I mean cause doesn't equal correlation but both times fans expressed their displeasure, we saw some immediate dividends. Man, if only Hardt could realize this as well. A little pressure is OK, in fact it is natural and needed.
Mooney billboard
- Thread starter SFspidur
- Start date
well not immediate with the billboard. believe we went 2-3 the next 5 games, but yes we got it together in the postseason. what was the other time?
The petition. Had many hundreds of signatures and then like 3 weeks later we won the A-10 tournament, made the NCAA's, beat Iowa.
Grant is a Spider legend I agree with u. The extra time elevated Grant's numbers, Father is right there but I agree with u it doesn't disqualify him as a legend. I liked Grant a lot. MFG is also a legend and he didn't even have to put up big numbers. Longevity and consistency can do it, but coming up in big spots at end of year can make u legendary too. Some want to make this past team legendary. It wasn't. King was legendary for most of year. But as team we faded very badly at the worst possible time. I've said this before but we all know it, u r rightly or wrongly primarily judged by performance at the end of seasons.
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No I think years apart. There was some discussion that Mooney was actually on the hot seat. If you recall, he had all time great players in Gilyard and Golden, and they underachieved in the regular season. Then 05 banged out the petition which got lots of signature, and then the magic A10 run. My memory is bad but think the billboard was a year or two before that. So the petition was much much more effective. So depending on your view, you can thank for that, or not.
Let's try a pre-emptive sky-writing/mass-mailing/radio hit campaign this offseason and see what kind of results that elicits next year. Maybe a Final Four run is in the offing!
Agree Gkiller on the end of season. That is what I recall most from guys like Atkinson, Blair, Gonzo, KA - they did it when it counted most. I still recall being a few rows up as that annoying guard from American, grabbed Blair's left arm on the shot (if he missed would have knocked us from CAA tourney and NCAA's) and he fought through to hit it and keep hope alive. Legendary, just like so many KA shots at end of game. Also recall Butler and K Smith plays.
Yeah we didn't do anything the billboard year (2019) but the next season was 24-7!! But it was also my NCAA or BUST prediction so i think GK had the most to do with it...Gisele.
The petition was b4 the 2022 tourney. I don't really think it got that many signatures tho. But we can always ask the PETITION GUY!!
I think the minor heart surgery (can I say minor? relative to other heart surgeries) has finally usurped the wedding planner. It might be #5 after holding #1 for so so long. Tough fall. I might be wrong. My rankings...
1. heart surgery
2. princeton offense
3. bad billboard
4. good billboard
5. wedding planner
G, people on here get on me for being so pro Mooney, but I did say even though I wanted him to return after the 20 loss seasons ( because I liked the talent and felt a great season coming), I also said I totally understood if people wanted him gone after 2019, and if we had a bad 2020 I might have been right there with them.
ah, so we went 2-5 post-billboard in 2019.
then 2-3 post petition, before Gilyard put us on his back.
I beg to differ. My recollection was it got a lot. I signed it 87 times myself. So maybe it did not get a lot of "unique" signatures. And if so , then I take credit - GISELLE!!!!
Look at Purdue and UVA. Both lost to 16 seeds and then the same team returns and next year goes to the Final Four (UVA won it all). They took all of the outside pressure and frankly humiliation and used it as fuel.
I believe it was in the plus 500 range. It included some larger donors and I believe some former players/parents of players as well. But again, my memory may be hazy.
And 23 signed it 87 times, so there is that too
That's fine but let's be clear with 23 as the witness. Nobody was higher on our 19-20 prospects than me....GISELLE!
I believe it was in the plus 500 range. It included some larger donors and I believe some former players/parents of players as well. But again, my memory may be hazy.
And 23 signed it 87 times, so there is that too
it got 325 signatures. I just looked. Linking it might be triggering but I'll highlight a couple gems right off the bat.
Kevin D signed and his reason was "Mooney eats it!!!!! Time for another billboard campaign"
A guy named Big D Bandit signed and his reason was "Team is bad"
I don't know if they are related, I assume part of the famous D family.
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Those were not me. And now we know it got possibly 238 (or 239 I guess) unique signatures. And possibly only 2. But it worked and got guys riled up.
Correct. They’d see someone slicing and dicing stats and seasons to attempt to prove points as opposed to addressing longevity norms of the program with NCAA bids and 9-25 vs cross town rivalry. Throw in a losing set of comparisons with the coach 60 miles up Interstate 64, and you have one heck of a pipe dream of posts.
