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Post by BBFran on Apr 9, 2011 10:07:04 GMT -6
Well then as long as we agree that we can't even presume to high D1 status, you can save a lot of money on that stadium budget because a 10,000 seat facility would be more than ample for the crowds you could attract to watch FCS level games. There's nothing like a matchup with Youngstown to pull in the casual football fan.
And it completely eludes me what your obsession with Wisconsin is in this context. A football program at Milwaukee will have no more impact on the one in Madison than the football program in Whitewater does. The only respect in which they will ever be in competition is that if the home games are played at the same time it will affect casual fan attendance -- at the Milwaukee games. This isn't new. It was just as true when we had a football program, and that was in an era when Wisconsin football was competitively terrible. Nobody in Madison is staying up nights plotting a way to stop Milwaukee from getting football off the ground because they are worried about how it will affect the Badgers. Our D1 basketball program is decades ahead of our imaginary football program, and has even competed on the highest levels. And still, we have yet to win our first recruit over an offer from Wisconsin (or Marquette, for that matter).
There is important work to do to get basketball to the next level. IF we are successful in doing that, we'll be in a better place to start thinking about how we can expand the athletics program. Maybe football will one day be part of that discussion. For now, it's just a distraction.
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Post by PantherLou on Apr 11, 2011 8:28:26 GMT -6
There is important work to do to get basketball to the next level. IF we are successful in doing that, we'll be in a better place to start thinking about how we can expand the athletics program. Maybe football will one day be part of that discussion. For now, it's just a distraction. +1 to this. We need to focus on Basketball. Namely, the following things: 1) Build a new on-campus arena. 2) Increase student attendance. 3) Increase the season ticket holder base. 4) Leverage success in items 1-3 into better corporate sponsorships and greater funding in the form of alumni and community donations. Take care of that, and then let's talk football.
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Post by tyrunner0097 on Apr 11, 2011 8:54:36 GMT -6
I second this all the way...I have no problem following the Badgers for college football for the time being. Let's make our steady programs like basketball, soccer, and baseball build more before we start to get serious about having football again.
Also, I have been thinking of this, ever since the Championship game...what would it take for us to present the idea to Costello about having a student fan orientation before the basketball season, so the newcomers can learn the chants, etc?
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Apr 11, 2011 11:19:16 GMT -6
Build a new on-campus arena talk for basketball is fine, but let's build in what we have today. That's playing at the US Cellular Arena. Get more season-tickets holders and students. Get the common fan to come out to more games or a game.
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Post by yuhayden on Apr 11, 2011 12:48:38 GMT -6
There is important work to do to get basketball to the next level. IF we are successful in doing that, we'll be in a better place to start thinking about how we can expand the athletics program. Maybe football will one day be part of that discussion. For now, it's just a distraction. +1 to this. We need to focus on Basketball. Namely, the following things: 1) Build a new on-campus arena. 2) Increase student attendance. 3) Increase the season ticket holder base. 4) Leverage success in items 1-3 into better corporate sponsorships and greater funding in the form of alumni and community donations. Take care of that, and then let's talk football. #1 should be to acknowledge and eliminate the massive (how many $$$ million???) athletic department budget deficit. #2, #3 and #4 might help w/ that but if #2, #3, and #4 were easy, they would have been done already. Good luck Mr. Costello.
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Post by BBFran on Apr 11, 2011 13:36:26 GMT -6
Build a new on-campus arena talk for basketball is fine, but let's build in what we have today. That's playing at the US Cellular Arena. Get more season-tickets holders and students. Get the common fan to come out to more games or a game. The Athletics department is way ahead of you on this. Best case scenario for an on campus arena is that it's at least 4 - 6 years out. Work is happening already on making the experience at the Cell as good as possible.
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Post by buppie05 on Apr 11, 2011 15:38:52 GMT -6
When Hockey was mentioned as a possible new sport at UWM, I said that my love for UWM basketball prevents me from wanting a sport that would draw 3x-4x more fans, essentially putting basketball on the back-burner.
The same can be said about football. Yea we might only draw twice as many fans as basketball, but the massive financial and personnel commitments would definitely take away from basketball. Lets explore the sleeping giant of basketball first, and get a decent on campus arena before the word football is mentioned again.
And yea South Florida went from zero to hero in a few years, but the level of talented players who are "the best of the rest" in Florida is head and shoulders above the best players we produce in Wisconsin. Apples and Oranges.
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Post by mcdadenets50 on Apr 11, 2011 16:49:28 GMT -6
Rick Costello will be Dennis Krause's guest on The Dennis Krause Show today (April 11) at 6:00 P.M.
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Post by PantherU on Apr 11, 2011 23:08:53 GMT -6
As far as everything I've said about football, I would only agree to it if it's on top of our current expenditures and not cutting into men's basketball.
I do think that a "Going Big Time" campaign would open a ton of doors and gain a lot of interest where there would be none, but I have no problem with putting it on the back burner.
The only thing I come back to is how much that program would mean to our fan base. Not us - we're going to be coming out time and time again. I mean those who don't - those who don't know or even consider it - until football is playing. Because to a lot of people, more than anyone here cares to admit, football means a "real" school and a "real" program.
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