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Post by Outsider on Apr 3, 2021 18:06:32 GMT -6
The best solution to get better games at AFAWS is to buy tickets to the games that are scheduled now and in the near future. You all keep complaining about not having good matchups and exciting games and talking about not wanting to watch us play D3 schools and NAIA schools and then saying that you don’t want to go to those games because it’s embarrassing and you don’t like blowouts and mismatches. Is it an entertaining game you want or do you love ACU football? I know most of you love ACU football. If money and revenue are issues, then buy tickets or find a way to contribute more or promote the program. I get that most people don’t want to watch Louisiana College, or Arizona Christian, or Concordia of Alabama, but scheduling those games accomplishes several things. 1. It gives ACU an extra home game, which adds to ticket revenue (which is not much), adds to student involvement, and gives the local fans and players’ families a chance to see the team play. 2. It gives the smaller schools some needed exposure (a score on the scroller on ESPN and other networks) and much needed cash. To some programs we are in that category. ( Except in basketball, where we are the University of Texas’ newest rival)😜. 3. It gives us in most cases a needed win, I think that the difference between a 5-7 record and a 6-6 record goes a long way in recruiting and in fan engagement, just my opinion though. You all can keep complaining about the schedule, but it’s the situation we are in right now. Just be fans. Those DII and NAIA wins don't count. They are exhibition games, and when it comes to committee voting it looks even worse. They bring our SOS down. Even with a blowout win, we have one less win than another FCS team that played all DI schools with the same record as us. No, these games aren't worth scheduling. Sorry if you think I am being negative Nancy, but that's the reality. Ticket sales are going to continue to suffer. If all we want to do is put an extra worthless win on our website schedule then hey, go for it. Of course, we thought ASU was going to be a win as well. The problem is that we didn't take it seriously. 1) Schedule serious games, 2) Take them seriously, 3) Grow the program. The Athletics depart doesn't give a rat's whatever what we think so who cares whether we say how we feel or not. I don't have the money to make them listen to me, which means I AM going to ask the question of whether I should spend what I DO have on crap games. Again, calling people like me negative Nancy's does no good. I love ACU football and I want them to treat the program as though they love it as much. Yes, money is a problem for everyone. Find a way........
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Post by Outsider on Apr 3, 2021 18:08:17 GMT -6
I note that most of us who are frustrated are season ticket holders and Wildcat club members. So ... Football just doesn’t seem to be gaining any traction. Recruiting is some of it but lack of identity is more, I think. We don’t seem to have a clue as to who we are on the field. Just look at UIW and HBU, for example. They have strong offensive identities. They are qb and wr destinations. Hardly dominant programs but fun to watch. Sorry I rant. I would agree that lack of identity is a contributing factor to both our poor play as a team and poor interest from fans.
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Post by Outsider on Apr 3, 2021 18:09:33 GMT -6
Our new D-III opponent has 450 or so fewer students than HSU and maybe 100 more than McMurry. We don't really have anything we can win... we either beat them badly as anyone should expect, or we lose and it is a destructive loss for a D-1 school. Just think how bad the loss to Angelo State was last season. Maybe a first game just to try out our plays and formations, etc., and get players in sync, sort of like what SMU considers its game with ACU, but not after the season is underway. This type of game does not seem like something that would build attendance. It not only DOESN'T grow attendance, it hurts attendance and hurts our schedule.
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Post by Outsider on Apr 3, 2021 18:11:13 GMT -6
And now you know how Baylor, A&M and others feel when they have scheduled us Partially yes, but at least we are a DI program and their win against us counts. It does affect SOS, but every major FBS programs schedules a lower FCS game; big difference.
