(11-14-2016 03:22 PM)brock20 Wrote:  

(11-14-2016 02:22 PM)CaptainJackAubrey Wrote:  I bet you thought we should have looked closely at George Pitts and Mister Jennings after we fired Bartow.

Let it go bro. It was a quarter century ago. I was there for all of it. I LOVE those days. But its over. Onward and upward.

I am very excited for the future of ETSU athletics. Seeing where it is now as opposed to 6-8 years ago is amazing. At the same time, we are still not at the same place we were in the late 80s early 90s. That was truly a transcendent group that with the right admin (for instance the one we have now) in place could have propelled us into the group of 5 schools. It was a missed opportunity.

I think its good to be excited but still realize we have a long way to go.

Well said and very true.

To the students' credit, they have shown up for each of the regular season games this season. Student sections have been full each time and some of them even making noise.

Well the band is bigger and was squeezed into the student section making it look fuller but im not so sure all those seats were filled by students

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I was wondering if the band had grown some this year. I thought there were more tubas than last year.

I like the band, they cheer. I actually like the frats when they come and stay at the games, because they often get pretty loud. The sororities seem to feel it is beneath them to do much of anything during a game. I feel I'm showing my age, but back in MY day sororities seemed to enjoy games, even if they didn't know what was going on.

But enough about the students - can I say how much I LOVE the new sound system this year, both in Brooks and Freedom Hall? You can actually hear the announcer. The marketing team is getting better about trying to get the crowd involved in the contests. I think getting the camera stuff sorted to show close ups of the Chicken Dance thing and other little "stunts" during the game will help with that too. I know some people don't like that, but those things help many feel like they are participants, rather than just spectators. It builds the fanbase because of that.

Looks like band is about 70% bigger this year.

They sound great.

There's no room to put anymore pull out or fixed seats on the baselines. Even if they torn down the end walls, that doesn't
create anymore room. There has to be room ( as required by the City of Johnson Fire Codes ) for a walkway all around the playing floor. The current seating on the sides and the baselines is what it is and no more.

Freedom Hall has been transformed into a real D1 arena and looks as if it was built for ETSU basketball.

The coaches have said it is a great recruiting tool.

Now, with the perspective of 3 months and 3 days added.......

Quote:ETSUfan1: in first place playing in front of full houses. Forbes' vision has become a reality.

Quote:swvabucsfan: I had the strangest dream.

I was watching the two best teams in the SoCon in this great little arena jammed with over 6,000 LOUD crazy fans. It was close, hard fought all the way. Some real haymakers were thrown by both sides. But the players would not quit, and the fans would not let them. And in overtime the better team put it in overdrive and won going away. And it was the Bucs.

I mean, it had to be just a dream. Two years ago, who on this board would have thought we would get to this point by now? Not just a winning basketball team, but the whole package, the arena, the fan support.

Next thing you know they'll be telling you to invest in driverless cars, or packages delivered by tiny unmanned airplanes.

I think the OP hit the nail on the head. When you look at where the program was just a few short years ago, in the lurch with no conceivable end in sight, ETSU basketball has take HUGE strides. The nostalgia of the late 80s, early 90s notwithstanding, this is as positive a time for Bucs basketball (and ETSU sports in general) in at least 2 decades.

You have to consider that just a few short years ago everyone's favorite tennis coach said the days of big crowds at ETSU basketball games were over. Folks were happy about 3,000 people showing up. Fans are excited and prone to hyperbole and that's okay! ETSU athletics was on life support, look at where things are now.