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One ncaa in five years. Oh yeah, very inspiring. But Bennett bad. Troll
I think you are using the word “legend” too loosely here. Thats all. Legends are a very rare group imo, and Golden was good. Thats it.
I think the point behind the board in 2019 was the lack of NCAA appearances. So in the last 5 years - we have 1 NCAA appearance. In 2019 - we were coming off a 12 and 13 win season and had not been in the NCAA in 8 years I believe. The last 5 years - we have 1 appearance, but I think you have to count the last 5 years as 4 cause of COVID. If COVID doesn't occur - we make the tourney in 2020 - but who knows what happens without the extra year UR was able to use to make a run in 2022. For that reason -I think you throw one year out totally and say - in 4 years, 1 tourney appearance. So yeah - I say the people who put up the billboard MAY have a point IF the NCAA is not reached in the next 2 years. Cause then we are looking at 4 years, going onto year 5 without an appearance. Right now - we are only 2 years removed from last appearance. And while this year was a good year - the goal is NCAA appearances no matter how you cut it. Whether that means winning the A10 regular season with a good OOC and getting at-large or just flat out winning the A10 tourney.
I agree with Spider23 when he says the next 2 years will be huge for this program. We need to make the NCAA, no matter how you cut it in the next 2 years. The further you get from your last appearance, the tougher it is to get back. Not saying Mooney will be on the hot seat or fired if we don't make it as I personally this past year, even without the NCAA year has solidified his position as UR coach for at least another 10 years (barring a total collapse of multiple last place finishes or a major NCAA rules violation - both of which are unlikely under Mooney). Just saying - those billboard people and petitions will get rumblings if an appearance is not made in the next 2 years. BUT - if an appearance is made in the next 2 years - lifetime contract.
Agree. Can’t throw the term “legend” casually. It’s a small fraternity and a difference between good and legend. A few names I might consider as UR legends would be Dick Tarrant, Bob McCurdy, and Johnny Newman. There are others, but I emphasize it should be a small group.
I would put Grant on the list of all-time great centers for U of R. The only one I would put ahead of him might be TJ. Not only did Grant play well at U of R, but he played great in the G league.
Well, you don’t go back many years with UR basketball then. And I’ll repeat that legend is a word not intended to be tossed lightly. There’s a diff between good/great and legend. The names I mentioned are truly legends, and anyone that goes way back with our program would hopefully agree with those 3 names.
Not anymore ur2k. Way off list. Beaver was canceled. U can’t say beaver on TV. In fact our PR people specifically tell the announcers not to say Mooney, beaver and wedding in the same sentence under any conditions. Only Cory Alexander has broken this rule.
and if you want to be that exclusive with the team "legend", I'll question McCurdy. before my time, but he played here 2 seasons. career record 26-28. the year he scored a million points, he took a miilion shots and the team went 10-16.
so Newman is the only legiondary player in our history.
so Newman is the only legiondary player in our history.
McCurdy led the nation in scoring in ‘74 - ‘75, and was a third team All American, but you don’t think that qualifies as legend in UR basketball? Got it.
impressive scoring numbers for sure. and shot a respectable 54%. do I think he's the 2nd best Spider player ever because he took all the shots on a 10-16 team? no.
The "legends" to me either have their names in the rafters OR we're the leaders of teams that did something extraordinary. I don't know where and if Grant falls on that list. Gilly was the leader of that team, Grant was second in my opinion. So, if we were to have a legend from those teams it would be Gilly.
I guess there’s always a way to give a backhanded compliment to someone with McCurdy’s credentials since you ventured into that territory. If Bob did’t take the shots and score at his nation leading numbers, maybe we’d have only won 2 or 3 games that year? It wasn’t a great team nor great record that year, but the crème rises to the top, and he did in IMHO without quasi qualifiers.
McCurdy's certainly on my list of Spider greats. I was told my term of legend was too broad and should only include Tarrant, Newman and McCurdy. So I questioned whether, if we're going to be that narrow, McCurdy deserves to be listed with Newman. Newman's in a class of his own in my opinion based on his numbers (including playing 4 years) and what level he led his team to.
KA is a legend of UR basketball to me. If there's only one in the 30 years I've paid attention, I think I'm picking him.
I am with you EL, I would add Kevin Anderson in there with Johnny Newman.
Which then begs the question Gilly??
But it seems Newman is one that stands alone.
Which then begs the question Gilly
??But it seems Newman is one that stands alone.
