No doubt but will the building be more than half full the entire season? We’ve put a good product on the floor before and while attendance did increase we were still disappointed. But yes it’s a no brainer attendance will increase. The question is how much?
The state of our program isn't the fans fault. Never has been, never will be. College basketball is a business and fans are customers. UAB basketball hasn't met this market's requirements for building interest and attendance: Beating teams people recognize, getting ranked, getting to the NCAA tournament and winning games. Doing that is the only solution. No gimmicks or sermons or appeals to civic or school pride. No conference excuses etc. This market, and the larger UAB fan base, don't care.
(05-23-2020 11:32 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: Not if they are pathetic and have bad numbers. You ever listen to Jerry Palm give a non power team no credit for beating a power team. I do every year. Beating bad power team with a crappy RPI does nothing to get you in the NCAAs. Sorry but no point is being a guy game for a crap power team. It does nothing but gives you a win.
Sorry but we are not going to schedule like a MEAC or SWAC team not sorry.
RPI does not matter. Poof. It’s gone. It means nothing.
Filter this by conference and you see the rankings that are used by the committee for the quadrant wins now. Whether we like it or not, it’s fair or not, etc. the schools in power conferences are overwhelmingly in the top 100. I’m not saying 15 road games a year to play these teams, I’m just saying until we become a top 100 team yearly, we have no leverage to dictate terms.
(05-21-2020 01:26 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: Per AK tweet.
After years of trying it’s nice to get them on the schedule. This series should be a regular
Unfortunately it has been a while since the years when Georgia Tech was a consistent tournament team. I’ve barely watched a game in the last five or so years. Maybe this will be a good year for both teams. I’ll probably be visiting my parents in Birmingham for Christmas and will plan on being at the game.
(05-21-2020 01:26 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: Per AK tweet.
After years of trying it’s nice to get them on the schedule. This series should be a regular
Unfortunately it has been a while since the years when Georgia Tech was a consistent tournament team. I’ve barely watched a game in the last five or so years. Maybe this will be a good year for both teams. I’ll probably be visiting my parents in Birmingham for Christmas and will plan on being at the game.
Pastner is the last remaining vestige of Mike Bobinski in the GTAA. As Stansbury makes great hire after great hire Pastner increasingly looks like the dunce in a family of geniuses. Pastner will serve out another year or two of his contract then be shown the door.
(05-23-2020 12:51 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: No doubt but will the building be more than half full the entire season? We’ve put a good product on the floor before and while attendance did increase we were still disappointed. But yes it’s a no brainer attendance will increase. The question is how much?
I honestly can't remember the last time we had a good product on the floor. Was that Haase's last year with UAB? Personally, I don't ever expect UAB to sellout Bartow again unless it's Auburn or Alabama that is the opponent. We had UNC and Memphis come to Bartow when Haase was here and Bartow didn't sellout.
That said I'm a realist, I think averaging 6,000 fans a game would be great for UAB. But that's just me.
(05-23-2020 12:51 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: No doubt but will the building be more than half full the entire season? We’ve put a good product on the floor before and while attendance did increase we were still disappointed. But yes it’s a no brainer attendance will increase. The question is how much?
I honestly can't remember the last time we had a good product on the floor. Was that Haase's last year with UAB? Personally, I don't ever expect UAB to sellout Bartow again unless it's Auburn or Alabama that is the opponent. We had UNC and Memphis come to Bartow when Haase was here and Bartow didn't sellout.
That said I'm a realist, I think averaging 6,000 fans a game would be great for UAB. But that's just me.
We put a nationally competitive product on the floor a few times with Mike Davis. For about two weeks with Haase and never with Ehsan. It's been so long that at least a generation of younger UAB fans have no memory of UAB basketball being anything more than a mediocre. If you've only been following the program for the last 10 years then you have almost no idea what it's like to be relevant.
Our flame will burn brightly again and then all these kids will see what it's like when Blazer Basketball really catches fire: magical.
