Reality check

[LoyalAlum]

Actual overheard conversation tonight. Two students.

#1: Shakir Bell is awesome. I hope a good school doesn't try to get him next year!

#2: No worries. Nobody will want him. He plays for ISU.

Those of you who think there isn't a perception, communication, promotion, and marketing problem at ISU are sorely mistaken. I always bring it up and nobody believes me. If you don't believe me, your're living in a fantasy world.

 

[SycamoreFan317]

Actual overheard conversation tonight. Two students.

#1: Shakir Bell is awesome. I hope a good school doesn't try to get him next year!

#2: No worries. Nobody will want him. He plays for ISU.

Those of you who think there isn't a perception, communication, promotion, and marketing problem at ISU are sorely mistaken. I always bring it up and nobody believes me. If you don't believe me, your're living in a fantasy world.

Did you step in?

 

[Chief_Quabachi]

I would argue that both of those students themselves have low self-esteem.

 

[GoCubs]

I can't agree more - as an alum who graduated within the last 5 years, this was the #1 thing that made me angry when attending games and any other function. A majority of students have NO pride and even enjoy making fun of their teams and their reputation. It is an absolute disgrace.

I have had many arguments with fellow alums who have no pride and wonder why they even paid money to attend a university they won't support because it doesn't have the name recognition they want.

 

[IndyTreeFan]

It doesn't have the name recognition they want because they refuse to talk about ISU in a positive manner. Most people don't know enough one way or the other to form a solid opinion, so if you speak to them passionately and positively about ISU, they'll most likely start to look favorably on our alma mater. Too many of our alums spend their time in IU and Purdue sweatshirts and own ZERO ISU shirts.

Regardless of what Gary Daily and his ilk want to say, the biggest reason for this apathy among students and alums is the pathetic performance of most of our athletic teams over the past 20 years. I guarantee that in the late 70's and early 80's, this wasn't a problem...

 

[Jason Svoboda]

I would argue that both of those students themselves have low self-esteem.

I was going to go with IQ, but self-esteem works, too.

You can't fix stupid. It's like the responder doesn't have a TV, Facebook account or has ever seen a local newspaper. While I think they could do more on campus, it's painfully obvious that the responder hasn't made it out to Memorial in the last two years or his dumb ass wouldn't have said it.

 

[treeman]

from being on campus the last couple of years the pride in the students has been better in years past. students are just now realizing that the football team is good...actually very good. the basketball team is coming around and the other sports are picking it up as well. student pride will increase when we start getting those wins against BCS programs, going to the dance regularly, making the playoffs, etc. once the students understand that we have athletic teams that compete and win against the big boys pride will increase. like i said it has increased alot the past 2-3 years but still a long way to go. but can you blame the studnets? we had one of the longest losing streaks in NCAA history. only had made the dance 3 times in how many decades? lets be honest with ourselves ISU athletics was pretty nonexistent for 10-15 years.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

from being on campus the last couple of years the pride in the students has been better in years past. students are just now realizing that the football team is good...actually very good. the basketball team is coming around and the other sports are picking it up as well. student pride will increase when we start getting those wins against BCS programs, going to the dance regularly, making the playoffs, etc. once the students understand that we have athletic teams that compete and win against the big boys pride will increase. like i said it has increased alot the past 2-3 years but still a long way to go. but can you blame the studnets? we had one of the longest losing streaks in NCAA history. only had made the dance 3 times in how many decades? lets be honest with ourselves ISU athletics was pretty nonexistent for 10-15 years.

Yes, I can blame students. It's YOUR fucking school. If you don't have pride in the school YOU selected, pack your shit up and find the door. I can understand if you just aren't a sports person, but a lot of these people are off supporting Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, etc.

THOSE SCHOOLS DIDN'T WANT YOU. If they did, you wouldn't be at Indiana State OR you liked Indiana State better so start representing like it.

Tell me this... what else are students doing on a Saturday afternoon? Outside of working, I can tell you that they're doing jack shit. Why? Because if I didn't attend a football game, I was watching football on TV. That's what happens on Saturdays.

 

[bent20]

Think you could give students a pass up until this year. The team is still good and getting better, it's a well publicized fact, no more excuses.

 

[Callmedoc]

from being on campus the last couple of years the pride in the students has been better in years past. students are just now realizing that the football team is good...actually very good. the basketball team is coming around and the other sports are picking it up as well. student pride will increase when we start getting those wins against BCS programs, going to the dance regularly, making the playoffs, etc. once the students understand that we have athletic teams that compete and win against the big boys pride will increase. like i said it has increased alot the past 2-3 years but still a long way to go. but can you blame the studnets? we had one of the longest losing streaks in NCAA history. only had made the dance 3 times in how many decades? lets be honest with ourselves ISU athletics was pretty nonexistent for 10-15 years.

