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Is this the best of times?
- Thread starter Da Bears
- Start date
WSUfan4ever
Active member
... and we have to win the conference tournament. The BSC will not get a 2nd bid anytime soon. NIT is also a longshot anymore. Strength of schedule, non-conference success, etc. etc. etc.
Webergrad02
Active member
WSUfan4ever said:
Actually, the Nit is much more accessible than it used to be. If you are the regular season champ and lose your conference tournament you are guaranteed an NIT bid.
The WCC was once in this position. Once Gonzaga started getting things together, other WCC teams started to follow suit. Now the WCC is a fairly strong Mid-Major conference. The Big Sky has potential. It probably has more than what the WCC had. Lets be honest, the WCC took the spot that the Big Sky had been in. I'm not necessarily worried about the Big Sky. There are a number of athletic programs who do things the right way in our conference, which is really improving the image of the conference. Regrettably, Weber isn't one of them.
From what we experience and see, Weber just does enough to stay floating above water. Look at the NDSU football game. From the time that Hill was hired athletics should have been marketing that game. Hill and his staff should have been everywhere in Northern Utah drumming up support and participation. They should have been in every parade, at ever fair, giving out shirts and cutting ticket prices (not making everything Free which is our marketing directors best move). All through Summer Semester there should have been signs, banners, and players all over campus getting students excited; especially for orientations and the first two weeks of school. Every officer in WSUSA, SAA, SAAC, and any other club and org should have been given roles and assignments and a major plan should have been put into action. Basketball should start right when the previous season ends. It is our cash cow, and we hear nothing till the end of summer and then September for tickets. Sad Sad Sad...we have the wrong mindset as an institution. We are Lazy, stubborn, and poorly led.
From what we experience and see, Weber just does enough to stay floating above water. Look at the NDSU football game. From the time that Hill was hired athletics should have been marketing that game. Hill and his staff should have been everywhere in Northern Utah drumming up support and participation. They should have been in every parade, at ever fair, giving out shirts and cutting ticket prices (not making everything Free which is our marketing directors best move). All through Summer Semester there should have been signs, banners, and players all over campus getting students excited; especially for orientations and the first two weeks of school. Every officer in WSUSA, SAA, SAAC, and any other club and org should have been given roles and assignments and a major plan should have been put into action. Basketball should start right when the previous season ends. It is our cash cow, and we hear nothing till the end of summer and then September for tickets. Sad Sad Sad...we have the wrong mindset as an institution. We are Lazy, stubborn, and poorly led.
Webergrad02
Active member
talhadfoursteals said:
We need to start thinking outside of the Tarbox.
Midmajor??
Active member
talhadfoursteals said:
This post ruined my day. With every fiber in my body, I want to refute these comments, but I can't because they are true. Weber State's leadership has adopted a second best mentality and that's exactly how're treated. We have the ability to raise our program to new heights, but yes we are ok with being second best. The fixes are easy, but instead of fighting to improve our stature, we've adopted a just happy to be thought of posture. Making the NCAA's as a 15/16 or play in team is our barometer for success. That will not change until we get an AD with vision and a little attitude.
Webergrad02
Active member
The thing that irked me is when I heard some saying that they would rather host a bunch of CIT games than go to the NCAA tournament. I want us to treat the OOC schedule with urgency and importance.
WSUfan4ever
Active member
webergrad02 said:
Totally agree. I was just thinking that you have such an advantage in the BSC to win the tournament if you win the conference, and beyond that the chances are slim?
talhadfoursteals said:
I'm sorry Tal, while I am a big fan of the basketball program and want nothing more for the team to not only win the Sky, but get a win (or two?) in the Big Dance, there is much more to the University than basketball. To say that every student officer in every club and org should have been given roles and assignments to promote the upcoming basketball season is just wrong. Student clubs and orgs have their own focus; they should not have roles and assignments to promote basketball.
I do think that the athletic department can and should do more advertising. And this week they are. There are signs up all over campus advertising the upcoming BYU game and emphasizing that students get in free.
