119th Monon Bell Classic

[wally_wabash]

"Owen said that less alums may travel to the game because the game is now easier to access online."

This, by the way, is exceptionally stupid. It's not available online and it's been broadcast nationally for well over a decade.

And he knows that.  These quotes are just embarrassing.

Wally, gotta step in.  I think you are smart enough to know that this came from a student journalist.  I said *nothing* about "online" during my chat with him; I was referring to (and I think you know this) the AXS (formerly HDNet) agreement (and I've negotiated all 3 of the deals with the network, just me and the network, BTW) .  AXS is now available on regular and HD sat and cable packages -- as a result more people than ever can see it in their homes.  That was my point.

They're also not "quotes."  Read it again.  He was summarizing a conversation we had, and again, he misstated what I said.

OK, I'll let you get back to picking fights and pointing fingers.

Fair enough if what you told the reporter is misrepresented in the article.  That's not your fault (I'd get that fixed though because it doesn't look good).  What I'm guessing didn't happen though is that you said "DePauw is unwatchably awful right now" and the reporter wrote it up as "people are content to watch the game online."  It's the blatant and brutal dishonesty that bugs me.  Y'all owe your students and alumni and fan base more than offering up some make believe about how  if attendance is down it's because the students are ignorant about how to get tickets (they aren't) or the alums are too lazy to make the trip (they aren't). 

[Breckenridgebear]

a lot to digest here in terms of what's been written, but as much as it pains me to say this, it's tough for me to disagree with many of the Wabash points of view here.

I'm equally as upset that this story came out today.  not even a third of the tickets were sold??  that's a joke.  a laundry list of reasons has been given, but quite honestly what students have seen on the field the last 2 seasons, and a coach being fired this year/2-6 record pretty much sums it up to me.  I remember, and not long ago, if you didn't buy your tickets in the first few hours of availability - adios, better head to ebay. 

i do believe that the university is trying to stop some of the problems in their search...at least from knowing what they're looking for....but it needs to be implemented.

As an alum, the thought of missing this game makes me sick -- it's an event -- a can't miss -- just hope BOTH sides continue to treat it as such.

as for 1837Tigers -- keep it up with the TV deals -- great stuff -- quality coverage

I agree, 1837Tigers, your work for this game is above and beyond.

Irish you have about 40 family members in Indiana, can't they make the game?

But seriously, placing the blame on anything but lack of interest, or even laziness, is stretching the truth. I blame the University for not getting the students interested. The school should take out 30K from the activity fund, give every student a ticket, and bus them to the game. Ask the alumni to donate money to send a kid to the Monon Bell game. I really don't care what they do, but it is their obligation to make sure this game sells out every year.

[Pat Coleman]

I offered that as one possible factor.  Period. 

But on what basis? Is there an actual correlation between the TV audience numbers and the numbers at the gate? It's almost certainly negligible.

That kind of diversion of focus--which you no doubt see as a kind of innocent protection of the school and its representatives--is, from my perspective, dangerous at this point. At best, it's slippery. At worst, it encourages a similar kind of "everything is cool" attitude during a time where everything is way, way not cool.

Audience numbers for these broadcasts are not reliable enough by DMA to project a dip of a thousand people at the gate.

[Pat Coleman]

What I'm guessing didn't happen though is that you said "DePauw is unwatchably awful right now"

You can't say that. For all the whacks you guys have taken at DePauw's PR, I would assume you would know this is not something you can say on the record (or at all to a student publication).

[smedindy]

What I'm guessing didn't happen though is that you said "DePauw is unwatchably awful right now"

You can't say that. For all the whacks you guys have taken at DePauw's PR, I would assume you would know this is not something you can say on the record (or at all to a student publication).

There's nothing better than reading a game summary for a horrible team after they got absolutely pole-axed. I've seen some in basketball after 40 to 50 point games that say "Tic Tock Tech improved its shooting in the second half and held Pottsylvania to just 30 points in the last 15 minutes" - not saying they lost 102-49 and shot 28% for the game.

[wally_wabash]

What I'm guessing didn't happen though is that you said "DePauw is unwatchably awful right now"

You can't say that. For all the whacks you guys have taken at DePauw's PR, I would assume you would know this is not something you can say on the record (or at all to a student publication).

