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See on twitter this is ongoing. Eager to hear of any interesting information.

It was really good... full room. Brad Hardekopf, Mark Ingram, and Coach Haase spoke. Haase took a lot of questions and gave really honest answers. I'll hit the high points when I get my midget to bed.

(06-23-2015 08:15 PM)UABslant Wrote:  It was really good... full room. Brad Hardekopf, Mark Ingram, and Coach Haase spoke. Haase took a lot of questions and gave really honest answers. I'll hit the high points when I get my midget to bed.

Beuhler...Beuhler...

(06-24-2015 07:38 AM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  

(06-23-2015 08:15 PM)UABslant Wrote:  It was really good... full room. Brad Hardekopf, Mark Ingram, and Coach Haase spoke. Haase took a lot of questions and gave really honest answers. I'll hit the high points when I get my midget to bed.

Beuhler...Beuhler...

http://csnbbs.com/thread-740802-page-3.html

Here's the gist of it:

Haase was supposed to just do a Q&A, but decided to give us a "State of the Program" address as well... wants t do it every summer for boosters from now on.
-ticked at local media for not mentioning UAB when mentioning who's recruiting local hs talent; we're in on every great local player

-need better attendance; coaching staff doing all it can, but it takes the marketing staff and fans to twist the arms of friends and coworkers to come out... said he will personally call someone if you just e-mail him their name & # if it will seal the deal on season tix

-said the gameday experience will improve this season & includes lighting... said the lighting setup he originally wanted was over $1mil, but that will come later

-Hoops on the Haasephalt will either continue to go over the top or not happen at all... if we aren;t gong to do something 1st class we won't do it at all. That said, he's looking at locations and trying to come up with a new entrance that doesn't involve skydiving.

-I won't go into specifics about what he said about his contract or program budget, but just know that we will never have a team that can say we aren't doing things 1st class when it comes to how the players are treated at home or on the road.

-We have the best APR in CUSA and one of the top in the nation. He said there is no way they can emphasize academics more than his staff does, but they won't let up the slack. Everything done is to be #1.

-Haase is all about winning rings. If priority #1 for a kid is the best individual stat line each night, he moves on. He wants kids that want to buy in and do whatever is best for the team to win. He doesn't want a kid who is looking to get x number of minutes or x number of shots a game... he wants a kid who's willing to buy-in to whatever the coaching staff asks of him.

-Haase is a basketball coach, but he feels his real job is builder & manager of the program.

-He mentioned that our 7-footer will be here soon... he will fit right in and should make an impact this season.

-He is going to do more speaking engagements.

-Getting students to the games is vitally important. He said he's bought more pizzas last season than he's ever bought his whole life. Winning solves some issues, but it will take everyone figuring out how to make going to UAB basketball games the thing to do on campus. Working on player introductions, lighting, cooler videos, and a few other things will help. But again, it's back on us as fans to get our network of friends, family, and coworkers to come with us to games.

-We'll have a promotional team fans can join for basketball that will be a little different from the past.

I know I missed some stuff... I also left some stuff out on purpose as I don't think it's for public knowledge. Just know that Haase has us in a position to be "the capital of basketball in Alabama"... but attendance, facilities, and gameday experience will have to improve.

-

(06-24-2015 01:01 PM)UABslant Wrote:  Here's the gist of it:

Haase was supposed to just do a Q&A, but decided to give us a "State of the Program" address as well... wants t do it every summer for boosters from now on.
-ticked at local media for not mentioning UAB when mentioning who's recruiting local hs talent; we're in on every great local player

-need better attendance; coaching staff doing all it can, but it takes the marketing staff and fans to twist the arms of friends and coworkers to come out... said he will personally call someone if you just e-mail him their name & # if it will seal the deal on season tix

-said the gameday experience will improve this season & includes lighting... said the lighting setup he originally wanted was over $1mil, but that will come later

-Hoops on the Haasephalt will either continue to go over the top or not happen at all... if we aren;t gong to do something 1st class we won't do it at all. That said, he's looking at locations and trying to come up with a new entrance that doesn't involve skydiving.

-I won't go into specifics about what he said about his contract or program budget, but just know that we will never have a team that can say we aren't doing things 1st class when it comes to how the players are treated at home or on the road.

-We have the best APR in CUSA and one of the top in the nation. He said there is no way they can emphasize academics more than his staff does, but they won't let up the slack. Everything done is to be #1.

