Mick Cronin needs some help

[JackBauer151]

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20140111/SPT0101/301110043/

Love him for his loyalty and his honesty. Just hope the higher ups can figure out a way to get him the help he needs. We have seen much debate over the last couple weeks on the Mick Cronin front. The overwhelming conclusion that I saw was that everyone just wants what is best for UC basketball. Whether that includes Mick Cronin or not I just really hope UC can rise to the playing field of the others in the region. No matter who the head coach is he will be at a disadvantage playing with that arena with that budget. I wish I could help more.

 

[UCalum08]

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20140111/SPT0101/301110043/

Love him for his loyalty and his honesty. Just hope the higher ups can figure out a way to get him the help he needs. We have seen much debate over the last couple weeks on the Mick Cronin front. The overwhelming conclusion that I saw was that everyone just wants what is best for UC basketball. Whether that includes Mick Cronin or not I just really hope UC can rise to the playing field of the others in the region. No matter who the head coach is he will be at a disadvantage playing with that arena with that budget. I wish I could help more.

Lol I posted this article on the Rutgers thread. I love Cronin and no other coach has done more with less IMO. I say this a lot when discussing money for a new arena. It drives me crazy that in Cincinnati, with so many fortune 500 companies we can't get any corporate support. Maybe I am missing something since I am no economics major. We are lucky to have a coach who LOVES being here and doesn't want to leave. I wish fans and the city would support it more.

 

[Bearcat04]

No matter who the head coach is he will be at a disadvantage playing with that arena with that budget.

Just imagine how much better the results could be if these weren't an issue. In terms of budget and facilities, we got left in the dust by our former CUSA foes. Louisville, Memphis, and Marquette all basically play in NBA arenas. Last year they spent a combined $33 million on basketball expenses. We didn't even top $6 million and spent less than freakin' TCU!

It's about time this program gets a better commitment from the fans and University.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Good article. I will say it starts with media heads like Daugherty to bring the issue to the forefront. Cronin and Babcock need to start getting in the ears of the big corporations about getting some big time donations. They need a realistic plan to put a new arena on campus and they need to get funding in place quick. Get a plan together and sell the private boxes in advance like they did for football. USBank is not the answer. Part of me wonders if Cronin throws that out there to get UC fans in arms so they'll donate to build a new arena on campus.

 

[bearcat jeff]

I have said in the past that no matter what you think of Mick Cronin that he deserves respect for the foundation he has laid to be built upon. If he leaves tomorrow or in another 20 years he has the program in better shape than when he inherited it.

He deserves fan and city support for so many reasons. I could talk about coming here when nobody else would. I could talk about te mess he inerited and accepted because he loved the program and city or wanting to be here forever or many other things, but the bottom line is he has held up his end of the bargain and has done so with what was the second lowest budget in the Big East and against Hall of Fame coaches.

It IS time people support this coach and this program. He's overcome many many obstacles and has still won. The fan base and city support shouldn't be an obstacle. That should be a given for a winning coach and winning program.

 

[L-T]

Schedule better, keep your program in the Top 25, and win championships.....and they will come. Nobody will pay the high season ticket prices to watch 50% of the games against USC Upstate and North Idaho Downriver, not to mention the bottom feeders of the AAC.

 

[bearcat jeff]

And yet it happens across town at X and all around UC. That argument does not hold water.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Schedule better, keep your program in the Top 25, and win championships.....and they will come. Nobody will pay the high season ticket prices to watch 50% of the games against USC Upstate and North Idaho Downriver, not to mention the bottom feeders of the AAC.

I've been curious to look this up so I did. The season we sold out the Shoe, our home games were Youngstown State, Mississippi Valley State, UW-Milwaukee, UNLV and Ohio and then the conference slate which had it's share of bottom feeders. We played some good competition on nuetral court games, but that doesn't sell seats to the Shoe. I get what you're saying about scheduling, but the truth is our scheduling isn't vastly different than any other program out there. We were winning then and had a buzz and that sold tickets. Fans bought into the program back then and it wasn't because of scheduling.