(This post was last modified: 05-23-2020 06:59 PM by BlazerGreen.)
I think that AK’s personality along with improved team performance will help us attendance wise. To me, the key is getting the student population interested. They are our future season ticket holders / donors. Sell outs will happen again when we are relevant nationally. [/i]
(05-23-2020 12:51 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: No doubt but will the building be more than half full the entire season? We’ve put a good product on the floor before and while attendance did increase we were still disappointed. But yes it’s a no brainer attendance will increase. The question is how much?
I honestly can't remember the last time we had a good product on the floor. Was that Haase's last year with UAB? Personally, I don't ever expect UAB to sellout Bartow again unless it's Auburn or Alabama that is the opponent. We had UNC and Memphis come to Bartow when Haase was here and Bartow didn't sellout.
That said I'm a realist, I think averaging 6,000 fans a game would be great for UAB. But that's just me.
We put a nationally competitive product on the floor a few times with Mike Davis. For about two weeks with Haase and never with Ehsan. It's been so long that at least a generation of younger UAB fans have no memory of UAB basketball being anything more than a mediocre.
Not only did Mike Davis have some very competitive teams, he also was able to get some really good OOC teams to come to Bartow. Davis just went to chit when it came to the conference tourney and he couldn't beat Memphis.
It will be interesting to see what AK does to reignite interest in the basketball program.
(05-23-2020 06:58 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote: Our flame will burn brightly again and then all these kids will see what it's like when Blazer Basketball really catches fire: magical.
The program needs complete re-ignition, beyond what's on the court. To catch fire, to reclaim the magic, we need more than a good team. Band (which has remained strong), spirit teams, students, everything. And marketing; our flame can't catch fire if no one knows about it.
The clip below is now 10 years old. Watch the Golden Girls at the start: their numbers, their beauty, but most of all their insane passion. That's been missing for years now in all phases of the program:
(05-23-2020 06:58 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote: Our flame will burn brightly again and then all these kids will see what it's like when Blazer Basketball really catches fire: magical.
The program needs complete re-ignition, beyond what's on the court. To catch fire, to reclaim the magic, we need more than a good team. Band (which has remained strong), spirit teams, students, everything. And marketing; our flame can't catch fire if no one knows about it.
The clip below is now 10 years old. Watch the Golden Girls at the start: their numbers, their beauty, but most of all their insane passion. That's been missing for years now in all phases of the program:
Where does the passion come from? For me it comes from a lifetime of great Blazer memories and UABs connection to my family. Today's students and younger fans haven't had those moments that turn your blood Blazer green, like beating Ralph Sampson and UVA, beating the Tahd in Coleman, or Mo sinking the Cats in Columbus.
Marketing didn't make most of the people on this board or FB or twitter love the Blazers. It was those magical moments that have become much too few and far between.
(This post was last modified: 05-23-2020 09:13 PM by BlazerGreen.)
(05-23-2020 06:58 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote: Our flame will burn brightly again and then all these kids will see what it's like when Blazer Basketball really catches fire: magical.
The program needs complete re-ignition, beyond what's on the court. To catch fire, to reclaim the magic, we need more than a good team. Band (which has remained strong), spirit teams, students, everything. And marketing; our flame can't catch fire if no one knows about it.
The clip below is now 10 years old. Watch the Golden Girls at the start: their numbers, their beauty, but most of all their insane passion. That's been missing for years now in all phases of the program:
Where does the passion come from? For me it comes from a lifetime of great Blazer memories and UABs connection to my family. Today's students and younger fans haven't had those moments that turn your blood Blazer green, like beating Ralph Sampson and UVA, beating the Tahd in Coleman, or Mo sinking the Cats in Columbus. Marketing didn't make most of the people on this board or FB or twitter love the Blazers. It was those magical moments that have become much too few and far between.
It got them in the building to experience that magic. I was at the Nebraska game because my father knew someone who knew Gene Bartow who handed him a stack of tickets. That's called marketing. And so I was there to see Donnie Speer block Ralph Sampson, to see Stamp Jackson hit those final free throws to make the bammers start their tractors, the see The Pass in person. But I would not have been if that flame had not been sparked.
