Did you know that MU only went to the NCAAs 1 time in 16 years prior to Crean?

[ChicosBailBonds]

So says the journalistic titans at the Herald Bulletin in Indiana.

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/opinion/local_story_100202410.html?keyword=topstory


I guess 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997.....4 times in 7 years prior to Crean don't count     

[MuMark]

Crean did a nice job here....they don't have to make stuff up to make him look better........geez is that bad.


ps. Good Friend of Kelvin Sampson........check....

[Warrior1969]

Thats probably what TC sold em, so they bought it.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It was definitely Crean who told him that. Do you think the guy looked that up and came to that conclusion? Just as it was Crean who told Howard at the Journal that we averaged 7,200 fans before he arrived. I know this for a fact. And it was Crean who told somebody (Bilas?) that we'd been ranked under him more than anytime in our history. He's been doing that for a long time.

Crean is an ass. He lies to make himself look better.

[tower912]

And now he's gone and left quite the little mess and still you are not happy.

[esotericmindguy]

So says the journalistic titans at the Herald Bulletin in Indiana.

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/opinion/local_story_100202410.html?keyword=topstory


I guess 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997.....4 times in 7 years prior to Crean don't count     

Bad Journalism, how hard would it be to check that stat, there is no way I would publish something like that without double checking.

[CTWarrior]

I do get the feeling that Crean has sold a bill of goods that a lot of people in the  media of totally bought into regarding how he was the savior of our program.  People blindly believe that

1.  He was the main reason we are in the Big East (what other non-football power were they going to take instead of us, considering they wouldn't take Xavier, Saint Joe's or Temple since they already had representation in Philly and Cincy?  Who else made more sense than us?  Charlotte?  UMass?  Saint Louis?)

2.  He was the main reason for the Al (now I admit the Final Four had to have helped with this, but I still would give Cords the most credit)

3.  They he rescued a floundering program facing oblivion (4 of 7 NCAA tournaments, recent pros in McIlvaine, Crawford and McCaskill). 

Bottom line is he handing over a better program to Williams than O'Neill handed over to Deane?  There was a lot of talent on the team Deane inherited.

Crean did a great job reversing a general steady decline under Deane, but the program has not acheived a sustained level of excellence that is markedly different from immeidately before he took over.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It was definitely Crean who told him that. Do you think the guy looked that up and came to that conclusion? Just as it was Crean who told Howard at the Journal that we averaged 7,200 fans before he arrived. I know this for a fact. And it was Crean who told somebody (Bilas?) that we'd been ranked under him more than anytime in our history. He's been doing that for a long time.

Crean is an ass. He lies to make himself look better.

Lazy journalist, that's all it was.  Why would Crean tell them that when a simple fact check would only disqualify what he was saying.

My guess is the author meant to say we had only been to the Sweet 16 one time in the previous 16 years which would be a true statement.  Nevertheless, poor lazy journalism.

[RawdogDX]

It was definitely Crean who told him that. Do you think the guy looked that up and came to that conclusion? Just as it was Crean who told Howard at the Journal that we averaged 7,200 fans before he arrived. I know this for a fact. And it was Crean who told somebody (Bilas?) that we'd been ranked under him more than anytime in our history. He's been doing that for a long time.

Crean is an ass. He lies to make himself look better.

you are a sorry bitter old man.  You don't know any of that 'for a fact' you just made things up and allowed your hatred to throw out any possible conclusion that didn't involve crean being evil.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It was definitely Crean who told him that. Do you think the guy looked that up and came to that conclusion? Just as it was Crean who told Howard at the Journal that we averaged 7,200 fans before he arrived. I know this for a fact. And it was Crean who told somebody (Bilas?) that we'd been ranked under him more than anytime in our history. He's been doing that for a long time.

Crean is an ass. He lies to make himself look better.

you are a sorry bitter old man.  You don't know any of that 'for a fact' you just made things up and allowed your hatred to throw out any possible conclusion that didn't involve crean being evil.

So if the Journal Sentinel columnist told me himself that he got his information about our attendance directly from Crean, does that mean I'm making that up?

I'll await your response.

[MarkMiller]

At the least, Howard should have said something along the lines of ...

