Shocker Madness?

[SHOCKvalue]

If Gregg wanted this to be a big deal, it would be.



He doesn't care, so you shouldn't.



Go or don't. Gregg doesn't care.

I tire of this rationale.

Marshall is terrifically important to our University, but let's be very clear, his is not THE basketball program, THE University, or THE city of Wichita. All are bigger than he is. I'm not saying this to crap on 3G; please don't misinterpret. I'm saying the deification of Marshall by adorers gets old. He is human like the rest of us, and while we do justifiably hold him on a pedestal he is not the second coming of Barack Obama. The man's actions and opinions are still up for debate.

In this case, if it is true that 3G is not keen on SM, then that position is worthy of discussion, because it is no secret that flashy, superficial things such as preseason celebrations, video intros, and shoe/uni brands matter to the modern crop of recruits, as silly as it might seem to some of us. Ultimately, that is the heart of this debate: Is SM in its modern form a help or a hindrance to recruiting? Some of us believe that is it possibly tilted towards the latter, unfortunately.

[WstateU]

I want smoke! Color flood lights and a disco ball! Confetti and glitter everywhere! Give me obnoxiously loud hip hop music and Octoberfest chicks in lederhosen! Let's do this right!!

"Octoberfest chicks"? I change my mind; I'm there!

[chitown_shocker]

If Gregg wanted this to be a big deal, it would be.



He doesn't care, so you shouldn't.



Go or don't. Gregg doesn't care.

[pinstripers]

I just want it not to be so lame.

[ShockdaWorld]

I want smoke! Give me Octoberfest chicks in lederhosen! Let's do this right!!

FIFY

[Kung Wu]

I want smoke! Color flood lights and a disco ball! Confetti and glitter everywhere! Give me obnoxiously loud hip hop music and Octoberfest chicks in lederhosen! Let's do this right!!

[ShockdaWorld]

If people in Wichita aren't all hyped up to attend they aren't going to even if you give them a months notice.

I agree with all but this part. I am hyped up to attend. I am excited that I MAY be able to attend. I want to attend. But, if it's on a weeknight, that's extremely difficult because I have an 8 year old daughter that has to be fed, helped with homework, showered, and put to bed early enough to not be a complete asshat the next day because she didn't get enough sleep. With a little more notice, at least some of those issues may be able to be somewhat alleviated.

[pogo]

I will believe that until HCGM publicly says he is unhappy with the way Shocker Madness is handled then it is what it is. Personally I would favor a scrimmage and perhaps something akin to volleyball 101 where some of the nuances are explained. I know, horrible sound inside CKA precludes a lot of explanation but maybe a cheat sheet handed out along with rosters and backgrounds of the players. Have the cheerleaders and Shocker Sound use this as a prep for the first home game. If people in Wichita aren't all hyped up to attend they aren't going to even if you give them a months notice. Would having more student involvement help....probably. But until HCGM thinks its broke its not going to change.

[ShockdaWorld]

I do believe this event would draw better now than it would've in the past if it was advertised in advance and at a more convenient time for the public. There's never been this much hype surrounding the team (at least not that I remember, but I wasn't here for the 80s teams, etc.). That being said, if that's not what 3G and his staff wants, it's hard to argue with the success of said staff.

[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.

[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

[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. :(

[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.

[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.

[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.