Banquet Recap...

[The Lens]

The o/u was .5 for number of mentions of TC at last night's dinner.  If you took the under, you won.

In all seriousness, I think it was amazing and sad that the man who recruited the 4 seniors was not once mentioned by them.  And for that, I of course, do not blame those four seniors.  SJS argued and perhaps correctly that bringing his name up at the BC would have induced 18,000 boos.  This, however, was a room full of 500 mostly middle-aged fans, 300 of whom come if it's Dukiet, Deane, TC or KO.  I just can't beleive that not one of those seniors would want to thank the man who got them to a school that they so clearly love.

Also, I thought Homer's "speech" about GT was great.  You can see the passion, love and respect that Homer has for GT.  It was great to have the fans applaud George.  Awesome to have him back in the fold.

DJ won the Wade Legacy award and then brought Frozena (his presenter) back on stage to share it with Robert who leads the team in GPA.  It could have been scripted it seemed off the cuff.  A great moment.

Finally, after listening to Buzz talk, you can see why some would call this the best recruiting class in the nation.  Not only can the man sell, but he really believes in his product, the best salesmen always do.  I don't know what's ahead, but I'm looking forward to it. 

[4everwarriors]

I'm not surprised the tan one wasn't mentioned by the players. They exhibit more class than he'll ever possess. Besides, he deserved no acknowledgment at the player's banquet. T-Cubed will just go on losing and playing with his twitter. Great trade of Brute Force for the departed. I'll take that any day.

[StillWarriors]

Would love to hear more about the banquet.

I don't claim to know how the players feel deep down about TC, but I suspect that if they still have a relationship with him and would like to reach out and thank him privately they can/have do(ne) that. If TC isn't at the banquet, why thank him there? What would be the point? That would be awkward given their presumed loyalty to the guy who brought them through a great senior year, and could also evoke a negative reaction from the gathering at the banquet.

[The Lens]

evoke a negative reaction from the gathering at the banquet.

500 lawyers and dentists aren't going to boo a player who thanks their former coach for recruiting them to MU.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

500 lawyers and dentists aren't going to boo a player who thanks their former coach for recruiting them to MU.

*Shrug*

Who knows why the players didn't mention TC?

Maybe they wanted to make sure that Buzz got enough credit for all he did for MU this year.

I'm not sure that their lack of mentioning TC has anything to do with their like/dislike of TC (it certainly could, but there's really no way of knowing).

[susie90]

TC wasn't mentioned because he's not their coach anymore.  Buzz is now.  Why is this even being debated?  Sheesh!

Moving on...For those of you looking for other little "tidbits" on the night, read below...

The place was packed (over 500 I was told); great vibe the whole night.  Players mingled, we're clearly upbeat, talked to anyone who approached them (me mostly!)  You can really tell this is a family who cares about one another.

Spoke to Pat Hazel a bit.  He's excited to go to Boston, excited to be closer to home.  I wished him well as others did too, I'm sure.  Pat was standing next to Liam at this time, who appeared to be healthy looking.  His hair's a lot taller, too!  Don't know what his true medical status is though.  Wasn't mentioned at all last night.

New recruit was there.  Mboa?  He is VERY TALL, a bit skinny.  Need to plump him up.

Homer as emcee, Hank Raymond's speech about the team, and the individual player awards were definitely impressive and a highlight for the crowd.  Players did all the introductions of award winners.  They have so much composure and class AND are truly funny.  It was a blast to hear them poke fun at Buzz, Homer, each other's nick names, middle names, habits, who sweats the most, etc, etc.

Buzz spoke at the end about each of the 4 seniors.  He got really emotional and clearly had to take a couple of breaths at times.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and just wants the best for them.  It's quite obvious he will miss them tremendously as players and young men.  Hope this helps for those of you who could not attend.

[DJO's Pump Fake]

Tom Judas clearly showed his committment to those seniors by bailing on them.

There is no reason bring him up unless they want to thank him for leaving so we would be a better program.

He had no place there last night and I am glad he was not mentioned.

[GGGG]

TC wasn't mentioned because he's not their coach anymore.  Buzz is now.  Why is this even being debated?  Sheesh!

Moving on...For those of you looking for other little "tidbits" on the night, read below...

The place was packed (over 500 I was told); great vibe the whole night.  Players mingled, we're clearly upbeat, talked to anyone who approached them (me mostly!)  You can really tell this is a family who cares about one another.

Spoke to Pat Hazel a bit.  He's excited to go to Boston, excited to be closer to home. 

Good to hear that the feelings aren't that bad about his transfer.  Where is he going?  Has he announced that yet?

