I think the better Ozone performance was largely due to the ROTC students. They were definitely into the action, especially the second half, and they made their presence known. Their performance of a routine with the dance team was icing on the cake. ;)

During the mid 1980's CMU used to have a very good student section. They'd actually throw TP over the rafters after the first CMU score, causing a delay to clean up the arena. And when I say throw TP, I'm talking a ton. It was a white out. In the late 1990's and early 2000's, Bowling Green's student section was awesome. It's when they played back in Anderson Arena (I loved that old place) and the student section was packed and right on the floor. I remember when Sports Illustrated did a feature on it and had pictures of it in an issue. Dick Vitale called Anderson Arena "the Cameron of the MAC." Of course, this overlapped with some very good BG teams. As BG hoops lost steam, so did that environment and it's never been back. Then the O-Zone took shape and had some really good year before also drifting off. I've never found Akron's section to be what I would call good, I find it more obnoxious. But it's better than most in the MAC. Honestly, I don't really think there's what I was called a good student section in the MAC any more. Some are certainly better than others, but none are as good as the ones mentioned above.

Also I would like to add I thought the crowd noise against Akron was very good! Every year (even when the O Zone was "at it's peak) we've had threads on this board about it's supposed death... So while I do feel some criticism is valid I think as excitement hopefully builds around this team at some point the problem may solve itself...

The other day after hearing that David Lee Roth was doing some live shows in Las Vegas, on and off for a couple of months, before he opens up for KISS, I made my way over to a couple of Van Halen sites. The Message boards were full of middle age men and a few women imploring the band to get back together and tour. One poster talked about the summers of 81, 82, 83 and 84, saying they were the happiest in his life, following Van Halen around and engaging in the kind of Hi jinks one might think would happen to adolescent and slightly older young men of that era. Finally, one poster told the group to adjust to the fact that it's not 1984 anymore. He said something to the effect that we don't look and hopefully not act the same anymore, and the kids today are different, they probably know more about Van Gogh than Van Halen.

I will think about that line of reasoning every time a discussion of student participation comes forth on the board. I get it, my friends and I loudly cheered on the Cats in the Nee era. I have reminisced on this board about countless raucous crowds that were nearly weekday sellouts like Depaul in 1983 or even the Miami loss in 1986 when the future NBA star Ron Harper took over the game for the Redskins. Even with two future NBA players of our own (Snoopy Graham and Dave Jamerson) we couldn't win, though nearly 12,000 came on a Wednesday night! In some ways it seems like yesterday to me, but when I see the students now it seems like a very long time ago. A different era indeed.

After the Purdue game I posted that I had dinner and a beer at one of the few Athens watering holes open before the game and a nice chat with some seniors and fifth year seniors. Though they called themselves sports fans, none were going to the game. They just didn't think of the MAC as big time sports and getting all rowdy just wasn't their thing. They asked me about what the student sections were like back in the day and they just couldn't imagine it.

I told them I went to a small Catholic high school, so the cheering I did at the Convo was a continuation of what I did in high school. They said their high school experience was nothing like mine. All of these factors, combined with social media and many more options to compete with your time, compared to that of the 1980s, make today seem light years away from the 1980s.

This is why the Dayton experience that we have all refereed to is so amazing. It hasn't changed in forever, always raucous and exciting. As was discussed here in many settings, the reason for that are many, a religious institution that has a uniting influence since most of the kids came from Catholic high schools, where students often are greatly involved in cheering on their team. Couple that with the setting of Dayton itself, a medium sized city that can bring in large crowds, but is small enough not to have any other sports competition. I believe Jeff posted that no one near us can ever compete with Dayton for all of those reasons and others. I am inclined to agree, though as Alan has mentioned more could be done. The bottom line is you can't tell make students cheer the way we did, it's not the same for them.

What? And give up that revenue stream? ;-)

+1.

My comments are based on minimal short term gain versus maximum long term loss. I just had a conversation with the Senior Director Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving at an Ohio university today about students engaged in campus organizations (Greeks, choir, band, etc.) and long-term giving. Bottom line, the more engaged they are as students the more likely they are to give back to their university over the long haul.

If folks are buying these seats and not sitting in them, then they are not purchasing them for the experience, but rather to donate to the program...and occasionally get a seat. Therefore they are most likely strong supporters of Ohio Athletics and will 1. understand the interest in creating a home court advantage and 2. will find another way to donate funds. Unfortunately you are probably right - the administration is not smart enough to "move them out."

At least he tried to sell them. I see those seats, and others in the lower bowl, empty but never for sale on our website or any secondhand sellers'.

Ding ding. That's my issue.

And I still don't see how a row of seats and advertising scorers table is impairing a student being a good fan to the team. You're still sitting/standing a lot closer than some other schools. That's a cop out just because you're not "on the floor." If the seats are making money for the AD, I don't have a problem with them. If they're not being sold, that's a different story.

Respectfully disagreeing with the table and chairs. It's a barrier between the students and the game. I had front row seats in Mem Aud a few years back for Wilco. Believe it or not, they had a 5 foot high fence between the front row and the stage. What did they think was going to happen? The chairs and tables have the same effect. Combine that with the fact that I honestly believe that the vast majority of our students are good and polite people and put a row of 60+ year old "rich folks" in front of them and suddenly there is a certain amount of restraint. It's like going to a party with top shelf liquor and first growth wines and walking into the room and seeing your grandparents. So much for a fun two hours. We can keep the black seats just not the ones in front of the two sections of the traditional OZone.

My grandparents could put away an awful lot of first growth wines and top shelf liquor.