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Post by acumedic on Apr 3, 2021 18:45:58 GMT -6
The best solution to get better games at AFAWS is to buy tickets to the games that are scheduled now and in the near future. You all keep complaining about not having good matchups and exciting games and talking about not wanting to watch us play D3 schools and NAIA schools and then saying that you don’t want to go to those games because it’s embarrassing and you don’t like blowouts and mismatches. Is it an entertaining game you want or do you love ACU football? I know most of you love ACU football. If money and revenue are issues, then buy tickets or find a way to contribute more or promote the program. I get that most people don’t want to watch Louisiana College, or Arizona Christian, or Concordia of Alabama, but scheduling those games accomplishes several things. 1. It gives ACU an extra home game, which adds to ticket revenue (which is not much), adds to student involvement, and gives the local fans and players’ families a chance to see the team play. 2. It gives the smaller schools some needed exposure (a score on the scroller on ESPN and other networks) and much needed cash. To some programs we are in that category. ( Except in basketball, where we are the University of Texas’ newest rival)😜. 3. It gives us in most cases a needed win, I think that the difference between a 5-7 record and a 6-6 record goes a long way in recruiting and in fan engagement, just my opinion though. You all can keep complaining about the schedule, but it’s the situation we are in right now. Just be fans. I have been a season ticket holder since AFAWS opened so I believe I am entitled to gripe a little about the terrible home schedule put together year after year. While they will still get my money for these Mickey Mouse games, I certainly won’t be driving to Abilene and spending my Saturday watching in person. We’ve got a little chicken or the egg situation going on. You say we need to show up and buy tickets to these crap games in order to get better ones scheduled, and I say schedule better games and more people will show up.
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Post by CrazyPurpleCat on Apr 3, 2021 19:10:44 GMT -6
The best solution to get better games at AFAWS is to buy tickets to the games that are scheduled now and in the near future. You all keep complaining about not having good matchups and exciting games and talking about not wanting to watch us play D3 schools and NAIA schools and then saying that you don’t want to go to those games because it’s embarrassing and you don’t like blowouts and mismatches. Is it an entertaining game you want or do you love ACU football? I know most of you love ACU football. If money and revenue are issues, then buy tickets or find a way to contribute more or promote the program. I get that most people don’t want to watch Louisiana College, or Arizona Christian, or Concordia of Alabama, but scheduling those games accomplishes several things. 1. It gives ACU an extra home game, which adds to ticket revenue (which is not much), adds to student involvement, and gives the local fans and players’ families a chance to see the team play. 2. It gives the smaller schools some needed exposure (a score on the scroller on ESPN and other networks) and much needed cash. To some programs we are in that category. ( Except in basketball, where we are the University of Texas’ newest rival)😜. 3. It gives us in most cases a needed win, I think that the difference between a 5-7 record and a 6-6 record goes a long way in recruiting and in fan engagement, just my opinion though. You all can keep complaining about the schedule, but it’s the situation we are in right now. Just be fans. I have been a season ticket holder since AFAWS opened so I believe I am entitled to gripe a little about the terrible home schedule put together year after year. While they will still get my money for these Mickey Mouse games, I certainly won’t be driving to Abilene and spending my Saturday watching in person. We’ve got a little chicken or the egg situation going on. You say we need to show up and buy tickets to these crap games in order to get better ones scheduled, and I say schedule better games and more people will show up. The chicken or the egg analogy is the perfect one for this. College football had always been my favorite over college basketball. Once I became a student in 2014 I just couldn’t find any interest in the football program. Being at a high school stadium didn’t help. Once we got our own on campus stadium that helped in getting the interest really flowing for me but as it’s been said, there’s no identity for the team so it’s hard to feel a connection. Once I became a student, I was able to connect to the men’s program and it has completely changed my feelings for college basketball and I love it deeply now. I’ll drive from Lubbock to Abilene for a good portion of basketball games, but there isn’t really an interest in going on Saturdays for a football game against D3 or D2 games. Now if we were to schedule a fellow FCS program where it would be a competitive game (even if it’s one we lost) I’d be much more likely to make the trip from Lubbock to Abilene on a Saturday.
