Pistol Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 What are you doing as far as recruiting for the Blue Crew this year? Is your group going to have something planned for welcome week and the incoming freshmen? Any giveaways for students? Any new T-shirt slogans to watch for? Even though I am no longer a student there, I think it's important and I'm really just curious what's cooking from the student fans this year. The reason I ask is because a couple seasons ago, the Blue Crew president at the time (I think it was Seth) decided that the official Blue Crew would be small, and that not all who signed up would be allowed to join. They would accept a group of students who committed to going to every game rather than a large group who went to just the games they could make or wanted to go to. The idea was that there would be a devoted, hardcore group that was counted on to be there every game. I, however, (and many others) thought this was a terrible idea. One thing SLU has been lacking in for years is student attendance. How could we increase student interest in basketball by rejecting kids who sign up for Blue Crew? It makes no sense. All it does is alienate a student body that is already generally apathetic toward supporting the team, as well as create an exclusive club that outsiders will resent. Of course not every student will go to every game. Of course there will be less students, even Blue Crew members, at Savannah State than at Gonzaga, UNC, or any other big game. That's just the way it goes. I don't know what the policy was last year, and I don't know what it will be this year, but I wanted to know what you had in store. Student support is key in building an all-around solid program, especially when we're headed into a new building soon. I'd really like to hear your thoughts and ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 An idea for the Ole Miss game: Have everyone dress up, have the guys wear kakhi pants and white shirts and blue and white striped ties...have the girls dress up. SEC students do this for football games. We don't have football, so let's mock them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiphan Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 >An idea for the Ole Miss game: >Have everyone dress up, have the guys wear kakhi pants and >white shirts and blue and white striped ties...have the >girls dress up. SEC students do this for football games. We >don't have football, so let's mock them. That seems like you would be imitating their good tastes. I don't know that it would come across that you were mocking the SEC. Anyways, I don't think Ole Miss would care. You can come up with something better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Fortunately for us, Mississippi provides us with a wealth of material - Colonel Reb, the confederate flag, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Our band playing Dixie and Rebel Yell by Billy Idol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Now we're talking. And our mascot may be weird, but at least it's not Col. Sanders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 How about southern man by Neil Young? Not quite as punchy I'll admit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewprez Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Well, this year is going to be MUCH more membership-oriented than years past. Seth did an amazing job as president before me, and at the time, the small, dedicated section was what worked for BLUE CREW. Now, though, there has been so much interest in us, that it would only hurt us to have a membership cut-off. I've spent a lot of time (more than I should) this summer sitting at my internship researching what other schools do with their student sections, and we hope to implement some of their ideas/successes with our own organization. This summer, I along with a few volunteers went to SLU 101 and talked to incoming freshmen both Thursday nights and Friday mornings and let them sign up now. I think that it is very feasible that we will have 300 members next season. We used to have an attendence requirement (9 of 11 games), but after only having 8 of 204 members last year met that requirement, we've decided to get rid of that. Some other changes for next season: Last season, we had a big problem of getting the members involved because we didn't have much contact with them individually besides the game e-mail reminders, so for next season, the thing the BLUE CREW Executive Board is most excited about next year is "BLUE CREW families" (name to be determined). These will be smaller groups within the BLUE CREW of about 20 people each--led by a member of BC that has been in it more than 1 year--and these groups will do everything from compete in spirit competitions among other things (the only thing is trying to find a prize big enough that people will respond to). This way, everyone single member's name will be known (I'm horrible with names...I'm lucky I remember mine sometimes). We're thinking we're going to name the groups after players, for example: "Crew Vouyoukas", "Crew Liddell", ("Crew Bennett" ) etc. These groups will also get to meet their player at the Billiken Madness Camp-Out. Making "BLUE CREW families" a success is our biggest goal for next year. If we have a group that supports and is involved with one another, it will make it much easier to get students to the games and create a dedicated student-fan base. We're also going to try and get as many new (and old) members as possible to the Arena Groundbreaking on Aug 28th so they can witness the beginning of an era. Along with Billiken Madness, community building events (also with Legion 1818), and being more membership-focused in general, we will get people as involved and dedicated as possible. Of course, other things will come up that we will try, but as always any ideas are always welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 We've got teeth, yes we do We've got teeth, how 'bout you? (or y'all?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Has Brad ever offered to address/meet with the Blue Crew? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewprez Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Oh yeah, he does it every year. He usually sends them an email to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving then another for Christmas. He also likes to give the BLUE CREW a pep talk at the beginning of the season. And he always comes to the banquet at the end of the year and talks to every single member individually. We're hoping we can get him to send an email to the kids that have signed up for BLUE CREW over the summer welcoming them, but I still need to contact him about that. He always offers to do whatever he can for us. I don't think most people realize how involved he is with BLUE CREW and expressing his appreciation for our support. It is very cool to see a coach pay so much attention to the student fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 That's excellent news. I thought the game attendance requirement and membership cut-off were extremely detrimental to the development of the Blue Crew. I also like the idea of sub-Blue Crews for each player, and naming it after the player. That would make it possible to have a much, much larger student section at each game. Maybe using a nickname or player number would be good, too. For instance, there isn't much of a ring to Crew Vouyoukas, but maybe Crew 15 or Crew Greece or Big Fat Greek Crew or something like that would strike a chord with members. I don't know how crazy you want to get with these, but as long as all the Crew leaders are on board, then more people will get into it. It's great that Brad's been so accommodating with the Blue Crew. I know he's been a big proponent of them from the start, and he's always looking for ideas and suggestions to get more student interest and fan interest in general. I know you have an open line of communication with him, and I think he'd be very open to any ideas that aren't too far out there. Nice work- stay on those impressionable freshmen, and hopefully SLU can build a student body that's passionate about basketball. I know winning is the most valuable way to get them there, but every additional outside effort is important, too. Good luck this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 The possibilities are endless when you're making fun of Mississippi. The problem is that not many of their fans will be in the house, and I don't know how much their players would care. But all the Confederate stuff, lack of teeth, Col. Sanders- why can't the people in our conference be so easy to pick on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Cool - I like the "families" idea, BTW. And of course, each family will have to cheer extra loudly when its player scores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Wow, Pistol actually with something nice and encouraging to say?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewprez Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 The only thing that BLUE CREW has a problem with in terms of members is RETAINING last year's freshmen. To put it in perspective: last year's BLUE CREW had 204 members: 178 were freshmen. Hopefully these BC-families will help to create a bond between the members that will keep them coming back in their future years, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens once we all get back and the season starts getting closer. And I love the fun name ideas: My Big Fat Greek Crew?? Hilarious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 Picking a fight with you hardly justifies being labled a nattering nabob of negativity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 Um, Ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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