Crean told me the average attendance at MU games prior to his arrival was 7,200, though I checked and it was actually ....(actual figure, I'm guessing 10,000-something?).

[HarveysWallbangers]

It was just under 12,000

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Crean also quite literally took credit for the success of Al's Run -- another thing I've have repeatedly pointed out over the years. This is despite the fact that the Run had more than 30,000 runners during Bob Dukiet's era.

I'm thrilled everybody is finally seeing what's been in front of them all these years!

[MUSF]

It was definitely Crean who told him that. Do you think the guy looked that up and came to that conclusion? Just as it was Crean who told Howard at the Journal that we averaged 7,200 fans before he arrived. I know this for a fact. And it was Crean who told somebody (Bilas?) that we'd been ranked under him more than anytime in our history. He's been doing that for a long time.

Crean is an ass. He lies to make himself look better.

Lazy journalist, that's all it was.  Why would Crean tell them that when a simple fact check would only disqualify what he was saying.

My guess is the author meant to say we had only been to the Sweet 16 one time in the previous 16 years which would be a true statement.  Nevertheless, poor lazy journalism.

Because Crean is actually Satan. That's right PRN is afraid to come out and say it for fear that the dark prince will shed his tanned facade and unleash the firey demon inside.

I can no longer keep quiet. I personally witnessed Crean eating children and puppies behind the Al McGuire Center at 3:00 in the morning. He threatened to rip my beating heart out of my chest if I revealed his identity but now that he has left MU, I must come clean.

Seriously PRN, how the hell can you say, "it was definitely Crean that told him that."? You never provide evidence or proof for these wild theories you state as facts. Would it kill you to preface your crazy conspiracy theories with, I think?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Seriously PRN, how the hell can you say, "it was definitely Crean that told him that."? You never provide evidence or proof for these wild theories you state as facts. Would it kill you to preface your crazy conspiracy theories with, I think?

A. I know for a fact he told Howard of the JS lies about his affect on our attendance.
B. We know for a fact he told the Tribune reporter a bunch of BS about "Crean, coffee and donuts."

Based on these two fact, I came to the conclusion that he told the INdiana reporter another complete lie about our NCAA appearances. He's a liar. Liars lie. It's what they do. Do you think the reporter just made that fact up after careful research? Crean said it and the guy had no reason to believe it wasn't true.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

and the guy had no reason to believe it wasn't true.

And that's the biggest problem with most of these stories. Crean says something and then it's God-forbid reporters actually check to see whether Moses Redux was actually who he says he was at MU. They have zero incentive to research or challenge him on his facts, particularly if they're Indiana press people.

[MUSF]

Seriously PRN, how the hell can you say, "it was definitely Crean that told him that."? You never provide evidence or proof for these wild theories you state as facts. Would it kill you to preface your crazy conspiracy theories with, I think?

A. I know for a fact he told Howard of the JS lies about his affect on our attendance.
B. We know for a fact he told the Tribune reporter a bunch of BS about "Crean, coffee and donuts."

Based on these two fact, I came to the conclusion that he told the INdiana reporter another complete lie about our NCAA appearances. He's a liar. Liars lie. It's what they do. Do you think the reporter just made that fact up after careful research? Crean said it and the guy had no reason to believe it wasn't true.

A + B doesn't equal C in your equation here. You know (I'll take you on your word here) that A and B are true, so you assume C to be true. The problem is, you simply state it as fact.

It doesn't matter what I think. I don't waste my time trying to figure out why some hack reporter can't get his facts straight. I do know that things like that happen in journalism all the time and shockingly Crean isn't always to blame. You can believe what you want but don't state your opinions as facts then act like the rest of us are just naive or ignorant because we choose to reserve judgement until actual proof is provided.

As you so condescendingly like to say, I'll await your response.

[brewpaul]

If my quick research is correct, here are the NCAA tourney records of MU coaches beginning with O'Neal.

• O'Neal .. 2 NCAAs .. 5 years
• Deane .. 2NCAAs .. 5 years
• Crean .. 4NCAAs ..  9 years

Not sure what it says, but it looks pretty interesting.  In the ten year prior to Coach Crean, the team went to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Sweet 16).  In the nine years Crean has been at MU, we have also gone to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Final Four)

One thing is for sure, we definitely were not 1 for 16 prior to coach Crean.

