The Beast : Going To Take A Grassroots Effort

I sat in the stands at Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah on Saturday and watched the Canes go through their first scrimmage of the spring. As I took in all the action, one thought continued rolling through my mind; there should be more people witnessing this. There were maybe 1,500 to 2,000 fans in attendance and I honestly thought there would be twice that.

Recently head coach Al Golden stated that he was going to take his team to the sixth-largest city in the state of Florida and because of that, I was expecting standing room only for the inaugural 2012 scrimmage. It wasn’t. Even more perplexing, the number of Canes fans Tweeting and emailing me up until kickoff, asking where, when, how and why regarding the event. Yes, UM has done a great job in increasing their web content, diving into social networking and building their brand, but it’s not enough.

Look at last week. One didn’t have to wait until tip-off of two NIT games at The BUC to realize that maybe the word hadn’t gotten out.

Let me make this clear, I’m not simply blaming the current regime or even the last one. We all know this has been a problem for decades, if not forever. This place. This town. The fan base. For better or for worse, this is ‘The U’ and for better or for worse, it’s different.

I could write an essay of thesis proportions, talking about the intricacies and challenges that a diverse population of South Florida presents, but for what? It is what it is and it’s about working towards a solution.

There are options for UM today that didn’t exist in the past. Tumblr. Twitter. Facebook. Pinterest. Google Plus. HurricaneSports.com. All a good start but definitely not enough. The University of Miami has to find a way to develop a grassroots publicity and marketing campaign.

Think about this; the prime targets of social networking blasts are the students that roam the campus in the City Beautiful, no? Aren’t they supposed to be the ones that adopt the new technologies and leap to the next big thing before the rest of us even realize we’re two years behind? Well guess what, they aren’t getting the message either!

I have no idea the true demographic of Hurricane Nation, though my guess is that there are a lot more fans over thirty than under it. At least the ones buying tickets and showing up to events.

Go ask the typical forty-year old double alum if he’s on Pinterest and he’ll look at you like you’re Alf. Honestly, that degree of fan probably thinks two hours a day on a message board is ‘cutting edge’ – but that’s the guy you need to find a way to reach. UM needs to get the message to the majority of the fan base; the people not glued to computers and smartphones.

Again, I can’t be certain, but to me it feels like UM is losing people from their base of support and can’t replace them fast enough with new generation fans. Even in 2012, you have to find a way to go old school. As the proliferation of technologies has increased, it seems the old school approach to publicity has vanished. For instance, we only have media access on Tuesday, during the weeks of spring practice.

The news cycle is such that the stuff said on Tuesday is old news by the weekend. The team practices on Thursday, but the media has no access that day. It’d be nice – and logical – to get some stuff on Thursday, for Friday, in effort to promote the scrimmage in Ft. Myers that evening. It’d also be great to talk to Dallas Crawford, who’s from the left coast of the state, but we have no access to a player like him as he didn’t play last season.

I know Coach has his reasons for protecting his guys, but there’s not one question we’d ask Dallas about being back in Ft. Myers that would be anything other than a softball. It’s all right, though. I’m sure HurricaneSports.com will have him for a Behind-The-Facemask feature this week.

Hard as it may be for some to believe, many folks still do read newspapers, even if it’s online as opposed to the old fish wrap. People still listen to radio, too, although much more on satellite or FM than on AM. Not everyone has abandoned old media in order to adapt to new social media. It’s just a process of adding new stuff into already-existing habits.

I think to assume that old media doesn’t have any value – it’s a misjudgment, and a costly one, at that.

There’s no be all, end all solution regarding getting more butts in seats, but as a fan, it’s beyond frustrating to go to an even where you see less attendees than expected. Sometimes, I think we sacrifice the growth potential, and fan cultivation, of the program by being narrow-minded and paranoid. I personally had no issue with a 10am scrimmage last Saturday, but with a four-year old son, as a family we haven’t entered the youth sports movement yet, though I’m guessing that’s different by next spring. This time next year I’ll be faced with a Canes scrimmage or my son’s soccer practice, like many other parents who support this program.

These are real-world objections that this program faces and it’s time to start dealing. Honestly, would it have been so difficult to schedule a 3pm scrimmage this past weekend. That decision alone would’ve made the choice a lot easier for a lot of Cane families.

Is UM truly doing the things it needs – like this – to help build a fan base? Are assistant coaches talking to the Kiwanis Clubs and at other community meetings? Is deputy athletic director Tony Hernandez making his rounds with the Spanish-speaking media? Is Coach Golden going on more stations than just the AM sports options?

Is ‘The U’ utilizing the Sunday night sports shows? Is Shawn Eichorst making the rounds, having lunch with executive producers, program directors, editors and everyone else that controls the media in this town?

Does Miami have representatives at all of the youth leagues, boy scout meetings, church functions, temple gatherings, or any other community and youth events? Right now the Miami Dolphins are getting slaughtered on the public relations front. Their season ticket base has dropped to the lowest levels this franchise has ever seen. If the folks at UM don’t take drastic measures, they next in line.

Whether anyone inside Hecth wants to believe it or not, UM is in full competition for sports entertainment dollars with the Heat, Marlins and Panthers. Those three franchises have made huge gains and I personally don’t want my beloved alma mater to fall any further behind.

It’s going to take more than a two-minute interview of Stephen Morris, shot on a FlipCam to get it done, though.

IN OTHER NEWS : For my thoughts on the scrimmage and everything else going on in Hurricane Nation please check out our new feature, the Canes Fix. Just click the link in the green box in the upper right portion of the blog for a podcast we’ll stream and update multiple times per week.

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