And this from mLive: “EMU football team sticking with much discussed concrete wall entrance for future home games.” Here’s a quote:
[Coach Chris] Creighton said the entrance is more about getting the team pumped up than fans in the stadium, or at home.
“The wrench, the field, the concrete wall, we know people will have comments, but they all have real meaning for us,” Creighton said. “It all goes back to the idea of investing, and working for something. It is about putting on those steel-toed boots, and going to work.”
Oh, for the love of God…
emutalkarchive 
Susan Martin has bought into this “Factory” atrocity. Creighton insists upon saying “we” and “us,” when very few of “us” want anything to do with this embarrassment. Are the Regents really so disengaged from what happens on this campus, and to this institution’s reputation, that they stay their hand from pushing the REJECT button? Cut (y)our losses and put a stop to this abortive marketing ploy.
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And as to the cinderblock-wall entrance business (in the theatrical sense), unless the players (in the sports sense) are wearing safety goggles under their football helmets, I see someone losing an eye before season’s end.
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Someday, maybe, someone in Athletics will realize that all of the gimmicks in the world will not put butts in seats at the football games. Add the Huron logo to the band uniforms, check (that actually wasn’t a half bad idea). Real life Eagle, check. It wasn’t good enough to just have it on the field, so now you can take pictures with it. Check, and check. Replace the turf with grey, check. ‘Rename’ the stadium ‘The Factory, check. Break down a wall (which has nothing to do with factory work), check. Hold an 80lb wrench over your shoulders on the sideline, check.
Fans are disenfranchised because of four things, in my opinion. 1) Changing the name from Hurons to Eagles lost a large fan base. That’s no secret. 2) People see the football program as a waste of money. 3) People don’t enjoy a sporting game unless their team is winning (which is unfortunate). 4) UofM is just down the road, and win or lose, they are UofM.
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Good for them – a proverbial F-U to everyone, especially those on social media and those who don’t attend EMU games but nonetheless have an opinion on how the team should be marketed and basically do nothing but bash the program. Also included are ESPN for making an this an issue when if you were there it was not, all the people that are “embarrassed” (IE sheep following the narrative instead of treating this objectively as what it is; a simple 20 second gimmick to get the team pumped up) and one more time, the trolls on social media.
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Carl, you got it right when you said it’s a proverbial F-U to everyone. Beyond that, you’re just your typical self. It’s no secret that you’re the #1 fan of athletics, which is great. I love seeing you at the games and always get a chuckle when you give the basketball refs a hard time. That said, take a step back for a second and realize that you’re looking at this through the lens of #1 super fan Carl, and not everyone has that same view. To the casual observer, it’s a waste of money, it’s a silly gimmick, and it’s stupid. That’s not trolling, that’s simply an opinion that isn’t the same as yours.
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I am objective. Unlike most of the posters on here I was there and it was not a big deal. No one in my section groaned or said anything. Most of the kids did not notice and were focused on the live Eagle. You and everyone else are being less than honest if you dont think you are piling on because this video went viral. A few cinder blocks and sledge hammers is not a huge waste of money. Some things are gimmicks and some ideas are to enhance the game experience. Having a live Eagle is a game-enhancer. Some of these are hit or miss and up to the person to decide if they like (notice I said person, not Social Media) if its worth even commenting on. I don’t like the Factory cause its force fed down our throats and it is a gimmick that costs money. That is for sure ope to criticism. Nicknames should be organic. But it seems this 20 second segment at the game has given everyone a license to bash everything else going on. I don’t see it that way and I challenge you to watch the raw video with an open mind and block out everything and then come back and tell me this is such a big embarrassment to EMU. Or was it just 20 seconds of your life that you wont get back.
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Carl, you’re talking in circles. You can’t say that the cinder blocks aren’t a waste of money, because somebody bought them….from the Athletic budget. If it was spray painted ‘Sponsored by Home Depot’, it would still be silly (in my opinion), and wasteful (in my opinion), but not a waste of money. Having a live eagle is not a game enhancer, it’s a gimmick. Padded seats, a heated dome, a jumbo tron with instant replay, those are game enhancers. Having an eagle, which I’m sure we pay to have at the game, is a gimmick, and I’m sure not a free gimmick. I’ve seen the video many times. I never said it was an embarrassment to EMU, but I do think it’s a gimmick. Coach said breaking down the wall is to get the team hyped up…..but getting hype in the tunnel out to the field is also an option. Breaking down a wall (which has nothing to do with a factory) is a gimmick.
How else would people comment on these gimmicks, if not for social media? If there is a suggestion box at the stadium, please point me in that direction. I’d love to submit my opinion on a lot of things EMU related. So, people have decided, and they expressed their decision by sharing a video on facebook and saying things like, “This is stupid” or, “This is my alma mater?”.
I know you’ll never see it any way but your own, but clearly you and anyone else can see, people think it’s silly.
