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Topic:  Packed Convo !

Topic:  Packed Convo !
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Bobcat Jerry
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  Message Not Read  Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 7:44:21 AM 
Back in the 70's the Convo was a packed and the aisles were too. its a remarkable experience never to be forgotten. This team is special and deserves that kind of attendance.
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71 BOBCAT
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 8:57:11 AM 
Gentleman Jim recruited many great teams and the Convo had just been built. There were Ohio teams that beat many Big Ten teams in 1 year alone in the early 70's.
That game against GB was a sell out. We needed to get to the game hours before tip off if you wanted to get a great seat. I remember rushing the floor after the win.
The Convo was a state of the art arena at that time, still is as well 50 years later.



GO BOBCATS
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Big Willy
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 9:12:15 AM 
Started the 69-70 season beating Northwestern, Purdue (with Rick Mount), Ohio State, and Indiana. Was ranked 5th in the country. Finished the season in the Top 20 (I believe 16th). The Convo rocked all season!
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Alan Swank
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Location: Athens, OH
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 10:19:29 AM 
Very different times. If you wanted to see a game, you had to attend. There weren't other options on TV other than regularly programming on ABC, NBC, and CBS. No youth basketball boys or girls, no club volleyball or winter soccer. It was a different era. As Springsteen said in his tribute to Harry Chapin at Carneige Hall in 1987 - "you've got your music, the guy down the hall has his." Same with sports in general and activities in particular. We're very fractured and getting even more so.

And then there is the lack of mask enforcement.
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Bobcat Jerry
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 11:26:24 AM 
Yep, I was there when we beat Purdue. Rick Mount would do quite well today with the tres / 3 !
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rpbobcat
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 3:01:56 PM 
Bobcat Jerry wrote:
Back in the 70's the Convo was a packed and the aisles were too. its a remarkable experience never to be forgotten. This team is special and deserves that kind of attendance.


Remember 1 Miami game back in the mid 70's.

No seats together.
Nobody would help me out so my date and I could sit together.

We sat a couple of sections apart.
Both of us wanted to see the game, no matter what.


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roger
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Location: durham, NC
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 4:07:33 PM 
Will the weather play a factor in Friday night’s attendance? Here in Durham, NC we are expecting 2-5 inches of snow that will keep us inside and was concerned Athens is getting the same system.
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giacomo
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 4:12:59 PM 
Every now and then someone on this board thinks we should and can move up the ladder to a bigger/better conference. I didn't get there until 1977. Why does anyone think we didn't elevate after the Convo opened and we had some great years, beating Big Ten teams regularly? It seems to me that would have been the time.
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Andrew Ruck
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Location: Columbus, OH
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 4:13:57 PM 
roger wrote:
Will the weather play a factor in Friday night’s attendance? Here in Durham, NC we are expecting 2-5 inches of snow that will keep us inside and was concerned Athens is getting the same system.


6% chance of precipitation in Athens Friday.

What a weird year for Snow, things have been flipped in accumulation from south to north.


Andrew Ruck
B.B.A. 2003

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roger
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 4:17:58 PM 
Thanks Andrew! Here’s to a packed Convo!
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Recovering Journalist
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 4:34:23 PM 
giacomo wrote:
Every now and then someone on this board thinks we should and can move up the ladder to a bigger/better conference. I didn't get there until 1977. Why does anyone think we didn't elevate after the Convo opened and we had some great years, beating Big Ten teams regularly? It seems to me that would have been the time.


Because then, as now, football drives everything.
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Alan Swank
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 5:43:13 PM 
Andrew Ruck wrote:
roger wrote:
Will the weather play a factor in Friday night’s attendance? Here in Durham, NC we are expecting 2-5 inches of snow that will keep us inside and was concerned Athens is getting the same system.


6% chance of precipitation in Athens Friday.

What a weird year for Snow, things have been flipped in accumulation from south to north.


Snow will be over by 6:00 am tomorrow. We're only going to get an inch or three.
Is your 6% forecast yours or a McKinney forecast?

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Bobcatbob
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Member Since: 12/21/2004
Location: Coolville, OH
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/19/2022 8:21:48 PM 
giacomo wrote:
Every now and then someone on this board thinks we should and can move up the ladder to a bigger/better conference. I didn't get there until 1977. Why does anyone think we didn't elevate after the Convo opened and we had some great years, beating Big Ten teams regularly? It seems to me that would have been the time.


I’m sure there are better answers but it is like Alan said above in a way. Nobody changed conferences; there wasn’t anywhere near the financial impetus to do so then that there is today (no TV money); the NCAA tournament was 16 teams and conf affiliation didn’t buy an invite; an NIT appearance was a respectable alternative, and more.

It’s a totally different landscape today.
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WishIWasAtLuckys
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/20/2022 6:21:46 PM 
Is there a picture of the the convo packed out?
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KyleWvr13
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/20/2022 6:54:52 PM 
WishIWasAtLuckys wrote:
Is there a picture of the the convo packed out?


Contrast is kind of much but here's one that I could find from the OU vs Miami game where we retired Gary Trent's number.

https://ryanyoungphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/...

More photos from this photographer can be found here:
https://ryanyoungphotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/1-2... /
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Casper71
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/20/2022 6:56:24 PM 
Those early 70s were great basketball times. As has been said, the landscape has changed tremendously since then. I hate to be nostalgic but they were better times for college sports.
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OUbobcat9092
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/20/2022 8:26:18 PM 
KyleWvr13 wrote:
WishIWasAtLuckys wrote:
Is there a picture of the the convo packed out?


Contrast is kind of much but here's one that I could find from the OU vs Miami game where we retired Gary Trent's number.

https://ryanyoungphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/...

