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Could it be Mo??

WIU is trying to get fans in the stands and style of play will have a lot to do with that.Being a coach it doesn't always matter about wins and losses the most important thing is how much money you can raise.
 
tornado said:
I have talked with Mo numerous times over the past 6 years since his firing (as I know lefty & Mrcoachdude have, and I'll bet they can confirm my statements), and one thing that is so admirable is how he ALWAYS has had fine and complimantary things to say about Bradley, about the new coaching staff, about the fans, and about everything related to Peoria and BU.
He has never uttered even one foul word or criticism despite begin treated quite poorly and even unfairly by the Peoria press, some fans (if you can call them that), and one person at BU who is no longer there.
Jim is one of the finest people I have known, one of the most intense & hardest working, most loyal, most giving, and obviously one of the most knowledgable in the realm of college basketball.
I expect Mo to be at WIU a long time, since he will do well, and he isn't likely to leave for some other job no matter how glitzy.
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That's exactly why I am rooting for him to do well. He is a class act, and he had a great run at Bradley. It will probably take him a couple of years to turn things around, but once he does, WIU should have a nice run under him. Good luck to Coach Mo!
 
bu fan 9 said:
WIU is trying to get fans in the stands and style of play will have a lot to do with that.Being a coach it doesn't always matter about wins and losses the most important thing is how much money you can raise.
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I find that hard to believe. If it was all about style of play, SIU arena would be a ghost town every night!
 
Scouter said:
I wasn't around here at the time, but everything I've heard about Molinari's firing makes it sound like his time here had simply run its course and it was time for a new regime. Who's been saying this whole time that Mo never should've been fired?
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I would have to agree that the #1 reason for Mo leaving was the timing. Had he ran his course @ BU? At that particular time, yes he had. What doesn't get mentioned is he was going through a lot of personal things at that time that do not need to be mentioned on this board(or any other board for that matter).
Jim has always been a good X & O coach and will deffinately teach defense at WIU. It will be interesting to see who he brings in as his asst coaches as that can be as important as the head coach. If you don't have faith in your asst to get the right players or be able to teach what is assigned to him then you will not be successful at any level.
Good Luck Jim, I am another fan of yours that will be rooting for you to succeed and if you ever play BU I will be cheering for BU of course.
 
By the way.....end the silly speculation....

The people at WIU say Jim Molinari was their TOP CHOICE.

"And we are excited to be able to hire our top choice."

"This is a great hire. Coach Molinari is a coach who will fit in very well to our department, our campus and our community," Van Alstine said. "He's an Illinois guy down to the core, and we're thrilled to get him. He brings with him a long resume of Division I success and he is excited to be here."
http://media.www.westerncourier.com.../04/11/Sports/Molinaris.The.Man-3318272.shtml
 
wily coyote said:
I have heard from a very good source, Mo may be a head coach again. Hope so I'm pulling for ya Mo. If WIU is smart he is a no brainer for that program. We should know before the weeks over. Sure would be fun to get them back on our schedule if Mo gets the job.
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I agree, it'd be great to have Mo back in the head coaching ranks, but I don't want WIU on our schedule again. I think BU can take pride the the scheduling they've been able to pull off, I wouldn't want to see them take a step back by scheduling an extremely weak program like Western Illinois, especially a home and home with them. A program like us needs to rack up as many quality wins as possible in the non-conference season. It might be different if Western Illinois was non sight impaired.
 
tornado said:
I have talked with Mo numerous times over the past 6 years since his firing (as I know lefty & Mrcoachdude have, and I'll bet they can confirm my statements), and one thing that is so admirable is how he ALWAYS has had fine and complimantary things to say about Bradley, about the new coaching staff, about the fans, and about everything related to Peoria and BU.
He has never uttered even one foul word or criticism despite begin treated quite poorly and even unfairly by the Peoria press, some fans (if you can call them that), and one person at BU who is no longer there.
Jim is one of the finest people I have known, one of the most intense & hardest working, most loyal, most giving, and obviously one of the most knowledgable in the realm of college basketball.
I expect Mo to be at WIU a long time, since he will do well, and he isn't likely to leave for some other job no matter how glitzy.
Click to expand...

I have witnessed this as well. Last year mrcoachdude and I went to Indiana to see Minnesota play. After the game, mrcoachdude went to talk to Jim (I didnt know him very well) and one of the first things Molinari said was a compliment about what the BU coaching staff was doing. My jaw dropped when I heard this and I have appreciated Jim Molinari the person much more since then. I wish him the best of luck and I might just have to plan a road trip to WIU next year.:cool:
 
Beninator said:
I have witnessed this as well. Last year mrcoachdude and I went to Indiana to see Minnesota play. After the game, mrcoachdude went to talk to Jim (I didnt know him very well) and one of the first things Molinari said was a compliment about what the BU coaching staff was doing. My jaw dropped when I heard this and I have appreciated Jim Molinari the person much more since then. I wish him the best of luck and I might just have to plan a road trip to WIU next year.:cool:
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That was a great road trip Ben.....I echo what Tornado has said....Mo has been nothing but complimentary about Jim Les and especially BU. I suspect many things about his departure have been patched up and is water under a bridge so to speak....he is a class act and I wish him the best.