I'll be the first to argue that individual tickets and walk-up tickets will suffer when you play inferior competition. If you're the type of fan that will go to a handful of games, USC Upstate and the like aren't going to be the games you choose. Our problem is people aren't commited to the program. We need to sell more season tickets. You need a buzz to do that. Winning is step one. We have done that. Getting a regular ranking is step two. I think we'll get there. Bottom line is if we were to schedule two really good home teams every year (ranked teams or at least big names) I don't see that really prompting people to buy season tickets. There will always be conference bottom-feeders and always be the few buy-in games. We scheduled NC State this year and drew about 7,000. Game-time was a factor, but if that game doesn't get you excited it's not a scheduling issue. We're not going to scedule all ranked teams every year. If we did we wouldn't win, wouldn't be ranked and would be an afterthought to fans. Scheduling is an excuse plain and simple. If/when people commit to the program then they can afford to schedule better. Until then we have what we have. In year's past they bundled all conference games together and it didn't really sell a vast number of tickets and that was for Big East basketball. I just don't buy scheduling as a major issue for why we don't sell tickets.

 

[mdchick]

I don't know why we are wasting money on our football program. To me our basketball program should come first, it's not like our football team could ever compete for a national championship, our basketball team could.

 

[SlamJam]

Wasnt the football team a couple seconds (Texas Nebraska game) away from a NC game? Typically football brings in more money than basketball, not sure on UC numbers though. I'd rather basketball first, though.

 

[L-T]

I don't know why we are wasting money on our football program. To me our basketball program should come first, it's not like our football team could ever compete for a national championship, our basketball team could.

Personally, I totally agree with you. Part of the problem with basketball is that we're putting a lot of time and money into being a big boy football program. I'm not sure it will ever happen. We've proven it can happen here in basketball. It almost happened in football because our basketball program got us in the weakest BCS football conference and we won it....almost getting us to a national championship. But, we no longer have a good path to football greatness, so I too would prefer more spending on basketball.

 

[L-T]

And yet it happens across town at X and all around UC. That argument does not hold water.

What? X plays in a conference as good or better than ours, but has a non-conference schedule of Tennessee twice, Morehead St., Miami, Iowa, USC, Bowling Green, Evansville, Cincinnati, Alabama, and Wake Forest. They have won championships. They have a strong recent history of great results in the NCAA, and they've been ranked. They embody everything that I said, and consequently, they sell out. Pretty simple formula. I think my argument does hold water.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Football makes money which elevates your ability to spend on your other programs. It's not even close the money football can generate vs. basketball. To speak on the terms of UC, the fans have shown a commitment to football and not to basketball. Universities don't spend money they don't have to try and sell fans on the idea of coming to their games. About twice as many people chose to travel to Charlotte to watch us play football in a meaningless and no-name bowl game than choose to come down to Clifton any given night or chose to come downtown to watch us play our best rival Xavier. The fans are making the decision for the university. When we average under 9,000 a game this year yet again, the program won't have any more money to do much different next year. Schools are non-profit organizations and are funded by tax-payers and private donations. Private donors decided to upgrade Nippert, they haven't decided to upgrade the Shoe. We could ask the taxpayers to buy us a new arena I suppose, how well does anyone tink that will go over?

 

[bearcat jeff]

What? X plays in a conference as good or better than ours, but has a non-conference schedule of Tennessee twice, Morehead St., Miami, Iowa, USC, Bowling Green, Evansville, Cincinnati, Alabama, and Wake Forest. They have won championships. They have a strong recent history of great results in the NCAA, and they've been ranked. They embody everything that I said, and consequently, they sell out. Pretty simple formula. I think my argument does hold water.

Every team plays panties. X @ home, Gardner-Webb, Morehead State, Tenn, Miami Oh, Abilene Christian, Bowling Green, Evansville and Wake. Try your argument again. Iowa, Tenn #2, USC, Alabama and UC were not at Cintas. X had good attendance last season in a down year. Rupp was sold out with Gillespie. Indiana's attendance remains good in down years. Louisville under Crumb at the end still drew. A good fan base supports their program. Yours and others argument on here is that for 16 years the UC brand was as strong as theirs and yet the fan base here don't support the team thru thick and thin like them.

 

[bearcat jeff]

UC Non-Conf includes NCST @ 11-4, New Mexico @ 11-3, X @ 13-3, Pitt @ 15-1. Their strength of schedule is drug down by 2-3 teams.

 

[waterhead]

There are three ways to put fans in the stands. Acheive a very high level of success on the floor. Examples crack the top 10 or get to a final 4. Another is to have better marketing or promotions to get fans to the game. Finally would be an arena that fans want to come to and has some level of convenience. I would rank them in that order.

