Biggest crowd @ a college basketball game in the state of Wisconsin!!!!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

TC used most of his pre-game speech (the one on the jumbotron) to talk about the potential of an attendance record. does anyone really think he was told by the people in marketing that he should focus on that topic?  he is the marketing machine of the program!

The Hammock is right as usual...Chicos, our coach was talking about setting the record in his pre game speech !  No wonder he's earned the nickname CMO.  He's more into marketing than X's & O's.

Agreed. He's just a marketer, he doesn't know anything about x and o's. Let's fire him and bring back Dukiet or Deane. Those guys knew how to draw up x and o's.

Find a new topic to bitch about, guys. This one is lame. 

I'd bring back KO...he sort of knew what he was doing.  And Deane was the coach for my last 3 years at MU - we were NIT Runners Up, 2nd Round NCAA and 1st NCAA with CUSA Championship.  See he wasn't 100% terrible, just like Coach Crean isn't 100% perfect. 

You are right... Crean isn't perfect.

But, complaining about his "marketing" or claiming he doesn't know his x and o's is lame.

No coach is beyond criticism, but come up with something worth while to discuss. If you don't like his X and O's, then lets discuss it intelligently... don't take a swipe at him because of the attendance thing. 

[Pakuni]

I'd bring back KO...he sort of knew what he was doing.  And Deane was the coach for my last 3 years at MU - we were NIT Runners Up, 2nd Round NCAA and 1st NCAA with CUSA Championship.  See he wasn't 100% terrible, just like Coach Crean isn't 100% perfect. 

Mike Deane was top-notch when it came to winning with another coach's players. Too bad college coaches actually have to, you know, recruit their own guys once in a while.

[mu_hilltopper]

Yeah, I sure wish Crean would stop marketing our program.  It was much better at the Bradley Center when it was less full.  Stupid people cheering and making all that racket.  Students especially.   Ah, the good old days when you could spread out, had a couple chairs for your coat, and way fewer of those pesky students.   

[ChuckyChip]

I think the whole "Crean has really boosted attendance" thing is somewhat of a myth.  I was looking at the numbers a few weeks ago for Bradley Center attendance during the O'Neil, Deane, and Crean eras.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but they were roughly:

O'Neil (5 years)   13,400/game
Deane (5 years)   12,200/game
Crean (8 years)   13,200/game

So Crean had improved attendance (less than 10%)over Deane, but is still behind O'Neil's average - and that's with two years of Wade and two years of big name Big East opponents. 

Pehaps more people are showing up for the games now and that's made the crowds seem much bigger.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

You're telling me there was a basketball program at Marquette before Crean arrived? I can hardly believe it the way people around here credit him for everything from widening the lane to cutting holes in the bottom of the peach baskets.

We were poor for a very short time when Dukiet came on board. And we've always attracted high profile, sought-after coaches (Dukiet included).

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

You're telling me there was a basketball program at Marquette before Crean arrived? I can hardly believe it the way people around here credit him for everything from widening the lane to cutting holes in the bottom of the peach baskets.

We were poor for a very short time when Dukiet came on board. And we've always attracted high profile, sought-after coaches (Dukiet included).

Thanks for setting me straight.

When I arrived in 1998, MU hoops was really exciting when we had to listen to road games on the radio and could show up at halftime for home games and still sit in the lower deck.

Those were the days.

Oh and just to be clear, 1998 was light years ahead of where Dukiet had the program... so I can only imagine it back then.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

You're telling me there was a basketball program at Marquette before Crean arrived? I can hardly believe it the way people around here credit him for everything from widening the lane to cutting holes in the bottom of the peach baskets.

We were poor for a very short time when Dukiet came on board. And we've always attracted high profile, sought-after coaches (Dukiet included).

Thanks for setting me straight.

When I arrived in 1998, MU hoops was really exciting when we had to listen to road games on the radio and could show up at halftime for home games and still sit in the lower deck.

Those were the days.

Oh and just to be clear, 1998 was light years ahead of where Dukiet had the program... so I can only imagine it back then.

We averaged 11,508 in 1998. Most programs would kill for that kind of attendance.

Incidentally, in 2005 -- two years removed from the Final Four -- we averaged 11,965.

