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Saints Soar Past Hawks for 26th Straight Home Win in front of 7,998

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The Siena men's basketball attendance record that was set last season may not stand for long.

Based on season-ticket sales, the Saints could draw even more people to Times Union Center than in 2008-09, when they averaged 7,497 fans.
That was the highest average attendance since the team moved to Times Union Center full time for the 1997-98 season.

Siena, which begins its home schedule Tuesday against Northeastern, has sold 4,068 season-ticket packages -- an all-time high for the program and about 500 more than last year.

"You're looking at a successful team, and based on the season tickets sold, there should be strong attendance this year," Siena athletic director John D'Argenio said. "First and foremost it's because of the product."

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Art Director - Bill Etter
Account Executive - Jason Snapkoski

But when Chiefs running back Larry Johnson used an antigay slur on his Twitter account and in the locker room this week, he struck a nerve that makes professional sports leagues wince.

The NFL, like other pro sports leagues, is perceived as homophobic. Of the more than 20,000 athletes who have played in the NFL, less than a handful have identified themselves as gay -- David Kopay was the first in 1975, followed by Roy Simmons and Esera Tuaolo -- and only after their careers had ended.

Now the image-conscious NFL -- which fines players for wearing droopy socks or the wrong-colored chin straps, is frightened by the prospect of Rush Limbaugh as an owner and enforces a rigid personal conduct policy -- is confronted with how to deal with gay-bashing.

"There isn't a road map for this," said Bob Leffler, president of the Baltimore-based The Leffler Agency, the largest sports-advertising company in the country and former sales and marketing director of the Baltimore Colts. "It's different from other fines like leading with your helmet.

"It's a freedom of speech issue. For whatever reason people are more truthful with their tweets and Facebook. ... When you have extreme masculinity situations like football, people who have a hangup about (homosexuality) are more intimidated by it. But there's no place for a homophobe."

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The Bearcats next home games versus West Virginia is already sold out. Cincinnati is ranked 5th in the country.

Shayna Raynor is a recent graduate from Florida Atlantic University where she got a BA in Multimedia Studies and a Minor in Political Science. She was a cheerleader for the University. She has experience with television and worked at Local 10 in Miami. She is very involved in the community with Breast Cancer Awareness Walks and Metropolitan Ministries. She is a certified personal trainer.

Samantha Sankovich, a Baltimore native, graduated from the University of Maryland - Baltimore County with a degree in American Studies, with an emphasis on Media Communications. While at UMBC, Samantha was a member of the women's Division I lacrosse team. She then went on to receive her Masters degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Miami. Samantha brings fresh ideas and a creative edge to the clients of the Leffler Agency. As point person for several different clients and projects, Sankovich will use her extensive athletic background and honed media knowledge to gain substantial media coverage for her clients, as well as for collateral and web consulting.

The Leffler Agency is a full-service advertising and marketing firm. This award-winning agency specializes in strategic revenue acquisition planning, budget expansion, promotional networking, and strategic creative imaging. It maintains a reputation for creativity, practicality, and versatility.

On Sale now is The Big Three plan. The plan focuses on three big games for one low price. Included in the package is the annual clash with crosstown rival Albany as part of a men's and women's doubleheader on December 5, and the choice of two additional non-league games, including: the nationally televised home opener against Northeastern on November 17, the Delaware game on November 24 when the 2009 MAAC Championship/NCAA Second Round banner will be unveiled, the game against Atlantic 10 power St. Joseph's on December 29 and the contest with NEC favorite Mt. St. Mary's on January 2.

Leffler Agency is pleased to add another entertainment client to our wide sports and entertainment sector.

The Leffler Agency, with offices in Baltimore, Md., Tampa, Fla., and Providence, RI has been in business since 1984, and has more sports/entertainment accounts than any agency in the nation. Leffler has a national reputation for helping teams and organizations grow their ticket bases. Leffler works with collegiate programs and several professional teams such as the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If you wish to find out more about Brigance's charity or make a donation, please go to www.brigancebrigade.org

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O.J. BRIGANCE FEATURE ON OUTSIDE THE LINES

"We want to get 40,000 people in the stands," said Steve Beck, executive director of the EagleBank Bowl.

The Dec. 29 game pits Army against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference at RFK Stadium in D.C. It costs $30 for regular tickets, reduced from $45 last year. Ticket sales will be affected by what team Army plays, according to Beck.

"A team from Conference USA might have a different flavor to it. If it's [between] Maryland or the University of Miami, there will be a lot more tickets sold if it's Maryland," said Beck.

Organizers are advertising on Metro trains and buses, in print and on TV.

This year the bowl brought in an advertising agency to launch a marketing campaign. It hired Baltimore-based Leffler Agency, which also does PR for such college sports teams as Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University.

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The bowl announced this week a new advertising campaign to remind people about the Dec. 29 college football game, which could feature Army and a team from the ACC.

The game's new slogan is "DCember Rocks at RFK," a play on both the month and the location. Baltimore-based Leffler Agency conceived the campaign, which comes after the bowl rolled out a series of events at bars and restaurants throughout the region, including viewing parties of a different college football game each week.

"The idea generally is to create more excitement in the nation's capital, and that's what we want it to be," said Erik Moses, CEO of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission and co-chairman of the bowl committee. "We want it to be something that the community here and in the Washington metropolitan area looks forward to every December."

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For the 11th consecutive year, the Leffler Agency of Baltimore and Tampa designed the official Preakness logo. Four times this decade their Preakness designs have won major national awards for the agency.

Preakness - a single word says it all! The 2010 logo proudly proclaims "Preakness" with three jaunty race horses and jockeys racing across the text. The font for the "Preakness" is somewhat traditional, but by presenting the text in upper and lower case, a fresh, friendly feel is given to a traditional serif type face. The three horses that sprint along the top of the logo have been illustrated to look clean, vigorous and modern. Vivid red, black and gold colors from the Maryland flag, on a stark white background, add to the visual impact of the 2010 logo. In the subtext below "Preakness", a festive Black-Eyed Susan sprouts out between date, venue and city.

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DCember Rocks at RFK is a play on the Bowl game's month and city location and is intended to elicit high energy and anticipation for the game as well as encourage people to come out to the stadium for a good time. Fans through the years have enjoyed RFK Stadium's legendary bouncy seats and rockin' stands for football and soccer games.
In addition, DCember Rocks at RFK captures the excitement and vitality of an event that is growing into one of the signature sporting events in the mid-atlantic region.

The campaign was conceived and designed by the Leffler Agency, the Bowl's advertising agency. The DCember Rocks at RFK theme will be carried out on all marketing and advertising materials including the bowl website, signage and outdoor, print, radio, television and internet advertising. In conjunction with the advertising rollout, a DCember Rocks at RFK logo has been created to highlight the campaign. This logo includes football images, to signify the targeted sport, and stars - as a tribute to the military.

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