How dare us expect students who call themselves sports fans be educated on their own school's current success.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Think you could give students a pass up until this year. The team is still good and getting better, it's a well publicized fact, no more excuses.

But this isn't just a football issue. Outside of a core group, they've been absent from hoops as well. It's a student issue, not a sports issue.

I think ITF hit it perfectly in another thread. Kids need to pull the bottle away from their lips and pay attention to what's going on for once.

 

[treeman]

i'm not trying to give excuses to the kids, i'm just trying to bring up points. this university is a great university but not a lot of people perceive it that way. friends from back home always knock on Terre Haute whenever i tell them stories of school. and then when i bring them down here for a weekend or whatever, they always leave by saying "that was really fun and Terre Haute was not what i thought it would be." the fact is Indiana State and Terre Haute have a negative image for those people that have never been here. It's gonna take time but we are definitely going in the right direction to break that image. like i said i'm not trying to bash the university or give excuses to the students, it's just the facts.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

Actual overheard conversation tonight. Two students.

#1: Shakir Bell is awesome. I hope a good school doesn't try to get him next year!

#2: No worries. Nobody will want him. He plays for ISU.

Those of you who think there isn't a perception, communication, promotion, and marketing problem at ISU are sorely mistaken. I always bring it up and nobody believes me. If you don't believe me, your're living in a fantasy world.

Bar room talk??? Honestly??? Take it for what its worth if that's the case. I-State boutta be on the map

 

[new sycamore fan]

We have someone near us in the Chicago area who went to school at ISU years ago, and when we told her our son was going to play football here, she said "why does he want to go there"? She continued to bash on the school and Terre Haute and I asked her when the last time she was down to ISU. She hadn't been for many years, so I told her she should take a trip because she was obviously misinformed. She had no idea about the new and refurbished buildings, the "sprucing up" of the campus area and entrances... It takes a lot of word of mouth in addition to the advertising that the school is doing, but I have seen improvement in the last 4 years. Having been to all of the MVFC schools, all of the MAC schools, and many other "mid-majors", ISU more than holds it's own, and is clearly working harder than most to improve.

 

[Sackalot]

I have two things to point out...and to me these are the real problems

Students...this area has improved, as mentioned, and continues to improve. It does take time, but the real issue we are dealing with is laziness and alcoholism..lol. What I mean by that is that the students that I come into contact with want to drink constantly...a football tailgate is just about the "perfect" spot to do that. But they either don't do go out to MS because they are lazy or they go, tailgate and then don't go into the game. And I think this is because of the pride issues that exist, it is more fun and accepted to make fun of ISU than it is to have pride and that is the issue which leads me to the second point.

Alumni...communications, infomation, marketing, promotions, etc. to alumni is lackluster IMHO. That is not for a lack of trying, as I truly beleive that the alumni association and the foundation are trying and I also think think that specific colleges on campus at ISU are trying too. I get something from the College of Tech or Scott College of Business via email, facebook or snail mail at least once per week. The reason I say it is lackluster is that the alumni are not "coming around" to the understanding that they are creating the perception themselves. The example that New Sycamore Fan mentioned above is VERY, VERY true and terrible. Alumni don't understand that by doing just that, they are lessing the value of their own degree. They are actually making themselves less marketable, less interesting, less helpful, etc.

 

[TH_Sycamore12]

Actual overheard conversation tonight. Two students.

#1: Shakir Bell is awesome. I hope a good school doesn't try to get him next year!
#2: No worries. Nobody will want him. He plays for ISU.

Those of you who think there isn't a perception, communication, promotion, and marketing problem at ISU are sorely mistaken. I always bring it up and nobody believes me. If you don't believe me, your're living in a fantasy world.

Does person #1 mean transferring to play for another school?

 

[IndyTreeFan]

We have someone near us in the Chicago area who went to school at ISU years ago, and when we told her our son was going to play football here, she said "why does he want to go there"? She continued to bash on the school and Terre Haute and I asked her when the last time she was down to ISU. She hadn't been for many years, so I told her she should take a trip because she was obviously misinformed. She had no idea about the new and refurbished buildings, the "sprucing up" of the campus area and entrances... It takes a lot of word of mouth in addition to the advertising that the school is doing, but I have seen improvement in the last 4 years. Having been to all of the MVFC schools, all of the MAC schools, and many other "mid-majors", ISU more than holds it's own, and is clearly working harder than most to improve.

I would have asked her, "What does that say about YOU?" I get so sick of people doing this. Other schools' alumni have a superiority complex for no apparent reason, we have an inferiority complex. I don't get it. At least you don't read about a kid disappearing or dying every other week at ISU like you do some schools...sheesh...

