...aboout this attendance issue...

[WoolyBully]

Zips Get Creative In Luring Fans To The Rubber Bowl

FROM THE RUBBER CAPITAL OF AMERICA comes word of especially aggressive measures by theUniversity of Akron to fill the seats in the Rubber Bowl in order to satisfy the new NCAA D1-A rule of averaging 15,000 spectators.

The Zips’ measure is about as aggressive as it gets: free tickets to the game this weekend. Akron currently ranks dead last among the 117 D-1A football teams in attendance with an average of 10,737.

NCAA rules make no mention of any payment being necessary to comply with its attendance requirements, so the complimentary passes are within the rules.

Akron has another noteworthy factor in its favor: the game against Marshall this weekend will be broadcasted on ESPN2. This will be Akron’s first national TV game since 1986. Meanwhile, Marshall has been on national TV 35 times since 1987.

Akron is not alone among lower tier D-1A schools struggling to meet the NCAA attendance requirements. Other D1-A schools--San Jose State and Central Michigan among themâ€â€have resorted to big-name marching bands, used car raffles and rock concerts as added-value attractions to put more fans in their seats.

And from Eastern Michigan comes word of a football double-header (the Collegiate Clash) this weekend at Ford Field in Detroit. EMU will play against Central Michigan after Wayne State plays Hillsdale.

PT Barnum (and Bill Veeck) would be proud.

(this 225 word excerptâ€â€with attendant commentaryâ€â€was distilled from a 335 word article from the Eastern Michigan Echo of 11-1-04, a 242 word article in the Charleston [WV] Gazette of 11-2-04 and a 755 word article from the Charleston [WV] Gazette of 11-2-04)

http://collegeathleticsclips.com/archives/cat_good_bad_and_wacky.html