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mat1992

Future

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2 hours ago, Ironman42 said:

Here the thing you can fire who ever th culture has to change games should be sold out every week that Towson is home.nothing against other sports but basketball and football should be standing room only.you can't win  fans over by being stubborn and arrogant again develope a program that will at least put you in the playoffs every year 

 

I'm guessing you're new to Towson Athletics?  They couldn't sell the place out even when they had playoff teams or the year after they went to the championship game.  We have a 5,000+ seat basketball arena that hasn't been sold out once, I don't think.  For as long as I've known it (and I go back to the mid-90s), Towson fan/student apathy is as high as any school I see and it's not like we're in the outskirts of Montana...though, that may work out better because then there'd be nothing else better to do than go to the athletic events.  Part of that is on the on-field/court product, part of that is on the marketing campaigns to get students to games.  For those of us who have been on these boards for a long time, it's an endless broken record about why there isn't more support.  Whatever it is, there was a giant dropping of the ball after the championship game run.

 

As for this current edition, I find it hard to believe that a team can have an offense that is as horrid as ours is.  A lot of that can be traced to the fact there are zero threats on the field -- the QB is a freshman, there's no burner in the backfield, there's no downfield threat.  So that allows defenses to take a lot more risks and bring 6 and 7 guys on every down knowing that our line won't be able to handle them and that they won't give up a big downfield play.  What's our longest run from scrimmage this year?  A lot of this stems from injuries but there's also a lot of blame that can be put on player development.  The fanbase has been complaining about the play calling for a while and yeah, it's been bad but what talent is out there?  In the past, there was T-West and then there was Victor and there were QB's like Enders and Athens and even Frazier to a degree that had the tools to get the ball downfield if the running game was bogged down.  It doesn't appear that we have any of that talent right now so that magnifies how bad the plays are.  Am I defending the coaching staff?  Not really.  But I feel that there are more things at work than just the playcalling -- injuries, development (on the coaches), and recruiting (also on the coaches).

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Attendance has, for an inordinate period of time, been lacking. It likely will remain that way. For all Skerry has done with the program, in the end, he has not won anything substantive. They are now competitive, but what does that get you, besides a trip to Belfast. Football just does not draw much from students and to those who are not students, Baltimore does not support FCS football....they are Ravens, Oriole's and Terps. Many ADs and many marketing folks have tried to turn the table. They have been unsuccessful. Sometimes you just have to be aware and admit where you stand in the hierarchy. I am certain this administration and coaching staffs are working as hard as they can, but I am not sure there will be different results.

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I go back to the early '70s when Gordy was a LB and the games were played on Burdick Field with high school bleachers along one sideline. So I remember when the "crowd" size was in the hundreds. Even after the move to Minnegan, 3,000 was about the most you could hope for when it wasn't homecoming (or we weren't playing Morgan). The fact that we get 5,000-6,000 on average is an improvement, of course, but given the enrollment now vs. then and being in the Atlantic 10/CAA, one would expect better. BUT ONLY IF THE PRODUCT IS CONSISTENTLY COMPETITIVE. That's where RA and staff have dropped the ball. He speaks glowingly of the team before each season, but we're on course for the fifth losing season in the nine he's been here. So he sounds like a snake-oil salesman, and when he bemoans the team's youth and inexperience, I say, "Look around, Rob. Other teams have to confront similar weaknesses. Villanova is without key players and they still beat us." And when he compares Stover's problems to Crowley's game against Maine, I'd like to remind him that the Maine game was an aberration for DC; he almost led us  to a win over Youngstown State in the finale, and YSU went on to win the national championship. Stover has looked okay, at best, but mostly he looks over-matched and makes poor decisions. I don't see another Crowley in the rough.

