attendence

[Butterfly]

If anyone thinks this program is back to where it was, then they are either delusion or named Ralph/mick. And beating up on pathetic teams is not going to sell tickets.

... We won a tourny game and lost the one immediately following. Status quo restored, as far as the team is concerned. I suppose the fan following shrinking is your issue? I'm not sure you can fix that. As for pathetic teams, I saw plenty of pathetic teams in the C-USA days.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I would say it is exactly where it was. NCAA Tournament bid. Win one/lose one. The question is can they sustain it and make the occasional run like Huggins teams did from time to time. Your point about the scheule is well taken. UC/Mick has to understand people can sit at home and watch UC/Chicago State on cable. If you want to bring people out schedule good competition and win at home against them. That's what breeds and creates a good home atmosphere. I do think if this new style of play is successful against good teams that people will come out more because it is entertaining basketball.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Ill field this one seeing how it was hit at me I would assume. The old, tired argument of why he is disliked here in Cincinnati rest on one thing. His departure to our rival Louisville, taking 2 of our recruits with him (Garcia, Dean). We all can argue til we are blue in the face as to whether or not this was an acceptable thing to do and I really do not care one way or the other. But fans here in Cincinnati are very loyal and they expect their sports figures to be the same. Had Cronin took off to Ohio St or Kansas, nothing would have been said and people here would have welcomed him back. Louisville was too much to swallow.

Just to let you know if my response is directed at someone I will quote them. I was just responding to the topic. I think fans were upset with Cronin leaving at the time, and a small few still hold a grudge for that and for that reason alone will never give him a fair shake. The large majority of fans, myself included, could care less about that at this point. He left as an assistant and jumped on a fire to come back as the head coach. Alot of coaches would not have wanted to come here and put up with what he has put up with. Mick, regardless if he is a good enough coach or not, is a Bearcat through and through and hopefully you will come to realize that someday. I might question alot about Mick through the years, but loyalty will never be one of them. We'll never have that same loyalty from a football coach and good chance another basketball coach.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

I understand that a lot of people were very ticked off when Huggins left, some even went as far as to stop supporting the University and still don't support it to this day. I still think that those people would come back if we started to win. I'm not talking about going to the tourney once every three years. I'm talking about getting back into the top 15 on a consistant basis, not questioning if you'll make the tourney but if you'll be a 2 seed or a 3 seed. That's the kind of winning that a lot of UC fans were used to.

Mick can win those fans back if he starts to win here. If he doesn't win then hopefully he gets fired and the next coach comes in with a little more energy and a lot more wins.

The ONLY thing that will bring fans back is winning. I don't even get why this is an argument or debate. This team doesn't win so a lot of fans have lost interest. If they start winning again people will come back.

You can build a huge parking lot right next to The Shoe, you can tear the Shoe down and build a brand new arena, you can market the hell out of the program on TV and radio and offer ticket promos and it won't make a big difference.......if you don't win people aren't going to come.

I agree, I think I didn't really word my thoughts correctly. I fully believe winning is the one thing that will bring fans back. My point was more the fans who have turned a blind's eye to the program. And there are some out there. Everybody in this town for the most part is a fan of the Reds and a fan of the Bengals. When they aren't playing well, the fans don't come to games or pay as much attention, but they are still there, waiting for a winner. It's not the same with Bearcat basketball. There are a number of truly disgruntled fans that seem to root against our success at this point that were very loyal supporters for years. We got last year what we got from Huggins for most of his tenure. A ranked team that got to the secound round of the tourney. I'm not suggesting that we're back to the level we were under Huggins, because we're not, but there are some fans from the past that don't realize what is going on down in Clifton because they simply don't care anymore.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

I would say it is exactly where it was. NCAA Tournament bid. Win one/lose one. The question is can they sustain it and make the occasional run like Huggins teams did from time to time. Your point about the scheule is well taken. UC/Mick has to understand people can sit at home and watch UC/Chicago State on cable. If you want to bring people out schedule good competition and win at home against them. That's what breeds and creates a good home atmosphere. I do think if this new style of play is successful against good teams that people will come out more because it is entertaining basketball.

I agree with what you're saying, but to play devil's advocate for a second with the way money is generated in sports nowadays, UC still makes more money playing these nobodies and having people watch them on TV. TV generates a lot more a percentage of the money versus ticket sales than it used to. (Now better competition will make it more likely a game gets picked up nationally as opposed to locally.) Ticket sales will come by winning and assuring yourselves of easy wins makes your season more successful and makes your program a winner. It's sad to say, but look at the difference a few losses this year has made in how this team is perceived by it's own fanbase (and I know you and I see the bigger picture). I'm not completely sold that we need to have several big non-conerence match-ups every year. We just don't need to play 7 or 8 games against cream puffs. Give me a couple College of Charleston's or Southern Illinois' instead of Chicago State's and Presbyterian's.

