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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Who was coach when you became an Ohio Football Fan? (NT)
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GoCatsGo
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Posted: 9/17/2014 2:39 PM
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Both parents were Bobcats, so I grew up an Ohio fan. I went to games during the Lichtenberg era, however my earliest memory of Ohio football was of Kareem Wilson and Steveland Hookfin running Jim Grobe's offense. Then arriving in Athens just in time for Solich's 2nd year, made for an exciting 4 years of Ohio Football while in school.
Brufus
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Posted: 9/17/2014 4:02 PM
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Bobcatbob wrote:expand_more
Growing up in the Zanesville, Ohio area, most people knew very little about Ohio University, and cared even less about OHIO sports. This, despite the fact that Zanesville has an OHIO University Branch Campus. Why don't we do more on our branch campuses to increase our fan base? I never understood that.
+1!

Being from Zanesville myself, I can attest to this! I have always said that Ohio needs to do more at the branch level to make the students feel like Bobcats! There are about 2,000 Ohio students in Zanesville during any given year, and many more alumni! The problem is that unless they spend any time in Athens, they (majority) don't really feel like part of Ohio itself, just OUZ. I don't know the answer, but something should be done! It also doesn't help that the Zanesville media (NBC affiliate) doesn't pay much attention to the Cats either.
Another Y City native here. I started paying attention to OU only after going to HS tournament games in the Convo. Became a fan only after enrolling. We had Bill Hess, Jim Snyder and Kermit Blosser all still active then. That's still something I'm glad I got to experience first hand. Meanwhile, in Zanesville, I learned more about Marietta College sports than the Bobcats.

As for WHIZ-TV and radio, what can you expect from an operation based on the professional acumen of 20 years olds?
That honestly surprises me, considering both WHIZ sports anchors are Ohio grads, and WOUB's "Gridiron Glory" gives plenty of time to teams from that area.

As for me, born and raised in Columbus to two former OSU student-athletes, grew up a Buckeye fan, still support OSU when they don't play Ohio; first Bobcats game was UConn in '09, and I've been hooked ever since
Hawaiian Bobcat
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Posted: 9/17/2014 5:49 PM
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My first game was the 5-0 Utah St. classic. I've been a fan ever since.
Ohio69
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Posted: 9/17/2014 9:19 PM
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hawaiian bobcat wrote:expand_more
My first game was the 5-0 Utah St. classic. I've been a fan ever since.
Wow. That's something. You know, to add insult to what I was witnessing on the field, I badly burned my mouth on way too hot hot chocolate late in that game. My buddies still laugh at that one.....

My first home game was a win over then I-AA Marshall at the start of Cleve Bryant's third season. It was an exciting game. Then we lost the next 12 straight and the dark age of Ohio football was well underway.
Last Edited: 9/17/2014 9:27:00 PM by Ohio69
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 9/18/2014 12:44 AM
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Catdude wrote:expand_more
I became a fan when I signed my National Letter of Intent with coach Hess in 1973. I had the pleasure of playing for Coach Hess when Coach Kappes was an assistant. I'd have to say that both these guys were very influential to me. I now have 2 sons attending Ohio, they have been fans since the day they were born!! They are both active in the Bobcat athletics department.
This.

Plus any thread in which Bob Houmard is mentioned is a good thread.
Recovering Journalist
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Posted: 9/18/2014 8:41 AM
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I arrived in 1992, and the football team was a well-known symbol of ineptitude. I don't know if you'd call it fan-dom, but I definitely developed a love of the gameday experience thanks largely to the 110 and the shared misery of a smattering of fans. I too was at the infamous USU game - the band's heckling of their team was by far the best thing about that day. Things started to turn around the time I graduated, and I worked on the staff of the Mess before and after graduation in 1996. My first sense that the dark days had really ended was the first night game at Peden (with temporary equipment), which was a dismantling of a terrible Akron team. Just a couple years prior, Akron and Kent were our only hope for FBS wins on the season, and the games were true toilet bowls.

Maybe it's because of when I arrived on campus, but I've always been more of a hoops fan, but my interest in college and pro football is also waning with each passing year for a wide variety of reasons.
Ohio69
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Posted: 9/18/2014 8:54 AM
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Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
My first sense that the dark days had really ended was the first night game at Peden (with temporary equipment), which was a dismantling of a terrible Akron team. Just a couple years prior, Akron and Kent were our only hope for FBS wins on the season, and the games were true toilet bowls.
This is one of the most important games in the entire history of Ohio football. I am not kidding.
D.A.
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Posted: 9/18/2014 12:02 PM
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Attended OHIO in the dark years of '84-89 and only went to one game when I was a student (beat the Herd). Attended two games under the Knorr era while living in FL (UF/UCF), then went to the PITT game. That night, I became a fan and have held season tickets ever since.
Last Edited: 9/18/2014 12:03:04 PM by D.A.
1of1st110
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Posted: 9/18/2014 4:48 PM
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Bobcatbob wrote:expand_more
........

Another Y City native here. I started paying attention to OU only after going to HS tournament games in the Convo. Became a fan only after enrolling. We had Bill Hess, Jim Snyder and Kermit Blosser all still active then. That's still something I'm glad I got to experience first hand. Meanwhile, in Zanesville, I learned more about Marietta College sports than the Bobcats.

As for WHIZ-TV and radio, what can you expect from an operation based on the professional acumen of 20 years olds?
Similarly worth mentioning are Coaches Bob Wren and Harry Houska also active then and quite a few years beyond.

The Ohio University, Cradler of Coaches.
OhioStunter
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Posted: 9/18/2014 5:22 PM
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Coach L was a heckuva nice guy, but I knew he was in over his head when I sat near him during a track meet at Peden. The 4 x 100 relay team was made up of football receivers and when they won the race, he said something like, "Gosh, I had no idea those guys were so fast."

Yes, the fastest in the MAC, yet we never used that speed and went 0-11.
L.C.
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Posted: 9/18/2014 6:25 PM
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This data is very interesting, and while I didn't know quite what to expect, it isn't what I would have thought at all. I guess I expected that more fans would be attracted under winning coaches, and less under those that were less successful.

Instead what I found was that, while obviously the numbers are lower for the older timeperiods, from Bryant on, it seems that about 1.5 future Bobcatattakers became football fans per year under all the coaches, with one exception. It turns out that the Lichtenberg years were the true "golden years" for attracting fans, with nearly twice as many attracted per year that he was the coach as under any other coach.
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