(04-23-2010 10:27 PM)GoBucsGo Wrote:  Football team went to the elite 8 in DI-AA. Not DI-A. I-AA. It's a little different. Just a LITTLE.

OK - you're right I'll spin it: ETSU won the ASun conference tournament title and went to the NCAA tournament. There you go. There's your spin.

I'm not trying to really disparage the football team. They had some good teams in the mid 90s. Problem is: They still didn't win a league title during that period. I know - Randy Moss, etc etc. But Randy Moss does not make an entire football team. League titles help to pay the bills. Half-filled stadiums (if that) in playoff games don't get it done.

We've been down this road many times before. Remember - I support the return of football. But bring it back in the RIGHT way. Support it properly. Don't half-*** it. Sorry, but it was half-assed for a very long time, and that's why it doesn't exist today. Was is Stanton's fault? Was it Mullins' fault? Was it Fry/Pergliozzi/Stansbury's fault? Probably the whole lot.

Another thing, and I know "money" doesn't matter. But what other regional Tennessee schools, including UT Martin, Austin Peay, TN State, TN Tech, or UTC - the I-AA kids - when was the last time one won a league title? It's a question, not a statement. It certainly seems like they are not very successful, which I think can be tied, at least in part, to a lack of support from the state for higher ed in general. I know MTSU made a bowl this year, but did they win their league?

If you think it's such a travesty, why don't you guys write the sens & reps (as I have) and demand that higher ed get better support? Or am I stepping out of bounds here?

I've done something similar to that. I've spoken with state officials and such.

I just think it can't be that broad based- increase funding for higher education. That doesn't necessarily insure the return of football to ETSU.

My thinking is that if legislature were to get into this, they'd almost have to do something like what they did in Ohio, where since the mid-90s Ohio State HAS to play non-conference state schools by law. That's why OSU plays Youngstown State so much, for instance.

If UT would play a local in-state FCS team every year a lot of the budget woes would be solved.