Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 7:48 am**

I was in Lima yesterday. I meant to stop for a Kewpie burger on the way out of town, but I was in sort of a rush.

For a couple of years now, I've thought it would be most excellent if we would play a hockey or basketball game there every year.

My visit only made me hungrier to see this happen.

Lima isn't a small place -- it only seems small because of all the other cities in Ohio. It has two TV news operations, a news/talk station and a newspaper reaching eight or nine surrounding counties.

Part of the theory of hooking up with Clear Channel Lima was to reach out to this area more, I think. But I don't get the feeling it is sticking

I really think we could better seal the deal by actually playing a game down there.

When I lived in Rochester, N.Y., I saw St. Bonaventure do this quite successfully.

St. Bonaventure is in Olean, N.Y., which is a God forsaken place at the foot of the Allegenies. But, each year, they would take one home game to either Buffalo's HSBC Arena or Rochester's War Memorial, and it worked out very well. Both cities are hungry for good basketball (no offense to the Buffalo Bulls, but they weren't doing very well in this era), and they got great crowds for these games (one, with Syracuse, completely sold out the War Memorial). Not only that, it forced the media in these cities to pay more attention to Bonnies basketball.

The problem is, I'm not sure there is any place to play in Lima at all.

I don't think Lima has any ice at all -- they have a youth team that plays in Findlay. As for hoops -- Ohio State-Lima's gym has fewer than 500 seats. There is an Allen County Civic Center, but it sounds like their auditorium is small and set up like a theater, without room for a basketball court.

So maybe there is no way to do this -- but it's a shame. It seems to me it would be a big hit to play Wright State or someone in Lima if there was a suitable place to do it.

This may seem like a lame post. Please judge me on a curve. It's the off season.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:19 am**

hey don't feel bad, though I may suggest the "Other Sports" section of AZZ, the baseball team's doing great and it may nourish your BG cravings.

I've been here before, you're so bored you start talkin' about Lima.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:22 am**

Lima is a dirty, disgusting little town...not unlike Fremont or Fostoria.
Give me a trip to Celina or Bellefontaine any day.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:55 am**

Flipper wrote:Lima is a dirty, disgusting little town...not unlike Fremont or Fostoria.
Give me a trip to Celina or Bellefontaine any day.

AGREED.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 8:56 am**

i walked into the outlet mall, and when i came out the other side, i was in a different town!

Small town jokes, gotta love 'em.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:45 am**

A scrimmage is possibly the way to accomplish part of the goal. I know the women's basketball team did that a few years back in Wapakoneta.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:52 am**

factman wrote:A scrimmage is possibly the way to accomplish part of the goal. I know the women's basketball team did that a few years back in Wapakoneta.

Or an exhibition game.

Maybe we could line up another Division I team for an exhibition in a high school gym down that way. I mentioned Wright State. Indiana/Purdue-Fort Wayne also comes to mind.

(Not sure if that's within the rules or not).

As for the stones that are being lobbed at Lima, two points:

1. Lima is much, much bigger than Fremont or Fostoria.
2. I just want more fans of our football and basketball teams. I don't care where they are from.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:54 am**

If we would have done something like this in Ottawa a couple of years ago, maybe we could have landed the Pollitz twins.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:10 am**

Taking SF on the curve...

The Lima thing has fallen flat. I don't think it really was ever implemented. Remember, Dakich and Brandon were going to be on the radio once a week, etc. I think the station that was doing all that quit being the flagship station early in the first year of the deal, and I will be shocked if the coaches kept being on the radio.

When the deal with Clear Channel was announced, I expressed doubt about the Lima strategy, going three rounds with FalconFan1 on the topic. I don't want to restart all that, but I will express my opinion on this and move on.

Lima is not a potential market for significant Bowling Green sports attendance. Yes, parents and alumni who live in Lima are potential ticket buyers, but that's true no matter where they live.

Lima is Ohio State country, and its going to stay Ohio State country, and it doesn't matter what kind of product we put on the field. Its not about that. Its about the heritage and legacy of Ohio State football and the shared experience of the many OSU fans you know. Its about a lifetime following of something, and a lifetime of looking down on everything else.

And playing IPFW in an exhibition basketball game at Lima Senior HS (especially with our current offering) isn't going to help.

We don't even out-compete Ohio State in our own backyard, much less in areas which are much closer to Columbus.

Lima is also too far, especially for basketball, but that's another matter.

