Shocker Madness?

[_kai_]

I wonder if Carl Hall taking it to Toure ever had a big deal with the seemingly perpetual decline in Shocker Madness. I say seemingly perpetual because I remember Gregg's first year here I think it was, and they flew Wu in on a military helicopter with the game ball, and the players came out with no lights, a spotlight, and a fog machine. Or maybe I dreamt that up?

[BostonWu]

Perhaps the program's most crucial decision maker(s) don't see this superficial event as a big deal. I'm obviously in the minority on this but if they/him feel that way then I'm fine with it.

[ShockdaWorld]

I'm fine with it not being a big overhyped deal, but I'd like to be able to go just to get a chance to see the new guys, get a feel for the team chemistry, etc.

[WstateU]

I wonder if Carl Hall taking it to Toure ever had a big deal with the seemingly perpetual decline in Shocker Madness. I say seemingly perpetual because I remember Gregg's first year here I think it was, and they flew Wu in on a military helicopter with the game ball, and the players came out with no lights, a spotlight, and a fog machine. Or maybe I dreamt that up?

Was this the event that Greg ‘no hit man’ Williams MC’d? I think that was the last Shocker Madness I attended; a totally embarrassing production at best. Shocker Madness always left a bad taste in my mouth. I would anxiously anticipate attending and often left deflated. I’d rather attend an organized 40 minute ‘men’s scrimmage with player introductions without all the hoopla. I don’t need to see a dunk contest or 3 point shooting exhibition. Yes, I’m probably showing my age a little. :)

[rjl]

I must have missed where the Shockers play all of their games on weekends.

Apples and oranges. Shocker Madness is a singular event that can be placed on any night of the week.

I can attend a weekend game when they occur. I can never attend a weeknight Shocker Madness.

[rjl]

Shocker Madness counts as a practice. Marshall hates giving up a real practice to have a coached pickup game scrimmage.

Under Marshall, Shocker Madness doesn't take priority over getting the team ready for the season, so (apparently) it's viewed as a necessary evil. There's no need to promote the team to the public to sell tickets.

The team can still practice on a weekend and the public can still have more than two-week's notice of when that practice is.

There are a lot more reasons to promote a team other than ticket sales. Ticket sales are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the revenue a college basketball team can generate.

[jcdshocker]

You guys miss an obvious point. If Coach wanted this to be a big event it would be a big event. He apparently doesn't. This is not due to lazy AD staff. Quit bashing when it is not their doing or not doing. I am happy to at least get this first look at the new players and the development of returners. Let it be what it is intended to be. A public scrimmage.

[forevershockerfan]

How many are usually in the 3-pt contest? I'd also like to see Brown and McDuffie in it.

On the 3 point contest, my buddy and I seem to remember there might have been 8 in. If that be true, maybe we would see 1.Baker 2. FVV 3.Wessel 4. Frankamp 5.Nurger 6. Brown 6. McDuffie 7. Taylor 8.Kelly(since he shoots up 500 various shots a day anywho)

On the dunk contest I am guessing 4. 1.Shamet (don't think they will allow him in both contests? dunno.) 2.Grady 3.Hamilton 4. Bush

Thus, these are only projected possibilities. With that said, we have those thinking Frankamp or Baker will win the 3-point contest but who might surprise us, get smokin got, and win? Wessel may have taken 2nd last Season but if he thinks he is playing against KU again in his creative mindset--watch out. And we never ever count out FVV who made the 25' dagger shot versus the Zags as a Freshman with the whole world watching.

How about a dunk contest without Cotton? Hmmmm!! A few of us picked Shamet, but who might impress the judges with some fancy/smancy or exclamation mark dunks? Maybe Taylor or McDuffie will get in the dunk contest? Ideas?

[ShockerFever]

You guys miss an obvious point. If Coach wanted this to be a big event it would be a big event. He apparently doesn't. This is not due to lazy AD staff. Quit bashing when it is not their doing or not doing. I am happy to at least get this first look at the new players and the development of returners. Let it be what it is intended to be. A public scrimmage.

So whose fault is it that gives the public a 7 day notice of the event?

[ShockerFever]

Personally, I don't understand the correlation that has been made between Shocker Madness and regular season games by some in the thread. Totally apples and oranges, at least from my perspective.

Big time programs have big time preseason shows for their fans, almost without exclusion. I'm not sure if I would say we are "big time" quite yet (next rung down perhaps), but Shocker Madness is not even an impressive event from a non-P5 perspective. It is honestly an embarrassment to the otherwise impressive state of the program.

Sadly, I think we have a lot of people employed by the WSU AD that are simply around to collect a check. I'm not sure when AD leadership will change such that this will end, but there are several things about the WSU athletic department that are low-major style, and the WSU AD corporate status quo seems perfectly okay with that.

+1

Low major is definitely the right way to describe certain aspects of the athletic department. They just don't seem to care about a lot of things that seem pretty obvious to Joe Fan.

I think what's the most embarrassing thing of all is knowing that members of the athletic department peruse this site (trust me, they do) and yet they still ignore the concerns/comments of the fanbase. I know people have emailed certain members of the department about certain glaring issues before only to see a general response and no action given in return.

We need to get some high major talent back in these positions, not "paycheck collectors", as Shockvalue so nicely put it.

[rjl]

You guys miss an obvious point. If Coach wanted this to be a big event it would be a big event. He apparently doesn't. This is not due to lazy AD staff. Quit bashing when it is not their doing or not doing. I am happy to at least get this first look at the new players and the development of returners. Let it be what it is intended to be. A public scrimmage.

I'm not missing anything, I just don't give a damn what anyone wants it to be unless they want it to be what it should be.

[wu_shizzle]

You guys miss an obvious point. If Coach wanted this to be a big event it would be a big event. He apparently doesn't. This is not due to lazy AD staff. Quit bashing when it is not their doing or not doing. I am happy to at least get this first look at the new players and the development of returners. Let it be what it is intended to be. A public scrimmage.

It has been communicated in the past that Shocker Madness comes out of the recruiting budget. If HCGM wants to spend those dollars differently, so be it.

I still think the Athletic Department is missing a huge opportunity to make this a profit center. Whether that is selling premium tickets or finding alternative sources of funding, the other end of year events are proof that if you build it, they will come.

[vancedave56]

Maybe if it was a full house, they would be encouraged to make it a "bigger" event. We have a great team; it is free, and we get to see the Shocks play basketball. The arena is half full at best. :(

[shockmonster]

It's been 7-8 years or so but I remember years when this event was on a Saturday with a carnival for kids, a little television advertising, etc. the numbers of attendees were (maybe a little more) roughly the same. Shocker fans have never made this a big event. 6-7 Thousand max

[FlyingWheat]

Maybe if it was a full house, they would be encouraged to make it a "bigger" event. We have a great team; it is free, and we get to see the Shocks play basketball. The arena is half full at best. :(

Chicken and egg. Don't publicize the event, don't set a date early, makes it real difficult for people to come.