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

I struggle with entire conversation... I don't really know what side to take. I honestly think it takes a lot to be a Sycamore fan in this area. We are located really close to the two biggest institutions in the state of Indiana. Most of the kids that go to Indiana State were raised to support these others schools and if they were not raised that way they just supported them because that's what the "cool thing to do was". Look if my parents didn't raise me to be a Sycamore fan, I probably would have been an IU or Purdue fan because all my friends were fans of those schools and I grew up right here in Terre Haute, Indiana. Maybe that's Indiana States fault I don't know - I think they've done some things recently to really turn the table on this. Maybe not as much as we would like, but I have seen a shift.

I've had this conversation on here before - it takes a lot to support Indiana State, most people bash on Indiana State and if you want to stand up against that it really takes a great deal of effort, enthusiasm, pride, knowledge, self worth to stand up against it all. Granted it doesn't take much to go to a game and clap your hands - but being supportive of your university goes beyond just going to a game.

It's like, why do we not have more students on this forum? Is it because they don't have time? Please they are the computer 24/7. Is it because they don't know about the forum? How could they not? Just google anything Sycamore and this forum comes up 100% of the time.

I'm 25 years old and graduated from college all the time and I have people ask me all the time "why do you hate IU so much" and my response is simple, it's not that I hate IU that much I just love Indiana State that much and it rubs people the wrong way around here. People around here are not used to people who vocally support Indiana State and if you do it your looked at differently for it - it's a culture thing and it takes awhile to change culture, it takes great people, great leadership and it doesn't happen over night.

How long has this site been around? How long did it take for people to actually start posting/conversing on a daily basis Jason? It took awhile didn't it? It took hard work on your part - it took someone who was dedicated to making the place look good and run smoothly. People started seeing this place as more than just some dumb message board, it's a resource.

 

[LoyalAlum]

Believe me, I'm the first to speak up for ISU. I usually just get the eye roll. I just wanted to point that conversation out because a select few see things through rose-colored glasses. I'm not saying I have the solution, I'm not saying that nothing is being done to change this, but acknowledging it exists is a huge step in the right direction.

I'm always posting ISU stuff on my facebook page and on twitter. Positive articles, comments, etc. Occasionally, if warranted, I'll be critical. If I was always 100% pro-ISU and portrayed a "they can do no wrong" attititude, I'd lose credibilty. When something really positive happened and I talked about it, people would just say, "yeah, whatever, he's always pumping up ISU." I'll be honest and call something out if need be*cough*hulmancenterboxoffice*cough*.

I have high expectations for this university, its students, its alumni, and its athletics programs. I proudly say I'm an alumnus and do all I can to promote the great things going on at ISU. More people need to do this and be as vocal about it as possible, as already mentioned by several of you.

I hear variations of this ISU bashing constantly at work and in many different social venues. Being pissed or dismissive about it isn't going to get anyone anywhere. It's going to take many, many people (many more than read this message board) stepping up and taking the initiative to wear their Sycamore Pride on their sleeves.

 

[LoyalAlum]

I struggle with entire conversation... I don't really know what side to take. I honestly think it takes a lot to be a Sycamore fan in this area. We are located really close to the two biggest institutions in the state of Indiana. Most of the kids that go to Indiana State were raised to support these others schools and if they were not raised that way they just supported them because that's what the "cool thing to do was". Look if my parents didn't raise me to be a Sycamore fan, I probably would have been an IU or Purdue fan because all my friends were fans of those schools and I grew up right here in Terre Haute, Indiana. Maybe that's Indiana States fault I don't know - I think they've done some things recently to really turn the table on this. Maybe not as much as we would like, but I have seen a shift.

I've had this conversation on here before - it takes a lot to support Indiana State, most people bash on Indiana State and if you want to stand up against that it really takes a great deal of effort, enthusiasm, pride, knowledge, self worth to stand up against it all. Granted it doesn't take much to go to a game and clap your hands - but being supportive of your university goes beyond just going to a game.

It's like, why do we not have more students on this forum? Is it because they don't have time? Please they are the computer 24/7. Is it because they don't know about the forum? How could they not? Just google anything Sycamore and this forum comes up 100% of the time.

I'm 25 years old and graduated from college all the time and I have people ask me all the time "why do you hate IU so much" and my response is simple, it's not that I hate IU that much I just love Indiana State that much and it rubs people the wrong way around here. People around here are not used to people who vocally support Indiana State and if you do it your looked at differently for it - it's a culture thing and it takes awhile to change culture, it takes great people, great leadership and it doesn't happen over night.

Perfect post! :worship2: