For the home team

Buffalo Bulls football seems to be everywhere.

If you're out and about in the Queen City, you're bound to see something as a key marketing tool. There are billboards on the I-190, and head coach Jeff Quinn has been interviewed on nearly every radio station and let's not forget The Jeff Quinn Show.

Quinn, the coach whose name is now as big at UB as Vince Lombardi's is in the NFL, but without the results to back it up. The football season fires up this coming weekend, and more so than ever, this season is make or break for the Bulls. With a lackluster record and poor attendance, the focus is on not just what the team can do to boost the win column but put it in the best possible light.

It's no accident that new Athletic Director Danny White is coming in at this time and bringing a new vision with him. White, who led the way to the completion of the Academic and Athletic Performance Center at Northern Illinois, has already stated that he thinks UB is deserving of the same type of facility. Why? National attention. He wants to attract top recruits to the area.

But if you're not getting the desired result, it doesn't matter how big your building is and how much money you're putting into it.

Think of football like any product. If you're shelling out money and not getting the desired quality, then what's the point? The Bulls need to understand it's the same concept - if you're not producing wins, then people can only care so much about how big your billboards are.

But what game are we playing, UB - marketing or football?

Yes, Buffalo has a stigma for not having good teams. Yes, the Bulls' record last year was 3-9 and 2-10 the year before.

But Buffalo's on-field performance is only half the battle. When your True Blue sections are failing to fill, and your fans only show up begrudgingly, you have to worry about the big picture. And the big picture in this case is identity.

There's a certain disconnect between the team and the school that isn't talked about as much as it probably should be. Even inside the UB campus, the Bulls are a separate entity from the rest of the school. Past the first few games, the number of people throwing on their UB blues and lining up for games isn't nearly as high as it should be.

Bulls football should take the initiative that other teams do to connect with the student body. If that involves something as simple as standing in the Union for hours and actually getting to know who comes to games, then so be it. You can't expect students to show up to games if they don't have a reason to care, and school spirit just isn't enough if everyone isn't bleeding blue and white from every orifice.

Because the Bulls can't be just a football team that plays for UB; it has to be UB's football team.

Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com