BG star led teams always seem to fall short in long run

[BGSU33]

This post is a combination for both football and basketball and before I get torched, just please read through it all first and some might agree with my thoughts. I was thinking about this shortly after BG lost to Toledo the other night. Over the last decade, BG has had some outstanding teams and star talent that has fallen short from ever reaching things like MAC Tournament titles, NCAA Tournaments appearances, etc., but other teams seem to prevail in the similar situations.

Think about this, in football in recent years we have made a drastic turnaround from where we were prior to five years ago, no doubt. But the last two year’s this team, highlighted by star QB Omar Jacobs among others, has been unable to even make it to the MAC Championship and basically back-doored its way to a bowl game last year (thank you Clemson and South Carolina!). Now we played well in the GMAC bowl and Omar was great, but in thinking about the last two seasons, I asked myself what big game did BG even win with Jacobs? I can really only say Miami, but we lost the bog games against NIU and UT (twice). In the same time frame, Toledo will be going bowling in both years and beat BG both times with UT’s Bruce Gradkowski edging Omar twice and even NIU has won a bowl game and is now playing in the MACC led by star Garrett Wolfe. Now when when Josh Harris was here, he had a lot of nice BCS wins under his belt (Purdue, Missouri, Kansas, Northwesterm) which was awesome and did get BG to the MACC, but Miami’s star (Big Ben) had Harris’ number like Bruce has had Jacobs’. This is not to take anything away from the success, just pointing out that while teams like Miami and Toledo were paced by their stars, BG seemed to come up short.

But the team this has really had an impact on is the men’s basketball team at BG. We’ve had some outstanding teams in 1997, 2000 and 2002 and have been led by stars such as Antonio Daniels, Anthony Stacey and Keith McLeod. Despite these guys gathering such honors as All-American, MAC Player-of-the-year, and two of them now playing in the NBA., again, no MAC Tournament Championship and no NCAA Tournament appearances. During the last decade, schools like Ball State with Bonzi Wells, Miami with Wally S. and Devin Davis, Ohio with Gary Trent, EMU with Boykins, CMU with Kaman, Kent State with all there slew of good players…..they all got the job done with their stars and either won the MACC, went to the NCAA Tournament, or both. Those teams and players found the way, while we always seemed to come up short.

It’s what seems to lead us back to the same old saying in BG football and basketball anymore…..”maybe next year.” Please understand, I am not belittling the success we’ve had in either sport despite some shortcomings because we’ve had some very fine seasons. I’ve loved the fact we played and won back-to-back bowl games in 2003 and 2004, I’ve loved the BCS wins in the last few years and I’ve loved the wins in basketball over Purdue, Mississippi, Nebraska and the NIT appearances. But with that said, it’s also a little alarming and frustrating as an alum, die-hard fan, donor and season ticket holder to watch other good players lead their schools to titles and games that the same type of players and teams at BG seem to fall short in. Just wondering if anyone else felt the same way?

[factman]

no

[UK Peregrine]

During the last decade, schools like Ball State with Bonzi Wells, Miami with Wally S. and Devin Davis, Ohio with Gary Trent, EMU with Boykins, CMU with Kaman, Kent State with all there slew of good players…..they all got the job done with their stars and either won the MACC, went to the NCAA Tournament, or both. Those teams and players found the way, while we always seemed to come up short.

Just wondering if anyone else felt the same way?

First to answer your question, I agree with factman with a resounding NO! Just let it go man. It's not the end of the world.

Second, for accuracy's and history's sake, I'm pretty sure Bonzi Wells never made the NCAA tournament. Ball State made the tournament in 2000 and 1993, which 2000 would have been Theron Smith's freshman year and 1993 would have been the year before Bonzi arrived. So Bonzi fell short as well (what a failure!). And the Miami teams that made the NCAA tournament (1999 & 1997) were blessed with Szerbiak and Ira Newble on the former and Szerbiak and Davis on the later I think. Pretty good combos, similar to the Daniels and Stacey team that was robbed of an at-large NCAA bid, despite BG's MAC regular season champioship and darn good record. The others on your list appear to be correct though, so maybe you do have a point.

So sure, each team has it's "star". However, to say our star led teams have disappointed would be just like saying the Michael Turner and Charlie Batch led teams for example did not live up to expectations as well because their teams did not win it all either. Those teams did the best the could with players they had on their roster. Star players can only do so much and the fact is the MAC is still a tough conference to win, regardless of the caliber "star" a team may have in their favor. Anymore, each MAC team seems to have its star (i.e. Gradkowski, Nance, Byrum, Biggs, Wolfe, Jennings to name a few) so some teams are going to fall short. It just so happens it has been us a few times. I don't know what that says about our teams. Perhaps it is our "stars" being out classed to blame, or perhaps it's our coaching staffs, our facilities, our supporting player casts, our fan support, our financial support, or any number of things to blame. It's just not that convienent to narrow it down and put the blame on our "stars'" not delivering.

[JoeFalcon]

I see what you're saying but the list of accomplishments you cited is the envy of numerous schools in the MAC. Consistent success and star players in football and basketball should be applauded.

UT has been up in football but the (recent) head-to-head series with BG virtually even and I don't even recall the last time their basketball team played in the NCAA's. This is Northern's first appearence in the football MACC and they've been non-existent in basketball for years. Miami had one truly great year with Roethlisberger in football and a fleeting NCAA run in hoops. WMU, CMU, Eastern, Ball State, Ohio and Kent have done nothing in football and the first four have been spastic in basketball at best. Akron and Buffalo? Perhaps their fans can fill us in on their recent accomplishments.

Meanwhile, just in the past year, we've had NCAA participants in women's basketball, soccer, softball and maintain an extremely entertaining and successful baseball program. Having high standards and NCAA expectations in the major sports is the mark of a healthy athletic program, and with the Sebo Center rapidly approaching, the NCAA success we all desire shouldn't be far behind. Krebs became AD in 2000 with a vision and the first 5 years are simply Phase One.

[Flipper]

A-fricking-men, JoeFalcon