More photos from this photographer can be found here:
https://ryanyoungphotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/1-2... /


I was at that game. The crowd was amazing considering there was an Ice Storm that night. Without that they may have filled every seat in the Convo.


Bring Back Men's Track & Field

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giacomo
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/20/2022 9:53:19 PM 
Bobcatbob wrote:
giacomo wrote:
Every now and then someone on this board thinks we should and can move up the ladder to a bigger/better conference. I didn't get there until 1977. Why does anyone think we didn't elevate after the Convo opened and we had some great years, beating Big Ten teams regularly? It seems to me that would have been the time.


I’m sure there are better answers but it is like Alan said above in a way. Nobody changed conferences; there wasn’t anywhere near the financial impetus to do so then that there is today (no TV money); the NCAA tournament was 16 teams and conf affiliation didn’t buy an invite; an NIT appearance was a respectable alternative, and more.

It’s a totally different landscape today.


That makes absolute sense.
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bornacatfan
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/20/2022 9:55:58 PM 
Bobcatbob wrote:
the NCAA tournament was 16 teams and conf affiliation didn’t buy an invite; an NIT appearance was a respectable alternative, and more.

It’s a totally different landscape today.



No doubt it is a different landscape but there were more than 16 teams and conference affiliation had a clear path. By the time I was born (long time ago in the 1950s) there were 24 of the less than 200 D1 teams in the tourney.... winning your conference got you the qualifier.

MAC, WAC, PAC , SEC, ACC, Yankee(CAA),B10,OVC,SWC, MVC, Big 8, Mountain States, Border, Ivy, Southern and Metro were all bid leagues with winners getting in and Independents like ND, Pitt, Seattle, louisvillle,houston, Marquette and others filling out the field in the 50s and early 60s.

The NIT was the show through the 50's. It was not an alternative till the NCAA started to expand. Bill Bradley (some may need to look him up) said it had better teams, more exposure and more glamour than the NCAA that bestowed the title on the winner of their tourney. Clear through my childhood we always watched BOTH....though I could never understand why the NIT always had all the private schools (Bradley , Butler, Dayton, Fordham) and the NCAA (UK, NC State, Cal, Cincy, IU, tO$U) seemed to be more State schools.

It was always curious to me that in the early 60s UK hosted the Mideast with Ohio State, MAC rep (BG, Ohio, Miami), Butler, WESTERN Ky while Cincy was sent west to CHicago, Houston, Portland OR and Ft WOrth for the Midwest First round.

Sorry for the thread drift but the last time there were 16 schools was the 1952 tourney.


never argue with idiots, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Winter comes and asks how you spent your summer.....

The game loves and rewards those who love and reward the game

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Jeff McKinney
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/21/2022 12:16:52 AM 
Enjoyed your post, Borna. When I started watching the NCAA tournament in the late 60s, there were 25 teams in the field. Big conference schools got byes. Only one team per conference. That's one of the reasons why the NIT was so strong. I began making my own brackets on a big white poster because no media outlets had visual brackets. The newspapers just listed the games.

I also remember that you had to wait until you might hear some scores on big city AM radio stations or until you got your newspaper the next day to get some of the scores. I know that's hard to believe today! Not all the games were televised.
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Bobcat Jerry
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/21/2022 5:12:57 AM 
Great Pics of the "Packed Out" Convo ! What a recruiting tool to fill the Convo for prospective recruits to see!

Last Edited: 1/21/2022 5:15:11 AM by Bobcat Jerry

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Recovering Journalist
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/21/2022 9:15:04 AM 
This is the game I remember that came closest to the best ones of the Trent era. The Sweet 16 team's first weekend home game, a commemorative pint glass giveaway and tons of energy. That massive building with a huge crowd has no peer anywhere in the conference. Portland's players must not have known what hit them.

https://portlandpilots.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2...
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spongeBOB CATpants
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/21/2022 10:16:14 AM 
OUbobcat9092 wrote:
KyleWvr13 wrote:
WishIWasAtLuckys wrote:
Is there a picture of the the convo packed out?


Contrast is kind of much but here's one that I could find from the OU vs Miami game where we retired Gary Trent's number.

https://ryanyoungphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/...

More photos from this photographer can be found here:
https://ryanyoungphotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/1-2... /


I was at that game. The crowd was amazing considering there was an Ice Storm that night. Without that they may have filled every seat in the Convo.


Gary's speech was awesome, a moment I'll never forget!
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DJCooperBurnerAccount
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/21/2022 10:40:44 AM 
KyleWvr13 wrote:
WishIWasAtLuckys wrote:
Is there a picture of the the convo packed out?


Contrast is kind of much but here's one that I could find from the OU vs Miami game where we retired Gary Trent's number.

https://ryanyoungphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/...

More photos from this photographer can be found here:
https://ryanyoungphotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/1-2... /


Thank you for posting this. I've been looking for this photo for a few years of my friends and I at the game. What a great experience this was. Ended up on a ticket a few years later as well
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Athensforever
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  Message Not Read  RE: Packed Convo !
   Posted: 1/21/2022 12:01:49 PM 
I was the Director of Ticketing during that Gary Trent game many years ago when we packed the Convo. That was the perfect storm of how we sold out the Convo.

- Dad's weekend brought in all the dads wanting to watch Basketball
- We priced the Convo perfectly to sell as many seats as possible.
- $1 for top 5 rows, $3 next 5 rows, $6 next 5 rows and so on until $20 seats for the first 15 or so rows of the upper level.
- Marketed that game like crazy for weeks with the Gary Trent celebration

That was an awesome day and great job done by marketing, ticketing and entire staff. It's one of my best memories I have working there during some of the best years of Ohio Athletics
- Sweet 16 run
- First ever Bowl win in Boise, ID.
- Football win at Penn St.
- Basketball win over Goergetown

I would love to see the Convo packed again!
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