Ranking the Most Recent Nippert Stadium Intro Videos

Dan Hoard tweeted last night that UC will once again be rolling out a new intro video for the 6th straight year. To be honest I’m not 100% sure that it is in fact the 6th year the football team will be introduced with a new highlight video. I only have visual evidence dating back to 2007 but for the sake of argument, let’s just call it six years.

Anyways this piece was inspired by a Twitter follower who recommended I corral the past five intro videos into one cohesive post:

Well, Michael, don’t mind if I do! Here they are, ranked for your enjoyment:

2010: “Pat Summerall Special”

Head and shoulders above the other intro videos from the past five years. As the name implies, Cincinnati somehow garnered broadcast legend Pat Summerall to voice over for this beauty. If I had my way, this would be the one and only football intro video UC would show at Nippert. They could tab Summerall prior to every season and update the numbers in his own voice. Perfect. It’s not happening but a guy can dream, can’t he?

2009: “Welcome to the Show”

Not the name of the song but “Welcome to the Show” is actually rather appropriate given the kind of entertaining scoring machine Brian Kelly’s 2009 Bearcats brought out that year. What was great about this intro video was not only did it get Nippert Stadium fired up but they changed the team being ‘scratched out’ at the beginning of it for each game. Again, appropriate since Cincinnati went wire-to-wire in the regular season in 2009.

2007: “Highlights Galore”

I’m a big proponent of showing highlights in an intro video and this didn’t beat around the edges and just went for it. You can never go wrong with showing play after play of UC players whomping an opponent and adding Dan Hoard to voice over the video is always a good idea. Pretty nicely done.

2008: “We Are Bearcats”

This just doesn’t do it for me. I mean I get what UC was trying to get me to feel but it certainly didn’t happen. The story makes sense; Bearcats work harder in the weight room, in the film room, and are always ready to go on gameday. But the execution was poor and I understand these aren’t paid actors but most of the players they brought in looked unenthusiastic and not really interested in shooting a video that day. Good job, good effort UC.

2011: “Home”

Not the greatest thing UC has put together. While Summerall from the previous season set the bar high, this video was an emphatic dud. It’s slow, not really inspiring, and shows next to no actual football highlights. I mean how can a crowd be expected to get amped when the jumbotron is recording scenes of someone driving around Cincinnati showing old, defunct buildings? UC was probably better off skipping it this year.