What would be enough...?

[MU82]

For me, once you reach the mountaintop, it's perfectly reasonable to find new mountaintops to climb, or in this case, root for.

There's always another mountaintop. For example, how about being the first to repeat as champions since Florida?

Just getting to know you a little through this site, it's hard for me to believe you would become less of a fan if we win it all ... but I'd love to see you get the chance to make that decision!

[dgies9156]

Fascinating question.

I'd argue that for me, it isn't that bad things happen. It's what the administration does to deal with them and alleviate the possibility that they'd happen again.

In Marquette's case, we've had bad actors. No doubt. Some of our students went to prison and many others did things that were not in lockstep with the philosophy of the university. Had Marquette gone down the road that say, Louisville, did, then I'd seriously question their sanity and their commitment to Roman Catholic values.

I've been a financial contributor to Marquette almost every year since I was graduated in the 1970s and I had a weekend season ticket package until I began spending winters in Florida. My support is because of Marquette's mission, of which our basketball team is a part. Ultimately, even when things happen where your athletes and basketball coach end up on Page 1 of the Chicago Tribune for conduct unbecoming a Roman Catholic, you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Marquette made a commitment to change by putting handcuffs on Buzz Williams, which caused him to leave. Today, we have a fine coach and a fine man leading our program.

Final thought: Catholicism teaches forgiveness and repentance. For folks that have changed, we need more of both in our society

For the record, I adopted the St. Louis Cardinals in the mid-1960s when I was living in Nashville and they were quite the team. I've been a Cardinal fan since, even though I lived in Chicago for 44 years and my Dad had season Cub tickets. Ditto for the Packers, even though I had season Bears tickets for 28 years. First loves are lasting loves (my family originally is from Wisconsin and I'd have been a straight Wisconsin sports fan had it not been for what the Braves did to Milwaukee in 1965).
 

[4everwarriors]

So, eye gotta figure ur knot a fan of Harvard's handlin' of the entire Gay fiasco, aina?

[Dickthedribbler]

How about jettisoning a school nickname that was wildly popular among students and the larger non-Marquette community, for decades, a nickname under which tens of thousands of students had graduated, all to ensure that MU would at least be able to project the image of political correctness back then.

Note I'm referring to the discarding of the name, NOT the image of the Native American mascot. That could have been and should have been retired a long time prior to 1995.

[brewcity77]

There's always another mountaintop. For example, how about being the first to repeat as champions since Duke in 1991-92?

Just getting to know you a little through this site, it's hard for me to believe you would become less of a fan if we win it all ... but I'd love to see you get the chance to make that decision!

There is, and I think it would have to have the fall-off after. In the immediate afterglow, I'd be all in, but if we cut down nets, then were a 7-seed the next year with a young team, then became an intermittent NCAA/NIT team, I really think I might drift. I wouldn't not be a fan, but I would be content to be a fan at a distance. I could see letting my season tickets go, only attending a couple games a year, and being content to miss games when there was a scheduling conflict rather than the current state where the Marquette game IS the scheduling conflict that prevents other things from being scheduled.

When I was 21 and the Bulls were kings of the world, I could never imagine not carving out time for every game. When I was 35 in the middle of the Blackhawks run I could never imagine not being glued to the Stanley Cup playoffs every Spring/Summer. And when the Cubs won the World Series right before I turned 40, I couldn't imagine not following that team and those players all Summer and Fall long. Yet now they all barely register. For me, the greatest success has been the most likely reason for me to move on to something else. Would it be the same with Marquette? I don't know for certain, but knowing myself, I suspect it would be. I wouldn't disappear, but I do think my investment would change.

[swoopem]

There's always another mountaintop. For example, how about being the first to repeat as champions since Duke in 1991-92?

Florida in the mid 2000s repeated

Only way I’d stop caring is if we reached DePaul level bad or dropped divisions. I’d probably still pay attention to wins/loses but I would no longer care. The Wojo years were bad enough to where I would turn games off but if we were DePaul bad I probably would never watch them to begin with

[Uncle Rico]

How about jettisoning a school nickname that was wildly popular among students and the larger non-Marquette community, for decades, a nickname under which tens of thousands of students had graduated, all to ensure that MU would at least be able to project the image of political correctness back then.

Note I'm referring to the discarding of the name, NOT the image of the Native American mascot. That could have been and should have been retired a long time prior to 1995.

