I don't almost feel bad.....

[150946shox]

Really sad. I have great respect for Sycamore players and the fans I've met and communicated with. Super group of people.

[BostonWu]

Don't we get paid to wear our unis?

[ShockerFever]

I got this email earlier today too and thought it was an April Fool's Day thing until I realized it's the middle of September right now.

[Blackmag]

I agree we Kung Wu, I was just thinking the same thing, everyone do away with football,and only have basketball, baseball, track, volleyball ect., concentrate on the things we can compete at the upper level of D-1 sports.

[WuDrWu]

Kudos to the guy who sent the email for trying to remedy an embarrassing situation and help the players.

That said, what a pathetic state of affairs.

Totally agree and that Jason guy seems like a good dude. He's passionate, yet balanced and is almost always respectable, something not often seen on the internet. There are other schools I'd wish ISUb's woes upon.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I feel sick to my stomach.

Below, read what was sent from the moderator of the Indiana State board:


I don't think it can be argued that Greg does more with less than any other Missouri Valley head coach. Despite having the second lowest basketball budget in the Missouri Valley behind Southern Illinois, Greg has ripped off a 79-54 record in four seasons (a 59.4% winning percentage) that is the best four year stretch since the late 70s when Larry Legend dominated the court.

We've talked about crowd funding before on Sycamore Pride and we've even contacted Ron Prettyman and John Sherman and nothing came of it. Well, when I was at the Alumni Association tailgate before the Indiana game, I spoke with Assistant Development Officer for Athletics Geoff Giauque. Geoff has some great ideas, but what impressed me the most was he actually asked for ideas. I explained to him that we had wanted to do a crowd funding project so there could be a tangible goal and benefit rather than just donating money and not knowing where it went.

I had mentioned to him that I had been told by several players that the home white jerseys felt like "sandpaper" and "flannel" and needed replaced. He then told me a story about how he was sitting on the baseline at a game last year and could see the remnants of "Kelly" on Manny Arop's jersey. So Manny was wearing the same jersey that Jake Kelly wore. Seriously. I then reached out to Greg and he told me that he did want to order new sets of both home and away jerseys and they ran $3k per set. So it's time to put our money where our mouths are. I'm looking for are 59 other Sycamore Pride members, alumni, students or fans of the program to join me and make a $100 donation to the Sycamore Athletic Foundation to Indiana State Men's Basketball.

I will be working with Geoff to keep me updated on how many people have donated so we can track our progress. If you are interested in being one of the 60 fine Sycamore supporters, please give Geoff Giauque a call at (812) 514-8451 letting him know you want to donate towards the Sycamore Pride crowdfunding project and he will get you taken care of.

Go Sycamores!
Jason Svoboda


Seriously? Please tell me that's not real....and if it is, maybe it's time we just go independent.

I swear that Bradley is still wearing their 70s road uniforms. When they visit every year, my first look is at their uniforms. Nothing has changed in years.

[Rlh04d]

That's my current thinking to save the Valley. The entire conference should just stop playing football. Seriously, just stop. Funnel the overflow of money into basketball and we'd make the original Big East look bad. Oh and enrollment numbers would skyrocket at all the schools if WSU is any indication. Apparently you don't need football -- apparently you just need a president with vision and a hall-of-fame-in-waiting basketball coach.

Can we crowd-fund an advertising campaign against all of the MVC schools with the theme of "Football. Seriously, just stop." ?

If the 60 Syracamore users on that board can crowd-fund their uniforms, Shockernet could probably crowdfund to being the dominant advertiser at every football-playing MVC member.

Then not only do they get the money they take from their crappy football teams, but they get our money, too. Win, win.

[Kung Wu]

Can we crowd-fund an advertising campaign against all of the MVC schools with the theme of "Football. Seriously, just stop." ?

If the 60 Syracamore users on that board can crowd-fund their uniforms, Shockernet could probably crowdfund to being the dominant advertiser at every football-playing MVC member.

Then not only do they get the money they take from their crappy football teams, but they get our money, too. Win, win.

LOL

[AdamCC]

Wow. How much state money does IU get as opposed to Indy St? Isn't there some sort funding at a bare minimum that each gets for uniforms and ya know, the essential **** necessary to have a division 1 basketball progrum.

I don't believe state money goes to pay for the athletic department. They might receive operational dollars, but I'm pretty sure most athletic programs are financed by donations, ticket sales, ads, etc.

[The Mad Hatter]

I don't believe state money goes to pay for the athletic department. They might receive operational dollars, but I'm pretty sure most athletic programs are financed by donations, ticket sales, ads, etc.

While a lot of states are cutting funding, it does appear that state money often has been a part of schools' athletic budgets. This article about UNI and several other Valley schools makes note of this:

http://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/dollars_and_sense/uni-s-funding-not-on-level-playing-field-with-iowa/article_e12f239e-1907-5cb8-8ea5-bee5f9334ee2.html

For instance:

Missouri State athletics director Kyle Moats can empathize with Dannen. Cuts in state funding have reduced the amount of state and institutional support his athletics department receives.

Unlike UNI and Missouri State, NDSU hasn't had to deal with any recent cuts in funding.
"Knock on wood we haven't faced the difficult challenges that some of the states have," Taylor said.
The opposite picture exists in Illinois. Budget shortfalls have forced schools like Illinois State and Southern Illinois to rely heavily on student fees compared to money allocated from state funds.

[tw805]

I never know about the accounting numbers they put out, because schools get away with a lot of column shifting that shouldn't pass muster. But everything I have ever seen shows Indiana State operating the basketball program alone at a huge loss, even more so (percentage-wise) than the football program. They just don't have major donor money coming in. So I would wager that cutting football, a dubious move in the current realignment climate, feels like it would be unlikely to solve the problem. It might actually make it worse, because they are operating on a nearly unconscionable subsidy that would certainly be cut if there was no football team to support. I can't see them letting ISU move that money straight over to basketball.

That said, I find it a little hard to believe they can't come up with $3k for uniforms. That's a little much even for the most anemic D-1 basketball programs.

[Aargh]

So far they only know of 11 fans who have taken the $100 pledge. They're excited that they're almost half-way to getting one set of uniforms. That's just what they know of from their message board. there may be others contacting the athletic department directly.

That should give some on this forum an idea of the job Sexton is doing here.

[1972Shocker]

NDSU like Texas has the oil industry to thank. ND has had a major windfall with the Bakken Shale development on the west side of the state. NDSU has the further advantage of not having a big population to support.

[WuDrWu]

That should give some on this forum an idea of the job Sexton is doing here.

True, but Eric has kept Gregg happy for 7 years. Like that one course you took in college where your final was 90% of your grade, does anything else even matter?

[Aargh]

InSU fans have reached their goal and new uniforms have been ordered at InSU.

http://www.sycamorepride.com/showthread.php?32926-Update-Goal-met!-Jerseys-have-been-ordered!/page10