Just my opinion.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:13 pm**

orangeandbrown wrote:Taking SF on the curve...

The Lima thing has fallen flat. I don't think it really was ever implemented. Remember, Dakich and Brandon were going to be on the radio once a week, etc. I think the station that was doing all that quit being the flagship station early in the first year of the deal, and I will be shocked if the coaches kept being on the radio.

When the deal with Clear Channel was announced, I expressed doubt about the Lima strategy, going three rounds with FalconFan1 on the topic. I don't want to restart all that, but I will express my opinion on this and move on.

Lima is not a potential market for significant Bowling Green sports attendance. Yes, parents and alumni who live in Lima are potential ticket buyers, but that's true no matter where they live.

Lima is Ohio State country, and its going to stay Ohio State country, and it doesn't matter what kind of product we put on the field. Its not about that. Its about the heritage and legacy of Ohio State football and the shared experience of the many OSU fans you know. Its about a lifetime following of something, and a lifetime of looking down on everything else.

And playing IPFW in an exhibition basketball game at Lima Senior HS (especially with our current offering) isn't going to help.

We don't even out-compete Ohio State in our own backyard, much less in areas which are much closer to Columbus.

Lima is also too far, especially for basketball, but that's another matter.

Just my opinion.

With that type of mentality, BG should not market their product anywhere, bow down to OSwho and feel lucky that the player's parents show up to the games.

If more than one person reflects this thought, no one should be bitching about the marketing department because it would seem that getting anyone to BG sports is a lost cause.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2005 6:51 pm**

fact is right. Our women's team made several off campus scrimmages/practices trips years ago under Fran Voll. However, the practice is now against NCAA rules and our basketball teams cannot "perform" off campus for the public in scrimmage type formats.

It was a fine way to show the program off and it certainly generated a lot of local interest.

But it is now verboten.

A scheduled regular season game is another matter. But areaslike West Central Ohio have no good location and we would be giving up a home game.

Go Falcons!

Posted: **Fri Apr 01, 2005 12:19 am**

orangeandbrown wrote:Taking SF on the curve...

The Lima thing has fallen flat. I don't think it really was ever implemented. Remember, Dakich and Brandon were going to be on the radio once a week, etc. I think the station that was doing all that quit being the flagship station early in the first year of the deal, and I will be shocked if the coaches kept being on the radio.

When the deal with Clear Channel was announced, I expressed doubt about the Lima strategy, going three rounds with FalconFan1 on the topic. I don't want to restart all that, but I will express my opinion on this and move on.

Lima is not a potential market for significant Bowling Green sports attendance. Yes, parents and alumni who live in Lima are potential ticket buyers, but that's true no matter where they live.

Lima is Ohio State country, and its going to stay Ohio State country, and it doesn't matter what kind of product we put on the field. Its not about that. Its about the heritage and legacy of Ohio State football and the shared experience of the many OSU fans you know. Its about a lifetime following of something, and a lifetime of looking down on everything else.

And playing IPFW in an exhibition basketball game at Lima Senior HS (especially with our current offering) isn't going to help.

We don't even out-compete Ohio State in our own backyard, much less in areas which are much closer to Columbus.

Lima is also too far, especially for basketball, but that's another matter.

Just my opinion.

This strikes me as defeatist.

I'll admit this thread is a bit mental masturbation. There is no suitable building to play in Lima.

But I'm telling you, I've seen this work in western New York. And Lima is a WHOLE lot closer to Bowling Green than Buffalo or Rochester are to St. Bonaventure.

In a sense, we are trying this with our 2006 Wisconsin football game (to be played in Browns Stadium).

Posted: **Fri Apr 01, 2005 1:17 am**

Schadenfreude wrote:This strikes me as defeatist.

I thought the same thing, Schad. Obviously there are other reasons stated here and otherwise that make this impossible to make reality, but if we start using the reason "well Lima (or "City X") is OSU country", we might as well put a bubble over Wood County and never leave its borders.

I thought we were past that thinking, really. *shrug*

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:12 am**

factman wrote:A scrimmage is possibly the way to accomplish part of the goal. I know the women's basketball team did that a few years back in Wapakoneta.

I'm from Wapak and know that our gym holds over 2000 if i'm not mistaken. Would that be a big enough venue to attract a men's scrimmage ?

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:09 pm**

falconfan1 wrote:... the practice is now against NCAA rules and our basketball teams cannot "perform" off campus for the public in scrimmage type formats.