Game 23- Wright State

[Duct_Tape_Pounce]

It's easy to explain why nobody was booing and many fans were cheering the team on even when struggling yesterday. The players played their hearts and deserved to be cheered on even as the lead was shrinking. They just got tired. It's not easy to keep up with a solid (and deep) team when your starters play 172 of the possible 200 minutes. Malcolm Moore played 17 of the additional minutes, meaning the top 6 players on the depth chart played 189 of the possible 200 minutes yesterday. I know this team isn't exceptionally deep, but JJ didn't play at all, and Bobo and Lyle played less than a minute each. Perhaps there's a good reason why they're not playing, but it seems like someone from the bench could make a contribution, even if it is just to give a few minutes of breather to a starter. Malcolm and the starters were diving after loose balls and giving it 110% even when they struggled, which is a whole lot more than can be said about last year's team, but no lead will be safe if the bench doesn't play more.

[SRT4driver]

This HOME WIN moved Milwaukee's RPI/SOS from 177/249 to 169/242 (4-5, 13-9 vs D-I).

This ROAD LOSS moved Wright State's RPI/SOS from 212/294 to 214/284 (5-4, 11-11 vs D-I).

[Lutzow10]

Jan 30, 2014 22:22:40 GMT -6 SRT4driver said:

Jan 29, 2014 17:33:29 GMT -6 @victorpanther said:

Myself, 1 other die hard Milwaukee fan and another "almost" die-hard fan had a conversation with then "AD Geiger" in 2012.

They can refute my observation from that meeting. But what we were paid back from our recommendations was simply lip-service. We came there to address serious branding, student/general Milw. fan engagement, facilities issues.

And we were quite frankly- treated like SH**. I appreciate what Mr. Geiger did for all of his other schools- but he did nothing for UWM. In fact he brought Milwaukee down more than a couple pegs. Odd happenstance.... I thought someone of his stature and experience would have taken his interim AD job ($200,000/yr) a bit more seriously. But no. He cut us off at every turn. Ignored our suggestions and essentially told us "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU- I AM RIDING OUT INTO MY RETIREMENT SUNSET... Good LUCK UWM!!!"

That my friends- is f'd up. Sorry if I ruffled any feathers, but what I speak is the truth and I don't pull punches.

GO PANTHERS!!!! (despite your lack of support from the University). Hate me all you want, but I call it like it is.

GO PANTHERS!!!!

I was the "other die hard" fan. My good friend Dan, a creator of the Bucks' Squad 6/Sector 7 cheering section, was the other "almost" die hard who graciously volunteered to join us to lend support and possible ideas. I left that meeting with the worst taste I've ever had in my mouth, having heard every possible idea about growing our program and fanbase from all three of us either blown off or patronized (FWIW, this was over a month before the move to the K.C. was announced). From that day on, I knew that Andy Geiger would be just another in a long line of A.D. failures for us, so I was not surprised in the least when the move back to our campus gym was announced.

Funny story... In the meeting, Andy Geiger LITERALLY told me, "you are a part of the (marketing) problem" simply because I had the audacity to take it upon myself to create a Panther fan t-shirt based on the "Winsconsin" t-shirt that uses the Vadgers motion W.

The only problem with that assessment is that less than a year before this meeting with A.D. Geiger, I had emailed several UWM administrators and athletic department personnel with a very well thought out and detailed marketing proposal, volunteering my shirt idea to the AD, to be given away/sold as part of a ticket promotion, or however they saw fit, with ANY AND ALL PROFITS GOING TO THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT (and trust me, based on the demand and sales I've had, there would have been a lot of profit for the dept). As we've all come to expect from our leadership, I got the cold shoulder. And to add insult to their ineptitude, less than a year later I get told that I am part of the problem by Lord Geiger. What tremendous insight, Andy. Why don't you go dump another glass of wine on a reporters head, and then turn around and tell everyone that THEY are no longer allowed to drink in public at your "pullout bleacher school". Hypocrite.

Several years ago, right around the time we hired A.D. George Koonce, I started a new job in the beverage industry, and I volunteered to donate products from my work that could have possibly saved the athletic department thousands of dollars a year. I did not even get so much as an email back. Unbelievable to me (at the time). Not so unbelievable after everything I've experienced since.

Yikes..... Thanks for more insight into the mess that has been our athletics department for a while. That is something that has always blown my mind as well. There are so many things they could do to make this program better and improve things but they just dont for some godforsaken reason. And i dont get it. I will tell you right now if my job was helping run the atlwtics department I would be busting my butt to get things done. Talking to people constantly about donating, trying everything I could to the best of my ability, because i actually care. To me it seems like no one really cares enough. Why arent the people with the passion and fire and desire for this program to succeed and raise to new heights working for the athletic department, and the bums who could care less for what they are doing are. It makes me sick

[SRT4driver]

It is sickening.

Also, I should have said "One of many problems with that assessment..." instead of "The only problem with that assessment".

[loveyouso]

Is the problem just with UWM? I assume that most of you have attended WAVE and Admirals games. Do you ever get any E_Mails from them? I NEVER have. I regularly receive E_Mails from the Chicago Wolves advising me of promotions. And, I hsve gone to way fewer games in Rosemont than I have in MKE. I also regularly receive E_Mails from DePaul. Don't know if I have ever received an E_Mail from UWM. I had season Football tickets for Northwestern in '04 & '05. I still regularly get E_Mails from NU. At least once a year NU asks me for money for a fund. UWM has NEVER asked me for money for the Black Panther fund. OK, I do not have UWM Season Tickets. BUT, I attend more UWM BB games a season, than there are home Football games.
Apparently the Milwaukee Sports teams think they do not have to promote their product.

[SRT4driver]

I moved this off-topic discussion about Geiger and the athletic department to here: uwmfreak.proboards.com/thread/6570/lord-andy-geiger?page=1&scrollTo=117413