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WAC
Jan 16, 2021 5:32:48 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 16, 2021 5:32:48 GMT -6
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Post by Cat_A_holic on Jan 16, 2021 6:06:31 GMT -6
Abilene itself has a large enough number of football fans that, if we were able to capture their attention, might add several thousand in attendance. Cooper and AHS home games have pretty solid numbers. But to get to 15,000? That would require marketing genius.
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WAC
Jan 16, 2021 6:22:26 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 16, 2021 6:22:26 GMT -6
Abilene itself has a large enough number of football fans that, if we were able to capture their attention, might add several thousand in attendance. Cooper and AHS home games have pretty solid numbers. But to get to 15,000? That would require marketing genius. Or a big money donor willing to buy a huge block of season tickets to pump up the number. As long as 15,000 tickets are sold, it meets the minimum threshold. Also, the NCAA hasn’t been enforcing the 15,000 rule in recent years. Look at the number of schools below the required minimum for 2019, the most recent season when attendance mattered. fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2019.pdf
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WAC
Jan 17, 2021 6:53:42 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 17, 2021 6:53:42 GMT -6
What are the implications of the impending move to the WAC for individual sports? Looking over the list of sports sponsored by the WAC they don’t have beach volleyball. I believe Grand Canyon is the only current school in the WAC that plays in the sand. SFA also plays. We will lose conference competition from New Orleans, TAMU Corpus, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist and Southeast LA. On the other hand the WAC sponsors several sports that we do not- swimming and diving, men’s soccer and women’s golf. Do we find another conference home for sand volleyball, play as an independent or consider dropping the sport? Do we pick up one of the sports WAC teams participate in such as women’s golf? Or? www.ncsasports.org/beach-volleyball/colleges#rankingswww.wacsports.com/landing/index
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Post by bogeyman on Jan 17, 2021 8:29:32 GMT -6
Byron Nelson Clubhouse was built with a women's locker room just like the guys. I suppose with an eye towards adding a women's golf team.
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Post by Outsider on Jan 17, 2021 9:11:06 GMT -6
What are the implications of the impending move to the WAC for individual sports? Looking over the list of sports sponsored by the WAC they don’t have beach volleyball. I believe Grand Canyon is the only current school in the WAC that plays in the sand. SFA also plays. We will lose conference competition from New Orleans, TAMU Corpus, Central Arkansas, Houston Batist and Southeast LA. On the other hand the WAC sponsors several sports that we do not- swimming and diving, men’s soccer and women’s golf. Do we find another conference home for sand volleyball, play as an independent or consider dropping the sport? Do we pick up one of the sports WAC teams participate in such as women’s golf? Or? www.ncsasports.org/beach-volleyball/colleges#rankingswww.wacsports.com/landing/indexI was actually wondering about beach volleyball in the back of my mind. It is our newest sport and has yet to get off the ground. The western states are the areas where I think it could thrive alongside sports like swimming, etc... In Arizona, I grew up in a city parks & recreation swim league. I would get up early and walk across the street to swim practice and then have meets with the other cities next to us. All of our high schools had swim and dive teams. I am actually surprised the WAC doesn't sponsor it. Does it start if enough of the other schools are willing? It's a good question. I was surprised when ACU decided to start the sport and wondered what the motivation was. I think the WAC offers lots of opportunities the more I look at it.
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Post by rc on Jan 17, 2021 13:24:52 GMT -6
I have always hoped the Cats would field a women's golf team. We have had some fine historical success in men's golf, albeit in a lower classification. The Nelson Clubhouse is a fine facility that should be an attractive recruiting tool not many have and we have a variety of golf courses including a previously fine PGA layout, still a serious course from the back tees. The game has certainly changed over time with length being the premium, but we have respectable courses that fit a pretty wide range of styles and skills.
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WAC
Jan 18, 2021 10:52:36 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 18, 2021 10:52:36 GMT -6
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Jan 18, 2021 11:10:22 GMT -6
The Google Earth view is a bit outdated. There is the new track but the stadium had not been started... Pretty cool vid, however.
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Post by acutrackfan on Jan 18, 2021 12:35:38 GMT -6
The intention has been to add women's golf -- I think the hope was to add it this school year, but the ever-tightening budget has put it off for a 2-3 years. The Byron Nelson Clubhouse was undoubtedly built with the women's team to be added soon.
An ever-tightening budget is the biggest worry I have about the WAC move. In order to compete in the WAC, I think we will need to see an expansion of $3-5 million a year to our present budget. There has never been money available for pay for a much-needed scoreboard at Elmer Gray Stadium. There won't be much fund raising space available to fund that kind of athletic budget with the Moody renovation tapping into the same donor pool.
When it comes to cutting sports for budget reasons, I don't know if the sand volleyball team will survive the WAC move, BUT you don't see many schools dropping women's sports because of fear of Title IX. I do fear that men's T&F could be a casualty, but then I always fear that because of my love for T&F. NM State does not have a men's T&F team. Clemson has just dropped men's indoor and outdoor T&F, plus men's XC. Clemson said they would save $2 million by dropping men's T&F -- at as school whose football coaching salary pool weighs in at a cool $17 million!
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 19, 2021 5:11:43 GMT -6
The Google Earth view is a bit outdated. There is the new track but the stadium had not been started... Pretty cool vid, however. It does picture your house though.
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WAC
Jan 20, 2021 6:35:09 GMT -6
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 20, 2021 6:35:09 GMT -6
What are your thoughts about Grant Boone’s interview with Alan Ward?
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WAC
Jan 20, 2021 7:03:39 GMT -6
Post by Cat_A_holic on Jan 20, 2021 7:03:39 GMT -6
Didn't hear it. What did Alan say?
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WAC
Jan 20, 2021 7:30:29 GMT -6
rc likes this
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 20, 2021 7:30:29 GMT -6
Didn't hear it. What did Alan say? Here is what I recall: * The WAC has instant brand recognition. *it was an honor to be on included along with much larger state universities. With the biggest and best leaving we couldn’t afford to be left behind *Once the Moody renovation is complete our facilities will be WAC ready. *Travel cost was a potential obstacle to the move. This was solved by the creation of two divisions. *Travel aside, WAC schools are ambitious and it will cost us more to keep up. We have excellent successful basketball coaches in place and we owe it to them to properly find their programs so that we may remain competitive. *The decision by the SLC to boot us out this year has left us scrambling to fill our 2021 football schedule. We are exploring multiple options, including a scheduling alliance with another conference and home/away games with Sam, SFA and Lamar. I may have misremembered some things or omitted other details. hopefully other Cat Chatters can correct me or add to my comments.
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Post by WildCatToothDoc on Jan 20, 2021 9:50:47 GMT -6
What was the reason the SLC wanted to boot us out early? Instead of 2022. Wasn't that the original thought? Wouldn't it give them more time to find additional members? Just curious.
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