5fouls Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 College basketball is a wonderful sport. There are many things that make it must-watch TV. You have great players, coaches you like, coaches you loathe, impact freshmen, the veterans you respect, the college atmosphere, teams that you hate, underdogs you root for, etc. I could go on and on. So, what can take away from your enjoyment college hoops for a basketball junkie? The answer.......Being a fan. On the surface, that makes little sense. But when you stop and think about it, as fans, the need for our team to win gets in the way of our enjoyment of the game. Just look at last night. As someone who really likes college basketball, which game last night would have provided me the most enjoyment last night? Certainly not IU and Nebraska. It was never really a contest, the play was poor on both sides for long stretches, and because I'm a fan of the team that was getting curb-stomped, there was no enjoyment in the experience for me at all. Now, on the flip side, if I had been a college basketball junkie with no allegiances to the teams that were playing last night, I could have easily settled in on the Syracuse/Duke game and watched it instead. Based on what I've read this morning, it was a high level game, with a lot of drama, and had many of the elements that make college basketball great. But, here I was watching an uninteresting and lopsided game to the bitter end, and then fuming in the aftermath. As a result, I did not 'enjoy' college basketball last night. I should have. I don't know how successful I will be, but I'm going to try and change that the rest of the season. It's not going to be about IU all the time. Michigan plays a style of ball I really enjoy. Watching Markus Howard score 40 on any given night for Marquette would be fun to watch. I generally tend to find Big East games as a whole to be interesting. Heck, even Big Ten games between evenly matched teams like Maryland and Wisconsin are available for me to watch multiple nights a week. Yet, I've not been watching, I've been all-in on IU, and it's taking away from the game I love. Maybe I'll find a game where I have no rooting interest tonight, and start enjoying the game again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 Well you got a bunch to pick from tonight. Va Tech is at UVA as the headliner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IU Scott Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 11 minutes ago, 5fouls said: College basketball is a wonderful sport. There are many things that make it must-watch TV. You have great players, coaches you like, coaches you loathe, impact freshmen, the veterans you respect, the college atmosphere, teams that you hate, underdogs you root for, etc. I could go on and on. So, what can take away from your enjoyment college hoops for a basketball junkie? The answer.......Being a fan. On the surface, that makes little sense. But when you stop and think about it, as fans, the need for our team to win gets in the way of our enjoyment of the game. Just look at last night. As someone who really likes college basketball, which game last night would have provided me the most enjoyment last night? Certainly not IU and Nebraska. It was never really a contest, the play was poor on both sides for long stretches, and because I'm a fan of the team that was getting curb-stomped, there was no enjoyment in the experience for me at all. Now, on the flip side, if I had been a college basketball junkie with no allegiances to the teams that were playing last night, I could have easily settled in on the Syracuse/Duke game and watched it instead. Based on what I've read this morning, it was a high level game, with a lot of drama, and had many of the elements that make college basketball great. But, here I was watching an uninteresting and lopsided game to the bitter end, and then fuming in the aftermath. As a result, I did not 'enjoy' college basketball last night. I should have. I don't know how successful I will be, but I'm going to try and change that the rest of the season. It's not going to be about IU all the time. Michigan plays a style of ball I really enjoy. Watching Markus Howard score 40 on any given night for Marquette would be fun to watch. I generally tend to find Big East games as a whole to be interesting. Heck, even Big Ten games between evenly matched teams like Maryland and Wisconsin are available for me to watch multiple nights a week. Yet, I've not been watching, I've been all-in on IU, and it's taking away from the game I love. Maybe I'll find a game where I have no rooting interest tonight, and start enjoying the game again. I watch a lot of college basketball because of my love of the sport. I do enjoy the game better when I really have no rooting interest in the game and can just watch it as a basketball fan. If IU is on I will watch that game over any other game and flip to other games during timeouts. I still take off the Thursday and Friday for the 1st round of the tournament even if IU is not in the tournament because I feel it is the best sporting event we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parakeet Jones Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 I get what you are saying, 5Fouls. I hate to say it, but so much of my enjoyment of college basketball, which is my favorite sport, is tied to the kind of season the Hoosiers are having. I need to do better of not letting what is happening with IU affect the other. One of the reasons I enjoy the Indy 500 so much is that I don't care who wins, I just want to see a great race. Sometimes I wish I could be more like that will college basketball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUDan93 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 I didn't grow up an IU fan, per se....but I never enjoyed basketball more than I did before enrolling at college. I loved Big East basketball from 1983-86. Big Ten too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IU Scott Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 22 minutes