Bufflao

[zete]

Re Huger...we had hopes that he had learned a lot under Larranaga. It appears he did not.

Larranaga was in a win/win situation when he gave his blessing to the BG athletic dept regarding the Huger hire. 1) -- MH could become a big story by fanning luke warm embers to a red glow in a community that has all but forgotten basketball. 2) MH gives it his best and is let go with A LOT of money in his pocket and then latches on elsewhere

[BleedOrange]

They are what BG should become in basketball. With our facility and our resources there is no reason why we cannot become the premier program in the conference. Buffalo has put some resources into basketball and it's paying off for them. I believe Oats is making more than their football coach, and definitely more than what we are paying for both our football and basketball coaches.

With the Bill Frack endowment we should be going out and finding the best coaches in the MAC. Buffalo has shown the blueprint with Hurley and now Oats. They're a damned good team, and actually if they were to get upset in the MAC tourney somehow could give us our first legitimate shot at 2 bids in a long time.

Never. The culture around the university, be it the administration, the surrounding city, or the mindset of the student body that has been successively handed down through the years is all wrong. It was dead and defeatist in the 80's when I was there. I've been observing things closely ever since. I can tell you, hammbone, that your sidelines creatures were a mere aberrational blip on the 40-year flatline. I've been watching the stagnation far too long.

I've never been around a more "can't do" community in my life. (I'll never forget meeting Bruce Brown as a representative from USG...."Tell me your ideas, and I'll tell you why we can't do them.") The apathy and defeatism shows up in every aspect of our basketball product: news coverage, PR, concessions, programs, Stroh personnel, ticketing, parking, facilities management, budgeting, scheduling, the BGNews, student spirit, university support, goofs on this forum that rave about what a perfect state-of-.

As for the students? "Gee, I don't even know why we're division one." "Oh wow, <any team from another conference>, they'll probably KILL us." "Ha! My HS gym was bigger than this place." "Common man, Keith McCleod/Dan Majerle/Gary Trent/Antonio Daniels are no where near NBA material, this is the MAC." "Meh, Magnum PI/The Simpsons/YouTube is on tonight." "Yeah, I didn't like my HS coach so I didn't play, but I'm going out for the team here."

My question is this, if nobody else cares, why should you? When I read you post, I wonder if the players really care. Do they want to get better and win? Do they want to move on in the basketball world? Do they at least want a good experience and happy memories? Or, are they just riding this s**t out? If the university continues treat basketball as a token offering....if the Frack fund approaches the use of the funds as "gee, what is the best way to apply the funds this year****"....why the hell are you taking the time out of your life? Hell, at least the Browns are TRYING, and they are FINALLY getting results. At Bowling Green, outcome is virtually deterministic, as if it's part of the DNA.


**** as opposed to a long term, multi-year strategy to build a strong program.

[hammb]

They are what BG should become in basketball. With our facility and our resources there is no reason why we cannot become the premier program in the conference. Buffalo has put some resources into basketball and it's paying off for them. I believe Oats is making more than their football coach, and definitely more than what we are paying for both our football and basketball coaches.

With the Bill Frack endowment we should be going out and finding the best coaches in the MAC. Buffalo has shown the blueprint with Hurley and now Oats. They're a damned good team, and actually if they were to get upset in the MAC tourney somehow could give us our first legitimate shot at 2 bids in a long time.

Never. The culture around the university, be it the administration, the surrounding city, or the mindset of the student body that has been successively handed down through the years is all wrong. It was dead and defeatist in the 80's when I was there. I've been observing things closely ever since. I can tell you, hammbone, that your sidelines creatures were a mere aberrational blip on the 40-year flatline. I've been watching the stagnation far too long.

I've never been around a more "can't do" community in my life. (I'll never forget meeting Bruce Brown as a representative from USG...."Tell me your ideas, and I'll tell you why we can't do them.") The apathy and defeatism shows up in every aspect of our basketball product: news coverage, PR, concessions, programs, Stroh personnel, ticketing, parking, facilities management, budgeting, scheduling, the BGNews, student spirit, university support, goofs on this forum that rave about what a perfect state-of-.