SWWeatherCat
Active member
webergrad02 said:
...and Weber knows how to compete with that :lol:
SWWeatherCat
Active member
WSUProf said:
I'll bet that has as much to do with BYU than with Weber. The only buzz the athletic department seems interested in creating is for the only (higher profile) team willing to come to the DEC. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if this were the case to try and make sure everyone possible doesn't miss an opportunity to see BYU.
Interesting (& questionable) how WSU marketing works, but with BB, some blame justifiably goes to Coach Rahe and his attitude towards in-state & OOC games; sure he loves to take on the big challenges, but he doesn't build it up as far as his team's focus & play. It's always the "prepares us for conference play" thing, & one could observe he seems about as excited as if it's an appointment with the dentist. Can't expect him to be a cheerleader, but come-on, show some excitement & pride in wanting to win these. Bless the enthused WSU students who get into these games, but they are few & growing fewer (can't blame them with the recent years results vs. BYU/USU).
Coach Rose was quoted this week about how great it was to have the nationally ranked Utes in the Marriot Ctr. for a game tonight & what excitement this brings to his team & the Y student body fans (as if all 20K+ of them needed it). You can tell he was building it up loud & clear for everyone concerned.
Sat night, you are likely to see as many or more Y fans there cheering for their Cougars & being loud (& obnoxious--but not as bad as those hundreds of Aggie fans who visit the DEC) & loving every minute of it!
Weber State has a long way to go on several counts, some of us would even say it has regressed from some past glory years. :twocents:
Coach Rose was quoted this week about how great it was to have the nationally ranked Utes in the Marriot Ctr. for a game tonight & what excitement this brings to his team & the Y student body fans (as if all 20K+ of them needed it). You can tell he was building it up loud & clear for everyone concerned.
Sat night, you are likely to see as many or more Y fans there cheering for their Cougars & being loud (& obnoxious--but not as bad as those hundreds of Aggie fans who visit the DEC) & loving every minute of it!
Weber State has a long way to go on several counts, some of us would even say it has regressed from some past glory years. :twocents:
This is spot on AlumniWSU. I believe that the lack of OOC wins, and especially against in-state opponents, is strictly placed on Coach Rahe's head. Maybe if he were born and raised in Utah, he would understand the importance of in-state games. Look at Coach Morrill. Born and raised in Utah. He gets up and excited for the games. Rahe, born and raised in Iowa. Does not understand the importance of these games. When Rahe was an assistant at U of U and USU, I guarantee he looked down on WSU and knew when his other teams played WSU, his teams would win. He had the mindset going in, when hired here, that we should not win in-state recruiting or games actually played. His attitude vs in-state games is terrible. He is okay with being 3rd-5th best in the state. I just listened to the BYU pre-game show (ugh... I hate BYU and Greg Grubel) and Dave Rose said how excited he gets up for in-state games. He said that he loves the in-state games and the competition they bring. The other thing he said that I would love to hear Rahe say, "college basketball is all about the fun the in-state games bring. There is a good feeling about these games and I embrace these games." I think Rahe only cares about BIg Sky ball. He uses the OOC games only as "practice." I hate this mentality.... I cant think of a good OOC regular season game that Rahe has won. In 9 seasons, he should have some quality wins. His only Pac-12 win was at home vs a crappy Utah team... He has beaten USU like twice and never has been BYU. I really hate the first half of the basketball season. The second half is okay, as we beat up on teams like ISU and North Dakota.... :?
