Just to get some of the record straight:

I graduated in June (I'm proud of completing my degree in 4 years). But I am currently an Ohio University grad student. So yeah, last semester I did sit in the student section. But geez Brufus, I was 22 years old and technically enrolled. Give me a break.

On top of the two and a half classes I'm currently taking, I'm committed to 20 hours of research a week at the university, as well as working part-time twice a week in Columbus. I went to the game today (sat way up there, which was kind of cool in it's own right). But honestly, with the free time I do have, I just don't have the energy to sit in the student section these days. Full support down there requires a physical and emotional drain that I just can't afford at this point in time.

To speak to the game:

Yeah, it was pretty boring. 

Before we get deeper into this discussion, I think we need some clarification on who I am vs. who The Situation is.  For whatever reason, we have been mixed up a lot. I can see where the confusion comes from since we both entered into Ohio as freshman in the Fall of 08 and have both probably been identified as "that huge Bobcats fan" at some point.  I graduated this fall.  The Situation is now grad student at Ohio who also is working full-time.

That said, I agreed with The Situation on a lot of points raised in December.  I have a lot of respect for his ability to get things done.  I thought the meeting was successful in trying to capitalize on the increase in student support we have seen lately.  We all agreed it was going to take continued dedication from everyone to actually keep the ideas going strong.  With my graduation and The Situation working a real world job in addition to taking graduate classes, that took away our involvement.

-MS


The O Zoners leading the group now successfully got the group up to Akron and are now handling the dirt sheets.  Sibs weekend and Dad's weekend have always been large but quiet crowds with a lot of very casual fans coming but not cheering...  

I think the O Zone is at a tough point for leadership right now.  As Shabamon mentioned, student attendance is amazing right now.  Consider that when I came into Ohio as a freshman in 2008, we had never won a bowl game and our last NCAA tournament win was not in any of the typical students lifetime.  Since then, we have been to the big dance 2 times getting out of round 1 each time and have 2 bowl wins.
Besides this being awesome, it has also led to the average student jumping on the Bobcats bandwagon.  The average student is starting to really root for Ohio athletics.  The average student is also showing up.  The student crowds when we were undefeated didn't even fit in Peden, and the student crowds for basketball this year easily pack the whole O Zone along with filling some of the upper sections of the Convo.
The culture changed in a very big way pretty quickly.

This is great, but we cannot expect these people to be diehard fans who are going to be cheering like crazy.  Not everyone likes cheering.  The biggest worry about the O Zone used to be getting people to show up...  The team took care of that.  Now the O Zone needs to figure out a way to get the people who show up involved and excited.

The idea behind the cheering section leaders was to have extremely enthusiastic fans positioned consistently so more casual fans could know who to follow.  If there are empty cheering section leaders, find the craziest people in the O Zone, and get them involved.  Getting new/more people involved is crucial...  Excitement spills over.

Hmm, I was at the sibs weekend game last year against Asheville. I thought it was a boisterous student crowd.

The O Zone's I remember as a student had plenty of people who wanted to get rowdy and jump around. It really was as good or better than student sections found in the Big East or ACC. I refuse to believe there is a shift in culture where there aren't as many students who want to participate that way today.

In fairness, there was a lot more to cheer about. As I remember, there were a lot of exciting runs, dunks, 3-pointers, etc. Today was a very UGLY game.

I worry that the O Zone, along with alumni, put too much pressure on the O Zone and take it too seriously. If they're not awesome every game, they get criticized. I don't think that's particularly helpful.

The only time people should be playing police is if someone's cheering for the other team or insulting our own. Someone's standing there and not cheering? Maybe they're tired and taking a couple minutes off. You don't know. I maintain the best way to get people involved is to do your thing and show other people it's fun. Make them want to do it, not guilt them into it. Be proactive. Before the game, give out high fives and say, "We're getting crazy tonight, right?"

I'm betting Ozone's level of fervor parallel's the game's excitement.

For instance, watching Clipper's beat Knicks today, the difference was 40-yr old Grant Hill's fierce defense on Carmelo Anthony late 2nd half.  That kind of effort is what should be given and what sparks the fervor.

Energetic defensive effort..

Let's see 40 minutes of that and see what ensues.

Thought the "Bilbo Baggins" and "Oompa Loompa" cheers were funny...guess the Dukies do this kind of stuff all the time so maybe not so original.....didn't think this was funny by them however:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/trending/Duke-fans-cha...

Agreed. It'd be huge if there was some cohesion for the Akron game.

Gotta get the OU Oh Yeah chant going too.

Is the O-Zone still passing out sheets with interesting tidbits/jabs about the players?  As a student from 05-09 I found that to be very helpful in understanding why we were making fun of a certain player (i.e. KSU forward just got a DUI) but also got me well-versed in the common chants.

Naive questions: What does one have to do to sit in the "O Zone section", what prevents the general student population from sitting in the "O Zone section", and when all students pay the same amount in general fee dollars, should any students be prevented access to any and all general admission student sections?

Ex: If i'm a student and am a huge hoops fan, want to sit in the best seat possible and get to the games as soon as the doors open in order to watch from the best possible perspective, and yet want to watch the game intently and don't want to go crazy, shouldn't I be able to do that without someone berating me to get involved or get out?

I suspect the "O Zone section" is the bleachers adjacent to the 110, but it is not policed, leading to the harassment of the ladies as has been referenced.  And those are certainly the best seats available to students.  So to increase access of better seats for students that want a good vantage point (evidenced by the point that they are getting there early enough to access the O Zone section), shouldn't something be done such as provide seating behind the baskets to allow the general student population (non-O Zoners) a better vantage point where they don't have to worry about being harassed, and can do whatever they damn well please while attending the game that they paid for via the general fee?

Alex is correct. Policing the actual O Zone section has waxed and waned year by year.

I think many sports-savvy incoming students are aware that the O Zone has a reputation based on history of being a legitimate, crazy cheering section. I think it's only right that only paying members of the O Zone should be allowed down there, and if someone signs up for that, they should expect that many of those around them are going to get loud and crazy. Plus, the sections between the O Zone and press row are still a good vantage point for basketball...at least the back few rows. It's tough to see the game if the row in front of you is standing.

And there is your answer, I was in the O Zone from 2009-this past fall. And the first two years were way better than recently. It was all about having fun, making new friends and watching some football and basketball. The fact that everybody was up beat, making jokes and laughing is what got me into it. Now everybody is so focused on being loud that it really subtracts from the mission of the O Zone. So the only advice I could offer is don't focus on being loud, focus on having fun. Having fun creates interest, causes people to put down their phones because they are involved with the atmosphere, and just want to hang with 5,000 of their closes friends to cheer on the Bobcats. Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes it's just best to get back to the basics. Bring the enjoyment back, instead of the "we have to be loud" tunnel vision and everything will start to fall in place