[Pakuni]

I think the whole "Crean has really boosted attendance" thing is somewhat of a myth.  I was looking at the numbers a few weeks ago for Bradley Center attendance during the O'Neil, Deane, and Crean eras.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but they were roughly:

O'Neil (5 years)   13,400/game
Deane (5 years)   12,200/game
Crean (8 years)   13,200/game

So Crean had improved attendance (less than 10%)over Deane, but is still behind O'Neil's average - and that's with two years of Wade and two years of big name Big East opponents. 

Pehaps more people are showing up for the games now and that's made the crowds seem much bigger.

For fairness sake, though, please keep in mind that just as Deane (and therefore the attendance figures while he was coach) benefited from the O'Neill era, Crean's early peformance, both in won-loss and attendance, suffered from the tail end of the Deane era. Remember, nobody comes to see Mike Deane or Tom Crean stalk the sidelines. They come to watch the players. And, with perhaps a couple of exceptions, the players left behind by Deane weren't exactly crowd pleasers.

Toss out Crean's first two seasons, when he essentially was coaching Deane's teams, and his attendance figures look much better.
MU attendance under Crean, 2002-07: 14,135
It's probably safe to say that 1,900 more paid customers x 16 games = a nice chunk of Tom Crean's salary.

FWIW, in two years with Big East opponents, MU's average is 14,671.

[muarmy81]

What a great world we fans live in where, as a top 20 team, we have the luxury of complaining about attedance numbers and how they are directly an effect of how "bad" our coach is.

What would we do if we were looking at a sub .500 year or struggling to make the NIT?  What kind of crap would we spend our days arguing over on this site then?  That would probably lead towards some tangible discussions over how poor of a coach and team we would have.

[ChicosBailBonds]

TC used most of his pre-game speech (the one on the jumbotron) to talk about the potential of an attendance record. does anyone really think he was told by the people in marketing that he should focus on that topic?  he is the marketing machine of the program!

The Hammock is right as usual...Chicos, our coach was talking about setting the record in his pre game speech !  No wonder he's earned the nickname CMO.  He's more into marketing than X's & O's.

Silly, absolutely silly.  Maybe we should go back to the days of having 12,000 announced attendance.  It amazes me the complaints, truly does.

[NavinRJohnson]

What a great world we fans live in where, as a top 20 team, we have the luxury of complaining about attedance numbers and how they are directly an effect of how "bad" our coach is.

Pretty much sums it up.

[ChicosBailBonds]

TC used most of his pre-game speech (the one on the jumbotron) to talk about the potential of an attendance record. does anyone really think he was told by the people in marketing that he should focus on that topic?  he is the marketing machine of the program!

why are bucks sellouts (when they used to have them) listed around 18,700 yet MU claims to fit 19,000 +?  SRO tickets not sold/counted for the bucks?

Do I think the marketing people told him the game was already 98% sold out when he does his pre game clips?  Yes, I do.

Crean asks for input on what he should talk about that week...the department gives the input from various folks and he chooses what to talk about.

When I said the announced attendance, I was talking about during the game.


And why are the attendance configurations different?  Because there are more seats available to sell for MU then there are for an NBA game.

[ChicosBailBonds]

You're telling me there was a basketball program at Marquette before Crean arrived? I can hardly believe it the way people around here credit him for everything from widening the lane to cutting holes in the bottom of the peach baskets.

We were poor for a very short time when Dukiet came on board. And we've always attracted high profile, sought-after coaches (Dukiet included).

Thanks for setting me straight.

When I arrived in 1998, MU hoops was really exciting when we had to listen to road games on the radio and could show up at halftime for home games and still sit in the lower deck.

Those were the days.

Oh and just to be clear, 1998 was light years ahead of where Dukiet had the program... so I can only imagine it back then.

We averaged 11,508 in 1998. Most programs would kill for that kind of attendance.

Incidentally, in 2005 -- two years removed from the Final Four -- we averaged 11,965.

Now we average 15,000, play in one of the top 2 conferences in the nation, go to the NCAAs....imagine how many people/programs would kill for that...yet we have a group here that bitches constantly about it.

