Can we please....somehow....please.....find a way to end this losing streak and yet another frustrating season with at least a win against Buffalo in what really is now shaping up to possibly be the final game in Anderson Arena. This post isn’t even about tonight’s loss to Kent State. At least tonight we somehow found ourselves in this game at the end unlike falling behind by 40 to Akron two weeks ago. But it has become very, very difficult to even enjoy going to or watching this program anymore. There’s just very little enjoyment whatsoever anymore with BG basketball and it pains me to say it. This season’s twist featured a terrible start, with a signs-of-life run at midseason, followed by the current losing streak that saw us go from a possible #1 seed to a likely road game in the MAC Tournament – all in about a three-week span. It just adds to the list of frustrations as a BG basketball fan.
Maybe I was spoiled to enjoy some decent and even quality BG basketball as a student from 1993-97. Good teams, good players, good crowds, it seemed the norm to me. I thought that was what BG basketball was all about. The House did Roar, we had just come off a few NIT bids and had some teams built for NCAA runs in 1997, 2000 and 2002. But since then, we have more or less become a run-of-the-mill program – even in our own division. Watching other MAC East teams such as Kent State, Ohio and Miami dance their way through the MAC Tournament while it remains a pipedream for us is extremely frustrating. It’s just becoming unacceptable anymore. Bad performances and dwindling attendance season after season have made 1968 seem more like 1868. It’s been over 40 years since our last NCAA Tournament. We have NEVER won a MAC Tournament. Really, when is it ever going to change? Sure we finally will have a new building to play in and it’ll be incredible the kind of financial backing directed straight toward men’s basketball in the future, but the bottom line is, it has to be done on the floor. The Stroh Center and the unbelievable donation are going to be amazing, but they will not win us a single game.
Sadly, I’m honestly at the point where I would be thrilled for some coach to come to BG for one season, wipe his feet on the Stroh Center doormat, direct us to the MAC Tournament title and NCAA berth, and disappear to the school of his choice. Because this “maybe next year” talk has gone on way too long for me. Guess what? It is next year. And winning a MAC Tournament is not going to happen this season either. It’s just not. This team is not going to win four games in the MAC Tournament. It’s just not going to happen. So as we close the doors on the House that “Used” to Roar, I can only hope for one last time, we can send this building out the way it deserves to go - in front of a packed house, and with a BG win.
I will be coming for sure, if nothing else but to soak up one last time what the building has meant to even myself over the years. After this game, I will be sad to see Anderson Arena go, but also happy to see the Stroh Center era begin. But I’ll be closing the books on this season after the UB game and already looking ahead to next season because we’ll be talking about next year sooner than later, I’m sure of that. And with all but two reserves returning, other teams losing their share of key players, the opening of a new arena, etc., next year is already a big season for us, even right now IMO. Yes, even one that we all should expect to be good one.
That said, I hope everyone can make it to Anderson Arena on Saturday and that all of us can be a part of a special day. It just sure would be nice to close it out the right way.
