Campbell officially announced the installation of their football team today. The first season will be in 2008.
Im pretty sure I could find 11 guys on campus that are capable of beating whatever squad they put together.
Don’t tell me to step away from the ledge, I can’t take it anymore.
Yet, another school in our region that is starting a football program and we don’t have a long-term plan to get football. How depressing.
Good for the Fighting Camels… about 30min drive from my house and I visit their golf course quite often.
[QUOTE]
Campbell still must build football facilities, including a stadium, practice field and locker room. Expected costs are $2 million.
“For the school, it’s not nearly the financial burden,” he said in a phone interview. “You don’t need to have the scholarships generated not only for the football program, but for the female sports, as well, because of gender equity. You have football without a lot of the costs.”
[/QUOTE]
Come on people!
We’ve got the (soccer) stadium! We’ve got enough walk-ons out of 20000 students to beat the likes of Campbell and Davidson!
I know, I know…it’s not South Florida-caliber. But it’s something. Who knows? Maybe that first step will generate some interest from local businesses and some scholarships.
What Coastel Carolina has done with football seems to be the new benchmark for schools wanting to start a program.
Judy gets punk’d again.
Lord, please get us a real AD for Easter.
[QUOTE]The Camels will compete in the NCAA Division I-AA, non-scholarship level, similar to programs such as Davidson and Jacksonville. [/QUOTE]
I mention this every time talk of football comes up. This is the way we need to start a program. No scholarships for football + no additional scholarships for women’s sports = cheap program.
[QUOTE] <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” /><st1:City w:st=“on”><st1:place w:st=“on”>Campbell</st1:place></st1:City> still must build football facilities, including a stadium, practice field and locker room. Expected costs are $2 million. [/QUOTE]
Easy math here:
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> $2,000,000 / 20,000 students = $100 increase in student fees. Yet, for some reason we can't get it done. Instant rivalry with Davidson (and now Campbell), tailgating, etc...yet some would rather spend money giving the men's tennis team an extra [COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]scholarship[/FONT][/COLOR].“If change is to occur it must come about through hard work within the organization its self” Lippitt (74)
“Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worst to better” (Richard Hooker)
“One fifth of the people are against everything all the time” (Robert Kennedy)
“In the carriages of the past you cant go anywhere” (Maxim Gorky)
“Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or nation” (Oscar Wilde)
"Youve got to be willing to fail (James Burke… Johnson & Johnson)
“Anytime you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you mist do is to raise your standards” (Robbins 94)
“The process of change (like charity) begins with the individual” Forsha (31)
Last but not least
“No army can withstand the strenth of an idea whose time has come” (Victor Hugo)
[QUOTE=NovaNiner;167476] No scholarships for football …= [/QUOTE]
No scholarships for football = No good football team.
We won’t have a very good team for the first couple of years [B]WITH [/B]scholarships whenever we get football. If we start a team without them then chalk up the L’s, because we won’t be getting many, if any, W’s. The thrill will wear off quick for the wagoneer fans who are shouting at Judy for football now, and their $$$ support will correspond directly. Then we will be left to tote the bill with the supporters we have now. If we’re going to get football, we need to do it right from the get-go. I-AA for several years (5-10 or more), and then move up [B]ONLY[/B] when we can get into a decent conference (CUSA level or better). Anything less could sink the rest of the athletic program into a deeper abyss.
You miss the point all togeather. Sad.
[QUOTE=lake49er;167483]You miss the point all togeather. Sad.[/QUOTE]
And what was the point? To blast our AD for the umpthousandth time about not having football? Same old story, different thread.
No scholarships for football = No good football team.We won’t have a very good team for the first couple of years WITH scholarships whenever we get football. If we start a team without them then chalk up the L’s, because we won’t be getting many, if any, W’s. The thrill will wear off quick for the wagoneer fans who are shouting at Judy for football now, and their $$$ support will correspond directly. Then we will be left to tote the bill with the supporters we have now. If we’re going to get football, we need to do it right from the get-go. I-AA for several years (5-10 or more), and then move up ONLY when we can get into a decent conference (CUSA level or better). Anything less could sink the rest of the athletic program into a deeper abyss.