Go figure....I noticed you brought out 2005 but ignored the years prior and post...interesting.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I think the whole "Crean has really boosted attendance" thing is somewhat of a myth.  I was looking at the numbers a few weeks ago for Bradley Center attendance during the O'Neil, Deane, and Crean eras.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but they were roughly:

O'Neil (5 years)   13,400/game
Deane (5 years)   12,200/game
Crean (8 years)   13,200/game

So Crean had improved attendance (less than 10%)over Deane, but is still behind O'Neil's average - and that's with two years of Wade and two years of big name Big East opponents. 

Pehaps more people are showing up for the games now and that's made the crowds seem much bigger.

Crean's first year was 9000 or so, after Deane...it was brutal.  Throw out the high and the low for all those you'll have a clear leader.   Also the 2005 year included the NIT home game where the university had 18 hours to sell a game against Western Michigan with our star player in cast and the team struggling.

Come on, the agendas here continue to amaze.  Careful what you wish for...I've seen what we used to have, lived it...worked in it....you guys are NUTS if you want to go back to that...absolutely nuts.

[rugbydrummer]

= They had to eliminate seats for the ESPN studio guys. That was absolutely pre-ordained so that they would say that during the telecast. It gets old. =

Point taken -- i forgot about them;  I think the PITT gameday came to mind because it was such an AWESOME game and so who cares how many ppl are there as long as they are going bananas???


and... yes we should really stop whining about this-- I agree it is kinda lame that we keep "breaking" the sell out record and they keep announcing it, but if you think about it, there are a whole slew of things that get publicized and highlighted that are similarly insignificant/trivial.  I mean, come on, the bells and whistles are there for a reason people.  To entertain.  And apparently give us something to fight about that really doesn't involve our beloved sport.

[Pakuni]

TC used most of his pre-game speech (the one on the jumbotron) to talk about the potential of an attendance record. does anyone really think he was told by the people in marketing that he should focus on that topic?  he is the marketing machine of the program!

The Hammock is right as usual...Chicos, our coach was talking about setting the record in his pre game speech !  No wonder he's earned the nickname CMO.  He's more into marketing than X's & O's.

Silly, absolutely silly.  Maybe we should go back to the days of having 12,000 announced attendance.  It amazes me the complaints, truly does.

Case in point:
In 2001, after Al McGuire died, I decided to head up to Milwaukee for the first game post-Al, a Saturday afternoon matchup with Tulane. Less than 24 hours before the game, I was able to go online to Ticketmaster and buy two tickets about 15 rows up, barely offset from center court.

Today, I can't even get two seats together via Ticketmaster for a Saturday afternoon game against Rutgers nearly four weeks from now.

[rugbydrummer]

I think the whole "Crean has really boosted attendance" thing is somewhat of a myth.  I was looking at the numbers a few weeks ago for Bradley Center attendance during the O'Neil, Deane, and Crean eras.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but they were roughly:

O'Neil (5 years)   13,400/game
Deane (5 years)   12,200/game
Crean (8 years)   13,200/game

So Crean had improved attendance (less than 10%)over Deane, but is still behind O'Neil's average - and that's with two years of Wade and two years of big name Big East opponents. 

Pehaps more people are showing up for the games now and that's made the crowds seem much bigger.

Crean's first year was 9000 or so, after Deane...it was brutal.  Throw out the high and the low for all those you'll have a clear leader.   Also the 2005 year included the NIT home game where the university had 18 hours to sell a game against Western Michigan with our star player in cast and the team struggling.

Come on, the agendas here continue to amaze.  Careful what you wish for...I've seen what we used to have, lived it...worked in it....you guys are NUTS if you want to go back to that...absolutely nuts.

also,  slightly OT but this whole thread about "inheriting" other coaches' teams and such is starting to smack of political tones . . . yes we aren't winning conference champs and have our post-season struggles, but seriously, TC put MU back on the bball map, and so our athletics teams as a whole are definitely reaping benefits too.  idk, my only real gripe on crean is that he gets ppl injured in practices right before post-season!!  

peace

[tonyreeder]

TC used most of his pre-game speech (the one on the jumbotron) to talk about the potential of an attendance record. does anyone really think he was told by the people in marketing that he should focus on that topic?  he is the marketing machine of the program!

why are bucks sellouts (when they used to have them) listed around 18,700 yet MU claims to fit 19,000 +?  SRO tickets not sold/counted for the bucks?

