(05-24-2017 09:29 PM)huskie1stdown Wrote:  I give the Women's team (players and coaches) A+
They play hard, run plays, put the foot on the opponent when they get a team down and they never give up.
When you have a head coach who WAS a head coach it really makes a difference.

Dog fan always says positive things about the Women's team.

Correct. I am very enthusiastic about the women's team and love going to the games, where I get excited - win or lose. Why? Because the women bust their butts, give an outstanding effort, and play quality basketball. If they lose, it's certainly not for lack of effort. It is pure joy to watch them. And Coach Carlsen is a godsend. I do not see this with the men's team and probably will not until we get a new coach. It is very frustrating watching the poor to mediocre play year after year after year. We've gone from the Rob Judson years (and I liked Rob), to Ricardo Patton, to Monty - and the results have been abysmal. And we are supposed to get excited about a culture mired in mediocrity? I'm hopeful, but not stupid.

(05-24-2017 09:43 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(05-24-2017 08:50 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  Not not sure how you define "support" 57 but I have had season tickets for basketball & football for decades, women's basketball for 18 years and women's volleyball since they started selling them. This school year I have attended women's gymnastics, baseball, softball games and even a track meet. I just don't see how making snarky, snide, mostly comments is showing support for huskie athletics. Win, lose or draw I love the competition and enjoy watching student athlete give their all. I also appreciate the huge commitment in terms of hours, energy, and emotions that coaches at the Division I level put into their teams. Believe me, it ain't as easy as it looks to the armchair quarterbacks in the peanut gallery

In response to your last post, I'm wondering if you regularly check threads that do not pertain to basketball? The reason I ask is because I've read many positive, thoughtful and yes, critical posts from Dog Fan. Unlike you, I share his concern and dismay over the state of the men's basketball program. My lack of faith in Monty goes back before he got his first contract extension and I have definitely questioned the program being handcuffed by the second.
If you read other threads, you would have seen where I've been labeled with the old man emoji and constantly accused of living in the past when I've brought up being among those who purchased chair-back season tickets when O'Dell promised that commitment would always be rewarded. My run of season tickets for men's basketball goes back to the Evans Field House days but ended two years ago because of Monty. I've been told my financial support and attendance -- which goes back longer than 18 years and includes more sports than yours (how familiar are you with John Lewang, Rita Horky, Chuck Merzbacher?) -- doesn't matter because it's all about "supporting" the program now under Frazier. Sorry to disagree with that thinking, but if experience convinces you the program is not progressing under Monty, it doesn't make you less of Huskie. Actually, Dog Fan, the Carey-haters, the Fleck-haters, and even MD, are just as entitled to be considered -- in your words negative / in other's disappointed -- Huskie fans.

uiniu57,

No one should ever criticize your support for NIU. I'm sure you have seen a lot, and your knowledge of NIU is encyclopedic. You are a fan's fan. But, I guess guys like you and me have no right to be disappointed and frustrated with, and critical of, mediocrity. We may not see good basketball, but I guess we just need to smile, enjoy it, and revel in the beauty of players consistently missing 3-foot shots.