WSUProf said:
Okay...so I wrote a bit out of turn. Not every club and org should be involved, but WSUSA, SAA, Ambassadors and SAAC should be doing a lot more. When I was in WSUSA, we made sure that every club and org, especially the Greeks, were involved in Wildcat Athletics. We'd meet with president councils and give them priority seating; at that time behind the west basket. If they didn't want to go or be involved we'd always talk about our other programs ranging from Fine Arts to Club Fest. We at least gave them the chance to be involved. The point I am making is that there is NO student leadership involvement right now. It is pathetic on campus. You are here too...can you not see that? SAA was awesome while Bev Rudd was in charge. She left it in great shape. All you had to do was keep doing what she was doing and the program was destined to grow. But nope -even Larry Farmer could have made that situation work- now it is a shell of what it use to be. Point is...there is waaay to much contentment on campus. The students are our future. They are the ones who will be buying season tickets, giving gifts to the university, sponsoring programs through their business, being members of the Wildcat Club etc, and finally being the donors and supports that this university depends on to maintain its academic level. In the present world of academia, if a university isn't expanding and growing, much like an empire, then it is shrinking. Best way to grow and develop is with money. Can't really do that unless there is revenue and an endowment.
No matter, WSUProf, I agree with you...there is a lot more to a university than its athletics, but it is through its athletics that a university can really generate pride and money. Of course, not the only way. But, one of the easier ways. Imagine a CEO slapping shoulders and telling everyone about that great Jim Christiansen play that is playing at the Kennedy Center. Not the best image. Something to definitely be proud in and of. I love what Jim does, but it doesn't convey the same energy as a win in the NCAA tournament or a long run in the playoffs.
Lastly, yes, I've seen the signs too. It is Finals Week. The number of students on campus has dropped significantly. Most aren't concerned about a game but passing their finals. I'm glad that the marketing guy decided to do something this week, but as always with him, at the last min.
END RANT...YIkes. That is one impassioned speech!! :rofl: Thank you for your efforst WSUProf. I do enjoy your thoughts and comments. Keep it up! :thumb:
SWWeatherCat
Active member
webergrad02 said:
Well, if you're referring to any comment I made regarding this, let me explain my take. Going to the NCAA tournament will ONLY happen winning the BSC tournament so, by default, that would ALWAYS be my preference since I would never WANT to lose the BSC Championship. Even so, making it to a tournament championship, like the CIT, and hosting and beating several respectable D1 opponents is much more attractive to me than getting your @$$ handed to you on a national stage (e.g. Montana/Syracuse) or paying to only see quality teams, the likes of the She-Bills, the Catholic Sioux, a collection of Sainted Kathy's, or the (random compass heading) + (state name here).
I very much enjoyed the CIT tournament and suspect the players did as well. It might not have been the ending they'd hoped for but it was a h3ll of a consolation and a chance for this fan to see some quality competition instead of the worthless crap that typically occupies the DEC.
Strength of schedule is the common component to both of these posts. Once a while someone posts that link to the scheduling board for coaches. Every time I go to that board I see viable options for WSU. By a long shot,we are not the only mid/low major looking for quality games. And if that doesn't work, we should give up home games and hit the road. I believe several schools in the Big Sky had better OOC than we did this year, and that has to change. And even if we have OU type of games, I'd rather have two more guarantee games with that exposure and experience than the non D 1 schools that come to the Dee. My ideal OOC would look something like:
1 h/h with Big West
1 h/h with WCC
3 in-state games
1 h/h with top level WAC (Seattle, NMSU, Grand Canyon)
1 h/h with select teams from the Summit (NDSU,SDSU, Denver,ORU, South Dakota)
1 h/h with select teams from Horizon (Green Bay, Milwaukee, Valpo)
2 at PAC 12
1 at Big 12
O
1 h/h with Big West
1 h/h with WCC
3 in-state games
1 h/h with top level WAC (Seattle, NMSU, Grand Canyon)
1 h/h with select teams from the Summit (NDSU,SDSU, Denver,ORU, South Dakota)
1 h/h with select teams from Horizon (Green Bay, Milwaukee, Valpo)
2 at PAC 12
1 at Big 12
O
SWWeatherCat said:
SWWeatherCat
Active member
Your ideal would probably rival the best Weber has ever had and would benefit almost every aspect of the program. The sad part, knowing something like this will never happen, is that it seems very reasonable and beneficial to all schools involved and does not seem like it should be difficult to pull of.
