The Esteemed "Griz Gameday" Working Group??

[get'em_griz]

How about a beer garden on top of the Champions Center? :thumb:

 

[dayday]

We had a good meeting.

We decided to cancel all sports going forward though. Impossible to please you all.

Clear bag policy is kicking in next year. So gonna be a lot more pissed off fans.

Next project is new lock rooms for both basketball teams and volleyball. Plus expanding the athletic equipment facility. Looks pretty good. Costing around 3.5 million. Have about a million raised. Waiting on another commitment and then will take it to the regents for them to sign off.

Basketball court will have a new design next year.

Would eventually like an indoor practice facility and track. But that’s a ways out.

We have the third largest amount of season ticket holders in the Northwest.

Athletics budget is doing just fine. Everything has been planned for. Knew they were going to spend more money last year because of certain projects. That’s why they created the reserve accounts.

We are working on a new survey for fans. Always trying to improve the experience. Most of the ideas are already implemented or not realistic.

Beer in the stadium isn’t going to happen anytime soon. And we can’t force fans to stay inside the stadium. The infrastructure is not built for that.

Very good chance we see the Big Sky get broken into two conferences sooner rather than later. Another school or two may drop down.

All ideas are welcome! Brint will give a better summary. I suck at this kind of stuff.

You thunder-stealing SOB. Haha. Actually this is an awesome summary. For me this was just my 2nd meeting/1st year in, while BDizzle is on his 4th or 5th meeting (?) and in his 2nd year. There's a bit of a curve to catch up to discussion points, what's asked of our group, and how feedback is handled. I think this summary is great, a few things I'd add to:

- Clear bag policy will be an adjustment. No zippers on clear bags either, just 1 single snap is allowed. No water bottles with water in them either. Ideal goal is to get to what we see down I-90 with metal detectors/security as well. Can get 1 clutch + clear bag per person in. They're going to use the first few games to best educate people, so they probably won't make people leave clutches that are just a little too big out, but will crack down once they get in to the season. They're going to be putting up a lot more informational stuff on this.

- Athletics budget, like posted above, a lot of these losses were planned for. I straight up asked Greg Sundberg this question, "We all know football covers everyone's short fall, I want to confirm that this most recent budget amount was from fall 2017." Greg confirmed, yes. And we can all recall there was that NAU game where there were awful roads and the stadium was half full, and then the next week was hosting crappy UNC and people just opted not to go for an array of reasons. My next question to Greg was how the 2018 football numbers, at least initially, look compared to 2017's. And he said they're up and looking very good. He added more info that over the last year, or so, they've added a lot more season ticket holders too. The department has made some planned/smart fiscal decisions, and they're on a good track. Added in as well that men's hoops is looking strong, women's pretty much holding firm thanks to it's loyal base.

Another interesting point on the athletic budget, I can't recall who this came from, could have been Travis himself, but it was pointed out the cost of sending the basketball teams to Reno was vastly more expensive than sending basketball teams to a host city under the prior hoops championship format. Almost 9 times more expensive! Boise is supposed to be more cost effective than Reno, but won't be as good as how it was before.

- Beer sales in the stadium, as mentioned, the stadium doesn't have near the amount of concessions, bathrooms, and concourse areas to accommodate keeping 25,000+ people in it at halftimes. Add in the GSA tailgate is a big money maker for scholarships, which is vitally important. Don't expect this to happen, really. It sounds like they want to stay open for options/ideas on this, but there's some bigger complications to just not permitting re-entry and selling beer in the stadium.

In our summer/fall meeting we got updates from most all coaches on their team and expectations for the year. This time we got updates from Mike Petrino with the women's hoops team, Bobby Hauck, Travis DeCuire, and then we got a series of updates from Brynn and McKell on the remaining programs.