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While at the game I learned the Eagle was brought to us by the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor – a group that received a nice plug and logo on the screen. A first year marketing student would tell you that its likely a trade and at no cost to EMU. I could be wrong. But I will ask someone from the Ecology Center at the next game … where the team plays. I won’t wait for someone on EMUtalk.org to tell me its a waste of money. The things one learns when one attends games but commenting on them after, when a narrative already exists is fun too. But I don’t see many faculty at games … the rarefied air they breathe does not exist at the games apparently.
So the Colorado Buffalo (Ralphie) is a gimmick? Not a game-day atmosphere enhancer? The Sooner Shcooner? The dozens of other schools that have such tradition. Chief Osceola At FSU? Watch this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCXirjEkiOM Are these gimmicks or part of the enhancement of the experience? It’s a fine line but having a live Eagle is not a gimmick. In time, it could be cool. http://www.buzzfeed.com/gamedayespn/coolest-traditions-in-college-football#448fwrn
Just because its new does not mean its a gimmick. Does not mean you have to like it of course but by your definition everything is a gimmick … the band? The cheerleaders too?
Finally – there are expenses, costs of doing business, and wastes of money. Some are easier to define than others. In the scheme of things a few sledge hammers and cinder blocks barely registers … it only registers enough for someone to complain about, actually.
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You crack me up. 1) You can spot faculty sitting in the stands? Do they have an aura around them, or is it the tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbow? 2) You have no idea that I wasn’t at the game. 3) I’m not faculty, but I do appreciate you thinking I’m smart enough to be a PhDizzle.
No, the band and cheerleaders are a gimmick, they are entertainment. An eagle teathered to a woman’s arm isn’t entertainment, it’s a ploy to try and get people in seats. Yes, Ralphie the buffalo is also a gimmick. A first year marketing student would tell you that it’s likely a gimmick.
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In the interest of keeping this discussion grounded in facts, my quick estimate from looking at close-up photos is that there were a few less than 70 blocks in the wall. A standard concrete block (8″x8″x16″, which is what I think they used) costs $1.41 at Lowe’s. Based on that, the total material cost was less than $100. You’re free to call it a waste of money if you want, but let’s at least be clear that the dollar figures involved are pretty small.
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Cmadler, I appreciate your research on cinder block prices! Nobody I know of said it was a huge waste of dollars — but in a town with a lot of unmet need, the symbolism of taking perfectly good housing material, and destroying it, is still deeply offensive to many. Indeed, lots of Americans are morally opposed to the wastefulness that marks so much of our society. Good marketing does not result in lots of people offended, or ridiculing your institution. And yes, people who are morally offended by something – anything – are prone to overstatement. That’s life.
Carl, you’re absolutely right that breaking the so-called wall down before the game wasn’t a big deal in the stadium; many did not even notice it. So what? The stunt was replayed across much media, in the absolutely predictable ways of our media culture — and thus EMU was made into a joke. As my sports obsessed young professional relative told me this week, “EMU is a loser school, Mark, and it works hard to keep up that image with all this goofy stuff!” He can tell you the standings of all college football programs, and EMU never looks good; so why do we take on ridicule too? Sure, Carl, we can agree that EPSN isn’t fair. (Is this a news flash? The mass media isn’t fair? Really?!?) Your complaint is true but irrelevant to any serious attempt to present the University in ways that will be positive in the media.
Most EMU news coverage, including both athletic and non-athletic news, has been about scandals, terrible crimes,pathetic standings for football, or small incidents turned into something to ridicule. A well run institution would strategically minimize causes for any of these types of EMU stories. The gray turf, cinder block wall, and “The Factory” tag are all examples of irrelevancy at best and negative marketing at worse, rather typical of the Welch Hall messaging efforts over the years. Sad.
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I thought the misconception EMU functioned under was that football/athletics will bring students to enroll in the school. This blue-collar ‘factory’ mentality doesn’t really scream academics, and will probably make students think that EMU is just a big community college.
Side note, I’m an EMU student again c/o starting the HR grad program at the COB this week. That lets me complain even more about how much tuition money is wasted on athletics! (although the cost of the entire 2-year program pales to the cost of one semester of law school, but that’s a different issue)
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I thought the wall was just for the season opener…
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If their coach were, perhaps, better, he could instill that bit of psyching-up his own damned self. I think he and Heather need to brush up the ole resume PDQ. I was so embarrassed by the team’s “performance” this past weekend, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about the football “program” (pardon the quotes, they are heartfelt). All I want on this topic is an end to the clown show that EMU is becoming based mainly on this football fiasco.
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I also thought it was just for the season opener, but why not double-down on a totally failed concept that made EMU the butt of many jokes in the sports media and in Ypsilanti? Maybe as an old stunt, it will produce less ridicule and that can be counted as a success, regardless of on the field performance.
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Maybe in some twisted sort of reverse psychological ploy, EMU is trying to succeed at being the worst ever in college football. To be that bad for that long is actually harder than it looks. I’m sure that’s not really the case, but if you look at it another way, it looks somewhat credible.
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