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True there was never interest or support until the T West days

I was happy with the attendance numbers during that time but I think there are a few things that occurred that knocked us backwards heading in the wrong direction again

first when we played Lehigh in the playoffs the place was packed there was a buzz, there was excitement, people were trying to get tickets. Fast forward to when we played Fordham in the playoffs - no excitement no buzz not even close to a sellout

and then you have the debacle that chased students away forever - when the university put the clamps down on the tailgating.  I know it is their job to protect the students but they went way over the top and guess what - the students have never returned

as far as basketball attendance back in the 90's when we christened our new hardwood floor there were ticket giveaways excitement being pumped up, they made it an event!  They brought in Michigan!  Open up a new arena - no buzz and you play Navy, I think this was a huge mistake and a very big reason why there is no excitement. We should have come out of the gate on fire, making it a destination where everyone would want to come check out.

as far as the future, I'm sick and tired of talking about the future while we are still in season. This athletic department has made mistakes that I don't think will ever get us back to where we want to be

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1 hour ago, Ihop said:

True there was never interest or support until the T West days

I was happy with the attendance numbers during that time but I think there are a few things that occurred that knocked us backwards heading in the wrong direction again

first when we played Lehigh in the playoffs the place was packed there was a buzz, there was excitement, people were trying to get tickets. Fast forward to when we played Fordham in the playoffs - no excitement no buzz not even close to a sellout

and then you have the debacle that chased students away forever - when the university put the clamps down on the tailgating.  I know it is their job to protect the students but they went way over the top and guess what - the students have never returned

as far as basketball attendance back in the 90's when we christened our new hardwood floor there were ticket giveaways excitement being pumped up, they made it an event!  They brought in Michigan!  Open up a new arena - no buzz and you play Navy, I think this was a huge mistake and a very big reason why there is no excitement. We should have come out of the gate on fire, making it a destination where everyone would want to come check out.

as far as the future, I'm sick and tired of talking about the future while we are still in season. This athletic department has made mistakes that I don't think will ever get us back to where we want to be

Agree with you regarding the tailgate 100%. I went to the Villanova game and was flooored. Virtually zero students tailgating in lot 14. What a change from when I was a student 4-5 years ago. Honestly, that old tailgate policy has killed student support more than our on field performance ever will. Ruined the game day college experience for many. It's hard enough with rampant student apathy.

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1 hour ago, Tgr4life said:

What are the mistakes you are referring to?

The ones I listed, we never strike while the iron is hot to create excitement. We failed to capitalize on the fact that we had a nationally ranked football team and a grand opening of a beautiful brand new basketball arena, can't go back now and redo how we handled those two situations. I think those two situations were not handled well and we will suffer for years

i do like Rob Ambrose, I was excited when he came back, but I just don't understand how the AD allowed him to hire his brother. I think this was a mistake - very uncomfortable feeling to have a family member working with you when it's your neck on the line at the end of the day

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The tailgates were great up until my senior year when they implemented these rules. My friends were addicted to the tailgates.  I was able to bring 4-5 people to every game, not to mention we were winning.

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I’ve always kept this on the hush but I was apart of the marketing team that increased attendance and sold out the Lehigh game. 

 

Wadddell and Mike Hollis had a vision and we did effective marketing. Waddell sent letters out and had us attending events in places where there were possible alumni. We worked nights, weekends, and in the rain. We also pushed the needle with campus promoting which included having the players market too. I pushed for them to not implement the ticket and one card switch because some students such as myself didn’t have time to go pick up a ticket. Behind the scenes Waddell and Mike Hollis knew what it took to bring people in. We also had a very engaged intern and undergrad intern team. After our team graduated and Mike Hollis was offered by the Brooklyn Nets it started to slide. Waddell left the same year. We were very active on the CAA forums and took all good ideas and brought them to life if we could. 

The Doc page on Facebook played a huge part in getting students but they have done away with that too. We used every outlet possible to bring people in and it worked. I don’t see this anymore. 

 

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I didn't want to bring up Wardell's name because I know a lot of people don't like him, but it's pretty obvious the swing in momentum and excitement since he left

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