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Post by unafied on Dec 16, 2018 12:22:50 GMT -6
So Tuesday night Alabama plays one of our conference mates, Liberty, in the VBC in what they call the Rocket City Classic. They officially call it a neutral site game, but obviously it’s a way to get Bama fans in Huntsville an easy “home” game to attend. It’s good marketing. And with a lot of basketball talent in Huntsville (two Bama starters are from Madison County), it’s something of a recruiting trip as well.
I wonder if our people have had any talks with the VBC about attempting something similar? Now, let’s get the negativity out of the way first. I realize we don’t fill up Flowers. We likely won’t until the men start winning some games, fair or not. I still think there’s an angle to be played here. There are plenty of UNA alumni in the Huntsville metro that might attend. And if you schedule the right opponent you could probably bring in some visitors and come close to filling it up. What if we played, say, Tennessee there? Georgia? Or shooting a little lower, Chattanooga? JSU? You might introduce some folks over there to our university (because believe me, I’ve met some Huntsvillians who seem to live in a bubble and know nothing about the Shoals). And you might be able to get the attention of some high schoolers as well.
Just for the exposure I might allow any profits to go back to the VBC or even the visiting team, at least the first time. Of course I don’t work in the athletic department and that might be a horrible plan. Still, I think it’s an idea worth pursuing if Huntsville is interested in growing that event. Maybe we could eventually share a double-header with the Tide or something.
Thoughts?
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Post by brandon on Dec 16, 2018 15:53:21 GMT -6
So Tuesday night Alabama plays one of our conference mates, Liberty, in the VBC in what they call the Rocket City Classic. They officially call it a neutral site game, but obviously it’s a way to get Bama fans in Huntsville an easy “home” game to attend. It’s good marketing. And with a lot of basketball talent in Huntsville (two Bama starters are from Madison County), it’s something of a recruiting trip as well. I wonder if our people have had any talks with the VBC about attempting something similar? Now, let’s get the negativity out of the way first. I realize we don’t fill up Flowers. We likely won’t until the men start winning some games, fair or not. I still think there’s an angle to be played here. There are plenty of UNA alumni in the Huntsville metro that might attend. And if you schedule the right opponent you could probably bring in some visitors and come close to filling it up. What if we played, say, Tennessee there? Georgia? Or shooting a little lower, Chattanooga? JSU? You might introduce some folks over there to our university (because believe me, I’ve met some Huntsvillians who seem to live in a bubble and know nothing about the Shoals). And you might be able to get the attention of some high schoolers as well. Just for the exposure I might allow any profits to go back to the VBC or even the visiting team, at least the first time. Of course I don’t work in the athletic department and that might be a horrible plan. Still, I think it’s an idea worth pursuing if Huntsville is interested in growing that event. Maybe we could eventually share a double-header with the Tide or something. Thoughts? I think we should play Alabama or Auburn there. If we did Tennessee or Georgia people would just think it's an SEC thing. I know the Rocket City Classic is a double header for Alabama And UAH. I think we could do a game like that ourselves with a Big East team or A-10 team would be more feasible for now. When we do start winning and have more attention, then we could do Vandy or South Carolina or something like that. But it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of off campus home games for UNA, dont Cullman have a nice sized civic center that could be utilized as well? I would also like to see a Birmingham or Montgomery game with South Alabama. |
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Post by unafied on Dec 16, 2018 16:23:24 GMT -6
So Tuesday night Alabama plays one of our conference mates, Liberty, in the VBC in what they call the Rocket City Classic. They officially call it a neutral site game, but obviously it’s a way to get Bama fans in Huntsville an easy “home” game to attend. It’s good marketing. And with a lot of basketball talent in Huntsville (two Bama starters are from Madison County), it’s something of a recruiting trip as well. I wonder if our people have had any talks with the VBC about attempting something similar? Now, let’s get the negativity out of the way first. I realize we don’t fill up Flowers. We likely won’t until the men start winning some games, fair or not. I still think there’s an angle to be played here. There are plenty of UNA alumni in the Huntsville metro that might attend. And if you schedule the right opponent you could probably bring in some visitors and come close to filling it up. What if we played, say, Tennessee there? Georgia? Or shooting a little lower, Chattanooga? JSU? You might introduce some folks over there to our university (because believe me, I’ve met some Huntsvillians who seem to live in a bubble and know nothing about the Shoals). And you might be able to get the attention of some high schoolers as well. Just for the exposure I might allow any profits to go back to the VBC or even the visiting team, at least the first time. Of course I don’t work in the athletic department and that might be a horrible plan. Still, I think it’s an idea worth pursuing if Huntsville is interested in growing that event. Maybe we could eventually share a double-header with the Tide or something. Thoughts? I think we should play Alabama or Auburn there. If we did Tennessee or Georgia people would just think it's an SEC thing. I know the Rocket City Classic is a double header for Alabama And UAH. I think we could do a game like that ourselves with a Big East team or A-10 team would be more feasible for now. When we do start winning and have more attention, then we could do Vandy or South Carolina or something like that. But it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of off campus home games for UNA, dont Cullman have a nice sized civic center that could be utilized as well? I would also like to see a Birmingham or Montgomery game with South Alabama. I think my biggest hang up on playing Bama or Auburn there is, I don’t want our fans to be way outnumbered. If we’re putting this thing together, I’d like for us to at least have an equal number of fans as the visiting team. I’m not sure that would be the case with UA or AU. |
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Post by brandon on Dec 16, 2018 20:00:25 GMT -6
My only hang up would be is who would the Bama/UNA or Auburn/UNA fans root for? Or even all the student at UNA that have AU or UA stickers all over their cars.
I think UNA fanbase will grow over the next few years, especially when we start winning in non football sports. I have already noticed a lot of love from all over the country for the Womens basketball team.
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Post by roaringsince96 on Dec 16, 2018 21:12:38 GMT -6
Not sure next year would be the time, maybe in two years. I hope by then we have a team that will be seasoned and have learned how to win? Great idea, great exposure, and hopefully a great close game. I loved watching UNA on SEC network against Auburn...had a chance. I k is we played Pitt close this year, just another player or two from pulling that off.
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Post by unafied on Dec 17, 2018 9:05:04 GMT -6
Not sure next year would be the time, maybe in two years. I hope by then we have a team that will be seasoned and have learned how to win? Great idea, great exposure, and hopefully a great close game. I loved watching UNA on SEC network against Auburn...had a chance. I k is we played Pitt close this year, just another player or two from pulling that off. If Pujol recruits as well in the future as I think he did this year, we will be in good shape. I think several of the freshmen have really bright futures, Jamari Blackmon especially. We need another consistent scorer next year to compliment Blackmon. Maybe Agnew eventually becomes that guy? I know we also have a JUCO All-American coming in next year. So I do think the future is bright. Of course, not trying to write off this year. I still think we can start winning some games, especially when conference play starts. |
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