And again I was playing devil's advocate on this one, doesn't necessarily reflect my views, only offering another side to the argument of generating money.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I agree, I think I didn't really word my thoughts correctly. I fully believe winning is the one thing that will bring fans back. My point was more the fans who have turned a blind's eye to the program. And there are some out there. Everybody in this town for the most part is a fan of the Reds and a fan of the Bengals. When they aren't playing well, the fans don't come to games or pay as much attention, but they are still there, waiting for a winner. It's not the same with Bearcat basketball. There are a number of truly disgruntled fans that seem to root against our success at this point that were very loyal supporters for years. We got last year what we got from Huggins for most of his tenure. A ranked team that got to the secound round of the tourney. I'm not suggesting that we're back to the level we were under Huggins, because we're not, but there are some fans from the past that don't realize what is going on down in Clifton because they simply don't care anymore.[/QUOTE]

Last years team won 26 games and where were the fans? UC was, I believe, a 6th seed so they were weren't close to being left out of the tournament last season. Where were the fans at the beginning of the season when UC was a top 25 team? I think the last sentence is true. There is some apathy surrounding this program. That's why I like the direction of the style of play of this team. It becomes a more attractive product and one that people would enjoy watching.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

I agree, I think I didn't really word my thoughts correctly. I fully believe winning is the one thing that will bring fans back. My point was more the fans who have turned a blind's eye to the program. And there are some out there. Everybody in this town for the most part is a fan of the Reds and a fan of the Bengals. When they aren't playing well, the fans don't come to games or pay as much attention, but they are still there, waiting for a winner. It's not the same with Bearcat basketball. There are a number of truly disgruntled fans that seem to root against our success at this point that were very loyal supporters for years. We got last year what we got from Huggins for most of his tenure. A ranked team that got to the secound round of the tourney. I'm not suggesting that we're back to the level we were under Huggins, because we're not, but there are some fans from the past that don't realize what is going on down in Clifton because they simply don't care anymore.[/QUOTE]

Last years team won 26 games and where were the fans? UC was, I believe, a 6th seed so they were weren't close to being left out of the tournament last season. Where were the fans at the beginning of the season when UC was a top 25 team? I think the last sentence is true. There is some apathy surrounding this program. That's why I like the direction of the style of play of this team. It becomes a more attractive product and one that people would enjoy watching.

I will say this about attendance. While the numbers this year have been disappointing following a very good year, I'm still waiting out to see what the attendance looks like for Big East games. I was a student from 96-97 to 99-00. Those years saw our best attendance numbers and I remember several December games where people didn't come out. Our season ticket sales are down and I don't think one year changes that. Season tickets takes a large time and financial commitment. For those not getting season tickets that want to go to a handful of games, they're not going to choose the early season games. They're going to buy the mini-plan or select games of teams they want to see. I'm hoping come Big East play we see much better attendance, especially after we've created some exciting with our recent offensive displays.

 

[BearcatMick]

I compare bearcat fans to bengals fans. Bengals fans hate mike brown so much that they refuse to show up even in key games. Bearcat fans seem to hate mick so much and that irrational hatred develops into an emotional response not to show up.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

I compare bearcat fans to bengals fans. Bengals fans hate mike brown so much that they refuse to show up even in key games. Bearcat fans seem to hate mick so much and that irrational hatred develops into an emotional response not to show up.

I totally agree that a portion of our fanbase feels this way. What gets me is the obsession with who the coach is in the first place. Support the program and the players. I get the "not wanting to give Mike Brown my money" argument to some extent. I can also see some logic to "if I support this team with Mick as the head coach then it means I support the head coach," but plenty of really, really good programs support their school and when the big $ boosters want a coaching change their voice carries a lot of weight. And even so, I still don't see why everyone hates Cronin so much.

 

[BearcatMick]

I totally agree that a portion of our fanbase feels this way. What gets me is the obsession with who the coach is in the first place. Support the program and the players. I get the "not wanting to give Mike Brown my money" argument to some extent. I can also see some logic to "if I support this team with Mick as the head coach then it means I support the head coach," but plenty of really, really good programs support their school and when the big $ boosters want a coaching change their voice carries a lot of weight. And even so, I still don't see why everyone hates Cronin so much.

Well said

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

The attendance has been flat out embarrassing, but unfortunately not surprising.

 

[Amberlycolonel]

I totally agree that a portion of our fanbase feels this way. What gets me is the obsession with who the coach is in the first place. Support the program and the players. I get the "not wanting to give Mike Brown my money" argument to some extent. I can also see some logic to "if I support this team with Mick as the head coach then it means I support the head coach," but plenty of really, really good programs support their school and when the big $ boosters want a coaching change their voice carries a lot of weight. And even so, I still don't see why everyone hates Cronin so much.

The reasons have been very well documented.

 

[Butterfly]

There's a lot of criticisms applied to Cronin I can apply to most coaches.
The reality is, he's not Bob Huggins. So long as this is the case, people will use it as an excuse not to come. People are asshats, just have to let it go.