MU third in BEast preview on ESPN

[Daniel]

This year will ge tough as everyone says.   If it is less than tough we will all be happy.   But long term Shaka and MU are a good fit and I can see a Shaka successful here and….. staying! 

[dgies9156]

Are we really that difficult of a fan base to please? I think for the most part our expectations are reasonable.

I think we had patience for Wojo, but seeing the same movie multiple times made it seem best for both to move on.

In the past, I have broken our fan base down into three components, which I still think is true today:

1) The Al Era -- Anyone who followed our program or was on campus before 1978 falls into this category. We were a blue blood, one of the best programs in the country. We recruited the best and we played hard and won. We had a long home winning streak at one point and were occasionally ranked first. We played in two Nattys and of course brought home one. People in this group expect the most -- annual NCAAs, competition for Nattys and consistently good performance. A declining segment of our fan base.

2) The Moments of Genius -- These are folks who came of age when Buzz was here or when Kevin O'Neill and Tom Crean were coaching. We showed signs of life, met various degrees of success but weerte regular NCAA participants. This group has higher expectations but has been tainted by, Wojo, Deane and Dukiet.

3) The Apathetics -- These are the folks who came of age when Marquette was coached by Deane, Dukiet or Wojo. They've seen underachieving or poorly recruited/coached teams. These people assume we are going to lose, either a game or a good coach. They see little value in our program. They're a growing part of our fan base and unless things are turned around, the support we have in our community will wane.

[Shooter McGavin]

In the past, I have broken our fan base down into three components, which I still think is true today:

1) The Al Era -- Anyone who followed our program or was on campus before 1978 falls into this category. We were a blue blood, one of the best programs in the country. We recruited the best and we played hard and won. We had a long home winning streak at one point and were occasionally ranked first. We played in two Nattys and of course brought home one. People in this group expect the most -- annual NCAAs, competition for Nattys and consistently good performance. A declining segment of our fan base.

2) The Moments of Genius -- These are folks who came of age when Buzz was here or when Kevin O'Neill and Tom Crean were coaching. We showed signs of life, met various degrees of success but weerte regular NCAA participants. This group has higher expectations but has been tainted by, Wojo, Deane and Dukiet.

3) The Apathetics -- These are the folks who came of age when Marquette was coached by Deane, Dukiet or Wojo. They've seen underachieving or poorly recruited/coached teams. These people assume we are going to lose, either a game or a good coach. They see little value in our program. They're a growing part of our fan base and unless things are turned around, the support we have in our community will wane.

This is a reasonable characterization of our fan base.  I agree that Shaka needs to reinvigorate the 3rd level of fans for the program to thrive going forward.   Too many first level fans will die off in the next 20 years.  I am in the second level (but went to MU because of the Al era and the era immediately following before dukiet) but our enthusiasm will wane if Shaka doesn’t get the job done as well. 

[Herman Cain]

In the past, I have broken our fan base down into three components, which I still think is true today:

1) The Al Era -- Anyone who followed our program or was on campus before 1978 falls into this category. We were a blue blood, one of the best programs in the country. We recruited the best and we played hard and won. We had a long home winning streak at one point and were occasionally ranked first. We played in two Nattys and of course brought home one. People in this group expect the most -- annual NCAAs, competition for Nattys and consistently good performance. A declining segment of our fan base.

2) The Moments of Genius -- These are folks who came of age when Buzz was here or when Kevin O'Neill and Tom Crean were coaching. We showed signs of life, met various degrees of success but weerte regular NCAA participants. This group has higher expectations but has been tainted by, Wojo, Deane and Dukiet.

3) The Apathetics -- These are the folks who came of age when Marquette was coached by Deane, Dukiet or Wojo. They've seen underachieving or poorly recruited/coached teams. These people assume we are going to lose, either a game or a good coach. They see little value in our program. They're a growing part of our fan base and unless things are turned around, the support we have in our community will wane.

I am in Group One. Still believe we can get back to the top of the mountain.

Wojo stalled our momentum , for sure , that had built during the Crean/Buzz era, however He didn’t totally collapse the program to the point of no repair . Shaka has a very deep pool of quality young guys to work with now.

We are going to surprise some people this year.

[augoman]

May I suggest the villages and some blue pills?

ha ha ha..., classic.

[augoman]

May I suggest the villages and some blue pills?

[dgies9156]

May I suggest the villages and some blue pills?

If there is a more boring place on Planet Earth than The Villages, FL, I haven't found it yet. Maybe western Kansas or Nebraska qualifies, but I'll leave it to others to argue with me. The place is in about the most inhospitable climate possible in Florida this side of Hurricane Alley (aka, the Gulf Coast).

I drive through the Villages on the way to the Dgies Estate on Florida's East Coast. The most common form of transportation in The Villages is the golf cart and the most common male recreational activity is waiting to urinate. Those blue pills of which you speak likely would cause more social havoc in The Villages than a half-off Sunset Dining Special (aka Early Bird Special) at Applebees.

Giving a resident of The Villages his sex drive back would be like giving a blind person their driver's license back!

[Billy Hoyle]

In the past, I have broken our fan base down into three components, which I still think is true today:


3) The Apathetics -- These are the folks who came of age when Marquette was coached by Deane, Dukiet or Wojo. They've seen underachieving or poorly recruited/coached teams. These people assume we are going to lose, either a game or a good coach. They see little value in our program. They're a growing part of our fan base and unless things are turned around, the support we have in our community will wane.

I was a student during the Deane years with no history with MU before applying. Deane's years weren't great but they weren't awful either. 1995: NIT finals (should have won it), 1996: CUSA tourney finals (lost in 2OT) with 3 seed and NCAA second round, 1997: CUSA tourney title and NCAA tourney appearance, 1998: NIT quarterfinals. The final season wasn't any fun but I don't think people who came of age as a MU fan under Deane were "apathetic."

[Nukem2]

I was a student during the Deane years with no history with MU before applying. Deane's years weren't great but they weren't awful either. 1995: NIT finals (should have won it), 1996: CUSA tourney finals (lost in 2OT) with 3 seed and NCAA second round, 1997: CUSA tourney title and NCAA tourney appearance, 1998: NIT quarterfinals. The final season wasn't any fun but I don't think people who came of age as a MU fan under Deane were "apathetic."

Of course, he did that primarily with KO’s recruits.  After that…Krunti…

[Billy Hoyle]

Of course, he did that primarily with KO’s recruits.  After that…Krunti…

Of course, but even with those KO recruits we had some very good years. The Deane years should not be grouped with Duiket as there was legit excitement around the program.

[Nukem2]

Of course, but even with those KO recruits we had some very good years. The Deane years should not be grouped with Duiket as there was legit excitement around the program.

Sure, but it really ended up to be more of an extension of the KO era.

[Billy Hoyle]

Sure, but it really ended up to be more of an extension of the KO era.

No disagreement there. However, at least he did that. As for Wojo…