Anyone apathetic?

[orangecuse]

Watched today's game. Was not apathetic.

Well, you're the board historian, so no surprise. Historian's are by definition supposedly objective, therefore, not showing any apathy or feeling meets the definition.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I guess I’m not apathetic but I care a lot less

 

[44cuse]

So how do you know it's unwatchable if you only watch our games? It's not as good as it used to be with all the guys leaving early but there are a lot of enjoyable games out there.

That may be true. But if our games are any indication, it’s not like I am watching one team play itself. Granted, I’m generally seeing one league with the exception of the couple of meaningful OOC games we play.

However, I watched a lot of CBB for a lot of years and it went down down down. So maybe it is better now. But from what I’ve seen with who we play, nothing leads me to believe that. And on top of that, it’s not just the quality of play. It’s also what LIC was alluding to in that it seems like the tournament is the only thing that matters.

44cuse

 

[OttoMets]

I really wish College hoops added a Champions League style competition during the season to make it more relevant than just March.

If the NCAA said the Champions League games would be exempt each year and the conferences got the TV money from whomever bought the rights to the NCAA basketball Champions League then it could work. There are 32 conferences you give each conference 1 bid and then the more successful conferences would get more of the 32 other slots like the UEFA Champions League which cap 4 slots for the best league La Liga, BPL, Bundesliga.
So you would get 32 teams, then each of these conferences would get an additional ACC-3 B1G-3, PAC-3, Big XII-3, MWC-1, SEC-3, AAC-2, A-10-2, Big East-3, Missouri Valley-1, and give out the remaining 7 slots to the lower conferences.

You draw the 64 teams into 16 regions. You seed them 1-64 regardless of conferences and keep the top 16 apart. Play the 3 teams you are drawn into home/home. The group winner goes on, tiebreakers are head to head/if that doesn't decide the higher seed advances.

From there you get the 16 remaining teams and draw matchups. If you want 32 teams runner ups as well.
You give group winners home court and after that it’s just random so a midmajor could host Final 8 games as well.

Again, these games would have to be sprinkled in during the regular season from November till before March and the conference tournaments. It would affect 64 of the 320+ NCAA teams each year, but it would generate a crapload of money and would get fun matchups. The winning team would play 9 additional games during the season, and participating teams would play only a minimum of 6 more games under my format.

Conference play would matter a lot more as you would be playing to finish in champions league spots. Losing a game in January would have a double effect.

I think that'd make the game more interesting, and on a related note, I'd buy tickets to see the faces Boeheim makes and the words he uses when he's told that Syracuse might be playing random tourney non-league games throughout the season.

 

[JrodCuse]

I don’t know if apathetic is the right word, but losses now no longer sting the way they used to. Maybe it’s because reality has set in that we truly now are a team, that in the ACC, is average at best.

Each loss this year hurt a little less than the one before it. Now I barely even watch the games. I guess losing 5 of 6 games, with 4 of those losses being What losses just pulls you down.

Maybe we’ll be better than .500 in the ACC next year. At this point I’m starting to think we won’t.

Football now has a much more optimistic 5 year outlook than basketball when you look forward.

 

[JrodCuse]

Also for everyone saying all that matters is the tournament...isn’t that the case in every single sport?

You either make the postseason or you don’t. I don’t know why people are suddenly taking this stance.

Giants didn’t make the playoffs, so the season is over.

Cuse FB didn’t win 6 games so season is over.

 

[tipphill]

It's not being a "fairweather fan" to be sad to admit you don't care anymore. Clearly I post on the Syracuse Messageboard so it's not like I decided we suck, I'm going to find another team to pull for. Many of you know I'm a die hard Bills fan - I know what it's like to root endlessly for an awful football team.

Believe me, I wish I cared but I can't get myself to do it anymore. Maybe it has to do with living in the south where it's 60 degrees many days in the winter so it's not the only thing I look forward to (I say that since some of you mentioned the winters in Syracuse). ...but I don't think that's it. I'll always be a fan a Cuse Football and I try to watch games but I've been broken in my fandom there for a while. Unfortunately the same can be said for Cuse Basketball now. The only thing that matters in CBB is March Madness and if you're not going to the dance as a P5, you might as well close up shop. Those F4 runs were awesome and I went nuts, but the seasons sucked. Now the seasons suck and we aren't going to the dance. Never mind the fact our brand of basketball is a joke.

We recruit athletes, not ball players, yet don't play athletic basketball. We let every team we play dictate tempo. Our offense looks like an HS JV team and half the squad is afraid of getting benched ever year. Why tf does anyone want to watch that? Like someone above said, either be successful or be fun to watch...you can't be neither. This is now Year 2 of "neither" going on Year 5 or 6 of not being fun to watch.

