(04-26-2016 08:26 AM)northernbear1 Wrote:  Who is really promoting EMU to stay in FBS? Do they have an alumni base that is donating large sums of money to keep them going? It seems the students want to be DII. When you can't even get the support of the students, there are some major issues going around.

Eh the student government is very different than the student body. I was in RHA and almost in the SA when I was a student and there are many hidden agendas that come from the University Administration, high level faculty (Deans or Associate Deans) and even the BOT.

If there actually is pressure from the students outside of the student government then that would be something. I did see one comment on twitter from an EMU student that had no idea this was being discussed and they were strongly against the move down...granted that was only 1 person.

Almost $1000 per year fee on the students for EMU athletics though...ouch. I wonder how much EMU athletics could actually save dropping down to D2, D3 or all together.

I wonder if the Michigan taxpayers are going to start to voice their opinion with the amount of taxpayer money is used to fund EMU athletics.

Dear Huskies,
I hope you realize that no one in the athletic department was asked about what appeared in the HBO program, or what has been written in the Detroit newspapers.
Most of what was said in either of those was totally inaccurate. For example; Students could see significant reduction in their fees by almost $1,000. If students were being charged that much in fees, whether in a year or over four years, that would mean $23,000,000 coming into the athletic department. That would mean Eastern would be close to paying for their entire athletic budget for one year, or a quarter of it, if divided by a four year period.
How many students were/are involved in this? One hundred, one thousand, more? The one faculty member that is often quoted, has been against athletics for years. So use him as a reliable source for where the faculty stands.
Obviously some of you just hate Eastern, and think your school is better than ours. You have a right to your opinion, but remember, Eastern voted to allow your school into the MAC in the first place, as one of your own posters has said.

(04-25-2016 09:41 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 11:57 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  The issue I have with your point is the referencing of the past. 2016 NCAA football is not the same game as 1980. The MAC is playing for its next TV contract. For better or worse, it's business driven today and th MAC can't afford teams like EMU right now.
Why is it ok for a team to leave for a better conference, but not for a team who has proven to be failing to be relegated to a lessor one?

First thing first, is it the Mid-American Football Conference or the Mid-American Conference? You and others are entitled to believe every decision should be made solely for football, but regardless of the business-driven world of 2016 college football, until a league as a whole decides to operate with decisions and rules based strictly for football, it's a dangerous idea to advocate dropping someone for a lack of success. Be careful what you wish for, because times and fortunes change. Once upon a time Kansas State was a joke in the Big XII, Oregon and Oregon State annually fought for last, many folks thought Northwestern should be dropped from the Big Ten.
The issue plain and simple is let EMU decide its own fate. It looks like those in power at EMU are making their feelings clear and you might get your wish. In the meantime, why alienate a school that specifically helped us get back into the MAC and is a viable opponent in a number of other sports?

+1.

(04-26-2016 10:35 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 09:41 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 11:57 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  The issue I have with your point is the referencing of the past. 2016 NCAA football is not the same game as 1980. The MAC is playing for its next TV contract. For better or worse, it's business driven today and th MAC can't afford teams like EMU right now.
Why is it ok for a team to leave for a better conference, but not for a team who has proven to be failing to be relegated to a lessor one?

First thing first, is it the Mid-American Football Conference or the Mid-American Conference? You and others are entitled to believe every decision should be made solely for football, but regardless of the business-driven world of 2016 college football, until a league as a whole decides to operate with decisions and rules based strictly for football, it's a dangerous idea to advocate dropping someone for a lack of success. Be careful what you wish for, because times and fortunes change. Once upon a time Kansas State was a joke in the Big XII, Oregon and Oregon State annually fought for last, many folks thought Northwestern should be dropped from the Big Ten.
The issue plain and simple is let EMU decide its own fate. It looks like those in power at EMU are making their feelings clear and you might get your wish. In the meantime, why alienate a school that specifically helped us get back into the MAC and is a viable opponent in a number of other sports?

+1.

+2.