I would imagine there are better ways to phrase it than I did there, but to be asked why you aren't selling tickets and completely ignore the obvious A-1 reason why is irresponsible. To pass the buck on to the students and alums makes it worse.  I don't think DePauw is under any obligation to talk about any of this with their student journos and especially if they don't want to acknowledge the obvious because the truth here is painful, then just no comment the thing and be done with it. 

They should just come out and say "The Depauw program hasn't lived up to the rivalry in recent years and people are not showing up because of it. We're gonna fix that."

Right? Why not just say that. Start generating actual enthusiasm for the next step.

This.  It's this right here.  If DePauw can't be secure enough to say that, or something similiar to that, then they just shouldn't talk about it at all.  Saying nothing at all is better than feeding the newspaper the trash that wound up in the article.  How dumb must DePauw's administration think their students and alumni are to think that any of what wound up in that article passes the smell test? 

[BashBacker#16]

Related:  DePauw's last home game attendance was 401!  Think about that...  401!!!

[BashDad]

Related:  DePauw's last home game attendance was 401!  Think about that...  401!!!

Wow.

[Danny Boy]

First and foremost, nobody on this board should be taking shots at Ken Owen.  I don't give two squirts of piss what he did or did not say, nor whether he was misquoted.  That guy has done more to preserve and advance the Bell tradition than anyone else on this board.  Ever.  To think he's capable of anything less is pure ignorance.  Sorry Ken, I know you are well-equipped to fight your own battles.

What exactly is the "news" here?  That DPU has only hit 1/3 capacity?  And we've used 3 pages talking about that?!  We all know why attendance has dipped -- DPU's program is suffering.  And we all know why it's suffering -- poor coaching/recruiting.  Bash does a great job of luring players and I credit Raeburn for that.  Hell, if I had an IQ of 75 and a taste for steroids I'd probably play for Wabash, too.  It's not hard to convince a meatbot to waste time at the C-Ville VoTech.  Walker's exit gets brought up on this board every season so it's nothing new, but I agree with Bear.  We need a great recruiter that embraces the tradition and wants to be the long-term solution.  I'm really looking forward to that guy's arrival.  If anything, maybe DPU's poor attendance will sound an alarm for the "powers that be."

[Breckenridgebear]

First and foremost, nobody on this board should be taking shots at Ken Owen.  I don't give two squirts of piss what he did or did not say, nor whether he was misquoted.  That guy has done more to preserve and advance the Bell tradition than anyone else on this board.  Ever.  To think he's capable of anything less is pure ignorance.  Sorry Ken, I know you are well-equipped to fight your own battles.

What exactly is the "news" here?  That DPU has only hit 1/3 capacity?  And we've used 3 pages talking about that?!  We all know why attendance has dipped -- DPU's program is suffering.  And we all know why it's suffering -- poor coaching/recruiting.  Bash does a great job of luring players and I credit Raeburn for that.  Hell, if I had an IQ of 75 and a taste for steroids I'd probably play for Wabash, too.  It's not hard to convince a meatbot to waste time at the C-Ville VoTech.  Walker's exit gets brought up on this board every season so it's nothing new, but I agree with Bear.  We need a great recruiter that embraces the tradition and wants to be the long-term solution.  I'm really looking forward to that guy's arrival.  If anything, maybe DPU's poor attendance will sound an alarm for the "powers that be."

Well said Danny Boy. Can't wait to see you in one week.

[DPUIrish1]

A-Flippin'-Men Danny Boy....couldn't have said it better.

See TV contracts - Monon Memories of EVERY year - the list goes on....Owen is a Monon Bell traditionalist....

See you in a week -- guessing we'll be pulling into Crawfordstucky around this time or so

[wabndy]

What exactly is the "news" here?  That DPU has only hit 1/3 capacity?  And we've used 3 pages talking about that?!

Credit where credit is due.  Ken has done an amazing job and put in a lot of thankless hours.  Appreciation from both ends of 231 is deserved.  Thank you.

What else do you want to talk about?  The only other proposed topic of discussion I've seen is bear's troll-like middle school bathroom humor and Pat's too good a moderator to let that go on for too long.  The game?  OK.  DePauw has had a rough two years.  You guys need a coach who can turn things around.  etc. etc.  You found a way to win against Wooster.  Its a start in the right direction.  What should anybody be worried about in eight days?  The best thing DePauw has going for it is that in bell games heavily favored sides, especially ones looking forward to the playoffs, playing down-on-their-luck opponents have eerily lost more often than not. Anybody following this board probably knows that already.

