Where were the students??

[bugregshu]

Its like the other thread where the poster is upset BU soccer isn't getting more attention....while I feel his pain and understand his dissapointment its just the way it is.....soccer isn't huge to the general public and BU hoops isn't a big deal to many (most) students.

Completely different. I wasn't asking the general public to show some support for the Bradley soccer team. I was asking people on a forum called "BRADLEY FANS" to show a little acknowledgment for the BRADLEY soccer team. It seemed like everyone was too busy fuming over an exhibition loss that doesn't matter to even realize that our soccer team had pulled off a top 10 upset, which in turn led us to make the post-season.

Or maybe I was wrong to assume that people claiming to be Bradley fans would recognize when a Bradley athletic team accomplishes something.

[Chico]

I couldn't disagree more. If they are HARDCORE sports fans, then yes, but otherwise you're off base. If the students didn't grow up in the Peoria area then they aren't going to know much about Bradley's sports teams until someone (the athletic dept.) advertises them and tells them about the teams.

Here's a comparison. Your statement is like saying "If they love good food, they'll know where the great places to eat are." But what if there is an amazing restaurant in Peoria with great food that simply never advertises or promotes its product. How would you expect someone who isn't from the area to know about it if nobody tells them?

My point which you are overlooking is that the students are already here. What Bradley has done in the past is irrevelent, they are here now and IF they are sports fans they know the school has a basketball team and it's up to them to support it or not.
If it's a great restaurant they don't need to advertise much, just word of mouth in the area.

[Chico]

I do not want to be the lovable loser Braves. I'd jump off that bandwagon as fast as possible. On the same note, why not the Expos, Royals, Pirates, etc? Most franchises need to win to be relevant. Winning brings attendance, not the other way around. Just ask the Cubs.

I graduated recently as well, and I thought advertising for games was poor at best. You definitely had to be a fan to know what was going on, and few other students that I had daily interaction with were basketball fans. Bradley wasn't good when I was in school or just before I started. One major "problem" that most people here are overlooking is that the vast majority of the students go to Bradley for academic reasons. They're not at BU to be fans of basketball. A good team can quickly change that, but the culture of winning just isn't there right now. Bradley basketball is not an SEC football team. I would much rather have a good academic school than a good basketball school. Both should be possible at BU.

Everyone on this board knows the students are there for academic reasons first. But when they graduate and go to a job, they will still have a social life when the day is done. Hopefully part of it will be supporting their local university whereever that may be.

[DUBrave5]

Agree with the point about most students having no knowledge of Bradley basketball prior to coming to school here. I grew up around here and have been going to games since the 80's. Almost all the guys in my frat (most of which were sports fans) had no interest in Bradley basketball. Some of them didn't even realize we were division 1 or knew what conference we were in. They would make fun of me for being a Bradley fan and wanting to go to games calling it small time and a waste of a Saturday night. Definitely looked down upon by the kids coming from Chicago and other big cities.

And no offense to the Red Sea guys, but when I was in school the guys in the student cheering groups were the ones who couldn't get into a frat and the last thing frat guys wanted to be associated with were those guys, and by association Bradley basketball. And make no mistake, most student sports fans at Bradley are in frats and the frats control what is seen as a cool thing to do by other students.

Having a president who makes the point to all her minions (even in the athletci dept.) that Bradley is only to be marketed as an elite institution of higher learning, not on athletic teams isn't helping things. I heard she actually held one of her late night BU student events DURING the madness events back in October.

This is actually not accurate. While they were very close together, Late Night BU started after Midnight Madness or Hoopla on the Hilltop ended which I know because I was at Late Night BU and I was asking people how the Hoopla was.

[SFP]

She attends the games! She knows the value of the basketball team winning. I've never seen her or heard her say anything different.

Winning will make a difference but I still say the average student now days is just not that into traditional sports as before. I came to BU with very little knowledge of BU hoops and I became a huge fan. They were also winning a ton when I was there but then again I'm a huge sports fan and probably would have followed them regardless.

[real fan]

Just to let you know. I'm in a fraterntiy (not a frat), and every guy on the board for the Red Sea are greek as well.

I still say you guys are working hard to try and get your fellow students to participate, if you can figure out a way to get the sorority"s involved along with the other fraternity"s you will get the numbers, remember that girls draw guys.

[amettrick]

My point which you are overlooking is that the students are already here. What Bradley has done in the past is irrevelent, they are here now and IF they are sports fans they know the school has a basketball team and it's up to them to support it or not.
If it's a great restaurant they don't need to advertise much, just word of mouth in the area.

I'm not overlooking it, I know the students are here. But your assumption is just wrong and I know from personal experience that it's wrong.

I grew up just an hour south of Peoria smack dab in the middle of ISU and U of I territory. I'm a huge sports fan and always have been, but when I arrived at Bradley I didn't know squat about Bradley's athletics programs. Sure I was aware of their existence, but big deal. Even throughout my freshman year I cared little about Bradley athletics. I was content being an Illini fan. And do you know why? Because there was nothing and nobody promoting the teams and encouraging students to attend games. It wasn't until midway through my sophomore year when a friend took me to the BU/ISU game that I fell in love with Bradley basketball.