I also used to watch big CBB games and looked forward to whoever was on Big Monday. Guess how much I care about CBB outside of Syracuse? Nada...until March Madness. So maybe it's not just a Syracuse issue but a CBB issue in which Syracuse is exacerbating the problem.

I'm proud to rep Syracuse. I have a framed Carrier Dome panorama in my office, Syracuse football helmet paper weights and Cuse coasters for my Agency. But, at some point, we need to look at ourselves, as a program, and decide if we want to be big boys or not. We've become a middle of the pack ACC Basketball program and a bottom of the barrel P5 Football Program. When people like me start to lose interest, then imagine how the actual fair weather fans feel.

I posted this thread because I'm worried. I'm worried about our 2 major programs and I'm worried that I've become apathetic. It's not a good feeling and I wish I didn't feel this way...I really do. This isn't a "look at me" post. This is me letting y'all know that I'm sad I feel this way but I think more and more do each year.

they have been trying to decide if we were big boys for years. the fans forced the dome, and su did not reinvest in the program when were good. they have always cheaped out, exploited fan loyalty, and still face the same dilemma. we have lost many fans,will lose more senior fans and have not cultivated younger fans with the same loyalty.

 

[SU2NASA]

I played golf and it ended up being 33 degrees and I’m sure I enjoyed it far more than watching that game.

 

[br801]

I played golf and it ended up being 33 degrees and I’m sure I enjoyed it far more than watching that game.

You missed an entertaining game and some really good performances.

 

[DBCooper]

I played golf and it ended up being 33 degrees and I’m sure I enjoyed it far more than watching that game.

Good for you!

I enjoyed watching the game.

 

[cuseguy]

Disagree. In the NFL the season is only 16 game so every game matters so so much. College football literally has its regular season as a playoff as 1 or 2 losses and you possibly have no shot to win a championship. MLB only 1 wild card spot if you don't win your division. The regular season actually matters. In College basketball you can have a crappy 3 week stretch but if you still win 20 games most likely you make the field and are in the Big Dance. Literally for "most" of the big schools (Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, UNC,..etc) the regular season is a glorified exhibition these days to get ready for March.

There used to be a day when if you won your conference tournament you would hang a banner in your arena to celebrate that, those days are long over! Because nobody cares anymore about a conference tournament championship.

And honestly the "positioning yourself for March" is also something the NCAA has changed and ruined. In the past they would seed you based on record and such. Now, in an effort to sell tickets and get people in the arenas they seed and try to place you to a closer site in "hope" you the school will travel fans to the Round 1 and 2 games to pack the place. So you might technically be a 5 seed but if we move you to the 3rd seed we can then place you in city X and you are closer to your home city and you will travel fans to the game and make us money and have more people in the arena, so yeah even that has been screwed up by the NCAA with how they host/seed the Round 1 and Round 2 games. So there is no positioning yourself for March anymore because the seeding is, well "Rigged."

The sport of college basketball is broken and nobody is trying to fix it. And it has nothing to do with kids jumping to the NBA at all. Shorten the season, limit the number of schools one conference can send to the NCAA Tournament at like 5 or 6...and then, AND ONLY THEN will you make the regular season matter again!

Well, you just provided the answer for why I stopped watching the NBA years ago. Talk about a meaningless regular season.

 

[Stern]

Well, you just provided the answer for why I stopped watching the NBA years ago. Talk about a meaningless regular season.

Yep. NBA and NHL regular seasons are meaningless too as they let too many teams into the playoffs. College basketball's issue isn't the 64 (or 68) team Tournament, it's that the regular season means literally nothing. Sure you have to win enough to make it to the tournament but fan's don't get juiced or pumped up for any one or two regular season games. Sure you may have a Duke-UNC game that gets fans going but other than that, there are no rivalry games that really matter on a national level. Literally a head coach is only judged on what happens in March. The sport has killed off its regular season and turning around that ship will be tough for the NCAA to do.

 

[realorange]

I played golf and it ended up being 33 degrees and I’m sure I enjoyed it far more than watching that game.

What kind of cowpath let you on their greens at that temperature?

