MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[kluch]

If Oshkosh was able to shift the floor closer to the concession stand and then drop a barrier on the far end, then you can STILL have the 5000 capacity, still be able to host indoor track and field events, but not have such a GIANT building...

Eh, I don't think so. The way the floor  is configured, you really can't just move the court. A new one would have to be installed.
IMO Keep the concession stand end open. With the option for putting overflow bleachers on that end (to close it off somewhat) along with dj jazzy julie or whomever. 
That divider curtain is the best idea for the other half. Every company that manufactures pro level equipment offers those things...does the Athletic department have the cash for it? That's another question. There's a lot of building happening there with the new Fitness Center (student wellness) and the Oshkosh Sports Complex across the river (football, baseball, softball, outdoor track) so I'm sure they can slip in a curtain in the budget somewhere. 

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

That divider curtain is the best idea for the other half. Every company that manufactures pro level equipment offers those things...does the Athletic department have the cash for it? That's another question. There's a lot of building happening there with the new Fitness Center (student wellness) and the Oshkosh Sports Complex across the river (football, baseball, softball, outdoor track) so I'm sure they can slip in a curtain in the budget somewhere. 

My High school gym had a dividing curtain in it on the one side, because the back wall of the gym was much further away than the other one.  It also separated the other basketball court too.  It makes a difference too, because in the WIAA tournament, that curtain gets lifted to fit temporary bleachers under the hoop, and all of a sudden your shooting at a hoop with basically no back ground.  Now I know as a shooter, you focus on the rim not the backboard, but it can make difference.

I may be wrong here, but with the whole Bo Ryan court deal here, it also is a fund-raiser for additions to Williams fieldhouse in general.  Some 4 million dollars I believe what they're looking to raise.  Now Bo Ryan Court is getting minimal upgrades.  New Sound system (hopefully new music huh Old School?), the "Bo Ryan Court" emblem put on the floor, and new bleachers.  Now I was told that the new bleachers isn't coming out of the Bo Ryan fund-raising, but from the state who has put x amount of dollars aside for each school for similar upgrades.  Like I said I could be wrong, but it's the word on the street.  Anybody else know of anything?

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Kerry "Don't call me Debbie" Gibson was my initial choice, considering he owns THE ONLY TRIPLE DOUBLE in the league this year.  With Gibson on my mind, naturally I had to look at Jacob's "Ladder" Nonemacher's performance...although he was just a rebound short of his own triple double, more points and more assists, the latter impressive for a guy 7-feet tall, IMO.

Old School, I thought all the names were creative, but for Jacob and John how about

Jacob "Thats why they call you Joe Dirt instead of" Nonemacher

I'm a fan of movies, and I hope no offense is taken by Jacob and John.  They're good ball players and sounds like good guys too, just bored and trying to have some fun.

[stoutguy]

Kerry "Don't call me Debbie" Gibson was my initial choice, considering he owns THE ONLY TRIPLE DOUBLE in the league this year.  With Gibson on my mind, naturally I had to look at Jacob's "Ladder" Nonemacher's performance...although he was just a rebound short of his own triple double, more points and more assists, the latter impressive for a guy 7-feet tall, IMO.

Old School, I thought all the names were creative, but for Jacob and John how about

Jacob "Thats why they call you Joe Dirt instead of" Nonemacher

I'm a fan of movies, and I hope no offense is taken by Jacob and John.  They're good ball players and sounds like good guys too, just bored and trying to have some fun.

I'm sure no offense will be taken.  These twins just like to be appreciated.  One of my biggest frustrations these past few years is constantly listening to negative comments about Jake and John from people who don't know anything about them.  I have been around basketball players and basketball people all of my life and these two guys rank right at the top of my list of people that I have the utmost resesct for.  I get depressed thinking about Stout basketball without them.   

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

I wish the two brothers could have played in high School. Although they would not have been at Stout, due to better ability, they could have lived up to their individual potential as players. I for one have enjoyed watching them play and will miss them too! Good luck brothers and keep us posted after you leave Stout. God Bless!

