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news from the hoopla

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...;)
 
Da Coach said:
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.
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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.
 
RedSeaElite1 said:
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.
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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.
 
BradleyBrave said:
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.
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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.
 
dogsrus said:
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. :)
Click to expand...

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!!
 
MacabreMob said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
 
AZ BU Fan said:
Must of all been downtown Peoria at the bars! ;-);-)
Click to expand...

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!
 
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.
 
Disappointed in the low turnout, but the campus overall does not have a lot of athletic school spirit. Greek life is only about a third of the student body, but their presence is well-known. When the athletic department had that golf cart parked outside of Bradley Hall, quite a few kids just walked past it and snickered.

If Bradley did not have the support of the community or the alums, BU would not be D-I.
 
BradleyBrave said:
...Tell me again why they couldn't add 1,500-2,000 seats above the lower bowl? ....
Click to expand...

I will try, and I am not just targeting you, BB, but all those who comment without knowing that Bradley was limited by many, many powers that be outside of the university...but prior explanations seem to all fall on deaf ears..

there is basically one reason...
that if you go to build such a thing as BU did, you HAVE TO approach the city and the numerous committees, legal representatives, and governing bodies,
as well as the represntatives of other people in the region who might oppose your plans...then...submit them and request approval.
The city decides things based on what they deem best for the applicant AND the city and especially the surrounding neighbors, infrastructure, facilities, roads, homes, etc...

And then when you've done the best you can do, and gotten approval to build an arena with 4,200 permanent seats (and 4500 total seats maximum - see legal approval links below) and enough room to maybe even fit an extra 1000 in there, then you do the best you can do.

But if you forge right ahead and build an arena for 6,000 when you only have permits and approval for 4,200, then you are not only being stupid, you are violating laws and ordinances, and setting yourself up for fines and lawsuits. It continues to be patently absurd that people keep asking why we didn't do it since we didn't have permission nor legal right to do it!!

Here's another example, maybe it'll be understandable...
if the city approves you a permit to build a theater with a seating caopacity of 1000, and a maximum occupancy on 1200, but you decide eggheadedly to ignore the advice of lawyers, builders, and city officials, and forge right ahead and build a theater with 2500 seats, wouldn't that be about the absolute dumbest thing you could do??
Then all the people over on the message boards would be ripping into you for doing such a really stupid thing.

Here are just a few of the proceedings by the city that have limited what BU could do -- so BU did everything they could -- they should be applauded for getting the project done given the limitations and restrictions...
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...UMXfwE&sig=AHIEtbRIFpcrh2xkbb9wPX_GKEPw2YBYtg
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...rxaG2y&sig=AHIEtbTHfd3r4v50UKe9zjmqGZGXLlwbjQ
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q..._29pla&sig=AHIEtbTWHK9_tv5jN2HSe9WYMWlx7oDIUg
http://www.ci.peoria.il.us/city-clerk-minutes
http://www.ci.peoria.il.us/2006



Quoting the 1st link above...here is exactly what BU had permission to build, and nothing bigger could have possibly been built...
"130,000 square foot facility"
"4,500 seat arena" (4200 seats are permanent seats)
"parking deck - five story, 620 parking spaces - not to exceed height 66 feet"
..then the document goes on to describe the changes required and limits to the traffic patterns, traffic signals, lighting, lane additions, pedestrian lighting, fences, screens, sidewalks, lighting improvements, landscaping, and other safety, neighborhood concerns, etc., etc., etc.....



theBUer said:
Disappointed in the low turnout..
Click to expand...

The late start time, the area FB games and other events, the prior announcement that it would be mostly just player intros and not much basketball, and the fact that wasn't all that widely publicized outside of this message board and the BU web site..played a part in the low turnout, but frankly I am pleased we still had over 1600!
 
tornado said:
I will try, but it seems all the explanations fall on deaf ears..

there is basically one reason...
that if you go to build such a thing as BU did, you HAVE TO approach the city and the numerous committees, legal representatives, and governing bodies,
as well as the represntatives of other people in the region who might oppose your plans...then...submit them and request approval.
The city decides things based on what they deem best for the applicant AND the city and especially the surrounding neighbors, infrastructure, facilities, roads, homes, etc...

And then when you've done the best you can do, and gotten approval to build an arena with 4,200 permanent seats (and 4500 total seats maximum - see legal approval links below) and enough room to maybe even fit an extra 1000 in there, then you do the best you can do.

But if you forge right ahead and build an arena for 6,000 when you only have permits and approval for 4,200, then you are not only being stupid, you are violating laws and ordinances, and setting yourself up for fines and lawsuits. It continues to be patently absurd that people keep asking why we didn't do it since we didn't have permission nor legal right to do it!!

