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I don't see anyone saying he's not working hard or doing the best that he can...
but therein lies the issue....coaches and people in the Athletic Dept. are judged by results - not by how hard they work or whether they are giving 100%.
Like it or not - you get judged based on results .. and the results have to start coming soon....
The premier sports, the ones most fans read about or have interest in are all doing worse.
A guy deserves at least some span to turn things around but how long is reasonable?
Here are just some pure, objective numbers and facts:
Dr. Cross has been here exactly four years...
It's hard to blame him or credit him for everything since he's been here, but here is just a simple look at the W-L record of the more high profile sports in the four years BEFORE he was hired, compared to the four years SINCE the beginning of 2009 the year he was hired.
I know he may have little responsibility for stuff that was already happening - but the numbers are what they are
Men's Basketball: 86-56 before, 53-85 after - clearly way worse but you could also throw in an unprecedented 30-40 percent decline in home attendance & messy lawsuits. Don't you think someone should take some responsibility?
Women's Basketball: 54-66 before, 64-62 after (plus off to a 2-5 start now) - maybe slightly better but the only thing making it better was the substantial improvement in 2010 and that coach is now gone
Baseball: 101-111 before, 86-123 after - way worse
Soccer: 45-32-11 before, 42-32-10 - soccer is a wash - our soccer has been great since the 1990's and we were an NCAA/Elite Eight program before and we remain so - but no major changes have been made in soccer.
Tomorrow's game is one of only three Tuesday night home games this year - if the weather isn't bad then I would love to get 8000+ there, but the prediction for temps in the teens might keep some away...
Tomorrow's game is one of only three Tuesday night home games this year - if the weather isn't bad then I would love to get 8000+ there, but the prediction for temps in the teens might keep some away...
I would expect a paid attendance of a little over 6,000. Bradley hasn't done anything at this point to sell 2,000 tickets to non season ticket holders. If that is to come this year, it will require some early MVC success. Otherwise, I think most announced attendance will be the same as it has been with the ISU and Wichita St. games being the exception.
It really hurts us old time fans to see what has become of this once respected and proud program and the disappearance of the fan base as part of the extensive fallout from these past 3 years.
Here are a couple pictures of the crowd- these were taken midway through the first half, when everyone was in their seats -
These were actually the most populated sections, and they are 2/3 or more empty-
End sections were nearly vacant-
The section I was sitting in is right behind the BU bench and has always been packed full until these last 3 years.
This season, it has been nearly empty. I was the only person in my entire row!- (again, this is early first half)
Nobody can be happy with this. And it's obvious to see why revenues are plummeting. People like Kirk Wessler can make hollow complaints all they want, but they were the ones who called for this. The administration made a mistake listening to a few clueless complainers 3 years ago, then it seems they've done everything wrong since then to sabotage this program.
what's astounding is that even those courtside premium seats they paid $1000 each for are half empty - and it's gonna get worse with what we're seeing - it'll be 4000 next year but then I'll get blamed for mentioning that
but one thing they NEVER do is go out and find some people who used to come & support or who would come but have solid reasons.....
and ask them what are the reasons - they never want to hear that - I know of numerous examples of fans telling an AD somewhere exactly what their issues were
for not renewing or buying tickets or going to games, only to have the AD spew a bunch of irrelevant garbage, label the fans as the problem and tell them to get lost & good riddance!
SIU's issues go back a decade or more - some other schools were packing them in and had RECORD sellouts & revenues just 6-7 years ago but it's all dried up now.
but one thing they NEVER do is go out and find some people who used to come & support or who would come but have solid reasons.....
and ask them what are the reasons - they never want to hear that - I know of numerous examples of fans telling an AD somewhere exactly what their issues were
for not renewing or buying tickets or going to games, only to have the AD spew a bunch of irrelevant garbage, label the fans as the problem and tell them to get lost & good riddance!
SIU's issues go back a decade or more - some other schools were packing them in and had RECORD sellouts & revenues just 6-7 years ago but it's all dried up now.
There are two things to add to this.
1. This is SIU football, football has never had great attendance at SIU. My family has had basketball season tickets since I believe 1984. I have attended exactly 1 SIU football game in my life and I was 9 years old. Football cannot be compared to basketball, completely different fanbase.
2. SIU attendance will always be a little lower that others. Not only because of area population but because they actually count the turnstiles and not tickets sold.
but one thing they NEVER do is go out and find some people who used to come & support or who would come but have solid reasons.....
From a PR standpoint it might help, but they probably haven't partly because the fans perspective and the admins perspective are 180 degrees different. The fans want everything for free and the admins want them to pay for everything. Having fans say they want more stuff and it should be cheaper doesn't really help the admin. They know this. A balance needs to be struck. In my opinion, we were better at this under local control.
From a PR standpoint it might help, but they probably haven't partly because the fans perspective and the admins perspective are 180 degrees different. The fans want everything for free and the admins want them to pay for everything. Having fans say they want more stuff and it should be cheaper doesn't really help the admin. They know this. A balance needs to be struck. In my opinion, we were better at this under local control.
Right on your last point. But not sure fans want everything for free. Most just don't want to be ripped off with higher prices to watch poorer quality.
Right on your last point. But not sure fans want everything for free. Most just don't want to be ripped off with higher prices to watch poorer quality.
Right, I wast just referencing the difference between the two points of view.
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