[Andrew Wagner]

If I may be so bold as to touch on the previous topic of Oshkosh/Kolf/Albee, etc ...

I could never figure out why, exactly, people couldn't show up for games. The basketball - especially when I was up there (2000-2003) - was nothing short of great. I was there for the tail-end of the Crackerbox Era (you UWO kiddies know it as Albee...) and the atmosphere in there, even for a meaningless UWO-UWLx game was great. Even in Kolf, few games I have covered at any level had the excitement of the UWO-UWW WIAC Final in 2002. It's not the most asthetically charming building, and it's not really configured to be anything more than a multi-purpose athletic facility. A lot of the blame should be placed on the students ... there just isn't much interest. I'd really like to know why. I'd say homework, but ... hey, I went to school there ;-) And as for the bars, nobody went out until 10 p.m. So really, what is the deal there? To be sure, there was a good group of die-hard fans (the track/xc teams, Front Row Fanatics, Gerg... etc) but even then, the general student body seemed to just not care. IMHO, the student media should work with the Athletic Department to come up with a plan. I'd say work with the Northwestern, but there's only so much sway you can have with a major publication.

It's funny ... when I first moved to Oshkosh, I laughed at the thought of getting interested in D3 ball. (I'd been covering DI for years). But after seeing Skoshy play Plattville in the '00 semis then going to Zorn for a broadcast ... man, those were great atmospheres. Especially Zorn, although we were stuck in the upper corner aux press area.

Other notable venues:

Love Quandt, very loud, very passionate fans. Especially vs. Skosh.

WW has a great facility (and really, really good hot dogs)

Zorn is what an old hoops barn is supposed to be.

OK, now that I've taken six minutes of your lives that you'll never get back, I shall stop rambling.

ANyway, I just rambled for 10 minutes and I apologize for taking that time from all your lives.

[stoutguy]

I would agree 100% with your take on Zorn in the "old days".  Right now, Quandt has no rival.  I did the Stout game in the front row with the Point fans screaming in our ears and it was awesome.  Those fans are passionate and they make being a part of it fantastic. 

[Mr. Downtown]

the student media should work with the Athletic Department to come up with a plan

1) We broadcast over 30 events, including Men's and Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball, Football, Women's and Men's Basketball

2) We produce a 30 minute weekly "SportsCenter"-esque show on just UW-Oshkosh athletics

3) We have a radio coaches show

4) We have our call-in show radio show dedicated to cover Oshkosh athletics for the first 15-30 minutes

5) and our student news, is pretty much 20 minutes of sports, and about 6 minutes of "News".

For TV and Radio, UW-Oshksoh gets A LOT of attention. I know many students do actually watch my TV show (including a lot of UW-O athletes), and we have people call-in all the time to the radio show (usually talking about the Packers or Brewers, but still, they listen to us banter about UW-O).

I think a great number of students do know how good our basketball team is this year.

What I think the problem is...and something that needs to go, is our bleachers! Seriously, how can anyone create a student section out of a section of 2500 bleacher.

What always works for D-I arena's, is that they seperate the students and other fans. That's what creates a great college atmosphere. You can beat 2,000 drunk kids jumping around, yelling and screamming for their basketball team.

I know this has been a very good discussion, but no one in the WIAC actually has a quality student section. Quandt and Zorn have very loyal community fan bases, that's why they have such big draws.

[palum]

Pioneerhoops, you heard right.  When UWP approached Bo about the naming he wanted to use the event to try and do something for the student athletes at Platteville.  In addition to the new bleachers and sound system they are proposing a new practice gym, new locker rooms and storage a area for the outdoor track next Willaims Field House.  The students are kicking in half and the athletic dept is raising the other half.  Total cost I think is around 5-6 million.