As for the students? "Gee, I don't even know why we're division one." "Oh wow, <any team from another conference>, they'll probably KILL us." "Ha! My HS gym was bigger than this place." "Common man, Keith McCleod/Dan Majerle/Gary Trent/Antonio Daniels are no where near NBA material, this is the MAC." "Meh, Magnum PI/The Simpsons/YouTube is on tonight." "Yeah, I didn't like my HS coach so I didn't play, but I'm going out for the team here."

My question is this, if nobody else cares, why should you? When I read you post, I wonder if the players really care. Do they want to get better and win? Do they want to move on in the basketball world? Do they at least want a good experience and happy memories? Or, are they just riding this s**t out? If the university continues treat basketball as a token offering....if the Frack fund approaches the use of the funds as "gee, what is the best way to apply the funds this year****"....why the hell are you taking the time out of your life? Hell, at least the Browns are TRYING, and they are FINALLY getting results. At Bowling Green, outcome is virtually deterministic, as if it's part of the DNA.


**** as opposed to a long term, multi-year strategy to build a strong program.

I cannot disagree with almost anything you've written above.

More than once over the past year I've asked myself the same questions you did. It is painfully obvious that nobody in the athletic department cares about whether the program is any good. The students don't care, obviously. Most in the community don't care either. They've either abandoned the program entirely, or are those that will just go and have fun regardless of the product on the court.

And let me tell you I've seriously thought about what I should do going forward. With my kid starting to play ball we're spending a couple days in the gym every week before we attend a single BG game. I became attached to the program as a kid attending with my grandparents. I don't even know if we were any good in the 80s...it was just something fun to spend time with my grandparents. I became MORE attached to the program in the late 90s while I was in HS, then college, because we were good and exciting to watch. Turns out that era WAS an aberration, and they got lucky they caught me at my most influential age.

As it stands my kid enjoys going to the games. I enjoy sharing that with him much in the same way my grandparents shared it with me. If he ever decides that he doesn't like the games I'll probably stop attending as well. I may still buy the tickets, but I'm not going to be planning my week around the home games anymore. Interestingly, due to a series of scheduling conflicts, I may not make it to a single December game this year...not sure if I'm upset by that or not.

I DO still enjoy attending the games. The arena is nice and gives us something fun to do during these awful winter months in Ohio. If that ever changes I won't keep buying tickets. I think my biggest beef with the direction of the program is that I kinda feel bad for Mr. Frack. He put up a TON of money to try and advance the program and it would appear they've not done a thing to advance the program. For 10+ years I've just accepted the fact that we'll always be mediocre because we're content with it. But now that we have that Bill Frack endowment and we're STILL content being mediocre, that really rubs me the wrong way.

[Schadenfreude]

More than once over the past year I've asked myself the same questions you did. It is painfully obvious that nobody in the athletic department cares about whether the program is any good. The students don't care, obviously. Most in the community don't care either. They've either abandoned the program entirely, or are those that will just go and have fun regardless of the product on the court.

Again, though, I don't think anyone builds a $30 million arena for a program they don't care about. If basketball was truly an orphan here, the money might have been spent instead on a new hockey building or something.

[zete]

When I look around the arena, I see a handful of older fans, leftovers if you will. from the golden days of Thurmond, Big Walt etc. Most all of them I have talked with are holding on with hopes it will come back around. It is hard to convey to the younger folks just how positive and exciting it once was.
Our university and community has lost a treasure that is now buried deep in media guides, the rafters of Memorial Hall. archives, and the minds of those hardy souls still showing up. .

[hammb]

When I look around the arena, I see a handful of older fans, leftovers if you will. from the golden days of Thurmond, Big Walt etc. Most all of them I have talked with are holding on with hopes it will come back around. It is hard to convey to the younger folks just how positive and exciting in once was.
Our university and community has lost a treasure that is now buried deep in media guides, the rafters of Memorial Hall. archives, and the minds of those hardy souls still showing up. .

