vv83
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,328
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Post by vv83 on Feb 18, 2016 22:36:51 GMT -5
I'm watching the end of the Minnesota-Maryland game, at Minnesota. The Gophers have been terrible this year (no big 10 wins before tonight) - but the arena is still packed with a deeply engaged crowd going nuts as they upset Maryland. Such a far cry from our experience during a bad season this year. Of course there are huge differences between U of Minnesota and Georgetown on an institutional level - but the dramatic difference in crowd size/energy is pretty amazing. Minnesota stormed the court after the win. I doubt we'll have nearly enough students in the crowd on saturday to storm the court if we beat Xavier! The courtside alums/fans would have to join in to bolster the crowd, and that still probably would not be enough people for a decent court storming. Also - the down side to playing maryland, syracuse, and UConn is that it helps our NCAA tournament chances when they win. So it is kind of freeing for us to be eliminated from NCAA consideration (absent a BE tournament win) - we can now freely root against those three teams. So it was fun to see Maryland cough up their second game in a row. Maryland had won a ridiculous number of close games over the past two seasons i think they are "reverting to the mean" in terms of close game luck. Hopefully that results in a quick NCAA tournament ouster. Maryland has a lot of talent, but they just don't seem to quite be in synch a lot of the time, performing a bit below their talent level. But since they have managed to win so many close games, they give the impression of being a top team. I won't be surprised at all if they lose their first or second NCAA tournament game. Was just about to post the same thing. I totally get the fan apathy this year (and the last few), and we are a small school without a huge alumni base. But Minnesota was 6-19 coming into the game, and they have very little good history in any sport. But my God, that is a different universe in terms of crowd support. Wish we had anything like it. Apparently the Minnesota arena was largely empty at the start of the game, but a ton of people showed up at halftime when word got around campus/town that Minnesota was up by double digits. The very definition of fair weather fans -but fans who show up at halftime of a big upset are better than fans who don't show up at all! Can't say it breaks my heart to see Maryland/Turgeon sweating out some late seasons struggles! Turgeon seems like a pretty good guy, but I am not impressed by his coaching. If all the guys leave who are likely to leave, Maryland is going to be playing a bunch of freshmen and grad transfers next year - I have a feeling their roll through their first two seasons in the big 10 may come to an abrupt end next season, with the possibility of their entire starting 5 from this year graduating/leaving for the NBA. Carter is the one who might stick around for his senior year - but if the other 4 starters bolt (and i would be surprised if Stone and Trimble stick around), I can't see Carter hanging around, his NBA stock is not likely to get higher with another year playing for a middle of the pack team.
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Post by reformation on Feb 18, 2016 23:09:34 GMT -5
Three thoughts-If Gtwn was playing Maryland instead of Seton Hall we'd still have had a big active crowd. If Minnesota was playing Seton Hall, doubt it would be a great atmosphere.
Everyone mentions the Big east 6k rule--why don't we lobby to change the rule--surely we'd have enough influence to get it done if we'd really want to.
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drquigley
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,382
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Post by drquigley on Feb 18, 2016 23:15:34 GMT -5
How big is the Minnesota arena? Verizon is just too big. Even if we got our whole student body to attend it would look empty without alumni and opponents fans. Look, I like Verizon cause I come from 100 miles away and I know I can get tickets for almost all games. But I feel sorry for the students. An 8-10,000 seat arena closer to campus would really rock and allow the kids to have a great, a la Duke, time. I know it can't be done on campus but is there anywhere in NW or even Arlington we could use?
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mapei
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,088
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Post by mapei on Feb 18, 2016 23:18:15 GMT -5
Although I love to see the Twerps lose, don't they have an excuse tonight because of Stone's suspension?
And what is the 6k rule?
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
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Post by SSHoya on Feb 19, 2016 6:26:45 GMT -5
Although I love to see the Twerps lose, don't they have an excuse tonight because of Stone's suspension? And what is the 6k rule?[/quote Minnesota's RPI is #241, loser of thirteen straight, and whose last victory was against Chicago State back in December. Stone's absence is no excuse. The consecutive losses are more due to Trimble's slump. I believe he is 3/26 from the field in last couple of games and has been a TO machine. Believe the 6k rule is that all teams must play in arena with minimum capacity of 6,000.
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TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
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Post by TBird41 on Feb 19, 2016 9:58:23 GMT -5
Williams Arena seats 14,000. It's in the middle of campus and in the middle of Minneapolis, with ample parking around it. There wasn't anyone at the game (you can barely give away tickets to Gophers games this year) until half time, when the Gophers were up double-digits. At halftime, all the students showed up, and anyone with season tickets did as well.
It's also a poor comparison to our fanbase, since there are over 50,000 students (43,000 undergraduates) enrolled at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus each year, and it's also the only major college sports program in the Twin Cities, which has a population of over 3 million people. It's not like an Iowa or a Wisconsin where it's the only game in town, but pretty much anyone that is in the Twin Cities that likes college basketball is going to be a Gophers' fan, unless they went to a rival Big 10 school.
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kchoya
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by kchoya on Feb 19, 2016 10:48:26 GMT -5
Our brand of basketball is virtually unwatchable right now ...can't blame the students here. blueandgray...based on your posts you seem to have knowledge of information related to the program more so than the average fan. So I ask you, is the fact that this "brand of basketball is virtually unwatchable" recognized and/or acknowledged by anyone directly involved with the basketball program? C'mon, what a stupid question. Do you REALLY think that there's no one in the program that realizes this is a truly crappy season?
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hoyas315
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by hoyas315 on Feb 19, 2016 14:13:05 GMT -5
blueandgray...based on your posts you seem to have knowledge of information related to the program more so than the average fan. So I ask you, is the fact that this "brand of basketball is virtually unwatchable" recognized and/or acknowledged by anyone directly involved with the basketball program? C'mon, what a stupid question. Do you REALLY think that there's no one in the program that realizes this is a truly crappy season? Not talking about just this season, you dope
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Feb 19, 2016 14:18:48 GMT -5
Was over on campus and Saxby's has two tip jars, 1) Hoyas season is over, 2) Yep, we will upset Xavier. Money was split 50/50. My money went into 1.
At least there was some acknowledgement that a team existed.
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kchoya
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by kchoya on Feb 19, 2016 15:04:45 GMT -5
C'mon, what a stupid question. Do you REALLY think that there's no one in the program that realizes this is a truly crappy season? Not talking about just this season, you dope So you were talking about... - Last season's NCAA tourney team?
- The 2012-2013 team that went 25-7, including 11 straight wins in January, February and March?
- The Jeff Green/Roy Hibbert/Jonathan Wallace squads that had great offensive and defensive efficiency numbers?
Please clue me in as to which seasons you were referring to that were "virtually unwatchable."
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