Yawn....

That's all I hear from people when I try to talk Bradley basketball -- just a yawn -- people are definitely losing interest. Just a few years ago we debated whether interest was at all time high's!!! Now - we are at serious risk of interest plummeting to new lows... We already saw attendances dropping to levels not seen since the end of the Albeck era and beginning of the Molinari era, 20 years ago... And we have gobs of articles, as the press has begun to look like a PR firm for Bradley basketball -- and yet interest is STILL not improving. Let me say that my interest never dies and I think facts bear that out. I might not be the #1 Bradley fan but I am definitely mistaken for him some times as everyone who knows me knows I have intense interest in BU basketball 24/7/52 weeks per year - and I take no offseason. I meet 20-30 people per day who know me to be a HUGE year-round Bradley fan and who used to want to talk BU basketball all the time - but this year I just don't see that. There's just NO talk. I am doing my best to get people interested - but bad seasons, bad losses, turmoil, infighting between fans, the perception that prior players or coaches were not treated well, and apparently NO events or plans for this summer to keep the fans interested - have all combined to drop the interest. The funniest part of it all is that when I run into a fan who was one of those who wanted all the stuff that did happen - the changeover, the new hires, etc. - he now is one of those who has lost the most interest. In other words - he got what he wanted, was happy initially with the events, but now he realized he shot himself in the foot, doesn't like what he sees now, and has lost interest, knowing it's likely to be another bad year in 2012-2013. (Unfortunately I define that guy as a bad fan - fair weather fan - or a fan who only cares about himself.) Anyway - people who used to talk all the time about BU basketball -- don't -- and even if the subject comes up the conversation is more like -- ohhhh...I am not sure how they're gonna be this year... Then check out the local newspaper's heavily subsidized and promoted web site for Bradley basketball discussion. It's never been very busy, but now it's an absolute graveyard. There's basically only one post since Tuesday (3 days ago) and it isn't about Bradley in any way, shape, or form...it's about an ISU recruit. In fact even the other threads for the past week are about the women's basketball coach, Butler changing conferences, and other non-BU-basketball topics. You have to go back practically a week to find any interest in any Bradley basketball topic....and even at that - there's just a few cut-and-pasted topics that were stolen without giving credit from "somewhere else". BUT - the biggest indicator of ZERO interest other than just the core of GOOD BU basketball fans who are often seen discussing things on BradleyFans.com - is that you can scroll any time day or night -- even in the middle of the busiest day -- to the bottom of their page at the newspaper web site, and this is what you see.... "Who is online Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guests" Well - of course the "one guest" is YOU, if you're looking at this page - so other than you looking at the page there isn't anyone else anywhere in all the universe looking at it or at any page on their entire forum! ZERO traffic = zero interest.... This is not a good sign -- no buzz or fan-talk, seemingly just NO off-season interest --- This time last year, despite the turmoil, people were buzzing, they were showing up for off-season events, and MEET-THE-TEAM get togethers. But - I have not heard one thing yet if any are planned this summer. Be forewarned -- attendance and interest might just look like it's going to be down this season.....and I see one guy who once mocked that idea still has an embarrassing signature.....one that says he doesn't believe there will be any long term dropoff in interest after the coaching change... Hmmm......nice try.....