Attitude Change

[cubanpanther]

Alright here it goes. I am not saying everyone on here, or the fans at the games need this but most of US, yes US, need an attitude change. Everyone is freaking out after 1 game. We are ready to jump ship. quotes like Jeter needs to be fired, team played horrible, student section was lacking, student leaders aren't doing their job.

Come on guys really? What are we? What do we all have in common? We are PANTHERS! we LOVE UWM and bleed black and gold. I dont care if you dont like the coaching staff, think you could do a better job, or know of someone who can, but we need to support who have NOW!

I wasnt at the game saturday because i play on the club hockey team and we were at Bradley University but that is besides the point. right away my roommate told me that there was not only lack of student section participation but people in the regular fanbase were leaving the game early. Yes the Panthers were outplayed and prolly out coached but i dont care. you are there to support our team and back them up no matter what. we are not bandwagon fans, and until we as fans and supporters start to realize this and become more committed to our shcool and sports we will struggle.

Who wants to play for fans that leave early if they are losing or people who are going to yell and diss them if they arent playing 100%? that isnt right and its on us.

I took responsibility for the lack of student section support at the CSU game even though i wasnt there. I feel its my fault that my peers were lackign in cheers and support. Even though the team was doing bad we still need to work our butts off cheering and support them.

Now i ask the people on here who aren't students for your help. when we cheer, cheer with us. when we clap, clap with us. You have no idea How awesome it feels and looks not only for the students but the players and coaches when the whole arena is in unison cheering. I get goose bumps thinking about it.

When the students Cheer "Milwaukee" and point at you the regular fans please cheer back "Panthers" we need to get more cheers that include the student section with the regulare attendance responding with cheers.

Coach Jeter commented last year to me about the cheer where the students go "milwaukee" and everyone esle responds "panthers" he said that the atmosphere was great and he could feel a surge on the bench and in the players with energy. it sparks something in the guys and they play harder especially when the fanbase is behind them.

So i guess what i am trying to say is that please everyone take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, am i really helping the program and school? am i supporting athletics at UWM to the best of my ability? At the games, on the board, and when talking to other people be supportive. Be excited and help out. Big things are happening here at UWM and you will see changes i promise. We are workign on things to make this school and organization better than it was when they were a sweet sixteen team. So help me and everyone else and try to do the little things.

[Super King]

I agree with the general sentiment that people are overreacting, but people have overreacted three or four years in a row. We, all of us, even me, need to realize that we're nine games into a 28-game season and two games into an 18-game conference season and take a gigantic chill pill.

I'd like to say I'm surprised at the massive downturn in spirit, optimism, and attitude, but at this point it's old hat. Last year people called for Jeter's head after a slow start, and when Koonce decided that he agreed suddenly there was a huge shift to Jeter's side. Why? Because it provided a frame of reference. And then suddenly we won 20 games and the matter was behind us; we realized once again the steady improvement under Jeter, saw the excellent recruiting classes, understood the great home winning percentage, recognized the tremendous mentor Jeter's been to troubled players like Avery and Ricky. And we rightly withheld judgment.

We need a frame of reference in this situation too. At the end of the season if we've underperformed, then we can safely make judgments based on the availability of the entire season for evaluation. But we're nine games in.

[nohopspanther]

The mistake is believing those of us who are dissatisfied with the level of effort and execution is thinking we are basing it on one game. In my case, I'm basing it on Jeter's entire tenure. The best team was his first year and he spent half the season screwing that up, only when he changed direction and went with the kids instead of against them did he have success.

[Deleted]

Tenure.

[Hack]

"Tenure?! I got 15-year!" -- Rickey Henderson

[gman2]

In general I agree on the overreaction to the CSU loss. But this was different. The final score didn't reflect the actual beat down we took from CSU. We were down by 30 at three different times in the second half. That should not happen at home against any HL opponent. As others have said, after this kind of loss it is difficult to get people to return.

After the UNI game I commented on the lack of flow in the offense in the second half, what appeared to be confusion on offense. It was dismissed as simply playing against a well coached team. Well that same confusion showed up for two halves against WMU, one half against MU and two halves against CSU. Again it is early in the season. I just hope the coaches can see this and make the needed adjustments. Or maybe a well coached opponent simply affects this team to the point they easily become disrupted on offense? Whatever the situation, this type of play will not get people in the seats and get those already in the seats excited enough to cheer.

And regrading the cheering and clapping. I have an example that might sound trivial, but tell my ten old year. Look up in the 300 section behind the Panther bench and you will see my son and I waving the black flag with Milwaukee under the Panther logo. My son is always amazed that we wave our flag and he cheers and gets excited yet the camera operators won't show him on the screen. I personally don't care. But for a ten year old to pour all his effort into cheering only to have people sitting on their hands get attention just kills him.

My son and I will continue to do our part, come to every game, wave our flag, cheer on the Panthers and continue to promote Panther basketball to our friends and family.

[FTA1982]

Dec 6, 2010 17:35:55 GMT -6 nohopspanther said:

The mistake is believing those of us who are dissatisfied with with the level of effort and execution is thinking we are basing it on one game. In my case, I'm basing it on Jeter's entire tenure. The best team was his first year and he spent half the season screwing that up, only when he changed direction and went with the kids instead of against them did he have success.

+1

It's bad when my mother, total optimist and a fellow season ticketholder, feels the same way.

[uwmfutbol]

Dec 6, 2010 17:39:17 GMT -6 @ghostoffreak said:

Tenure.

[cubanpanther]

Dec 6, 2010 17:59:40 GMT -6 gman2 said:

My son and I will continue to do our part, come to every game, wave our flag, cheer on the Panthers and continue to promote Panther basketball to our friends and family.

Thank you! at the game against bowling green on the 18th i will wave back at you guys from the front row of student section

[gbpackers10]

I'm a Junior and that was one of the better student turnouts I've seen at a game, number of students wise since I've been here. And I've been going to games since my freshman year. The only games I can think of off hand that had better student turnout since I've been at UWM is 2009 vs. Butler and Marquette earlier this season. So I don't really know why people are making such a fuss about the student section.

It's obviously not good enough, but in comparison to the normal turnout we get it was well above average. It's too bad the team didn't come to play and was out of it right from the start because I think the student section could have been a great asset for them. Like one poster said in a different thread, we were still chanting and cheering and stuck around even when we were down by 20. Obviously the die-hards are going to stay behind the team, but it's hard to keep the john/jane doe fan interested when we are getting blown out by 30, you can't really blame them.