Might be going with the all purple basketball court. Which would gurantee I watch no Northwestern basketball next year to spare my retinas


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 6787113700

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Team Cutler.

Well they have never made a tournament with standard colors.

Northwestern Basketball has been pretty much unwatchable anyway.

Football = entertaining

Basketball = Indiana Hoosiers level football

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Here are some of the other designs:

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Fire Phil Emery

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Fire Phil Emery

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Steps to ressurecting program

1) Cancel Remodeling court plan
2) Put remodeling money in a gym bag
3) Give it to a shady character who will give it to the top recruit in the Nation.
4) Kill the shady character.
5) Play out the string this season
6) Make your first tournament ever....have parade.

Are they going to rename this PersaStrong court?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

This is kind of the All In year for Northwestern. They have a legit shot at the tournament, but if not this year, then it's going to be a while, again. Make the NU Basketball marketing push now or never and hope this is the breakthrough season.

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Fire Phil Emery

I'm not holding my breath this year. Picking the gym floor is yet another attempt to engage a fanbase. In the name of all that is holy, PuuuuhLEEEEZ don't go with the purple floor. IB is right, if the stars align (sp?), this might be the year. And RPB is also right... much better return on your investment to just go pay players. Fortunately that's not the way we roll. I'll take a tourney bid every few centuries, if when we do it, we do it the right way.

OK, now it's my turn to walk you off the ledge. Northwestern is pretty decent, especially for a weakened conference. They lost a number of close games last year (moral victory national champions), which could even out or could be evidence that Carmody is awful; hopefully its the former. And they never really had a shot last year with the absolutely criminal OOC scheduling. With 68 teams getting in, I'd say it's about 50/50.

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Fire Phil Emery

Virtually every good team also graduated multiple big time players. That's what has NU, Indiana, and Iowa hopeful that they can catch up. Northwestern could easily do what Penn State did last year.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Just dance with the devil once and fix this program.

Then take the sanctions when youre caught and make the "We dont do things that way" speech/firing. (knowing full well that making the tournament and solidifying yourself as Chicago's Big Ten Team is worth a couple years being barred from the tournament that you cant make in the first place without cheating. )

I think it might take more than an 11 seed one year to do that.

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Fire Phil Emery

Im joking about all this...is there a chicago big ten team?

In all seriousness, I did have a talk with NU's AD about the marketing program. Basically, he knows that since our alumni base is smaller and not inherently local (unlike many of the other schools whose graduates often stay in or near the city that they graduate from (perhaps with the exception of Purdue), Northwestern needs to endear itself to Chicago's mainstream sportsfans who don't necessarily have a college allegiance. And in these tough economic times, I gotta think that we might have a shot (albeit a longshot) at connecting with a few more Chicagoans who think "I could pay $400 for a Bears ticket for crappy seats or pay $50 for great seats to Northwestern". I know this wouldn't necessarily appeal to you guys, but I know that I really got a kick out of going to Cleveland State basketball games as a kid. I gotta think there are a few fathers out there who would like to take their kid to a Big Ten sporting event. And frankly, there aren't even that many Big Ten programs where you can do that except Northwestern (because the other schools are selling out their games!).

OK... let the ribbing begin.

I'm probably in the demographic of people NU wants to target with a marketing campaign. I went to a MAC school out of state and really have no Big 10 allegiance outside of my hatred for all things Ohio State.

That said, I'm not sure what the school could do to consistently get me to drop 40-50 on various sporting events. School allegiance is tough to produce generically especially when money is involved.

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Team Cutler.

Also, and much of this is Northwestern's own doing, they aren't exactly a team you want to associate with if you didn't go there. They are one of the few schools that basically tells you "We do it better than you even if we don't win". Notre Dame gets away with it because Catholics love feeling they are morally superior but with Northwestern it's more about academics and being smarter than the other team even if they can't compete most years because of it. As much as I like Mud, when he says things like "Fortunately that's not the way we roll. I'll take a tourney bid every few centuries, if when we do it, we do it the right way." there is a small part indicating that most other teams don't do it the right way.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

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If the shoe fits...

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I tend to think that a school takes on the personality of the coaches and fanbases. Perhaps I like the underdog nature of NU's checkered history (I'm a masochistic Cleveland fan perhaps) or maybe I like the blue-collar nature of our head coach. Nonetheless, I truly believe (rightly or wrongly) that there is a different value system in our program than at a program like Auburn. I'd also argue our value system and culture is pretty darn close to your own at Purdue. It all starts with the fanbase. There are "win at all cost" fan bases and then I'd argue there are fans of programs that has a commitment to the (arguably fictional) ideal of the student athlete). Call me idealistic, but I truly think coaches like Dantonio, Paterno, Ferentz, Kill, Hope, Fitzgerald, and Bielema want to win ALOT... but not to the detriment of their program's (or their own) reputation. They all "cheat" to some degree... it's just how far they will go to bastardize their program for the sake of W's. College football is innately unequal due to the dollars involved. As a result, I dont expect to win. I do, however, expect to see our players develope as a football player, graduate, and represent the community in a positive way. Once again, call me an idealistic sap, but I'm a father of four and I believe these student athletes work their tails off... and I think they can be excellent role models for my children... certainly much better than what I see more often than not in the NFL.

And I never get the "we're smarter than you" accusations. I admantly believe that is a construction of the other fans, than of anything that comes from a Northwestern fan. If you've ever been to a NU game, you'll find our fans are pretty damn humble (and with good reason!). There was a time during the dark ages in the 1980's during the losing streak that there were occasions where you would hear those type of cheers, but I've been going to games since 1994 and I have not once ever heard the "Hey Hey It's OK, you're gonna work for us someday".

I wasn't trying to put Northwestern down, and even if I was "You guys are hard to relate to because you are smarter and let people know you do it differently" isn't the worst thing in the world.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Don't lie you didn't watch any Northwestern basketball last year when they had a regular court either.

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Nah... it's just the one stereotype that bugs me. I'm not that smart... and I went there. So I know it's a bad stereotype. Fitz wasn't all that smart either when we went there. My wife also went there... and she's no rocket scientist (sorry, Ebeth). I don't mind be called a Big 10 cellar dweller or having a fair weather fan base... it's just the "elitist" thing really really bugs me. Maybe ND can get away with it, but I know the guys running this program and it is most definitely a blue collar group... guys anyone would like to hang out with.

EDIT: Just saw this:
Stanford football's media guide publishes chart showing how wealthier their graduates are as opposed to those from other schools.It's probably accurate, but I really value humility. I personally have nothing against hardworking, successful and wealthy people. But I can't stand arrogant pricks and show-offs and this is awfully close to that, in my opinion.

http://i.imgur.com/2Fm44.png

Fitzgerald is one of the main perpetrators of the "we're smarter than most of our opponents" stereotype.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That is absolutely not true. There are a ton of speeches (and believe me, I read them) where he denegrates himself for being not smart and jokes that our players are "supposed to be" smart. And I absolutely love the fact that you'll never find him making excuses for our limitations due to academic restrictions placed on him by the Admissions Office. He does, however, make it very clear that high graduation rates are particularly important to both him and the program.

Iowa will be better but still not very good. I think the expectations are anywhere from 6 to 9 Big Ten wins....maybe sniff the NIT.