(04-25-2016 09:41 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  First thing first, is it the Mid-American Football Conference or the Mid-American Conference? You and others are entitled to believe every decision should be made solely for football, but regardless of the business-driven world of 2016 college football, until a league as a whole decides to operate with decisions and rules based strictly for football, it's a dangerous idea to advocate dropping someone for a lack of success. Be careful what you wish for, because times and fortunes change. Once upon a time Kansas State was a joke in the Big XII, Oregon and Oregon State annually fought for last, many folks thought Northwestern should be dropped from the Big Ten.
The issue plain and simple is let EMU decide its own fate. It looks like those in power at EMU are making their feelings clear and you might get your wish. In the meantime, why alienate a school that specifically helped us get back into the MAC and is a viable opponent in a number of other sports?

Yes.

I just can't get my brain past how gross it would feel to want fans (regardless of number) of a similar school to ours to go through seeing programs they've put their hearts and energies into being for get widdled down or eliminated. And it would stink even more for the athletes- the ones all our multimillion dollar athletic operations are supposed to be for.

If anything it's a reminder of how fragile all us underdog programs are. A little time on college football and college basketball reference is a good reminder of how lean our own history is. NIU fans at it longer than my 20 years at it have spent a lot of time staring into the abyss.

These studies happen and never seem to go anywhere though, so it's all a moot point until a program actually does go under for non-political reasons.

How many actual students participate in intercollegiate athletics? How many actual students attend any intercollegiate athletic events? How many actual students and alumni actively follow EMU athletics and care?
The answer in each case is a paltry small number. So, then how can you justify charging every student $1000 per year for something they get nothing from?
If you eliminated intercollegiate athletics entirely everywhere we would all lose some entertainment and those from schools would lose some pride and vanity, but really would it matter. No.
Athletics at universities were initially justified based on the Greek principle of a sound mind in a sound body. That works to justify why everyoen should be taking a PE class. It does not justify the millions spent on a small percentage of the school population.
Higher education has reached a point where it costs too much for an inferior product with no payoff at the end. In the future, all higher education will be on line, free or very cheap, and the whole 4 year college experience will be replaced by high school graduates going to work while studying on line. The EMU's of the world will be the first to go.

One EMU poster disputed the dollar amount of the fee that was quoted...so I looked it up.

http://www.emich.edu/sbs/basics/tuition/index.php

"General Fee" - $29.45

General Fee- This mandatory fee (per credit hour) covers facilities, athletics, health center, computer labs, performing arts, and student government.

So 2 semesters of 15 Credit Hr load would get you $883.50 worth of General Fees per year...but that includes ALOT of things besides athletics....but one thing I find interesting it that is does include the student government.


Lets say that the EMU student government was being told behind closed doors that the general fee needed to be reduced...what would the easy target be for them to call out which wouldn't make them seem like horrible people?

(04-26-2016 10:07 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Huskies,
I hope you realize that no one in the athletic department was asked about what appeared in the HBO program, or what has been written in the Detroit newspapers.
Most of what was said in either of those was totally inaccurate. For example; Students could see significant reduction in their fees by almost $1,000. If students were being charged that much in fees, whether in a year or over four years, that would mean $23,000,000 coming into the athletic department. That would mean Eastern would be close to paying for their entire athletic budget for one year, or a quarter of it, if divided by a four year period.
How many students were/are involved in this? One hundred, one thousand, more? The one faculty member that is often quoted, has been against athletics for years. So use him as a reliable source for where the faculty stands.
Obviously some of you just hate Eastern, and think your school is better than ours. You have a right to your opinion, but remember, Eastern voted to allow your school into the MAC in the first place, as one of your own posters has said.

And some of us like and appreciate Eastern. I hope that EMU works things out, retains football, and stays in the MAC as long as they want. I love the competition with EMU in men's and women's BB, and I would hate for them to drop down a level and leave the MAC.

(04-26-2016 09:57 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(04-26-2016 08:26 AM)northernbear1 Wrote:  Who is really promoting EMU to stay in FBS? Do they have an alumni base that is donating large sums of money to keep them going? It seems the students want to be DII. When you can't even get the support of the students, there are some major issues going around.

Eh the student government is very different than the student body. I was in RHA and almost in the SA when I was a student and there are many hidden agendas that come from the University Administration, high level faculty (Deans or Associate Deans) and even the BOT.

If there actually is pressure from the students outside of the student government then that would be something. I did see one comment on twitter from an EMU student that had no idea this was being discussed and they were strongly against the move down...granted that was only 1 person.

