The last Q&A with the guys from Cracked Sidewalks was enough fun that we decided to do it again. Marquette92 supplied the responses with a little supplemental from Marquette Hoops (in italics). My answers to their questions will be up on their site later are here.

1. Pitt has gone through it’s own back and forth over new logos, colors and even whether it is Pitt or Pittsburgh (it is and always will be, Pitt). Now, over the last year, sometimes it seems longer, Marquette was faced with mascot/nickname issues. A large contingent looking to go back to the Warriors, a school that sought to go with an element, and ultimately settling back with the metallic bird. Is there a way to concisely explain what the hell happened? Additional, didn’t Marquette have different colors in the past? Was there any discussion of going back to them? Even just for a throwback game?

Concisely explain…not sure and my perspective is certainly different than others here…I’m more jaded about the process than others and the division of how fans see this issue is fairly stark in my opinion. I think we might lead the nation in nicknames. We were the Hilltoppers for a long time and then acquired a football only nickname of Golden Avalanche.

In 1954 we became the Warriors and took on an Indian mascot and Indian logo. The first renditions were overdone and stereotypical depictions of Indians in much the way the Cleveland Indians have with their logo. Over the years we toned it down and eventually Native Americans actually designed the costume for our mascot and developed our logo.

In 1994, President DiUlio unilaterally decided Warriors was going to go much to the chagrin of many alumni. An “election” was held between two candidates, Golden Eagles and Lightning. The proof of this election is somewhere in the same area of Jimmy Hoffa’s body.

About two years ago the issue surfaced again when a Board of Trustee member stated at graduation ceremonies that he would give the university several million dollars if we returned to the Warriors. This started a process in which the Board of Trustees had a survey given to all alumni and students about the Warriors nickname, the Golden Eagles and a number of other issues. The survey revealed overwhelming distaste for the Golden Eagles name.

Now, was it because of who answered the survey, was it because of the way the questions were asked, etc, etc…who knows. I was certainly one that voted to get rid of the Eagles name. This led to more meetings with the BOT and apparently with the Great Lakes Tribal council (made up of all the tribes in Wisconsin) where their opinions were garnered as well.

At the end of the day, the BOT and/or Father Wild said despite the strong support for Warriors even in the context of it not being an Indian mascot, it was their determination that it was not possible for our alumni to disassociate themselves from the history of the name and it’s linkage to Native Americans. Even a Warrior as a Rainbow or a Knight or whatever could not possibly in a person’s mind be mistaken for that link to Native Americans which was dropped 10 years prior (I’m now being sarcastic).

This is where it gets fun. The BOT then in the next breadth announced that instead of keeping the Golden Eagles they settled on the GOLD. The Marquette GOLD.

Well to say Pandora’s Box was blown wide open would be an understatement. We were the butt of all jokes almost within minutes of the announcement. Alumni that were fans of Warriors were furious. Alumni that were fans of Golden Eagles were furious. Alumni who gave a shit about athletics were even furious. It was just colossally dumb. For about a week the administration tried to play the damage control card and say how wonderful it was and this and that. Finally they caved, thank God.

As a result, they decided to have a committee select 10 names from 1000’s that were submitted by alumni, fans, etc or come up with their own. There were rules, the names could not incorporate Warrior in them or anything of that nature of “war”. The committee diligently selected 10 names and alumni were given these names to vote on through an online system.

The top 2 names chosen would go in a run off for another election weeks later. The top two names were Hilltoppers (our first name) and Golden Eagles, our last name. Warriors received a very strong write-in vote despite the university clearly saying upfront that it would be counted but not recognized. Many alumni chose it anyway in protest. In the runoff, Golden Eagles won and we were right back to ground zero.

Not Marquette’s proudest moment(s) to be sure. I, for one, remain a Marquette fan to the hilt but I will always be a Warrior just like Rick Majerus said last night on the ESPN broadcast. It will stick in my craw until I die.

We have always been blue and gold as far as I know. Various different shades of blue to be certain, but always blue and gold. We have worn replica 1977 jerseys for a couple of games that were untucked (against NCAA rules today).

2. Injuries seem to have been taking a toll on the Golden Eagles. Who’s in, who’s out and who’s not at full strength? Has anyone new stepped up since the last meeting that Pitt should be wary of?

Kinsella is out with an appendix. Lott is out due to Mono. Fitzgerald is dinged up with ankle issues. Amoroso is not playing due to undisclosed medical issues or something else (doghouse, who knows). I’d say as far as someone “new” it is possible that Fitzgerald could have a breakout game and this will be the first time you see Wes Matthews who is coming off a stress fracture.

Matthews has yet to hit his stride since his return, but played another smart floor game against Georgetown. Seeing how the Pitt backcourt played so well against MU earlier this season, Matthews’ return should help MU.

3. As the coaching carousel starts to really get wound, how are the rumors affecting the fanbase. Crean is an annual rumor at many schools, and with job openings in the Big 11 and 12, Crean’s name is becoming mentioned more frequently. Pitt fans are keeping a wary eye out west at the Arizona State rumors of going after Dixon.

Fans are fairly confident he will stay. It’s his program now, his stamp, we’re in the Big East, we have a dynamite Freshman class and two more good kids coming in. The timing just seems odd. He’s at a basketball only school that loves it’s hoops. He’s paid VERY well. Things can change, but I think most are confident the timing doesn’t seem right for a departure.

4. Do you see a noticeable difference in any aspects of Marquette’s game when playing at home versus the road? Some area they seem to do better or worse when in the Bradley Center?

MU has lost two games at home, though one of them was the second game of the season to Winthrop when the freshmen were still getting settled in. The other loss was a few days after beating UCONN, a great win that sometimes can take emotion out of you. MU led Cincinnati by double digits in the second half of that game and collapsed. UC blocked 20+ shots that day I think. We just kept going to the hole drive after drive after drive and they would block it. We weren’t very smart.

I am worried about playing Pitt off of last night’s emotional game. I hope we have gas left in the tank. The Bradley Center has a good home court advantage for us despite it’s big size and NBA type feel at times.

5. For Pitt fans and alum showing up at the game, what kind of reception can they expect?

Hard to say, I can remember the last time we played you at Marquette if ever. It’s been a long time if we had. I can tell you this, a lot of MU fans cheered for you against Wisconsin a few years ago at the Bradley Center in the NCAAs.

I do think MU fans will be jacked up for the game tonight, and it should be a sellout (or very close to it) — the win over Georgetown put alot of wind in our sales, and folks know how tight the game was at the Pete.

6. What is the state of the team, fans and Dominic James with the rematch considering the controversy over his shoulder injury and crash off-court — bump,push or shove — in the earlier meeting. Any talk of payback, dirty play and such?

The ‘shove’ was a hot issue during the week after the last meeting, but given DJ’s strong play since its ceased to be a topic of conversation. It also helped that the ‘shove’ didn’t injure DJ — he was hurt on the incidental contact before that anway. There has not been much buzz of payback, though Crean continues to push the team to get tougher on the glass and limit second chance opportunities.

The game is 9pm, and is on ESPN Full Court if you are outside of Fox Sports Pittsburgh. Bet ESPN wishes it could swap this with the Louisville-Syracuse tilt.

Thanks agains guys.