Corn Hole Champs

Persa for Heisman campaign already in full swing!

Northwestern Launches PersaStrong, An Awareness Campaign for Heisman Trophy Candidate Dan Persa

So far, not going so well:

Love how Wetzel refuses to say Persa'a name in the tweet. Expert.

why is the A in persa the only letter not bolded?

Bunch of idiots at Northwestern.

Apparently, NWU bought a billboard near ESPN HQ in Connecticut with the same theme.

One in CT, one in Chicago.

pretty big waste of money imo

marketing experts itt

Confirmed. Persa has already won, the actual season is just a formality.

for those confused, the purpose of the marketing campaign isn't to get Dan Persa to win the Heisman, he has no realistic chance. It's just to get his name out there, promote the team, get talked about by the national media, and thus get more people to show up for home games and help recruiting.

I'm not some NU suckup, their marketing overall needs work (they still completely ignore the basketball team which tilts me to no end), but this is a smart move. So is trying to market themselves as "Chicago's Big Ten Team" even though most people in Chicago couldn't care less. They have to start somewhere after decades of being irrelevant, and I'm glad they're at least making an attempt to change that.

Shun this unbeliever.

he's no Zak Kustok imo

he's no mike kafka imo

Tough to be Chicago's Big Ten Team when every college football fan in the city is an alumni of Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, or some other Big Ten School. Putting the marketing force behind one player is going to backfire when Persa gets injured by mid-October.

I'm trying to think if any smaller private schools are that popular. I know Miami would be one, are there any others? USC is private but pretty big.

College sports are a bit trickier when you don't have any actual ties to the university. The best places for that are where there people who don't move and have no other pro sports teams to root for (Nebraska, Alabama).

I don't see casual random fans jumping on the bandwagon of random elitist schools they have no ties to and have mediocre programs. Miami had an identity and was good, so they were easy to jump on (and off, see the empty stadium for proof of that).

Duke in basketball, although they obviously fit into the Miami mold more.

Basketball is a different animal by far due to smaller stadiums and how much easier it is to get 5 guys who can play vs. 22. You can just root for Georgia football for Duke.

Stanford

Stanford has fans?

They're somewhere between Northwestern and Miami

Stanford averaged 40,042 fans per game last year when they were a top team. Northwestern averaged 36,449. Miami 52,575.
In 2009, NW had 24,190, Stanford 41,436, Miami 47,551.
It's surprisingly close.

Notre Dame is a great example of a popular smallish private school with a huge fan base, but the historical and religious ties help them a lot.

My birthday is in a couple hours. Mom FedEx'ed me my birthday gift and I got it today. Among other smaller things, got a regulation size football signed by Tom Osborne and Bo Pelini

GBR

Mine is coming up, but it's going to be hard to top last years: