Ole Miss spring game

[uconnbill]

I bring this up because of how it was run compared to what UConn did for the fans.

Ole Miss brought in Eli Manning and many other football alumni. They walked though the Grove and then spoke before the practice started. Now I understand that UConn doesn't have the same kind of alumni but to see Dan Orvlasky, Tyvon Branch, Will Beatty and maybe some others would be good especially for recruits.


Ole Miss did radio, television and newspaper to promote the event. They had 30,000 fans show up and they paid to see the game.
Uconn also needs to do a better job promoting the event. I knew about it because I follow it closely but others I know had no idea it the spring game was this weekend. That shouldn't be happening.

 

[Doggie Style]

I think another upgrade would be to get Nike to throw in some game jerseys for the spring game. It just looks better to see the team in the game uni's than those that we usually wear, which look like 80's high school throwback uni's btw! ND and other schools use their game jerseys, I just think it would be cool for the players especially those who may never see the field in a game situation!

 

[CTMike]

I'm honestly curious - how are people not getting the message about the spring game? I've had multiple emails from UConn, messages on Facebook/Twitter, it's been all over the Courant, radio, local news, TV listings, UConnHuskies.com, The Boneyard, even billboards...

 

[uconnbill]

I'm honestly curious - how are people not getting the message about the spring game? I've had multiple emails from UConn, messages on Facebook/Twitter, it's been all over the Courant, radio, local news, TV listings, UConnHuskies.com, The Boneyard, even billboards...

I still think they can do a better job with those who are not followers like many of us are. They need to reach out to more than the loyal fans who will show up no matter what, especially when they can tailgate.

 

[uconnflyer88]

Andrew Issacs tweeted something to effect of meeting Vernon Davis, and since was visiting Maryland this weekend I am assuming that Davis was there for the spring game

I think that it is a grand idea, the only con is that I don't think UConn has a player in the pros yet that has instant name recognition like a vernon davis or eli manning....does that matter? no they should come back for the game anyways, and help promote the program

 

[gioff23]

I must say that while there is more the program can consider doing at the game -I like the idea of including popular alumni, in pros or not (e.g. Andre Dixon) and upgrading uni's- if folks didn't know about the game, then they didn't want to know.

 

[Doggie Style]

I'm honestly curious - how are people not getting the message about the spring game? I've had multiple emails from UConn, messages on Facebook/Twitter, it's been all over the Courant, radio, local news, TV listings, UConnHuskies.com, The Boneyard, even billboards...

Mike, I think we r all over those ads promoting the game bcuz that's what we do and our excitement for Uconn football is the exception not the rule. I think what Bill was implying was that Ath Dept needs to do more to generate more interest from the potential " casual fan". That comes at a price however IMO, bcuz u want fans in the seats, but u def don't want those who just show up and sit in their hands. We see enough of that at the basketball games, where u have the "entitled" fan who writes his check and sits there and throws out an occasional golf clap or two, all the while looking down on those who stand up in their seats a show a little enthusiasm from time to time. Either way, there's always ways to improve the way u approach things, my point is to b careful what u wish for, u may pull in the wrong fan. Winning is usually the best form of advertising, so if we focus on that, we should b ok in the long run.

 

[Doggie Style]

Andrew Issacs tweeted something to effect of meeting Vernon Davis, and since was visiting Maryland this weekend I am assuming that Davis was there for the spring game

I think that it is a grand idea, the only con is that I don't think UConn has a player in the pros yet that has instant name recognition like a vernon davis or eli manning....does that matter? no they should come back for the game anyways, and help promote the
program

Two years ago Donald Brown came back along w/ a few others to sign autographs at the spring game and it was crazy. It was very well advertised,and The amount of people that showed up to get to that table was nuts, and many of them were kids. That's how u groom ur future fan base, get them into it early. Don't know why they stopped......

 

[pepband99]

. They had 30,000 fans show up and they paid to see the game.

...point of info, but they were hosting a Sugarland concert after the game. $$$ got you into the concert.

Bring in the country, and the hayseeds will gather

 

[mattp]

the good news is that everyone that came on saturday probably had a great time and will be back. hopefully they'll each bring a friend or two. Ole Miss has been doing this for a long time. Most UConn fans grew up having never heard of a spring game so you can't expect to pack the place with paying fans overnight.

 

[CTMike]

Agreed that there are things that can be done to improve the event and make it more of a "can't miss it" affair... there was a recent thread on here with ideas to make it better.

 

[epark88]

IMHO, Manuel would do well to 'import' an underling or two from SEC or B1G country to educate us good folks in CT on how college football is really done.

Big-time CFB goes beyond merely winning on the field (which does kinda help, btw). It also involves slick marketing and media savvy - two critical areas that our State U unfortunately neglected to upgrade when they moved to FBS. My hope is that Herbst/Manuel & Co. make the necessary changes ASAP.

And not knowing about the Spring Game? Pffft. How many of those casual UConn fans still remember that their State U was the Big East champ and played in the Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day in 2011? Now THAT is the issue...

 

[Dann]

one thing i would like to talk about spring game wise is the format. most schools have boring games becuase of the way the games are. it is what it is. but there is a way to make them better and more exciting for the fans. for diehards just going to see everyone and scope out whos looking good or bad is enough. but for the new fans, casual followers and just party ppl the game is a real drag. so how do you get them interested?

you change the format. who here would have liked to see whitmer with our best oline, lyle and nick/phillips/jones out there together for some time? and other good lineups....

play a O(white) vs D(blue) type thing. the D and psecial teams can earn points based off 4 down stops and punts/fg type stuff. basically goto a point system that allows both sides to earn based off what would be good acomplishments on the field. some schools do this i'm pretty sure. there would eb more scoring on both sides but also it would alow the fans to see all the usual kids we saw this weekend but at times it would alow us to see our 1st teams go at it more often as a whole. entertainment value...

 

[uconnbill]

...point of info, but they were hosting a Sugarland concert after the game. $$$ got you into the concert.

Bring in the country, and the hayseeds will gather

That is true but my brother didn't stay for the concert. They always charge for the spring game and this crowd wasn't much different than other crowds in the past.

 

[Nostical]

There are vastly more people who have no idea what a spring game even is. I mentioned the game to a lot of people who are casual sports fans and none of them had ever heard of the concept. They didn't even know about spring practice. On the other hand, my Texas friends tell me everyone down there knows about the three basic sports seasons--Football, Spring Football and Recruiting. We've got an awfully long way to go.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

They get 30K because it's Oxford, MS and there's nothing else to do. We get lots of people who'd rather stay home and watch the afternoon Yankees-Sox game than go watch a meaningless scrimmage. Fact of life in the northeast.

 

[huskypantz]

one thing i would like to talk about spring game wise is the format. most schools have boring games becuase of the way the games are. it is what it is. but there is a way to make them better and more exciting for the fans. for diehards just going to see everyone and scope out whos looking good or bad is enough. but for the new fans, casual followers and just party ppl the game is a real drag. so how do you get them interested?

you change the format. who here would have liked to see whitmer with our best oline, lyle and nick/phillips/jones out there together for some time? and other good lineups....

play a O(white) vs D(blue) type thing. the D and psecial teams can earn points based off 4 down stops and punts/fg type stuff. basically goto a point system that allows both sides to earn based off what would be good acomplishments on the field. some schools do this i'm pretty sure. there would eb more scoring on both sides but also it would alow the fans to see all the usual kids we saw this weekend but at times it would alow us to see our 1st teams go at it more often as a whole. entertainment value...

one thing that I liked was splitting the talent across the 2 squads instead of 1s on O vs 2s on D, etc.