Perspective on Saturday's Game from UM Side

[Goapps15]

Thought this was an interesting read. Sounds like a marketing plan that has backfired on UM AD Dave Brandon.


http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sp ... match.html

[DaphneUrquhart]

There's plenty of truth in that story. I can see three outcomes:

Michigan wins big. Response? Of course you won by a ton ... oh, and you paid App $1,000,000.

Michigan wins but not by a wide margin. Response? You only won by X AND you paid App $1,000,000?!?!

Michigan loses. Response? You paid App $1,000,000 and lose to them again?!?!?!?!

The way I see it, we win either in dollars or in publicity and dollars. Go App! Let's bring back the win and their money!

[Maddog1956]

I don't think they have anything to "win" by playing but I do see a few ways it helps their pain.

1) They can say "We're actually better than we were in 2007". (it doesn't matter if they are better or we're not the same team, they can still say it because no UM fan would have a clue how good we are this year compared to 2007)

2) They still get press and build up even if they scheduled someone that they are expected to win against by 35. (If they would have scheduled UL for example there would have been no coverage except why are they scheduling FCS teams.) I know is doesn't seem like much interest with UM fans, but it's still getting coverage and coverage is a drug UM wouldn't have wanted their opening game to open without a peep.

and if all goes the way they expect .....

3) The football world (and UM) is back on it's axis again. They can't change history, but they can use it as a rallying call of never again.

I've heard APP fans saying the same thing "What do we have to win" unless we win. There are a lot of mixed feelings.

But an APP win would change all that and as I've heard before "and that's why we play the game folks"!

[JonW]

Very interesting information and really puts into perspective the marketing aspect these AD's are taking into consideration. I certainly hope that we are taking full advantage of having our first game of the season kicking off on ESPN2 to build student and alumni support for the athletic program.

[AppfaninCAALand]

I found that article really interesting not so much for the App-UM angle, but rather for what it said about college football in general. One of the reasons I don't follow the sport much beyond our Mountaineers is I'm not very keen on all of this hype designed to get the casual fan - made for TV specticle matchups, revolving uniforms, marketing pitches, etc. Like the article said, the NFL is better at getting the casual fans with their top-level players and fantasy leagues. How can college football hope to compete? The college game is more about an emotional connection between the person and the place.

There are better teams/players/games in the NFL than what we see on the field at Kidd Brewer, but that's not why the only football game I care about is one involving Appalachian. It's not hype that got me to that point, it was my love for the University, and for Boone, and my treasured memories of my time spent there.

College football has lost some of that emotional pull, and it will accelerate, as the P5 moves more towards becoming an NFL-lite league. They need to focus on bringing the alumni back to the games with all the passion and pagentry, not seeking unconnected fans across the country who will eventually see it merely as an NFL minor league and abandon it on a whim.

[Maddog1956]

I found that article really interesting not so much for the App-UM angle, but rather for what it said about college football in general. One of the reasons I don't follow the sport much beyond our Mountaineers is I'm not very keen on all of this hype designed to get the casual fan - made for TV specticle matchups, revolving uniforms, marketing pitches, etc. Like the article said, the NFL is better at getting the casual fans with their top-level players and fantasy leagues. How can college football hope to compete? The college game is more about an emotional connection between the person and the place.

There are better teams/players/games in the NFL than what we see on the field at Kidd Brewer, but that's not why the only football game I care about is one involving Appalachian. It's not hype that got me to that point, it was my love for the University, and for Boone, and my treasured memories of my time spent there.

College football has lost some of that emotional pull, and it will accelerate, as the P5 moves more towards becoming an NFL-lite league. They need to focus on bringing the alumni back to the games with all the passion and pagentry, not seeking unconnected fans across the country who will eventually see it merely as an NFL minor league and abandon it on a whim.

Very good summary or something that is quite of hard to put into words.

[NewApp]

There's plenty of truth in that story. I can see three outcomes:

Michigan wins big. Response? Of course you won by a ton ... oh, and you paid App $1,000,000.

Michigan wins but not by a wide margin. Response? You only won by X AND you paid App $1,000,000?!?!

Michigan loses. Response? You paid App $1,000,000 and lose to them again?!?!?!?!

The way I see it, we win either in dollars or in publicity and dollars. Go App! Let's bring back the win and their money!

Spoken like a true CPA, Daphne.