[Andrew Wagner]

One of the ideas I had and wrote about way back in my A-T days was to pull out the bleachers in the east end. Al said that if the demand was ever there, he'd be fine with it. But the demand isn't. I'm also not doubting the efforts you guys put forth ... it's good to see that you guys aren't using your forum to try to be the next Dan Patrick. A lot of guys don't understand that WRST and TTV should be dedicated to UWO athletics, first and foremost. (This is no knock on anybody else, just a general comment). I agree that something has to be done about the configuration at Kolf, but until I - or somebody else - hits the Powerball, I just don't see it being feasible.

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Thanks Palum!  A lot of stuff is hearsay, until you see ground being broken and the plan being posted its hard to say or know what exactly is happening.  I've heard a little here and there, so it is tough trying to figure exactly what is going on.

For TV and Radio, UW-Oshksoh gets A LOT of attention. I know many students do actually watch my TV show (including a lot of UW-O athletes), and we have people call-in all the time to the radio show (usually talking about the Packers or Brewers, but still, they listen to us banter about UW-O).

I think a great number of students do know how good our basketball team is this year.

What I think the problem is...and something that needs to go, is our bleachers! Seriously, how can anyone create a student section out of a section of 2500 bleacher.

What always works for D-I arena's, is that they seperate the students and other fans. That's what creates a great college atmosphere. You can beat 2,000 drunk kids jumping around, yelling and screamming for their basketball team.

I know this has been a very good discussion, but no one in the WIAC actually has a quality student section. Quandt and Zorn have very loyal community fan bases, that's why they have such big draws.

My guess is either not enough or the wrong students are listening to your show.  Also if a great number of students know how good the team is, then why aren't they going?  If the team is good enough to watch, then they should be there.

If having a section of 2500 bleacher is the problem, do you think that having a smaller section with the same number of students in it will be better? 300 is still 300 regardless if you filling a 1000 seat section or 10,000 seat section.  As far as separating the students, how?  I'm sure the students that go to Oshkosh can effectively sit in one group, together starting in the front row and going upward.  If they can't do this, trust me it isn't the bleachers.  Maybe have a section lined off directly across the visitors bench, or better yet sit them behind the visitors bench.  THis is one of the things I think is backwards at Platteville.  The band and students sit behind the home bench, so during timeouts it can be more of a struggle to communicate to your team, but it's always been that way.

Theres an idea for atmosphere, have a pep band at the game.  Plattevilles band is good to listen to, plus the hoot, holler, and make the game entertaining.  Platteville started the O-zone a few years back, and some of the student interest is back because of it.  Kolf Krazies or something.  Teams may be good, but if the students don't feel it's worth their time or energy, they aren't going to go.  BUt little things can spark the interest, then having a good team for them to cheer doesn't hurt either.

[John Gleich]

This idea is definately something that could work...  I think it should actually be a structured entity, though.

At the University of Illinois, the Orange Crush is a HUGE student organization that cheers for the basketball games, sure, but they work in the community, raise money for charity, support several scholarships...  Yes, U of I is a bigger school than the WIAC schools, but we're not talking about a college that's only got 1200 kids...  A student orgaization with 500-1000 kids is not out of the realm of possibility, and they can make an impact not only at athletic events, but in the community as well.

What happens many times is that there is a core group of dedicated students, who travel to away games, are always at home games... these are the students who make their own homemade t-shirts and have organized cheers, etc... and then there is a group who attend many games, but who are NOT involved.  In an organizational structure, the other students could look to the very dedicated ones as leaders and it really could make a difference.

[Greek Tragedy]

If having a section of 2500 bleacher is the problem, do you think that having a smaller section with the same number of students in it will be better? 300 is still 300 regardless if you filling a 1000 seat section or 10,000 seat section.

It's purely the atmosphere that lacks.  Yes, it would be better to have a smaller facility with the crowds aren't that big.  Carroll College had 1000 or so at their game vs. LU and the place was pretty loud, because it holds 1100.  There is a big difference.  The Point women play in Berg and the boxscore showed 700 or so watched the Stout game.  It was a pretty crazy crowd and the atmosphere was great.  If those same 700 were in Quandt, it'd be a totally different story.