We need students actually in the building before they can catch fire. I was courtside during the bizarre SMU game when RoboDoh tried to get six players on the court. It was very close, and one of the Golden Girls asked her captain, the Asian-American caught in the still of that video above, "what's the routine if we lose?" Her answer: "We're not losing this game."
People have to see it before they can have passion like that. Gene knew that it wasn't enough to win. The local media made fun of the ticket giveaways, but those free tickets have gotten a return of well into six figures just out of me.
No, marketing can't build passion and belief, you are absolutely correct. But neither can an empty seat.
(05-23-2020 06:58 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote: Our flame will burn brightly again and then all these kids will see what it's like when Blazer Basketball really catches fire: magical.
The program needs complete re-ignition, beyond what's on the court. To catch fire, to reclaim the magic, we need more than a good team. Band (which has remained strong), spirit teams, students, everything. And marketing; our flame can't catch fire if no one knows about it.
The clip below is now 10 years old. Watch the Golden Girls at the start: their numbers, their beauty, but most of all their insane passion. That's been missing for years now in all phases of the program:
Where does the passion come from? For me it comes from a lifetime of great Blazer memories and UABs connection to my family. Today's students and younger fans haven't had those moments that turn your blood Blazer green, like beating Ralph Sampson and UVA, beating the Tahd in Coleman, or Mo sinking the Cats in Columbus. Marketing didn't make most of the people on this board or FB or twitter love the Blazers. It was those magical moments that have become much too few and far between.
It got them in the building to experience that magic. I was at the Nebraska game because my father knew someone who knew Gene Bartow who handed him a stack of tickets. That's called marketing. And so I was there to see Donnie Speer block Ralph Sampson, to see Stamp Jackson hit those final free throws to make the bammers start their tractors, the see The Pass in person. But I would not have been if that flame had not been sparked.
We need students actually in the building before they can catch fire. I was courtside during the bizarre SMU game when RoboDoh tried to get six players on the court. It was very close, and one of the Golden Girls asked her captain, the Asian-American caught in the still of that video above, "what's the routine if we lose?" Her answer: "We're not losing this game."
People have to see it before they can have passion like that. Gene knew that it wasn't enough to win. The local media made fun of the ticket giveaways, but those free tickets have gotten a return of well into six figures just out of me.
No, marketing can't build passion and belief, you are absolutely correct. But neither can an empty seat.
Very true but it all flows from the product. Marketing UAB basketball the last several years has been an uphill struggle due to the mediocre product. Just like marketing and fundraising during the Callaway Error, you have to have something attractive to sell. The 14,000 that watched us play Nebraska so long ago didn't show up because of a marketing campaign. It was the greatness of Gene Bartow and the commitment his hiring showed. AK's great interviews, his amazing recruiting effort so far, and signing the GT series is the best ad blitz for UAB basketball in a decade.
Selling tickets and fundraising during the Callaway and Ehsan eras had to be an incredibly tough job. No excitement in the community or in the stands. A bad to mediocre product on the field or court. Have to be a hell of a closer to keep the lipstick on those pigs.
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2020 06:55 AM by BlazerGreen.)
I don’t really blame the fans at all for the poor attendance. Our program fell off a cliff in multiple ways the last 5 years. More people should come out of loyalty, sure, but that only goes so far. To really build a fan base we have to do so much more than what we’ve been doing. Football has taken really good steps toward building a real fan base IMO. Hiring AK and all of the excitement he’s brought is a big step in the right direction. I think we can right the ship, it’s just going to take a little while.
I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to spend time, money, or energy on the crappy product recently. I really feel we’re heading in the right direction for the first time in a long time though.
Mike davis was a very good coach.. I think he just couldn’t get out of his own way on a lot of things. If he didn’t completely freeze up every single time we played Memphis or played in the CUSA tournament, his tenure here would be looked at a lot differently and he’d probably be coaching at a big name school again. His tenure hinged on a few games, a razor thin margin, but that’s how it goes..
