A Note from Marquette AD Bill Scholl

[Tugg Speedman]

A Note from Marquette AD Bill Scholl

Once the calendar turns to August, I always get a kick out of the oft-asked question, "How is your summer going?"  For those who work in college athletics, the answer is, of course, "Summer is over and I could not be happier!"  Not that I am particularly excited about the end of warm, sunny weather, but I am really excited about the beginning of another school year for our 314 student-athletes and 16 teams.  As you hopefully know, the regular season for our men's and women's soccer teams plus our volleyball team are already underway.  The 2016-17 seasons are off to a great start as our volleyball team defeated No. 7 USC in Los Angeles last Friday night, and our women's soccer team beat Michigan in our home opener last Sunday afternoon.

Before we get too far into this next school year, I did want to take a moment to recap the great year that was 2015-16.  Included in this email is a link to the annual report for our athletics department, and I sincerely hope you take a few minutes to watch it.  In it, you will see the many successes that occurred in the classroom, in our community and certainly in competition.  Among the successes from last year were the nearly 3.2 cumulative grade-point average of our student-athletes during the fall and spring semesters, the approximately 2,000 hours of community service registered by our student-athletes and the four BIG EAST Conference championships earned by our programs – no school claimed more titles last year, by the way.

http://www.youtube.com/v/0loX4fsmenk

After watching the video, remember that we will be doing all we can to improve upon those results and continue to make you, the fan of Marquette athletics, proud to be a Marquette supporter.  This promises to be an exciting year around our department and the addition of Homecoming in October and the celebration of our 100th anniversary of men's basketball as well as the 40th anniversary of our men's basketball national championship team will certainly add to the interest in Marquette athletics.  We look forward to sharing these moments with you and creating fantastic memories during this next year.

Thanks again for your support of Marquette.

Sincerely,

Bill Scholl
Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

[Tugg Speedman]

The 2016-17 seasons are off to a great start as our volleyball team defeated No. 7 USC in Los Angeles last Friday night, and our women's soccer team beat Michigan in our home opener last Sunday afternoon.

So when are we going to admit that MU basketball might not be in the top 5 of MU sports teams?  We have many many successful sports teams right now.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

The 2016-17 seasons are off to a great start as our volleyball team defeated No. 7 USC in Los Angeles last Friday night, and our women's soccer team beat Michigan in our home opener last Sunday afternoon.

So when are we going to admit that MU basketball might not be in the top 5 of MU sports teams?  We have many many successful sports teams right now.

Currently it isn't, I'd put volleyball, men's lacrosse, women's basketball and women's soccer ahead right now as for sure things, but instead of ripping the basketball team lets celebrate the success of the other teams.

[Tugg Speedman]

I picked some bad words, I was not trying to rip Bball but wanted to celebrate how good all the other teams are.

And let's not forget

Women's Track - Big East Indoor and Outdoor champions
Men's Track - Outdoor champions

Both XC teams are pretty good too.

[Brewtown Andy]

Currently it isn't, I'd put volleyball, men's lacrosse, women's basketball and women's soccer ahead right now as for sure things, but instead of ripping the basketball team lets celebrate the success of the other teams.

Get yourselves on board early so you're ready when Kieger has the team dancing in March.

The Big East tournament is in the McGuire Center, btw.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Get yourselves on board early so you're ready when Kieger has the team dancing in March.

The Big East tournament is in the McGuire Center, btw.

+1.  Great rebuild job by Carolyn and her staff.

[MU82]

So when are we going to admit that MU basketball might not be in the top 5 of MU sports teams? 

When more than 1% of those who follow Marquette athletics start giving a rat's rump about those sports.

I know that sounds crass, but ...

The rowing team at Alabama might be the best in the nation, but because nobody except the rowers, their coaches and their parents care, the rowing team simply doesn't "exist" in the grand scheme of Bama athletics.

Because 99% of those who follow Marquette athletics think only about men's basketball, it's as if the other sports don't even exist.

Ipso fatso, I'd posit that the top 5 MU "sports teams" are:

1. Men's basketball team.

2. Men's basketball recruits.

3. Men's basketball team at Marquette Madness.

4. Men's basketball team during preseason preparation.

5. Men's basketball team offseason news.

Not necessarily in that order.

