Offer from MU

[milwsport]

"Although a number of conspiracy theorists continue to believe that Marquette actually rigged the National Invitation Tournament brackets to avoid UWM in the first round, it is safe to say that MU had nothing to do with tonight's matchup."

yeah right! The NIT announcing it wouldn't schedule us to play them in the first round because "We don't put schools together who don't want to play each other," before the field was set had to come from somewhere.

"Marquette has no reason to play UWM"

How about playing because the fans want that match up. How about playing because you need to prove you're still the best.

Of course you prove those things on the court, not by offering ridiculous deals that even a decent D-2 team would have trouble accepting.

[dunthat]

As a long time UWM bball fan, season ticket holder since Bo Ryan's first year at the Klotsche and long, long, long time Marquette hater, I was an usher at the Arena during the Marquette glory days - saw Notre Dame break Marq's home court winning streak (and let the ND fans storm the court, one of my all time favorite sports moments - I would rather see UWM get the chance to beat Marq on their home court than not play at all. The two venues are only across State St. There is no way the Bradley Center will give Marq the same sort of home court advantage that the Kohl Center gives UW. I give credit to Jeter for trying to get the best deal he can and posturing that the deal offered does not reflect the current state of affairs for UWM basketball. It would however give UWM another quality opponent for the next five years.

[pantherpanther]

A friend of a friend of a friend passed this email onto me...let's discuss shall we?

Here's some interesting information...

Tom Crean only appears to be giving one side of the story.



According to TC,Marquette wants to get an equal contract as to what UW has with UWM.

Ironically their request isn't equal, they are actually requesting for a better deal than what was contracted by UWM and UW.

So based on the past 8 years, while Crean has been head coach at Marquette,

Marquette has gone to 3 NCAA's while Madison has gone to 8. Each school has

one Final 4 appearance ....so that is equal. But UW also has 5 more appearances in the NCAA than MU and UW has an Elite 8 to add to that stat!

UW has won 2 Big Ten Conference Titles to Marquette's 1 Conference USA title while the Badgers also won a Big Ten Conference Tournament.

During the same period UWM has gone to the NCAA's 3 times in the last 4 years including a "Sweet Sixteen and a second round appearence.

(see the attached Marquette and Wisconsin seasons stats).


Marquette, the last 7 of 8 years, was in Conference USA while UW was in the Big 10.

Granted Marquette's new conference the Big East is very prestigious and competitive, however

they can only state 1 year of experience. Going forward MU and UW might be equal but only time will tell. However

expectations and predications don't always come to fruition!

If you base negotiations on previous results and experience, Marquette desires an equal deal, but do they even deserve that?

UW has a much higher performance rating. They are only 1 of 12 schools who have made the NCAA tournament

the last 8 years in a row. So the additional question is...why should Marquette request a better deal ?

When Bo Ryan set up the original deal with UW, it was a 2 - 1 (Madison-Milw). When it was renegotiated when Bo

got to Madison, it was a 6-2 arrangement tied in with the existing contract. Bo requested the playing of the games to be

spaced out so UW would not have to play in state rivals UWGB and UWM on the road in the same season.It may appear to be a

4 - 1 but it's not. Do the math.

Marquette has tried to position themselves as the good guys offering to play UWM with a 4-1 but an equal deal is a 4 and 2 .

Don't you just love politics in sports !

Either way, the game should be played and it will be great for all Wisconsin basketball fans.

Here is the table:

Marquette
Coach Season Record Conference Conference Tournament Record Poat Season Tournament Post Season Tourn.Record Notes
Tom Crean 98/99 14-15 6-10 USA 0-1
Tom Crean 99/00 15-14 8-8 USA 0-1 NIT 0-1
Tom Crean 00/01 15-14 9-7 USA 1-1
Tom Crean 01/02 26-7 13-3 USA 2-1 NCAA 0-1
Tom Crean 02/03 27-6 14-2 USA 0-1 NCAA 4-1 Final Four & Conf USA Reg.Season Champs
Tom Crean 03/04 19-12 8-8 USA 0-1 NIT 2-1 Nit Quarterfinals
Tom Crean 04/05 19-12 7-9 USA 0-1 NIT 0-1
Tom Crean 05/06 20-9 10-6 Big East 0-1 NCAA 0-1
155-89 75-53 3-8 6-6 3 NCAA's & 3 NIT's

