Dave Reynolds article on Chris Reynolds

[tornado]

New Bradley athletics director Chris Reynolds sees chance to build something special

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150822/SPORTS/150829818/12701/SPORTS

A really nice column that details a lot about Chris Reynolds, his background, and why he chose to come to Peoria to be Bradley's AD.


but I do have to question about one comment in this article...
This quote from the article...
"Cross attempted to re-start the spaghetti supper, which was phased out during the Ken Kavanagh years as AD."

This has been said before, but I don't believe it is true.
As can be documented - the Spaghetti Supper was held right up through 2009, and here's the discussion from October 2009 when the last one was held. Dr. Cross started at Bradley in January, 2010, after which we never had another one.
Ken Kavanagh left Bradley in mid 2009 - and his last Itoo Hall supper was in 2008. The 2009 Itoo event was held when the interim AD, Virnette House-Browning was in charge.
It was only after Dr. Cross was hired in Jan. 2010 that the Itoo Hall supper ceased to be. Ken Kavanagh does not appear to have had anything to do with the termination of the Spaghetti Supper, since he left Bradley in June, 2009, and the event was terminated in October, 2010..
It was not "phased out" during the Ken Kavanagh years, it was "phased out in the fall of 2010, more than a year after KK was gone, and he had nothing to do with its end.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13228

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12265

[Da Coach]

Great article about Dr. Reynolds. I think Bradley has made a tremendous hire!

[Old Coach]

but I do have to question about one comment in this article...
This quote from the article...
"Cross attempted to re-start the spaghetti supper, which was phased out during the Ken Kavanagh years as AD."

This has been said before, but I don't believe it is true.
As can be documented - the Spaghetti Supper was held right up through 2009, and here's the discussion from October 2009 when the last one was held. Dr. Cross started at Bradley in January, 2010, after which we never had another one.

It's not like there was NO spaghetti supper, it's just that there wasn't one at the ITOO Hall. If I recall there were 2 spaghetti suppers hosted at Mitchell JJ Anderson Court at Renaissance Coliseum, where spaghetti was indeed served and players dined and mingled with fans.

"The rest of the story", as Paul Harvey would say, will always depend on who you talk to.

[tornado]

the popularity of the event can't be denied - so the main argument is why would you ever mess with something that was working so well and so well liked by fans...

In 2009, the final year it was held - it was noted that 300-400 people were waiting in line...and other times it was reported that as many as 1200 people came & went and were served - even tho the place only seats about 500 with overflow into a pub area or out onto an outdoor seating area.
It was NOT dropping in popularity nor were fans disappearing as hinted by DR - th event was perhaps as popular as EVER - LINK

The loss of the Spaghetti Supper in the long-held format was just one of many, many changes that were reflective of the unpopular trends
and changes that fans warned would lead to huge drops in fan interest, donations, & attendance....
It wasn't like Dr. Cross didn't know he was "messin' with Sasquatch" - so to speak - upsetting the fan base that turned out to be "a sleeping giant"
and it rose up and objected to his moves.
...but Dr. Cross was willing to bet his job and his legacy on it....and the fans spoke...

[Old Coach]

the popularity of the event can't be denied - so the main argument is why would you ever mess with something that was working so well and so well liked by fans...

In 2009, the final year it was held - it was noted that 300-400 people were waiting in line...and other times it was reported that as many as 1200 people came & went and were served - even tho the place only seats about 500 with overflow into a pub area or out onto an outdoor seating area.
It was NOT dropping in popularity nor were fans disappearing as hinted by DR - th event was perhaps as popular as EVER - LINK

The loss of the Spaghetti Supper in the long-held format was just one of many, many changes that were reflective of the unpopular trends
and changes that fans warned would lead to huge drops in fan interest, donations, & attendance....
It wasn't like Dr. Cross didn't know he was "messin' with Sasquatch" - so to speak - upsetting the fan base that turned out to be "a sleeping giant"
and it rose up and objected to his moves.
...but Dr. Cross was willing to bet his job and his legacy on it....and the fans spoke...

So because it wasn't at the ITOO Hall, and instead held on campus in a brand new facility that the athletic department wanted to show off, people didn't want to go?

Ok. Got it.

[Da Coach]

Let me return to an earlier point- that the Dave Reynolds article blamed Ken Kavanagh, saying-
Cross attempted to re-start the spaghetti supper, which was phased out during the Ken Kavanagh years as AD.

That is simply not correct. The preseason Spaghetti Supper was held every year under Ken Kavanagh. It was held at the Itoo Hall every one of those years, except 2007, when it was held at old Haussler Hall prior to the Red-White scrimmage. That was a one-time thing in 2007, and not an effort to "phase it out". In fact, the Itoo Hall spaghetti supper then returned in 2008 and 2009 at the Itoo Hall.
The spaghetti supper was then eliminated entirely for the first time in 2010, which was Michael Cross' first year as AD-

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16373&highlight=itoo

Then because of fans' complaints, a spaghetti supper was reinstated from 2011-2013 at the Renaissance Coliseum, but they were not well attended.
The title was even changed to "Italian night on the Hilltop"-

http://www.pjstar.com/x1155171383/Bradley-basketball-teams-introduced-at-Italian-night

Then in 2014, it was eliminated again by Dr. Cross.
The effort to blame Ken Kavanagh for it being "phased out" is misguided.