 

[20Plus]

It's a long season it's been a long winter so far we just need some positive momentum. I'm glad our players and coaches don't have this attitude or the same suppose it fans would be calling them out

 

[cliftonparksufan]

It's a long season it's been a long winter so far we just need some positive momentum. I'm glad our players and coaches don't have this attitude or the same suppose it fans would be calling them out

Tuesday night's 9 pm start vs the worst team in the conference will probably be one of the lowest attended games in Cuse league history (Big East and ACC). I'll still drive over 2 hours to go after working all day because that's why I invested in season tickets. The team needs my support and I will provide it.

 

[20Plus]

Tuesday night's 9 pm start vs the worst team in the conference will probably be one of the lowest attended games in Cuse league history (Big East and ACC). I'll still drive over 2 hours to go after working all day because that's why I invested in season tickets. The team needs my support and I will provide it.

One of the best responses I've heard. If you ever need a great price for a hotel room either coming or going let me know.
I am a Hotel General Manager.

 

[cuseguy]

Yep. NBA and NHL regular seasons are meaningless too as they let too many teams into the playoffs. College basketball's issue isn't the 64 (or 68) team Tournament, it's that the regular season means literally nothing. Sure you have to win enough to make it to the tournament but fan's don't get juiced or pumped up for any one or two regular season games. Sure you may have a Duke-UNC game that gets fans going but other than that, there are no rivalry games that really matter on a national level. Literally a head coach is only judged on what happens in March. The sport has killed off its regular season and turning around that ship will be tough for the NCAA to do.

Well, SU used to have a few rivalries in the Big East — but that no longer exists in the ACC and probably never will.

 

[scottynguyen]

I have found it pretty challenging to watch this team over the last several years. Our offense is bland and predictable, it reminds me of early 2000s NBA, an awful era. For me this dates all the way back to the MCW and Ennis teams. Combined with strong D, Individual talent propped those teams up just enough on offense.

Running an offensive system like we do (and I’m being generous by calling it a system) leaves zero chance that the team will be better than the sum of its parts. It is almost solely reliant on individual ability.

 

[Townie72]

I have found it pretty challenging to watch this team over the last several years. Our offense is bland and predictable, it reminds me of early 2000s NBA, an awful era. For me this dates all the way back to the MCW and Ennis teams. Combined with strong D, Individual talent propped those teams up just enough on offense.

Running an offensive system like we do (and I’m being generous by calling it a system) leaves zero chance that the team will be better than the sum of its parts. It is almost solely reliant on individual ability.

And running an offensive system like you are suggesting sublimates or minimizes the individual talents of the best players.

You cannot have it both ways, Scotty.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

And running an offensive system like you are suggesting sublimates or minimizes the individual talents of the best players.

You cannot have it both ways, Scotty.

Deferring to the best shot is not equal to minimizing the individual talents of the best players.

 

[Townie72]

Deferring to the best shot is not equal to minimizing the individual talents of the best players.

No, but that was not what the conversation was between Scotty and I. He wants a patterned offense run. I was pointing to the downside of a patterned offense.

Looks to me that we are spending a lot of time on each possession trying to find the "best" shot or at least a "good" shot. That is until the shot clock gets near to running out. Than we try to drive the lane or jack up a three.

 

[Stern]

Well, SU used to have a few rivalries in the Big East — but that no longer exists in the ACC and probably never will.

Yeah but even the SU-G'Town games since we left the Big East doesn't have the same feel. They are just another game and if we were in the Big East it would probably feel like just another game honestly

 

[SU2NASA]

What kind of cowpath let you on their greens at that temperature?

When you said cowpath, I immediately thought of Drumlins.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

I hate to admit this but I just don't care about this season.

CBB is losing its luster anyway given March Madness being the "end all be all" and zero familiarity with name players in the one and done/two and though era.

I didn't even watch the UVA game (uh, was it even on tv? I looked for a minute, couldn't find it, gave up and went out).

I've never been like this towards Cuse BBall in my life, but lately, I'm just bored. Bored with the stagnant offense. Bored with the zone defense. Bored of irrelevancy.

I really, really hope we're back next year because I'm entering Cuse Football level apathy.

I don't know if it's Syracuse, CBB in general, or both, because I never watch any other CBB games anymore. I watch non-Cuse CFB, along with the NBA and NFL but CBB.. meh.

To borrow the tree falling in the woods analogy, I just feel like if you have a CBB program and don't make the NCAAT, does it even exist?

More apoplectic than apathetic

 

[TinyManInside]

I have 34 years invested as a diehard fan of SU basketball. Even though I still watch all the games and root like crazy for SU, I am currently at the nadir of my fandom.

I can (mostly) deal with the mediocre product that Boeheim has fielded over the last 4 years, but the 'behind the scenes' stuff from the 2016-17 season left a bad taste in my mouth.