, but they have spent a LOT of money on facilities and have seen no payback.

Miami's current malaise is disturbing but I believe we should be very reluctant to move anywhere without them.  Too much history.


Last Edited: 3/12/2013 6:06:53 PM by SBH
shabamon
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Posted: 3/12/2013 6:28 PM
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bobcat72 wrote:expand_more
It feels like the league is dying around us.


I'm beginning to feel this way too. What other school - at this moment - feels like an athletics program on the rise??? Football, basketball, facilities, ticket sales, student support, etc??

Looking holistically - with "off-the-cuff" impressions - here's my take on each school...

BEST OF THE REST
1. Toledo- Good football, basketball on probation but looking up. Close to OUr level in attendance.
2. NIU- Great football year (can it be sustained?)...but basketball is terrible. Attendance is weak given success!
3. WMU- Decent basketball, so-so football recently. Pretty good attendance/support.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK
4. Kent State- Football on the rise, basketball on the decline. Traditionally low attendance. Bad facilities.
5. Akron- Very strong basketball, Terrible football...but excellent facilities. Oh yeah, Terry Bowden + Jim Tressel!
6. CMU- Abysmal basketball, decent football. Above-average support for football, but nothing for hoops.
7. Buffalo- Decent basketball. Outside of Turner Gill's year - bad football. Support is actually decent, though.

LOTS OF WORK TO DO
8. Ball State- Recently medicore in both sports, football may be improving some. Poor attendance/support.
9. Bowling Green- Medicore football, but maybe getting better. Basketball getting worse. Poor support.
10. Miami- Bad football, worse basketball. Terrible support/apathy. But, they have hockey!!
11. EMU- Need I say more?


Toledo is the only school close to our level right now. They have excellent football tradition at the mid-major level in terms of competitiveness and support. Their women's hoops team also gets great support. The men's team should be on the cusp of similar success. Akron and Kent are making the infrastructure moves to get there. Everyone else, I feel, is going through the motions.
LoganElm_grad09
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Posted: 3/12/2013 6:29 PM
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I think that Miami is a few good seasons away from moving up a notch (or even two, depending on how well things turn.)

But what is the problem with EMU?  How can they not draw better than they do?  Akron's problems are well documented and debated, but are those similar to Eastern?
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Posted: 3/12/2013 7:07 PM
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EMU's biggest obstacle is that it is 6 miles down the road from The Big House... goo.gl/maps/JAHll

It's a lost cause, they need to go
Bleed Green & White
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Posted: 3/12/2013 7:17 PM
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LoganElm_grad09 wrote:expand_more
But what is the problem with EMU?  How can they not draw better than they do?  Akron's problems are well documented and debated, but are those similar to Eastern?


Commuter school worse than Akron, Yips is not Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor is just down the road, did I mention Ann Arbor?  (There's also Central, Western, and State, and Oakland, and Detroit)  Oh did I mention Ann Arbor?

I'm sure Columbus State draws about the same amount to their basketball games.  


Bleed Green & White
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Posted: 3/12/2013 7:27 PM
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BobcatCrew wrote:expand_more
EMU's biggest obstacle is that it is 6 miles down the road from The Big House... goo.gl/maps/JAHll

It's a lost cause, they need to go


For those of you that are geographically challenged that's a bit shorter than Peden to Rutter Field http://goo.gl/maps/cyPC3

Last Edited: 3/12/2013 7:28:04 PM by Bleed Green & White
mf279801
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Posted: 3/12/2013 8:38 PM
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Bleed Green & White wrote:expand_more
EMU's biggest obstacle is that it is 6 miles down the road from The Big House... goo.gl/maps/JAHll

It's a lost cause, they need to go


For those of you that are geographically challenged that's a bit shorter than Peden to Rutter Field http://goo.gl/maps/cyPC3



Now if EMU could start reporting their football and basketball numbers based on county-wide attendance at such events...
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Posted: 3/12/2013 9:22 PM
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Bleed Green & White wrote:expand_more
But what is the problem with EMU?  How can they not draw better than they do?  Akron's problems are well documented and debated, but are those similar to Eastern?


Commuter school worse than Akron, Yips is not Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor is just down the road, did I mention Ann Arbor?  (There's also Central, Western, and State, and Oakland, and Detroit)  Oh did I mention Ann Arbor?

I'm sure Columbus State draws about the same amount to their basketball games.  


And don't forget Ann Arbor just down the road.

They should pull an NIU and schedule a football game a year vs a name opponent in Detroit.  Even if they wind up having more fans from the opposing side, at least they'd get some cash out of it.  It would sure beat having 500 people show up for a 1AA school and still not have a guaranteed win.

