It’s almost inconceivable...but we complete blew all the newbie benefits of the big ten invite

[Scarlet Shack]

Almost six years ago ...we were 9-1, looking to play for a sugar or orange bowl bid. Flood was playing with Greg’s team, signed probably our best class in school history...

And then we got the big ten invite. The one we coveted. Being saved from being in the AAC for ever...the revenue would come in a big way.

And what did we do...we took the invite into the most prestigious confrence ...and all the advantages that we could have used about being “New York’s team” in the big ten...and managed to blow this opportunity like no other athletic Department who received such an opportunity has.

Really...6 years later...what has been done?

We hired head coaching staffs on the cheap. Flood, ash and Eddie. And look what we have to show for it

Finally....we have a basketball practice facility...7 years later. Same with the locker rooms and practice field. What we have spent on “upgrades” or even stay even grades pails to what Maryland did. What northwestern. Not talking the top brass.

We haven’t upgraded our facilities nearly enough. We haven’t upgraded our coaching enough (pike is the exception)

And yes....I know all the excuses. I’ve been around here long as most ...and I have heard All of them. That’s what they are ...excuses for a lack of institional support

We managed to screw up our entrance to the big ten almost as if possible even with the promise of the huge pay day coming

It starts with institutional leadership issue...

Can Hobbs be the one that changes that?

Maybe...we are going to find out in the next 60 days.

But ...we really blew the benefits of this opportunity given to us on a silver platter

And this is part of reason why this hurts the long time fan

We have been around. We went big time ...with the schedule without the stadium or or facility, without the stadium, without the budget. We played all of our decent home games off campus. Piece by piece we added facilities that made us COMPARABLE to SOME of who we compete.

But then the big ten comes calling and takes us! Our one excuse ...money, is gone. Don’t give me the partial share nonsense. High end leadership sells the future income stream to build now when it’s cheape4 and pay it back later when it comes in

We had the opportnity to make a statement that we were coming to the big ten to compete. And instead, we just chose to ride it until it is safer and easier to invest

When have ever made a hire that others took notice? When have we built a facility better than the others. We have the resources now...instead we have the same excuse

And this is going to be the elephant in the room that erodes the Rutgers fan base beee without a dramatic statement

we went 27 years without a bowl and 28 years and counting without a NCAA bid.

And most of us are still around !

But Blowing this opportunity is going to be the nail in this program coffin that may make resurrection impossible

The fan base has NEVER been this much anger and disinterest...and I’ve been around it all for 40 years

The disinterest is not for our love of the school because we are only big ten in name...and not in substance...and that all falls on the lack of leadership to make this right

 

[Local Shill]

Great post, Shack. Just beyond frustrating for us long-time fans.

It still irks me beyond belief that we didn’t have some semblance of a plan in place for upgrades quickly after 11/20/12. The amount of time wasted and can kicking remains mind-boggling.

 

[nukem]

Good stuff Shack. It truly is amazing how badly we screwed this up. And unfortunately it seems we, as an institution, never seem to learn. Barchi should've announced a grand facility upgrade plan when the news was announced of us receiving the B1G invitation. He should've jammed it down everyone's throat and capitalized on the momentum. Absolutely no foresight of what it would've done for this institution.

And then Pernetti and Herman not getting rid of Flood. I could see the problems in his 1st year as HC. I saw bad things with Ash also. Compare those 2 with the excitement that Schiano brought in when he was hired. Huge mistake going into the B1G with Flood as the HC.

This whole situation truly disgusts me. We back ourselves into these impossible situations. This administration better have an understanding of what is going on with this fan base. This isn't just 3 bad years with us. This is 3 + Flood. People have had it with the total ineptitude of this program. All the arrests. All the bad press. All of the shitty football. There are games where we literally can't get a FIRST DOWN!! Once fans become apathetic and walk away, it becomes very difficult to get them back. And we are truly at that crossroad. Look at the season ticket base. Just imagine after the total beat downs in November that we're about to get trying to get people to renew. Good luck with that.

