"The average Duquesne fan" is someone who goes to one-two games a year, doesnt know a players name on the team, might know who the coach is, doesnt know a thing about the opponent.   Its 2020.   The years of winning, Red Manning, NIT championships, are long gone.   My uncle is 78 years old, he was at DU way back then, he remembers.   But DU has no fans.   The 15-20 people here, not the "average" fan.

Last edited by townsonkid (3/18/2020 10:05 am)

townsonkid wrote:

"The average Duquesne fan" is someone who goes to one-two games a year, doesnt know a players name on the team, might know who the coach is, doesnt know a thing about the opponent.   Its 2020.   The years of winning, Red Manning, NIT championships, are long gone.   My uncle is 78 years old, he was at DU way back then, he remembers.   But DU has no fans.   The 15-20 people here, not the "average" fan.

Sadly this is true:  As I've said before, fans who remember Duquesne being a power were in diapers at the time of their true greatness and are going to be in diapers again soon, sadly!  Forty years (as others have pointed out, let's be brutally honest except for the Nixon long shot it's really closer to fifty) of utter irrelevance destroys any chance to build a fan base.

And on that note, as far as media coverage goes, we will not get any true coverage until we get named on Selection Sunday!  PERIOD!  Not one minute before!
 

Tejas_Duke wrote:

townsonkid wrote:

"The average Duquesne fan" is someone who goes to one-two games a year, doesnt know a players name on the team, might know who the coach is, doesnt know a thing about the opponent.   Its 2020.   The years of winning, Red Manning, NIT championships, are long gone.   My uncle is 78 years old, he was at DU way back then, he remembers.   But DU has no fans.   The 15-20 people here, not the "average" fan.

Sadly this is true:  As I've said before, fans who remember Duquesne being a power were in diapers at the time of their true greatness and are going to be in diapers again soon, sadly!  Forty years (as others have pointed out, let's be brutally honest except for the Nixon long shot it's really closer to fifty) of utter irrelevance destroys any chance to build a fan base.

And on that note, as far as media coverage goes, we will not get any true coverage until we get named on Selection Sunday!  PERIOD!  Not one minute before!
 

I can't argue with a single word here.

I'm going to think outside the box again here. I don't think it would be good for the opening, but we could try to bring back the Steel Bowl. I don't know that it would work annually, but I think as a one time event, or maybe once every 5 or 10 years it could work.

I would tweak it a bit though. Expand it for two reasons. One to host some games at the Coop to celebrate the opening. Two to give everyone three games and make it an exempt tournament. Secondly, make it all local. What would anyone think about something like this:

Friday        11/27/20    5:30
Duquesne    Rob. Morris    Cooper Fieldhouse
Pitt        Cleveland St.    PPG Paints Arena

Friday        11/27/20    8:00
Penn St.    Kent St.    Cooper Fieldhouse
W. Virginia    Marshall    PPG Paints Arena

Saturday    11/28/20    5:30
Pitt        Duquesne    PPG Paints Arena
Cleveland St.    Kent St.    Cooper Fieldhouse

Saturday    11/28/20    8:00
W.Virginia    Penn St.    PPG Paints Arena
Marshall    Rob. Morris    Cooper Fieldhouse

Sunday    11/29/20    2:30
Pitt        Penn St.    PPG Paints Arena
Cleveland St.    Rob. Morris    Cooper Fieldhouse

Sunday    11/29/20    5:00
W. Virginia    Duquesne    PPG Paints Arena
Kent St.    Marshall    Cooper Fieldhouse



I think we would be able to bring teams in on an occasional basis. With conference schedules expanding, rivalries are starting to be dropped. This would bring back the rivalries. Pittsburgh may not be able to compete with Maui and the top 10 teams might not be willing to come, but there would be enough decent competition that I think teams might be willing to do it. I think it would be a rare good use of PPG for basketball too. With four schools at each session, I think it would be pretty close to full. We'd also be able to bring in some revenue with the consolation games at the Coop. As with some of my earlier ideas, it might not work, but I think it's worth at least exploring.