The point is, there are plenty of sports loving students who don't support BU athletics because Bradley doesn't do anything to recruit them into the fan base. They're relying on word of mouth and it's clearly failing.

[Chico]

I'm not overlooking it, I know the students are here. But your assumption is just wrong and I know from personal experience that it's wrong.

I grew up just an hour south of Peoria smack dab in the middle of ISU and U of I territory. I'm a huge sports fan and always have been, but when I arrived at Bradley I didn't know squat about Bradley's athletics programs. Sure I was aware of their existence, but big deal. Even throughout my freshman year I cared little about Bradley athletics. I was content being an Illini fan. And do you know why? Because there was nothing and nobody promoting the teams and encouraging students to attend games. It wasn't until midway through my sophomore year when a friend took me to the BU/ISU game that I fell in love with Bradley basketball.

The point is, there are plenty of sports loving students who don't support BU athletics because Bradley doesn't do anything to recruit them into the fan base. They're relying on word of mouth and it's clearly failing.

Sorry, but nobody who grew up an hour from Peoria and is supposedly a "huge" sports fan and planning on attending Bradley, is going to convince me they didn't know about Bradley basketball. Why do you have to be recruited to go to a game your school is playing? If the students are sports fans they know the schedule.

[Bradleyguy10]

How many Bradley students are Cub fans? (rhetorical question) If they can support that franchise, then why not BU?

If you are a cubs fan why would you want the depression of rooting for TWO failing sports programs??

[Beninator]

Sorry, but nobody who grew up an hour from Peoria and is supposedly a "huge" sports fan and planning on attending Bradley, is going to convince me they didn't know about Bradley basketball. Why do you have to be recruited to go to a game your school is playing? If the students are sports fans they know the schedule.

Chico, I would venture a guess that this generation of students and sports fans are not very familiar with Larry Bird or the fact that Bird played at Indiana State let alone BU sports. JMHO

[amckillip]

Sorry, but nobody who grew up an hour from Peoria and is supposedly a "huge" sports fan and planning on attending Bradley, is going to convince me they didn't know about Bradley basketball. Why do you have to be recruited to go to a game your school is playing? If the students are sports fans they know the schedule.

In high school I grew up in Terre Haute, went to two ISU-BU games, was such a huge College BBall fan I paid for ESPN Full Court in HS, twice. I didn't know BU was any different than Evansville or Drake...

[dogsrus]

Completely different. I wasn't asking the general public to show some support for the Bradley soccer team. I was asking people on a forum called "BRADLEY FANS" to show a little acknowledgment for the BRADLEY soccer team. It seemed like everyone was too busy fuming over an exhibition loss that doesn't matter to even realize that our soccer team had pulled off a top 10 upset, which in turn led us to make the post-season.

Or maybe I was wrong to assume that people claiming to be Bradley fans would recognize when a Bradley athletic team accomplishes something.

Its really NO different at all....people just aren't fans of soccer like hoops. While this is indeed a BF board make no mistake its a BU hoops board first and foremost.

Were you upset when the tennis team didn't get any pub for a big win.....how about the cross country or golf teams?

I applaud the soccer team but this country, for the most part, loses interest in soccer once they quit travelling to the games in moms van.

And for the record BF's did recognize the team a few years back that went far in the tournament, but thats what its going to take.....a win over CU, while nice, just doesn't have the same effect here.

Congrats BU soccer.....

[Chico]

Chico, I would venture a guess that this generation of students and sports fans are not very familiar with Larry Bird or the fact that Bird played at Indiana State let alone BU sports. JMHO

To borrow from OOB, C'Mon Man. You know I don't mean they should know about Bradley's storied past. Just don't know why students who call themselves sports fans have to be begged to attend their school's games. I didn't care how many showed up for the Quincy exibition game, it's the games at Carver they should attend without the coaches having to knock on their door and invite them. Keep up the good word Red Sea.

[Future Walk-On]

vast majority of the students go to Bradley for academic reasons

For me it was.......

1. Location (Hometown)
2. Basketball
3. ........

[Beninator]

To borrow from OOB, C'Mon Man. You know I don't mean they should know about Bradley's storied past. Just don't know why students who call themselves sports fans have to be begged to attend their school's games. I didn't care how many showed up for the Quincy exibition game, it's the games at Carver they should attend without the coaches having to knock on their door and invite them. Keep up the good word Red Sea.

Don't you think that it is alarming that we have had multiple posts on this thread from different people stating that the Athletic Department has done next to nothing to promote games etc to the students? This is not a new problem. It really would not be very difficult for a representative or an intern from that department to visit different organizations on campus and get input as to how to promote the events to students in a way that would be of interest to the campus. I do not think that this would be terribly expensive and it would make the job for people like Red Sea Elite a lot easier! If I remember correctly, one poster on this board posted that the Red/White scrimmage was not mentioned in the weekly student activities email! I think that is terrible and is a clear illustration to the disconnect that currently exists. People differ from generation to generation. Your generation is different from mine, and both of our generations are different from the generation of students who now attend BU. IMO what is important is to find ways for the Athletic Department to change their ways and be inclusive to the current students. It is something that will take time to achieve. The effort applied now could pay dividends down the road with a larger more diverse fan base and potential donations.