Kennesaw,

You can put the A-sun tournament anywhere in the southeast and you will have around a thousand ETSU fans on a mediocre year and two to three on a good year. This is without question the worst period of ETSU athletics and we out represent everyone in the A-sun by quite a big margin. A decent crowd of Buccanneer loyalists always shows up at Belmont and Lipscomb. The reason only fifty or so show up at Kennesaw is because Kennesaw is not seen as a threat by the fan base from ETSU. This isn't a cheap shot but a fact. Hell, the truth is that even though Belmont has found a way to hand it to us for the past couple of years the fan base at ETSU doesn't truly respect them either. We all know what ETSU basketball is and we've not had it since 2004. Is it dead forever? I am no sage.

As for rest of the A-sun I can tell you this...Neither Kennesaw, lipscomb, Jacksonville, or Belmont are ever going to acquire a real fan base that is respectable in the mid-major ranks. The reason is simple. They are small schools located in major markets and thus have too much competition. Nobody in Nashville gives a damn that Belmont almost beat Duke. At Best people in Nashville are pulling for Vanderbilt and at worst they are involved with UT.

Belmont has been to NCAA tournament for the past three years and nearly pulled off an upset against Duke in their last. Yet they couldn't pull anymore than a hundred people to watch them play an "away" game in their own hometown.

I don't know what the numbers are but I would bet you that ETSU had as many or nearly as many fans at last years A-sun tournament as did Belmont and Lipscomb and ETSU fans have NEVER EVER been more angry and spiteful toward our school of choice than we are now. The loyalists here down right HATE the administration. And deservingly so.

If Kennesaw were Appalachian state or Chattanooga or Furman...we'd bring several hundred people to your doorstep on gameday. But your not and so we bring fifty to a hundred. Now I myself have never seen a Kennesaw fan in my life. And you wish to be our rival?

If we are to be stuck in this toilet bowl of a conference...then the least the conference could do is at least give the appearance of a real conference tournament by putting it on a nuetral floor and purging it from the inter-mixing of womens sports. There is nothing more thrilling than that first weekend in march during conference tournament time. Nothing beats the level of hate fills the air. You have no idea how depressing it is to go from the southern conference tournament to the A-sun tournament.

You see how it works in the So-Conn is that fans show up from every school to a neutral city. Let's say Chattanooga plays the 9 o'clock game on the first day...that means you will find chattanooga fans sitting in the stands for the opening game at noon between Western Carolina and Georgia Southern. So will you find ETSU, ASU, Furman, Davidson...hell even Wofford fans. All will be sitting, watching, waiting. Let's say you are from a school that won an early game...that means that horrible knot in your stomach is gone for the day and you can relax as the other schools play...meanwhile you size up who is playing well and who isn't. And speculate amongst friendly and opposing fans what is needed to win the following day.

In the A-sun...if Lipscomb is playing the noon game this means that fifty or so Lipscomb fans show up and then after the game they leave and you don't see them for 24 hours. It's boring and inglorious as hell. And all the A-sun schools do that. minus of course...ETSU.

Gold you make some pretty strong claims, most of which are simply false. Let's take a look at all of your false bravado:

"You can put the A-sun tournament anywhere in the southeast and you will have around a thousand ETSU fans on a mediocre year and two to three on a good year." - You are obviously either completely incompetent at mathematics, or you are just delusional. You barely had 2,000 ETSU fans at your own conference tournament...last year in Nashville you probably didn't have 200-300 max...unless all 2,000 of your crazy fan base was disguised as empty seats. Stop deluding yourself. If the tournament isn't being held at ETSU then your fans aren't traveling in the ASun. You can blame it on the conference, you can blame it on the administration, but eventually you are going to realize that it is just the fanbase, and you don't follow your team as well as you used to.

