TicketsSo here I am on "Twitter," like so many people, and I get a direct message from @sprtswrtrgirl
who tells me she's an aspiring sports reporter and watches my coverage on Fox19. Well, of course, I start following her on Twitter so I can see what she does. Come to find out, she's a member of the Rally Cats on the UC campus, and then I start following her 'tweets.' Pretty soon I noticed that, along with the usual college angst of books and late nights and such, she's also very active in inviting her followers to attend all kinds of sporting events.
"Come to the women's soccer game. Free pizza afterwards!" (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of her tweet.)
And that got me to thinking about a couple of issues: First, the whole issue about "no one comes to our games." Well, have you invited them? Let's think. If everyone on the women's soccer team has, oh, around 500 friends on Facebook, and if, on their status lines, or on their 'tweets' on Twitter, each player says, "Big home game Friday night against Rutgers. Come cheer on the Bearcats as we get ready for Big East tournament play!"
Let's say, again, if one-fifth of those people decided to wander over to the game, and each person brought a friend. That's 200 people at the game. And that's what just one player could bring to a game.
The second issue is, supporting the university's programs in general, not just soccer, not just men's or women's sports. A couple of years ago former women's basketball players from both U.C. and Xavier were invited back for the women's crosstown shootout game. Afterwards, these players said, more than once, that they wished they had supported other sports and other female athletes while they were on campus.
I'd never seen a lacrosse game in person until I did the announcing for one of the women's games last spring. Now, I think the sport is awesome! So take in a volleyball game, soccer game, or one of the other sports that don't necessarily get the headlines. You'll see athletes just as skilled, just as dedicated as the ones playing football or basketball.
And you don't have to wait for an invitation.
who tells me she's an aspiring sports reporter and watches my coverage on Fox19. Well, of course, I start following her on Twitter so I can see what she does. Come to find out, she's a member of the Rally Cats on the UC campus, and then I start following her 'tweets.' Pretty soon I noticed that, along with the usual college angst of books and late nights and such, she's also very active in inviting her followers to attend all kinds of sporting events.
"Come to the women's soccer game. Free pizza afterwards!" (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of her tweet.)
And that got me to thinking about a couple of issues: First, the whole issue about "no one comes to our games." Well, have you invited them? Let's think. If everyone on the women's soccer team has, oh, around 500 friends on Facebook, and if, on their status lines, or on their 'tweets' on Twitter, each player says, "Big home game Friday night against Rutgers. Come cheer on the Bearcats as we get ready for Big East tournament play!"
Let's say, again, if one-fifth of those people decided to wander over to the game, and each person brought a friend. That's 200 people at the game. And that's what just one player could bring to a game.
The second issue is, supporting the university's programs in general, not just soccer, not just men's or women's sports. A couple of years ago former women's basketball players from both U.C. and Xavier were invited back for the women's crosstown shootout game. Afterwards, these players said, more than once, that they wished they had supported other sports and other female athletes while they were on campus.
I'd never seen a lacrosse game in person until I did the announcing for one of the women's games last spring. Now, I think the sport is awesome! So take in a volleyball game, soccer game, or one of the other sports that don't necessarily get the headlines. You'll see athletes just as skilled, just as dedicated as the ones playing football or basketball.
And you don't have to wait for an invitation.