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Post by Sly Fox on Jun 10, 2005 8:23:53 GMT -5
I hear you WEF, but at least Rock Hill is close enough to Charlotte that there are a wealth of other options. In Lynchburg, for all intents & purposes its LU and then bottom tier college sports from Lynchburg College & RMWC and sub-par high schools. And as LUconn mentioned, we have the only arena in the area so we are basically the only live entertainment option available. Adding it all up and its an ugly picture.
Here in Houston, UH and Rice have major issues competing in a pro marketplace. And don't even get me started on Texas Southern & Prairie View. Most small high schools outdraw both of those SWAC schools by a ton.
But Lynchburg is no Houston or Charlotte. I just don't get while the townfolk don;t even have an interest when we bring higher profile teams to our house. You would think they would at least have an interest in high profile road teams.
That's why I feel we will have to go I-A before we will ever connect with the town. As long as we have a Concord or Shenandoah on our schedule, its hard for Lynchburgers to take us seriously.
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:05:30 GMT -5
;DLiberty just signed two Juco player out of Allegany college of Maryland, 6'6 Eric Bigby and 6'9 Jeramy Eck. Eric's a very athletic kid and jeramy is a big kid, banger. Both are good and have a lot of potential. I saw one of the guys from Allegany the other day in the gym don't know if he signed yet, but I didn't come away really impressed. I think the heights of those guys are a tad bit off. As Scar knows it takes a bit much to impress me. Russell Monroe impresses me.[glow=red,2,300][/glow]
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:14:04 GMT -5
The problem of 'town' involvement is present at nearly every school that's not named UNC, Va. Tech, Florida State, etc. Look across the Big South, SoCon, Atlantic Sun, etc. and you'll find similar problems. Winthrop's done the ticket giveaways, promotions with churches/schools, etc. and even still, it never seems like Rock Hill is behind the program. It took the best team in school history and Coach Marshall essentially begging in the papers and there was a decent rise in Rock Hill involvement with the team, but considering the reletively long-term success of the program since he's been there, it is still far from where it 'should' be. I agree 100 % with WUfan, especially in your case (WU Basketball). I never understood when I played, every time we went to Rock Hill you guys were the reining BSC Champs and the attendance didn't coincide with that. It made it easier to play there, but I loved to play on the road I hade some of my best games on the road. But every year I was like ok the game will be packed they won the league last year but………………
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:15:53 GMT -5
SCO5, I like that as short hand PAMedic. Anyway, the insider calls himself the insider for a reason. He is absolutely correct about the signings. I met Alexis Sherard (new assistant coach) this weekend when I was in Lynchburg and I think he told me about those guys. I wasn't sure if they had signed though. The Libertyflames.com is late with everything. We were talking about Dees months before they put it on the website. The other swing player Damien Hubbard is a good player too. He has a friend named Davon Deans that is the real deal. Davon is the step son of one of my boys in Northern VA and with Hubbard coming to Liberty Davon could be right behind him. Davon had some real personal issues and has gone to a lot of different prep schools. He will be like 21 or 22 next year and if he comes in a a Frosh could do big things. I have some influence in his life for sure and if I am around I would love to get him. When he was in high school he was on Maryland's A list as a recruit. He is ACC material. My friend tells me Hubbard and Davon are similar and he couldn't believe LU got Hubbard. It looks like we are reloading....As for LU and PR I would love to do it and have been talking with Liberty for almost 2 years but they don't see the value in it yet. I am glad you guys recognize my influence :-). That is good enough for me. Scar, yes sir Damien is a player. He will not give LU as much offensively as Dees did but the drop off will not be much.
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Post by Sly Fox on Jun 10, 2005 9:19:04 GMT -5
Home-schooled white kids don't get much love from recruiting services even if they do have game.
Did Russell play any summer ball up there on the frozen tundra of Michigan?
If he can step right in and make an impact down low, that would change everything as for my personal trepidation for next season.
The positive reports from the gym are most appreciated.
