Hello Josh Pastner !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[InnZoneU]

On 2/4/2025 at 6:38 PM, crsmitty04 said:

I used to love those late night Big Monday games on ESPN. Jimmy Dykes would call a lot of those games and he was always complimentary of UNLV and the conference.

I was in high school then but my parents were cool with those late nights since it was the Rebels.

The MWC was brand new at the time and Charlie Spoonhour's Rebels would get a lot of air time. Marcus Banks was our feature guy back then, but some of the other teams in the conference were just too big or too balanced for him to do it alone.

I recall a wicked OT game against UNM (Reuben Douglas?) that didn't end until well after midnight.

I was in some rando crack dealers house in Brockton, MA (friend of a friend) in 1991.  They had fuggin parties like 30 deep to watch UNLV Big Monday games at midnight.

[Tolo]

On 2/4/2025 at 8:25 PM, Just_Chris said:

Now that's a name !

I was at the game even though it wasn't a Big Monday game when Rafael Araujo sucker punched Blassinggame... I never understood how they gave him a tech but didn't toss him. He closed fist punched the guy. I know I was drunk as a skunk and def yelled some shit I'm def not proud of at the refs and Raf 

OMG I was at that game too. I remember that foul very well. It looked like a WWE guy punching a little kid. Up till that point I disliked Araujo and Bogut equally but that punch propelled Araujo to the top of the hated list.

[Qwelish]

On 2/4/2025 at 4:45 PM, crsmitty04 said:

UNLV hockey is pushing for D-1 promotion. I think it could happen in the next 3-4 years.

I'd probably spend more time watching college hockey than basketball from that point on.

I would definitely go see a D1 UNLV hockey team.

[crsmitty04]

On 2/5/2025 at 10:38 AM, InnZoneU said:

I was in some rando crack dealers house in Brockton, MA (friend of a friend) in 1991.  They had fuggin parties like 30 deep to watch UNLV Big Monday games at midnight.

Haha that's wild! My dad is from Chicopee and he said he got hooked on UNLV watching their games at like 11:30pm while he was out late partying.

He moved to Vegas in the early 80s right after the Mack was built and he was locked in after that.

Started taking me to games as soon as I came around.

[VincentVegaBond]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:03 AM, Tolo said:

OMG I was at that game too. I remember that foul very well. It looked like a WWE guy punching a little kid. Up till that point I disliked Araujo and Bogut equally but that punch propelled Araujo to the top of the hated list.

Araujo was a certified thug and easy to hate.  Man I miss having BYU in the conference sooo much.  They were absolutely hated, moreso than UNR, tons and tons of drama between us (remember Sara Cummard fighting with UNLV fans at the Mack?) but we were both generally good teams and it made for a TON of engagement that we are lacking now (which is an understatement) as far as conference games.  This is one reason I'm not particularly looking forward to a cupcake-loaded MW.  The more better teams to play and be rivals with, the more excitement conference season is.  

[InnZoneU]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:38 AM, crsmitty04 said:

Haha that's wild! My dad is from Chicopee and he said he got hooked on UNLV watching their games at like 11:30pm while he was out late partying.

He moved to Vegas in the early 80s right after the Mack was built and he was locked in after that.

Started taking me to games as soon as I came around.

Our UNLV dorms in the early 90s were filled with east coast guys named Vinny, Marco, Fat Scott, Tino. They all came to UNLV bc of Big Monday games and it didn't hurt that SUNY credits easily transferred.

[Qwelish]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:46 AM, VincentVegaBond said:

Araujo was a certified thug and easy to hate.  Man I miss having BYU in the conference sooo much.  They were absolutely hated, moreso than UNR, tons and tons of drama between us (remember Sara Cummard fighting with UNLV fans at the Mack?) but we were both generally good teams and it made for a TON of engagement that we are lacking now (which is an understatement) as far as conference games.  This is one reason I'm not particularly looking forward to a cupcake-loaded MW.  The more better teams to play and be rivals with, the more excitement conference season is.  

At this point UNLV is the cupcake.

[crsmitty04]

There was a time when the MWC had Utah, BYU, UNM, SDSU and UNLV all playing good basketball.

There was genuine animosity amongst the teams and fan bases and conference season was brutal.

Now it's a shell of that time.

[Tolo]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:46 AM, VincentVegaBond said:

Araujo was a certified thug and easy to hate.  Man I miss having BYU in the conference sooo much.  They were absolutely hated, moreso than UNR, tons and tons of drama between us (remember Sara Cummard fighting with UNLV fans at the Mack?) but we were both generally good teams and it made for a TON of engagement that we are lacking now (which is an understatement) as far as conference games.  This is one reason I'm not particularly looking forward to a cupcake-loaded MW.  The more better teams to play and be rivals with, the more excitement conference season is.  

Dude that Cummard/ Ferdette back court was lethal. I remember Ferdette and Willis used to have serious battles. Sigh, I miss those days too. The MW was a great place for bball.

[Bigd]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:49 AM, crsmitty04 said:

There was a time when the MWC had Utah, BYU, UNM, SDSU and UNLV all playing good basketball.

There was genuine animosity amongst the teams and fan bases and conference season was brutal.

Now it's a shell of that time.