I know this has been a very good discussion, but no one in the WIAC actually has a quality student section. Quandt and Zorn have very loyal community fan bases, that's why they have such big draws.

Mr. Downtown makes a very good point and I've been meaning to chime in on this discussion at this angle, but just always forgot.  It's true, there really isn't any WIAC team that has a great dedicated student section.  I was down at Wisconsin Lutheran when they played Aurora and they had a student section of about 60-75 called "the 6th Man".  They stood the entire game and made wise cracks and cheers throughout.  Very cool stuff and I wished Point had a student section like that.  I mean, the general public section was as quiet as a church, but these students made it tough for Aurora.  Point's students have been showing up lately, but there are still only a handful that lead cheers.  Still a far cry from "The 6th Man". 

As DT said, Point (and Stout, IMO) have great community support and that's where Point gets their numbers.  All the adults that come.  When the students aren't there, it doesn't make much of a difference.  Oshkosh and the surrounding area is much bigger than Point, so we can't just blame the students...as with Whitewater being a "suitcase" school.  Where is the community?  As good as the Oshkosh high school teams are, I would think that would help the draw to the university. 

I'm sure no offense will be taken.  These twins just like to be appreciated.  One of my biggest frustrations these past few years is constantly listening to negative comments about Jake and John from people who don't know anything about them.  I have been around basketball players and basketball people all of my life and these two guys rank right at the top of my list of people that I have the utmost resesct for.  I get depressed thinking about Stout basketball without them.  

They're nice guys.  I was surprised when I was first told they wanted to meet me, that's for sure.  When they saw me at the Stout women's game after the men just got beat by Point, they turned their backs on me when I was walking towards them! Funny stuff.

Oh yeah, for some reason, I thought John had an extra year of eligibility.  Obviously not the case?

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Here's a radical idea, offer a 4 credit per semester class, so this will be a year long requirement for students.  In this class in the fall, you study and breakdown football teams and figure out how each one places itself in the mess better known as BCS.  Each week groups are assigned teams, give the class a scouting report on their team on Thursday and Friday.  Monday is debate day as to why their team deserves to be higher in ranking or why their #1.  Since this is a four credit course, their is a lab involved...You must attend (your grade depends on it) the football game that weekend if its a home game and cheer you butt off.  Drinking before home game lab is strictly excepted (as long as your 21  ).  On weekends of away games, there is community service project lined up.  When the football season ends, class focuses on bracketology.  Again Game attendance is required as is community service.

Problem here is well, it not feasible but at least a fun idea, and also Winterim.  There is still January off for the students, which is why we offer the class in Winterim and try and cram it in 3 weeks for those not willing to grind it out all year.  Wimps.

Community service though...looks good on the Grad school and job applications.

It's been a really boring day guys and gals, sorry!  Snow just makes things boring 

[John Gleich]

That's all well and good OS, but these are schools of 5000+ students.  There's no reason why more students don't come.  Like I said in my post right above yours, if there was truly an organization, then it WOULD be organized (by default...).  Now, getting something like this started is not easy, I understand... but once established, with upperclassmen officers, handing it to underclassmen to truly make the organization THEIRS.  Part of the problem is that groups of friends get really involved, but then they graduate, and a new group needs to start "from scratch" and organize their small group again...  If there was truly an organization, then the leaders could challenge the other students to get up and cheer, instead of feeling like they were stepping on people's toes...  I, for one, wouldn't really care what people thought about me... I'm the guy who, now, stands up when there's a good play, and if somebody behind me says something, I either tell THEM to stand up or move.

You're as a basketball game, not at church.  You're supposed to get EXCITED about what's going on, not sit on your hands...  Besides, even in church you stand up when everyone else does (... or when the Pastor makes a great defensive play...?)