(06-29-2015 10:19 AM)rabidTU2 Wrote: Group A
Longhorns
Gators
Wolverines
Seminoles
Group B
Aggies
Bulldogs
Sooners
Cornhuskers
Gophers
Bruins
Huskies (Wash)
Huskies (Conn)
Tigers
Golden Bears
What do all these college nicknames have in common? Use the link for a guess at my mystery question.
http://espn.go.com/ncaa/revenue
The answer is that Group A all have brands that gain them over $10,000,000 per year and Group B have branding that make them over $6,000,000 per year. But on top of that, they all have something else that links them together - that all their "branded" nicknames are living and breathing. Some are human and others are animals, but none are wind gusts or inanimate objects. There isn't a Golden Hurricane, Green Wave, Rocket, Zip or Mean Green in the bunch. Now I know what you are thinking, nicknames don't matter, but IMO they do and I have two examples in the list that verify that statement. The examples are Alabama and Ohio St.
Now those two schools should dominate branding money earned, but they are miniscule compaired to many of the others on the list. And what "is" a Buckeye anyway? Well its a tree nut that evidently grows up there in Ohio. So make sense out of that. And as for Alabama and the "Crimson Tide", their mascot is an elephant. So I suppose that elephant surfs that red ocean in Tuskaloosa. Just kidding.
But my point is that a "brand" has to make sense to the buyer that purchases that gear - the hat, the shirt, the stadium seat which all make money for the school. But of course Ohio St and Bama don't really need the money like a TU does since they have vast resources with TV contracts, huge 100,000 seat stadiums and big dollar tickets.
TU isn't either of those programs, but unlike them, we need every "branding" dollar we can get. Its money for our school. So IMO, TU needs a better brand. The "Golden Hurricane" needs to go the way of the OSU Aggie and ORU Titan - the trash dump.
Now of course there always is pushback when something like this is suggested, but those two "examples" (OSU - ORU) I mentioned above occurred and there wasn't that much criticism if my memory is correct. As a matter of fact, I think most fans would love to have a mascot that they wouldn't have to explain or a nickname they wouldn't have to spend 10 minutes giving the history of - a history that makes virtually no logical sense to begin with.
BTW, we used to have a poster on these boards named "Tallgrass" who basically was saying the same thing. I'm not sure if he still visits, but IMO he was right all along. TU's nickname is a disadvantage to fans, makes no sense and won't raise money for the programs. Change it for the better and all those negatives will vanish.
Its all about the money in the end.