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11,597

tornado

tornado

New member
I think this topic deserves its own titled thread.

A couple years ago, if you had told someone in the media that BU would lure a Top-10, Big Ten opponent to Peoria and draw over 11,500, you'd have drawn a whole lot of chuckles from most of the "experts".

Just the fact that this happened, and we were there to be part of it, says that BU has come a long, long way.
I agree with Tom Izzo on this one..........there is no "mid-major" in the way Bu plays, this is MAJOR COLLEGE basketball all the way.

"If anybody ever talks about mid-majors, I would be the first to raise my hand and say, 'No, this is major college (basketball) at its best,' " MSU coach Tom Izzo said about the experience. "This is as good an environment as we've played in. It was a huge win for us, and I mean that."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/SPORTS07/712050431/1055

and much of the press coverage in Michigan is very, very complimantary of Bradley and everything about the game last night.



By the way......11,597 ...is 2,284 MORE than have ever been drawn to a Duke home game!!!
 
While I would have preferred to be ath the game, it was fun to watch it on TV because you could tell the house was rockin' and it looked like a heck of college basketball game atmosphere.

From everything I have read, it seems as though the school, the team, the fans, and the town really put their best foot forward. What a great experience, especially for the students! Who knows, maybe we can have a mascot for the next time MSU comes to town. :-D
 
Dallas Brave said:
While I would have preferred to be ath the game, it was fun to watch it on TV because you could tell the house was rockin' and it looked like a heck of college basketball game atmosphere.

From everything I have read, it seems as though the school, the team, the fans, and the town really put their best foot forward. What a great experience, especially for the students! Who knows, maybe we can have a mascot for the next time MSU comes to town. :-D
Click to expand...

Would have loved to have you there DB...saw our buddy HoustonBrave. EVerything about BU hoops made me proud last nite save for those fans that don't feel the need to join the fun and wear white.

Sparty is happy to get out of Peoria with a W. We did ourselves proud. They were in a battle. We just need some more beef down low.

Now I must go to Walmart because its all we have left until another B10 team comes to Peoria....
 
tornado said:
By the way......11,597 ...is 2,284 MORE than have ever been drawn to a Duke home game!!!
Click to expand...


tornado, everyone knows that's a horrible example because Cameron Indoor is a SMALL VENUE. BU should draw 2,000 more than them for EVERY home game, but go ahead and put your silly little spin on it.
 
I am in total agreement with DRU. I was so proud in every way last evening.

I am trying to think if there was a game with the level of fan intensity from pregame to the last whistle. Many would say Illinois or Michigan but IMO the "gold standard" game for me is the 1988 MVC Championship game against ISU. That crowd was blood thirsty and was chanting "WE WANT ISU" during the semifinal game against Creighton.

However, I think we saw history last night. Not only was it the largest crowd in arena history but the most active, involved that I can ever remember since the move downtown. Our students are awesome, baby! Hats off to you. You set the tone and bring out the best of the "blue hairs." They still have alot left as eveidenced last night, they just need some encouragement.
 
If BU is going to get to the "big time" and becompared to programs like Gonzaga, then we need to keep
doing things better....and there are guys hard at work to see that it gets done.
Guys like Ken Kavanagh, John Searby, and of course Jim Les and the team deserve the credit.
11,597 is not the result of chance or a fluke....
it is the result of hard work, great scheduling, and great promotion, and of course a team worth watching.
The Duke comment was for comparison, not to imply we are better than Duke.
 
dogsrus said:
Would have loved to have you there DB...saw our buddy HoustonBrave. EVerything about BU hoops made me proud last nite save for those fans that don't feel the need to join the fun and wear white.

Sparty is happy to get out of Peoria with a W. We did ourselves proud. They were in a battle. We just need some more beef down low.

Now I must go to Walmart because its all we have left until another B10 team comes to Peoria....
Click to expand...

DRU, In spirit I was there. In fact, everytime the camera focused on Suton, I could hear in my head you belting out one of your "Corn feeeeed" cheers ;)
 
chitownBUB said:
But it is a true statement, call it spin if you want but BU draws quite well for a nonBCS school.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5400

Mizzou only drew 8243 last year, Notre Dame 9027.

BU home attendance average is now 9817, this is ahead of last year's average of 9728.
The average could well be 10000+ by end of season.
Click to expand...

I know it's a true statement and that BU draws very well for a non-BCS school. I never denied that. But it's silly for tornado to say that BU outdrew Duke's largest home crowd by more than 2,000 when their facility seats just more than 9,000. I'm not quite sure how the Duke comment is a fair comparison.
 
"It was tough," Neitzel said of the comeback win over the Braves. "The crowd was really into it. They were standing most of the game and they were together. You've got to give Bradley credit. They were ready for the game. They played a great game."

(From an ESPN article)

I think that as fans, we did the absolute best we could to win this game. All 11,597 of us should be proud of ourselves.
 
I have to agree that the 1988 game against isu was the most intense crowd I've ever seen at a BU game. Carver or the fieldhouse. Of course that was before trivia questions, pizza races, students rolling down the court, etc when yes, even us blue hairs want to make noise. Guy next to me last night said during one time out that he'd never heard it so loud. I told him to wait 5 seconds, the PA annoucer will shut us up. What's with the cheerleaders? Everybody complains about the blue, white, hairs not gettng into the game. Well last night they did but the cheerleaders hardly ever left the student section. Our students are great, they don't need them standing by them to make noise. As for Duke, I don't think they have our goofy promotions. They let the crowd continue to make noise. The students would shout them off the court. I don't think they have a script.
 
I only had one guy tell me to sit down, and I suggested that he must've put the wrong shirt on (he was wearing one of the free white shirts). I stood for every minute of play (though confirming with the people directly behind me that it was alright). My hands are bruised today from clapping, and I can't talk. Great crowd, great game to watch (despite the loss), and a great time.
 
BU has lost recruits recently to Purdue (Lewis Jackson), DePaul (Devin Hill), and Georgia Tech (Shumpert).

Purdue's average home attendance last year was 11352, BU beat that last night
Georgia Tech's home average last year was 9191, BU's present average is better.
DePaul is averaging only 7584 per home game this season!

I like to see the numbers up there with the "big boys", and sooner or later (I'd like to think sooner) it'll help us land better players!
 
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Double D said:
I am in total agreement with DRU. I was so proud in every way last evening.

I am trying to think if there was a game with the level of fan intensity from pregame to the last whistle. Many would say Illinois or Michigan but IMO the "gold standard" game for me is the 1988 MVC Championship game against ISU. That crowd was blood thirsty and was chanting "WE WANT ISU" during the semifinal game against Creighton.

However, I think we saw history last night. Not only was it the largest crowd in arena history but the most active, involved that I can ever remember since the move downtown. Our students are awesome, baby! Hats off to you. You set the tone and bring out the best of the "blue hairs." They still have alot left as eveidenced last night, they just need some encouragement.
Click to expand...


Yes..that ISU game was one that was comparable to this one. The intensity was incredible. But the crowd was woefully quiet for about 3 minutes.....does anyone recall when/why?
 
The Hawk was laying on the floor. I will never forget those 3 minutes. Thank goodness he just bumped his knee. I never saw Doc Bugeski sp? run so fast.
 
Bradley played ISU two times in Peoria in 1987-1988.
Of course one was the regular season game on Jan. 4, 1988 that BU LOST 85-74 in front of a very large crowd of 10,670....way above the then-Carver Arena-capacity of 10,400 with SRO.
BU then finished out the Valley season at 12-2, and played 3 games in the Valley Tournament in Peoria, March 5-8, 1988.
On March 8, 1988 BU and ISU met again at Carver for the MVC Tournament Title.
Again it was SRO with 10,570 (the crowd being smaller because of extra press tables and other factors) but the crowd was sooooo much more active and loud.
I, too, remember how that boisterous crowd boosted the Braves, and they went on to a relatively easy blowout win, leading by 30 much of the 2nd half, and cruising to a final score of 83-59.
That may well have been the most active and boisterous crowd at the Civic Center until last night.
 
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