Cincinnati Athletics: 2021-22
A selection of some of my favorite projects of the last 12 months. 🤓
Social Media Growth
One of my favorite parts of this past year is the massive swell of support we saw for the Bearcats. We have the hottest fan base in the country, and you can see that energy in the growth across our social media channels.
The @GoBEARCATS Twitter account was #1 in the country during the football season (And #2 in the country during football and basketball seasons).
The @gobearcats Instagram growth is #1 the in the country over the last 12 months (and the last 24 months).
@GoBearcatsMBB Twitter and Instagram growth was also #1 in the conference last year.
Bearcats Football Columns
I wrote about all 14 Bearcats football games. It’s something I used to do a lot, and I’ve missed it since I started working at UC. Even beyond any measurable success the series had, I’m glad I they exist if for nothing else than to serve as my personal diary on a season I don’t want to forget a minute of. I’m partial to the Notre Dame reflection, but you can go back and read ‘em all here.
Black History Month
Black History Month has been one of my favorite projects from the last couple years because researching these stories feels like learning stuff I should’ve already known. London Gant may have been the first titanic force in school history. Cheryl Cook was good enough by the end of high school that Bob Knight tried to recruit her to Indiana using Isiah Thomas. Tom Thacker is the only player in basketball history to win NCAA, ABA, and NBA titles.
I love old newspapers—not just for research purposes, but for how they look. Building these graphics (above) that incorporate words as they were seen at the time felt special (and hopefully made reading them on Instagram a little more fun).
The Return of “The Cats”
This particular Bearcats throwback is something I’ve wanted since I was a student. I got to dig through the archives to find inspiration from the ‘70s to make the social media graphics (some of them are above). Then I got to write about our team’s creative process. Then I got to interview Tom Humes about a fascinating era for the Bearcats—perhaps the advent of the modern athletic department in Cincinnati.
2022 NFL Draft Trading Cards
I built throwback-looking trading cards for all nine (!!) Bearcats taken in the 2022 NFL Draft. (No, we did not actually print them.)