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I know that people say US Bank is a bad idea, but has anyone considered The Gardens? It may be a little outdated, but it sure as heck can get loud in that place.

Also, I'm not sure if there is an option or not to do this already, but what about when buying season tickets you can buy a parking pass for those games as well. Make it cheaper than what it would be to pay to park in the garage for all the home games. Maybe that would solve some of the parking issues. I don't think "sitting in the parking garage traffic" is a legit excuse for not parking in a parking garage, especially if you think the area is not safe.
 
ralph1950 said:
Students do not go to basketball games because they like football a whole lot more than basketball, as does the USA in general. Also football games are generally played on Saturday vs a school night for basketba.
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I don't buy that argument. Was student attendance an issue when Huggins was coaching? What did football attendance look like while Huggins was coach? Did more students attend football games or basketball games while Huggins was at UC?

The problem isn't "students like football more" IMO- the problem is:
1- the schedule. For a team that has been bad (until last year) having this OOC home schedule won't draw ANY students and I don't blame them. I don't think UC has a hard time when Xavier comes to down getting Students at the game or the better half of the Big East games. As someone said, you don't need to bring in Duke, UNC, Kansas--but how about Illinois, FSU, Vandy, Cal, Gonzaga. Just two or three solid teams would be a major improvement for the home slate.

2--Mick Cronin. I don't think many people/students like Mick that much. They may think he is a good coach or not a good coach, but they just don't like him. Huggins was loved by everyone, and I know UC won't find another Huggins for awhile (not in the sense of coaching ability, Mick can coach as well as Huggins IMO) maybe whoever became head coach after Bob would have had a hard time winning over the fans. Maybe people don't think thats a reason for poor attendance, but Mick is the face of the program.
 
DontMissHim said:
I don't buy that argument. Was student attendance an issue when Huggins was coaching? What did football attendance look like while Huggins was coach? Did more students attend football games or basketball games while Huggins was at UC?

The problem isn't "students like football more" IMO- the problem is:
1- the schedule. For a team that has been bad (until last year) having this OOC home schedule won't draw ANY students and I don't blame them. I don't think UC has a hard time when Xavier comes to down getting Students at the game or the better half of the Big East games. As someone said, you don't need to bring in Duke, UNC, Kansas--but how about Illinois, FSU, Vandy, Cal, Gonzaga. Just two or three solid teams would be a major improvement for the home slate.

2--Mick Cronin. I don't think many people/students like Mick that much. They may think he is a good coach or not a good coach, but they just don't like him. Huggins was loved by everyone, and I know UC won't find another Huggins for awhile (not in the sense of coaching ability, Mick can coach as well as Huggins IMO) maybe whoever became head coach after Bob would have had a hard time winning over the fans. Maybe people don't think thats a reason for poor attendance, but Mick is the face of the program.
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Huggins was tolerated by many, not loved (he did have a large group that loved him, just not everyone).

The ooc schedule is weak but how do we explain the less than great attendence for big east games last year? I picked a couple of games at random and here are the results.

Louisville: 11,511
Uconn: 11,246
Gtown: 12,146

Those are three huge names in college basketball and they still didnt come close to selling out.
 
Someone hit the ball out of the park on this one. Mick Cronin is not well liked, nor respected for that matter, in this town. He is the face of UC basketball and has not done it justice during his tenure here. My wife and I have said time and again that he just refuses to put any effort into promoting the team or himself in the off season. This past summer was no different.

I had a chance to meet Mick this past spring and actually had a short chat with him. His take and view on his job is very noble but self defeating as well. He sees himself as a "watchful steward of the program" and not the engine it needs to generate excitement. While I do agree with his view of being a steward, he also must understand that it is his job to bring interest back into Clifton. Cronin is a decent coach with a very dry personality, but I believe he does try his best and wants to succeed here. But he is not the icon Clifton needs to put butts into seats at the Shoe.
 
IMO, Friday will be a more telling indicator as to where this fanbase is. Most folks will be off Friday/Friday night and Marshall, while not world beaters, is being thought of as the 2nd best team in CUSA behind Memphis so it is a solid step up in competition when compared to the first four games. I'd be disappointed if the attendance was under 7,500.

As to the overall question of the thread, there are a number of different factors to consider. In no particular order....

1) FTA as a venue - Like it or not, FTA is simply not a great place to take in a game, especially if you are mid-2nd level and higher. The atmosphere can be great at times but it just isn't a comfortable place to sit and watch.

