Despite recently a conference football title, men's basketball optimism until last spring and a miracle finish in baseball last year, clearly there is a negative trend to our current performance and situation.

I just don't see the tide turning and think that the end is near.

(03-11-2018 10:39 PM)texowl2 Wrote:  I just don't see the tide turning and think that the end is near.

I am not so sure. Logically, the end is near but given our ability to stick our head in the sand, I could see us continuing to hemorrhage money and stay D1 because we always were D1. Given how bad football was and the cronies and 25(0) fought to keep the people in charge, I have no faith that we will make any decisions like this no matter how much sense it makes.

I voted G5 bottom feeder because we don't have the drive to move up any further (or the crony powers that be aren't interested in real changes) and we don't have the cojones to admit that we screwed up and to shut up shop.

This poll would be more interesting if you allowed people to see the results of who voted for each category. Otherwise, it's tough to tell if it's just being completed by trolls. I voted a top performer in G5 based on the fact that I think Bloomgren will succeed.

I voted top performer in G5 because I am an optimist, and we have to get there first.

I as well see us as a top performer in G5. I see our recent coaching hires, especially Langley and Bloomgren, as steps in the right direction. Hopefully Pera will get the ship righted as well.

(03-12-2018 07:39 AM)jhruzek Wrote:  I as well see us as a top performer in G5. I see our recent coaching hires, especially Langley and Bloomgren, as steps in the right direction. Hopefully Pera will get the ship righted as well.

I wonder how long we can keep Langley. And Bloomgren will probably leave in four years; at least he won’t take the team with him.

Everybody is probably going to have their own definitions of "top performer" -- What % is "top"? Is it just on-the-field stuff (records, postseason appearances)? Does it include attendance and revenue? -- and for that matter "Rice Athletics" (how much weight do you give to nonrevenue sports?) . . .

I love the nonrevenue sports but football drives the bus. "G5" is a football construct anyway. To me, "top performer" implies reliable attendance of 30K+ in football, going to bowls consistently, and being in the mix for the NY6. I would say the top performers in G5 (leaving aside BYU which is effectively P5) are Navy, Boise, UH, Memphis, UCF, USF. Next tier is CSU, ECU, Fresno, Cincinnati, SDSU, Army, Air Force.

I cannot conceive of us rising to that level, not even if we start "dominating" CUSA. People will not come out to see Rice play CUSA schools, win or lose. That's pretty well established at this point.

So muddling along it is.

I voted they we will still be a bottom feeder.
It might change if we were to ride to the top of the Conference with Peera, Bloomgren and Langley... and then stay there. Even with a coaching change.
But the only thing that will put us into the consistent success category that we want is a fundamental change in how the institution perceives, emphasizes and financially supports athletics.

I voted for G5 bottomfeeder. Rice admin is still not committed to anything more than paying out the contracts of coaches on staff. Until the 1 step forward 2 steps back approach changes, I will not even harbor anything resembling cautious optimism.

(03-12-2018 11:30 AM)flash3200 Wrote:  I voted for G5 bottomfeeder. Rice admin is still not committed to anything more than paying out the contracts of coaches on staff. Until the 1 step forward 2 steps back approach changes, I will not even harbor anything resembling cautious optimism.

Yep. It's what you get when the CFB version of Jimmy Haslam are seemingly some of our key boosters.

As I've said for decades now... hard to put limitations on our recruiting as we do and then expect above average results without above average resources. In some ways and cases we are above average etc. but it is hard to sustain it.

(03-12-2018 01:57 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  As I've said for decades now... hard to put limitations on our recruiting as we do and then expect above average results without above average resources. In some ways and cases we are above average etc. but it is hard to sustain it.

True.

It took me a moment to realize 2023 is only five years away.
I think we will be somewhere between top performer and muddler.

To quote Owl 69 from another thread:

Step one--Beat the Florida Internationals EVERY week.
Step two--Beat Texas, LSU, Baylor, Mississippi State, et al, some weeks.

I would be happy with this. Which I guess would mean we were closer to top performer.
Don't know if we can do it in five years.

I voted top performer in G5. I think JK has been making pretty good hires. It sounds like the athletic department is being modernized. My rose-tinted spin is that Rice athletics are at a short-term nadir right now, but that the proper personnel are being put in place to start a quick turnaround in multiple sports.

