UNI at Creighton - (Past Game)

[havoc]

I'm guessing that puts him 4th behind McDermott, Marshall, and Lowery unless I'm missing something.

Geno Ford makes more.

Link for that? I thought I read that he was making like 300K.

Looks like he's making $700,000.

http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/it ... s-1.206676

[Wufan]

Yeah, we are pretty much used to comments like that. I've pretty much resigned to the fact that people will never truly respect UNI, and people will always be convinced that we have no talent.

The above quote, along with a couple other reverse trolling quotes, 'careful, if too many post we'll be called out as bandwagon fans,' etc., are what started this rant. The original statement was something to the effect that if you want respect, you need to earn it by showing you support your team as a community.

A couple of Panther fans started off with self-loathing statements that then turned in to a critique of their program, and now these same fans are upset that they are being attacked.

Look in the mirror. Be proud of what you have. Strive for more. QUIT WHINING.

[MoValley John]

I want to know less about UNI's attendance and a more about how MVCFans gets away with telling his wife that she's fat. I need to learn the subtleties. I think we all could benefit. Last time I tried to tell my wife she could lose a few pounds, I spent the weekend in ICU.

[glm38]

UNI just flat out has a quality basketball program and probably the best coach in the Valley. So they have a lot to be proud of. Attendance will trend up if the winning culture continues.

[pawball]

:Bam:

There is just no pleasing you guys is there. Sheesh, this might be a short lived residence on MVCfans if belittling each other is this prevalent. Is this freak occurrence or have I just not been around long enough to know better? This thread has about 5 pages related to the game and now close to 8 pages that are focused on UNI and all of the problems we should supposedly concern ourselves with. It's a great time to be a Panther and it will continue to be so for many many years. You worry about you and we'll worry about us. Deal?

A big BINGO!!! Gaull-eee. Simple Jealousy's the root of much of this dithering thread. Am amazed at how some fans want to attack, or not-so-subtly, impune, UNI of all places! Exactly what is it with the Schlocker mind-set that makes it compelled to ruck around like this? And why am I not surprised? All I hear is a bunch of cryin' cowbells.

I continue to be impressed with how UNI competes on so many fronts in athletics. They absolutely dominate in volleyball. The past 5+ years they've carried the MVC banner in men's basketball better than about any other program. Last year they won the women's basketball tournament. The "What if'' crap is just that.

[uniftw]

Unless you live in Cedar Falls, or the surrounding area, you really won't understand the attendance issue at UNI. The reasons that have been laid out are 100% accurate. However, to outsiders they look like nothing more than excuses....I get it.....I would have thought the same thing until I ended up at UNI, went to school there and graduated, and have held season tickets since I graduated.

I hate all of the D2 school in a D3 town bullshit that was thrown around on Valleytalk and what not....but to an extent the D3 town isn't that far off....at least in terms of support from the community.

UNI has a great athletic department, and does more with less than anyone. However, there is zero support in the state of Iowa, though it is changing some over the last decade (slowly). UNI was D2 until 1981, and wasn't in a conference worth a damn until 1992, and had little success anywhere but football (FCS) until the turn of the century. That means UNI got no love from any media outlets of any kind. In the state of Iowa where the University of Iowa is king by a long long long long long ways even Iowa State struggled for footing and they are in the B12 with a good amount of media coverage. No coverage anywhere but the Cedar Falls news station and paper meant no exposure anywhere in the state.....meaning more and more and more generations of people grew up Hawk fans. This is the first generation of Iowan's that will have any sort of exposure to what UNI is...other than "that directional school in Cedar Falls". Iowa isn't a young state, and none of the Iowa fans that grew up with almost no UNI coverage are going to switch to UNI. The UNI fan base is one of 2 things, more or less....old people who are alumni or younger couples who are alumni with young kids. The segment of our fan base between 33ish-55ish is smaller than our fan base under 33 due to the reasons mentioned above. However, thankfully due to the success the football team has continued to have, the mens basketball team has had, the womens basketball team has had, the track teams, and volleyball teams UNI is finally starting to get some coverage outside of Cedar Falls....but it still lacks hardcore.


For UNI to get a mention on the newsstations out of Cedar Rapids it is behind all Iowa and Iowa State sports talk, and some high school sports crap....same thing on the newspaper front. In Des Moines the Register has picked up their coverage some so that helps. UNI is no longer burried on page 4 or 5 of the sports section in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls newspaper anymore either.

If UNI continues to have the success that they have had the last 5-10 years you can expect to see the attendance for basketball continue to rise...it wasn't that long ago that the only time UNI drew more than 1-2k for a game was when Iowa or Iowa State was in town.