Wisconsin
Coach Season Record Conference Conference Tournament Record Poat Season Tournament Record Notes
Dick Bennett 98/99 22-10 9-7 Big Ten 0-1 NCAA 0-1
Dick Bennett 99/00 22-14 8-8 Big Ten 2-1 NCAA 4-1 Final Four
DB/Soderberg 00/01 18-11 9-7 Big Ten 0-1 NCAA 0-1
Bo Ryan 01/02 19-13 11-5 Big Ten 0-1 NCAA 1-1 Big Ten Champs
Bo Ryan 02/03 24-8 12-4 Big Ten 0-1 NCAA 2-1 Big Ten Champs
Bo Ryan 03/04 25-7 12-4 Big Ten 3-0 NCAA 1-1 Big Ten Tournament Champs-2nd Place Reg Season
Bo Ryan 04/05 25-9 11-5 Big Ten 2-1 NCAA 3-1 Elite 8 - 3rd place Reg season Big ten
Bo Ryan 05/06 19-12 9-7 Big Ten 0-1 NCAA 0-1
174-84 81-47 7-7 11-8 8 NCAA'S

[dylanrocks]

Just got back from the basketball offices. The verbal offer is for $45,000 per guarantee game.

[pantherpanther]

what do you think of that dylan? Sounds low to me.

[BBFran]

Low-ball all the way. What does that tell you?

[coldwind]

The day Marquette actually WANTS to play UWM,is the day Crean is no longer coach.

[dylanrocks]

I'd say that the proposal is very five years ago. Sounds like a preliminary offer.

[pantherpanther]

I'm sure we are not going to come out of this experience unscathed in the minds of some in the public, but I hope Bud and Rob stick to their guns on this one. No way they get a better deal than UW!!! That sh*t is old! f*** disrespect...that's just downright nasty.

[JimmyLemke]

I could see us accepting it if it gets to 65-70 K

[milwsport]

The thing is that it locks us in for four years. What if our success continues? 45k would be way cheap. Hell even before our run I bet we were getting more than that.

[crazyfred]

You're awfully quick to believe DylanRocks and that $45K number.

Not saying he's wrong as he could very well be right. Back when I worked there we used to pay UWM about $20K if I remember but that had a lot to do with the fact no lodging was needed or travel or any other special perks that we sometimes had to pay other schools...especially during the classic.

A brief little article with quotes about guarantee payments for buy games for midmajors that I thought you guys might find interesting..enjoy.

---------

Guarantee games aren't listed as such in the schedule, so a lot of casual fans don't know what they are. Heck, a lot of longtime fans don't. That's why, in the interest of higher education, I've put together a simple "The More You Know" PSA that can be printed out and read aloud before one of these events occurs.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the public address announcer could intone, his voice echoing in the corners of the vast arena. "Tonight's game is not actually a game, per se. What you are about to witness is a prearranged win for our team. Take a good look at that sorry bunch over there in their dark jerseys, from a faraway college you've never heard of, huddling around their bench.

"But don't feel sorry for those guys. At the end of the night, they'll receive $50,000... minus their travel expenses... to lose by upwards of 40 points. But the real winners tonight are us, your athletic department. We'll make our money back... and that's because you great fans paid money to come out tonight and watch this. Please remember to visit the concession stand. And now, please welcome... Your! Syracuse! Orange!"

Guarantee games have been around ever since the Soviet Union's heyday - as long as there's been a stratified structure to college basketball, haves and have-nots. Have-littles and have-nothings have little to offer other than sloppy service as basketball prostitutes - a big college doesn't gain much from a home-and-home or three-for-one deal with a school with a 1,200-seat arena in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest full-service airport or two-star hotel. The Road to the Final Four does not go through, or anywhere near, Itta Bena.

[uwmfutbol]

crazyfred, there's not really any other way to put it: you're a moron. Do us all a favor, and go away and don't come back until the two teams are actually playing.

[milwsport]

His post makes the case for us against this deal. Accept it and we are viewed as "basketball prostitutes" with no chance of competing against the big guys.

[JimmyLemke]

Not only that, but he's basically saying every buy game is won by the home team. Horse stool, there have been many instances of teams not losing by 40, but winning buy games.

Let's not spread this out into another overran topic, PLEASE. I BEG of you.