UC’s Wes Miller, Simas Lukosius on Dayton loss
UC’s Wes Miller, Simas Lukosius on Dayton loss in Hoops Classic at Heritage Bank Center
Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: jwilliams@enquirer.com
Subject: No love for Dayton Flyers basketball in Cincinnati media
Message: Cincinnati (media) has never given Dayton the due credit it deserves. For whatever reason, there’s bias from the Cincinnati (media) about the Dayton Flyers. The team 50 miles north is just as good as the teams in this area, but I think a lot of us UD alumni believe there’s a conscious effort to keep (Flyers coverage) out.
Reply: The obvious answer is we’re not the Dayton Enquirer. Two cities. Two separate media markets. The Cincinnati media is never going to cover UD regularly. Just like the Dayton media is never going to cover the Bearcats and Musketeers.
It’d be easy to stop here, but this deserves more because you’re not the first person to raise this topic.
The University of Dayton has 10,000 alumni living in Greater Cincinnati, according to UD’s website. That’s a strong, out-of-town alumni base. Some Greater Cincinnati-based UD alums may identify with both cities, and the media-market line could seem blurred for the diehard Flyers fans living in and around the I-275 loop.
Not all Cincinnati media ignores UD basketball. 700 WLW’s Lance McAlister and ESPN 1530’s Mo Egger, a UD alum, deserve credit. They typically give the Flyers some love on their radio shows during basketball season.
Further, the Cincinnati media would probably pay a little more attention to the Flyers if they were in the Big East Conference (where they should be) along with old rival Xavier. The Dayton-Xavier annual rivalry ended in 2013, when the Muskies left the Atlantic 10 Conference to move to the Big East. Dayton remains in the Atlantic 10.
UC and Dayton renewed their rivalry last December for the first time since 2010. The neutral-site game at Heritage Bank Center drew a nice-sized crowd of 12,547. It was a great turnout by Flyer fans, who chanted “this is our house” as Dayton won the 92nd all-time meeting against UC, 82-68. Dayton and UC might play again this season at Heritage Bank Center, according to College Hoops Today.
Only bias here: I’d love to see Dayton play at least one Greater Cincinnati team every season – and count the Northern Kentucky Norse in the mix, too. That’d certainly get my attention.