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ACU - Brain
arm chair Grad Assistant
Carpe diem
Posts: 141
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Post by ACU - Brain on Apr 5, 2021 14:24:53 GMT -6
And now you know how Baylor, A&M and others feel when they have scheduled us Partially yes, but at least we are a DI program and their win against us counts. It does affect SOS, but every major FBS programs schedules a lower FCS game; big difference. Outsider...i love your posts. Nothing like firing out 5 ACU HSO's on a Saturday. It does however give me pause to wonder. Why all the hubbub about who is on the schedule? Why not go on a rant about the level of football play the last decade. dyk, we have not finished higher than fourth in the conference in the last 9 years. If we go back a little further, lets say in the last 30 years ACU has only won 2 outright conference championships and has record of 156 & 144. Heck if it was up to me i would try to poach Chris Thomsen from FSU.
I for one would rather not hear anymore coach speak or rhetoric. I'm of the mind to say lets see this staff take the players on their roster and by now they have recruited....play sound football and field a winning team. If we WIN football games people will come.
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Post by wildcatter on Apr 5, 2021 15:34:11 GMT -6
I’ve typed multiple posts and then just deleted them. Decided it wasn’t worth the trouble.
That last post sums it up well enough, we just aren’t good and haven’t been good other than a few years under Thompson for the past few decades.
Unfortunately, we’ve pumped a bunch of money into a stadium and into a coaching staff who should be able to take advantage of these resources but have not. No telling the excuses some may try and come up with, but that’s the reality.
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Post by rc on Apr 5, 2021 16:06:57 GMT -6
Those of us old enough to remember the prior days of success, especially winning a national title, and before that the great passing game of the Jim Lindsey era, can attest to the wonderfully unifying contribution of a very competitive football program. There was pride and excitement. For me it goes all the way back to a kid going to games in Fairpark, before Shotwell Stadium. Wildcats were proud to be attendees at the games and the turnouts were great. The thrill of what seemed like a larger marching band in Purple and White was palpable. Maybe it was just the smaller size venues but the university was smaller as were the alumni numbers.
Today, it is almost like Covid has been around for more than a decade -- almost like social distancing at the games (perhaps an overstatement.) I think we can return to a much better status in time and I hope our current coaches and staff can pull that off, but we have to show demonstrable progress in order to recruit better. I look forward to the day when more good players than we can accept want to play for ACU, so two obviously key things are needed; wins and an enviable team culture. We can get there but there is lots of work to do. One good thing is when you are at or near the bottom, any progress upward will be obvious.
I almost deleted this post as well. It will have little to no value, maybe some historical merit.
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Post by catfanatic on Apr 5, 2021 18:14:47 GMT -6
Those of us old enough to remember the prior days of success, especially winning a national title, and before that the great passing game of the Jim Lindsey era, can attest to the wonderfully unifying contribution of a very competitive football program. There was pride and excitement. For me it goes all the way back to a kid going to games in Fairpark, before Shotwell Stadium. Wildcats were proud to be attendees at the games and the turnouts were great. The thrill of what seemed like a larger marching band in Purple and White was palpable. Maybe it was just the smaller size venues but the university was smaller as were the alumni numbers. Today, it is almost like Covid has been around for more than a decade -- almost like social distancing at the games (perhaps an overstatement.) I think we can return to a much better status in time and I hope our current coaches and staff can pull that off, but we have to show demonstrable progress in order to recruit better. I look forward to the day when more good players than we can accept want to play for ACU, so two obviously key things are needed; wins and an enviable team culture. We can get there but there is lots of work to do. One good thing is when you are at or near the bottom, any progress upward will be obvious. I almost deleted this post as well. It will have little to no value, maybe some historical merit.
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Post by catfanatic on Apr 5, 2021 18:19:40 GMT -6
I meant to respond to rc to agree, as well as suggest combining his two needs into one: we need a winning culture, and success will bring that. Meanwhile, fans have got to do what is easier when winning, but even more important when not—buy tickets, put fannies in seats, encourage students to support their peers and, in general, maintain a supportive attitude and atmosphere. Need I remind all that it wasn’t five years ago that a certain basketball coach we now fear may leave was imploring the same for his program. Go Wildcats!!
