Looking for info/discussion of U of Detroit Hoops?

Folks who know the genesis of this board, and why it began, might appreciate this private message sent to me by a lurker here, a very knowledgeable fan, who makes a few rare posts over at the original Titan Board, detroittitanshoops.com. Here is what he wrote:



Made me feel good.

I've pretty much had it at the other board. too much crap. I'm goint to start keeping my posts here.

Welcome.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are just beating each other up on the other board. Not much actual discussion going on. I expect it will get better over the summer and into next season, though. Lots of frustration out there right now.

Once it becomes apparent that BA will be back, which is what I expect, some of the people who have just been beating the Fire BA drum will probably post less. I'm not saying their message is wrong, but anything constantly repeated is going to get old.

Wow, I missed the big anniversary! Yesterday (Wednesday, March 28) marked the 5th anniversary of establishing this board. At that time I set this up because spammers and a group of obscene, foul-mouthed trolls had all but taken over the longstanding board operated by Titan Mike. I've always been pleased that setting up this board helped to end that, and we all pretty much went back to the traditional board. I've kept this one alive mainly as a place to store my own musings, a lot of recruiting info, and to be a sort of backup, for example when the other board goes down.

But of late, I've been focusing all my posting here again, simply because the tone of the other board has become wearisome. It's not negativity per se, it's a style of negativity that is personal, bitter, almost gloating when bad things happen to the Titans, and relentlessly negative even when there are positives.

Anyway, it's 5 years and counting here. Thanks to all who visit and post here.

Just a quick reminder, one of the things that scrolls across the top of this board is "Positive Titan Talk." By that I don't mean that we only talk about the good stuff re the program, or never criticize. But I do mean that hopefully, we don't get personal, don't get nasty, and keep this a fun place to visit.

One problem with electronic communication is the awkward or argumentative conversation is never ended by a break. "Well, better get back to work." "I gotta take this call." "Whoa, I'm going to be late for the doctor." "Gotta pick up the kids." Whatever. On line, we lose that graceful way out of a conversation when nobody wants to give. I don't mind a good debate, and I admit that when I'm in a debate, I can be relentless-way too much so. But at some point you gotta let things drop.

And please don't go out of your way to troll or tweak other posters. All that's the kind of stuff I wanted to avoid when I set up this board.

Remember, that sometimes some people on the board are privilege to "inside" info. They pass it along. It may turn out to be wrong. I see no value in constant needling there. We're all, at some point, starved for info on the Titans. What's the scoop? If someone provides what they know--a favor to us all--let's not get all snarky if it doesn't materialize. The alternative is not to share info.

Four straight 20-loss seasons will make any fan grumpy, but let's remember to keep it light, have fun, don't carry grudges, and keep this a hobby we enjoy.

Let's talk about a new conference, AGAIN. Maybe the timing is right, with COVID-19 making the NCAA basketball Season look like no other since maybe WW 2, the Horizon league in a slow spiral down,
and the U of D or UDM in an on going state of flux, maybe the time has come to commit to basketball for real. At some point in the past the hot ticket to a sports event in Detroit was a U of D ticket. Where not talking about the 30's, 40's or 50's, but the 70's. These days the program is at the point where it's who they play, not how they play that is the key to fans coming to games. The Ray JR teams are a good example, they were really good teams, maybe in terms of fan appeal almost as good as Vitale's teams. Yet Vitale had sellout after sellout, the reason is the team was really good and Vitale keep the fire going with home games with the likes of Iowa, NC, Memphis and so on, Ray Jr's teams were saddled with the Cleveland State's and Youngstown's of the world.

When this virus is done, people will be used to sitting home and watching the best NCAA basketball, and will not go to a game unless it's something special, a Detroit vs Purdue-Fort Wayne game is nothing special.
So the answer would appear to be bring in teams that draw, how do they do that, Vitale brought in NC because a kid from Berkley wanted to play a Detroit game, not the case these days.

So it comes back to conference members that have to visit Detroit, again the best fit for UDM would have been the Big East, when the "Catholic Seven" would have filled every seat in Detroit and was the best basketball conference in America, well if Detroit ever had a chance for the Big East, even if they had the $3.5M to get in, that's gone, they will never be invited to join. The A 10 would be a good fit, but that conference really doesn't need another Fordham. The Metro Atlantic, and Northeast's of the world are a waste of time. so where does that leave a conference that might take Detroit, and benefit the program...how about the American Athletic Conference, the AAC. That brings Houston, Cincinatti, Memphis, Wichita, and Temple to the table, cities like Dallas, New Orleans, Philly and Tulsa , if Mike Davis could build a team the AAC could be a fit and with UConn leaving they have a slot.

How to pay for it? Let's have a fund raiser, the school has proved it can raise money, the amount needed is small compared to some of the recent projects, and a better league and basketball program can change the face of the school for the better.

This is good for a continued discussion, key schools would be Cincinnati, Temple, Houston, Tulsa and Wichita for "big games", certainly not ECU or CFU. I haven't though about the football aspect, likely a non starter. But it should be a smaller amount move in fee, compared to the Big East, which I think is $3.5M, plus the exit fee. There seems to be a good mix of state schools, and private schools, no Catholic schools. If the school really wanted to take the program to the next level, the money likely could be found, fund raisers, naming rights (Quicken's Calihan Hall?). As for travel, days of a bus trip to the roads game seem not to be as big a deal as it once was, look at the Summit or USA (TX to WV).