Good post Stew.  Coach Dambrot has the full support of President Gormley and AD Harper.  He does not need to be saddled by the lazy culture in the AD Department exhibited under Amodio that undercut Ron Everhart, and showed little initiative in support of Ferry.  I am sure Dave Harper will make sure that does not happen.  

In this regard, I continue to be amazed at the good things I see and hear happening at DU with Coach Dambrot.  A friend of mine recently told me of a recent fund raiser to try to get back support from former season ticket holders.  Gormley, Dambrot, Harper and some of his staff were there.  At this meeting KD got up and told the crowd that before he decided to come to DU he spoke to a very good friend of his.  He said that his friend told him that he could win at DU if he received the full support of the Administration, staff, and alums.  Gormley & Harper convinced him that he will have what he needs to be successful and will have the full support of the AD Department.  He then went on to say that the very good friend who's counsel he sought before making his decision was Ron Everhart. Then (calling out the rats) he said that he thought it was disgraceful for Duquesne to have fired him the way the did.  

I am told that that evening was highly successful in signing up former season ticket holders.  What a class act by both Dambrot, and  Ron Everhart. I have always loved and respected Ron, but my respect has grown even more.  It would have been easy for Ron to hold a gruge and bad mouth DU, but he didn't do that.    Hopefully all the alums will let go of their grudges and rally behind Coach Dambrot and support this program.

Last edited by CLK (7/31/2017 11:08 am)

They invested in a coach, now invest in a PR campaign.  Billboards, radio commercials on something other than 970AM, and maybe a tv ad or two mixed in.  Someone at DU needs to get "in" with a local new/sports director, get some interviews on kdka or wtae sports in the evening, have them show more highlights, and run a story on Mike Lewis, let the people know we have he best college player in the city on OUR roster.  A better web page for athletics.  DU has plenty of students who could work that page for all the teams and do a better job.  And promote clothing sales with the new Nike stuff.   Have a contest to give away a pair of LeBron shoes, or something LeBron, to the student section each home game....watch them show up.

The old days and the old ways of working with the media are long gone. Media these days, with all the cutbacks and layoffs, will take content that you develop and use it like a boss. Put as many nice video highlights and interview clips as we can out there, and we'll be on TV.

Dambrot has already earned his way onto some choice TV stories, including ESPN to talk about LeBron.

A good, entertaining season and we'll be fine in terms of TV coverage.

One of the ironies of playing so many home games is that we'll likely set a record for live coverage from the PG, TR, and the shared DK reporter who also has Bobby Mo, Allegheny Community College, Gannon, Gateway HS, and Little Tykes to cover. Plus I'd expect more coverage from Mike V. and Pittsburgh Sports Now this season ... mightcouldbe some dedicated coverage. 

FAM wrote:

Win and they will come

This is it. When you've largely been garbage for 45 years, it's not surprising there's not much interest beyond some alums, and a few old timers who remember the "glory days". Duquesne was a much smaller school back in the 50s, and 60s, and despite the Pirates, Steelers, and Pitt being around, the Dukes got major coverage. You know why? Because there were lots of fans that wanted to read and hear about the Dukes. Why was that? Because the program won at a high level. Most of the people I know have zero interest in the Dukes, because the Dukes have never given them a reason to be interested. Start winning at a high level, and the bandwagon will fill up.
 

Play exciting basketball, win most of your home games and put up 20 wins a year and NIT and NCAA at times and folks will come out.

We would fill Palumbo back in John Carrolls day during the 13-16 years and the NIT year, it was hot, loud and exciting to see Big Alan Watkins running down court with his tong out and thunder dunking. Skinny James Hargrove muscling his way inside to score, coming back from 18 to upset 10th ranked Fl. State with Bobby Surra, Charlie Ward and Co. Flabbergasted!

Do that and they will come.

townsonkid wrote:

I was there then, early 90s, it was fun.  I can still remember.  I missed the FSU game, was studying for an anatomy and physiology final.  I heard cheers from the Palumbo all the way up in Towers.
Charlie Ward didnt play tho, correct, he was prepping for a bowl game?

You're right; no Charlie Ward; but Bobby Sura had a ridiculous game.  I remember thinking throughout the game how different the Dukes' fortunes would have been if Sura committed to the Dukes instead of the Seminoles.
Box score below.
http://nolefan.org/ref/b1992_12_15_sid.pdf
 

Last edited by PhoenixRising2 (8/01/2017 10:52 am)

townsonkid wrote:

I was there then, early 90s, it was fun.  I can still remember.  I missed the FSU game, was studying for an anatomy and physiology final.  I heard cheers from the Palumbo all the way up in Towers.
Charlie Ward didnt play tho, correct, he was prepping for a bowl game?