-Haase is all about winning rings. If priority #1 for a kid is the best individual stat line each night, he moves on. He wants kids that want to buy in and do whatever is best for the team to win. He doesn't want a kid who is looking to get x number of minutes or x number of shots a game... he wants a kid who's willing to buy-in to whatever the coaching staff asks of him.

-Haase is a basketball coach, but he feels his real job is builder & manager of the program.

-He mentioned that our 7-footer will be here soon... he will fit right in and should make an impact this season.

-He is going to do more speaking engagements.

-Getting students to the games is vitally important. He said he's bought more pizzas last season than he's ever bought his whole life. Winning solves some issues, but it will take everyone figuring out how to make going to UAB basketball games the thing to do on campus. Working on player introductions, lighting, cooler videos, and a few other things will help. But again, it's back on us as fans to get our network of friends, family, and coworkers to come with us to games.

-We'll have a promotional team fans can join for basketball that will be a little different from the past.

I know I missed some stuff... I also left some stuff out on purpose as I don't think it's for public knowledge. Just know that Haase has us in a position to be "the capital of basketball in Alabama"... but attendance, facilities, and gameday experience will have to improve.

-

The APR scores are HUGE. Kids who take care of their academics are typically the kids who behave and work hard. I like the type of athletes he is getting to come to UAB.

Haase seems pretty irritated with the athletic department marketing. I don't blame him. He knows the real seat filler is winning. He is making that happen with or without the marketing help.

Sounds like the lighting upgrade I was told about is not what we got. In my opinion, if the lights cannot be turned off and on instantly than we really didn't get much. Every single NBA team and most of the big time programs in college basketball really emphasize their intros. We need that type of experience.

(06-24-2015 01:17 PM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  Haase seems pretty irritated with the athletic department marketing. I don't blame him.

He's not the only one. Seems like he's taken up the mindset that ,any have taken up. If it's Birmingham's team, the fans' team, then we have to do all the marketing. A shame really.

Thanks for the info, that was a really in depth look into what was said.

I hope our attendance skyrockets. With football coming back, and people not having a team this fall, I'm really hoping some extra support carries over. For what it's worth an Alabama recruiting guy was on the local radio in Huntsville yesterday and talking about what a tremendous job Haase is doing. He said Haase may not land any of the in state kids, but he is always in on them, and manages to stay on their radar until the end. If we can land one guy close to a lee type recruit every other year, I'd be really happy.

Butts in the seats help recruiting. If guys can take visits in front of a sold out arena, it isn't going to hurt our cause. I'm hoping the program turns a corner as a whole this year.

(06-24-2015 01:43 PM)rook360 Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 01:17 PM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  Haase seems pretty irritated with the athletic department marketing. I don't blame him.

He's not the only one. Seems like he's taken up the mindset that ,any have taken up. If it's Birmingham's team, the fans' team, then we have to do all the marketing. A shame really.

A possible perspective might be that in the case of UAB football, the team plays in a city facility and the city has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to support it every year (and promised millions in the future).

In the case of basketball, the team plays in an all UAB Arena on campus so the marketing is more centered on UAB's own staff of people. UAB's marketing has the task of selling the city - and its people - on supporting UAB BB the way they do UAB FB and putting the city's name on the uniform is a step in the right direction.

I would like to encourage everyone to keep expanding the pre-game tailgating in front of Bartow, especially Saturday games. I talked to several people last season about getting this MUCH bigger than it has in the past. It would be nice to see 20-30 tents or more this season.

(06-24-2015 02:54 PM)BlazerHam Wrote:  I would like to encourage everyone to keep expanding the pre-game tailgating in front of Bartow, especially Saturday games. I talked to several people last season about getting this MUCH bigger than it has in the past. It would be nice to see 20-30 tents or more this season.

The Alumni Assoc. has had a "meet, greet and eat" tent and a Blazer Village activity center at Legion Field. Has any of this ever been done on the green in front of Bartow Arena's south entrance?

(06-24-2015 01:17 PM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 01:01 PM)UABslant Wrote:  Here's the gist of it:

Haase was supposed to just do a Q&A, but decided to give us a "State of the Program" address as well... wants t do it every summer for boosters from now on.
-ticked at local media for not mentioning UAB when mentioning who's recruiting local hs talent; we're in on every great local player

-need better attendance; coaching staff doing all it can, but it takes the marketing staff and fans to twist the arms of friends and coworkers to come out... said he will personally call someone if you just e-mail him their name & # if it will seal the deal on season tix

-said the gameday experience will improve this season & includes lighting... said the lighting setup he originally wanted was over $1mil, but that will come later

-Hoops on the Haasephalt will either continue to go over the top or not happen at all... if we aren;t gong to do something 1st class we won't do it at all. That said, he's looking at locations and trying to come up with a new entrance that doesn't involve skydiving.

