I was trying to figure out what the Bucs would be like if they hadn't dropped football.

Here's what I came up with-

Program would still be in the SoCon.

SoCon might have become a 2-bid league during the years where ASU and Davidson made runs to win at large bids. Certainly would have been able to have made a stronger case.

But 2004 would have been ETSU's last men's basketball NCAA appearance.

Lady Bucs would never have gone to the NCAAs. Karen Kemp would not be the coach.

If hired (if ETSU hadn't dropped football, the president who hired David Mullins would not be around) Murry Bartow would have been fired after his 7-19 season.

If not hired, a stronger coach would have told Tim Smith to go for three on ETSU's last possession to send the game into OT rather than somehow make a more egregious mistake against Cincinnati than he did the year before.

More media coverage to ETSU sports.

ETSU men's basketball probably would not have made the NCAAs after 2004 unless a super coach was found to replace Bartow.

The basketball coach could very well have been named Patsos after DeChellis left.

If it was named Patsos, he would not be the coach at ETSU today.

There might be an odd chance the coach would be named Shulman.

The Minidome would still be able to seat 12,000.

The Minidome would be called Memorial Center instead of the name nobody can remember that was done for absolutely no revenue.

Baseball would be stronger and playing in a rebuilt Mooney Field.

We would not have soccer.

Fred Warren would have retired.

ETSU would still pretty much have a mediocre sports program without some of the riches earned by playing in a remedial conference.

But it would be a lot easier to build that program now to something along the lines of more of a major than a mid.

No embarassing situations where a cheerleader was fired because the wife of the head basketball coach didn't like the chain restaurant she worked at.

Samford would not be in the SoCon. Belmont, however, would, along with C of C.

Paul Hamilton would have been axed after the great Kye Hamilton expiriment failed.

Gerald Sensabaugh would say "ETSU" on Sunday Night Football.

A new football stadium would already have been built, and right now the basketball team would be playing in Freedom Hall as the Minidome was rebuilt to be more of an arena where not only basketball but concerts and events could be held.

valid points, but no point in dwelling on the past...here's to the future

What I'm asking is if football hadn't of been dropped, would the future be brighter?

I mean, I know the past wouldn't what with the lack of A-Sun All-Sports Trophies and "The greatest year in ETSU history" in 2007, but . . .

I think that if we had not dropped football- we would still be playing in the dome, there would be no excitement at all right now, and Bartow would still be our coach.

With a DeRosier or Noland type at the helm, we could have gone the route of MTSU, WKU, Marshall, et al?

That wasnt the issue. If we had kept football, we would have still had Stanton and Mullins.

And if we had never had Stanton, we wouldnt have had the pharmacy school. This was important, and helped the university in a large way.

Ultimately, what is best for the university in the long run might have been exactly what happened. Stanton did some good things in many areas except for athletics. Mullins got facilities built for the minor sports, which is important in the long run. And now we have a solid academic university, while also having everything in place for there to be zero excuses in the next 10 years to not move where we want to athletically.

Its hard to say. I was (and still am) adamantly opposed to the dropping of football, but due mostly to the relegation to the Asun and the consequent demise of basketball and fan support. The points made by etsubuc have merit, though.

Not to stir the pot (well, maybe a little), I think there's some truth in what Pitt says. With football (apparently/hopefully) coming back, just a few years down the road, maybe we'll be as far along as if we'd kept it. That sounds pretty optimistic to me!

[quote='etsubuc' pid='8954581' dateline='1360626566']

Ultimately, what is best for the university in the long run might have been exactly what happened.

I disagree with this statement. Any competent president would have gone after the pharmacy school. Yes, Knoxville wanted it....but ETSU had precedent of the medical school already, the deck was stacked in ETSU's favor. Tennessee didn't want to fund it out of their resources...so Stanton pulled his Ace card out and trumped Tennessee by saying ETSU will fund the thing. Ball game was over. All he had to do was renovate a VA building (it's easier to get state funding to renovate than for new construction). Logic was used, home run was hit. Stanton is a wonderful person....but his lack of protecting an 80 year tradition speaks volumes. If Stanton was really on it, ETSU might have a dental school right now. Noland is the one with ambition and work ethic for ETSU....He's working for ETSU 24-7....supporting the school by engaging students, alumni and friends. He's changing the culture. Give him ten years and I don't think we will be able to recognize the place because of all the progress. Brian Noland will go down in the record books as the man who moved this University to another level...to national prominence in ways we can not yet imagine. Noland is a catalyst where Stanton was a great caretaker. Which one of those inspires you more?

Etsu is going to need another academic calling card in the next ten to fifteen years. The medical school enrollment is going to take a hit.

(02-12-2013 12:54 PM)Goldfinger Wrote:  Etsu is going to need another academic calling card in the next ten to fifteen years. The medical school enrollment is going to take a hit.

I'm not sure what you base that statement on. As competitive as it is to get in med school, I'll be surprised if enrollment decreases any time in the foreseeable future, if ever.

I'm not specifically targeting etsu. This applies to all medical schools. There will be a drop off in future enrollment. How severe will the drop off be? Who can say?

(02-12-2013 01:32 PM)WingedWarrior Wrote:  

(02-12-2013 12:54 PM)Goldfinger Wrote:  Etsu is going to need another academic calling card in the next ten to fifteen years. The medical school enrollment is going to take a hit.

I'm not sure what you base that statement on. As competitive as it is to get in med school, I'll be surprised if enrollment decreases any time in the foreseeable future, if ever.

He is probably talking about the fact there is a funding cap on federally funded residencies. There are a lot of people applying for med school but the problem is where can they train after they graduate? It could be a major problem since there is a projection of a severe shortage of doctors over the next decade(estimated at 90,000). Add the fact that 32 million people just got added to Obamacare there is going to be high demand for doctors. I am sure the cap will be removed or increased greatly over the next few years to meet this demand.

The medical stuff at ETSU will expand. Everything from doctors, nurses, FNP's, LPN programs, HIIM, coding, etc... The larger healthcare companies and vendors can't get enough coders or people who can work both in the realm of patient care and on the business side of it.

Looking at the way this thread is going, it is indeed distressing that so many in the community view the pharmacy school and the football team as an either/or.

So let me ask this a different way. Let's say it's 2002 and Paul Stanton gets his checkup and his doctor tells him if he continues to be the ETSU president in a few years he'll be a feeble old man and barely be able to give speeches.

So at that point he retires.

Wouldn't we then have football and a pharmacy school and not an unspoken feeling that it's taboo to criticize a president that, truthfully, stayed on years too long?