Meh. They got 3,150 people there to watch Millersville football. - that's 150% of their season average and the second-highest game of the year. Average fan doesn't know the difference. They got half as many for West Chester, that year's PSAC East champion.
I say if you're not a likely playoff contender, play a game against a team people care about rather than a game people don't care about. Until Lock Haven makes the playoffs, they should have an annual game against Lycoming, same for everyone else. Bowl game or not, make money at the gate you won't get from some PSAC games.
A loss to a D-III school -- especially a regional D-III school -- hurts the Millersville program more than the additional fannies in the seats helps it. A no-win situation for the D-II program.
About the State Game: I remember when it was a bit of an event. When East Strouds and Ship played to the 14-14 tie in '76, that was electric. But fan bases don't travel as well as they used to, in my opinion. And any move to bring both sides in by having it at a neutral site only ensures that two fan bases won't travel well. Witness Hershey's attempts to host.
My first reaction was that the PSAC Title Game should get a higher profile, and maybe a "Bowl" game would be the answer. Then I thought that if the PSAC game doesn't get sold out, which it generally speaking doesn't, there's no reason to think that moving to a neutral location and hyping it as a Bowl Game would be any better...The thing that makes Bowl games successful are the sponsors that purchase the naming rights. That would be a great place to start...
Too bad there isn't more fan interest. They could have Wawa and Sheetz as co-sponsors. East vs. West. Throw in some other promotions. Maybe award the Dixon Trophy from the previous year at halftime.
Too bad there isn't more fan interest. They could have Wawa and Sheetz as co-sponsors. East vs. West. Throw in some other promotions. Maybe award the Dixon Trophy from the previous year at halftime.
A loss to a D-III school -- especially a regional D-III school -- hurts the Millersville program more than the additional fannies in the seats helps it. A no-win situation for the D-II program.
About the State Game: I remember when it was a bit of an event. When East Strouds and Ship played to the 14-14 tie in '76, that was electric. But fan bases don't travel as well as they used to, in my opinion. And any move to bring both sides in by having it at a neutral site only ensures that two fan bases won't travel well. Witness Hershey's attempts to host.
My dad and the guys he played with (including coach Mihalik) still talk about the PSAC title games against West Chester from the 70s. Unfortunately, the PSAC title game was on hiatus during my playing days ... not that we would have ever qualified for it haha.
That said, it was a decent atmosphere at the Rock last year. Nothing special, but a little over 4,000 for such a cold day is about what I would expect. If that game were at a neutral site like the dump in Hershey, I don't think it would have drawn anywhere near 4,000.
A loss to a D-III school -- especially a regional D-III school -- hurts the Millersville program more than the additional fannies in the seats helps it. A no-win situation for the D-II program.
I'm not naive. I know these inter-divisional games aren't happening. But in a different college football world Millersville-F&M could be the biggest game of the year for both schools. Crosstown rivals. Public vs. private. Elite vs. vulgar.
Maybe with so much emphasis on divisional play we have lost something. These kind of games are always interesting. The West Chester-Delaware games were always interesting. IUP-Youngstown.
Millersville isn't making the d2 playoffs, anyway. What would they have to lose. The general public doesn't even know that Ville and F&M are in different divisions. I think the biggest obstacle is the different level of competition. Even the Millersvilles and Lock Havens are significantly more competitive than their d3 counterparts. The games might not be competitive.
I'm not naive. I know these inter-divisional games aren't happening. But in a different college football world Millersville-F&M could be the biggest game of the year for both schools. Crosstown rivals. Public vs. private. Elite vs. vulgar.
Maybe with so much emphasis on divisional play we have lost something. These kind of games are always interesting. The West Chester-Delaware games were always interesting. IUP-Youngstown.
Millersville isn't making the d2 playoffs, anyway. What would they have to lose. The general public doesn't even know that Ville and F&M are in different divisions. I think the biggest obstacle is the different level of competition. Even the Millersvilles and Lock Havens are significantly more competitive than their d3 counterparts. The games might not be competitive.
Easy there. That's certainly not the case. In many D3 divisions they'd both be doormats. Teams like Salisbury, Wesley, etc., would mop the floor with them. The bottom of the PSAC is bad. Real bad.
Easy there. That's certainly not the case. In many D3 divisions they'd both be doormats. Teams like Salisbury, Wesley, etc., would mop the floor with them. The bottom of the PSAC is bad. Real bad.
But they don't play each other so how do you know that? Plus, we're talking about Millersville and Franklin & Marshall.
Last edited by iupgroundhog; 04-18-2019, 09:44 AM.
I'm not naive. I know these inter-divisional games aren't happening. But in a different college football world Millersville-F&M could be the biggest game of the year for both schools. Crosstown rivals. Public vs. private. Elite vs. vulgar.
Maybe with so much emphasis on divisional play we have lost something. These kind of games are always interesting. The West Chester-Delaware games were always interesting. IUP-Youngstown.
Millersville isn't making the d2 playoffs, anyway. What would they have to lose. The general public doesn't even know that Ville and F&M are in different divisions. I think the biggest obstacle is the different level of competition. Even the Millersvilles and Lock Havens are significantly more competitive than their d3 counterparts. The games might not be competitive.
I played in a few games against I-AA teams while at SRU. I don't know how much the games against FAU, EKU and Youngstown helped our teams those years or the program overall (minus the influx of cash), but they were certainly experiences. Beating FAU, practicing at Ohio State (on the way to EKU) and actually holding a lead against Youngstown at halftime were moments I won't soon forget.
Would kids who play at F&M feel the same way about playing (and possibly beating) a struggling D2 program in Millersville? It wouldn't be a memorable trip to a different part of the country, nor would the gameday atmosphere be much different. Maybe a couple hundred more people in the stands. Playing a game in front of a packed house at Stambaugh Stadium was an experience. I'm not sure playing a road game against a bad D2 team in front of maybe 5,000 people would be very memorable for the kids or worth the risk Millersville would be taking.
You could be 14-4 and nobody would know it. As I said, it gets comparable coverage to women's tennis.
You're right, and that's a shame. The PSAC is a really good baseball league. The weather up here doesn't help. If Mercyhurst was playing Millersville (both nationally ranked) across the street from my house, I wouldn't go if it was 40 degrees with 20 mph wind gusts. And I like college baseball more than any other sport.
Comment