"The reason only fifty or so show up at Kennesaw is because Kennesaw is not seen as a threat by the fan base from ETSU. This isn't a cheap shot but a fact. Hell, the truth is that even though Belmont has found a way to hand it to us for the past couple of years the fan base at ETSU doesn't truly respect them either." - Could you please condescend more towards the rest of this league. So because you have no respect for anyone in this league your fans don't show up...I'll take bad excuses for $500 Alex. Remind me how many times you have won this league again? What about gone undefeated? Oh yeah, you have REALLY DOMINATED. I am not disillusioned in my fanhood for Kennesaw. I realize we aren't a top team in the conference, but my hope for the future is high. While a very good team in this conference and in the upper tier, ETSU is far from dominant. Get over yourself buddy. The reason ETSU fans don't travel to Kennesaw is because they don't care enough about your own team to make the trip.

"As for rest of the A-sun I can tell you this...Neither Kennesaw, lipscomb, Jacksonville, or Belmont are ever going to acquire a real fan base that is respectable in the mid-major ranks. The reason is simple. They are small schools located in major markets and thus have too much competition." - First of all I thought we weren't located in a major market...I thought that Kennesaw wasn't a part of Atlanta. Or could it be that you are just talking out of your year end again? Kennesaw is a SMALL SCHOOL? Have you looked at enrollment? Have you looked at the growth of the Atlanta market. Atlanta is growing and it is growing towards Kennesaw. Our school is 20,000 strong and growing. If that is a small school then what does that make ETSU's enrollment of somewhere around 12,000 students? We are making the transition from a mainly commuter school to a more standard 4-year university, but the fact remains that pretty soon we will be graduating 2,000 more students every year than ETSU....and you still think that we won't have the numbers for a 'real fan base'? Your own logic defeats you. Cobb County has well over a million residents alone...I know it hurts to be confronted with the facts.

"Belmont has been to NCAA tournament for the past three years and nearly pulled off an upset against Duke in their last. Yet they couldn't pull anymore than a hundred people to watch them play an "away" game in their own hometown." - I don't disagree with this statement...Belmont's fan attendance has been dissapointing.

"If Kennesaw were Appalachian state or Chattanooga or Furman...we'd bring several hundred people to your doorstep on gameday. But your not and so we bring fifty to a hundred. Now I myself have never seen a Kennesaw fan in my life. And you wish to be our rival?" - Wait a second, I thought it was several thousand fans...now we are back to several hundred? I don't get it. And no Kennesaw fan wants to be your rival. That is a creation of ETSU's convoluted mind. We are simply here to compete. I think because of the fact that some of our meetings on the court have ended up pretty heated has fueled some rivalry talk, but to be honest we don't have the history for that yet. It is possible that we could become rivals, but to be honest I would rather have a good rivalry with Mercer than ETSU.


You see how it works in the So-Conn is that fans show up from every school to a neutral city. Let's say Chattanooga plays the 9 o'clock game on the first day...that means you will find chattanooga fans sitting in the stands for the opening game at noon between Western Carolina and Georgia Southern. So will you find ETSU, ASU, Furman, Davidson...hell even Wofford fans. All will be sitting, watching, waiting. Let's say you are from a school that won an early game...that means that horrible knot in your stomach is gone for the day and you can relax as the other schools play...meanwhile you size up who is playing well and who isn't. And speculate amongst friendly and opposing fans what is needed to win the following day.

In the A-sun...if Lipscomb is playing the noon game this means that fifty or so Lipscomb fans show up and then after the game they leave and you don't see them for 24 hours. It's boring and inglorious as hell. And all the A-sun schools do that. minus of course...ETSU.

- As to your last point I grew up going to big time college basketball...The ACC. The southern conference was Division II ball to me, so don't tell me about your vaunted conference tournaments. In the best year you ever had you ALMOST beat an underachieving Wake Forest team, so spare me the dramatics about how none of us understand big time college basketball.