 

[RUforlife]

I have said it before, as bad as it seems now, nothing compares to the situation Northwestern fans found themselves in the early 80s, they lost 34 straight games from 1979-82. We are no where near that level of futility yet, and like us, they were sitting in a major media market. It took just one good coach, Gary Barnett, to turn their entire program around and they are still competitive 25 years later. We will get to the Rose Bowl one day and those of us still alive will feel a certain level of satisfaction knowing how far we climbed out the valley to reach the summit of the mountain.

 

[ScarletDave]

Good sentiment. Have to point out though a big problem with asking us to compete is the lack of benefits actually that come with being a new member of this conference. About 40 million less benefits actually.

 

[Plum Street]

Cheap bad hires sums it up.

 

[cicero grimes]

I have been a RU football fan since 1980 and cannot disagree. It's a sad state of affairs when keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

We had an excellent candidate for AD from a B1G school who understood the culture and commitment that is required for being in this conference and we sacrificed him at the altar of PC for Kate and her clique. The Julie hire was the thing that killed those B1G benefits almost from the get go.

 

[WhiteBus]

I partied my ass off the day of that announcement. Was the first to fly a Big Ten flag at the game in Pittsburgh days later. It's been a long steep ride to the toilet since than.

 

[shields]

Want a full share of the money.

 

[rufeelinit]

Don't forget we also had an window to take advantage of the Sandusky issue at PSU and pick up some ground. We floundered that as well.

 

[RUskoolie]

Don't think that coaches in football and hoops aren't aware that the leadership at RU treats athletics as an annoyance.

 

[Knight Shift]

I have been a RU football fan since 1980 and cannot disagree. It's a sad state of affairs when keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

We had an excellent candidate for AD from a B1G school who understood the culture and commitment that is required for being in this conference and we sacrificed him at the altar of PC for Kate and her clique. The Julie hire was the thing that killed those B1G benefits almost from the get go.

She sits right near me at the games. Will not give her the time of day.

 

[bac2therac]

agree Shack...its sad but true...only Rutgers could do this...and Barchi is largely to blame along with the BOG

say what you want about Tim and Julie with their major gaffe, but both clearly knew what had to happen here with facilities. Its maddening that both were muzzled from spending any money. This school is clueless and it will not get any better when we get a full share..not until Barchi and anyone with his thinking..ie BOG are long gone

 

[bac2therac]

I have been a RU football fan since 1980 and cannot disagree. It's a sad state of affairs when keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

We had an excellent candidate for AD from a B1G school who understood the culture and commitment that is required for being in this conference and we sacrificed him at the altar of PC for Kate and her clique. The Julie hire was the thing that killed those B1G benefits almost from the get go.

disagree....Pernetti had to be canned because of the way he handled the Rice situation. Dont blame Julie, she knew what had to be done, Tim knew too. These were two ADs that were not allowed to spend right from the get go...Barchi couldnt be bothered to watch the tapes, Barchi couldnt be bothered to address practice facility updates...clueless, remember when Julie tried getting this out in the open, Barch was defiant that they would not spend money

Barchi driving a bus running everyone over...honestly I dont care if he did a merger...he ruined athletics here...ruined

 

[WhiteBus]

Want a full share of the money.

So Barchi can spend it elsewhere?? Won't help athletics

 

[bac2therac]

full share will not make a difference....see Purdue, Illinois, Indiana

 

[cicero grimes]

disagree....Pernetti had to be canned because of the way he handled the Rice situation. Dont blame Julie, she knew what had to be done, Tim knew too. These were two ADs that were not allowed to spend right from the get go...Barchi couldnt be bothered to watch the tapes, Barchi couldnt be bothered to address practice facility updates...clueless, remember when Julie tried getting this out in the open, Barch was defiant that they would not spend money

Barchi driving a bus running everyone over...honestly I dont care if he did a merger...he ruined athletics here...ruined

Julie was in way over her head. She was the problem.

 

[cicero grimes]

She sits right near me at the games. Will not give her the time of day.

She's lucky she does not sit by me. I would remind her of her folly each week.

