Funny to look back on some of the PJ Star columns

Here's one from 2013-14, kinda laughable now with Kirk Wessler praising how great Bradley was and was gonna be.

Then read the tail end about the fallout - whoda thunk the fallout would go on to such epic & historic proportions that it would even take out the AD & the President of the University!

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131108/SPORTS/131109341/10964/SPORTS

here are a few of the laughable lines...

Not superhuman, but looking good

...... the Bradley Braves have to make do with reasonable facsimiles...Geno Ford sure is happy to have Auston Barnes, a junior college transfer who is 6-8 with a 7-foot-plus wingspan of his own.

Barnes...overall defensive presence — on the wing as the Braves' starting 3-man, and in the paint as a backup to 4-man Tyshon Pickett and on help situations — was most impressive.

Barnes and another juco transfer, 6-7 forward Chris Blake, give the Braves a type of athletic size this program hasn't had since the Sweet 16 team in 2006. Add 6-9 freshman post Xzavier Taylor and 6-6 freshman tough guy Stefan Zecevic, and there's potential depth this program hasn't seen in a while, either.

But I remain convinced Bradley is getting better.

All seven new players saw meaningful action in the opener....each did something well and contributed to the victory in a game that was in doubt until the final minute.
Some fans might be disturbed by that against Jacksonville State....The Gamecocks, however, are a decent team.
(EDIT: Jacksonville State finished last season 10-21 with an RPI of 320!!- how could such an expert as Kirk Wessler have been so wrong?)

Yes, it's reasonable for Bradley fans to expect their program to be consistently superior to a Jacksonville State...we are reminded of a much greater parity in Division I than what existed even 20 years ago. And we are likewise reminded that Bradley, with the exception of that 2006 blip, has not been the program it used to be, either.
(EDIT: yes Kirk has to throw in the misconception that 2006 was noting more than an aberration- despite the fact the Bradley actually had a better RPI in 2007!- 39 vs. 38 )

more...

That brings us to the giant banner hanging from Section 9 of the upper bowl in Carver: "Geno's Fallout Shelter."
Just what the heck was that all about?
For the benefit of the majority of Bradley fans — that is, those who don't spend their lives discussing their passions on Internet forums, known as message boards — here's the explanation. There has been an unfortunate cyberwar between defenders of former BU coach Jim Les and others who either advocated, or have at least come to accept, his March 2011 firing. Some of the defenders continue to predict long-term "fallout" for the Bradley program as a result of the decision to fire Les and hire Ford. The banner was a show of support for Ford and where the Braves are headed.
Frankly, that looks to be upward.
After back-to-back last-place MVC finishes, the first under Les and the second under Ford, the Braves tied for seventh last season. A return to the solid middle this season is likely, and a top-four finish is possible. Considering that BU has not finished above fourth since 2001, that would be considered significant progress.

....wish they would have seen this disaster for what most fans did - then we wouldn't have had to go so far down the drain before finally some action!