-I won't go into specifics about what he said about his contract or program budget, but just know that we will never have a team that can say we aren't doing things 1st class when it comes to how the players are treated at home or on the road.

-We have the best APR in CUSA and one of the top in the nation. He said there is no way they can emphasize academics more than his staff does, but they won't let up the slack. Everything done is to be #1.

-Haase is all about winning rings. If priority #1 for a kid is the best individual stat line each night, he moves on. He wants kids that want to buy in and do whatever is best for the team to win. He doesn't want a kid who is looking to get x number of minutes or x number of shots a game... he wants a kid who's willing to buy-in to whatever the coaching staff asks of him.

-Haase is a basketball coach, but he feels his real job is builder & manager of the program.

-He mentioned that our 7-footer will be here soon... he will fit right in and should make an impact this season.

-He is going to do more speaking engagements.

-Getting students to the games is vitally important. He said he's bought more pizzas last season than he's ever bought his whole life. Winning solves some issues, but it will take everyone figuring out how to make going to UAB basketball games the thing to do on campus. Working on player introductions, lighting, cooler videos, and a few other things will help. But again, it's back on us as fans to get our network of friends, family, and coworkers to come with us to games.

-We'll have a promotional team fans can join for basketball that will be a little different from the past.

I know I missed some stuff... I also left some stuff out on purpose as I don't think it's for public knowledge. Just know that Haase has us in a position to be "the capital of basketball in Alabama"... but attendance, facilities, and gameday experience will have to improve.

-

The APR scores are HUGE. Kids who take care of their academics are typically the kids who behave and work hard. I like the type of athletes he is getting to come to UAB.

Haase seems pretty irritated with the athletic department marketing. I don't blame him. He knows the real seat filler is winning. He is making that happen with or without the marketing help.

Sounds like the lighting upgrade I was told about is not what we got. In my opinion, if the lights cannot be turned off and on instantly than we really didn't get much. Every single NBA team and most of the big time programs in college basketball really emphasize their intros. We need that type of experience.

I'm hoping he's talking about not being able to do the lighting graphics on the floor at this point. If we didn't even get the ability to turn the lights off for intros out of this I'll be pretty disappointed.

I think the lights were turned off for the intros at the Wilder fight...

The exterior of Bartow sorely needs a lighting upgrade as well. Can we at least get some back-lit signage? How about some green uplighting to enhance the arena's curb appeal?

Sounds like Hoops on the Haasephalt may be going away if they can't do it right. Which is fine. It was a great idea, but something I did not think they could continue indefinitely. It was a good introduction to the new coach. They need to repackage it somehow into something else though. There should always be some sort of kickoff for basketball season. It is good for the fans and it is a good recruiting tool.

(06-24-2015 03:38 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  Sounds like Hoops on the Haasephalt may be going away if they can't do it right. Which is fine. It was a great idea, but something I did not think they could continue indefinitely. It was a good introduction to the new coach. They need to repackage it somehow into something else though. There should always be some sort of kickoff for basketball season. It is good for the fans and it is a good recruiting tool.

I've been an advocate for the Region's infield for a long time. I know the partnership is there. Must be some logistics issues at this point.

(06-24-2015 03:45 PM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  

(06-24-2015 03:38 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  Sounds like Hoops on the Haasephalt may be going away if they can't do it right. Which is fine. It was a great idea, but something I did not think they could continue indefinitely. It was a good introduction to the new coach. They need to repackage it somehow into something else though. There should always be some sort of kickoff for basketball season. It is good for the fans and it is a good recruiting tool.

I've been an advocate for the Region's infield for a long time. I know the partnership is there. Must be some logistics issues at this point.

There are many sayings about the longevity of any marketing device. "You ride the horse until it bucks you" is one. The trick is to find one that is as good as the one you drop. "New Coke" was one that failed so they had to go back to "Classic Coke".

UAB's marketing dept. has had its share of critics so I hope they will succeed in promoting the 2015 basketball team. It sure looks like it will be good enough to give the marketing people lots of ammunition. Let's hope they have the talent to do something good with it.

Haase should skydive into a pool wearing the Blaze costume.

I would settle for a pelting of Ray Watts with rotten fruit as a closer.

Haase needs to ride a motorcycle out of the Regions Field bullpen.