Women's hoops - Young team, challenged again by injuries however that's been a fact of life and have to adapt to adversity. Team has been responding well. Obviously this was before the Griz/cat game so they were hoping the "really bad film" from the loss in Bozo would help. Unfortunately it didn't. Have high hopes that the youth coming thru plus the return of Stiles and some red-shirting players will make this team damn good in the years ahead. Just 1 senior. Was asked about 3 point shooting and said it's the big area of needed improvement. Mike said that having a good 3 point shooter in women's hoops is like having a guy that can play above the rim in men's hoops. Big area of needed CONSISTENT improvement.

Men's hoops - Travis talked for damn near 40 minutes. Again we were on the afternoon/eve of the big game so he was full of energy and talked about all sorts of things. Talked about his relationship with his coaches and how him and Chris Cobb work together (there was a recent article on this). Him and Cobb will sometimes get in knock-down / drag-out arguments that may have an f-bomb or two in them about ideas haha. One example was how the hoops team changed it's defensive scheme a bit after the EWU road loss. The type of D they ran last year was best executed by Fab and the guys this year in his shoes just weren't as good enough at that expected role. Made the change, and haven't lost since. Pointed out the team was rated as being more efficient when Akoh was out the first time, but better defensively when he returned. Talked about how guys like Sayeed and Donovan have really risen to the challenge as he keeps preaching that guys never know when their time will come, but they need to be ready. Talked about this recruiting class might be the best collection of potential EVER in a Griz recruiting class and that some of these guys he would have pushed to get to Cal if he were there still. He talked a lot about his philosophy as a coach and what it takes to play for him. Had a point where one recruiting question he likes to ask all recruits is who their favorite NBA player is, answers like Lebron, Steph, Giannis, Dame (and some others he said) were good answers, team guys, complete guys, common goal guys. I asked if James Harden would be a red flag answer, he said yes. I think he also mentioned Durant as a red flag... talked more about Harden (coached against Harden when he played at ASU) and how players that want to be like him are bad for the team dynamic.

Football - Bobby was Bobby, friendly to the room but a bit more guarded and a little less candid in his answers and discussions. He talked for about 30 minutes. He discussed that the biggest issue this team needs to overcome going forward is on both sides of the line, they need to be bigger and stronger if they expect to be a dominant team. "We're not there, we don't have it yet. However right now those guys are down there in the Champions Center working on it, that's the biggest thing we need right now." He didn't say he doesn't have the guys he needs but he did seem to suggest that the team as a whole has A LOT more work to put in to get better. One person flat out asked why they had so many late game collapses, his reply was pretty simple, "We weren't a good enough team." He talked to us as well that some guys tend to get over-scrutinized while the work and efforts of others really needs to be put in perspective when considering what this team can accomplish. In talking about the recruiting class and if anyone could play right away he said that usually guys that play "furthest from the line of scrimmage" tend to be ready earlier to play, and vise-versa, the closer to the LOS the tougher it is to break in right away. Told us some funny storied about Hurlburt. The guy apparently is a bit of a joker. In high school told a new position coach he needed help tying his shoe, the coach tied his shoes for nearly two weeks until the head coach pointed out Alex knows how to tie his shoes. Also in camp Bobby was asking Alex which side of the the D-line he likes to play on as an end, right or left. Alex's answer was that it all depends on if he wants to use a long-arm technique or not. Didn't talk too much on the season ahead, Oregon will be tough as hell, probably a little bummed that Hebert returned, thinks he was the best NFL-ready QB for this prior season. Talked about how it would be great to split the Big Sky in 2 for the sake of scheduling, travelling, OOC, etc. Can't recall if it was him or Greg who pointed out that in the playoff committee last year there were 2 guys from the state of Rhode Island on the committee and just 1 AD representing everything west of the Mississippi (Kent). Spring ball in 2 weeks. Attitude is great. Loved the classroom achievements, best GPA ever. Players that are found missing classes have to clean the whole weight room from 10pm - 2am every Friday, "They hate it, but the good news for us is the weight room is spotless on Saturday." Champions center has been an immense help. One other funny comment, likes it when potential recruits are more wowed by the weight/training area than the locker room area.

Other sports

- Softball season soon, weather permitting, can't have snow on the ground for games obviously

- Soccer field getting re-done. This fall the soccer coach pointed out this team has lost a few girls to leg injuries b/c of the field.

