UNI ponies up

[tw805]

I certainly don't think WSU "needs" football, but I can certainly understand WSU fans desire to have football. I was always more of a college basketball fan than a college football fan until I started tailgating and getting into the pagentry of college football. Now by August every year, I'm chomping at the bit for football season to start. Our tailgate is sponsored by an independant fan site like Shockernet. We have about 200 people at our tailgate. We have a 42" flat screen to watch games. It's great to spend 4 to 5 hours disscussing the keys to the game, eating and drinking and generally getting psyched for the game. My freind that I have season tickets with, leave the tailgate about 20 minutes before the game and position ourselves a couple of blocks from the stadium so we can walk beside the marching band as they march into the stadium playing Beardown Arizona. It really get's us ready for the game.

It's a real shame Wichita fans can't experience that. My quess is that after all theese years, initially there would be a lot of support for WSU football. The question is how long would that support last unless the team was successful? It would definitely be a big financial gamble for the athletic program. With the population of Wichita, WSU "should" have more of a chance than most Valley schools of the football being self supporting, but it still would be quite a gamble for the athletic department. I certainly hope someday WSU can have a football team again.

There's the point. It gets people excited and into the spirit of the university. Football is a day long event. Basketball is about two hours.

But I agree with the person that said this needs to be D-I football. No FCS nonsense. Do it right.

[SpanglerFan316]

SN would be lost without you two throwing your imaginary weight around.

Hey, I'm on a diet; I have a lot less imaginary weight. :D

[SpanglerFan316]

Have you looked at the US News rankings lately? I mean.. like... ever? We are in academic tiers below both of the aforementioned schools. We are in the last tier. It can't get any worse, that's for sure. Those of us close to the school know that WSU has some fantastic academic strengths, but in the big picture we are lacking, at least in subjective reputations.

We are saddled with the commuter stigma - IMO in notable part - due to the lack of the fall atmosphere of football. It drives away a demographic that holds that time of year to be as fundamental to the college experience as hot dogs are to a baseball game.

Did you actually go to WSU? Did you not feel a significant void every fall? I'll be honest with you, I almost didn't go to WSU for this very fact. I know several people who ended up at KU and K-State for the same reasons. College football is HUGE. There's no other college sport that comes close to the gravity of football. Revenues, attendance, TV ratings, campus atmosphere all support this premise.

IMO status quo on this issue will continue to be an achilles heel for our school.

This is the first comment you have made which seems to have merit.

[SpanglerFan316]

WSU's athletic budget is not $16.9M. It is about $12M (maybe $13M); I could ask somebody I know and get the budget, down to the dollar (well, if this person will give me the info. :D )

According to standardized, official data released by the NCAA, and compiled by the Indy Star in this well-known report five years ago, we were at almost $14M during the 2004-2005 season(s). Based on that info and the site reputation, there's no reason to believe that basketballstate.com's data indicating $16.9M in most recent reporting year, is incorrect.

http://www2.indystar.com/NCAA_financial_reports/

OK. I'll ask Eric Sexton the next time I see him. :D

Be sure to say hello to WuDrWu while you there for me, okay?

SN would be lost without you two throwing your imaginary weight around.

You do realize I was joking. Right?

[Aargh]

WSU will have football again...





















...just as soon as the people who want to see its return write that check for $50 million.

I think the last fundraiser got over $1,000 in pledges.

[Veritas]

WSU will have football again...





















...just as soon as the people who want to see its return write that check for $50 million.

I think the last fundraiser got over $1,000 in pledges.

WSU will have football as soon as we have a University President and Athletic Director that have the vision and leadership to make it happen. There are enough boosters willing to ante up. There's just not enough leadership willing to ask us to ante up.

Losing the football program might well be the worst decision ever made by Fairmount, UW, or WSU in its entire history.

[tw805]

WSU will have football again...





















...just as soon as the people who want to see its return write that check for $50 million.

I think the last fundraiser got over $1,000 in pledges.

WSU will have football as soon as we have a University President and Athletic Director that have the vision and leadership to make it happen. There are enough boosters willing to ante up. There's just not enough leadership willing to ask us to ante up.

Losing the football program might well be the worst decision ever made by Fairmount, UW, or WSU in its entire history.

Easily. I have been to three universities for various levels of education. Two had football, one did not. The difference is staggering.

[Kung Wu]

One important consideration about how not having football negatively effects our basketball program is that we are simply stuck being a mid-major with no chance of joining an elite conference. Regardless of how much money we raise and how well our programs do, there is no entry into the Big-12 (for example) without football.

[SB Shock]

I have to question whether you guys who don't support the resurrection of WSU football are fans, or students/alumni.

I was at WSU during the transition from a football school to no football school. My frosh and soph year - with football, after that no football. I attended the games - ROTC would do a cannon crew to shoot the cannon every time WSU either scored (in football) or hit a HR (baseball). So I went to almost all the games.

I can't say that after football was gone that there was any great void in my life. My lasting memory of WSU football is the Moorehead State debacle.

I also lived in Manhattan (stationed at Ft. Riley) when the start of the resurgence of K-State football occurred. I saw the energy in the city that was there on game day.

There was never close to a similiar energy or atmosphere in Wichita. Maybe had there been then I could see bringing WSU football back (but then again had there been that type of energy then WSU would still have football).

[SHOCKvalue]

You do realize I was joking. Right?

Sorry, I thought you were trying to be a bit condescending. My bad.

[SHOCKvalue]

WSU will have football as soon as we have a University President and Athletic Director that have the vision and leadership to make it happen. There are enough boosters willing to ante up. There's just not enough leadership willing to ask us to ante up.

Losing the football program might well be the worst decision ever made by Fairmount, UW, or WSU in its entire history.

Highly agree.

[SHOCKvalue]

One important consideration about how not having football negatively effects our basketball program is that we are simply stuck being a mid-major with no chance of joining an elite conference. Regardless of how much money we raise and how well our programs do, there is no entry into the Big-12 (for example) without football.

And another core point to the argument. One which I totally forgot to mention in my borderline rants.

[SHOCKvalue]

I have to question whether you guys who don't support the resurrection of WSU football are fans, or students/alumni.

I was at WSU during the transition from a football school to no football school. My frosh and soph year - with football, after that no football. I attended the games - ROTC would do a cannon crew to shoot the cannon every time WSU either scored (in football) or hit a HR (baseball). So I went to almost all the games.

I can't say that after football was gone that there was any great void in my life. My lasting memory of WSU football is the Moorehead State debacle.

I also lived in Manhattan (stationed at Ft. Riley) when the start of the resurgence of K-State football occurred. I saw the energy in the city that was there on game day.

There was never close to a similiar energy or atmosphere in Wichita. Maybe had there been then I could see bringing WSU football back (but then again had there been that type of energy then WSU would still have football).

You highlight another void in the WSU culture. What the heck ever happened to our ROTC program(s)? IMO, that's really a major organization to have missing from your school. It's an issue I've never thought to bring up or ask about on SN, but I think about often.

[tw805]

I have to question whether you guys who don't support the resurrection of WSU football are fans, or students/alumni.

I was at WSU during the transition from a football school to no football school. My frosh and soph year - with football, after that no football. I attended the games - ROTC would do a cannon crew to shoot the cannon every time WSU either scored (in football) or hit a HR (baseball). So I went to almost all the games.

I can't say that after football was gone that there was any great void in my life. My lasting memory of WSU football is the Moorehead State debacle.

I also lived in Manhattan (stationed at Ft. Riley) when the start of the resurgence of K-State football occurred. I saw the energy in the city that was there on game day.

There was never close to a similiar energy or atmosphere in Wichita. Maybe had there been then I could see bringing WSU football back (but then again had there been that type of energy then WSU would still have football).

You highlight another void in the WSU culture. What the heck ever happened to our ROTC program(s)? IMO, that's really a major organization to have missing from your school. It's an issue I've never thought to bring up or ask about on SN, but I think about often.

I was thinking the same thing. My dad was ROTC at WSU in the early 1960s. By the time I arrived they had just shut down the program. Why was that?

[SB Shock]

I have to question whether you guys who don't support the resurrection of WSU football are fans, or students/alumni.

I was at WSU during the transition from a football school to no football school. My frosh and soph year - with football, after that no football. I attended the games - ROTC would do a cannon crew to shoot the cannon every time WSU either scored (in football) or hit a HR (baseball). So I went to almost all the games.

I can't say that after football was gone that there was any great void in my life. My lasting memory of WSU football is the Moorehead State debacle.

I also lived in Manhattan (stationed at Ft. Riley) when the start of the resurgence of K-State football occurred. I saw the energy in the city that was there on game day.

There was never close to a similiar energy or atmosphere in Wichita. Maybe had there been then I could see bringing WSU football back (but then again had there been that type of energy then WSU would still have football).

You highlight another void in the WSU culture. What the heck ever happened to our ROTC program(s)? IMO, that's really a major organization to have missing from your school. It's an issue I've never thought to bring up or ask about on SN, but I think about often.

I was thinking the same thing. My dad was ROTC at WSU in the early 1960s. By the time I arrived they had just shut down the program. Why was that?

President Warren Armstrong. His was a liberal who didn't like the military and had a track record of every school he went to of shutting down ROTC programs.

In '88 I believe, the Military was trying to cut cost so they would combine program with other universities. They basically would have one university be responsible for all satellite schools admin (paperwork) instead of each school having their own admin section. Each school would retain their own Cadre (so you cut the cost of couple secretaries, LTC, and 1 or 2 NCO's. That would leave you with a Maj, 2 captains and couple senior NCO's).

WSU was going to become a satellite program off of KU. Armstrong said if WSU is not good enough to it's own program then there was no need to have ROTC on campus. So he got rid of the program completely.

It is unfortunate because the WSU program did well for it's size in national competitions and for commissioning Regular Army Officers. It also had a good pool of people due to the number of Guard and Reserve units in the area.