By the way, formerplayer, Fonde is starting to heat up. And with the collective bargaining agreement looking less & less likely, this could be a huge summer there. If you make it home this summer, you've got to oak it up. There's also a college league at the Houston Swoosh gym.
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:20:04 GMT -5
I hear you WEF, but at least Rock Hill is close enough to Charlotte that there are a wealth of other options. In Lynchburg, for all intents & purposes its LU and then bottom tier college sports from Lynchburg College & RMWC and sub-par high schools. And as LUconn mentioned, we have the only arena in the area so we are basically the only live entertainment option available. Adding it all up and its an ugly picture. Here in Houston, UH and Rice have major issues competing in a pro marketplace. And don't even get me started on Texas Southern & Prairie View. Most small high schools outdraw both of those SWAC schools by a ton. But Lynchburg is no Houston or Charlotte. I just don't get while the townfolk don;t even have an interest when we bring higher profile teams to our house. You would think they would at least have an interest in high profile road teams. That's why I feel we will have to go I-A before we will ever connect with the town. As long as we have a Concord or Shenandoah on our schedule, its hard for Lynchburgers to take us seriously. Sly, I feel you on that. I went to a Texas Southern Game over the Thanksgiving break last year and the attendance was pathetic. I asked my buddy if the games were always that bad and he said the only draw is when TSU plays PV or Southern, other than that it's pathetic.
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:23:35 GMT -5
Sly I'll be home in July I have a work out scheduled. I checked it out last summer when I came home, had some really good players there. Damon Stotemire (spelling?), Rashad Lewis, Moochie Norris to name a few. The Swoosh Gym where is that located? is that a new place?
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Post by Sly Fox on Jun 10, 2005 9:24:31 GMT -5
Actually, they have moved the two TSU-PVU hoops matchups the past couple of years to Toyota Center. And the results have been bad. They are trying to create a big game atmosphere. Instead, the crowds look tiny in the cavernous home of the Rockets ... even less than the Comets. Their games at the Babydome and H&PEC were awesome with some of the most intense crowds anywhere in college basketball (not to mention the best bands). Hopefully they'll drop the neutral site and go nack to home-and-home.
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:27:08 GMT -5
Yeah one of my former high school teammates, Lionel Willis played at TSU 02-03 and he told me they played at the Toyota Center. I remember the atmosphere of those games when they were played on campus they were awesome.
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 9:30:49 GMT -5
Sly, I was reading a mag, and came across something very interesting. The Kingwood Classic (spring tourney) is the biggest spring event in the nation. I remeber playing in that when they were getting it off the ground. We lost in the championchip game to the Dream Team (Darryl Sheppard) who now coaches the Houston Hoops. I remember loosing the MVP award to Adam Hall (UVA) only because his team won the game.
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Post by Realist on Jun 10, 2005 9:34:54 GMT -5
The WU attendence is an enigma they've been trying to solve for years. Last year was the first time some real progress was made, but look what it took to achieve it. The problem is still that males at WU are still in the minority, and the locals are more interested in high school football practices than college basketball, it's easily the most followed sport in the town. People are pretty hopeful for this year though.
Formerplayer, you'll probably saw some real small crowds, for some reason, LU games always seemed pretty sparse. For reasons unknown, Radford, UNCA, and Coastal have always gotten the bigger crowds it seems.
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Post by WinthropEagleFan on Jun 10, 2005 9:49:29 GMT -5
The problem of 'town' involvement is present at nearly every school that's not named UNC, Va. Tech, Florida State, etc. Look across the Big South, SoCon, Atlantic Sun, etc. and you'll find similar problems. Winthrop's done the ticket giveaways, promotions with churches/schools, etc. and even still, it never seems like Rock Hill is behind the program. It took the best team in school history and Coach Marshall essentially begging in the papers and there was a decent rise in Rock Hill involvement with the team, but considering the reletively long-term success of the program since he's been there, it is still far from where it 'should' be. I agree 100 % with WUfan, especially in your case (WU Basketball). I never understood when I played, every time we went to Rock Hill you guys were the reining BSC Champs and the attendance didn't coincide with that. It made it easier to play there, but I loved to play on the road I hade some of my best games on the road. But every year I was like ok the game will be packed they won the league last year but……………… And you guys came in during conference season, when the crowds were much better than the non-conference games, so imagine how the coliseum was in December...no atmosphere at all. If you were playing for LU during WU's tourney run, then that was when I was a student there...The group I sat with (right behind the scorers table on the visitor's bench side) tried to get that place to get a little rowdier, but the rest of the crowd didn't play along...oh well, we had fun, especially making fun of CJ Cowgill's shooting technique (though it seemed to work for him..and I'm assuming that's not you, if it is...sorry)...