[The Lens]

If my quick research is correct, here are the NCAA tourney records of MU coaches beginning with O'Neal.

• O'Neal .. 2 NCAAs .. 5 years
• Deane .. 2NCAAs .. 5 years
• Crean .. 4NCAAs ..  9 years

Not sure what it says, but it looks pretty interesting.  In the ten year prior to Coach Crean, the team went to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Sweet 16).  In the nine years Crean has been at MU, we have also gone to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Final Four)

One thing is for sure, we definitely were not 1 for 16 prior to coach Crean.

I can't stand TC as much as the next guy, but he went to 5 in 9 years.

He also led the nation in deflections and influenza

[ChicosBailBonds]

It was just under 12,000

Correct....that was my last year there and we busted our asses to get to that attendance number....attendance actually went up that last year despite having a losing season.

It was Crean's first season that attendance was rock bottom.

[brewpaul]

Your right ... 5 trips for Crean.  I don't have anything against Crean, although I really wish things would have gone down better last week.  I was just curious about how the past few coaches compared on the NCAA front.  I do think Crean had some intagibles that brought Marquette recognition that we have seen for decades.

[MUSF]

If my quick research is correct, here are the NCAA tourney records of MU coaches beginning with O'Neal.

• O'Neal .. 2 NCAAs .. 5 years
• Deane .. 2NCAAs .. 5 years
• Crean .. 4NCAAs ..  9 years

Not sure what it says, but it looks pretty interesting.  In the ten year prior to Coach Crean, the team went to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Sweet 16).  In the nine years Crean has been at MU, we have also gone to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Final Four)

One thing is for sure, we definitely were not 1 for 16 prior to coach Crean.

I can't stand TC as much as the next guy, but he went to 5 in 9 years.

He also led the nation in deflections and influenza

I almost always disagree with you but that is f**ing funny.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Seriously PRN, how the hell can you say, "it was definitely Crean that told him that."? You never provide evidence or proof for these wild theories you state as facts. Would it kill you to preface your crazy conspiracy theories with, I think?

A. I know for a fact he told Howard of the JS lies about his affect on our attendance.
B. We know for a fact he told the Tribune reporter a bunch of BS about "Crean, coffee and donuts."

Based on these two fact, I came to the conclusion that he told the INdiana reporter another complete lie about our NCAA appearances. He's a liar. Liars lie. It's what they do. Do you think the reporter just made that fact up after careful research? Crean said it and the guy had no reason to believe it wasn't true.

Whether you want to give him credit for the attendance is one thing, but at the end of the day, attendance is at an all time high while Crean was coaching.  The captain gets the credit.

What was the thing about Crean, coffee and donuts.....I'd love to hear that one since I actually coined "coffee, Crean and donuts" as our first MU get together with the students back in 1999 and created all the advertising behind it.  I'd be curious what he said about that.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

If my quick research is correct, here are the NCAA tourney records of MU coaches beginning with O'Neal.

• O'Neal .. 2 NCAAs .. 5 years
• Deane .. 2NCAAs .. 5 years
• Crean .. 4NCAAs ..  9 years

Not sure what it says, but it looks pretty interesting.  In the ten year prior to Coach Crean, the team went to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Sweet 16).  In the nine years Crean has been at MU, we have also gone to 4 NCAA tournaments (1 Final Four)

One thing is for sure, we definitely were not 1 for 16 prior to coach Crean.

I can't stand TC as much as the next guy, but he went to 5 in 9 years.

He also led the nation in deflections and influenza

It is kind of perfect that one of the last lies from Tom Crean is that he had influenza . . . wouldn't you say?

[DegenerateDish]

Chicos, in an article Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune wrote last week, he said:

"Again, it's somewhat familiar ground. The summer after Marquette hired Crean, the basketball program tried to burn off a fog of apathy with an event called "Coffee, Crean and Donuts." Seventeen people showed up.

Tuesday night, outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington, a group of Indiana students serenaded their new basketball coach with the school fight song. The challenge is the same. The place is oh-so-different."

I emailed Hamilton about it (I didn't think it was an apples to apples comparison), and he said Crean gave him the exact story.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chicos, in an article Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune wrote last week, he said:

"Again, it's somewhat familiar ground. The summer after Marquette hired Crean, the basketball program tried to burn off a fog of apathy with an event called "Coffee, Crean and Donuts." Seventeen people showed up.

Tuesday night, outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington, a group of Indiana students serenaded their new basketball coach with the school fight song. The challenge is the same. The place is oh-so-different."

I emailed Hamilton about it (I didn't think it was an apples to apples comparison), and he said Crean gave him the exact story.

I'd love a link to that story.  I was in the room....was it 500 people...no.  Was it 17 people...hell no.  He had just been hired March 30th I believe and was off campus for quite some time.  He came back during finals and we cooked up this "Coffee, Crean and Donuts" as a quick way to meet the coach, have some beverages and donuts while you're studying for finals.  We gave out stress balls in the form of little basketballs to help them out during finals.

Since we bought several hundred stress balls and gave away almost all of them, not sure how the number 17 ever came into being.   It certainly wasn't a fantastic crowd, but then again this was targeted at students during finals so you get what you get.


Now, one caveat.  I believe Blue and Gold fund did a similar initiative not much after ours since ours went pretty well.  Theirs might have bombed but I don't know.  That could be what he was referencing, but certainly 17 was not the number we had based on the volume of stress balls we gave out and the amount of food we catered.

[The Lens]

Chicos, in an article Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune wrote last week, he said:

"Again, it's somewhat familiar ground. The summer after Marquette hired Crean, the basketball program tried to burn off a fog of apathy with an event called "Coffee, Crean and Donuts." Seventeen people showed up.

Tuesday night, outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington, a group of Indiana students serenaded their new basketball coach with the school fight song. The challenge is the same. The place is oh-so-different."

I emailed Hamilton about it (I didn't think it was an apples to apples comparison), and he said Crean gave him the exact story.

I'd love a link to that story.  I was in the room....was it 500 people...no.  Was it 17 people...hell no.  He had just been hired March 30th I believe and was off campus for quite some time.  He came back during finals and we cooked up this "Coffee, Crean and Donuts" as a quick way to meet the coach, have some beverages and donuts while you're studying for finals.  We gave out stress balls in the form of little basketballs to help them out during finals.

Since we bought several hundred stress balls and gave away almost all of them, not sure how the number 17 ever came into being.    It certainly wasn't a fantastic crowd, but then again this was targeted at students during finals so you get what you get.


Now, one caveat.  I believe Blue and Gold fund did a similar initiative not much after ours since ours went pretty well.  Theirs might have bombed but I don't know.  That could be what he was referencing, but certainly 17 was not the number we had based on the volume of stress balls we gave out and the amount of food we catered.

Isn't it interesting how every stat when TC talks about the early days has been wrong?  But remember, it's the fault of the reporter, the editor, the columnist, the radio guy.  Never Tom.  Never Tom.

It's Crean...It's Crean

[DegenerateDish]

Here's the link to the story:

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/cs-080402-tom-crean-indiana-basketball,1,4871728.story

As mentioned, I wrote Hamilton, I said I didn't think it was a fair comparison based on the size of the schools involved and the time of year each event happened. Here was Hamilton's exact response:

"It was Crean's first few months at Marquette, and I'm analogizing it to what his first few months at Indiana might be like.  And frankly, Crean himself was using that anecdote to demonstrate how limited the interest was when he first arrived.
 
So I'm not sure I'm the one you should be emailing.  Maybe get in touch with Tom and ask him to rescind the anecdotes he's using to make a point.
 
BH"

[MUWarrior06]

It was definitely Crean who told him that. Do you think the guy looked that up and came to that conclusion? Just as it was Crean who told Howard at the Journal that we averaged 7,200 fans before he arrived. I know this for a fact. And it was Crean who told somebody (Bilas?) that we'd been ranked under him more than anytime in our history. He's been doing that for a long time.

Crean is an ass. He lies to make himself look better.

Tom Crean also lied about having sexual relations with that woman

[ChicosBailBonds]

Like I said Damon, I believe there were two events...ours and B&G.  Very possible that the B&G event is what he's talking about, but I don't know for certain.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Dish

I'll email Hamilton...thanks