news from the hoopla

[Big Mike]

One of the bigger surprises of the night......2 bottles of pepsi and a popcorn only $5!

[dogsrus]

Have to give a big shout out to BUBenny on the other board.....if you want to see a GREAT series of photos on the WL winning dunk you gotta go check it out.

Just be thnkful he didn't get pics of the ole stiff that shot the half cout shot....mercy.

[basketball nut]

Sorry I couldn't make it but to those disapointed about the numbers one must consider if they added a scrimmage of 20-30 minutes like the "big boys" do maybe you add excitement & double the size of the crowd or even pact the place.

WE want to play w/ the big dogs but then we don't run opening night like them. Read about the crowds at places like Michigan State, NC, Duke, Kansas & Kentucky where they even charge and sell out in under 30 minutes. Am I putting us at that level? Not at all but act like you want people to come out to see your team and build the excitement.

[real fan]

Last night was a typical night as far as student attendance, the ones that did show seemed to have a good time but the ones that did not attend proved once again that having the team on campus does not have anything to do with student attendance, great place as advertised.

[Da Coach]

IMO, the 3 major reasons the attendance was less than hoped for-

1- there is no tradition for Midnight Madness yet at Bradley because we haven't had one for so long. Keep doing this each year, and the enthusiasm, student participation, and attendance will increase. All of the schools where Midnight Madness is a big deal are schools that have done it every year for a long time.
2- There was no scrimmaging or skills displays, other than the slam dunk contest, and a couple long shots by the women players. More fans will come to see a few minutes of scrimmaging or even one-on-one or two-on-two drills. The dancing was fun, but it isn't what the fans would prefer to see more of.
3- The late time. I know the coaches wanted to take advantage of getting a practice on the first allowable day, so probably that is why the event did not start until 9:00 pm. But a 2+ hour practice before the event meant tired legs (which contributed to a lot of missed dunks), and too late a start time. Why not hold the Hoopla event at 7:00 pm (which is what most schools do), and then the coaches could still have a regular practice after the event. I know a number of fans who did not attend because of the late time, and there were people leaving early because the event lasted until almost 10:30 pm.

Also, can Bradley find a way to allow fans to purchase tickets to events like this online and print them out on their home printers? Many venues do this, including Ticketmaster, but I did not see that was an option for events at the Renaissance Coliseum.

[BradleyBrave]

I'm all for continuing the event, but making some modifications to make it a bit more about basketball and less about fluff. As myself and others have said, it's a work-in-progress. The Coliseum wasn't built in a day ya know...

[Beninator]

IMO, the 3 major reasons the attendance was less than hoped for-

1- there is no tradition for Midnight Madness yet at Bradley because we haven't had one for so long. Keep doing this each year, and the enthusiasm, student participation, and attendance will increase. All of the schools where Midnight Madness is a big deal are schools that have done it every year for a long time.
2- There was no scrimmaging or skills displays, other than the slam dunk contest, and a couple long shots by the women players. More fans will come to see a few minutes of scrimmaging or even one-on-one or two-on-two drills. The dancing was fun, but it isn't what the fans would prefer to see more of.
3- The late time. I know the coaches wanted to take advantage of getting a practice on the first allowable day, so probably that is why the event did not start until 9:00 pm. But a 2+ hour practice before the event meant tired legs (which contributed to a lot of missed dunks), and too late a start time. Why not hold the Hoopla event at 7:00 pm (which is what most schools do), and then the coaches could still have a regular practice after the event. I know a number of fans who did not attend because of the late time, and there were people leaving early because the event lasted until almost 10:30 pm.

Also, can Bradley find a way to allow fans to purchase tickets to events like this online and print them out on their home printers? Many venues do this, including Ticketmaster, but I did not see that was an option for events at the Renaissance Coliseum.

Agree on all accounts but I would add a fourth topic. We need to make this more of an event than a pep rally. I believe that if we include a setup with some food tents outside and a live band before the event, it will add very much to the atmosphere. Maybe representatives from the athletic department can travel to some similar events at colleges around the midwest to get some ideas that they can apply here. Last night was a start and I had a very good time.