Let’s just make some assumptions for the sake of argument:
Say the school decides to join the Pioneer conference with Davidson and Campbell in 2008. First off, that $2 million dollar figure for Campbell drops way down because we don’t have to construct a stadium - we could use the soccer field. We get the uniforms, coaching staff, et al, for running a college football program - although it will be run a bit more like how it was run in my Junior High School.
So now we’re in a conference full of teams with walk-ons. Would we chalk up the 'L’s for years and years? Possibly, but I would hope not. Fact is, with our size advantage we should field a more talented team than Davidson or Campbell.
Would we lose interest? How? You can’t be interested in something that doesn’t exist! If anything, we might gain some interest via tailgating, attendance and sponsorships. If all else fails - the fall football season could be used to advertise the upcoming basketball season.
I hate the strategy the school appears to want to take.
Let’s plan and plan and plan and waste a boatload of money on studies to find out if we might waste money on football. Then we have to build a giant football stadium. And we have to be a big enough program to make money - so let’s spend a whole bunch of money to use for scholarships for good players (as if all-world athletes would want to go to a start-up program) THAT’S a recipe for disaster! It would be a great way to throw money at a problem, be a losing program for years to come, and not reap the financial rewards that the school seems only interested in.
I like the non-scholarship route. Considering the potential revenue and the minor start-up costs, even the most disasterous failure wouldn’t cost very much money. And if the school one day wants to start up a program their own way, well at least there will be something currently in place.
[QUOTE=survivor45;167504]Let’s just make some assumptions for the sake of argument:
Say the school decides to join the Pioneer conference with Davidson and Campbell in 2008. First off, that $2 million dollar figure for Campbell drops way down because we don’t have to construct a stadium - we could use the soccer field. We get the uniforms, coaching staff, et al, for running a college football program - although it will be run a bit more like how it was run in my Junior High School.
So now we’re in a conference full of teams with walk-ons. Would we chalk up the 'L’s for years and years? Possibly, but I would hope not. Fact is, with our size advantage we should field a more talented team than Davidson or Campbell.
Would we lose interest? How? You can’t be interested in something that doesn’t exist! If anything, we might gain some interest via tailgating, attendance and sponsorships. If all else fails - the fall football season could be used to advertise the upcoming basketball season.
I hate the strategy the school appears to want to take.
Let’s plan and plan and plan and waste a boatload of money on studies to find out if we might waste money on football. Then we have to build a giant football stadium. And we have to be a big enough program to make money - so let’s spend a whole bunch of money to use for scholarships for good players (as if all-world athletes would want to go to a start-up program) THAT’S a recipe for disaster! It would be a great way to throw money at a problem, be a losing program for years to come, and not reap the financial rewards that the school seems only interested in.
I like the non-scholarship route. Considering the potential revenue and the minor start-up costs, even the most disasterous failure wouldn’t cost very much money. And if the school one day wants to start up a program their own way, well at least there will be something currently in place.[/QUOTE]
It may not be that much money compared to starting a real I-AA program, but $1-$2 million in expenses each season is nothing to sneeze at. Essentially, we would be playing DIII football with no playoffs in the picture. As I said, the luster won’t last long with that, even if we go undefeated. Sure we’ll have some interest, more than zero, but we also have a million or more in expenses added to our budget with probably not much additional income unless the students tote the note. If a realistic way to pay for those expenses is discovered, then this could be the way to go. We need to know we have the money before we jump in though.
