Topic: The Great MAC Irony of Marshall Fandom

[MUsince96]

[_sturt_]

(heehee... that's right... you just keep right on amusing yourself there, 96... )

[banker]

Oh stu, love how you think you need to tell that I don't really believe what I type.

Here's what I'll give you - FIU and FAU most likely have student bodies that follow Miami or Florida more than they do their school. The local news there is more focused on those programs and the Miami Heat than the Owls or Panthers. On the others I will not agree.

ODU, when you add season tickets sold to season ticket waiting list, has more fan interest than UVA. That area of Virgina identifies more with HS sports than VT. They were dying for local college ball and have sold out since they started the program back up. USTA drew 56k to their first game, more fans than have ever been in attendance for any CUSA home game. They averaged 30k playing a modified IAA schedule. WKU and MTSU are schools that are very similar to Marshall in that the college is the town, same with La Tech. Saying people in those towns are fans of some other school first is like saying everybody in Huntington is really a WVU fan first.

The MAC schools are completely different. Have you ever been to a game at Ohio State? If so, did you notice that they cutely fly all the MAC Ohio school flags at the Shoe, flanking the flag of the mothership?  I work with a bunch of OU grads, every one of them goes to OSU games, none go to OU games. They have 26k students in a town with nothing else to do and can't sell out a HS sized stadium. There's really no need to even discuss support at EMU, CMU, and WMU which are all just branches of Michigan.

Last thing, do you honestly believe that any casual football fan will even pause the dial if they come across a game with Tulane in it?  Seriously?  You were joking, right?

[BHFIOHIO]

lol

[_sturt_]

Oh stu, love how you think you need to tell that I don't really believe what I type.

Here's what I'll give you - FIU and FAU most likely have student bodies that follow Miami or Florida more than they do their school. The local news there is more focused on those programs and the Miami Heat than the Owls or Panthers. On the others I will not agree.

ODU, when you add season tickets sold to season ticket waiting list, has more fan interest than UVA. That area of Virgina identifies more with HS sports than VT. They were dying for local college ball and have sold out since they started the program back up. USTA drew 56k to their first game, more fans than have ever been in attendance for any CUSA home game. They averaged 30k playing a modified IAA schedule. WKU and MTSU are schools that are very similar to Marshall in that the college is the town, same with La Tech. Saying people in those towns are fans of some other school first is like saying everybody in Huntington is really a WVU fan first.

banker, first let me acknowledge what part of this I agree with... that UTSA has the best foundations of the newbies to be a real player at a higher level.

As for the rest...

It's amusing that I'm so often accused of pretending that the facts are the facts just because I said it, and otherwise stating opinions without any basis, though a review of the posts would show that there might not be anyone who posts on this board who more often goes to outside popular-press and primary sources (not blogs) to bring information here that supports my claims.

And it's amusing because, on occasion, someone like you will post something like this, and assume that it ought to be taken as gospel just because in your opinion... "That area of Virgina identifies more with HS sports than VT"... or... "Saying people in those towns are fans of some other school first is like saying everybody in Huntington is really a WVU fan first."

I'd love to know your point of reference for making that first statement, because, though I've never actually lived there, Virginia is almost my second native state based on all the time I've spent there in my life and all the friends and family who have been and still are residents. What is different about the Tidewater area is that it is so military (similar to San Antonio, actually)... and so, you have so many transplants that aren't aligned with Virginia's two money schools, but rather are aligned with some other school in their home state.  

I'm not saying you're absolutely wrong on that point... that is, that there might be a growing base of ODU fans who do not consider themselves to be UVa or VT fans... I'm sure the ODU people sure would like to think that's the case... but I'm also not sure that the evidence you're presenting about season tickets can be translated to have that meaning. I'm saying, based on my own admittedly anecdotal experience, I need a whole lot more evidence than that to conclude that ODU fans are, by and large, aligned with their school to the exclusion of keeping an eye on the score of a Cav or Hokie game.

But let me get to this other point you bring up, asserting that by my reasoning, everyone on the outside looking in should think that Marshall fans are commonly also WVU fans ... THERE IS a reason why WE are so very different from those other schools.

That is, WE are the ONLY other FBS school in our state. And what's more, the other FBS school in our state is not so accomplished that we haven't been competitive with them.

That places us as the logical Auburn equivalent to WVU's Alabama status... the Louisville equivalent to WVU's Kentucky... the Virginia Tech equivalent to WVU's Virginia... the Purdue equivalent to WVU's Indiana... the Clemson equivalent to WVU's South Carolina.

That makes a huge difference. We are not only the logical alternative to the state's namesake university, we are the ONLY alternative.

When you're #3 or lower in the state's pecking order, you know you won't be taken too seriously until you can become either a member of a big-money conference (and that can only occur in states like CA and TX and FL), or you've made a real case that you're a better #2 than the current #2.

The only school that can even marginally relate to us in that way is La Tech, but even La Tech has always found it difficult to distinguish themselves because either they had their own dip into mediocrity or, depending on the time period chosen, one of either Tulane or UL-Monroe or UL-Lafayette have experienced enough of a level of success that they've been one of multiple #2s in that state.

...Last thing, do you honestly believe that any casual football fan will even pause the dial if they come across a game with Tulane in it?  Seriously?  You were joking, right?

Look, you have to bring more to a debate than this simplistic, "How dare you make that point... I'm going to punish you by LAUGHING at you now... HAHAHAHAHA."

Really?

That's not debate. That's playground stuff. It's not too much to expect a little maturity. It's not too much to expect a response on the merit of what I stated.

I don't know that it was intentional... maybe it was, maybe it wasn't... but regardless, you only cited one part of the assertion...

What was actually said was essentially that Tulane is a known brand in NCAA FBS football... La Tech and MTSU, not so much, and in fact, many many many Joe Fans wouldn't even know that those schools play at a FBS level these days...

What's more, I provide some empirical evidence that supports the point that, even in their football malaise, Tulane and Memphis are more likely to be more valuable to an ESPN negotiator than is La Tech and MTSU, based on the fact that there is "such a disparity between what the CUSA defectors have commanded historically in TV contracts to which they have been a party versus what the CUSA newbies have commanded."

And therefore... it is consistent to reason that, once Bama starts blowing out Vandy, Joe Fan *will indeed* be *more likely* to pause to watch a competitive game between schools he has HEARD OF and that he knows to play FBS football than he will be to watch a game that includes some school that has no such recognition.