How much $ does it take to buy a quality home game?

[ManAboutTown]

I think there has always been some underlying frustration that the golden years of basketball from first the Shipley era and then the Paschal era evaporated. Fletcher accomplished more in the NCAA Tournament than Paschal but a lot of people didn't like him.

People want the golden years back and are basically told that for a variety of reasons the sport has passed schools like ours by and it's no longer possible. Fans are tired if hearing that.

It seems like every year a lot of people approach the start of fall practice with great anticipation and are discouraged before the start of the new year. We can't win a map game in December.

It's a good point, and I'm sorry to speak for all basketball fans, but I think most of the hardcore fan base that remain from those eras would tell you that they don't expect that level of success. But they'll also tell you what we have now is completely unacceptable.

[Cajunsmike]

It's a good point, and I'm sorry to speak for all basketball fans, but I think most of the hardcore fan base that remain from those eras would tell you that they don't expect that level of success. But they'll also tell you what we have now is completely unacceptable.

I agree our non conference road results are "unacceptable". However our conference results are generally OK. For some reason teams win on the road more often Iin conference play. That is due to officiating somewhat. Also due to competition. However Georgia State is better than mAny of the non conference teams we have played on the road. At this point we cannot go back and replay the non conference schedule. All we can do is get the best seed possible and hope the team is playing at a high level in early March.

[Cajunsmike]

Yes Mike but we all suffer the same problems. I guess we more than USM as they can draw teams from the north, south, east, and west while we have almost zero south of us.

The fact we all suffer the same problems is why I am so perplexed those schools will not play us. Mystery to me

[CrazyCajun]

The fact we all suffer the same problems is why I am so perplexed those schools will not play us. Mystery to me

Not being argumentative but who is telling you this? Is this coming from the schools? Or the people that don't want to go out and raise money? I refuse to buy that egrtihe is scared to play is when you look on their schedule and see schools similar. Someone is either stretching the truth or is very hard to deal with and unlikeable. We aren't that scary.

[Cajunsmike]

Why not start a campaign strictly for buying games? Put together a presentation, show it to Rebounders club, have those guys spread the word, give it 3-5 years, and let's see what happens? Even if we buy 1-2 games a year, even that can create some buzz with possibility of a big win. Meanwhile, continue taking the road games against P5 opponents and get your brand out there.

I know this is probably more complicated, but it doesn't seem to be all that difficult. There are over 350 teams playing basketball. Half of them are recognizable to the lay fan. You're telling me we can't get 1-2 a year to visit us? I just don't buy that.

Who are some of the recognizable names that you believe would accept 100 grand to come here? Maybe there is one that would draw well enough to offset the cost of that payment. Remember most schools in the major conferences do not go on the road to mid majors as a matter of policy. Still there may be some others willing to do it as you stated. I was surprised to hear Murray State was not willing to play home and home. Would a school like that draw well enough to warrant a100 grand payment ?

[Cajunsmike]

Not being argumentative but who is telling you this? Is this coming from the schools? Or the people that don't want to go out and raise money? I refuse to buy that egrtihe is scared to play is when you look on their schedule and see schools similar. Someone is either stretching the truth or is very hard to deal with and unlikeable. We aren't that scary.

My list of schools who will not play us is info I received from various
staff members in different conversations. Mike Murphy is the main source and I believe him. If you do not feel free to give him a call and question him further. Note these are schools who will not play us home and home. You do not pay anything in these type deals. Would they do a home and home if we paid them a little for the game played here is a question I cannot answer. That would be an interesting approach. Would you donate a few hundred to an effort to raise 50 grand to get Tulane here with the understanding we get nothing for the game we will play there?

[CrazyCajun]

My list of schools who will not play us is info I received from various
staff members in different conversations. Mike Murphy is the main source and I believe him. If you do not feel free to give him a call and question him further.

And he has no reasoning? Like, they won't play us because ______. Something just doesn't add up. Is it just the money or do they actually refuse to play us no matter what?

[ManAboutTown]

Who are some of the recognizable names that you believe would accept 100 grand to come here? Maybe there is one that would draw well enough to offset the cost of that payment. Remember most schools in the major conferences do not go on the road to mid majors as a matter of policy. Still there may be some others willing to do it as you stated. I was surprised to hear Murray State was not willing to play home and home. Would a school like that draw well enough to warrant a100 grand payment ?

Without doing a ton of research on the matter, I'd go after teams like Evansville, N Iowa, Siena, Houston, SMU, Southern Miss, Middle, Marshall, College of Charleston, Duquesne, Seton Hall, All of the Jesuit schools, UCF, Fla Gulf Coast, South Florida, Texas Tech, Pacific, St. Mary's, Belmont, Iona, Wichita St, Tulsa, San Diego St, Nevada to name a few.

[ManAboutTown]

And he has no reasoning? Like, they won't play us because ______. Something just doesn't add up. Is it just the money or do they actually refuse to play us no matter what?

This is what I want to know. Why don't people want to play us? If it makes sense for both schools, there is more to the story..

[Cajunsmike]

And he has no reasoning? Like, they won't play us because ______. Something just doesn't add up. Is it just the money or do they actually refuse to play us no matter what?

They do not want to play us because they believe a loss will negatively impact them in recruiting. Remember we are talking about home and home here. We may need to go out of the area for home and home as those schools won't worry as much about that. That increases travel costs however. We have played two schools from Pittsburgh and one from Detroit in the recent past in home and home deals for example.

[CrazyCajun]

They do not want to play us because they believe a loss will negatively impact them in recruiting. Remember we are talking about home and home here. We may need to go out of the area for home and home as those schools won't worry as much about that. That increases travel costs however. We have played two schools from Pittsburgh and one from Detroit in the recent past in home and home deals for example.

I'm not as concerned about increasing attendance as much as I am about watching us play teams that I could put a team together and beat on an afternoon at Bourgois hall. I hope this year was a total anomaly but this home schedule was absolutely horrible. Accomplished nothing, those teams aren't even slightly competitive..they obviously didn't help prepare us for the road competition. I'm ok with a warmup game, I was even ok with a tuneup after the long break but an almost an entire home OOC schedule equivalent to high school teams does nothing to make us better. If we are truly only playing for March then we should schedule as tough as possible.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I'll never be on board with non 1A games in the regular season. Sometimes you have to get out of the money box. Folks we're talking one more money game. Use that money to help buy a decent 1A game. Problem solved.