It may not be that much money compared to starting a real I-AA program, but $1-$2 million in expenses each season is nothing to sneeze at. Essentially, we would be playing DIII football with no playoffs in the picture. As I said, the luster won't last long with that, even if we go undefeated. Sure we'll have some interest, more than zero, but we also have a million or more in expenses added to our budget with probably not much additional income unless the students tote the note. If a realistic way to pay for those expenses is discovered, then this could be the way to go. We need to know we have the money before we jump in though.
$1-$2 Million is nothing to sneeze at…but who said we’re likely to lose that much? That’s assuming zero revenue… I couldn’t tell you if we’d be in the black or the red financially. A realistic way of paying for those expenses involves the same methods the school uses to pay for the basketball team - charge money for tickets, food, souveneirs, parking, accepting donations, etc. etc.
All the sports teams have expenses. The route Campbell has taken to field a football team limits A LOT of potential expenses. Why wouldn’t we want to follow in their footsteps? The rivalry with Davidson would be pretty cool and the potential of ‘moving up’ is almost limitless.
There are approximately 23 universities in the country (not including online schools) with an undergrad population of 15,000 or more that don’t play football. Guess what, we are one of them!
With our expected growth projection to 30,000 students, we may become the largest school in the nation without a football team.
That’s a ranking that I prefer not to have.
I usually don’t get into this topic because I feel it’s a waste of time but when you really think about it, it is terribly depressing to consider we lack a football program given our size. While I fully support the continuing growth of our basketball program, I would most certainly increase my annual 49er Club contributions if they were going towards a football program. I think the majority of Athletic Foundation members would say/do the same thing. I understand the obstacles involved but I’m tired of it being a situation of the haves and have nots. Our student population, campus size and location warrants a football team, regardless of the on-the-field success.
I have no problem with taking the non-scholarship approach. I understand that we may struggle to win games and fan interest could dwindle. However, if only one person shows up for a game, that’s one more than what’s showing up now for football. A Saturday afternoon football game isn’t just about the win or loss. It’s a tradition, a ritual, a celebration and an all day event that is planned out. Tailgating alone is worth the disappointment of a losing game. And I agree that given our size, we wouldn’t necessarily struggle as much as one might expect. Our talent pool would exceed Davidson and Campbell. While Davidson may not be a world beater on the field, they are at least competitive in their conference and mangage to win occasionally. I think that’s all Niner fans are asking for. We are far more critical of those standards with basketball because we’ve tasted the success of post season play and conference tournament titles. With football, we wouldn’t be spoiled like that and we’d have no choice but to remain humble.
I just think that it’s a situation where the costs aren’t going to come down in the future. If football is a long-term goal, then the planning must be short-term. I just think that the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to establish a program. And with every year we waste, teams like Davidson, Coastal Carolina, Campbell, etc. all gain another year of experience, on many levels. There’s just no excuse to not at least have the ball rolling on a plan for this. Hell, raise the cost of tuition, increase the price of admission for the other sports, raise concession prices, raise 49er Club parking fees, etc. There are ways to fund this but no one seems to be willing to lace up their running shoes while other schools, smaller than us, have already left the starting blocks.
Essentially, we would be playing DIII football with no playoffs in the picture.
I stumbled upon this site - there is a IAA playoff system. A 16 team bracket (TAKE THAT, BCS!) I noticed the A-10 gets an automatic bid, too.
[URL=http://www.gocamels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=65455&SPID=7313&DB_OEM_ID=15300&ATCLID=869932]http://www.gocamels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=65455&SPID=7313&DB_OEM_ID=15300&ATCLID=869932[/URL]
Campbell takes one of our guys, Mike Minter. (would be a good candidate for some level of coaching)
[URL=http://www.gocamels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=65455&SPID=7313&DB_OEM_ID=15300&ATCLID=922325]http://www.gocamels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=65455&SPID=7313&DB_OEM_ID=15300&ATCLID=922325[/URL]
[SIZE=2]“Football will bring this community closer together, I guarantee you,” said DeBerry. “Football is going to bring excitement and pride to this school and the area.”<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P></O:P>[/SIZE]