Blue Crew Epic Fail, but does it come as a shock?

[ChaifetzRocker88]

Blue Crew,

Due to some misunderstanding between the President and the

Athletic Department there will be NO extra tickets for winter break

games available. We apologize for any inconvience [sic] this may have caused

but we hope to see some of you at the games over break anyway. Finally

due to so many people being busy this time of year attendance points

for the women basketball games will not be counted toward end of the

year points. We hope that you all have an enjoyable break and we will

see you at the next game.

Your Exec Board

If there are any questions please email [email protected].

I'm sure it went down like this yesterday:

BCPrez: Hey, Athletic Dept. guy, we need a bunch of extra tickets for people over Christmas.

ADGuy: No.

BCPrez: Oh, ok. Better send out an e-mail.

ADGuy: You do that.

[billiken_roy]

well get serious, there wont be any extra room for that north carolina a&t game.

[Majerus Magic]

well get serious, there wont be any extra room for that north carolina a&t game.

Maybe the tickets can just forget to have the "A&T" part printed.

[bleedtheblue]

Honestly i think we need to cut blue crew some slack. compared to last years exec board many more things have been done, or at least tried to have been done. one of the main goals of this year was to increase student attendance and i dont think any of us could argue that that hasnt happened. the atmosphere at games, at least for students, is so much better. so we should at least give that to the exec board. as the years continue the BC will get better, just like the team. maybe if the rest of the arena took a page from the students and got more into the games, it would be more exciting.

[JMM28]

Honestly i think we need to cut blue crew some slack. compared to last years exec board many more things have been done, or at least tried to have been done. one of the main goals of this year was to increase student attendance and i dont think any of us could argue that that hasnt happened. the atmosphere at games, at least for students, is so much better. so we should at least give that to the exec board. as the years continue the BC will get better, just like the team. maybe if the rest of the arena took a page from the students and got more into the games, it would be more exciting.

Tried? Tried? Really? Get serious. Almost counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

No ###### student attendance has increased. Theres a big shocker, which has less than 10% to do with that inept joke of an organization known as Blue Crew.

disband blue crew and its lame name!

[Clock_Tower]

Honestly i think we need to cut blue crew some slack. compared to last years exec board many more things have been done, or at least tried to have been done. one of the main goals of this year was to increase student attendance and i dont think any of us could argue that that hasnt happened. the atmosphere at games, at least for students, is so much better. so we should at least give that to the exec board. as the years continue the BC will get better, just like the team. maybe if the rest of the arena took a page from the students and got more into the games, it would be more exciting.

Seems to me like student attendance has increase because of the $80 million ON CAMPUS arena and not because of Blue Crew failed efforts. Not too late to get it together though. Organization in time for conference games is really the most important thing. Good luck. We need you.

[NashvilleBilliken]

Tried? Tried? Really? Get serious. Almost counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

No ###### student attendance has increased. Theres a big shocker, which has less than 10% to do with that inept joke of an organization known as Blue Crew.

disband blue crew and its lame name!

This is what annoys me about this board. People ***** and moan and do nothing about it. At least we have a spirit crew that is attempting to do something. Granted, they seem to have dropped the ball on several things....but what's the alternative? Nothing. Is nothing at all better than the current blue crew? Absolutely not. We get students on here calling them names and saying they suck, but I don't see those guys trying to start a spirit group. Same with the announcer on the webcasts. Yeah, he wasn't Bob Costas, but he was at least a dedicated SLU fan attempting to provide us with a service (and i'm pretty sure a poster on the board). Everybody railed on the guy and now we don't have any announcer for the games. Either provide a solution or stop bitching.

[billiken_roy]

This is what annoys me about this board. People ***** and moan and do nothing about it. At least we have a spirit crew that is attempting to do something. Granted, they seem to have dropped the ball on several things....but what's the alternative? Nothing. Is nothing at all better than the current blue crew? Absolutely not. We get students on here calling them names and saying they suck, but I don't see those guys trying to start a spirit group. Same with the announcer on the webcasts. Yeah, he wasn't Bob Costas, but he was at least a dedicated SLU fan attempting to provide us with a service (and i'm pretty sure a poster on the board). Everybody railed on the guy and now we don't have any announcer for the games. Either provide a solution or stop bitching.

people are failing to remember that most years since the mid 70's the student base at games has consisted of less than 20 kids. the fact we have hundreds now showing up is awesome. can it get better? can the blue crew be more effective, of course it can. but i can remember the days of me and 3 other guys watching eventual national champion louisville at the old checkerdome. so excuse me if i give the student fans a break. frankly i didnt think they would respond as well as they have this year.