Can that happen this year?  Sure.  I don't think it will based on how Wabash has won its games both this season and the last two bell games.  ER likes to wear a team down and lean heavily on the O-line to dominate the second half and especially 4th quarter.  It happened at Witt and and OWU.  Wabash's season scores by quarter show that out: 1st- 46, 2nd-65, 3rd-65, 4th-82.  The past two bell games have shown depauw teams, especially on defense, that could not pick itself up after a few bad breaks and pretty much checked out of the game (along with those who did show up to to watch the tigers) after halftime.  DePauw is going to come out swinging.  I'm sure they have to be tired and pissed off about all the mess with Long's firing and constant negative chatter.  To have a even a snowball's chance - they are going to have to give up one or fewer turnovers in the first half and allow 0 points off turnovers.  THEN they are going to to have to figure out a way to keep Belton & co. off the field in the second half and get some quality relief from the second string.  Then we might, just might, have a ball game.  So there you go.

[Breckenridgebear]

What exactly is the "news" here?  That DPU has only hit 1/3 capacity?  And we've used 3 pages talking about that?!

Credit where credit is due.  Ken has done an amazing job and put in a lot of thankless hours.  Appreciation from both ends of 231 is deserved.  Thank you.

What else do you want to talk about?  The only other proposed topic of discussion I've seen is bear's troll-like middle school bathroom humor and Pat's too good a moderator to let that go on for too long.  The game?  OK.  DePauw has had a rough two years.  You guys need a coach who can turn things around.  etc. etc.  You found a way to win against Wooster.  Its a start in the right direction.  What should anybody be worried about in eight days?  The best thing DePauw has going for it is that in bell games heavily favored sides, especially ones looking forward to the playoffs, playing down-on-their-luck opponents have eerily lost more often than not. Anybody following this board probably knows that already.

Can that happen this year?  Sure.  I don't think it will based on how Wabash has won its games both this season and the last two bell games.  ER likes to wear a team down and lean heavily on the O-line to dominate the second half and especially 4th quarter.  It happened at Witt and and OWU.  Wabash's season scores by quarter show that out: 1st- 46, 2nd-65, 3rd-65, 4th-82.  The past two bell games have shown depauw teams, especially on defense, that could not pick itself up after a few bad breaks and pretty much checked out of the game (along with those who did show up to to watch the tigers) after halftime.  DePauw is going to come out swinging.  I'm sure they have to be tired and pissed off about all the mess with Long's firing and constant negative chatter.  To have a even a snowball's chance - they are going to have to give up one or fewer turnovers in the first half and allow 0 points off turnovers.  THEN they are going to to have to figure out a way to keep Belton & co. off the field in the second half and get some quality relief from the second string.  Then we might, just might, have a ball game.  So there you go.

What "troll-like middle school bathroom humor" do you speak of Wadiny? I call a spade a spade. If you don't like my outspoken, blunt, to the point manner, or the fact that I call things by their proper names without any "beating about the bush", don't comment on it, don't pay attention to it, and don't try to get away with snide remarks like they won't get noticed.

The fact of the matter is when I attended DePauw, we hated you. We could care less about your school, your students, your alumni, and most importantly, your bush league football team. Sure, times have changed, but my feelings remain the same. You could blow DePauw out by 200 and I still will never, ever, change my feelings towards Dabash. "So there you go".

[Wabash Hokie]

Related:  DePauw's last home game attendance was 401!  Think about that...  401!!!

Looking back on box scores for the Dannie home games, looks like they had 1225 and 1492 at first two games, 2500 at Old Gold (round numbers are suspicious but we will run with that), and then 401 vs Kenyon during a Fall Break Weekend - looks like parents and girlfriends and maybe 1 person from Kenyon - where are the alumni?  They don't have Fall Break.  Doesn't look like anyone is rallying to the flag right now.

[cave2bens]

Ah, the annual Bear/Danny Boy show never fails to bring forth beginnings of the Holiday Season - from a Scut Farkas/Grover Dill perspective. 

All ticklers aside, wholly agree with your assessments particularly when it comes to 1837's dedication and efforts to maintain/enhance the importance of the Monon rivalry.  Both sides are very fortunate to have Mssrs Owen and Harris as respective mouthpieces - two of the best regardless of Division.

And @ Bear, may we have a third year in a row where I'm fishing upstream of you - still laughing about your excretory offering.  Some of us are meant to call 'em as we see them.