- Track and field is hosting the Big Sky championships here, they need lots of volunteers, anyone willing to help should get in touch with athletics.

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

 

[kemajic]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

 

[Proud Griz Man]

I like the idea of a beer garden on top of the CC, but doubt it will happen due to "liability reasons".

How about a beer garden on top of the Champions Center? :thumb:

The UM facilities shortfalls need to be remedied soon. My only complaint ( excluding traffic-bottlenecks) about WaGriz is the horrible restroom situation. I am not talking about a future potential situation where people stay in at halftime, and I am talking about present-day status. Just my opinion.

Beer sales in the stadium, as mentioned, the stadium doesn't have near the amount of concessions, bathrooms, and concourse areas to accommodate keeping 25,000+ people in it at halftimes. Add in the GSA tailgate is a big money maker for scholarships, which is vitally important. Don't expect this to happen, really. It sounds like they want to stay open for options/ideas on this, but there's some bigger complications to just not permitting re-entry and selling beer in the stadium.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

Hauck is an old-school guy, and learned from his father, Don Read & company. Less-is-more. He is not a talk-first & act-later Jerry Glanville style communicator. :clap:

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better?

 

[BDizzle]

While Hauck may not answer everything directly, he is hilarious and very personable. I think he is just fine for the "brand".

And thank you to Brint for taking my C paper and turning it into an A paper. Overachiever.

 

[dayday]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

Yep no denying the success the first time around and I’m pulling like heck for him and the team this next year. My point was it doesn’t hurt to open a bit on the team but if he wins and wins like we should demand then I don’t really care. Winning solves a lot of problems.

 

[MissoulaMarinerFan]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

Yep no denying the success the first time around and I’m pulling like heck for him and the team this next year. My point was it doesn’t hurt to open a bit on the team but if he wins and wins like we should demand then I don’t really care. Winning solves a lot of problems.

Hauck is Bill Bellicheck - lite version. He's not always grumpy and he is the master of saying something without necessarily saying anything.

 

[PlayerRep]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

Yep no denying the success the first time around and I’m pulling like heck for him and the team this next year. My point was it doesn’t hurt to open a bit on the team but if he wins and wins like we should demand then I don’t really care. Winning solves a lot of problems.

I am not sure what you would like him to say, but listen to what he said at the signing day event. He went through almost all of the position groups.

 

[NorthEndZoneDan]

I like the idea of a beer garden on top of the CC, but doubt it will happen due to "liability reasons".

How about a beer garden on top of the Champions Center? :thumb:

The UM facilities shortfalls need to be remedied soon. My only complaint ( excluding traffic-bottlenecks) about WaGriz is the horrible restroom situation. I am not talking about a future potential situation where people stay in at halftime, and I am talking about present-day status. Just my opinion.

Beer sales in the stadium, as mentioned, the stadium doesn't have near the amount of concessions, bathrooms, and concourse areas to accommodate keeping 25,000+ people in it at halftimes. Add in the GSA tailgate is a big money maker for scholarships, which is vitally important. Don't expect this to happen, really. It sounds like they want to stay open for options/ideas on this, but there's some bigger complications to just not permitting re-entry and selling beer in the stadium.

If you think the traffic-bottlenecks are bad now, just wait until you see the shit-show the city council just made for game day.

 

[Jaredkuehn]

Another interesting point on the athletic budget, I can't recall who this came from, could have been Travis himself, but it was pointed out the cost of sending the basketball teams to Reno was vastly more expensive than sending basketball teams to a host city under the prior hoops championship format. Almost 9 times more expensive! Boise is supposed to be more cost effective than Reno, but won't be as good as how it was before.

This is the one comment that stood out to me. I've always been a fan of the conference champion hosting the tournament. I thought one of the big selling points of the neutral site was reduced costs, theoretically teams could book transportation earlier, etc. Over the past three years I've conceded that maybe the neutral site was a necessary evil due to logistics and costs. If travel costs to a neutral site increase by that magnitude over the previous format, that's huge.

