BOKC Wildcat

I'm a proud Henry Clay graduate from the early '70s and wish I could get down to Lexington to see this one! Any Blue Devils recall HCHS great Michael Scearce? I was wondering what happened with him after college. Never heard of him again. Any information appreciated! Thanks.

If these allegations are true, this guy should spend the rest of his life in prison. That will teach him a thing or two about his crime - literally.

Funny story about their marketing is last year Nelligan Sports owned the rights and was bought by Learfield. Nelligan had a guy who worked in the BOKC offices named Jim Gibson, a really nice fella who worked his butt off to try and help NKU with some marketing. He told the story that the NKU women's coach was upset about her lack of promotions and publicity and the athletics marketing staff had to assign a GA to women's basketball to make her quiet down about why she doesn't get what the NKU men's basketball program gets. Jim would point out the women's crowds during games last season and laugh about her complaints since the women draw about 300 a game and the men had over 1,000 per game. lol!

No, SMG is not responsible for marketing NKU basketball. NKU has a marketing and promotions department with a full staff that does their marketing and promos. SMG helps in the tickets, to a smaller degree from what I understand, but NKU and the athletics dept. is responsible for the marketing of games. SMG does not do their publicity efforts either and Learfield Sports has the rights to their radio and electronic media. NKU is responsible for maintaining their own website with information and getting stories on TV and the papers, not SMG.

Remember a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Phillies named Steve Carlton? He never talked with the media and little was ever said about it, at least not like today's athletes. Can you imagine if Steve Carlton in 2015 REFUSED to talk to the media in the World Series? If I remember correctly, Eddie Murray from the Orioles also hated talking with the media!

I can't wait to see what NKU lists as their attendance for the women's game in Regents Hall on Feb. 21. They play North Florida for that game that has been moved from the BOKC. I know Regents Hall holds about 1,600, so it will be funny if NKU lists the crowd at 3,000 because of all the season tickets their men sold, staff, players, etc. Look for this to be the first of many NKU women's games moving to Regents Hall the next few years.

We have noticed the past two years NKU seems to inflate their attendance numbers for the public, no one really understands this at SMG. I saw the ACTUAL attendance count (those who entered the arena via tickets) and it was 4,019. NKU's 5,089 reflects those who have season tickets, even if they don't show up, players, coaches and staff for both teams, game crew, media, cheerleaders, band, dancers, even public safety and SMG workers! So take that NKU ANNOUNCED CROWD and subtract about 600-700 every game, if not more.

The NCAA will mysteriously assign NBA game-throwing specialist Joey Crawford to a UK game if they remain unbeaten much longer. lol!

Here is a scoop from one of the NKU men's basketball coaches about their schedule next year. NKU will play Xavier. The coach did not say if it is at the BOKC or at Xavier. But it is going to happen next season. Hopefully if its at the BOKC they don't play it on a Sunday against the NFL. lol!

You are incorrect. There were 4,019 in ACTUAL attendance for the West Va. game. You are counting in people who buy tickets and don't show, all personnel that NKU counts as attendance which I don't understand (they count players, coaches, game staff at the table). Trust me, there were not even close to the 6,000 you claim.

If its a Title 9 violation, why is NKU playing the women's game in Regents Hall next month? I don't know much about Title 9. Front row of the bleachers you say? How are they going to transport The Vault over the Regents Hall? Free admission to The Vault is part of your perks for being court side ticket holders. lol!

Elton's 70s stuff was great. Island Girl, Philadelphia Freedom, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting! His 80s music was very pedestrian!

We had Bob Dylan at the BOKC a few years ago! I asked him for a autograph in the green room and he said to ask his agent. lol.

I did not even know that. Makes playing the West Va. game on that Sunday even more questionable.