The last 3 years in the MW has been the best three years in league history by far. We've had 14 tournament bids, and a team in the title game. 

I'm sure playing BYU & Utah was fun, but the league was not as strong top to bottom. 

[Jersey Rebels]

On 2/5/2025 at 11:48 AM, InnZoneU said:

Our UNLV dorms in the early 90s were filled with east coast guys named Vinny, Marco, Fat Scott, Tino. 

Those are my uncles. 

[crsmitty04]

On 2/5/2025 at 1:25 PM, Bigd said:

The last 3 years in the MW has been the best three years in league history by far. We've had 14 tournament bids, and a team in the title game. 

I'm sure playing BYU & Utah was fun, but the league was not as strong top to bottom. 

You're not wrong, but the intensity definitely feels lacking from a fan interest standpoint.

Maybe it's huck-a-chuck ball, rotating NIL rosters, or just my Scarlett-colored glasses.

[Bigd]

On 2/5/2025 at 11:36 AM, crsmitty04 said:

You're not wrong, but the intensity definitely feels lacking from a fan interest standpoint.

Maybe it's huck-a-chuck ball, rotating NIL rosters, or just my Scarlett-colored glasses.

I'd imagine a big part of is just that UNLV hasn't been at the top. If they were battling for conference titles these last few years with SDSU, USU, and Boise you'd probably view things differently. 

College basketball is a lot less fun when your team isn't at least in the bubble conversation.

[crsmitty04]

Fair point ☝

[AztecAlien]

So does Kruger get fired after this season? And is UNLV better off losing the rest of the way in order to make that happen? It's not like he's a first or second year coach. I could see the Rebels making a little run and getting the fans excited. Then what? Seems to be a theme. 

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 2/5/2025 at 1:01 PM, AztecAlien said:

So does Kruger get fired after this season? And is UNLV better off losing the rest of the way in order to make that happen? It's not he's a first or second year coach. I could see the Rebels making a little run and getting the fans excited. Then what? Seems to be a theme. 

I don't think KK has many supporters left among UNLV fans after this nightmare of a season.  I also think a decision has likely already been made one way of another and what UNLV does the rest of the year short of making the Sweet 16 (LOL) wouldn't matter.

I personally don't see how he couldn't be fired after this disaster, Harper is ambitious and I'm sure he doesn't want to be associated with a pathetic program with essentially no fan interest.

But nary a peep from the media and if Kruger was given a 10 year extension tomorrow it probably wouldn't even be in the top 20 bad choices made by UNLV AD's over the past 15 years 😭

[Just_Chris]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:46 AM, VincentVegaBond said:

Araujo was a certified thug and easy to hate.  Man I miss having BYU in the conference sooo much.  They were absolutely hated, moreso than UNR, tons and tons of drama between us (remember Sara Cummard fighting with UNLV fans at the Mack?) but we were both generally good teams and it made for a TON of engagement that we are lacking now (which is an understatement) as far as conference games.  This is one reason I'm not particularly looking forward to a cupcake-loaded MW.  The more better teams to play and be rivals with, the more excitement conference season is.  

Unpopular opinion but Sara Cummard was hot ! The funny thing is I bumped in to Lee about 10 years ago and chatted him up. He was a super nice guy and seemed really down to earth. he was shocked I remembered him but told him he was such a good player it would be hard to forget. 

On 2/5/2025 at 1:01 PM, AztecAlien said:

So does Kruger get fired after this season? And is UNLV better off losing the rest of the way in order to make that happen? It's not like he's a first or second year coach. I could see the Rebels making a little run and getting the fans excited. Then what? Seems to be a theme. 

Yes... he is done. I'm not even sure winning the conference tournament buys him another year. They're not good, they don't play great defense, they aren't consistent and quite frankly I don't think he's earned his job. 

[Qwelish]

On 2/4/2025 at 1:53 PM, UNLV2001 said:

8pm Start time isn't UNLV's fault -- that's on CBS Sports 

But back in the day, almost every UNLV game tipped off at 8:05pm & of course the old BIg Monday ESPN was a 9 pm tip 

But, yes, the excitement level is about at BORE or SNORE 

I have literally fallen asleep on the last couple away games. I watched most of it, and didn't even fall asleep on purpose. 

Not sure what percentage of it was age or product thats putting me out.

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 2/5/2025 at 3:06 PM, Just_Chris said:

Unpopular opinion but Sara Cummard was hot ! The funny thing is I bumped in to Lee about 10 years ago and chatted him up. He was a super nice guy and seemed really down to earth. he was shocked I remembered him but told him he was such a good player it would be hard to forget. 

Yes... he is done. I'm not even sure winning the conference tournament buys him another year. They're not good, they don't play great defense, they aren't consistent and quite frankly I don't think he's earned his job. 

I wouldn't quite call her hot but definitely well within the boinkable range and her fiesty attitude is a plus for me!

We will see about Kevin, when UNLV students start wearing Nepo Baby shirts to games that's definitely a terrible sign. 

[UNLV2001]

On 2/5/2025 at 4:11 PM, Qwelish said:

I have literally fallen asleep on the last couple away games. I watched most of it, and didn't even fall asleep on purpose. 

Not sure what percentage of it was age or product thats putting me out.

I drink beer so I keep making runs to the toilet - keeps me awake !