 

[colbert17]

those of us still alive

I'm 50 years and still waiting on the Jets.
I'll go out on a limb and say I really don't think I have another 50 in me.

 

[Rutgers25]

Almost six years ago ...we were 9-1, looking to play for a sugar or orange bowl bid. Flood was playing with Greg’s team, signed probably our best class in school history...

And then we got the big ten invite. The one we coveted. Being saved from being in the AAC for ever...the revenue would come in a big way.

And what did we do...we took the invite into the most prestigious confrence ...and all the advantages that we could have used about being “New York’s team” in the big ten...and managed to blow this opportunity like no other athletic Department who received such an opportunity has.

Really...6 years later...what has been done?

We hired head coaching staffs on the cheap. Flood, ash and Eddie. And look what we have to show for it

Finally....we have a basketball practice facility...7 years later. Same with the locker rooms and practice field. What we have spent on “upgrades” or even stay even grades pails to what Maryland did. What northwestern. Not talking the top brass.

We haven’t upgraded our facilities nearly enough. We haven’t upgraded our coaching enough (pike is the exception)

And yes....I know all the excuses. I’ve been around here long as most ...and I have heard All of them. That’s what they are ...excuses for a lack of institional support

We managed to screw up our entrance to the big ten almost as if possible even with the promise of the huge pay day coming

It starts with institutional leadership issue...

Can Hobbs be the one that changes that?

Maybe...we are going to find out in the next 60 days.

But ...we really blew the benefits of this opportunity given to us on a silver platter

And this is part of reason why this hurts the long time fan

We have been around. We went big time ...with the schedule without the stadium or or facility, without the stadium, without the budget. We played all of our decent home games off campus. Piece by piece we added facilities that made us COMPARABLE to SOME of who we compete.

But then the big ten comes calling and takes us! Our one excuse ...money, is gone. Don’t give me the partial share nonsense. High end leadership sells the future income stream to build now when it’s cheape4 and pay it back later when it comes in

We had the opportnity to make a statement that we were coming to the big ten to compete. And instead, we just chose to ride it until it is safer and easier to invest

When have ever made a hire that others took notice? When have we built a facility better than the others. We have the resources now...instead we have the same excuse

And this is going to be the elephant in the room that erodes the Rutgers fan base beee without a dramatic statement

we went 27 years without a bowl and 28 years and counting without a NCAA bid.

And most of us are still around !

But Blowing this opportunity is going to be the nail in this program coffin that may make resurrection impossible

The fan base has NEVER been this much anger and disinterest...and I’ve been around it all for 40 years

The disinterest is not for our love of the school because we are only big ten in name...and not in substance...and that all falls on the lack of leadership to make this right

Awesome post. Exactly how so many long time fans feel. I’ve been a fan for 20 years and I know many have been fans for much longer and this just feels like a funeral for the program knowing that a change is not going to be made.

 

[JoeRU0304]

Awesome post. Exactly how so many long time fans feel. I’ve been a fan for 20 years and I know many have been fans for much longer and this just feels like a funeral for the program knowing that a change is not going to be made.

...I think you nailed it with this post.


Joe P.

 

[cRURah]

Great post. Sums it up perfectly. For 55
Years I waited for RU to do something right in football. When GS left I knew things would go downhill from there. What a bunch a morons calling themselves leaders of higher education. They never understood what the B1G invite could do for RU and set us up for embarrassment time and time again. Ash lost 78-0 at home on the recruiting event of the year. No decent coach would ever do that. He can’t possibly recover from that. It wasn’t just one game, it was a total program beat down on a national scale. He hasn’t even sniffed a 4 star recruit since that game and he never will.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

fans here are no better, how anyone could go to a game and show support is beyond me. This isn't about the kids but your love for the school. Don't go, show no one will watch and accept this and no way the administration does not take notice

Do not accept these results, show it at the gate, with season tix, etc. Do not accept this

 

[R1766U]

Great post. Spot on.

I was an absolute FANATIC when it came to RU football. It’s EMBARRASSING to even drive around with the block R on my car.

People ar work try to make fun and I don’t even care or react. I am so over this idiotic institution.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

I'm 50 years and still waiting on the Jets.
I'll go out on a limb and say I really don't think I have another 50 in me.

we all should start some sort of club. There are so many of us in this seemingly endless knightmare and running out of time. 60/42. (60 years old next week and 42nd season..not counting games I went to in high school).

what a freakin joke.....

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Here is one more point. The amount of fans that have tried to support this prpgrsm and gave up over the last 30 -40 years.

And it has notbing to do with game day experience. All to do with the product on the field

Beyonf normal attrition, I bet we had 20,000 season tickets sold since 2096 that tried Rutgers football ..and gave up because the product on the field.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

well when you keep raising prices for tickets, you are getting attrition. Loved how people would say, it's cheaper or on par, but that's a fundamental flaw in extracurricular expenditures. The tickets are too high, the point system blows, the school shafts people and the on field product sucks to boot.

 

[knightfan2000]

Season tickets for 40 years and I am about done. But the Big ten does bear some of the responsibility in this mess by bringing us in with peanuts. They had to know the history of spending on athletics. They wanted to get the advantages of the NY/NJ media market without investing in us.

 

[colbert17]

And it has notbing to do with game day experience. All to do with the product on the field

You give me a winning and competitive team week in and week out and the complaining about not bringing in water bottles would stop. Now you get your balls busted at the gate and then you get to watch a group of kids who may not be the most talented group in the world but are so unprepared it's depressing.

 

[RUfromSoCal?]

 

[devoted2ru]

Haven't posted in quite a while, mostly because I've just been numb from watching the sort of things that are going on with Rutgers football...AGAIN. -Was born and raised in New Brunswick and have been following RU since I was about 4, so that's close to 60 years. I've seen the good, (but way too little of it), the bad, the really bad, the unbelievably bad, and the "this is so pathetic that if it was a horse it'd be shot" kind of bad.

Then the 2006 season happened and, perhaps foolishly, I thought all the pain for this program was mostly over and that, while we might not be world beaters every year from then on, we'd at least be respectable, and that that respectability would help erase a lot of the dark shadows from the past. And, of course, when the B1G invite came, like everybody else I was ecstatic and thought we'd finally, (in a sense), reached the promised land.

But, fast forward to 2018 and we're right back to a place I thought we'd never revisit again...that of being a national laughing stock and, right now, arguably the worst P5 team in the country. It's almost hard to believe, but after being an RU fan all my life I've finally come to accept the reality that anything is possible here, (and I don't mean that in a positive way). -Hey, I'll always bleed Scarlet no matter the W-L record, but man, this stuff really never gets any easier to take. (And I've had PLENTY of practice.)

 

[newell138]

Its NJ, why is anyone surprised? We are one of the richest states in the USA and we are in billions of dollars in debt due to stupid leaders and mismanagement. Look at Atlantic City. They were pulling in more money than Las Vegas for a few years and the place is a ghetto anywhere outside of the casinos. It could be a gem if it was managed right and we actually had people who knew how to plan and develop.

Rutgers is not unlike Atlantic City. We could be a gem. NJ/NY has some of the best HS athletes in the country for every sport. We are in the media capitol of the world. Yet we are managed by a bunch of idiots.

Sadly we keep electing the same people so its our own fault.

 

[ruready4somefootball]

Mid majors play with the big boys every Saturday,so it's about identifying the right coaching staffs moving forward. The facilities help recruiting NO DOUBT, but that money NEEDS to be put into the RIGHT coach and the money will come in the form of 50,000 fans and the parking and concessions that come with it!!!!!!!

 

[cubuffsdoug]

PREACH ON.[cheers]
Rutgers problem is they still approach sports as if they are a part of the Middle 3 Conference. Michigan ain't Lehigh and Ohio State ain't Lafayette.

 

[Knightmoves]

Season tickets for 40 years and I am about done. But the Big ten does bear some of the responsibility in this mess by bringing us in with peanuts. They had to know the history of spending on athletics. They wanted to get the advantages of the NY/NJ media market without investing in us.