[Tugg Speedman]

When more than 1% of those who follow Marquette athletics start giving a rat's rump about those sports.

I know that sounds crass, but ...

The rowing team at Alabama might be the best in the nation, but because nobody except the rowers, their coaches and their parents care, the rowing team simply doesn't "exist" in the grand scheme of Bama athletics.

Because 99% of those who follow Marquette athletics think only about men's basketball, it's as if the other sports don't even exist.

Ipso fatso, I'd posit that the top 5 MU "sports teams" are:

1. Men's basketball team.

2. Men's basketball recruits.

3. Men's basketball team at Marquette Madness.

4. Men's basketball team during preseason preparation.

5. Men's basketball team offseason news.

Not necessarily in that order.

Don't disagree with any of this ... it is similar to an argument we have every four years that because of the Pettit Center in Milwaukee  more speed skaters attend MU than any other school in the country and a good chunk of the Olympic speed skating team has an MU tie (alumni or current students).   

In fact, we might be the dominant school in speed staking ... the Duke basketball of speed skating!!!

This  matters exactly four weeks a year ... the week before the winter Olympics, the two weeks of the winter Olympics and the week after the winter Olympics.

[Herman Cain]

When more than 1% of those who follow Marquette athletics start giving a rat's rump about those sports.

I know that sounds crass, but ...

The rowing team at Alabama might be the best in the nation, but because nobody except the rowers, their coaches and their parents care, the rowing team simply doesn't "exist" in the grand scheme of Bama athletics.

Because 99% of those who follow Marquette athletics think only about men's basketball, it's as if the other sports don't even exist.

Ipso fatso, I'd posit that the top 5 MU "sports teams" are:

1. Men's basketball team.

2. Men's basketball recruits.

3. Men's basketball team at Marquette Madness.

4. Men's basketball team during preseason preparation.

5. Men's basketball team offseason news.

Not necessarily in that order.

MU basketball is always going to be the King. However, I do believe the Lacrosse Program is on the verge of doing something special. When You can get a minor sport to attract 4500 people to a game you know we are doing something right. We got some excellent publicity when we played UNC this year in the NCAA .  So maybe you can adjust the 99% number to something like 92%.

[MU82]

MU basketball is always going to be the King. However, I do believe the Lacrosse Program is on the verge of doing something special. When You can get a minor sport to attract 4500 people to a game you know we are doing something right. We got some excellent publicity when we played UNC this year in the NCAA .  So maybe you can adjust the 99% number to something like 92%.

That would be cool. Lacrosse is a growing sport and is fun to watch. I'd like to see this happen. If they play a game in NC next season on a date I'm free, maybe I'll even go watch.

[Brewtown Andy]

That would be cool. Lacrosse is a growing sport and is fun to watch. I'd like to see this happen. If they play a game in NC next season on a date I'm free, maybe I'll even go watch.

Missed your chance this past spring, as the Duke series was out that way and will swing back to Milwaukee in 2017 (probably).

Then again, Duke won 16-1, so maybe you were better off not going.

[MU82]

Missed your chance this past spring, as the Duke series was out that way and will swing back to Milwaukee in 2017 (probably).

Then again, Duke won 16-1, so maybe you were better off not going.

Indeed ... wouldn't have enjoyed the 3 hour ride to Durham to watch our lads get their butts kicked.

We drove much, much farther to Brooklyn and Hank & the boys gave us a nice pre-Thanksgiving treat! If we go to the Georgia game this season, hoping for another good showing. There's nothing worse than making a long drive only to end up on the wrong end of the score.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Indeed ... wouldn't have enjoyed the 3 hour ride to Durham to watch our lads get their butts kicked.

We drove much, much farther to Brooklyn and Hank & the boys gave us a nice pre-Thanksgiving treat! If we go to the Georgia game this season, hoping for another good showing. There's nothing worse than making a long drive only to end up on the wrong end of the score.

Yup. My dad and I drove 10 hours to Nebraska to see Northwestern play last year and although it would have been a cool experience either way the Northwestern win defantly made the drive back much more pleasant l.