[Cowboy]

frankly i didnt think they would respond as well as they have this year.

-it is good to know something associated with slu athletics meets your expectations

[RB2.0]

people are failing to remember that most years since the mid 70's the student base at games has consisted of less than 20 kids. the fact we have hundreds now showing up is awesome. can it get better? can the blue crew be more effective, of course it can. but i can remember the days of me and 3 other guys watching eventual national champion louisville at the old checkerdome. so excuse me if i give the student fans a break. frankly i didnt think they would respond as well as they have this year.

Roy, lets be honest, there aren't "100's" of students at these games (omitting of course, the BC game). As a former Blue Crew member graduating in 2006, I can remember being one of 20 students at the old Savvis Center. Student attendance has increased because of the on campus arena. I really hope it continues - as long as they keep $10 tickets for students, they have ZERO excuse not to come and the support the team.

As far as the poster saying Blue Crew should be dismantled, he is an idiot. Not much more to say about that.

However, much more could be done - but nothing more then winning. You win = students come. You schedule good teams = students come.

[Tonka]

This is what annoys me about this board. People ***** and moan and do nothing about it. At least we have a spirit crew that is attempting to do something. Granted, they seem to have dropped the ball on several things....but what's the alternative? Nothing. Is nothing at all better than the current blue crew? Absolutely not. We get students on here calling them names and saying they suck, but I don't see those guys trying to start a spirit group. Same with the announcer on the webcasts. Yeah, he wasn't Bob Costas, but he was at least a dedicated SLU fan attempting to provide us with a service (and i'm pretty sure a poster on the board). Everybody railed on the guy and now we don't have any announcer for the games. Either provide a solution or stop bitching.

Well said, Nash

[TheBand]

I think what we all seem to have a problem with is low standards for what should be an elite cheering section. The best of the best in terms of student fans should be in Blue Crew. Now, how many students are the "elite" ones? Well, maybe that is 20, and I'd rather have those 20 hardcore fans that will be at EVERY game and want to go on road trips and be dedicated, then 400 people who will show up to jusr a handful of games and call themselves Blue Crew.

The fact that there seems to be an uptick in student attendence is great. The question remains, "how many students are attending." Its a smaller building, so maybe it looks bigger than it actually is?

The other question to the blue crew folks is how many of you will show up over break? Will there be another time this year when Guy Phillips edits his script and doesn't mention you pregame? Or another time when the "6th Man" only has 6 people?

Keep working hard and don't wait till the last minute to get things done. The request for extra tickets should have been done a LONG time before this week.

[Pistol]

I've ripped the Blue Crew on here in the past, and I'll do it again. Most people on this board hold them to way too low a standard. Just because SLU basketball has had weak student support in the past doesn't mean we should keep settling for more of the same. The Blue Crew finally has every advantage with an on-campus arena and a supportive athletic department (granted, they're not selling a program like UNC, but all of the advantages outside of the team's performance). Yet they still manage to fail, as seen in the first message on this thread and the missed trip to Carbondale a couple weeks ago. They're also failing to get students in the seats at home.

I just don't get it- is the group that poorly managed? Are students totally anti-Blue Crew? Are students so completely apathetic about the basketball team that they can't walk across campus? Are the students turned off by the fact they have to pay for tickets for the first time? There have to be at least a few of these factors at play, but I have to think they'd be somewhat mitigated if the Blew Crew had good leadership. The email screw up for Carbondale and this one are both things that could have easily been solved. Generating more student attendance than we've seen so far this year also can't be impossible.

To say that the support this year is fine because it's better than before is a total cop out, and gives undue credit to the Blue Crew; student attendance would be better this year even if the Blue Crew didn't exist just because of the arena.

I put a lot of the blame on the way the group is managed. They treat it more like a club than an inclusive cheering section. There was actually a Blue Crew president a couple years ago who capped membership and made cuts (!), something that should never happen when we're trying to grow attendance. So instead of creating a passionate group, they just pissed off everyone who wanted to be at least a semi-regular fan. It seems to me that the mindset is still to pursue a small, fervent fan base rather than reaching out to the whole student body. And when they can't even manage the small group of fans, this is a group that either needs new leadership or to be dismantled and reinvented in a new form.

