I agree with you to a point, the athletic department does not market any games at MSU very well, and they definitely dont put a lot of time into creating a better atmosphere either. I think Durham is partly to blame, but not entirely. Look at how Kramer has turned around the football atmosphere... Mick could take a page from that.suckitgriz wrote:Actually, I feel the same way about the Field House, however, I go to every game and have a descent time. I do not think Durham gets enough credit- look at some of the players that he has brought in over the years. Players with personality as well as some serious talent. Durham also has been perceptive enough to realize that he may be a little "old school" and that he needed to bring in some fresh coaching talent. Now we are looking at, possibly, one of the most talented teams that we have seen since the Quadre' days. If anyone is to blame, I blame the Athletic Department. The entertainment at the games is not enough to keep the fans in the stands. They need to revamp the whole program...from the mascot to the music. I am sick of looking at the flying wheat montana blimp and unathletic kids shooting hoops. Give me Cheerleaders in skirts and good music- that is a start. Then a little advertising on campus would help. When I was in school, if I would have not been living with a B-ball player, I would have never known when there was a game during the middle of the week. I think this is one way that the A.D. has failed- they do not make it a big event for students to get excited about. Sure football has grown in attendence, but even that could be better and it starts by getting 12,500 undergraduates interested.
Each year the game day atmosphere at football and basketball get better. Its partly due to increased cash flow to improve on the little things, but its also due to experience as well. The music is getting better, but still is lacking in imagination. We need the cheerleaders back - but if all they do is stand there and clap then I dont want them back - get creative and lets have an athletic group. I actually like our band - wish they were bigger though, why cant they do simple things like play the Empire Strikes Back music when the defense takes the field, or a couple bars from the fight song when the offense goes out, etc. Champ sucks, plain and simple - we need an athletic kid with an imagination as a mascot as well as a new costume for Champ. Basketball timeouts... can we have more drunk students shoot free throws... sheesh
All these things take money, but more importantly they take imagination and some creativity. The $56 question though... who is our marketing director and what do they do during the week? And have they ever been to a football or basketball game outside Montana?I wish some of the students would organize some type of cheering section like The Kennel at Gonzaga, Camron Crazies at Duke, etc. Wear the same colored shirts to games, do some syncronized cheers, stand the entire game, etc. Make it a school sponsored club or something. At basketball games, all the students do is sit on their hands or chant "eat isht Griz go Cats go" I hate the Griz, but I hate that cheer.