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2020 08:35 AM by The Answer UAB.)
(05-24-2020 08:31 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: I don’t really blame the fans at all for the poor attendance. Our program fell off a cliff in multiple ways the last 5 years. More people should come out of loyalty, sure, but that only goes so far. To really build a fan base we have to do so much more than what we’ve been doing. Football has taken really good steps toward building a real fan base IMO. Hiring AK and all of the excitement he’s brought is a big step in the right direction. I think we can right the ship, it’s just going to take a little while.
I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to spend time, money, or energy on the crappy product recently. I really feel we’re heading in the right direction for the first time in a long time though.
Mike davis was a very good coach.. I think he just couldn’t get out of his own way on a lot of things. If he didn’t completely freeze up every single time we played Memphis or played in the CUSA tournament, his tenure here would be looked at a lot differently and he’d probably be coaching at a big name school again. His tenure hinged on a few games, a razor thin margin, but that’s how it goes..
Mike Davis was horrible because all he wanted to do was use UAB to get back to the "BIG TIME!". Every year he took chances on multiple high risk recruits trying to get that one good season and the hell out of Birmingham. Every season we were scrambling to put a team together because those players never worked out. If he had focused on building a program instead of a team I think he would have been successful and left for a better job instead of being fired.
(05-24-2020 08:31 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: I don’t really blame the fans at all for the poor attendance. Our program fell off a cliff in multiple ways the last 5 years. More people should come out of loyalty, sure, but that only goes so far. To really build a fan base we have to do so much more than what we’ve been doing. Football has taken really good steps toward building a real fan base IMO. Hiring AK and all of the excitement he’s brought is a big step in the right direction. I think we can right the ship, it’s just going to take a little while.
I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to spend time, money, or energy on the crappy product recently. I really feel we’re heading in the right direction for the first time in a long time though.
Mike davis was a very good coach.. I think he just couldn’t get out of his own way on a lot of things. If he didn’t completely freeze up every single time we played Memphis or played in the CUSA tournament, his tenure here would be looked at a lot differently and he’d probably be coaching at a big name school again. His tenure hinged on a few games, a razor thin margin, but that’s how it goes..
Mike Davis was horrible because all he wanted to do was use UAB to get back to the "BIG TIME!". Every year he took chances on multiple high risk recruits trying to get that one good season and the hell out of Birmingham. Every season we were scrambling to put a team together because those players never worked out. If he had focused on building a program instead of a team I think he would have been successful and left for a better job instead of being fired.
I agree with this. I thoroughly enjoy that his career has slowly fallen off since he left us too.
I still hope he will end up at Troy or some backwater country-bumpkin dead-end job when its all said and done.
You can say he was awful bc of off the court stuff, and I don’t disagree with you. However, he was a better coach than either Ehsan or Haase and had us more relevant than they ever did, outside of one 2-3 week run in March in 2015 (I think that’s the correct year).
It’s a moot point now though. I’m glad we have AK.
^^ this coming from a guy who was super hard on MD while he was here. In retrospect I realize he was a pretty solid coach with some major deficiencies in a lot of off the court issues
(05-24-2020 10:03 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: ^^ this coming from a guy who was super hard on MD while he was here. In retrospect I realize he was a pretty solid coach with some major deficiencies in a lot of off the court issues
CUSA was a better conference when Davis was here. tulane, houston, cincinnati, south florida, tulsa, memphis,etc. better players traditionally commit to better schools in better conferences...
Davis was like that character in Split. he had about 18 personalities and most are not alumni/booster friendly...yes he could coach set plays out of a timeout But Donnie Marsh ran that defense...we were always a D-minded team and didn't score alot unless it was Miles college or somebody where we would hang 96 points.
I think Marsh was a major influence in the success of those good Davis years.
/
Dec 23. Georgia Tech coming to Bartow.
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