What I disagree with Cronin on is that he needs 2 and 3 to get fans in the stands...he just needs #1. What I do agree with Cronin on is that we have a lousy (HORRIBLE) budget and poor arena. He is handicapped against other programs in recruiting and scheduling.

I really think right now attendance is going to start to improve as far as what Cronin and the team have done. Some eyes are opening. I am hoping for well over 10K tonight. The BUZZ should be there...and Cronin and the team created it without much help from the University.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Promotion would be great from the university.

 

[L-T]

Every team plays panties. X @ home, Gardner-Webb, Morehead State, Tenn, Miami Oh, Abilene Christian, Bowling Green, Evansille and Wake. Try your argument again. Iowa, Tenn #2, USC, Alabama and UC were not at Cintas. X had good attendance last season in a down year. Rupp was sold out with Gillespie. Indiana's attendance remains good in down years. Louisville under Crumb at the end still drew. A good fan base supports their program. Yours and others argument on here is that for 16 years the UC brand was as strong as theirs and yet the fan base here don't support the team thru thick and thin like them.

So, you're comparing X's home games of Tennessee, Morehead, Miami, Bowling Green, Wake, Evansville, etc. to that piece of crap home schedule we had? That's pretty funny. First, pretty much all of their teams have name recognition. Also, many of them are regional teams that are close enough to bring fans with them. The teams we played are just laughable. In the circle of people that I know who have dropped their season tickets, the #1 reason cited is the teams Cronin schedules. They say, "I'm not about to pay those prices to go down and watch those teams". Keep in mind, these are "former" season ticket holders who are big fans who are now refusing to go because of the schedule. I think it also impacts the fan's perception and acceptance of Mick as our head coach because it comes across as him trying to pad his record. I wonder if it has an affect on recruits as well. Recruits want to be on national tv and those games are certainly not going to get them there.

Yes, all teams play patsies. However, there's a perception in our town that Mick over does it. It's very hard to argue when looking at his last 4-5 years of scheduling. When Whit Babcock was first hired, I spoke to him at our women's basketball game one evening and the topic turned to our schedule and I told him what I thought. His comment back to me was, I know that is a problem and I'm going to change that. I want to get more big-name teams into the Shoe for our fans. It still hasn't happened.

 

[Shaq_Attack]

It's as simple as this-wanna move to a better conference, you must have a good football following and good football facilities. If you don't, you are stuck in the AAC for the long haul. Even though we should be putting more into basketball now, football helps everybody in the long haul.

 

[bearcat jeff]

So, you're comparing X's home games of Tennessee, Morehead, Miami, Bowling Green, Wake, Evansville, etc. to that piece of crap home schedule we had? That's pretty funny. First, pretty much all of their teams have name recognition. Also, many of them are regional teams that are close enough to bring fans with them. The teams we played are just laughable. In the circle of people that I know who have dropped their season tickets, the #1 reason cited is the teams Cronin schedules. They say, "I'm not about to pay those prices to go down and watch those teams". Keep in mind, these are "former" season ticket holders who are big fans who are now refusing to go because of the schedule. I think it also impacts the fan's perception and acceptance of Mick as our head coach because it comes across as him trying to pad his record. I wonder if it has an affect on recruits as well. Recruits want to be on national tv and those games are certainly not going to get them there.

Yes, all teams play patsies. However, there's a perception in our town that Mick over does it. It's very hard to argue when looking at his last 4-5 years of scheduling. When Whit Babcock was first hired, I spoke to him at our women's basketball game one evening and the topic turned to our schedule and I told him what I thought. His comment back to me was, I know that is a problem and I'm going to change that. I want to get more big-name teams into the Shoe for our fans. It still hasn't happened.

It comes across like that because of people like you LT who refuse to see any good. UC has played good teams this year but you won't even acknowledge it in your responses!! I said it before and I'll say it again. There are some on here that will not accept Mick Cronin nor give him credit for anything. The only team to beat Pitt. Dominated Memphis on the road. Beat a very underrated SMU team. Played UNM on the road. Beat a good NCST team and ALL you want to talk about is the bad teams. This is typical.

The fanbase can make all the excuses they want. Real brands have a fan following and attendance against any team they play. UC fans talk a big game and say "win and we'll come" and then when you win they say "win some more". Can't have it both ways LT. People are fans or they aren't. You support a program or a coach and as Paul D. even acknowledges there are many here that are still bitter about a coach. It is true and it is a real problem and it is hurting this program.