White-out a part of Glass’ basketball stimulus package

It’s cold, it’s Big Ten season and the IU men’s basketball team is facing a ranked opponent – it must be time for a white-out

That’s right, folks, we’ve come to that wonderful time of year when the IU Athletics Department asks y’all to garb yourselves in snowy colors and cheer for the old alma mater. But this time ‘round, everyone who walks through the door gets a white T-shirt on the house, complete with a Winston Churchill quote on the back.

Now it might be fair to wonder aloud at this latest marketing development, given that balcony tickets have already been reduced to $5 for the rest of the season and the town and campus are being blanketed with “Ground the Gophers” posters.

Isn’t this a little bit much? Should IU basketball really need to market itself so hard? To paraphrase Mel Brooks, isn’t this the last act of a desperate man?

Actually, it’s not.

Actually, it’s a little bit brilliant.

We’ve all been assuming the Hoosiers’ attendance problems this season are attributed purely to student and alumni apathy given the state of the program this year. Short answer: It isn’t.

As political and media types are so fond of saying, America is currently facing an economic crisis the likes of which few IU students have ever seen. It makes sense one of the first luxuries you’d cut from the family budget are season tickets or trips to Bloomington.

The sheer list of things that will cut into a game-goer’s wallet is staggering: gas, hotel, food, merchandise, tickets ...

Wait, aren’t tickets $5? And don’t I get a free T-shirt? Like I said – a little bit brilliant.
This isn’t just success but also simple economics. Athletics Director Fred Glass said attendance is down across the Big Ten – not isolated to IU.

Make games a cheaper proposition – and convenient for students who can’t afford an entire season’s worth of tickets – and you’ve got them. Now throw in a T-shirt that you got for free through a sponsorship deal, and that’s just gravy.

But what about the posters? Well, those are just one idea on a list Glass started on the way back from Ohio State last week to try and energize a slightly indifferent, penny-pinching fanbase.

When he was a student at IU, Glass said, the department put out similar posters, which found their way into the windows of dorms, fraternity houses and local businesses alike, uniting town and University under one common, opponent-hating banner.

“I don’t know, it was just kind of fun,” Glass said of the posters as he remembers them. “It was a little goofy, a little collegiate.”

But this is IU basketball. IU basketball fans don’t rush the court, IU basketball fans expect to win and IU basketball fans shouldn’t need any posters to get excited about what’s going on at 1001 E. 17th St.

Simply put, these aren’t your father’s Indiana Hoosiers. Gone are the days when Bob Knight could walk into any Indiana high schooler’s living room and get an automatic commitment, and so it is for a campus whose out-of-state population is second-largest in the conference. Throw in ESPN and the Big Ten Network, and it’s awfully easy for college-basketball-thirsty fans to get their kicks any way they want.

There’s more, much more, and it’s all courtesy of Glass’ drive. Cheerleaders in the stands, the pep band in the hallways and honorary captains are all just some of what the new top man has brought in already.

I know some diehards out there think IU basketball is fine with the traditions it has, but everybody needs some fresh air now and then. Besides, traditions don’t become traditions until after they’re new.

“I think you’ve always got to be careful with nostalgia, because I think (such things) always seem better than they really were,” Glass said. “I think Coach (Crean) has captured it the right way: We build on our traditions, but we’re always looking to create new traditions.”

It’s clear that within a program steeped in tradition, a new direction was needed. And now it has one.

See you Monday.