I went to the R B1G Tour stop.....

[babbs09]

At PJ's in Cherry Hill tonight. If any other Board members were there, we may have spoke at one point. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. There was a decent turnout. The Athletic Department did a great job highlighting the successes of RU in its first year in the B1G. I got the chance to meet Kyle Flood. Fantastic person. Just what you would expect from a very smart, capable, and respectable man. A large majority of us want him to succeed and he knows this. Eddie Jordan also a very good human being and someone I'm pulling for tremendously. Geoff Brown, Sarah Baumgartner, Jeremy Davis, Tom Luicci, and many others are working very hard to make RU a force in NJ. I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with Kevin Malast and Jamaal Westermann who both came to represent RU. Cheerleaders, myself and the mascot had a really solid high five. They showed the video from the awards dinner which was fantastic. We all made a point to bring it up during the Fan Advisory meeting. Play that video at every possible opportunity. It was so well done and shows how much we accomplished in our first year in the B1G. Overall, good night.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Babbs, did you talk to Brownie? If so, gonna need some details up in here.

 

[ruforever]

At PJ's in Cherry Hill tonight. If any other Board members were there, we may have spoke at one point. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. There was a decent turnout. The Athletic Department did a great job highlighting the successes of RU in its first year in the B1G. I got the chance to meet Kyle Flood. Fantastic person. Just what you would expect from a very smart, capable, and respectable man. A large majority of us want him to succeed and he knows this. Eddie Jordan also a very good human being and someone I'm pulling for tremendously. Geoff Brown, Sarah Baumgartner, Jeremy Davis, Tom Luicci, and many others are working very hard to make RU a force in NJ. I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with Kevin Malast and Jamaal Westermann who both came to represent RU. Cheerleaders, myself and the mascot had a really solid high five. They showed the video from the awards dinner which was fantastic. We all made a point to bring it up during the Fan Advisory meeting. Play that video at every possible opportunity. It was so well done and shows how much we accomplished in our first year in the B1G. Overall, good night.

thanks for report. But I am not sure I agree we had any real success in our first year. Almost all our Olympic sports finished at the bottom of the standings, women's basketball was average. Football did well. Men's basketball was not good except for beating Wisc. Maryland blew us away in its first year winning several big ten titles to our zero. I like your enthusiasm however. we just are no where near competitive as an athletic program.

 

[babbs09]

I did talk to Geoff Brown a fair amount, he is a solid guy. And I understand what you are saying ruforever, but relative to what we've accomplished as a program, our first year in the B1G could've been so much worse.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

I did talk to Geoff Brown a fair amount, he is a solid guy. And I understand what you are saying ruforever, but relative to what we've accomplished as a program, our first year in the B1G could've been so much worse.

It's pretty cool that he's on board with touring with the crew, especially since he has occasional dinners with guys like Carl Icahn. For those with class envy, he is a true Rutgers man in its simplest form. (And no, I've never met him.)

 

[rutgersal]

I did talk to Geoff Brown a fair amount, he is a solid guy. And I understand what you are saying ruforever, but relative to what we've accomplished as a program, our first year in the B1G could've been so much worse.

Who is Geoff Brown? Do you mean Greg Brown?

 

[Scarlet Pride]

Geoff Brown is the head of athletic marketing

 

[RUJohnny99]

It's pretty cool that he's on board with touring with the crew, especially since he has occasional dinners with guys like Carl Icahn. For those with class envy, he is a true Rutgers man in its simplest form. (And no, I've never met him.)

LOL. I had the same initial thoughts when I got an email from him.

Geoff Brown: head of marketing who used to work for the Blueclaws
Greg Brown: CEO of Motorola

 

[Scarlet Jerry]

thanks for report. But I am not sure I agree we had any real success in our first year. Almost all our Olympic sports finished at the bottom of the standings, women's basketball was average. Football did well. Men's basketball was not good except for beating Wisc. Maryland blew us away in its first year winning several big ten titles to our zero. I like your enthusiasm however. we just are no where near competitive as an athletic program.

I disagree. Football drives the bus in this league, and by that measure , we had a very successful season, with many highlights and points of pride. Wrestling had record crowds, showing the league that we will be a player in the future. Women's basketball had a good year. We need to get the men's program on track. As one poster said, we have coaches with high character who lead our programs.

Our APR score was impressive once again, and we received a record number of freshmen applications, including a bump in applications from the midwest. The athletic program and the university are on the right trajectory, and the next few years will be amazing.

I wish that I could have attended the event. I went to the Hoboken one last spring, and it was great!

-Scarlet Jerry

 

[LadyRU09]

Maryland blew us away in its first year winning several big ten titles to our zero.

Not true. RU won a couple B1G track titles.

 

[DJ Spanky]

thanks for report. But I am not sure I agree we had any real success in our first year.

We had success in the, by far, most visible sport, football. Remember, we were pegged to be the doormat of the Big Ten East - picked for last or next to last by everyone. In fact, there were Big Ten analysts last summer laughing it up about our first year in the conference in football. So the fact we went 8-5, and 3-5 in conference, was a success in and of itself.

 

[RUROCKIN]

Nice to hear Spanky. I'm pulling for Kyle Flood and Eddie Jordan as well. If they don't accomplish their goals at Rutgers it won't be because they lack character.

 

[BiggMoosie]

Geoff Brown is THE MAN

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

We had success in the, by far, most visible sport, football. Remember, we were pegged to be the doormat of the Big Ten East - picked for last or next to last by everyone. In fact, there were Big Ten analysts last summer laughing it up about our first year in the conference in football. So the fact we went 8-5, and 3-5 in conference, was a success in and of itself.

it was a great start but a poor finish to the first year. Not finishing is a Rutgers thing. B1G athletics is not all about football. Not from what I see.

 

[DJ Spanky]

it was a great start but a poor finish to the first year. Not finishing is a Rutgers thing. B1G athletics is not all about football. Not from what I see.

As I said, football is the most visible sport, and in that we had success. Most other sports showed just how far behind we were, with a few bright spots, wrestling being one of those. I think we have a bright future in wrestling going forward, although it will take time to get serious traction in the Big Ten because this conference is, without a doubt, the class of the nation in that sport.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

As I said, football is the most visible sport, and in that we had success. Most other sports showed just how far behind we were, with a few bright spots, wrestling being one of those. I think we have a bright future in wrestling going forward, although it will take time to get serious traction in the Big Ten because this conference is, without a doubt, the class of the nation in that sport.

Well I think the good news is we can improve in all sports and seems the school now realizes it has to invest/focus to improve. I would say that doing well in the one where people thought the Big Boys were all going to run over us..well some did..but in general we opened eyes.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

LOL. I had the same initial thoughts when I got an email from him.

Geoff Brown: head of marketing who used to work for the Blueclaws
Greg Brown: CEO of Motorola

 

[PSU_Nut]

As I said, football is the most visible sport, and in that we had success. Most other sports showed just how far behind we were, with a few bright spots, wrestling being one of those. I think we have a bright future in wrestling going forward, although it will take time to get serious traction in the Big Ten because this conference is, without a doubt, the class of the nation in that sport.

Wrestling went 2-7 and finished 11th in the conference is a bright spot? You are setting the bar pretty darn low there.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

Agree that football is the most important. But the others matter as well - they certainly do to many B1G and other P5 programs. And in so many of our other sports, we weren't just weak, we were downright winless in the conference or otherwise awful. As referenced above, MD was very successful in many sports in the conference and extremely strong in others. Our non-FB programs, including MBB, won't change until there is a huge cash infusion to upgrade facilities - most of which currently are off-the-scale inappropriate for a B1G school.

 

[Local Shill]

Can you imagine what would happen if we had a winning record in conference in football? 3-5 is not awful but it's certainly not good especially when 4 of the losses are completely lopsided. As a B1G team, winning the overwhelming majority of OOC games should be a given.

Let's be positoids, and think a flagship state U in the most densely populated state in American can do better. Stop be such negatoids.

 

[bac2therac]

Conference wise except for womens hoops every sport did poorly. Its time to start setting higher expectations instead of being so self loathing

 

[getmyjive11]

Not true. RU won a couple B1G track titles.

I don't think anyone considers individual titles as Big Ten titles. It needs to be team championships.

 

[TonyLieske]

Wrestling went 2-7 and finished 11th in the conference is a bright spot? You are setting the bar pretty darn low there.

As I am sure you realize, Big Ten wrestling is ridiculously good. Relative to overall collegiate wrestling, RU had a good year, including a second consecutive year with an All American.

 

[RURM85]

Conference wise except for womens hoops every sport did poorly. Its time to start setting higher expectations instead of being so self loathing

I would not characterize Women's soccer as having a poor season, finishing 4th in the B1G and participating in the NCAA Tournament with an eventual 2nd round game loss to a top 5 team.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

Fair point, but that was one of our best performances - it reminds me of the line from animal house when Dean Wormer is dressing down the Delta House guys in his office:

Here are your grade point averages. Mr. Kroger: two C's, two D's and an F. That's a 1.2. Congratulations, Kroger. You're at the top of the Delta pledge class...

 

[B1GOSU]

Maryland has won seven team titles in the B1G this year, and is still in the running for the TBD Baseball Tournament Title.

http://www.bigten.org/championships/2015-schedule.html

 

[bentleys22]

The Athletic Department did a great job highlighting the successes of RU in its first year in the B1G.

 

[bentleys22]

You can't be serious stating that Rutgers had success in the B1G. Overall RU probably came in 14th for overall athletic success. Sure middle of the pack in football can be considered a success but I wonder how many other B1G schools would have that mindset.

Compare to Maryland which won 5 or 6 conference titles, several B1G tourney titles (and may win baseball), placed a ton of athletes on their respective 1st team all conference teams and is in the final four for both lax teams.

I'm not here to bash Rutgers (really) but I thought that comment was beyond a stretch.

 

[Local Shill]

We know it wasn't a great year. But it's RU's job to spin it positively. They seem to do well with that.

 

[bentleys22]

We know it wasn't a great year. But it's RU's job to spin it positively. They seem to do well with that.

All athletic departments do it but should be called out for it.

 

[Local Shill]

All athletic departments do it but should be called out for it.

That's what a lot of us do here. You've been here 12 years, you should know that by now.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Maryland has won seven team titles in the B1G this year, and is still in the running for the TBD Baseball Tournament Title.

http://www.bigten.org/championships/2015-schedule.html

Maryland came from the ACC and had ACC money and Underarmor money for years and years. The Big Ten gave them Big Ten money right from the start. Once we have had 5-10 years of Big Ten money.. then judge what we have done with it.

 

[RUsojo]

What I came away with was that it was obvious Eddie was confident b/c he came with Ammo (recruiting) to support his vision of getting better by getting better talent. Meanwhile, Flood preached excitement and hard work ahead. Unfortunately, every team in the country is working hard.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

Maryland has had exponentially better sports programs than us long before they had Underarmor as a benefactor. And as for conference membership being a lynchpin - Louisville has had a top basketball program for decades before they were in a major conference and became a major sports competitor in multiple sports before joining the ACC. Ville's rise in athletic prominence was based heavily on private donations. B1G money will absolutely help RU, but absent major donors, it won't be enough to move us to the next level since we have such a long way to go facilities wise.The key is having a consistent cadre of alums and other private financial supporters. For a State U like RU where the State powers for the most part don't care about RU sports, a cadre of generous major private donors is even more critical.

 

[PSU_Nut]

As I am sure you realize, Big Ten wrestling is ridiculously good. Relative to overall collegiate wrestling, RU had a good year, including a second consecutive year with an All American.

Even nationally they didn't do that well. Tied with Princeton for 31 place and behind Rider. Having an all American is nice but not a huge team accomplishment.

 

[bentleys22]

Maryland had significant advantages over Rutgers heading into the B1G, namely several programs that are in the hunt for a national title every year - soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, etc. UnderArmour certainly helps as well and the fact that the new indoor facility is approved and will start construction later this year. Football for UMD and Rutgers will be a challenge for both but I think UMD has more momentum and potential (recruiting, facilities). As for basketball, UMD will be preseason top 5 for men's and women's.

 

[knightfan7]

I would not characterize Women's soccer as having a poor season, finishing 4th in the B1G and participating in the NCAA Tournament with an eventual 2nd round game loss to a top 5 team.

Yup Women's Soccer got just as far in the NCAA's as WBB did. The football team won their Bowl Game. All 3 were successful.

 

[LetsGoRUwrestling]

RUWrestling was a top 25 team all season and finished at #21...Yes they finished 2-7 in B1G but didn't wrestle the 3 worst teams Maryland, Indiana and Michigan St..Maryland and Indiana didn't win a B1G match and Michigan State had 1 win over Indiana ..Those matches would have been blowout wins for RU...The wrestling program was 12-0 outside the B1G...I wouldn't worry too much about the Wrestling program under Scott Goodale..He is just starting to be fully funded...When he took over RU Wrestling was ready to shut down, was on probation and he had 3 scholarships...Pretty amazing were in top 25 and finished top 5 in attendance!...It's going to keep getting better even with the crummy facilities ( plenty of NJ HS have a better training facility) and Goodale being one of the worst paid coaches at RU...Assistant wrestling coaches at Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska and Penn State make more. The RU lacrosse coach makes 34g more and they are bad and will probably never have 6,000 PAID fans at a game!. Why?..Not trying to bash these guys and they probably deserve their pay...40,000 PAID fans went through the turnstiles in Atlantic City for the State Wrestling Tournament ..pretty sure if you added the state soccer and lacrosse State tournament games free attendance combined it would be about 3,000. ..Wake up Julie!


They lost to:
#2 Iowa
#4 Minnesota
#5 Ohio State (who won NCAA Tournament)
#7 Penn State
#11 Nebraska
#12 Illinois
#15 Wisconsin (on criteria)

RU Wrestling will return the entire line-up.

Let's Go RU!

 

[B1GOSU]

Money doesn't necessarily mean anything. Purdue gets a full share of B1G money annually, yet still has not won more B1G Championships than the University of Chicago did while in the B1G and they left decades ago and didn't have women's sports to double up the number of conference championships that exist today.

Likewise, Iowa State doesn't rack up Big 12 Championships. Neither does Texas Tech. Oregon State and Washington State rarely win PAC 12 titles in anything. Same with Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the SEC. Wake Forest and Georgia Tech rarely win anything in the ACC. These are all schools that have been in their current conferences for years. Money doesn't mean guaranteed success.

Even if all 14 B1G schools pull in 50 million a year in the next contract, somebody will still have to finish in 14th place in each sport.

 

[mikefla]

At PJ's in Cherry Hill tonight. If any other Board members were there, we may have spoke at one point. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. There was a decent turnout. The Athletic Department did a great job highlighting the successes of RU in its first year in the B1G. I got the chance to meet Kyle Flood. Fantastic person. Just what you would expect from a very smart, capable, and respectable man. A large majority of us want him to succeed and he knows this. Eddie Jordan also a very good human being and someone I'm pulling for tremendously. Geoff Brown, Sarah Baumgartner, Jeremy Davis, Tom Luicci, and many others are working very hard to make RU a force in NJ. I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with Kevin Malast and Jamaal Westermann who both came to represent RU. Cheerleaders, myself and the mascot had a really solid high five. They showed the video from the awards dinner which was fantastic. We all made a point to bring it up during the Fan Advisory meeting. Play that video at every possible opportunity. It was so well done and shows how much we accomplished in our first year in the B1G. Overall, good night.

Always nice to hear reports about stuff like this. Thanks.

Amazing how buzzkills like ruforever feel a need to let us know how putrid they are as fans. Could easily just be a troll.

I prefer to focus on the relative success we had and look forward to next year.....