Do I think the marketing people told him the game was already 98% sold out when he does his pre game clips?  Yes, I do.

Crean asks for input on what he should talk about that week...the department gives the input from various folks and he chooses what to talk about.

When I said the announced attendance, I was talking about during the game.


And why are the attendance configurations different?  Because there are more seats available to sell for MU then there are for an NBA game.

Why does he have to talk at all?  Honest question.  Do other Division 1 schools have the coach talk to the crowd on the Jumbotron before the game?  Seems completely unnecessary.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

You're telling me there was a basketball program at Marquette before Crean arrived? I can hardly believe it the way people around here credit him for everything from widening the lane to cutting holes in the bottom of the peach baskets.

We were poor for a very short time when Dukiet came on board. And we've always attracted high profile, sought-after coaches (Dukiet included).

Thanks for setting me straight.

When I arrived in 1998, MU hoops was really exciting when we had to listen to road games on the radio and could show up at halftime for home games and still sit in the lower deck.

Those were the days.

Oh and just to be clear, 1998 was light years ahead of where Dukiet had the program... so I can only imagine it back then.

We averaged 11,508 in 1998. Most programs would kill for that kind of attendance.

Incidentally, in 2005 -- two years removed from the Final Four -- we averaged 11,965.

Now we average 15,000, play in one of the top 2 conferences in the nation, go to the NCAAs....imagine how many people/programs would kill for that...yet we have a group here that bitches constantly about it.

Nobody is bitching about it! People are simply pointing out that hearing the self congratulations over and over and over again is tired as hell!

[augoman]

good point, TonyR:
"why does he talk at all?" 

as I recall coach Al wouldn't allow the announcer (a relative of mine) to introduce him at games until very late in the season.  He did the starting 5, asst coaches and that's it.  Maybe melodrama, maybe humbleness...

[ChicosBailBonds]

I think the whole "Crean has really boosted attendance" thing is somewhat of a myth.  I was looking at the numbers a few weeks ago for Bradley Center attendance during the O'Neil, Deane, and Crean eras.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but they were roughly:

O'Neil (5 years)   13,400/game
Deane (5 years)   12,200/game
Crean (8 years)   13,200/game

So Crean had improved attendance (less than 10%)over Deane, but is still behind O'Neil's average - and that's with two years of Wade and two years of big name Big East opponents. 

Pehaps more people are showing up for the games now and that's made the crowds seem much bigger.

Crean's first year was 9000 or so, after Deane...it was brutal.  Throw out the high and the low for all those you'll have a clear leader.   Also the 2005 year included the NIT home game where the university had 18 hours to sell a game against Western Michigan with our star player in cast and the team struggling.

Come on, the agendas here continue to amaze.  Careful what you wish for...I've seen what we used to have, lived it...worked in it....you guys are NUTS if you want to go back to that...absolutely nuts.

also,  slightly OT but this whole thread about "inheriting" other coaches' teams and such is starting to smack of political tones . . . yes we aren't winning conference champs and have our post-season struggles, but seriously, TC put MU back on the bball map, and so our athletics teams as a whole are definitely reaping benefits too.  idk, my only real gripe on crean is that he gets ppl injured in practices right before post-season!!  

peace

The funny thing is that we've only won two conference regular season championships in our history...one under O'Neill and one under Crean. 

O'Neill didn't want to be here, publicly said his contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on and worth only wiping his nose with.

Deane fished for other jobs at FSU and St. John's...love the guy, but he wasn't here for the long haul.

Now we get a guy that wants to be here, goes to the post season almost every year, competes at a high level, brings in players that go to the NBA, and people are upset with the fact he's "marketing" the team or pushing it as much as possible.  Are we serious?  He has a bully pulpit, the news will put him on the air and on the radio and in print...damn right I want my coach pushing us as much as possible, especially in a city with a ton of other options.  This isn't Madison or East Lansing or Bloomington.

[ChicosBailBonds]

TC used most of his pre-game speech (the one on the jumbotron) to talk about the potential of an attendance record. does anyone really think he was told by the people in marketing that he should focus on that topic?  he is the marketing machine of the program!

why are bucks sellouts (when they used to have them) listed around 18,700 yet MU claims to fit 19,000 +?  SRO tickets not sold/counted for the bucks?

Do I think the marketing people told him the game was already 98% sold out when he does his pre game clips?  Yes, I do.

Crean asks for input on what he should talk about that week...the department gives the input from various folks and he chooses what to talk about.

When I said the announced attendance, I was talking about during the game.


And why are the attendance configurations different?  Because there are more seats available to sell for MU then there are for an NBA game.

Why does he have to talk at all?  Honest question.  Do other Division 1 schools have the coach talk to the crowd on the Jumbotron before the game?  Seems completely unnecessary.

Different strokes for different folks.  Some people like it, some don't.  Take it away and there would be people that say "Why doesn't Crean do that thing where he talks to people anymore".

Next coach comes in and doesn't talk about attendance, doesn't push the team and there will be people that will scream he's only an X's and O's guy and doesn't understand the need to constantly be pushing the program.

Can't win for losing.....meanwhile we're ranked 16th in the nation guys.  Try to have fun.

[The Lens]

I think the whole "Crean has really boosted attendance" thing is somewhat of a myth.  I was looking at the numbers a few weeks ago for Bradley Center attendance during the O'Neil, Deane, and Crean eras.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but they were roughly:

O'Neil (5 years)   13,400/game
Deane (5 years)   12,200/game
Crean (8 years)   13,200/game

So Crean had improved attendance (less than 10%)over Deane, but is still behind O'Neil's average - and that's with two years of Wade and two years of big name Big East opponents. 

Pehaps more people are showing up for the games now and that's made the crowds seem much bigger.

Crean's first year was 9000 or so, after Deane...it was brutal.  Throw out the high and the low for all those you'll have a clear leader.   Also the 2005 year included the NIT home game where the university had 18 hours to sell a game against Western Michigan with our star player in cast and the team struggling.

Come on, the agendas here continue to amaze.  Careful what you wish for...I've seen what we used to have, lived it...worked in it....you guys are NUTS if you want to go back to that...absolutely nuts.

also,  slightly OT but this whole thread about "inheriting" other coaches' teams and such is starting to smack of political tones . . . yes we aren't winning conference champs and have our post-season struggles, but seriously, TC put MU back on the bball map, and so our athletics teams as a whole are definitely reaping benefits too.  idk, my only real gripe on crean is that he gets ppl injured in practices right before post-season!!  

peace

The funny thing is that we've only won two conference regular season championships in our history...one under O'Neill and one under Crean. 

O'Neill didn't want to be here, publicly said his contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on and worth only wiping his nose with.

Deane fished for other jobs at FSU and St. John's...love the guy, but he wasn't here for the long haul.

Now we get a guy that wants to be here, goes to the post season almost every year, competes at a high level, brings in players that go to the NBA, and people are upset with the fact he's "marketing" the team or pushing it as much as possible.  Are we serious?  He has a bully pulpit, the news will put him on the air and on the radio and in print...damn right I want my coach pushing us as much as possible, especially in a city with a ton of other options.  This isn't Madison or East Lansing or Bloomington.

There are a ton of reasons why TC is better than Deane, but using the FSU & St John's card is not one of them.  TC puts his name out there for every job, every year.  It doesn't bother me, but it's true.  What bothers me and others is he seems to be more preoccupied with marketing than Xs & Os.  After watching McNeal take ill-advised shot after ill advised shot to start the game, I wondered why he was jacking up 3s like he was Novak while Crean was announcing attendance records like he was the Andy Henry.

[wiscwarrior]

Didn't Mike Deane start thee Jumbotron thing? I seem  remember a coach using the Jumbotron before TC and I think he wore tinted glasses.

[bananahammock]

i don't mind the jumbotron gig but i could do without the state's largest attendance line.

does anyone have an answer on how MU can fit an extra 300 people in the BC than the bucks?

wheresgerald posey- to answer your question, it's an attire of choice!