It is decision time for all of us
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:54 pm
The dilemma: how do we, as fans, ultimately react to the situation that our men's basketball program is now in?
It may not be so cut and dry once we start digging into the particulars of the issue, but I see two main choices, and I have chosen appropriate names for each (but feel free to make up your own).
1. Cut and Run, Wait and See. This would mean that fans quit buying tickets, quit actively supporting the program, and plan on maybe coming back when things turn around. It has already become evident that a lot of our "non-alum" fans have already chosen this option. Fans who chose this option would probably not renew their season tickets, not attend many games next year, etc.
2. For Better or For Worse. This would be the fan that continues to support the program no matter how well or how poorly the team is performing on the court. This would not be easy, especially for those of us who bleed Burnt Orange & Seal Brown.
My friends, in this time of programatic crisis, I implore you to chose the second option. As I said, it would not be easy, but there comes a point where we have to ask ourselves what we ultimately want from the program and how we as fans can help the program to get there. Now, I'm not talking about forming posses to drive Dakich out of town, or even organizing a fund raising drive to collect the money to buy out his contract (indeed, there are many other places at the University that could use $125,000).
What I am talking about instead is, if you are a season ticket holder, or even were last year, don't choose not to buy your season tickets next year because of the bitter feeling that a 9-22 season has created. Even if you are not a season ticket holder, don't choose to go to fewer games next year because you don't want to watch a poor product on the floor. The only effect that choosing to attend fewer games next year, or potentially none at all, can have on the program is decreasing revenue and helping to create a sense of "well, if no one cares, why should we?" among the members of the team. I'm not saying that the latter has happened, but it can't be easy to put so much time and effort into something as demanding as basketball only to walk out on your home court and see an empty gym while playing in front of much, much bigger crowds on the road.
I bring this up now because we are in a very critical time. Right now, the disappointment is at its peak, the pain its most severe, and the anger at a boiling point. All of us are angry. All of us are hurting. All of us are extremely disappointed. A lot of people have begun to say some things about our coaches and our program that would make a lot of us want to start a fist-fight were a Toledo fan to say it - the anger has gotten that bad. And while it is understandable, we must also realize that we as fans have to decide what our involvement with the program is going to be both in the immediate future and further down the road, and it is times like this when people make decisions that negatively impact the program for a long, long time.
Unfortunately, we have too many people in and around Bowling Green that are fair-weather fans. I can't tell you how many times some of our biggest hockey fans have told me that once the team establishes a winning tradition again, the fans will come back. I have never understood this mentality, especially because not one of those people would deny that fan support and atmosphere are very big keys in recruiting top-quality players. Indeed, you'd be hard pressed to find any player who would be jumping up and down excited to be playing in front of 1500 people in a 5000 seat arena. These same people are also the ones that insist that part of BG's problem is that it just can't pay coaches enough to keep them once they fully develop. How do these people expect the department to raise the money to pay our coaching staffs if they are only going to help out by buying a ticket every four or five years when the program (be it hockey or hoops) is on the upswing? There is a disconnect here that people, for one reason or another, either choose not to recognize, or are simply not seeing.
Now, I must appologize for some of the comments I have made in this forum to some people who have expressed some of the most special rage over the past few months. I don't disagree with a lot of the stuff being said right now, but as Grant has said, I truly believe in the old adage "if you can't say anything nice..." There have been times when myself and others should have taken that advice when challenging some of the negativity, and for that I am sorry. I can tell you in all honesty, though, that the reason I have bristled at some of these comments is because I think a lot of people are far too close to choosing option one when they obviously care a great deal about BGSU and its men's basketball program.
I'm not saying that the "fire Dakich" threads and comments should stop (though they could be tempered a bit, in my opinion). All I'm saying is, that as we have these conversations and bear witness to the events that will unfold between now and the beginning of next season, whatever they may be, remember that this program, this University, needs you to be there and to be there B!G time if we are to see this program aspire to the levels that we all so desperately wish it to. Whether Dan Dakich or someone else is coaching this team next; whether or not half the team chooses to transfer over the off season; whether we start next season 0-12 or 12-0, please support this program.
It may not be pretty, it may not be fun, and it may not even be very enjoyable for a while. But, if we want the program to ultimately succeed, it is imperative that we show the rest of our fan base and those who may potentially be faced with the decision to sign a letter of intent to play for our program that we support the program through thick and thin. As much as many of us would like to be, we are not a "big-time" basketball school that is going to be able to all of a sudden start selling out games when we start winning again. Unfortunately, it is a long, slow, uphill process to convince many of our "fringe" fans that this program is worth their $9. That is sad, but it is a reality that we all have to accept and work with if we want to ever "establish" our program.
Especially at the collegiate level, fans are certainly not simply bystanders observing a game. They, we, are an integral part of it. Please keep this in mind over the coming weeks and months.