Last edited by luckymcd (3/18/2020 6:00 pm)

duq81 wrote:

The Steel Bowl is never coming back. Pitt is locked into 20 ACC games, plus those conference challenge games. They will never agree to this. The last Steel Bowl I went to didn't draw any better than the usual slim crowds that both Pitt, and Duquesne drew in the late 70s. Return of the Steel Bowl is an old folks dream, like our looks and stamina returning, and is as likely.

The way the tourney was originally done I would agree, it will never happen. Do it maybe once every four years so anyone who stays for four years (another ancient concept I know) would get the chance. It would be something the teams could look forward to. Keep it to local teams (not necessarily the same ones every time) to alleviate difficulties bringing teams to Pittsburgh and attendance concerns. Most importantly to address your concerns with scheduling issues, make it an exempt tournament. All the teams involved would get three games, but only have them count as one. The small teams would get the opportunity to play the big boys. The big teams would get the chance to very likely play two major teams in the non-conference season that also are rivals and have it only count as one game. I think it could work. 

luckymcd wrote:

duq81 wrote:

The Steel Bowl is never coming back. Pitt is locked into 20 ACC games, plus those conference challenge games. They will never agree to this. The last Steel Bowl I went to didn't draw any better than the usual slim crowds that both Pitt, and Duquesne drew in the late 70s. Return of the Steel Bowl is an old folks dream, like our looks and stamina returning, and is as likely.

The way the tourney was originally done I would agree, it will never happen. Do it maybe once every four years so anyone who stays for four years (another ancient concept I know) would get the chance. It would be something the teams could look forward to. Keep it to local teams (not necessarily the same ones every time) to alleviate difficulties bringing teams to Pittsburgh and attendance concerns. Most importantly to address your concerns with scheduling issues, make it an exempt tournament. All the teams involved would get three games, but only have them count as one. The small teams would get the opportunity to play the big boys. The big teams would get the chance to very likely play two major teams in the non-conference season that also are rivals and have it only count as one game. I think it could work. 

Pitt doesn't need it, neither does WVU. This is why it won't happen. We look at things that we think will benefit Duquesne. The 20 game schedule has really made things difficult. After playing us, a Big 10 team, and some tournament somewhere warm, it leaves Pitt with 7 games. No way would they ever let something like this eat some of the games up.

coffee wrote:

I don't want to see a game against South Carolina Upstate to open the Coop.  I don't care how much people want to see a guaranteed win. 

How about Valpo?

Don't want to have to play at Valpo. You can do a better sure win than SC Upstate. I'd much rather see St. Francis than either of those two. Of course with Coronavirus stopping construction, it might be a moot point.
 

townsonkid wrote:

Just heard on radio that most construction projects continue.   Saw a truck full of supplies(new homes) go down the roead earlier today, and an hour later drove past empty.   IDK.

I don't think anybody on this board truly knows if the construction has stopped or not. I would assume since Duquesne halted everything on campus they would stop the construction too, but until somebody is able to get on Forbes and confirm it for us we just don't know. 

lilpav30 wrote:

WVU just posted there non conference schedule on Twitter already and includes Pitt and RMU but not Duq. So my guess was wrong. No wvu!

It's a shame, I'd love if highschool teammates Maceo Austin and Oscar Tshiebwe could play eachother year after year. I'd imagine we made that exhibition last year more stressful than they pleased. Who knows, maybe that preseason game will become tradition.

kcc173 wrote:

If there is one, I really like the St. Francis pick. It would be nice to see Texas Southern as well so Marcus and Michael Weathers could square off.
I just hope we all get through this and if we do, my true feeling is any D1 team is fine. I just want to see my Dukes in good health along with all of you.

Very well said. I agree. I see the article about Michael Weathers committing to Texas Southern in 2019, but other than that, see no indications that he is still/currently on the team. He definitely has the skill, I'd hate to see anybody in the Duquesne family have off the court issues that prohibit them from playing.

Last edited by BluffHunter (3/23/2020 9:02 pm)

Construction delays may force Duquesne to open the new fieldhouse during the season.  If so, La Salle would be good.

If it is indeed a conference opponent, dont waste it on the Bonnies. That game against them next season will be a madhouse regardless - might as well bring a lesser name that wouldn't fill the seats otherwise