I'm not making excuses, because I'm as pissed about UNI's lack of support as anyone. However, UNI is facing a battle that is tough to win in the state of Iowa. WSU faces in in Kansas with those two schools - but WSU has a long tradition of being D1 and good at sports that draw dating back decades. That helps them dramatically. The fact is that UNI exists to very few outside of the Cedar Valley and almost no one west of i-35. That needs to change, and I hope it starts to change. There are a ton of things that could/should be done to help that, and I've e-mailed Mr. Dannon, the marketing department, etc... many ideas (good and bad) just so they have to think about them...even if it is only long enough for them to finish the email and delete it.

The younger generations in Eastern Iowa are starting to turn to UNI at a higher rate, hopefully that trend continues

[cu8493]

In all fairness to UNI student attendance over Christmas break, there are a lot of CU students who stay in town most of Christmas break or live close enough to drive to the games, and only a couple of dozen tops show up at most of the games over break. If it weren't for CU giving out tickets to area high school students to sit in the student section for the Christmas break games, the student section would be pretty sparse.

[uniftw]

In all fairness to UNI student attendance over Christmas break, there are a lot of CU students who stay in town most of Christmas break or live close enough to drive to the games, and only a couple of dozen tops show up at most of the games over break. If it weren't for CU giving out tickets to area high school students to sit in the student section for the Christmas break games, the student section would be pretty sparse.

If UNI did that the student section would be full here as well.....

Hell, I just want our ******* pep band to actually show ******* up for once.

[MoValley John]

In all fairness to UNI student attendance over Christmas break, there are a lot of CU students who stay in town most of Christmas break or live close enough to drive to the games, and only a couple of dozen tops show up at most of the games over break. If it weren't for CU giving out tickets to area high school students to sit in the student section for the Christmas break games, the student section would be pretty sparse.

If UNI did that the student section would be full here as well.....

Hell, I just want our ******* pep band to actually show ******* up for once.

This is all part of Creighton's marketing efforts. During the holidays, they invite area high school pep bands and dance teams to play music and be cheerleaders, and they allow area high school kids into the student section. Obviously, the parents buy tickets to watch their kids perform. This, along with the Joan of Arc nights of year's past, has built interest in the program. Over time, it has built a following, season ticket sales have increased and now they give very few tickets away. It's like the grocery store giving out free samples. The customer might not buy it today, but after a couple of times through, if they like the free samples, eventually they will start buying the product. Creighton may have an advantage in that regard as they are a private institution, maybe the public schools could also give away free samples, but I bet it's not as easy as it may have to be justified through regents and politicians. If you are giving away the product, maybe the politicians might feel the product has less value. I don't know.

[uniftw]

In all fairness to UNI student attendance over Christmas break, there are a lot of CU students who stay in town most of Christmas break or live close enough to drive to the games, and only a couple of dozen tops show up at most of the games over break. If it weren't for CU giving out tickets to area high school students to sit in the student section for the Christmas break games, the student section would be pretty sparse.

If UNI did that the student section would be full here as well.....

Hell, I just want our ******* pep band to actually show ******* up for once.

This is all part of Creighton's marketing efforts. During the holidays, they invite area high school pep bands and dance teams to play music and be cheerleaders, and they allow area high school kids into the student section. Obviously, the parents buy tickets to watch their kids perform. This, along with the Joan of Arc nights of year's past, has built interest in the program. Over time, it has built a following, season ticket sales have increased and now they give very few tickets away. It's like the grocery store giving out free samples. The customer might not buy it today, but after a couple of times through, if they like the free samples, eventually they will start buying the product. Creighton may have an advantage in that regard as they are a private institution, maybe the public schools could also give away free samples, but I bet it's not as easy as it may have to be justified through regents and politicians. If you are giving away the product, maybe the politicians might feel the product has less value. I don't know.

UNI's last AD gave tickets away to anyone that lived within 200 miles of Cedar Falls...and it didn't get people in the door, didn't increase interest, etc...

Dannon has pretty much stopped giving anything at a discount/away ticket-wise and UNI is setting ticket revenue records every year since then. By giving away tickets to try to get interest up UNI was hemoraging money like crazy and almost crippling the department.

Now that the budget situation is starting to come to fruition and UNI has a clear path of what needs to be done (kinda) I think we will start to see some promotions like that.



Like was said earlier, but were called excuses....UNI is facing challenges that no other school is facing in some critical areas. Things are starting to change, but they don't change overnight.