carpeaqua

I was ordered to return home this weekend for Hanna’s cheerleading debut with the Evansville Bluecats. The Bluecats are part of the National Indoor Football League, which I would say is a step below the XFL and Arena Football in football league standards. One of the selling points of NIFL is that they put their teams in smaller mid-markets like Evansville that will never get a major league team (NFL, NBA, Arena Football, MLS, you get the point).

Hanna did an excellent job with all her cheerleading stuff, although she was a bit upset with the snotty team captain who she doesn’t get along with. Besides the midget cheerleaders, there are also real cheerleaders: The Bluecats Professional Cheerleaders. I was not impressed with them at all. Most of them looked like three dollar strippers down at Chances Are. There was way too much makeup and tan on 95% of the ladies. I am of the belief that mascots and cheerleaders should be abolished from all professional sporting events. Focus on the damn game. That is what I paid $15 to see.

The game itself was entertaining. There was a high score, lots of hard hitting, and some enjoyable drunk fans. After the game, I went down to the field and the walls they are ramming into have no padding whatsoever. The field doesn’t either. OUCH! I doubt any of these guys are going to be making it in the big time, but for our little town, it is a really fun Saturday night activity.

There was only one problem though…

NO ONE WAS AT THE GAME! The PA announcer said there were 4,000 people in attendance, but I find that hard to believe. I would guess that it was really under 2,000. This is sad to me because it is a rare event that Evansville gets anything interesting and different aside from a new chain restaurant. I can only assume that no one shows up because of all the personnel changes over the off-season with the team. There was a new coach, new owners, new players, etc. The fact that the team only won a single game last year probably didn’t help either.

While I was sitting in my seat, I began to think of ways that the owners could get more people into the seats. Let’s cover them.

1. Televise a game. I did not see any sort of television coverage at the game. If NBC14 or ABC25 would come out and throw a game on television one Saturday night, I think it would sell a lot more tickets. Presently, the Bluecats are airing the games on the radio, but how many people sit at home and listen to the radio anymore? If someone can actually see a game like they can the NFL or Arena, they are more likely to show up.
2. New PA Announcer. I couldn’t understand a damn word the guy was saying. He mumbled. It was quite annoying.
3. Free Beer Night. I guarantee a sellout if you offer a free beer with every paid ticket.
4. More press coverage. I looked in the Courier and Press on Sunday, and the Bluecats piece was on page 5 of the sports section. Yes, I know Matre Dei won State and USI lost the NCAA Division 2 championship (I am still crying), but page 5? If the local paper isn’t showing any interest in the team, why should the people of Evansville?
5. Coach’s Show. I don’t think that this is the case already, but why not buy a half hour slot on television and have one of the sports anchors interview the coach every week. Not only will it give the team more coverage, but the general public will be able to learn more about the players. One of the things that Arena Football and the NIFL have problems with is name recognition. I couldn’t name a single Bluecats player, but I could spout off stats for dozens of NFL players. Why? Name recognition. They get the coverage.

And on a lesser and more personal note, they really do need a better website. That thing is just a nightmare. The background, the use of font tags, not updated, poor choice of fonts, no CSS support whatsoever. Not to mention that two days after the game, there is no update covering the game. So sad.