Here's another example, maybe it'll be understandable...
if the city approves you a permit to build a theater with a seating caopacity of 1000, and a maximum occupancy on 1200, but you decide eggheadedly to ignore the advice of lawyers, builders, and city officials, and forge right ahead and build a theater with 2500 seats, wouldn't that be about the absolute dumbest thing you could do??
Then all the people over on the message boards would be ripping into you for doing such a really stupid thing.

Here are just a few of the proceedings by the city that have limited what BU could do -- so BU did everything they could -- they should be applauded for getting the project done given the limitations and restrictions...
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:b-4iLUpIAcIJ:www.ci.peoria.il.us/officials/clerk/Agenda/MG49764/AS49768/AS49775/AI49915/DO49936/DO_49936.pdf+%22www.ci.peoria.il.us%22+and+%224500+seat+arena%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShd36Pyuf3djpBJsL1xfusDFX3PQyr5VUuaeUW9epfoWvTE1N_xIhjY-zcnOACv08eloLSWZq2XZz-azxOmpqPZeeOahXzZgXxCCLpS5bscHW4qgn7uJXIa5OCh1hb9vrUMXfwE&sig=AHIEtbRIFpcrh2xkbb9wPX_GKEPw2YBYtg
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...rxaG2y&sig=AHIEtbTHfd3r4v50UKe9zjmqGZGXLlwbjQ
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q..._29pla&sig=AHIEtbTWHK9_tv5jN2HSe9WYMWlx7oDIUg
http://www.ci.peoria.il.us/city-clerk-minutes
http://www.ci.peoria.il.us/2006



Quoting the 1st link above...here is exactly what BU had permission to build, and nothing bigger could have possibly been built...
"130,000 square foot facility"
"4,500 seat arena" (4200 seats are permanent seats)
"parking deck - five story, 620 parking spaces - not to exceed height 66 feet"
..then the document goes on to describe the changes required and limits to the traffic patterns, traffic signals, lighting, lane additions, pedestrian lighting, fences, screens, sidewalks, lighting improvements, landscaping, and other safety, neighborhood concerns, etc., etc., etc.....
Click to expand...

That was kind of my point...a point that silly, short-sighted, small-town politics once again held back the university.
 
yes, an no -- there are people in the area that didn't want this built at all... and one of them writes for the local newspaper...
Many, many properties had to be rezoned, and property owners with adjacent properties have some say in all this...and there were a lot of opposing voices and obstacles to overcome...
...all the rezoning was contingent on Bradley's ability to "resolve technical inconsistencies" and "pursue positive ongoing communication strategy with surrounding neighborhood associations"...so getting all this done was like fitting an ocean liner into a phone booth with a shoehorn...but BU got it done!
Asking for anything bigger just wouldn't have flown...so it is as it is......but could conceivably be expanded at some time in the future if the "environment" allows...
 
theBUer said:
When the athletic department had that golf cart parked outside of Bradley Hall, quite a few kids just walked past it and snickered.
Click to expand...

Having not seen the golf cart in question and based solely on your remark, it seems that the athletic department tried a promotion that is out of touch with the student body. It will take more than a golf cart promotion to win back the students. Representatives from the athletic department need to reach out and talk to the students directly through their organizations etc if they want to have any success. jmho
 
Beninator said:
Having not seen the golf cart in question and based solely on your remark, it seems that the athletic department tried a promotion that is out of touch with the student body. It will take more than a golf cart promotion to win back the students. Representatives from the athletic department need to reach out and talk to the students directly through their organizations etc if they want to have any success. jmho
Click to expand...

Thank you! One of the posters here had pictures of the golf cart, it had some posters and workers (students) from the athletic department yelling into a megaphone. They kept saying, "Are you guys coming to the game??" I mean, it's one thing to go because of a new arena (now the RenCo), but it's another if there is no other hook to get folks interested. Quite a few students did go to the golf cart, but others just passed by and wondered what the heck they just saw...

True story. I went up to one of them one day, and asked who volleyball was playing (being genuine). There were two people in the cart, one promoting soccer and the other promoting volleyball. I asked the person who the volleyball team was playing, since I knew then that it was the regular season.

He tells me "Kansas." My curiosity peaked, you mean KU? He then said, I dunno and the other person in charge of volleyball corrected the person and said that it was Wichita State. :roll:

And in the dining halls/SC cafeteria, they have little things set up that have the schedule for upcoming athletic events, notably volleyball and soccer. They have the tag line, "I am a Brave," and highlights special promotions. But I am not sure if these are anymore effective than the golf cart in front of BH.
 
It is a very unfortunate injury. But It sounds like maybe his original repair was not completely successful, and the ACL never healed right for it to be reinjured again. If that's the case, this 2nd injury was just waiting to happen, and would have probably occurred whenever he put full stress on it.
 
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