If changing a nickname is that egregious to you, that’s fine to quit being a fan or following.  Everyone quits being a fan for a variety of reasons.  I quit being a fan after they dropped Hilltoppers

[MU82]

Florida in the mid 2000s repeated

D'oh! Thanks for the correction.

[MU82]

So, eye gotta figure ur knot a fan of Harvard's handlin' of the entire Gay fiasco, aina?

Take it to one of the political boards.

[Galway Eagle]

Teams and management are dynamic and for the most part fandom optional. For me, Marquette is engrained in me because my wife & I went there. If 2011 happens again I'll hit pause on diehard fandom but still want them to win as it's the main marketing channel for the school and tournament success correlates with increased applications & donations. Similar to my high school (live close enough that if we had another NBA or NFL prospect I'd go cheer), it's a part of you forever.

Pro sports are more fickle. I've genuinely lost interest in the white Sox, and Bulls. Management has no idea how to run a team and now there's talk of the Sox wanting stadium money and yet they've done squat to earn it. Never been huge into American football but I can say the bears moving to Arlington heights would make me flat out hate them, holding cities hostage for funds is BS. But also any org priding itself on "second chances" for all stars leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The other sports I watch are boxing (easy, if the guys a scumbag I won't support), GAA (I spent too much of my youth in mayo to give that up, might be the only unshakeable fandom), internationally rugby, & soccer (Ireland) or USA (soccer, hockey & basketball) if they added players while purposely trying to downplay their past. It's potentially going to happen with Irish rugby adding a guy who got off from rape on a technicality, that'd ruin my fandom for a long time as there's a whole host of players marginally less great that'd slot in there and no need to gaslight everyone who followed the situation. Just say we're a sports org not a role model org.

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

I haven’t been a fan since John Dawson left

[MU82]

My interest in Marquette hoops has ebbed and flowed based on how the team is doing. There have been times I've been very excited about the program and have eagerly anticipated every game (as is the case now, the best of the Buzz years, 2003, etc). And there have been times where things were going so badly I barely paid attention (Dukiet era for example). And plenty in between those extremes (such as the Deane era), where I generally followed the team and watched when I could but wasn't super into it like I am now. I happen to think that kind of fan behavior is pretty normal ... then again, we all think we're "normal," don't we?!?

But to totally give up on Marquette basketball, to just say, "That's it, I've had enough, I quit!" ... I don't think I'd ever do that.

[Uncle Rico]

I haven’t been a fan since John Dawson left

I’ll tell you what, after Shaka ran Jamal Cain off, my fandom has dipped

[panda]

I'm going to swerve in the other direction. For me, it would be Marquette winning a title.

My sports attention and team passion has always centered on seeing things I've not seen yet. I grew up a fan of the Bulls, Blackhawks, and Cubs. After the Bulls run in the 1990s, then dropping back to mediocrity, I never had the same passion for the team. Even when Derrick Rose was at the peak of his powers, I just didn't have the need to tune in regularly. When the Blackhawks won their titles, I was paying attention all season long and locked in once the playoffs started, but since they've fallen off a bit, hockey has become an afterthought and even Conner Bedard is just someone I watch highlights of. Once the Cubs won the World Series, they had my interest the next summer, but having seen the peak that so many lived and died without seeing, my interest waned and now their games are something I just occasionally have on as background noise.

It's a combination of things. My disposable time for sports has shrunk as I got married, became a homeowner, and had kids. As a result, I prioritized the sports where I haven't seen my team reach the pinnacle. I saw the best the Bulls will ever be, I probably saw the best the Blackhawks will ever be, and I saw the Cubs do the thing that seemed impossible. The three teams I've really stuck with and whose results I am most attentive to are Marquette, the US Men's National Team (soccer), and Reading FC. The USMNT came sort-of close once (2002) but never got to the heights I hope to see (fingers crossed on 2026, but GGG...). Reading has gone in the opposite direction, getting relegated not just from the Premier League to the Championship, but again to League One, and while I can't watch them anymore unless they're in the FA Cup, I still follow their results and hope for a return to some semblance of success.

And then there's Marquette. I've never dedicated myself as much to a team/program as I have Marquette Men's Basketball. I don't know for certain that I would distance myself like I did other sports. But if we were to win a title, then fall back to a Wojo-level program, while at the same time my kids had more going on, more obligations, more sports and activities of their own, I can see a world where I would drift and while I'd always be a fan, never again be the diehard I've been for the past 20+ years.