ago, IUDan93 said: I didn't grow up an IU fan, per se....but I never enjoyed basketball more than I did before enrolling at college. I loved Big East basketball from 1983-86. Big Ten too. To me college basketball was at its best in my lifetime was from 1985-1995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUwins0708 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 16 minutes ago, IU Scott said: To me college basketball was at its best in my lifetime was from 1985-1995. Totally agree. It’s basically isolation and that’s it anymore. Back then. There were actually sets ran! Miss those days of coaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IU Scott Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 minute ago, IUwins0708 said: Totally agree. It’s basically isolation and that’s it anymore. Back then. There were actually sets ran! Miss those days of coaching. As older IU fans we need to realize that basketball has totally changed and realize that the basketball we saw back then no longer exists. I think that is the main problem with our fans is that we are used to a certain way of playing basketball but we don't see it any longer. As a whole everything is so different than it use to like how recruiting has totally changed the dynamic of the college game. Before recruiting was more regionally and not nationally so we knew who the players were before they got here. Also there are more quality teams and the talent disparity is not as big as it use to be so programs like IU are no longer the national power. If you are not one of the elite teams right now your talent level are pretty even with the majority of college teams so it is harder to win big. To me today the top teams in college basketball was not on the level of the top teams back in the 80's and 90's but the bottom of the conferences are better today than it was back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotIThatLives Posted January 16, 2019 Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 @IU Scott there is a lot of truth to what you said but there are still teams playing pretty flowing, moving basketball, Villanova being one of them. Knowing recruits. I'm confused. We know way more about recruits than ever before. We know what they are eating for lunch and if there girlfriend is playing volleyball at Cincy or iu. I think you are forgetting how difficult it was to get recruiting information before the internet and chat board explosion. Pretty much totally agree with the rest though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg haggard Posted January 16, 2019 Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 21 hours ago, IU Scott said: As older IU fans we need to realize that basketball has totally changed and realize that the basketball we saw back then no longer exists. I think that is the main problem with our fans is that we are used to a certain way of playing basketball but we don't see it any longer. As a whole everything is so different than it use to like how recruiting has totally changed the dynamic of the college game. Before recruiting was more regionally and not nationally so we knew who the players were before they got here. Also there are more quality teams and the talent disparity is not as big as it use to be so programs like IU are no longer the national power. If you are not one of the elite teams right now your talent level are pretty even with the majority of college teams so it is harder to win big. To me today the top teams in college basketball was not on the level of the top teams back in the 80's and 90's but the bottom of the conferences are better today than it was back then. Yes, absolutely! I remember watching the Kentucky/Indiana all star series. It was always a great game and a great time You had players from Kentucky playing who went to UK , and players from Indiana who went to IU, and continued their rivalry at the next level. It was VERY regional, and I enjoyed it immensely. That all star series hasn't been competitive for about 2 decades. Further, you would be pressed to find anyone from the state of Kentucky actually playing on UK's team anymore. Which is why I don't mind us not playing UK during the season any longer, just not the same meaning. College basketball is the last athletic event I watch now. When I was a child I watched every sport, even tennis and hockey. 'The Big Red Machine' in baseball, the 'ABA Pacers', Bengals and the Bears, before the Colts, the Racers, etc. etc. But, that was then.............I began to cut what I watched after Michael Jordan punched Reggie Miller, and Reggie got kicked out of the game while Jordan got to stay. I find most athletic competitions to be ANYTHING but competitive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg haggard Posted January 16, 2019 Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 minute ago, greg haggard said: Yes, absolutely! I remember watching the Kentucky/Indiana all star series. It was always a great game and a great time You had players from Kentucky playing who went to UK , and players from Indiana who went to IU, and continued their rivalry at the next level. It was VERY regional, and I enjoyed it immensely. That all star series hasn't been competitive for about 2 decades. Further, you would be pressed to find anyone from the state of Kentucky actually playing on UK's team anymore. Which is why I don't mind us not playing UK during the season any longer, just not the same meaning. College basketball is the last athletic event I watch now. When I was a child I watched every sport, even tennis and hockey. 'The Big Red Machine' in baseball, the 'ABA Pacers', Bengals and the Bears, before the Colts, the Racers, etc. etc. But, that was then.............I began to cut what I watched after Michael Jordan punched Reggie Miller, and Reggie got kicked out of the game while Jordan got to stay. I find most athletic competitions to be ANYTHING but competitive! Can anyone tell me why my sentences have spaces..........it looks ridiculous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.