[Chico]

So because it wasn't at the ITOO Hall, and instead held on campus in a brand new facility that the athletic department wanted to show off, people didn't want to go?

Ok. Got it.

Plenty of ways to show it off without ruining a very popular event which long time Bradley fans looked forward to.

[tornado]

Sure, they tried some new things - I don't blame them - and like a lot of people, I wouldn't have minded certain events or exhibitions at Ren-Col....
but when the spaghetti supper in Ren-Col drew only 1/4 the fans that Itoo drew - they should have admitted their mistake and reversed it..
Instead - they doubled down and cancelled all the preseason & post-season banquets, the homecoming soccer-tailgates, changed the Red-White format and started moving regular season games to Ren-Col - and even starting up the talk of moving ALL OF THEM there.
Keep in mind that the last 4-5 years of alienating a large part of the loyal fan base, the Athletic Department enjoyed all those tremendous new facilities that landed in their laps plus recruiting budgets that were 2-3 times what the former staffs had & weakened schedules....and they still couldn't get a single "quality win" or even a significant upset of any kind in the entire era. And they hung all their bragging rights on moving up one notch in the All-Sports when everyone knows that was only because Creighton left and Loyola came in to occupy a spot below us.

There's reasons Chris Reynolds is already wildly popular among the Bradley fan base...he's personable, engaging, likeable ....sure...
but largely because he clearly listens to the fans and knows how to respond...
Time will tell how well his actions pay off but can they be any worse than what's happened the last few years?

[Buesch N Chips]

I understand not messing with a good thing, but if a place is packed with 500 people and there are 300-400 waiting in line, it's time to explore finding a new place. I don't begrudge them trying a new location.

[Da Coach]

I understand not messing with a good thing, but if a place is packed with 500 people and there are 300-400 waiting in line, it's time to explore finding a new place. I don't begrudge them trying a new location.

I have always said that I was in favor of trying new tactics to attract fans, but not if it meant eliminating highly popular events that fans liked. But the undoing of JG and MC was largely due to their desire to change everything they could, just to remake the entire athletic program into something completely different in an attempt to enhance their own legachy. There were many fans who predicted this approach would do great damage to the basketball program and other sports, and it has.

We all remember the enormous fan turnout and excitement at the Itoo Hall events.
Compare that with what the failed "Italian Night on the Hilltop" looked like. A small handful of fans and none of the excitement. Maybe someone should have realized it was a mistake?

[basketball nut]

I have always said that I was in favor of trying new tactics to attract fans, but not if it meant eliminating highly popular events that fans liked. But the undoing of JG and MC was largely due to their desire to change everything they could, just to remake the entire athletic program into something completely different in an attempt to enhance their own legachy. There were many fans who predicted this approach would do great damage to the basketball program and other sports, and it has.

We all remember the enormous fan turnout and excitement at the Itoo Hall events.
Compare that with what the failed "Italian Night on the Hilltop" looked like. A small handful of fans and none of the excitement. Maybe someone should have realized it was a mistake?

I didn't mind the Ren-Con but they didn't do anything to get the crowd excited for the most part. I do remember one year I took my grandchildren along and several had pictures taken w/ some of the players and they enjoyed that. I don't remember much, if any, communication from the coaches, players, or AD. Instead they held the Red/White scrimmage for both the girls & guys and that set people off more then the location of the supper IMO.
They can always add a night at the Itoo hall or move it to somewhere like Embassy Suites or something similar but keep the format the same as it is now.

[Chico]

I didn't mind the Ren-Con but they didn't do anything to get the crowd excited for the most part. I do remember one year I took my grandchildren along and several had pictures taken w/ some of the players and they enjoyed that. I don't remember much, if any, communication from the coaches, players, or AD. Instead they held the Red/White scrimmage for both the girls & guys and that set people off more then the location of the supper IMO.
They can always add a night at the Itoo hall or move it to somewhere like Embassy Suites or something similar but keep the format the same as it is now.

No way the Ren-Con or riverfront fiasco can compare to the event at the ITOO.

[bigjimmy]

For the love of Mike can we just please move on. We have the coach we want, the AD we want, the ITOO spaghetti supper is back and she who will never be mentioned is gone for good. Life looks pretty good on the hilltop, let's focus on where we go from here and put the past behind us.

[molar50]

Amen. No more looking back as it was too painful. Let's move forward and try to help this program be successful.

[tornado]

guys - I agree, everything about Chris Reynolds is positive and I am excited to be moving forward with the entire fan base's renewed enthusiasm....
but the person "looking back" was Dave Reynolds when he unfairly tries to hang the blame for the failures, financial disasters and unpopular moves of the Glasser/Cross administration on the people from 7-8 years ago.
Nobody would have said a word about the past except to correct the false narrative and rewrite of history. Puzzling why every article has to claim either Jim Les or KK caused all the mess we have now, and that JG/MC/GF did great jobs & bear no responsibility.