Seeing this makes me wish I were still a student there because I know the student section could be way better.

[NashvilleBilliken]

Seeing this makes me wish I were still a student there because I know the student section could be way better.

You're a recent grad. What did you do to promote a group like the blue crew when you were on campus? Based on this comment, I assume you made an attempt to do so.

We're talking about kids here. They get no support from the administration (at least that has been the case in years past). And they have no legacy to work with. How are they supposed to know the right or wrong way to do things? I know I could care less when I was in college. Who are the "advisors"? I would agree that we hold them to a low standard, but as you are aware, the apathy toward SLU activites in general...let alone sports...is enourmous. It really gets me going that people can continue to ridicule those who are actually making an effort to attend the games while we have 90%+ of the student body could care less. I think you would agree with me that it would require a MONUMENTAL effort get kids to attend games. On top of that, the team kinda sucks? Yet somehow our student attendance is way up. Obviously the numbers are up in part due to the arena, but to not give the blue crew any credit for that when everything we read points otherwise, is wrong.

[ChaifetzRocker88]

I too can echo Pistol's sentiments.

After the epic Boston College win, a win that should be savored by the BillikeNation, hundreds of fans joined a Sea of Blue from 1 South Compton to Humphrey's to partake in an epic celebration of legendary proportions. For the next hour, Billiken fans old and young raised their glasses to what little tradition we have --- then it came crashing down upon us like the Hindenburg -- the mural.

Yes, the so-called "Billiken Traditions" mural located on the eastern facing side of Humphrey's, a mural that people waited 20 minutes outside in the cold to see fell tragically short of expectations. The poor band, the poor athletic director and the poor Mangelsdorf family stood outside while some doofus proclaimed that Humphrey's is a great tradition (and probably our only one at SLU), as well as joining in the Relay-For-Life, something that is done from every corner of America from Wasilia, AK to the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Relay-For-Life is not a SLU tradition, sorry Blue Crew. This was the most epic of epic failures in recent history. This was the 2004 Yankees times 100; this was a punch in the face more violent than Kermit Washington on Rudy Tomjanovich; this was a failure larger than a copy editor proclaiming Dewey would be our next president. It is now an eyesore of a campus.

If college pranks are alive and well, I hope that the frat boys of SLU make it a point to remove the Billiken Tradition mural and make it the epicenter of our very own Burning Man event.

Blue Crew needs to go.

[slufanskip]

This is what annoys me about this board. People ***** and moan and do nothing about it. At least we have a spirit crew that is attempting to do something. Granted, they seem to have dropped the ball on several things....but what's the alternative? Nothing. Is nothing at all better than the current blue crew? Absolutely not. We get students on here calling them names and saying they suck, but I don't see those guys trying to start a spirit group. Same with the announcer on the webcasts. Yeah, he wasn't Bob Costas, but he was at least a dedicated SLU fan attempting to provide us with a service (and i'm pretty sure a poster on the board). Everybody railed on the guy and now we don't have any announcer for the games. Either provide a solution or stop bitching.

The guy who was the announcer on the webcasts was bad, really bad. I have no clue if he was a student who did it for free, or someone who was paid. How would any of us know? If he was a student who did it for free ... I commend that, but why do we have a student who is not very good doing it at all.

Did you complain about the GW game last year? Well if so how the come you weren't out there yourself doing better ...

[bleedtheblue]

Blue Crew needs to go.

Really? I do not understand where all this anger is coming from that is being thrown toward blue crew. Yes, a couple times the ball has been dropped but they are just college kids with tests, and homework, and drinking to do. If someone would like to take the helm of blue crew that is fine but to say that blue crew needs to go is just rediculous and immature. Grow up.

[Cowboy]

-my solution is to find our poster Blue Crew Prez or however that went, Diane i think was her name and get the U to hire her to enhance spirit on the campus for all athletics, blue crew included

-whoever did not hire her when she proposed such a job did no service to the U

-but perhaps this fault can be cured

[bonwich]

I'm baffled here. The goal is to get increased student participation at games. Given our $70M arena and our $1M coach, was no money budgeted to ensure a paid liaison between the athletic department and the Blue Crew, someone who would help them arrange buses and make sure they got any extra tickets they needed and take care of other administrative duties that probably no volunteer student booster organization in the country does (above a Div. III school)?