There is no doubt that my middle-aged self is probably 20-30 years younger than the mean age of our season ticket base. If they don't do something to build an attachment with younger alumni/fans soon the problems are going to get worse. We quite literally have to worry about our fanbase dying off.

[hammb]

More than once over the past year I've asked myself the same questions you did. It is painfully obvious that nobody in the athletic department cares about whether the program is any good. The students don't care, obviously. Most in the community don't care either. They've either abandoned the program entirely, or are those that will just go and have fun regardless of the product on the court.

Again, though, I don't think anyone builds a $30 million arena for a program they don't care about. If basketball was truly an orphan here, the money might have been spent instead on a new hockey building or something.

On the surface, sure. But what if "Help Basketball" was an excuse used to get more money from Kerm Stroh, Bill Frack, etc to build a multi-use facility. I mean yeah it's a nice little basketball arena, but it's also a place for concerts/shows, graduations, volleyball, etc.

Let's not make it out that the University was shelling out $30 million towards men's hoops.

Look at what has gone on with scheduling, coaching, and the commitment to winning. If what they're doing is, "selling out to win" then they're really freaking bad at it.

[BleedOrange]

"I kinda feel bad for Mr. Frack. He put up a TON of money to try and advance the program and it would appear they've not done a thing to advance the program. For 10+ years I've just accepted the fact that we'll always be mediocre because we're content with it. But now that we have that Bill Frack endowment and we're STILL content being mediocre, that really rubs me the wrong way."


This is what just destroys me....with Mr. Frack's donation, we could've stepped back and acted STRATEGICALLY. Basketball could have become a major asset to the university, community, and NWO. I question whether Mr. Frack's intent, vision, and memory is being truly honored by the university and the evident direction of the program. It's difficult to watch, so recently I have chosen not to.

I too grew up going to BG games, but with my Dad in the 70's and 80. He bought season tickets year #2 of Anderson Arena. I sat in section J, seat 4 growing up. Dr. Cooper of the CS department sat behind me, a prof I would later have in class. I remained loyal to the team well into the Orr administration. I was always deeply invested in the program and am angry that all those years of university devotion were a farce.

[zete]

The No. 14-ranked University at Buffalo men’s basketball team hosts Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena, THE SECOND TIME the Bulls face the Salukis this season.

It’s not terribly common to play a home-and-home against a non-conference opponent.

But the series came about because each school had difficulty filling out its schedule, UB coach Nate Oats said. The issue arose late in the summer, when UB attempted to move some games around and couldn’t come to an agreement on a date to play Niagara. The Bulls reached out to Southern Illinois.

“We were having a hard time scheduling,” Oats said. “We just beat Arizona (in the NCAA tournament) and nobody really wanted to play us. (Southern Illinois had) five starters returning with a kid that sat out that had started before that, so they essentially had six starters returning. And teams didn’t want to play them, either. So we were both having a hard time scheduling.”

Both programs were interested in starting a series, but wanted to begin at home, which is typical.

[Globetrotter]

Buffalo and Syracuse tied.

[factman]

Buffalo wins going away by 12, I believe.

[zete]

@ No. 21 9-2 Marquette Friday at 8:30 on FS1.....

[zete]

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php" target="_blank

[Siborg]

Seton Hall beat St John's with a last second 3 ending their unbeaten season. Then St john's turns around and pounds Marquette by 20. That Howard kid that put 45 on Buffalo was 2-15 against St Johns with only 8 points. So does this mean BG is better than Buffalo?

[zete]

Seton Hall beat St John's with a last second 3 ending their unbeaten season. Then St john's turns around and pounds Marquette by 20. That Howard kid that put 45 on Buffalo was 2-15 against St Johns with only 8 points. So does this mean BG is better than Buffalo?

No