I know the building cost around $68 million dollars of state money. Not sure who primary tenant is. I say whoever brings in the money to finance the building. In a perfect world, NKU would be a primary tenant, but reality is they have very few fans compared to the high schools and big events. I don't know why they can't play the women's games in Regents Hall. As I said, they are playing a women's game in Regents Hall next month and that will be a preview of things to come, in my opinion. They will have 300-400 fans and have a real advantage playing in front of them in a smaller arena. Those same fans in the BOKC don't pay for the electricity bills. There is a disconnect between NKU and SMG on how to handle the building, dates, and the like, but keep in mind the circus that moved NKU out of the BOKC in 2009. BOTH teams had to play games in Regents Hall. So who knows who the primary tenant really is. They moved the women's game out this year to Regents Hall and cushioned it by saying it's Retro Night (wink-wink). Wonder how the court side seat ticket holders are going to use their court side seats in Regents Hall next month for the women's game? (wink-wink!).

Little dogs don't bother old Marine vets! I've seen a lot worse bites in my time, so these little barks just amuse me! lol

I am actually defending my employer, SMG, against the person who said we are not hosting the 9th region. Just FYI.

I took from the conversation that people question the effectiveness of NKU moving to Division I. I never saw them and their crowds in Regents Hall, but everyone who did seems to think the atmosphere was much better due to a smaller venue. It does make sense that if you are drawing about 1,000 per game, Regents Hall was perfect for their basketball program. Now they play in from of 8,000 empty seats in a huge arena virtually every game. One of the assistant coaches told us they should have built the BOKC at about 5,000 capacity for basketball, but even that is too big based on the crowds. They had West Va. in this season and only had about 4,000 show up, partly because they messed up and played on a Sunday against the NFL and with the Bengals at home vs. the Steelers. That is plain old lack of common sense on someone's part at NKU, not the BOKC. Right after that game, you could tell their administrators were not happy with the crowd because they were telling everyone it would be a sellout when the game was announced. The fact they only had 4,000 or so, many of them West Va. fans, convinced me the SMG brass is correct in that NKU basketball is hurting the business of generating revenue. My solution would be to put all the women's games back in Regents Hall, and let the men play selected games in the BOKC that have the potential to draw. I am not sure how to do that, but SMG could bring in a slew of shows in the winter were they not handcuffed by having to set aside dates for NKU basketball, even the women's games that draw about 200-400 fans!

Says who? Have you got access to any agreements we sign at the BOKC? No, because we do not. Anything I have posted here is common knowledge. I work part time at the BOKC for events only. Please refrain from telling me what is appropriate if you do not have all the facts. Thank you.

Agree with you one hundred pct! SMG and the BOKC has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the parking, that is all on NKU. Their public safety has no idea how to control traffic for big events. Parking is all NKU. Concessions, well, no comment! lol.

In the first year NKU made a deal to have the circus in the BOKC and forced their own basketball teams to play in Regents Hall near the end of the season. I worked the circus 3 or 4 straight days and NKU was in Regents Hall. Not sure of the particulars, but Les Crooks was the GM of the BOKC who made that deal for the circus. There was lots of controversy about it and he left the BOKC for a reason I wasn't privy to. James Votruba was the NKU President at the time and said he knew nothing about the circus taking priority over the NKU basketball, but that's hard to believe. The lady athletic director at the time said they were given a choice of weekends to play at the BOKC and they chose a tournament week because of the women's team. I remember the women's team did host a tournament after that in March. All of us were told by the SMG brass to refer any circus questions to Kevin Contardo, who was the SMG PR person then.

Were the games with Ken Shields in Regents Hall attended well? I never saw a game over there until 2006.

All concerts bleachers pulled back. High school proms, specialty events (roller skating, Circus Solei, Walking with Dinosaurs) also retracted. I think they will begin pulling them back for high school games shortly. They could pull back for NKU games, but there is not enough students there for those games to bother.

The NKU people say their students get in for free already. I know they always have youth groups in attendance and assumed they got in free as well. Why did they build a 9,000-seat arena for a program that can barely get 1,000 fans a night in my question. Last week they had an OK crowd on Thursday, but Saturday was another so-so attendance day. Some of their own people were complaining about playing at almost the same time as UK that day and I agree with them. That's on who ever does scheduling. Like I said earlier, there seems to be a lack of understanding by the NKU administrators on scheduling game times and even teams. They brought in Clermont College and another school from Ohio Mid-West earlier in the season and never understood that.

Still there for events on a part time basis. I was there for Carrie Underwood working the first event, Walking With Dinosaurs, Louisville vs. NKU basketball exhibition, you name it!