(03-14-2014 10:02 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote: (03-14-2014 09:45 AM)Jacque Wrote: (03-14-2014 07:31 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote: Hard to believe regular season chick softball and baseball in which they play 50 games is the excuse of not going to a basketball tournament? New Orleans did not deserve the tournament and just proves the point the tournament should have been held close to the only school that cares about basketball....So glad CUSA as least has a few fan bases and programs who do not put chicks softball and baseball over a real sport like basketball....That is why the Sun Belt will never be good at basketball and will hurt the conf. no matter what football does....Sun Belt is a chicks softball and baseball conference...A shame considering where the Sun Belt was in the mid 80's......
I am sorry that the entire SBcC does not feel that the sun rises and sets based upon basketball. I am not sure why you feel that basketball is the only "real" sport. Maybe because it is the only sport that schools from KY have been consistently good at.
And for a school that believes that basketball is the only sport, it amazes me that the rabid basketball fans of South Central KY can not fill Diddle every night.
To expect parents to watch a college tournament game instead of watching their children or their children's alma mater compete in a win or go home high school tournament game is ludicrous.
I know when BG, SW or GW are playing big home games the attendance of WKU games is impacted (and that is during the regular season) which makes your rant even more ludicrous.
Some people like other sports better than basketball. That is not a crime. Personally, I prefer football, which makes the pathetic attendance at WKU football games if either 1) UK is playing at the same time or 2) the temperature drops below 50 degrees, hard to endure.
I also enjoy baseball, but apparently not many other BG residents do, as attendance is not what it should be for that sport either.
UL draws very well for football, baseball and softball. WKU draws pretty well for men's basketball.
Personal sports preferences aside, WKU fans do not have the right to question the attendance numbers of other SBC fans, particularly when Diddle is not filled to near its capacity on a regular basis.
I know that I will soon be blasted and banned from WKU fandom, but so be it.
Yes I realize high school sports are important with people who have kids invovled I get it....Just seemed silly to me Cajun fans listing 4 excuses on why their fans cannot travel 2 hours to a one and done basketball tournament with a future NBA PG...I am not talking about the Cajuns brining 5k fans, was just saying you woudl think they could get 1k for a tournament game they are relatively close to......WKU has been the Memphis of this conf. in basketball and the last 10 years we have had 0 tournaments anywhere close to BG...Memphis hosts their tournament every season and did in CUSA too.....YOur hub of basketball and moneymaker of the sport, you would think could get a tournament at least in Biringham or Huntsville or somewhere even remotley close to where the fans that care about the sport are....SB has been backwards for years on this.....Just frustrated is all that a lot of WKU fans do not have the money or time to take off to travel 11 hours eveyr season for a conf. tournament no one cares about besides WKU.....I am not saying WKU has perfect attend, but I bet a tournament we were in 2 hours away, our excuses would not be we have a womens softball game to attend too that is on the road, so we cannot come to a one and done basketball tournament in Louisvillle....
Here is the problem with your argument.
1. There is no way any Basketball coach would agree to play the tournament in Bowling Green. No one wants to make the tournament any easier for WKU. Attendance be darned.
2. Places like Nashville, Memphis, and Birmingham. Places that WKU insisted the tournament be played at, wanted nothing to do with us. Birmingham has no SBC teams in the market. Nashville decided that MTSU and WKU's crowds didn't make the tourney a money maker. And there is no way Memphis would ever host the Sun Belt. The University of Memphis saw to that.
3. That meant the SBC had to look at the smaller towns. Places that didn't have large arenas, but had enough, and would promote the Tourney. Hot Springs won that bet. And despite the fact that WKU hated Hot Springs because it wasn't convenient for their fans. Hot Springs worked hard for the tournament and made a big enough deal about it that there was at least some local interest in the later rounds, despite neither Arkansas school playing well most years. Last year, the SBC Tournament and High School State Finals we4re supposed to be in Hot Springs the same week, and the High School Tournament is the one that got moved. Despite the fact that attendance for that game is ultimately higher than for the SBC Tournament.
The Tournament was moved to New Orleans at WKU's insistence. Your President and AD moaned about wanting a tourney game in a big city. A Big City that is only accommodating us because our league offices are in town, and because we moved at the last minute, we are locked out of downtown hotels and forced to play at a Southland Conference Arena because of different conventions in town.
Then you get upset because Cajun fans are not huge basketball fans and would rather follow baseball or softball (Both highly ranked sports in Lafayette) Or follow their kid's High school play in a State Championship game rather than watch the Cajuns figure out yet another way to lose in the tournament, like they and stAte have done for each of the last 7 years?
Those are impossible standards. I hope you enjoy next year's CUSA Tournament live from Scenic El Paso. I hear Ciudad De Juarez is really hopping this time of year.