[Beninator]

Well as a students perspective i was also somewhat disappointed in our attendance numbers. And as for the greek life and such, on friday night 3 of the 7 sororities had their big fall date parties. And out side of 2 fraternities the rest of greek life isnt highly supportive of bradley athletics. Also, 9pm on a friday night appeals mainly to the students not planning on going out afterwards an such because most of the student population is going out by 10 or 10:30 and there for is getting ready before hand. I think also the fact that the event wasnt a game and was more of a glorified pep rally some students were not attracted to the event.

I personally enjoyed the event. We have the Red vs. White scrimmage to see the guys play in a few weeks. this was just to get people excited about the upcoming season. I think that both the red white scrimmage and the exhibition game in the new arena will have more students at them.

Thanks for your input Redsea. You added some pieces to the puzzle that this alumn was not aware of until this morning. Do you by chance know if the athletic department is trying to recruit the fraternities, sororities, and other organizations for participation? I say this as I transferred to Bradley from a school in which the athletic department played a very active role in generating fan support for their events among the various student organizations. For example, I was in the band and the athletic department at the other school I attended purchased two kegs for us to have a party as a thank you for our support during the year. The department was under the impression that the party was going to be held at a on-campus facility, but when they discovered that the party was held at a house that I and my roommates rented that was off campus, the department called us to send a carpet cleaning crew to our place as an additional thank you. I know that this will never happen here at Bradley(and should not happen),but I think that there are ways for the athletic department to take a more proactive role with organizations on campus.

[MacabreMob]

Some observations from Hoopla -

4. Davis looks raw, and doesn't look 6'10". Don't see him being physically ready, and I would say redshirting might be a good option for him.

Thankyou. Thanks for the observation. I remember when he signed with Bradley, a lot of people thought he was gonna save us in the paint. I recall thinking I'd expect to get more out of AT than Davis. Course - everyone else has thrown the towel in on AT. Not me. I believe it takes time for most "big guys" to make an impact.

[romar]

Have to give a big shout out to BUBenny on the other board.....if you want to see a GREAT series of photos on the WL winning dunk you gotta go check it out.

Just be thnkful he didn't get pics of the ole stiff that shot the half cout shot....mercy.

Yeah - he made the cardinal sin in taking half court shots, YOU NEVER LEAVE IT SHORT. Would have rather seen you chuck it over the backboard. Oh well it was a nice effort & DSE tried to get you a 2nd chance!!

[romar]

Thankyou. Thanks for the observation. I remember when he signed with Bradley, a lot of people thought he was gonna save us in the paint. I recall thinking I'd expect to get more out of AT than Davis. Course - everyone else has thrown the towel in on AT. Not me. I believe it takes time for most "big guys" to make an impact.

I think that the first couple of years AT was a bit of a fish out of water, he always came across to me as very quite, reserved and almost a bit shy or sheepish. I saw none of that from him last night. He looks comfortable in his skin & with this team. I expect him to contribute plenty this year.

[romar]

Last thought, if they are listing WE at 240 what do you guys think JP is running now? He has certainly gotten thick, probably the thickest big BU has had since maybe Funches. Think someone was sneaking creatine into his milk bottle.

After seeing what JP has done with the year off, I agree that maybe a red shirt year might be beneficial to AD.

[SFP]

Must of all been downtown Peoria at the bars!

This generation of kids is much different then ours. I'll bet if this event was marketed a bit differently there would have been a larger turn-out. The ( PM time should have benefited the students but for some reason besides the kids heading to their formals the rest decided not to show up.

RedSeaElite is there an online questionnaire that BU uses to poll students? If so you should find out the root problem behind the low attendance. If not, create a poll and go around a start asking. If you want your club to be successful it will take a bit of work. Once you find out the root cause then you can create the marketing plan to work around it. I hope!

[real fan]

I understand that a lot of people did not care to attend a basketball event where no basketball was being played but this is the Bradley students teams and the event was targeted towards them, congratulations to the students that did show up and the ones that won some great prizes, hopefully the students will have a better showing for the red-white game next Sunday.

[BradleyJD]

That missed half court shot saved me a beer...thank you!