I really think the neutral site tournament was a misguided decision and a detriment to the conference. If the current format doesn't provide some significant benefits to the schools (i.e. lower cost) it needs to be reconsidered. Boise may draw better attendance than Reno, but its still going to be a tough draw. The championship contenders deserve to play in a championship atmosphere. In my opinion, the BSC has a long way to go before it can provide a championship atmosphere at a neutral site.

Brint, I'm curious if there was any more detail on that topic? Sorry if I'm hijacking a football thread!

 

[argh!]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

who has done better than 6-5? every other recent coach.

 

[BWahlberg]

Another interesting point on the athletic budget, I can't recall who this came from, could have been Travis himself, but it was pointed out the cost of sending the basketball teams to Reno was vastly more expensive than sending basketball teams to a host city under the prior hoops championship format. Almost 9 times more expensive! Boise is supposed to be more cost effective than Reno, but won't be as good as how it was before.

This is the one comment that stood out to me. I've always been a fan of the conference champion hosting the tournament. I thought one of the big selling points of the neutral site was reduced costs, theoretically teams could book transportation earlier, etc. Over the past three years I've conceded that maybe the neutral site was a necessary evil due to logistics and costs. If travel costs to a neutral site increase by that magnitude over the previous format, that's huge.

I really think the neutral site tournament was a misguided decision and a detriment to the conference. If the current format doesn't provide some significant benefits to the schools (i.e. lower cost) it needs to be reconsidered. Boise may draw better attendance than Reno, but its still going to be a tough draw. The championship contenders deserve to play in a championship atmosphere. In my opinion, the BSC has a long way to go before it can provide a championship atmosphere at a neutral site.

Brint, I'm curious if there was any more detail on that topic? Sorry if I'm hijacking a football thread!

No problem Jared, there really wasn't much more around it. The closing comment was along the line of when Montana and Weber vote for regular season winner to host and the other 11 vote against them it makes things tough.

The arguments for, that I've read in other spots, didn't really here at this meeting were:

- Almost all conference do a neutral host now
- This helps prepare teams for playing on a neutral(ish) court in the tourney
- It (in theory) would promote the best team to win the conference rather than the one with home momentum

 

[grizindabox]

- It (in theory) would promote the best team to win the conference rather than the one with home momentum

I think this is an odd and misleading notion.

 

[CDAGRIZ]

Provided that each program has an adequate facility, I've always liked the idea of reg season winner hosting. We don't have that in our conference, unfortunately.

Neutral sites would make sense when a conference tourney actually makes a lot of money for the schools. Again, not sure we fit into that category.

I don't really buy the preparation for the dance or momentum arguments. This is a conference tournament, and the team that won the most non-neutral site games should be rewarded. Unless they can only host in a rec room.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

Yep no denying the success the first time around and I’m pulling like heck for him and the team this next year. My point was it doesn’t hurt to open a bit on the team but if he wins and wins like we should demand then I don’t really care. Winning solves a lot of problems.

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

 

[CDAGRIZ]

Typical Bobby. I still don’t get him being more guarded than just being open with the group. I think it can hurt the brand. Just my opinion. I suppose if he can win this next year there won’t be the hell storm of pressure.

He did pretty well with the brand the first time around. Who has done better in recent times?

Yep no denying the success the first time around and I’m pulling like heck for him and the team this next year. My point was it doesn’t hurt to open a bit on the team but if he wins and wins like we should demand then I don’t really care. Winning solves a lot of problems.

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

One of my favorite Bob Hope quotes.

 

[PlayerRep]

For me, how one plays the game is much more important than winning. Respecting the game, respecting the other team, competing and playing hard, preparing hard, enjoying sport.

It's not okay to cheat to win.

After the wins and losses are over, what one learned, one's friends from sport, and how one does in life will be much more important the wins (or losses).

I never understood that quote or view. Never made any sense to me.

 

[tourist]

What quote?

 

[PlayerRep]

What quote?

Looks a few posts up.