It may not be so cut and dry once we start digging into the particulars of the issue, but I see two main choices, and I have chosen appropriate names for each (but feel free to make up your own).
1. Cut and Run, Wait and See. This would mean that fans quit buying tickets, quit actively supporting the program, and plan on maybe coming back when things turn around. It has already become evident that a lot of our "non-alum" fans have already chosen this option. Fans who chose this option would probably not renew their season tickets, not attend many games next year, etc.
2. For Better or For Worse. This would be the fan that continues to support the program no matter how well or how poorly the team is performing on the court. This would not be easy, especially for those of us who bleed Burnt Orange & Seal Brown.
My friends, in this time of programatic crisis, I implore you to chose the second option. As I said, it would not be easy, but there comes a point where we have to ask ourselves what we ultimately want from the program and how we as fans can help the program to get there. Now, I'm not talking about forming posses to drive Dakich out of town, or even organizing a fund raising drive to collect the money to buy out his contract (indeed, there are many other places at the University that could use $125,000).
What I am talking about instead is, if you are a season ticket holder, or even were last year, don't choose not to buy your season tickets next year because of the bitter feeling that a 9-22 season has created. Even if you are not a season ticket holder, don't choose to go to fewer games next year because you don't want to watch a poor product on the floor. The only effect that choosing to attend fewer games next year, or potentially none at all, can have on the program is decreasing revenue and helping to create a sense of "well, if no one cares, why should we?" among the members of the team. I'm not saying that the latter has happened, but it can't be easy to put so much time and effort into something as demanding as basketball only to walk out on your home court and see an empty gym while playing in front of much, much bigger crowds on the road.
I bring this up now because we are in a very critical time. Right now, the disappointment is at its peak, the pain its most severe, and the anger at a boiling point. All of us are angry. All of us are hurting. All of us are extremely disappointed. A lot of people have begun to say some things about our coaches and our program that would make a lot of us want to start a fist-fight were a Toledo fan to say it - the anger has gotten that bad. And while it is understandable, we must also realize that we as fans have to decide what our involvement with the program is going to be both in the immediate future and further down the road, and it is times like this when people make decisions that negatively impact the program for a long, long time.
Unfortunately, we have too many people in and around Bowling Green that are fair-weather fans. I can't tell you how many times some of our biggest hockey fans have told me that once the team establishes a winning tradition again, the fans will come back. I have never understood this mentality, especially because not one of those people would deny that fan support and atmosphere are very big keys in recruiting top-quality players. Indeed, you'd be hard pressed to find any player who would be jumping up and down excited to be playing in front of 1500 people in a 5000 seat arena. These same people are also the ones that insist that part of BG's problem is that it just can't pay coaches enough to keep them once they fully develop. How do these people expect the department to raise the money to pay our coaching staffs if they are only going to help out by buying a ticket every four or five years when the program (be it hockey or hoops) is on the upswing? There is a disconnect here that people, for one reason or another, either choose not to recognize, or are simply not seeing.
Now, I must appologize for some of the comments I have made in this forum to some people who have expressed some of the most special rage over the past few months. I don't disagree with a lot of the stuff being said right now, but as Grant has said, I truly believe in the old adage "if you can't say anything nice..." There have been times when myself and others should have taken that advice when challenging some of the negativity, and for that I am sorry. I can tell you in all honesty, though, that the reason I have bristled at some of these comments is because I think a lot of people are far too close to choosing option one when they obviously care a great deal about BGSU and its men's basketball program.
I'm not saying that the "fire Dakich" threads and comments should stop (though they could be tempered a bit, in my opinion). All I'm saying is, that as we have these conversations and bear witness to the events that will unfold between now and the beginning of next season, whatever they may be, remember that this program, this University, needs you to be there and to be there B!G time if we are to see this program aspire to the levels that we all so desperately wish it to. Whether Dan Dakich or someone else is coaching this team next; whether or not half the team chooses to transfer over the off season; whether we start next season 0-12 or 12-0, please support this program.
It may not be pretty, it may not be fun, and it may not even be very enjoyable for a while. But, if we want the program to ultimately succeed, it is imperative that we show the rest of our fan base and those who may potentially be faced with the decision to sign a letter of intent to play for our program that we support the program through thick and thin. As much as many of us would like to be, we are not a "big-time" basketball school that is going to be able to all of a sudden start selling out games when we start winning again. Unfortunately, it is a long, slow, uphill process to convince many of our "fringe" fans that this program is worth their $9. That is sad, but it is a reality that we all have to accept and work with if we want to ever "establish" our program.
Especially at the collegiate level, fans are certainly not simply bystanders observing a game. They, we, are an integral part of it. Please keep this in mind over the coming weeks and months.