Get over yourself Gold, and take into account the current state of your athletics program. Either be a fan or don't but don't complain because you aren't in the southern conference anymore. If we had the conference at a neutral site then nobody would show up. Any sensible person would realize that. Instead you want to harp on past glories and somehow convince all of us that they somehow apply to the current state of ETSU athletics. It is going to be a sad day indeed for the life of a Buccaneer when Kennesaw fields our first football team, and certain ETSU fans are still complaining about why their 2010 basketball isn't as good as it was in 1996.

I didn't personally attend the A-sun tournament last year b/c I had one hell of a story in my own life to contend with...though I did journey down to Belmont during the regular season and we had at least two hundred people there for that game. So you don't know what the hell you're talking about. I gurantee you that we had as big or nearly as big a presence in Nashville during tournament play as the host schools. And I mean everyone was fed up in Johnson City with last years team.

KennesawBasketball Wrote:You barely had 2,000 ETSU fans at your own conference tournament

Umm the fire marshalls were called because we had to get special permission open up seats that have been shut down to us. I think they finally allowed us six thousand seats but no more. Long and ghastly story concerning the fire marshall tyranny but it does go to show you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

As for our fans not taking Kennesaw seriously...that bit is true. Guess what we never drove down in masses to see ETSU play the citadel either. As far as your sarcastic remarks on my ability to be more condescending toward the A-sun...I think you know first hand that I have the ability to do that if I so choose.

I don't ever remember joining the argument that Kennesaw is not a part of Atlanta...I do remember saying that isn't going to automatically win recruiting wars for you. I do remember saying that.

The several hundred fans were an averaging of the many different fan bases of the SoCon, fool.

I could continue to go down the list and refute you, but you words are nothing more than a jumbled bore. The A-sun is an inglorious conference filled with division two schools who don't belong in division one and we all know it. Here endeth the lesson.

One final note....If you wished to be Mercers rival than you wouldn't sweet talk Mercerfan. You should just admit what you are.

MercerFan is a good fan that doesn't treat everyone else with disdain. What are you trying to get me to admit, that I think you talk more than you should? Fine, I admit that. But there are a lot of sensible ETSU fans out there as well, so I don't hold your entire school responsible for your false internet message board bravado. I admit that I am a Kennesaw fan that is excited about the future of our school, and while I relish in some of our past successes I don't dwell on it to a point of inactivity, which according to your own words is what your fan base is caught doing. To be honest, I would probably rail on your more if I were an ETSU fan, because you don't paint your own fans with a very kind brush.

Spoken like a true protestant

I am not sure your intentions with that comment, but I don't take offense to that. Your words will come back to haunt you when all these DII teams that are 'beneath' are challenging for the conference title. You won't have anything to fall back on then since it seems your entire fan-hood is based not on love for your own school, but instead disdain for all others. Eventually that will fail you.

You know our anger isn't just that ETSU isn't able to fight the wars it used to with say Chattanooga or ASU...it's also your inability to fill their shoes. I think that is something you people don't get. Half of the reason you catch ETSU speaking about the so-called glory days is that you are unable to provide us with a reason to hate you. Sure we might hate being associated with you but that's all together a completely different kind of hate.

Bring it on....beat us...but don't just beat us...make us fear you. Make us hate you. For god-sakes make this fun

I want to be able to hum your fight song inside my head and feel fear in my heart. DO THAT and I'll respect you.

We can have this discussion at the end of next year...Give us at least 1 season where the NCAA doesn't have the grace period shackles on us before you write us off.

Well the hell with Kennesaw....what about the teams that aren't shackled by a grace period? Even Belmont in the height of their own little glory years....that feeling is just not there.

I actually think that a tournament on a nuetral floor, even with little fan support, would actually serve to help this problem. There is just something different about every team walking into a nuetral floor and doing battle for a weekend. It's hard to put into words really. But everyone converging on a town to do battle...it brings out the worst in people...and I mean that in the best possible way.

And there is the sending someone home factor. You book the weekend...neither the team nor the fans wish to go home early. It's a dog fight. Winner takes all. And it just isn't captured in this league.

wars with Chattanooga or ASU?