[Warrior Forever]

Tom Judas clearly showed his committment to those seniors by bailing on them.

There is no reason bring him up unless they want to thank him for leaving so we would be a better program.

He had no place there last night and I am glad he was not mentioned.

1) Tom Crean did a good job while at Marquette
2) He accepted a job at Indiana and left
3) This does not make him the devil.  People leave jobs ALL THE TIME.  For examples, check your resume
4) Unless he specifically promised each of them, Crean did not "bail on them."  He took another job; a good one at that.
5) I am not sad he's gone.  I thought he was a tad overrated and am ecstatic with the initial returns from Buzz.
6) Let's forget the Crean rehash and move onto the future.

GO WARRIORS.

[muarmy81]

Good to hear that the feelings aren't that bad about his transfer.  Where is he going?  Has he announced that yet?

Pat is transferring to Boston University.

[strotty]

Crean was definitely hinted at during Dwight Burke's speech when he mentioned that "Buzz was the only real coach on last year's team"...

[4everwarriors]

Crean was definitely hinted at during Dwight Burke's speech when he mentioned that "Buzz was the only real coach on last year's team"...

That's a kick in the nads, assuming the recipient has nads to kick at.

[YoungMUFan4]

Burke was referring to when Buzz first got the job and hadn't hired any assistants yet.  Thats what I understood it to be...not a shot at crean

[larrym]

Burke was referring to when Buzz first got the job and hadn't hired any assistants yet.  Thats what I understood it to be...not a shot at crean

The other board said it was Hayward, and that it was in reference to the fact that last year's banquet was held two days after Buzz was hired.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Tom Judas clearly showed his committment to those seniors by bailing on them.

There is no reason bring him up unless they want to thank him for leaving so we would be a better program.

He had no place there last night and I am glad he was not mentioned.

Thanks for the insight.

[mviale]

2009 is the year of change - love it

[augoman]

2009 is the year of change - love it

?????

[The Lens]

Of course people picked at my TC shot but the best moment was DJ bringing Frozena back on stage.  Just an absolutely wonderful moment and something I felt deserves more discussion and recognition. 

DJ has certainly cracked my Top 5 MU players of all time.  Just love the kid.

[Marquette84]

SJS argued and perhaps correctly that bringing his name up at the BC would have induced 18,000 boos. 

At least you didn't say it was the most idiotic thing you ever heard. Thank you for that.  I can live with disagreement--its disagreement supported by nothing more than insults and namecalling I don't like.

I made that statement in response to the post that said the only reason why Crean wouldn't be mentioned is because the players hated him. Clearly there are some darn good reasons why you wouldn't want to mention Crean even if you still respected him--just look at the typical responses on this board to those who aren't 100% completely negative if you have any doubt.

My guess is that if you pinned down the players' for their complete opinions on Crean, they would be a complex combination of thanks and gratification for recruiting them to MU in the first place, respect for his work ethic, happy with the level of publicity the program received, and dislike because of TWHL (the way he left).   

Its hard to imagine someone being equally upset about Crean when he was here AND when he left.  Depending on one's intitial perspective, you either go from happy to upset, or from upset to happy. 

Perhaps those opinions were left unvoiced because there unfortunately doesn't seem to be room to respect mixed emotions regarding Crean.

[Nukem2]

At least you didn't say it was the most idiotic thing you ever heard. Thank you for that.  I can live with disagreement--its disagreement supported by nothing more than insults and namecalling I don't like.

I made that statement in response to the post that said the only reason why Crean wouldn't be mentioned is because the players hated him. Clearly there are some darn good reasons why you wouldn't want to mention Crean even if you still respected him--just look at the typical responses on this board to those who aren't 100% completely negative if you have any doubt.

My guess is that if you pinned down the players' for their complete opinions on Crean, they would be a complex combination of thanks and gratification for recruiting them to MU in the first place, respect for his work ethic, happy with the level of publicity the program received, and dislike because of TWHL (the way he left).   

Its hard to imagine someone being equally upset about Crean when he was here AND when he left.  Depending on one's intitial perspective, you either go from happy to upset, or from upset to happy. 

Perhaps those opinions were left unvoiced because there unfortunately doesn't seem to be room to respect mixed emotions regarding Crean.

Hard to argue with that.  In the end, no matter what emotions about or opinions of TC might be, TC is no longer here by his choice and is the coach of another college BB program.  The awards banquet is about those that are here.  As such, the lack of references to TC is understandable and logical.  Those comments would be appropriate at the IU awards banquet.  Interestingly, IU did not have such a banquet this year due to the circumstances.

[Badgerhater]

Back to the topic at hand...................

Does anyone have any video of the event besides the season montage video?