If the B1G brought RU in at 100% revenue at the beginning we’d still be where we are as a FB program. I believe that.

RU Leadership is an oxymoron. They don’t get it and are unlikely to get it anytime soon.

But they will understand it if season ticket holders fail to show up and then pull the plug on season tix after this season. That what I believe it will take to hire a new HC at RU.

 

[shields]

Full share is 2021, I hope Barchi is gone by then.

 

[e5fdny]

I have said it before, as bad as it seems now, nothing compares to the situation Northwestern fans found themselves in the early 80s, they lost 34 straight games from 1979-82. We are no where near that level of futility yet, and like us, they were sitting in a major media market. It took just one good coach, Gary Barnett, to turn their entire program around and they are still competitive 25 years later. We will get to the Rose Bowl one day and those of us still alive will feel a certain level of satisfaction knowing how far we climbed out the valley to reach the summit of the mountain.

Gary Barnett did not do it by himself.

Cheap bad hires sums it up.

And the wrongs ones too.

Want a full share of the money.

It will help tremendously but will not be the panacea.

Don't think that coaches in football and hoops aren't aware that the leadership at RU treats athletics as an annoyance.

Not so much that, it's that they still don't get it.

Which I have mentioned numerous times on this forum about the B1G advance team visit. They were not happy with the answers given by Rutgers to a few very simple questions. The people at Park Ridge knew then, in 2012, we weren't as serious as needed.

agree Shack...its sad but true...only Rutgers could do this...and Barchi is largely to blame along with the BOG

say what you want about Tim and Julie with their major gaffe, but both clearly knew what had to happen here with facilities. Its maddening that both were muzzled from spending any money. This school is clueless and it will not get any better when we get a full share..not until Barchi and anyone with his thinking..ie BOG are long gone

Not just him. It's also those who have his ear.

At least Julie saw (at Nebraska and Louisville) what you're supposed to be doing. Don't think Tim was the guy.

full share will not make a difference....see Purdue, Illinois, Indiana

Addressed earlier. It will help for sure but it's not the be all end all.

Julie was in way over her head. She was the problem.

Maybe.

You give me a winning and competitive team week in and week out and the complaining about not bringing in water bottles would stop. Now you get your balls busted at the gate and then you get to watch a group of kids who may not be the most talented group in the world but are so unprepared it's depressing.

No it wouldn't.

Mid majors play with the big boys every Saturday,so it's about identifying the right coaching staffs moving forward. The facilities help recruiting NO DOUBT, but that money NEEDS to be put into the RIGHT coach and the money will come in the form of 50,000 fans and the parking and concessions that come with it!!!!!!!

They do it once a season. I doubt they would be able to do over the course of a full P5 schedule.

PREACH ON.[cheers]
Rutgers problem is they still approach sports as if they are a part of the Middle 3 Conference. Michigan ain't Lehigh and Ohio State ain't Lafayette.

Not just sports. There are still some way up there who still aren't sure or on board with what we are or are trying to be.

 

[RocktheRac]

Barchi and BOG are the problem. When the last time Barchi attended a sporting event...and when he did was interested? Bet this doesn't go on at other B1G schools.

 

[e5fdny]

Barchi and BOG are the problem. When the last time Barchi attended a sporting event...and when he did was interested? Bet this doesn't go on at other B1G schools.

It didn't at one that I know of, and that's when it started to change for that particular institution.

 

[Roy_Faulker]

Bottom line - there isn’t enough gov’t institutional support for RU. The speaker of the NJ Assembly isn’t making a bet with this counterpart in MD that a losing a football game means singing the opponent’s fight song on the floor of the House. This had handicapped the AD because the university itself struggled for capital investment. The credit in the BIG Build was a minor miracle.

Schiano did a lot to help kids and families “grow up Rutgers” by selling the brand - remember when we used to give out tee-shirts to all kids playing youth football in NJ? It started for sure - block r’s everywhere at one point.