Bravo Blue Crew, whether 5 or 500 of you show up. Another low grade (or at least another incomplete) to sports marketing and gameday management.

[RB2.0]

I'm baffled here. The goal is to get increased student participation at games. Given our $70M arena and our $1M coach, was no money budgeted to ensure a paid liaison between the athletic department and the Blue Crew, someone who would help them arrange buses and make sure they got any extra tickets they needed and take care of other administrative duties that probably no volunteer student booster organization in the country does (above a Div. III school)?

Bravo Blue Crew, whether 5 or 500 of you show up. Another low grade (or at least another incomplete) to sports marketing and gameday management.

Blue Crew needs cool people with a presence in it to attract others. Plain and simple.

The Billikens need to win. Plain and simple.

The Athletic Department needs to schedule good teams at home. Plain and simple.

You combine those 3 things - you have an enormous student section.

BLUE CREW is a great organization, however, it has been misguided the past 3 or 4 years. It NEEDS to stay. It NEEDS to get better. But the Bills just need to win.

As TO says, winning cures everything.

[Pistol]

Blue Crew needs cool people with a presence in it to attract others. Plain and simple.

The Billikens need to win. Plain and simple.

The Athletic Department needs to schedule good teams at home. Plain and simple.

You combine those 3 things - you have an enormous student section.

BLUE CREW is a great organization, however, it has been misguided the past 3 or 4 years. It NEEDS to stay. It NEEDS to get better. But the Bills just need to win.

As TO says, winning cures everything.

This is fair. It has been misguided longer than 3 or 4 years, though. It was misguided the whole time I was there (Fall 2001-Spring 2005) and continues to have poor leadership.

In addition to winning, getting real leadership in the Blue Crew, and scheduling, the Blue Crew and AD could help their own causes a lot more- events, promotions, giveaways, flyers, emails, discounts for organizations, competitions for the Greeks, and so on. What we've seen with this Blue Crew is missed trips (email problems?!), a failure to generate attendance on campus, and a lousy mural.

Cowboy, I understand that Diane a couple years ago took a lot of initiative and tried hard, but at the end of the day, what did she achieve? The group never really grew. I understand she wanted a job with the athletic department, but what credentials did she have besides leading an unsuccessful spirit group?

Nashville, what "support from the administration" do you expect for a student cheering section? The group's sole purpose is to get students' butts in the seats, nothing more. The administration of the university would be wasting its time to get involved in any way with the Blue Crew. The important thing is not that the Blue Crew needs support from them, it's that they aren't being held back by anyone. They might not have an unlimited budget, but no one is stopping them from doing whatever they want to generate more student interest.

Also, Nash, check your PM.

[SShoe]

Why is Blue Crew always the problem? What about the other 6,000 or so undergraduate students who rarely show up to games? Or the large percentage of students who in their four years at SLU, never once went to a game? It's not Blue Crew's responsibility to get the lame ducks who'd rather play video games, the frat boys who'd rather light a candle, or the Humphreys Rats to home games. While admittedly, the BC could do a better job of always showing up and being creative and loud throughout the game, they are definitely the most consistent student group when it comes to supporting the Bills.

Perhaps we should start pointing fingers at the Greeks, the Drama club, Gries Hall floor 14 etc.

[TheBand]

While admittedly, the BC could do a better job of always showing up and being creative and loud throughout the game, they are definitely the most consistent student group when it comes to supporting the Bills.

Uhh, no they aren't. How many times have we seen less than a dozen blue crewers there. There really isn't a group that is consistent, unless you want to count the band which is made up of about 35-40 percent alums.

[Box and Won]

I'd say that outside of the band, the SAEs are probably the most consistent in their attendance. I wish my old fraternity would show up in the same numbers.

[SShoe]

Uhh, no they aren't. How many times have we seen less than a dozen blue crewers there. There really isn't a group that is consistent, unless you want to count the band which is made up of about 35-40 percent alums.

There is no doubt that many of them often don't show up during breaks, but when they're the only students showing up at all, I would say they are the most consistent, except of course the Band.