For me, once you reach the mountaintop, it's perfectly reasonable to find new mountaintops to climb, or in this case, root for. I didn't think that way when I was younger, but as I've drifted away from many of those teams I used to live and die with the results of, I've discovered that's just who I am. It's also part of why I'm so desperate to see this team win a title. I want to be able to have my fandom be at arm's length, because I get so wrapped up in the college basketball season that it negatively impacts who I am at home. I care too much about this sport, about this team, to be as fully present as I should be for other things that are more important to my daily life. But I need that title to be able to put that healthy distance between me and the sport that consumes my attention more than any other.

I don’t particularly love your insights as looking at that level of statistical analysis is like watching paint dry for me, however your passion for this program is unmatched. I have a hard time believing you would ever take a step back and truly hope you don’t.

[Goose]

brew

I saw the best of MU when I was in grade school and it does changes things when your team falls back to average after winning a title. I loved the Favre era and since his departure my fandom is probably 75% of the Favre era. The '82 Brewers were my favorite baseball team and only a couple of times has fandom even come close to '82.

Unlike you, may family is grown and the Shaka era has me at my highest level of fandom in 40 years, but I am an empty nester. The only positive in some of the dark days at MU was I had four kids and I was not crazy wrapped up in MU basketball. That said, part of me doesn't want them to win NC this year because it would take away some of my zest moving forward. I do not really mean that completely, but the climb up the mountain is the best part of being a fan, imo.

[SoCalEagle]

It would take a major SYSTEMIC failure (three or more high ranking officials participate in a cover up) of a significant issue (sexual assault, other major crime, cheating scandal) for me to turn away from MU basketball.  Fortunately, I believe in our team and administration to such a level that I don't see that ever happening. 

[MU82]

That said, part of me doesn't want them to win NC this year because it would take away some of my zest moving forward. I do not really mean that completely, but the climb up the mountain is the best part of being a fan, imo.

Not even my tiniest age spot wants Marquette to not win the NC this year.

My zest moving forward will be just fine after we win it all!

[MU1in77]

My bride and I attended MU back in the 70’s and I’ve been a fan since the 60’s due to my dad. We’ve been season ticket holders since the 80’s so have seen the good the bag and then the good again. I’m pretty much a fan no matter what until the day I die.

[Dr. Blackheart]

My bride and I attended MU back in the 70’s and I’ve been a fan since the 60’s due to my dad. We’ve been season ticket holders since the 80’s so have seen the good the bag and then the good again. I’m pretty much a fan no matter what until the day I die.

With NIL, what goes around comes around, aina?

[Lennys Tap]

Take it to one of the political boards.

Political boards? Strictly forbidden here. No exceptions.

[dgies9156]

My bride and I attended MU back in the 70’s and I’ve been a fan since the 60’s due to my dad. We’ve been season ticket holders since the 80’s so have seen the good the bag and then the good again. I’m pretty much a fan no matter what until the day I die.

You sound like us. My wife and I were at MU in the mid1970s. Had weekend season tickets  (6 pack) during the Crean and Buzz era.

My Christmas present was two home games, which entails flying from Florida to the Midwest for a couple of games. She doesn’t like basketball but is a good sport.

It would be pretty bad for me to abandon Marquette.

[tower912]

Which two games? 

[MU82]

Political boards? Strictly forbidden here. No exceptions.

True. That's why you and I never join the political discussions on what have become de facto political threads.

I see no reason to politicize this one, as Doc tried to do. Do you?

[NCMUFan]

Probably would quit publicly wear MU fan garb and take my college education off of Linkedin.
MU would have to clean administration house.
However, would most likely stay a closet MU BB fan.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

How about jettisoning a school nickname that was wildly popular among students and the larger non-Marquette community, for decades, a nickname under which tens of thousands of students had graduated, all to ensure that MU would at least be able to project the image of political correctness back then.

Note I'm referring to the discarding of the name, NOT the image of the Native American mascot. That could have been and should have been retired a long time prior to 1995.

I don’t think changing the nickname has had a significant negative impact on the University or the basketball program.

Sure it made people mad, and is still a sore spot for many, but I think a nickname isn’t going to ultimately change how people relate to a university with a basketball program that’s a huge point of pride.