I will certainly be up for a trip to WIU to see our friend at the helm again!
 
Beninator said:
I have witnessed this as well. Last year mrcoachdude and I went to Indiana to see Minnesota play. After the game, mrcoachdude went to talk to Jim (I didnt know him very well) and one of the first things Molinari said was a compliment about what the BU coaching staff was doing. My jaw dropped when I heard this and I have appreciated Jim Molinari the person much more since then. I wish him the best of luck and I might just have to plan a road trip to WIU next year.:cool:
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mrcoachdude said:
That was a great road trip Ben.....I echo what Tornado has said....Mo has been nothing but complimentary about Jim Les and especially BU. I suspect many things about his departure have been patched up and is water under a bridge so to speak....he is a class act and I wish him the best.

I will certainly be up for a trip to WIU to see our friend at the helm again!
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Maybe you guys could pick me up on your way over... It might be on the way if mrcoachdude picks up Beni then you guys head West on the back highways. ;)
 
As soon as WIU knows their schedule, let's get hold of Mo and see if he'll get us some tickets, like behind the bench or in the locker room, or maybe even closer?? ;)

We can all wear our purple and gold, I know my kids would be up for it just to see Joy, David, Billy, and Mark's dad in action.
 
Western made the right choice in hiring Mo. Congrats to him.

I would not want to see WIU again on our schedule unless they are coming to Peoria. Never again to WIU. We went there during Bayo's I think senior year and got beat and there was nothing good that came of the series we played with them in the 90's.

Honestly, I think our program and the Valley have evolved to a point where we should not play Summit league teams unless that game is in our building.

It though, would be great for Mo and our fans to come back to Peoria so he can get a huge ovation. Eventually, he has to be considered to be part of the BU hall of fame, he reerected program after the mess Albeck left and we were a very good program for most of his tenure.

I also wonder what his life would now be like and where our program would be if KK would have let him go interview at Michigan.
 
Here's an oddity....

WIU's nickname is Leathernecks for the mens basketball, baseball, cross country, football, mens and womens golf, mens soccer, swimming and diving (both M and W), mens tennis, track & field (both M & W).

But the nickname is Westerwinds for the softball, womens basketball, womens golf, womens soccer, womens tennis, volleyball.

BUT-- their logo and mascot is this

tabbedheader.jpg


BGWMDCMMFQSNXUW.20070308211614.jpg


Rocky, the yellow bulldog, with a leather collar...Leatherneck....get it?


However........
"Female sports teams are nicknamed “The Westerwinds,” though President Al Goldfarb is currently
(as of December 10, 2007) reviewing a proposal to unify all athletic team names to Leathernecks."
http://www.wiu.edu/newsrelease.sphp?release_id=5672
 
tornado said:
Here's an oddity....

WIU's nickname is Leathernecks for the mens basketball, baseball, cross country, football, mens and womens golf, mens soccer, swimming and diving (both M and W), mens tennis, track & field (both M & W).

But the nickname is Westerwinds for the softball, womens basketball, womens golf, womens soccer, womens tennis, volleyball.

BUT-- their logo and mascot is this

tabbedheader.jpg


BGWMDCMMFQSNXUW.20070308211614.jpg


Rocky, the yellow bulldog, with a leather collar...Leatherneck....get it?


However........
"Female sports teams are nicknamed “The Westerwinds,” though President Al Goldfarb is currently
(as of December 10, 2007) reviewing a proposal to unify all athletic team names to Leathernecks."
http://www.wiu.edu/newsrelease.sphp?release_id=5672
Click to expand...

Well that's one take Tornado, another would be that Ray "Rocky" Hanson had ties to the Marine Corps and got special persmision to use the Leatherneck name. The mascot name is rocky and it is a bulldog which is not by accident as the bulldog is the United State Marine Corps mascot.

The most comon three nicknames for a Marine are Jarhead, Devil Dog, Leatherneck.
 
Maybe WIU should have oppted for the Jarhead name.

the Western Illinois University Jarheads....hee hee hee.

Another curiosity is that Western has a well established Army ROTC program that is present at every home football game. Every time WIU scores a touchdown they fire off a small scale Howitzer type artillary (scared the begeezzes out of me the first time I heard it) It seems a bit odd to have such a prominent ARMY program at a school nicknamed for the MARINES.

Another curiousity is the two identities. I guess the gals didn't want to be called the Lady Leathernecks (sounds sexy to me). However this about to change as the school is pushing to drop the Westerwinds name and have all sports teams unified under the Leatherneck nickname. For many years now press releases refer to the womens teams as Western this and Western that very rarely is the Westerwinds name used. (By the way what is a Westerwind?)
 
I am wondering the South Carolina Mens teams are called the Gamecocks ( I have seen it shortened to just the second sylable on hats, much to the delight I'm sure of teenage boys trying to look cool).

Are the womens teams called the Lady Gamecocks?
 
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