2) OOC Opponents - I don't harp on this as much as others because I think it is seriously overplayed. However, I do understand the thought that I would much rather spend my money going to any Big East home game vs. spending money watching the likes of NW State, Jacksonville St, etc. I don't mind dropping money on parking, tickets, beers, dinner etc. when I am going to watch UC vs. Louisville for example. I would however consider the value of doing so for UC vs. Chicago State, especially if I know I can watch on TV.

3) Out of sight, out of mind - For a lot of folks, college hoops doesn't truly start until football is over. In this town that is especially true when the Bengals are doing well as is the case this year. I know a few friends that were going to buy tickets for the Marshall game but decided that they wanted to go to Bengals/Browns on Sunday so that is where their $$ went.

4) The lack of promotion/marketing of the basketball program to me is completely unacceptable. The program is in a position where it can attract new faces that can and would be supporters. You couldn't say that 3-4 years ago but now is the time to try and attract new faces that will be lifelong supporters of UC basketball. IMO, the time has come to stop working to bring people back to the program and focus your attention on those who could be introduced to it...I guarantee that they will like what they see. Besides, if there are people that are still harboring some pathetic grudge to either UC or Mick Cronin, I say let them rot in their pathetic, misguided, and, frankly, phony anger. Those people were never UC fans. They were fans of an individual who happened to represent UC at that time.
 
Amberlycolonel said:
Someone hit the ball out of the park on this one. Mick Cronin is not well liked, nor respected for that matter, in this town. He is the face of UC basketball and has not done it justice during his tenure here. My wife and I have said time and again that he just refuses to put any effort into promoting the team or himself in the off season. This past summer was no different.

I had a chance to meet Mick this past spring and actually had a short chat with him. His take and view on his job is very noble but self defeating as well. He sees himself as a "watchful steward of the program" and not the engine it needs to generate excitement. While I do agree with his view of being a steward, he also must understand that it is his job to bring interest back into Clifton. Cronin is a decent coach with a very dry personality, but I believe he does try his best and wants to succeed here. But he is not the icon Clifton needs to put butts into seats at the Shoe.
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If getting this team back to the tournament and a pre season top 25 ranking (deserved or not) does not bring interest back to this program then what the hell will?!
The biggest problem with this program is the fans plan and simple. The same people who come on here and blame the parking, the schedule, the facilities or the coach. There all excuses! You should go to a game to see your team who cares who they are playing, who cares their style of play. Our fans are embarrising. We wont be a big time program if our fans dont become big time fans. Indiana going through a very similar situation has big time fans and they soon will be a big time program.
If our fans will show up then we will become a big time program once again.
 
thebeast said:
If getting this team back to the tournament and a pre season top 25 ranking (deserved or not) does not bring interest back to this program then what the hell will?!
The biggest problem with this program is the fans plan and simple. The same people who come on here and blame the parking, the schedule, the facilities or the coach. There all excuses! You should go to a game to see your team who cares who they are playing, who cares their style of play. Our fans are embarrising. We wont be a big time program if our fans dont become big time fans. Indiana going through a very similar situation has big time fans and they soon will be a big time program.
If our fans will show up then we will become a big time program once again.
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Why should we spend our hard earned money to watch them put up 54pts against Presbyterian?

Like I said, sports is entertainment and the style of play isnt entertaining enough for me to dish out extra money to watch them play below average talent.
 
thebeast said:
Seriously? You got to be kidding me.
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Cronin does come into play with regards to the lack of attendance, but I think the effect is minimal these days. The biggest culprit is the poor OOC. Answer me this because I have no idea on the answer. Who is responsible for the scheduling of teams? Does the coach have any input in those decisions?
 
Everyone here knows I am a big Mick supporter. I love his honesty. I think he says whatever he believes.

I do get turned off when Mick doesn't bust Yancy's ass over not hustling. I hate that.
 
Kingsley Court said:
I know that people say US Bank is a bad idea, but has anyone considered The Gardens? It may be a little outdated, but it sure as heck can get loud in that place.

Also, I'm not sure if there is an option or not to do this already, but what about when buying season tickets you can buy a parking pass for those games as well. Make it cheaper than what it would be to pay to park in the garage for all the home games. Maybe that would solve some of the parking issues. I don't think "sitting in the parking garage traffic" is a legit excuse for not parking in a parking garage, especially if you think the area is not safe.
Click to expand...