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Post by SCAR on Jun 10, 2005 11:24:26 GMT -5
The points about Charlotte and Lynchburg are very accurate in my opinion. There are some many other things to do in Charlotte, including pro sports and college basketball. Plus you are in the middle of ACC country. Lynchburg has nothing but Liberty. OK UVA is 70 miles away and VA Tech is farther in the south west. I really think there is an anti-Liberty sentiment. It is not just apathy, these people really root against Liberty around here. In my opinion it is because of the way Liberty and Thomas Road Baptist are percieved. Liberty students stand out in this town. They are usually well dressed with nice cars etc and this town does not have a lot of white collar jobs going on. Why do you think I still work in DC and Richmond? It is nearly impossible to get a good office job here. I am not saying Lynchburg is economically depressed but it is more blue collar. Politics, religion and economics are 3 things that can really bring people in or turn them off. Liberty plays a big role in all 3 areas. Falwell is visible nationally in all 3 categories. Lynchburg ignores the economic benefits it receives from Liberty and instead focuses on every controversial word ever uttered by Dr. Falwell. You should here the mis-conceptions people around here have about Liberty. That is tough to overcome. Again without tooting my own horn, my understanding of this fact and the fact that I am a minority (not many people in any positon of significance at Liberty are a minority), and the fact that I people know me in this town (SC05 recognizes me :-)), all add up to an opportunity being missed by LU. Maybe if you guys all write in to Dr Falwell (just kidding)....You guys talked about Winthrop's small crowds after they won the Conference. Liberty basically experienced the same thing this season. And as SC05 said earlier, the 9 time champion Lady Flames are grossly undersupported!
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Post by Formerplayer on Jun 10, 2005 12:19:41 GMT -5
I agree 100 % with WUfan, especially in your case (WU Basketball). I never understood when I played, every time we went to Rock Hill you guys were the reining BSC Champs and the attendance didn't coincide with that. It made it easier to play there, but I loved to play on the road I hade some of my best games on the road. But every year I was like ok the game will be packed they won the league last year but……………… And you guys came in during conference season, when the crowds were much better than the non-conference games, so imagine how the coliseum was in December...no atmosphere at all. If you were playing for LU during WU's tourney run, then that was when I was a student there...The group I sat with (right behind the scorers table on the visitor's bench side) tried to get that place to get a little rowdier, but the rest of the crowd didn't play along...oh well, we had fun, especially making fun of CJ Cowgill's shooting technique (though it seemed to work for him..and I'm assuming that's not you, if it is...sorry)... No, I'm not CJ but that shot did work. I try to show people how he shot and they don't believe me. He shot the ball like a traditional jump shot inside the three point line but when he got 19 an out look out.
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Post by Sly Fox on Jun 10, 2005 13:16:18 GMT -5
formerplayer -- The swoosh gym is out on the NW side of town. Here are the directions: www.houstonswoosh.com/Facility.htmThe amount of shoe money in Houston has exploded the past two years. A lot of that as a result of all the success that Hal Pastner has had with Nike and the Kingwood in particular. That event has gotten so huge its unbelievable. They use gyms all over the northside. As for Lynchburg, I know the fortunes of the city have been in decline outside of LU. When you & I were students, Scar, the City of Lynchburgs was ranked 10th in the nation in millionaires per capita. There was quite a bit of old money. But the city has degenerated into a bit of a blue-collar marketplace.
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