One problem they might've had with last night's game is that classes started back up after spring (winter?) break yesterday, so they probably didn't have a lot of time to spread the word. 
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Posted: 3/12/2013 10:00 PM
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Bleed Green & White wrote:expand_more
EMU's biggest obstacle is that it is 6 miles down the road from The Big House... goo.gl/maps/JAHll

It's a lost cause, they need to go


For those of you that are geographically challenged that's a bit shorter than Peden to Rutter Field http://goo.gl/maps/cyPC3



"Rutter field"? That is old school now
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Posted: 3/12/2013 10:07 PM
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Bleed Green & White wrote:expand_more
But what is the problem with EMU?  How can they not draw better than they do?  Akron's problems are well documented and debated, but are those similar to Eastern?


Commuter school worse than Akron, Yips is not Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor is just down the road, did I mention Ann Arbor?  (There's also Central, Western, and State, and Oakland, and Detroit)  Oh did I mention Ann Arbor?

I'm sure Columbus State draws about the same amount to their basketball games.  


And comparing:  EMU < Michigan  is similar to Columbus State  <  Ohio State.

Still, one has to ask, how did they go from GREAT teams, and apparently good attendance in the 90's to THIS?  The Dials and Boykins era seems long, long ago.
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Posted: 3/12/2013 10:12 PM
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I'd hate to leave Miami behind as their a good academic school, but support for their athletic teams is lacking except Hockey. I'd say right now if I could pick four in basketball, no doubt Kent State, Akron, Toledo, and of course Ohio. Toledo has fantastic support for football and both women's and Men's basketball. Tops in Women's in the MAC with a great facility. Kent State is too big to leave out, plus their upcoming renovations and recent success in football and being able to compete in basketball. Akron seems to have built a 65 Million football stadium and said screw it, it's not working so basketball it is. Has worked great for them, and they have averaged 5,000+ for home conference games. And of course, MAC Greatest Fan's Ohio Bobcats. Leading the league in average attendance in basketball and football, back to back bowl victories, sweet 16, Mac Regular season championship, 2 conference Championships, defeated Georgetown, and football team defeated Penn State. Ohio is the leading force for the MAC and has been broadcasted on national T.V. in the past three years than any other MAC school. 
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Posted: 3/12/2013 10:13 PM
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OUVan wrote:expand_more
The MAC has too many schools that share the same interest in bettering their programs as EMU does and Miami is headed in that direction.   I was just reading on the MAC board that BG will keep Louis Orr another year because they don't want to pay him a year he's not coaching.  You put all this money into a brilliant new arena and you don't care if you alienate your fanbase.  EMU has operated like this for years so it's no wonder they have no fans.  It feels like the league is dying around us.


I missed this - HOW IN THE WORLD can BG keep Louis Orr?  They've gotten progressively worse since his arrival.  Class guy, but time for him to go.

Bleed Green & White wrote:expand_more
But what is the problem with EMU?  How can they not draw better than they do?  Akron's problems are well documented and debated, but are those similar to Eastern?


Commuter school worse than Akron, Yips is not Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor is just down the road, did I mention Ann Arbor?  (There's also Central, Western, and State, and Oakland, and Detroit)  Oh did I mention Ann Arbor?

I'm sure Columbus State draws about the same amount to their basketball games.  


And comparing:  EMU < Michigan  is similar to Columbus State  <  Ohio State.

Still, one has to ask, how did they go from GREAT teams, and apparently good attendance in the 90's to THIS?  The Dials and Boykins era seems long, long ago.

Ted Thompson wrote:expand_more
 

I would argue that at some point it is the Commissioner's job. In fact, I would say the Commissioner's top priority should be to grow fan bases at member institutions. Without that, nothing else changes. And I've seen nothing to indicate that there is any type of sharing of Best Practices.


This is an excellent point Ted.  I feel like too much emphasis has been placed on football in the MAC while basketball has been pushed aside a little bit.  No matter how much success was gained in the last couple years, the conference can't allow schools to just neglect basketball.
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Posted: 3/12/2013 10:18 PM
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OU_Country wrote:expand_more
Still, one has to ask, how did they go from GREAT teams, and apparently good attendance in the 90's to THIS?  The Dials and Boykins era seems long, long ago.


Exactly. Those that are younger don't remember, but EMU used to be THE TEAM for MAC basketball. It was like Akron today - the team you circled on the schedule...the game you didn't miss.

Weird thinking about this, considering where EMU hoops is now!
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Posted: 3/12/2013 10:42 PM
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jumper80 wrote:expand_more
EMU's biggest obstacle is that it is 6 miles down the road from The Big House... goo.gl/maps/JAHll

It's a lost cause, they need to go


For those of you that are geographically challenged that's a bit shorter than Peden to Rutter Field http://goo.gl/maps/cyPC3



"Rutter field"? That is old school now


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