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Post by jburton on Oct 17, 2022 17:57:51 GMT -6
I attended the practice taking a Purdue friend. I was embarrassed with the attendance. Zero students. Maybe 150 fans. I guess that I overestimated the IU attendees too. Very disappointed that our students and fans show this support to a new coach and many new players. I thought that there would be a couple thousand in attendance. Very poor support! See what happens to your enthusiasm after you sit through 20 years of mediocrity. I used to consider myself a super fan but now... not so much. I've watched enough bad basketball in 20 years to fill two lifetimes... More than anyone should endure. |
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Post by redfeather on Oct 18, 2022 13:07:10 GMT -6
I attended the practice taking a Purdue friend. I was embarrassed with the attendance. Zero students. Maybe 150 fans. I guess that I overestimated the IU attendees too. Very disappointed that our students and fans show this support to a new coach and many new players. I thought that there would be a couple thousand in attendance. Very poor support! See what happens to your enthusiasm after you sit through 20 years of mediocrity. I used to consider myself a super fan but now... not so much. I've watched enough bad basketball in 20 years to fill two lifetimes... More than anyone should endure. And coming from the guy that started the fan board all those years ago is saying something. We had an opportunity to be a fairly significant college sports program and the ineptitude of the various leadership throughout the decades weren’t smart enough to maximize the opportunity and subsequent value of doing so. Trying to accomplish that nowadays is a lot harder if not impossible. It’s sad. |
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Post by realitycheck on Oct 18, 2022 19:11:27 GMT -6
Sellers is out 4-6 weeks. Hand was broken in practice and he had surgery on it last week. Tough blow for him and us but better now than in March I guess.
Lewis didn’t want to do anything that was showy and decided an open practice would be OK. It wasn’t really publicized or even decided until about a week before and to have it two hours before the football game is not a great idea IMHO. I’d rather see us pump it up and do it as a standalone on a weeknight with some fanfare and maybe poster autographs after. But Coach didn’t want that.
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Post by rmcalhoun on Oct 19, 2022 10:19:03 GMT -6
Sellers is out 4-6 weeks. Hand was broken in practice and he had surgery on it last week. Tough blow for him and us but better now than in March I guess. Lewis didn’t want to do anything that was showy and decided an open practice would be OK. It wasn’t really publicized or even decided until about a week before and to have it two hours before the football game is not a great idea IMHO. I’d rather see us pump it up and do it as a standalone on a weeknight with some fanfare and maybe poster autographs after. But Coach didn’t want that. I pushed and pushed and messaged and messaged for a midnight madness type event. At one point I thought it was close but nope oh well |
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Post by 00hmh on Oct 19, 2022 11:34:18 GMT -6
I am not convinced we're ready for that.
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Post by realitycheck on Oct 19, 2022 15:36:09 GMT -6
I am not convinced we're ready for that. I think we could have done something kind of modest like intro the team, have them run out and just start doing shoot around and then let coach speak, run a light practice for 45 minutes and then do autograph programs or shirts or something. The fan base is pumped and we should have created an evening where students could come and engage too. It's ultimately Lewis' decision but it would have been nice, IMHO. |
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Post by 00hmh on Oct 19, 2022 15:47:37 GMT -6
I am not convinced we're ready for that. I think we could have done something kind of modest like intro the team, have them run out and just start doing shoot around and then let coach speak, run a light practice for 45 minutes and then do autograph programs or shirts or something. The fan base is pumped and we should have created an evening where students could come and engage too. It's ultimately Lewis' decision but it would have been nice, IMHO. I am not sure the students are going to respond, and the traditional fan excitement is kinda hard to measure. A lot of those part of the excitement in the past are literally gone. We're die hard here, but a small group and I am not sure we're typical. How much crowd is possible, at this point I don't know. Lewis is doing the right things. Season tickets are better.
Let's see how the exhibition and home games go before conference and see if we can do it. .
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Post by realitycheck on Oct 19, 2022 15:53:29 GMT -6
It's really not that difficult. You start a month out, get the paper & Woof Boom to promote it and Sportslink to preview and cover it. Share it all over socials including a couple of player TikToks. Get your Pizza sponsor to giveaway free pizza to the first 1000 students/fans and give away a few more sponsor prizes. You'd get the equivalent of a typical home game probably 2500. The fan base gets hyped and we're gonna crush our first 3 opponents anyway. It's just a missed opportunity for a fan base that's been thirsting in the desert for years.
