It's sort of a chicken/egg dilemma, isn't it? Strong and winning programs are helped along by an avid fanbase and avid fanbases contribute to strong and winning program.
IMHO Stanford fell out of the elite group of programs with our last Elite 8 appearance and we fell out of the second tier of programs when an entire high school graduating class went through without ever seeing Stanford in the NCAA tournament.
We are now in that third tier of programs who have seen the mountaintop, have some history but are now in the bottom half of their own conference. We can't pick and choose from long lists of top recruits and coaches and will need to do the painstaking work of building back our fanbase, recruiting profile, coaching staff and team esprit de corp.Â
So I agree with you, NorCal. Saying winning is the best deodorant is a truism but too simplistic. Getting back to winning consistently will mean a lot of the little things will need to be done much better than they are being done now and that includes building the fanbase. How we do that - Repricing tickets, more attractive contests, pushing for timeslots that work for you and rebuilding a truly pissed-off set of previous ticketholders (yup, my hands up!) are all parts of the equation.
Our Montgomery capital has been spent - so be it. Time to build a new program from the rubble of the base he left. Time to start fighting like we're hungry, understand the issues and have our eyes on the prize.
We did it in football so why not basketball?
(By the way, when did dictionaries stop recognizing "dilemna" with an "N"? It seems to be autocorrected to "dilemma" now. Have I gone an entire lifetime spelling this wrong? Kathy?)
IMHO Stanford fell out of the elite group of programs with our last Elite 8 appearance and we fell out of the second tier of programs when an entire high school graduating class went through without ever seeing Stanford in the NCAA tournament.
We are now in that third tier of programs who have seen the mountaintop, have some history but are now in the bottom half of their own conference. We can't pick and choose from long lists of top recruits and coaches and will need to do the painstaking work of building back our fanbase, recruiting profile, coaching staff and team esprit de corp.Â
So I agree with you, NorCal. Saying winning is the best deodorant is a truism but too simplistic. Getting back to winning consistently will mean a lot of the little things will need to be done much better than they are being done now and that includes building the fanbase. How we do that - Repricing tickets, more attractive contests, pushing for timeslots that work for you and rebuilding a truly pissed-off set of previous ticketholders (yup, my hands up!) are all parts of the equation.
Our Montgomery capital has been spent - so be it. Time to build a new program from the rubble of the base he left. Time to start fighting like we're hungry, understand the issues and have our eyes on the prize.
We did it in football so why not basketball?
(By the way, when did dictionaries stop recognizing "dilemna" with an "N"? It seems to be autocorrected to "dilemma" now. Have I gone an entire lifetime spelling this wrong? Kathy?)
In 1938 Neville Chamberlain declared "Peace in our time", Superman first appeared in Action Comics, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral ....... and C.a.l last won the Rose Bowl.