Xavier Athletics Strategic Plan

[Xville]

Many of the "Blue Hairs" you describe are the same people who attended games at Schmidt for decades before we watched the Muskie games at the Gardens. Given that we played most of our Gardens games while a member of the MCC, it's no surprise that the Muskies won 89.6% of their games there. Despite the better competition supplied by the A-10, the Muskies still won 87.4% of their games at the Cintas (through the 2012-2013 season). In living through both experiences for over a decade each, I believe the student section alone at the Cintas provides the Muskies with an edge we didn't have at the Gardens where the few students that did attend the games were extremely rabid and spirited. But their numbers were simply too small to have the same effect as they have at the Cintas.

Sorry but what does any of this have to do with what I said? The crowd atmosphere is dull and average if not below average at cintas...you are fooling yourself if you think otherwise.I have been to plenty of other college basketball venues to know the difference between an average crowd and a great crowd atmosphere. By the way cintas wasn't like this 5-7 years ago...it is a pretty recent development...it was never one of the best but it wasn't what it is like now.

[West is Best]

There's no pictures of either men's cross country or men's swimming in the brochure. From the Enquirer report, it sounds like swimming is safe for now. I ran for XU around the time the Rifle team got cut and I'm deeply disappointed at what may be coming. Over time, the XU runners are basically the only classmates I've consistently kept in touch with.

With the turmoil facing the NCAA and its member institutions, I don't see how this plan can be put into place until the living stipend/paying athletes issue is settled. Also, I don't understand why the "priority" sports are worthy of such investment at the expense of other programs, given that Cincy is a pro sports town and none of them are profitable.

[throwbackmuskie]

TBM, hindsight is easy. Please recall that the Cintas Center came up as a CONVOCATION CENTER, not an ARENA.

Beyond that, most of the upgrades being discussed have to do with technology upgrades for the fan experience and better facilities for the athletes. They may even look at reconfiguring some of the seating plan to take into account trends in that area.

Look up the road, same concept.

[Always Learning]

It seems obvious to me that a good strategic plan should begin with a better beer selection at Cintas. Throw in decent food options as well and it's practically guaranteed that additional dollars will flow into the Cintas operation like good beer flows at Listerman's. Of course this will exacerbate the need for additional urinals.

First he is critical saying the report is a NO-PLAN, then come his suggestions.

X-MAN, you missed your calling. You could write for any of the late nigh shows. Your "plan" (especially the addition of more urinals) still have me laughing!

[xu82]

Sadly, I must admit my game-day enjoyment revolves largely around the food and beverage experience. It's a problem I acknowledge. I'm working on it... It doesn't matter the sport or if it's high school, college or pro. It's a big part of my experience. My kids high school had killer hot dogs (grilled by our friends) and OK pizza. Always with diet cokes to go with it and get me further jacked up - bad idea. A rival school (that usually killed us) had a menu like a Cheesecake Factory with steak sandwiches and raspberry tortilla tarts. I found the food and beverage experience at Cintas to be..... simple. Disappointing actually. I didn't notice any glaring shortfalls in the arena, but the food could have been better and the wine (after way too many beers pre-game at Dana's and elsewhere) was nasty. I know, it's a ball game... temper yoiur expectations. I've had better food at high school games and at the lowliest NFL stadium (Jacksonville) where we enjoyed an unlimited buffet with sautéed sea bass and a very nice chardonnay. (OK, those tix were $380 each, but still.) So, now I have exposed one of my many weaknesses. I'm into the food/beverage experience and that could be better based on my limited experience.

[xu82]

I'm OK with the current number of urinals, but that's subject to change.

[Masterofreality]

Not being negative, I like Cintas, but having knowlegde of arenas and cost I feel Xavier could have done better with the money they used. I think the design was flawed, as proven now when it is already being said it is out dated. I didn't say they needed to throw more money at it at all. I said there is a waste of space.

Try building an arena for $44 million...and see what you come up with. Even considering inflation.

Something much less than Cintas Center. Look what the hell Villanova has. They would kill to have a Cintas on campus.

[Masterofreality]

I've never lived in town since the Cintas opened, but the 10 or so times I've been there I've NEVER really felt like the crowd was intensely into it. Not sure what it is about the place. The Gardens atmosphere was much better in that respect. And yes, I know the Gardens is much worse in every other respect.

Cincinnati crowds by nature are not loud and crazy. As to being "intensely into it" there is no difference between the Gardens and Cintas. Big Games are intense, run of the mill games, not so much.

As to the Gardens, much of the "atmosphere" was caused by horrible acoustics where crown noise would bounce around the place like a radio inside a tin can. Cintas isn't as loud because the building is better acoustically.

[xu82]

How long was the cafeteria there? We went looking for it last season and realized it had been moved. I guess it was too small or not convenient? It seemed that what I think was that space was under utilized currently. Any plans for that space? Sorry, I don't get there often or check the local news.

[muskienick]

Sorry but what does any of this have to do with what I said? The crowd atmosphere is dull and average if not below average at cintas...you are fooling yourself if you think otherwise.I have been to plenty of other college basketball venues to know the difference between an average crowd and a great crowd atmosphere. By the way cintas wasn't like this 5-7 years ago...it is a pretty recent development...it was never one of the best but it wasn't what it is like now.

Well, you drew a conclusion concerning the comparison of the Cintas experience with that of the Gardens and you admit to never attending a Xavier game at the Gardens! You assume that it's the blue hairs' fault for displacing (seemingly) more enthusiastic fans because of their thicker wallets. Your total lack of knowledge of what the better seats at the Gardens required (a donation --- not called a seat license then). They were designated by color: blue, silver, gold, and platinum if my memory serves me correctly. The point is that even in the Gardens, the better seats were held by people who were willing to dig deeply to Xavier. The student section at the Cintas is 50x more intimidating than the students were at the Gardens. The attendance figures are better at the Cintas. Our program has reached its greatest heights while playing at the Cintas. The Cintas is described as one of the toughest places in the nation for a visiting team to win.

Nonetheless. I apologize if the decibel level at Xavier games does not meet with your approval. Perhaps Xavier should redesign Cintas to 1950 specifications so that the acoustics are so bad that even a few blue hairs rooting can reverberate off the roof and walls. Of course you could then forget about having all the myriad of events that the Cintas now hosts that require state-of-the-art acoustics and brings in a load of cash not available otherwise.