Ok - so here we are - finally arriving at a new era of accomplishment and relevance.

Rather than bump up the original semi-ugly thread (3 banned posters on it) started by shampoo..........I'll just post the most relevant, timely things here. And my add-on from 2016 only for historical timeline context. The title of the original thread is "Give me one more year", if anyone wants to go back and read the whole thing.

I know MANY here have worked long and hard for us to get back to this spot - and I think we have, win or lose tomorrow, raised the bar to a more appropriate height. But perspective helps inform the present - and the future. So.....personal thanks to shampoo for his part in pushing things along. Many others will go unnamed, but we know who we are. With that.........

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Quote:shampoo:
1-2-2013 [initial thread post]

"Give me one more year."
I'm pissed off from hearing VCU fans shouting behind me the whole game. Immediately after the blowout I swallow my anger, gather my wits, and approach President Noland standing in front of his sideline seat. He turns and smiles warmly. I've met him before, or I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this. I'm no inside man; I have no special pull. But damn it, someone's got to say it.

Loosely:

"This is embarrassing. This can't happen again."

Noland's smile turns to a grimmer flat-line of the lips. The Presidential cheer dies.

"Look, we've lost four seniors. It's going to take some time--"

"Sir, even with those seniors this would not have been less than a 30 point loss. This is embarrassing."

With the look of a beat dog he says in earnest,
"You're right. This is embarrassing. Give me one more year. Please be patient while we're making changes. (He gestures to the bleachers behind us.) The bleachers will be raised up next year and--"

"That's not even on my radar..."

I can see he's trying, offering the only concession he has right now. And seeing that he is personally responsible, I make a concession myself. I point to the impressive new lights and the LED boards.

"Thank you. I have patience for you. I have faith in you and what you've done so far. But I have no patience for others and for what's been happening. (I glance in the direction of our team's bench, where Murray Bartow remains standing.) I remember coming to the dome in the early 2000's as a 12 year old watching those teams. We have fallen."

"We've both watched a lot of basketball. This is not good..."

He trails off as his wife interrupts. She's growing impatient, and I know I've overstayed my welcome on the soapbox at this point. I cut to the chase.

"It's not just basketball. It's on all levels. Please be see to it that the right changes are made so that in five to ten years this no longer happens anymore."

"It won't be more than three years."

I thank him and walk off, feeling only slightly better. Maybe this will be the kind of loss that's referred to when a coaching change is initiated.

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Quote:shampoo:
5-19-15

RE: "Give me one more year."
Apologies for the self-gratifying bump, but I was pondering on this old encounter with Noland and what's happened since then. In "one more year" Noland pushed Mullens aside for Sander. Sander brought Ezell to women's basketball. Bartow also got "one more year" in 2013-14 and beat Chattanooga in the CIT, with a bit of slack going into "overtime" in 2014-15. It might have seemed disheartening to exasperated fans, fearing that Bartow would inflate the team back to mediocrity, but the hammer finally dropped on a regrettable loss in the 1st round of the SoCon conference tournament.

We'll be watching football in the fall and later cheering on ETSU's new coach and dynamic basketball team at Freedom Hall, accompanied by more upgrades. A lot can be said for one more year, and with passionate leadership, even more can happen in three ("It won't take more than three years," said the man in gold corduroys, really talking about a total change in culture that might also engulf baseball, shortly).

ETSU basketball for conference champs in 2015-16, go Bucs!

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Quote:5-5-2016
posterformerlyknownasthedoctor:

RE: "Give me one more year."
Bump - now with yet another "one more year" (or at least a season) under our belts, and knowing what we know.......
.....stock of Noland, Sander and Forbes has risen further.......

It's a good time to be a Buccaneer!

I also want to rewind about 6 years ago when a former poster wrote this article:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/62449...buccaneers

Let's ignore who wrote the article and focus on the content; he made lots of good points. The team had been to back to back NCAA's and you would have never known it. No one cared.

Let's look at current day:

https://twitter.com/etsu/status/842087704800165890

Now we have businesses all over town showing support with signs, BMS making videos with employees "backing the bucs", our Coach doing national radio spots every 5 minutes, WCYB and WJHL focusing their entire sports segments on ETSU and having WXSM talk about ETSU more than ever. I was just a kid during the 90s run so I have no idea what that was like from an exposure standpoint but I have not seen this kind of support and excitement for ETSU sports before. Even during the Zakee/Fields era when we were putting 8k in the stands for the Chatt game, it didn't have this feel. I feel proud to be a Buc fan.

This shows what having an administration who thinks the university can be more than just a glorified community college can do.

"First, Best and Most" is something I have heard from the coaches and admin. Imagine the previous admin thinking like that. If they had a motto it would have been "be grateful for what you have".

Who was it that said this was an omen of an amazing season?
http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketb...e-tuition/

That sure was a fun thread to go back and read. I'm guessing Dr. Noland went through several pallets of Red Bull to get ETSU where it is right now. Community supporting it, exciting things happening on campus. Great job by him.

(03-15-2017 09:04 PM)Buccaneerlover Wrote:  That sure was a fun thread to go back and read. I'm guessing Dr. Noland went through several pallets of Red Bull to get ETSU where it is right now. Community supporting it, exciting things happening on campus. Great job by him.

Dr. Noland should be this season's MVP!

(03-15-2017 04:48 PM)queenladybug817 Wrote:  Who was it that said this was an omen of an amazing season?
http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketb...e-tuition/

It was shampoo who used the word "omen" at that time:
"Pardon my superstition...but was that an omen? Two free tuitions?

Later on, in the Fordham thread, shampoo also spoke thusly:

"It has already started special with the 2 students winning tuiton. That's storybook. Tonight was epic. Great seeing Timmy Smith out there before the game. Promotional work was drastically improved. The Bucs have a valuable coach, a rare set of juniors and seniors, a difficult to imitate athleticism, and an arena designed to capture the gameday experience. If that was opening night the show can only get better."