- After droping a game by nine to Dayton at home, the Dukes made the turnpike trip to Philly to play the St. Joe's Lunardi's (I hate that weisel bastard who spent the whole broadcast talking about his high school basketball coach, his kids PTA meeting, and that Nevins was going to score 30...like that was a tough one to predict asshole) . After needing a 22-4 second half run to be in the the game, the Dukes took a 7 point lead with a 1:22 left in regulation and pissed it away like a drunk at the bar. These are the very moment wen the beloved Dukes turn into...you guessed it...the Same Old Ducks. This overtime loss was helped by the fact that they can't inbound the freaking basketball...ever. Seriously, they have to be the worst inbounding team in basketball. Free throws down the stretch also proved to be an achilles heel! WHY CAN'T THEY EVER FREAKING GET OVER THE HUMP! I will say that it was encouraging to see the Ducks running screens for...and I begrudgingly say this...their best shooter in Jason Duty- who had a career high twenty.
-That being said, the Dukes CLEARLY GOT HOSED by the A10 officials. No matter what anyone says, the A10 needs St. Joe's to do well to get into the tourney and they realize that the Dukes tourney chances are slim. The last second tip in was waved off by two officials then, after minutes of deliberation, the game winning hoop was awarded to St. Joe's. There apparently was no video replay to look at-although somehow I was able to watch (and record) this game live on my computer. Complete Bull Shit! Please tell me how you go end to end, launch a shot, miss two tip ins, and then tip in a third bucket in under 8 seconds and I'll tell you about my three testicles and 27 inch penis! This was clearly a snow job by the A10 who needs its poster teams (Xavier, St. Joes, Umass) to win as many games as they can.
-In this pseudo-Dukes basketball renaissance, it still seems that that the Dukes go in the shitter whenever they start to spark some fan interest. After the Dayton game AJAX basically said we need to win one of these big conference games at home so that they can start drawing some crowds. Brian Gregory, Dayton head coach and future Just For Men spokesperson, was quoted after a game as saying that "It's a shame that attendance hasn't been better here. This place could be a good home-court advantage." While that was certainly a back-ended complement, it was spot on. Think about it! Crowd right on top of you, the stifling heat of the Palumbo, spell-bounding cheerleaders (you look at car wrecks on the highway don't you), a run-and-gun team. But why haven't the fans come out to support the Dukes. Well, Bluff Divers will tell you why:
1) A million years of losing. The biggest culprit to blame in all of this is Duquesne. For years they had a horrible product, horrible game atmosphere, and horrible everything.
2) Student body. Most of the student body lives in the South Side or Mt. Washington. When its 8 degrees and you can walk down the street and get $.25 wings and $1 yuenglings on Wednesday nights at Barry's (gratuitous plug) or go see a heartbreaking loss, I'd choose wings and beer as well.
3) People are too skeptical to drink the Dukes Kool-Aid. They don't want to buy into the Dukes because at any moment people-including myself- believe they will implode.
4) HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE local media coverage. There are more sports teams in this town than the Steelers, Penguins, and Pitt Panthers. The fact that Penn State and WVU get billing over the Dukes is just fricking ridiculous. The post-gazette and local news station clearly are run by the socialist/liberal assholes that own this town and want you to go to, and support, state schools. The trib is the best but still not good. Fact of the matter is a school who plays in a major conference with an enrollment of 14,000 and many prominent local alumni deserves better coverage.
5) Up until last year, zero marketing effort by the Dukes
6) The success of Pitt basketball. This is understandble. Yet I would rather watch a team that runs up and down the floor and actually attempts to score points than watch whatever rugby game they play over in Oakland. Even Joe Lunardi-idiot-said that the Dukes are the most exciting team to watch in the A10, if not one of the most exciting teams in all of college basketball.
The Dukes are a very fun team to watch, who play in a competitive league, but need to get over the hump. A two game road winning streak would have gone a long way to help. A run to the tourney would get everyone on the bandwagon. Well, at least I can dream!
2 comments:
Dukes get no love in the local media...no doubt about it. Their coverage on the news is a disgrace and even when they do show highlights, the sports guys sound like they're slipping into unconsciousness.
But really, the school needs to sell the experience. They can't compete with Pitt's winning ways right now, so they need to differentiate the product. Run ticket specials to the Scouts, AAU and church leagues, etc. Get asses in the seats and the style of ball they play should get the crowd going. Atmosphere will bring 'em back, especially with the (perceived) difficulty of getting Pitt tickets. People love Pitt games b/c the atmosphere is cranking when the games are tight or Pitt gets hot. Gotta create atmosphere and you gotta start with the students. Find a way to get 'em in the building. Have the team interact with the fans as much as possible - autographs for the kids, photos with the fans, whatever. How 'bout a game stub gets you a free drink and a kiss (or hand job) from the Mexican bartender at Barry's?? Get creative with mktg, win some games or at least keep 'em close, get the two good-looking cheerleaders to whore it up more (within in the limits of Catholic taste, of course), and keep running and gunning.
Excellent points...the mexican bartendar at barry's loves to ski....they need to win a big game at home...they have improved somewhat in game atmosphere...its a little less like a high school game than it was but not much. see my letter to the AD and I raise some of these points. Pitt does have something good going but most of the student body live in Oakland or Shadyside which helps. I think the non-portly cheerleaders should be forced to wear Catholic school girl outfits!
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