Really nice crowd. Entertaining game.

 

This makes 5 in a row to start the season that the Norse have eclipsed the 80 point mark at home. Wonder if Dominoes is going to rethink their pizza giveaway for next season? :lol2:

 

My NKU kid was lamenting missing the game AND the resulting pizza award lol (studying for finals) – the pizza thing is huge among the students (of course!).

This article is from 2016 but if Dominoes is looking to bail LaRosa's might be glad to step in. They kind of get the idea.......

 

 

Why LaRosa’s wishes it was giving away more pizza for Reds strikeouts

 

It has been a down season for the Cincinnati Reds, not only in the standings but also for fans looking to get free pizza.

 

One of the Reds’ most popular promotions ever, the LaRosa’s free pizza giveaway every time Reds pitchers strike out at least 11 batters in a home game, has satisfied a lot of appetites in the last few years. But not this season.

 

LaRosa’s has given away free pizza after just four games so far this season, halfway through the Reds home schedule. That’s a pace for eight games this season, if you’re scoring at home. It’s a far cry from the 21, 22 and 22 games in which the Reds have struck out at least 11 batters in each of the last three seasons, respectively.

 

Things looked even worse for hungry fans a week ago. The Reds struck out 11 batters just twice at home all season before hitting the jackpot on Saturday and again Tuesday night.

 

You might think the low number of giveaways is good news for LaRosa’s. After all, it doesn’t have to dish up a lot of free pizzas. But you’d be wrong.

 

“We’re always happy when we get to share an 11-strikeout game with Reds fans (who are) our guests,” Pete Buscani, LaRosa’s executive vice president of marketing, told me.

 

LaRosa’s gave away an average of $900,000 worth of pizza the last in three years as a result of the promotion. It has only given away $62,000 in pies so far this season after the first three giveaways. Fans weren’t eligible to cash in the fourth one from Tuesday night’s game until Wednesday morning’s game.

 

But Buscani has told me in the past LaRosa’s loves the giveaway and so do its franchisees. They bear the brunt of the cost, but the giveaway is great publicity for the local chain and it generates a ton of customer traffic.

 

“It just creates a buzz at the ballpark,” Buscani told me after last season. “That feeling translates to when they redeem their tickets. They’re just jumping out of their skin.”

 

Why the down numbers? It’s a byproduct of the Reds' rebuilding process that has put the team in last place with a 29-49 record. They traded away Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake in late July last season. They were the two top strikeout pitchers the previous year and were piling up whiffs last year. And, perhaps most significantly, they traded away flamethrowing closer Aroldis Chapman after last season. He struck out 116 last year and averaged 1.7 strikeouts per inning.

 

LaRosa’s sales, which totaled $153 million last year, certainly haven’t been hurt by the lack of giveaways, Buscani said. But those franchisees undoubtedly want to get back the buzz of giveaways after Reds pitchers strike out 11 batters in a game.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2016/06/why-larosa-s-wishes-it-was-giving-away-more-pizza.html

What cracks me up are the BB&T arena workers walking the stands afterward looking for discarded tickets on the nights the Norse score 80+. They will walk right by trash in search of the "free pizza".

I saw a tweet today and it reminded me that I thoroughly enjoy seeing NKU smoke any OVC school.

I saw a tweet today and it reminded me that I thoroughly enjoy seeing NKU smoke any OVC school.

 

About how the OVC was too scared to allow NKU join the conference?

I saw a tweet today and it reminded me that I thoroughly enjoy seeing NKU smoke any OVC school.

Saw the same tweet, but doesn't it sort of validate their point?

My NKU kid was lamenting missing the game AND the resulting pizza award lol (studying for finals) – the pizza thing is huge among the students (of course!).

 

That's what I was thinking. I would have done about anything for a free pizza in college.

About how the OVC was too scared to allow NKU join the conference?

 

Saw the same tweet, but doesn't it sort of validate their point?

 

Yup. But their point is weak. You should want to make your conference as strong as you can.

 

Also weaker to have the TN schools agree to vote against NKU because the KY schools didn't want it to appear that they were blocking it.

Yup. But their point is weak. You should want to make your conference as strong as you can.

 

Also weaker to have the TN schools agree to vote against NKU because the KY schools didn't want it to appear that they were blocking it.

 

I don't disagree, but it worked out well for all parties. The OVC is still a crap conference like they were determined to stay and NKU ended up in a much better league.

The OVC is still a crap conference like they were determined to stay and NKU ended up in a much better league.

 

Worth nothing, on 12/11/17: OVC is 21st and Horizon is 25th. (KenPom)

 

RPIForecast, expected year-end rank: OVC 20th and Horizon 27th.

 

Sorry to interrupt the local narrative with actual facts. :sssh:

Anyone thinking this is good for Dominoes stop by Newport right now and watch the stream of medium pizzas flying out the door. At least 30 while I was there.

 

Overheard on the way out from a worker “don’t worry this madness ends at 6”

 

Phone literally ringing off the hook.

Edited December 11, 20178 yr by Bench

Worth nothing, on 12/11/17: OVC is 21st and Horizon is 25th. (KenPom)

 

RPIForecast, expected year-end rank: OVC 20th and Horizon 27th.

 

Sorry to interrupt the local narrative with actual facts. :sssh:

 

Maybe so, didn’t really look this year, but I’d take NKU and Oakland over anything the OVC can put on the table.

Anyone thinking this is good for Dominoes stop by Newport right now and watch the stream of medium pizzas flying out the door. At least 30 while I was there.

 

Overheard on the way out from a worker “don’t worry this madness ends at 6”

 

Phone literally ringing off the hook.

 

BTW it does not end at 6. Newport store claims it is only good until then but that is not part of the deal and Latonia store will take them the entire day after the game (starting at 11 AM) which is what the promotion is.

BTW it does not end at 6. Newport store claims it is only good until then but that is not part of the deal and Latonia store will take them the entire day after the game (starting at 11 AM) which is what the promotion is.

I was told by NKU folks it ends 24 hours after tip-off. So today it would have ended at 6’

Big difference between the LaRosa's small personal pie vs. a Medium pizza. At least with LaRosa's they had a decent shot of something something with the freebie.