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Post by Outsider on Apr 6, 2021 7:09:33 GMT -6
Partially yes, but at least we are a DI program and their win against us counts. It does affect SOS, but every major FBS programs schedules a lower FCS game; big difference. Outsider...i love your posts. Nothing like firing out 5 ACU HSO's on a Saturday. It does however give me pause to wonder. Why all the hubbub about who is on the schedule? Why not go on a rant about the level of football play the last decade. dyk, we have not finished higher than fourth in the conference in the last 9 years. If we go back a little further, lets say in the last 30 years ACU has only won 2 outright conference championships and has record of 156 & 144. Heck if it was up to me i would try to poach Chris Thomsen from FSU.
I for one would rather not hear anymore coach speak or rhetoric. I'm of the mind to say lets see this staff take the players on their roster and by now they have recruited....play sound football and field a winning team. If we WIN football games people will come.
It's a good question, but to me they are related. Although our level of play has to do with a lot more than who is on a schedule, good schedules combined with good preparation helps elevate level of play. I guess it's back to the chicken/egg thing. Can we be a good team and still play a low level game? Sure we can, but I also believe that there is a mental and cultural aspect to not only scheduling good games but elevating oneself to them. That is in addition to the point that I already made about DII and NAIA games being nothing but exhibition matches that serve no real purpose in our DI schedule and don't count towards a Championship. I fully recognize our program's history but am making a little different argument. You get what you put into it. Then, asking fans to pay the same price for an inferior game only adds insult to injury. Know that I am not asking to bring UT or Tech to Abilene. I am asking for more FCS match-ups. When we were DII, we played DII schedules and even played up from time to time. At least that is my most recent memories from 2003 onwards.
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Post by Outsider on Apr 6, 2021 7:16:22 GMT -6
I meant to respond to rc to agree, as well as suggest combining his two needs into one: we need a winning culture, and success will bring that. Meanwhile, fans have got to do what is easier when winning, but even more important when not—buy tickets, put fannies in seats, encourage students to support their peers and, in general, maintain a supportive attitude and atmosphere. Need I remind all that it wasn’t five years ago that a certain basketball coach we now fear may leave was imploring the same for his program. Go Wildcats!! I appreciate you asking fans to be supportive regardless of the chicken or the egg. Most of us have been VERY supportive for many years. I drove all over timbuktu in our DII days, out of state...staying in hotels.... I was there when we went up to NWMS and beat them, sending a shockwave through their stands and visiting with their fans afterwards. I remember when we started bringing OOC DII teams to Abilene to play and widen our exposure. I am still telling our athletic department that scheduling DII and NAIA games right now is unacceptable. We made the conscious decision to move up to DI to elevate ourselves for a reason.
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ACU - Brain
arm chair Grad Assistant
Carpe diem
Posts: 141
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Post by ACU - Brain on Apr 6, 2021 11:41:33 GMT -6
Outsider...i love your posts. Nothing like firing out 5 ACU HSO's on a Saturday. It does however give me pause to wonder. Why all the hubbub about who is on the schedule? Why not go on a rant about the level of football play the last decade. dyk, we have not finished higher than fourth in the conference in the last 9 years. If we go back a little further, lets say in the last 30 years ACU has only won 2 outright conference championships and has record of 156 & 144. Heck if it was up to me i would try to poach Chris Thomsen from FSU.
I for one would rather not hear anymore coach speak or rhetoric. I'm of the mind to say lets see this staff take the players on their roster and by now they have recruited....play sound football and field a winning team. If we WIN football games people will come.