I did not realize Legit D-1 powerhouse programs took part in these. I guess only the BEST D-1 has to offer dukes it out with the likes of ASU and Chatt lol

Also, how can you not respect Belmont? What is your record vs them again?

Can you hum Belmont's fight song inside your head?

I am just playing around. I understand what Gold is saying. However, I believe KSU will do our part to fix this problem in the next few years.

I agree Gold that the best case scenario is a neutral court, but as you would also agree, the ASun is not the best case scenario right now, so we have to make do with what we have.

And KR - apparently getting spanked by a team numerous times does not deserve respect. I wonder how many victories it will take over ETSU for us to be 'respected' by such a glorious university considering Belmont completely owns them and apparently are not deserving of ETSU's respect :)

You see how it works in the So-Conn is that fans show up from every school to a neutral city. Let's say Chattanooga plays the 9 o'clock game on the first day...that means you will find chattanooga fans sitting in the stands for the opening game at noon between Western Carolina and Georgia Southern. So will you find ETSU, ASU, Furman, Davidson...hell even Wofford fans. All will be sitting, watching, waiting. Let's say you are from a school that won an early game...that means that horrible knot in your stomach is gone for the day and you can relax as the other schools play...meanwhile you size up who is playing well and who isn't. And speculate amongst friendly and opposing fans what is needed to win the following day.


Funny, when I looked up home attendance, the SoCON only has four teams averaging less than 1000 fans per game. I guess KB, I'm going to go with delusional for gold. Why would all of those diehard 'fans' show up for neutral site games when they can't even make it to home games?

Well Gold isn't lying. Some of those SoCon teams might not have 5,000 fans per game, but they did travel to the tournament. The SoCon and ASun tournaments have TOTALLY different feels. I think the conference footprint being so spread out has something to do with it.

Small schools spread far apart hurts the tournament atmosphere. It's better than it used to be, though. I remember a 1st round game in DeLand between Centenary and somebody (?), and there were only 3 Gents fans there (students).

It will get better.

I agree, it is going to get a lot better. I tell you what, I watched the Florida/FGCU game last night and FGCU is not bad. They are going to win their fair share of games this year in conference. They don't have a lot of depth, but they have some very talented players, and their coach does a heck of a job. All ETSU's complaining about DII school's is going to come back to haunt them in the form of Kennesaw and FGCU shaped monsters.

They don't. Until Davidson started this crazy streak they didn't draw much of anything. Furman, UNCG, and Elon's attendance are a joke. Wofford plays in a high school gym about like Stetson's. But come tournament time, even Western Carolina fans came to watch, and they SUCKED back then even with Kevin Martin. And KB, how would you know what they tourney did while ETSU was playing, Kennesaw wasn't there! We all did want to make a sign for you though, and I think I will this year when we're watching ETSU from the stands and Kennesaw's season is over, yet again, and next year all it'll mean for ya'll is one more game anyway, so whatever.
Our last tourney title in Charleston, the building was over half full of ETSU and Chattanooga fans. And yes, that was a real rivalry on the court, as was ETSU/App. Evern ETSU/Western would get chippy at times, but they used to be our Kennesaw in the Southern Conference. They were like the little ankle biting yapper dog and then we'd smack them around a little bit, much like Ben Rhoda did when that thug Wooten made the worst mistake of his life in messing with him.
But back to the tourney thing, at the end of the day the A-Sun has to be smart enough (or atleast I hope) to realize what fans actually attend and will show up. We had more fans at Lipscomb than Belmont did, and the weather in Nashville last March was not very good. There's something to be said about not WALKING DOWN THE STREET to watch your two time tournament champion team play, but they fill the Curb Center against Lipscomb. Put the tourney in central Georgia or move it back to ETSU again.

ETSUfan1 Wrote:Well Gold isn't lying. Some of those SoCon teams might not have 5,000 fans per game, but they did travel to the tournament. The SoCon and ASun tournaments have TOTALLY different feels. I think the conference footprint being so spread out has something to do with it.