While The Gardens would be OK it would be very hard to recruit. If our biggest competitors like OSU, Louisville, UK, Xavier are showing kids great new arena's, we can not be showing them the Gardens. Location/Parking is solid though.
 
Amberlycolonel said:
Cronin does come into play with regards to the lack of attendance, but I think the effect is minimal these days. The biggest culprit is the poor OOC. Answer me this because I have no idea on the answer. Who is responsible for the scheduling of teams? Does the coach have any input in those decisions?
Click to expand...

ESPN makes the schedule for all the games between name teams. North Carolina does not play Michigan State without a nice check from ESPN. Mick calls ESPN every year asking to be in, name the game.

Kentucky's OCC schedule has Marist, Radford, Portland, Chattanooga, Samford, Loyola MD, Lamar, Arkansas Little Rock. Not much difference between this and UC's schedule.
 
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Thegreatone said:
While The Gardens would be OK it would be very hard to recruit. If our biggest competitors like OSU, Louisville, UK, Xavier are showing kids great new arena's, we can not be showing them the Gardens. Location/Parking is solid though.
Click to expand...

UK's arena, Rupp, ain't exactly great or new, you ever been there for a game? Thousands more bench seats than the Shoe. Cintas is the Shoe with 3,000 less seats. Many, many seats are behind the south basket. Not many of the seats in Value City are close to the court. I got invited to attend a game in a suite at Value City, the suite was far behind a basket and you needed binoculars to see the players. Ever been to a NCAA tourney game in a dome? The Ralph watched UC lose to Kentucky (Bobby's last game) from what seemed to be 1,000 feet away. Purdue and Minnesota arenas are 100% bench seats.
 
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ralph1950 said:
UK's arena, Rupp, ain't exactly great or new, you ever been there for a game? Thousands more bench seats than the Shoe. Cintas is the Shoe with 3,000 less seats. Many, many seats are behind the south basket. Not many of the seats in Value City are close to the court. I got invited to attend a game in a suite at Value City, the suite was far behind a basket and you needed binoculars to see the players. Ever been to a NCAA tourney game in a dome? The Ralph watched UC lose to Kentucky (Bobby's last game) from what seemed to be 1,000 feet away. Purdue and Minnesota arenas are 100% bench seats.
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Sorry Ralph, the Cintas is far, far nicer than the Shoe. Ask any partial observer and they would tell you that.
 
ralph1950 said:
ESPN makes the schedule for all the games between name teams. North Carolina does not play Michigan State without a nice check from ESPN. Mick calls ESPN every year asking to be in, name the game.
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The sad thing is, Mick probably think UC is up there with those teams. One of the biggest problems with Mick is how delusional he is. He ALWAYS thinks people are screwing him over. Remember when he thought the Big East was out to get him because UC wasn't in a Big East tournament commercial? He was serious.

Just a few weeks ago he was upset at his ranking, yet after the loss to Presbyterian he claims he "saw it coming." He never takes blame for a loss, and always takes credit for a win.

Mick Cronin is by far one of the biggest whiners in college basketball. That has to put him on the bad side of a lot of fans.
 
Kingsley Court said:
The sad thing is, Mick probably think UC is up there with those teams. One of the biggest problems with Mick is how delusional he is. He ALWAYS thinks people are screwing him over. Remember when he thought the Big East was out to get him because UC wasn't in a Big East tournament commercial? He was serious.

Just a few weeks ago he was upset at his ranking, yet after the loss to Presbyterian he claims he "saw it coming." He never takes blame for a loss, and always takes credit for a win.

Mick Cronin is by far one of the biggest whiners in college basketball. That has to put him on the bad side of a lot of fans.
Click to expand...

All coaches whine, especially Bob Huggins. Huggy Bear is whining about the WVU attendence, 7,800, 5,700, 6,400 for the 3 games in the WVU 14,000 seat Coliseum, said maybe they need to play more games in Charlestown.
 
Kingsley Court said:
Sorry Ralph, the Cintas is far, far nicer than the Shoe. Ask any partial observer and they would tell you that.
Click to expand...

Sorry Kingsley, Cintas is the Shoe with 3,000 less seats. 3,000 of the 10,000 seats are behind the south basket, seats behind a basket are not good viewing seats.
 

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