It's a good question, but to me they are related. Although our level of play has to do with a lot more than who is on a schedule, good schedules combined with good preparation helps elevate level of play. I guess it's back to the chicken/egg thing. Can we be a good team and still play a low level game? Sure we can, but I also believe that there is a mental and cultural aspect to not only scheduling good games but elevating oneself to them. That is in addition to the point that I already made about DII and NAIA games being nothing but exhibition matches that serve no real purpose in our DI schedule and don't count towards a Championship. I fully recognize our program's history but am making a little different argument. You get what you put into it. Then, asking fans to pay the same price for an inferior game only adds insult to injury. Know that I am not asking to bring UT or Tech to Abilene. I am asking for more FCS match-ups. When we were DII, we played DII schedules and even played up from time to time. At least that is my most recent memories from 2003 onwards. Thanks for the banter. The following are my two cents regarding this topic....As a former college player (with no delusion of grandeur) I can say I never once looked at our season scheduled or played with anyone that said this or that game doesn't matter. When we stepped on the field we wanted and expected to WIN. So I guess this is where you & I will have to agree to disagree about the schedule elevating level of play or even being a root cause of success/failure. It’s my assertion your so called good schedules (w/o DII or NAIA) has nothing to do with good play. From my experience good play has everything to do with the quality of players recruited and the coaches ability to teach the schemes and techniques needed to execute their vision on the field. Not to mention a coaches game day ability to modify schemes to fit their players best attributes to take advantage of other teams weakness. A BIG IF here....if our coaches scheme is sound and they are able teach the quality players they recruited, we will have a successful season no matter whom is on the schedule. That is why I previously said, "let’s see this staff take the players on their roster and by now they have recruited....play sound football and field a winning team". Lastly if anyone gets their undies in a twist over who is on the schedule, I suggest they buy the $40 ($7 p/game) general admission season tickets or watch the games on TV!!! LET'S GO CATS!!!
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Post by Outsider on Apr 6, 2021 11:55:53 GMT -6
It's a good question, but to me they are related. Although our level of play has to do with a lot more than who is on a schedule, good schedules combined with good preparation helps elevate level of play. I guess it's back to the chicken/egg thing. Can we be a good team and still play a low level game? Sure we can, but I also believe that there is a mental and cultural aspect to not only scheduling good games but elevating oneself to them. That is in addition to the point that I already made about DII and NAIA games being nothing but exhibition matches that serve no real purpose in our DI schedule and don't count towards a Championship. I fully recognize our program's history but am making a little different argument. You get what you put into it. Then, asking fans to pay the same price for an inferior game only adds insult to injury. Know that I am not asking to bring UT or Tech to Abilene. I am asking for more FCS match-ups. When we were DII, we played DII schedules and even played up from time to time. At least that is my most recent memories from 2003 onwards. Thanks for the banter. The following are my two cents regarding this topic....As a former college player (with no delusion of grandeur) I can say I never once looked at our season scheduled or played with anyone that said this or that game doesn't matter. When we stepped on the field we wanted and expected to WIN. So I guess this is where you & I will have to agree to disagree about the schedule elevating level of play or even being a root cause of success/failure. It’s my assertion your so called good schedules (w/o DII or NAIA) has nothing to do with good play. From my experience good play has everything to do with the quality of players recruited and the coaches ability to teach the schemes and techniques needed to execute their vision on the field. Not to mention a coaches game day ability to modify schemes to fit their players best attributes to take advantage of other teams weakness. A BIG IF here....if our coaches scheme is sound and they are able teach the quality players they recruited, we will have a successful season no matter whom is on the schedule. That is why I previously said, "let’s see this staff take the players on their roster and by now they have recruited....play sound football and field a winning team". Lastly if anyone gets their undies in a twist over who is on the schedule, I suggest they buy the $40 ($7 p/game) general admission season tickets or watch the games on TV!!! LET'S GO CATS!!! For the most part I don't disagree, but two points that I have already mentioned. 1) Life ALWAYS throws the curveballs when it comes to anyone, including student athletes. We are human and make human mistakes. We don't always take things seriously. The ASU game is case in point. Yes, Dorrel said that he discussed taking ASU seriously. How much did that matter? How much was on the coach/coaches, how much on the players and player leadership? Currently, when it comes to quality of play, I am not saying much. The Fall will speak for itself; good or bad. I do think athletes often play to their opponents. I am glad you were above that. I am sure ACU wanted, and expected, to win against ASU. They didn't. Was it a fluke or something bigger with both coaches and the athletic department? I guess more time will tell. 2) The argument about DII and NAIA games being exhibitions doesn't rely on just quality of play. Exhibition games are just that. They don't amount to squat. If I change my mind and stop paying Club level prices, it is becasue the ACU athletic department didn't provide a game worth paying those prices for. That, is a valid point and a valid argument. If ACU continues to choose to schedule games that don't count, that's their choice. Is it a good business decision? Am I a bad fan?
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