I've told this story a few times here, but oh well some people haven't seen it.  I did not get to see the FSU game because that was the first evening of my Mother's viewing at the funeral home. Mom was a die hard Dukes fan.  After the viewing I went to my favorite local watering hole, looked up at the score flashed on ESPN and couldn't believe it. I raised my beer heavenward and toasted Mom as the tears began to fall.
 

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

townsonkid wrote:

I was there then, early 90s, it was fun.  I can still remember.  I missed the FSU game, was studying for an anatomy and physiology final.  I heard cheers from the Palumbo all the way up in Towers.
Charlie Ward didnt play tho, correct, he was prepping for a bowl game?

You're right; no Charlie Ward; but Bobby Sura had a ridiculous game.  I remember thinking throughout the game how different the Dukes' fortunes would have been if Sura committed to the Dukes instead of the Seminoles.
Box score below.
http://nolefan.org/ref/b1992_12_15_sid.pdf
 

Sura and/or what was his name, Danny Folston, from Shaler was it?  He went to Cincy instead.  At the time, being at DU, and still really no internet or social media, rumor mill had him coming to DU, and boy that would have been huge.

the alien sam cassell was on that FSU team too!  :-)

Last edited by townsonkid (8/01/2017 12:00 pm)

I dont care if Pittsburgh is not a city that supports losers you still make the effort and if you can attract one more
person to buy season tickets its 1 sold and 4,500 more seats that need sold.Even when the Dukes start winning
you still have to get people to turn off their televisions and drive down to Duquesne.Persistence is key and a
phone call might be all that is needed.Get the coaches,key ex players on the phone,and talk about the plans
and the excitement of what is going to happen.A good conversation with somebody friendly and personable
talking to Duquesne alumni.Get the coaches and players together in the dorms talking about their goals and the
importance of what each student means when they attend the games.You might get a lot of excuses for not goingand some students are never going to show up but the more nos you get leads you to more oppurtunities to say yes its sounds like fun.I will come down and cheer the team on.
 Duquesne needs to recruit goood players to make Palumbo start jumping but their has to be a effort to recruit
fans,students who live a block from Palumbo.The human touch,a good conversation,showing interest in our fans.
This is the stuff this athletic dept needs to get a handle on.Posting signs in the dorm will not work,people got to
sell this product and you need friendly conversations to do it,grassroots style.
That is the extra effort that needs made to get people interested,the human touch, players ,coaches showing interest in the students,creating a bond.Its uncomfortable doing these things but its a good experience like
selling yoursellf in a interview to get a job.
 

DennisC91 wrote:

Then just as we were starting to compete in the A10, Brian Colleary got the bright idea to move the program to the MCC or whatever it was called.

 

That just killed what Carroll was building. Kids in the areas where he had connections had no interest in playing in some far flung Midwestern league, and fans had little interest in watching most of those teams. He should have been fired after the Renee DeVarney scandal.
 

duq81 wrote:

DennisC91 wrote:

Then just as we were starting to compete in the A10, Brian Colleary got the bright idea to move the program to the MCC or whatever it was called.

 

That just killed what Carroll was building. Kids in the areas where he had connections had no interest in playing in some far flung Midwestern league, and fans had little interest in watching most of those teams. He should have been fired after the Renee DeVarney scandal.
 

In a small bit of sympathy for the Devil, Ray Goss told me a few years later that,at the time,  it looked as if Temple, West Virginia and Rutgers were bailing on the conference,and there were other rumors of defection as well and Colleary found a decent landing spot.
 

ElDuque wrote:

The MCC fell apart when Xavier and Dayton bailed. Then DU got both of them in the A10. We, of course were a legacy. Our brother Fred from Harrisburg paved the way.

Duquesne should be forever grateful that the A10 accepted us back. I probably wouldn't be on this board if we were in the Horizon, or MAAC.

Keep in mind that Dayton bailed, not Xavier. Dayton, and LaSalle were the only teams in that league that we had a real history with. When Dayton jumped to the Great Midwest, they wanted to replace them with some team way out in the middle of the country. Duquesne wanted no part of this, and we went back home. When WVU, and Rutgers got full membership in the BE, Xavier, Dayton, and LaSalle were brought in to replace them. Duquesne played a role in this, as they were able to sell the league on Xavier, having seen them up close.