That said, I can 100% understand and believe the opposite interpretation until we see, you know, actual signs of things turning around...

(03-12-2018 02:30 PM)mrbig Wrote:  I voted top performer in G5. I think JK has been making pretty good hires. It sounds like the athletic department is being modernized. My rose-tinted spin is that Rice athletics are at a short-term nadir right now, but that the proper personnel are being put in place to start a quick turnaround in multiple sports.

That said, I can 100% understand and believe the opposite interpretation until we see, you know, actual signs of things turning around...

As I stated in another thread, Rice is 0/10 in conference championships in this academic year. C-USA is a lower tier G5 league, so I'm not quite sure about the confidence in the current administration, which has been in charge for years.

(03-12-2018 03:03 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 02:30 PM)mrbig Wrote:  I voted top performer in G5. I think JK has been making pretty good hires. It sounds like the athletic department is being modernized. My rose-tinted spin is that Rice athletics are at a short-term nadir right now, but that the proper personnel are being put in place to start a quick turnaround in multiple sports.
That said, I can 100% understand and believe the opposite interpretation until we see, you know, actual signs of things turning around...

As I stated in another thread, Rice is 0/10 in conference championships in this academic year. C-USA is a lower tier G5 league, so I'm not quite sure about the confidence in the current administration, which has been in charge for years.

What, in your opinion, could/would/should the current administration have done to change that?

(03-12-2018 02:22 PM)JSA Wrote:  To quote Owl 69 from another thread:

Step one--Beat the Florida Internationals EVERY week.
Step two--Beat Texas, LSU, Baylor, Mississippi State, et al, some weeks.

I would be happy with this. Which I guess would mean we were closer to top performer.
Don't know if we can do it in five years.

When I read Owl (10+π)*10^-3’s post you referenced above, my first thought was (I think it was the Onion) satire on the WAC football schedules for NMSU and Idaho when they were going to be the last two left.

So I get the point... but to be clear... I don’t want to beat Florida International EVERY week

(03-12-2018 03:31 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 03:03 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 02:30 PM)mrbig Wrote:  I voted top performer in G5. I think JK has been making pretty good hires. It sounds like the athletic department is being modernized. My rose-tinted spin is that Rice athletics are at a short-term nadir right now, but that the proper personnel are being put in place to start a quick turnaround in multiple sports.
That said, I can 100% understand and believe the opposite interpretation until we see, you know, actual signs of things turning around...

As I stated in another thread, Rice is 0/10 in conference championships in this academic year. C-USA is a lower tier G5 league, so I'm not quite sure about the confidence in the current administration, which has been in charge for years.

What, in your opinion, could/would/should the current administration have done to change that?

I don't have an answer, but, judging by the current state of things, neither does the existing regime. The difference is that it is not my job, and I am not getting paid huge money to figure it out.

(03-12-2018 03:31 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  What, in your opinion, could/would/should the current administration have done to change that?

Take lessons from other schools (they do that)
but don't try and BE those other schools

Rice is Rice. Embrace it. Embrace the geek. Embrace being in Texas. Embrace being by the Med Center. Embrace being in Oil Country.

Stop trying to 'make up for it'.

It's not my job either, but I've done similar jobs... and more importantly, I've done 'different' jobs. There's a saying Owlnumbers has used before about when your only solution is a hammer, you see everything as a nail... similarly when your only have a single perspective, you see everything from that one perspective.

(03-13-2018 11:28 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(03-12-2018 03:31 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  What, in your opinion, could/would/should the current administration have done to change that?

Take lessons from other schools (they do that)
but don't try and BE those other schools

Rice is Rice. Embrace it. Embrace the geek. Embrace being in Texas. Embrace being by the Med Center. Embrace being in Oil Country.

Stop trying to 'make up for it'.

It's not my job either, but I've done similar jobs... and more importantly, I've done 'different' jobs. There's a saying Owlnumbers has used before about when your only solution is a hammer, you see everything as a nail... similarly when your only have a single perspective, you see everything from that one perspective.

This. This. This.

We like to try to beat teams at what they are better at. And we do it half-assed. And the result is... well, the reason for this thread. We will not out-athlete the competition. We will not out-facility the competition. We will not out-standard-game-experience the competition.

Amazon didn't become Amazon by trying to do exactly the same thing as the competition.