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Post by 00hmh on Oct 19, 2022 19:06:09 GMT -6
None of those steps is that easy.
I do hope you're right there is pent up demand and students can easily be attracted.
I don't see it. Enough we have something to work with. Yes. More than past seasons? Yes. That's promising.
If we produce some exciting BB this year with publicity and good PR, then we might get that response you talk about. Next year? Could be.
Now? No.
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Post by williamtsherman on Oct 19, 2022 22:46:00 GMT -6
It's difficult to really say what is and isn't possible with student/fan support. There are those who pontificate on the supposed limitations of possible support in this school and town, but then the same people supported retaining poor coaches for years on end, which is the whole reason support has been so depressed for 20 years. So I personally don't assign a lot of credibility to such people. Also, I witnessed a huge arena quite literally packed to overflowing here in east central Indiana when some quality basketball was offered a couple years back, so I'm inclined to think there is high level of potential support. And who can say a significant portion of this potential couldn't be realized immediately with some decent energetic marketing and the hope brought by a coach, who isn't a known quantity of dismalness and excuse making?
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Post by 00hmh on Oct 20, 2022 7:35:47 GMT -6
It is difficult to say.
Despite that it's easy to second guess and urge the AD to commit to it.
As you say, BSU could be just like Blackford HS. If only we had Luke Brown!
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Post by sdacardinal on Oct 20, 2022 13:53:06 GMT -6
Chirp or Treat Oct.29.
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Post by realitycheck on Oct 20, 2022 14:26:35 GMT -6
None of those steps is that easy. I do hope you're right there is pent up demand and students can easily be attracted. I don't see it. Enough we have something to work with. Yes. More than past seasons? Yes. That's promising. If we produce some exciting BB this year with publicity and good PR, then we might get that response you talk about. Next year? Could be. Now? No. The coach didn't want to do something splashy which is fine but I promise you this would have been an easy lift. Easy. You're entitled to your opinion, it's just wrong. |
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Post by 00hmh on Oct 20, 2022 15:21:49 GMT -6
None of those steps is that easy. I do hope you're right there is pent up demand and students can easily be attracted. The coach didn't want to do something splashy which is fine but I promise you this would have been an easy lift. Easy. You're entitled to your opinion, it's just wrong. We'll be able to test the pent up demand hypothesis when we see season ticket sales and the crowds for games. The community is different than it once was, a much harder sell.
As for students, I've been upset at the trend we've seen how hard it is to get students to games. In 2008 for a championship FB team we saw decent turnout, but not outstanding. Even in glory years it was the big games that drew students. And there is nowhere near that interest in BB for students 25+ years later.
I'd have liked to see more promotion with students and Lewis will at least give it try in the season. I just don't think at this point giving away pizza (if you could get the sponsor to agree) is going to move the needle until they are convinced it is something special. Lewis was not going to go for a circus with pretty much an unknown team, and our athletic department was not behind the effort.
They did do a show down at IU this year that seemed to work. Maybe Lewis will try something a bit more next year.
That IU show was a big deal, with a band, a scrimmage, slam dunk contest, video from Snoop Dog, FB keeping students on campus, and other extras for students, the whole thing streamed on the internet for everyone to watch. How big it was indicates how hard they have to work to get students out. They do that, we can do, maybe, free pizza...I hope we do. Don't expect that to do much.
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Post by williamtsherman on Oct 20, 2022 17:05:30 GMT -6
I wouldn't describe the demand as "pent up". That would imply that a force has been building over time. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The series of weak coaches did not build up anything other than our frustration and a gigantic pile of excuses (often by our own board members). "Dormant" might be a better word. The Ball State administration and its boneheaded enablers in the fanbase have just about done their worst to kill it, but I'm not sure they've succeeded. Students have short memories.
Students do have many entertainment options, but there is no direct competition for live action events in Muncie in the winter. The internet, movies, social media, smart phones are not the same as a live event. Because the costs are so very much lower than football, there is some chance BSU basketball could actually become a cost-effective PR asset to the university...not to mention fun again. that should be the energetically pursued goal, anyways.
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