Time to Evolve the Syracuse Orange Fan Brand?
Man do I get excited when College Basketball Season rolls around. This is my alma mater's final year in the Big East and soon we'll be official card carrying members of the ACC. While it took some time to absorb- the news broke while I was with the exemplary author of "God, Country, Boeheim" at USC for the Syracuse at USC football game in September of 2011- I have now come to terms and am really looking forward to the new rivalries that Duke and UNC will bring to the campus on The Hill.
One thing is bothering me however, will the fan base at the Dome be able to Get Up for these games? Will the inherent hatred naturally incubated in the heart of each Orange fan when the Hoyas come to town be able to translate when the Tar Heels bounce balls on Jim Boeheim Court? While I'm sure Coach K and Jimmy B have cultivated a wonderful relationship while coaching the Olympic team together, will the Orange fan have the heart to scream their brains out a'la the Cameron Crazies when the Blue Devils come to town?
While it may have been some time since I've been to a game (1996 in fact) I can't imagine the fan base has changed that much. Yeah, we clap in unison until the Orange drops their first field goal. Neato. Whoopie. Then it's usually quiet enough to work some calculus proofs. That is until the last few minutes of a close game where most of the noise is directed at the Refs- Cue the Tim Higgins photo.
We are now in the midst of the "Branding Age", where branding your product is the most important marketing aspect to all that we do. Do the Orange fans have a Brand?
We need to take advantage of our record setting attendance in such a way that ACC teams will be subliminally thinking about the intensity of the crowd that surrounds them 30,000+ strong. The crowd in a basketball game can be one of the best advantages a team has, unless of course said crowd is sitting on its hands.
Speaking of hands-
Hand signs.
I say we steal the O hand sign of the Dopey Ducks of Oregon because Orange comes before Oregon in the dictionary giving us the rights to it if we so choose to steal it. Displaying 30,000+ pairs of hands underneath the architectural O created by the roof of the Dome, could quite possibly have some psychological effect. If turning a particular beer's label out toward a field goal kicker creates some parallel universe's draw, then imagine the draw of the O. As the commercial touts, "It's only weird if it doesn't work". To have the draw from parallel fields of energy harnessed in a proud O held over the head by two hands doesn't do the trick, well... it's probably Higgins' fault. Have you seen the dark cloud that follows that guy?
In order to propel the powers of the parallel universe, we also need a chant that the entire Dome can yell in unison to adopt the Drone like hum of the Cameron crazies while the O is strategically placed over one's head. Why don't we all yell "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" while throwing up our CNY gang sign? The reverberation off of the bottom of the Dome would be amazing. As C.liesen remarked: "It could the the Drone of the Zone"
...with the reverb of the Dome.
Damn I'm smooth...
Is this not a bit more marketable than the rhythmic clap that only lasts until our first FG falls? We all know that we have the power of energizing our team to victory if we only make it visible and audible!
And should we get blown out, we can all do what the Great Jimmy B does, sit slumped over and clean out our right nostril.
Or we could just blame it on the refs.
Something tells me that this year's team will not be experiencing any blowouts.
LETS GO ORANGE!!
One thing is bothering me however, will the fan base at the Dome be able to Get Up for these games? Will the inherent hatred naturally incubated in the heart of each Orange fan when the Hoyas come to town be able to translate when the Tar Heels bounce balls on Jim Boeheim Court? While I'm sure Coach K and Jimmy B have cultivated a wonderful relationship while coaching the Olympic team together, will the Orange fan have the heart to scream their brains out a'la the Cameron Crazies when the Blue Devils come to town?
While it may have been some time since I've been to a game (1996 in fact) I can't imagine the fan base has changed that much. Yeah, we clap in unison until the Orange drops their first field goal. Neato. Whoopie. Then it's usually quiet enough to work some calculus proofs. That is until the last few minutes of a close game where most of the noise is directed at the Refs- Cue the Tim Higgins photo.
We are now in the midst of the "Branding Age", where branding your product is the most important marketing aspect to all that we do. Do the Orange fans have a Brand?
We need to take advantage of our record setting attendance in such a way that ACC teams will be subliminally thinking about the intensity of the crowd that surrounds them 30,000+ strong. The crowd in a basketball game can be one of the best advantages a team has, unless of course said crowd is sitting on its hands.
Speaking of hands-
Hand signs.
I say we steal the O hand sign of the Dopey Ducks of Oregon because Orange comes before Oregon in the dictionary giving us the rights to it if we so choose to steal it. Displaying 30,000+ pairs of hands underneath the architectural O created by the roof of the Dome, could quite possibly have some psychological effect. If turning a particular beer's label out toward a field goal kicker creates some parallel universe's draw, then imagine the draw of the O. As the commercial touts, "It's only weird if it doesn't work". To have the draw from parallel fields of energy harnessed in a proud O held over the head by two hands doesn't do the trick, well... it's probably Higgins' fault. Have you seen the dark cloud that follows that guy?
In order to propel the powers of the parallel universe, we also need a chant that the entire Dome can yell in unison to adopt the Drone like hum of the Cameron crazies while the O is strategically placed over one's head. Why don't we all yell "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" while throwing up our CNY gang sign? The reverberation off of the bottom of the Dome would be amazing. As C.liesen remarked: "It could the the Drone of the Zone"
...with the reverb of the Dome.
Damn I'm smooth...
Is this not a bit more marketable than the rhythmic clap that only lasts until our first FG falls? We all know that we have the power of energizing our team to victory if we only make it visible and audible!
And should we get blown out, we can all do what the Great Jimmy B does, sit slumped over and clean out our right nostril.
Or we could just blame it on the refs.
Something tells me that this year's team will not be experiencing any blowouts.
LETS GO ORANGE!!
