The first week of college football is upon us and it is a merry occasion for me, despite some of the silly games some of the power house teams take in the early part of the schedule. However this isn’t such a bad strategy as I have found. The easy “W” helps the team psyche and can also help smaller schools in the state of the power house schools.

The Buckeyes

For this discussion, you have to start with The Ohio State University and their state-side sportsmanship. Each year for the last several, the Buckeyes have started the season playing an opponent from Ohio, usually a MAC school. This year’s romp goes to the Division I-AA Youngstown State, former stomping grounds of Coach Tressel for 15 years. The Penguins will receive $650,000 for their work this weekend. This is a smart partnership; the money gets to stay in the state of Ohio.

East Carolina University

How about the East Carolina football team who has sold out all of its season tickets (22,000) for the upcoming season--a first in the school’s history. Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium will be rockin’ this season! They achieved this hard work through strategic partnerships with North Carolina and North Carolina State in which there are not even individual tickets for these two games in ECU’s 43,000-seat stadium. ECU’s students will use their 12,000 ticket allotment for each home game, and there are 5,000 ticket allotments for each visiting schools. Along with the Tar Heels and Wolfpack, the Pirates will host Southern Miss (Sept. 15), UCF (Oct. 6), UAB (Oct. 27) and Tulane (Nov. 24).

Here is the first silly August/September weekend schedule:

#1 USC vs. Idaho (Idaho lost five of their last six games last season and made it on the ESPN.com Bottom 10 as #9

#5 Michigan vs. Appalachian State (AppState, the former home of Dexter Coakley, it’s all I got. But did you know the AppState mascot’s name is Yosef?)

#6 Florida vs. Western Kentucky (why does everyone have to pick on Kentucky during the first weekend?)

#10 Louisville vs. Murray State (17 years ago the Cardinals beat Murray State by the score of 68-0; have some mercy Mr. Brohm)

I wonder how much the schools representing Kentucky against Florida and Louisville will bring to the coffers this weekend?

Here are some interesting numbers from 2006: 90/119; 46,249; and 20,373.

The first numbers, 90/119, represent where UC ranked in attendance for D1 football programs - 90th out of 119 total programs.

The next two numbers, 46,249 and 20,373, represent average attendance for all D1 programs in 2006 and UC's average attendance in 2006, respectively.

Clearly UC is working harder than ever to increase attendance at their games. New and more flexible season ticket packages. Outreach by players, coaches, and administrators. Coach Kelly's daily diary in the Enquirer and today's headlines suggesting a 5-0 start followed by big games with U of L and Rutgers. Above all, Coach Kelly clearly "gets" the whole PR thing - he's out and about, he's quotable, he promises to run an exciting offense, ...

With all of this going on, is it enough? Stated another way, if UC's efforts this year don't lead to increased attendance - say at least 25,000 per game (which would only move them up to number 82 in average attendance - just behind Marshall) - what will it take?

Is Cincinnati such a "major league town" that college football just won't draw here? (Note that Miami(OH) is ranked 110 out of 119) or will a good schedule and an exciting program put fannies in seats at Nippert?

I, for one, say go down to a game and check it out. Nippert might be old (9th oldest stadium in college football), but it has been dramatically improved over recent years and is a wonderful place to watch a game. Give the Bearcats and Coach Kelly a chance to prove that they can deliver a quality product - both from a results and an entertainment perspective - and then decide if its worth your time to go to more games. I'm guessing we'll all be pleasantly surprised.

"Winning over women" says the headline in a recent Sports Business Journal article. I am intrigued as to what U.S. women really think about sports (if they do at all) and what teams are doing to try and reach them.

Here are just a few of the great promotions from around the leagues that are mentioned in the article:

Club Purple by the Baltimore Ravens, a membership club for women-only with perks and discounts with the team.

Stitch and Pitch promotions with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, targeting needlepoint afficienados.

Football 101, an event to introduce the all-female crowd to the basics of football to raise money for the Marvin Lewis Community Fund, the foundation of Marvin Lewis, Bengals head coach. This year the event sold out in two hours.

But my favorite has to be the co-promotion with Harlequin romance novels and NASCAR that featured a speed dating event with driver Carl Edwards: "pairing bodice-rippers and firesuits in novel ways."

Love it!

So what is the most popular sport for women, you ask? #1 is the Olympics where 1/4 of the U.S. female population is an avid fan. Next on the list is the NFL followed by MLB, college football, NBA and college basketball. NASCAR ranks #7 and the LPGA is in the middle of the pack just above monster trucks. Champ car is last.

The most surprising to me is pro rodeo sandwiched between PGA and NHL.

Go figure.

Are women blogging? Yes they are. Some sports blogs that women are checking include:
www.leavethemanalone.com
Babeslovebaseball.com
NFLCheerleader.blogspot.com
Need4speed.com

And where are the ladies on-line, you wonder:
Footballfanatics.com
Highschoolsports.net
Boston Red Sox site
AOL sports
XOZ Network
*as compiled by Neilsen/NetRatings

I always wonder about sports talk radio and women. Can they stand the bickering, trivial stats and jock sniffer callers?

Well, apparently Richard from Indian Hill doesn't interest the ladies, nor many people on XM 173, I might add. The all-sports format ranks last on the list of fave formats among women (thanks to Arbitron for the info).

So, here's to a night of free wine at the ballpark with pink merchandise freebies and access to the hotties in the locker room. Don't forget your needlepoint or romance novel.

If you are a chick sports fan, let us know what you want from your team to propel you to the avid fan status...

I am intrigued by the two highway billboards placed this month by the Cincinnati Bengals. I love the creative with large letters spelling Who-Dey and a great action shot with QB Carson Palmer. The call-to-action is clean with just the web site: BENGALS.com.

But why spend the money?

The team has sold out the stadium and there is a waiting list. We are on our way to Packer fame with sell-outs, bestowing season tickets in wills to the favorite grandson and the e-bay offers are getting higher each hour.

Why place those billboards? Because, they also have done so this time of year? How about a message to promote the Pro Shop or the TV schedule?

On the other side of the riverbanks, the Reds are doing a terrific job with their outdoor and changing the immediate message to meet their business objectives. I have heard they have 30+ messages ready to go at any given time. Some of the messages are fluffy: vote for Jr. in the All-Star race. But all in all, these guys are trying to put butts in seats with ticket offers, bobbleheads and the celebrity of Bronson.

The Bengals through the leadership of Coach Lewis (note: we represent his Community Fund) have regained the excitement of the Jungle. It's time to think like winning marketers and use the money for new and interactive approaches.

I want to see a Chad cam 24/7 or a blog by Coach with live chats on Fridays of home games. Keep the Jungle engaged with high-tech interactive opportunities. Who-Dey!