Almost $1000 per year fee on the students for EMU athletics though...ouch. I wonder how much EMU athletics could actually save dropping down to D2, D3 or all together.

I wonder if the Michigan taxpayers are going to start to voice their opinion with the amount of taxpayer money is used to fund EMU athletics.

I'd say that less than 1,000 students showing up to a FBS football game week in and week out kind of shows where the student body stands.

People on this board hate EMU? I wouldn't say that. No one here hates EMU, I think that a lot of people simply don't have an opinion either way. Would it hurt the MAC if EMU left? probably not. Would most NIU fans care if EMU stayed in the MAC? probably not. Like I said before, If it happens it happens and if it doesn't it doesn't. College athletics right now is simply out of control and schools that aren't setup to survive in today's college athletics (specifically football, which I know we shouldn't just focus on football...but welcome to 2016) will be left to either leave division 1 or get rid of some programs. EMU isn't the first and they won't be the last to deal with this. I can almost guarantee you they won't be the last MAC school to make this decision either.

Well, I hope they will be able to turn it around in football.

In a saga that will not be remembered fondly of Eastern Michigan’s top brass or that of head coach Chris Creighton, the Eagles released a statement Tuesday saying the program has no plans to drop football or move to another division.

Full text below:

In the past several days, there has been considerable media coverage of reports that indicate that Eastern Michigan University is considering eliminating football, or reducing support for football by dropping down to a lower division of the NCAA and by dropping out of the Mid-American Conference. These reports are not based on any solid factual information. We have absolutely no plans to eliminate football or move into any other division or conference.

We are pleased to be a member of an outstanding conference, the Mid-American Conference, where all of our sports and our talented student athletes have the opportunity to compete at the highest levels with neighboring institutions in the Midwest. Any headlines or claims that Eastern is considering dropping football, or reducing our support of the program in any way, are false.

We are 100 percent supportive of our current Athletics administration, particularly Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Heather Lyke. She has assembled an outstanding support team and we already have seen positive results in terms of continuing Eastern’s championship traditions in a number of our sports, as well as in many new initiatives to increase revenues. As an example, year-to-date, fundraising has increased by nearly $430,000.

Two-and-a-half years ago, she hired an outstanding football coach in Chris Creighton. Now entering his third year and with the majority of the team now made up of his recruits, we believe the best is ahead in terms of on the field and academic performance. We believe very strongly in Coach Creighton and his efforts to rebuild the program.

We want to collectively reiterate that any notion, suggestion, or headline that in any way suggests Eastern is considering eliminating football or moving into another conference or division, is absolutely false. We will remain proud members of the Mid-American Conference football family for a long, long time.

Sincerely,

Interim President Donald Loppnow
President-Elect James Smith
Mike Morris, Chair, EMU Board of Regents
Mary Treder Lang, Vice Chair, EMU Board of Regents
Michael Hawks, Chair, Athletic Affairs Committee, EMU Board of Regents
Dennis Beagen, EMU Board of Regents
Michelle Crumm, EMU Board of Regents
Beth Fitzsimmons, EMU Board of Regents
James Stapleton, EMU Board of Regents
James Webb, EMU Board of Regents

This is essentially EMU brass saying “you’ll have to take our MAC membership from our cold, dead hands.”

http://footballscoop.com/news/eastern-mi...-football/



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Frazier tweeted twice today an RT of the EMU official statement along with his own comment of support.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, EMU has an awful football program. Seven seasons at .500 or better in the last 40 years is not cutting it. I am not calling for them to be kicked out of the MAC. However, I think they need to consider dropping down to D-II for football. It would most likely benefit all parties involved.

I understand that you old timers remember when "people said the same about NIU", but this just isn't the same situation. If EMU stays I will continue to hope they get better and can become a competitive D-I football program. With that said, if they continue to be one of the worse teams in the nation year in and year out, that only hurts NIU and the MAC.

There was a time when NIU football was at the bottom of the MAC, while EMU was competing for the MAC championship. Of course, in the three decades following, the Huskies got better, won the MAC, went into another slump, but then got better again and won the MAC three more times. EMU spent that whole time just sucking, outside of a couple mediocre seasons.

The root causes of Eastern's Football problems are three-fold:

First, Ypsilanti is not a typical "college town," and there is very little interest in EMU athletics there or surrounding area. The proximity of U-M probably has big effect.

Second, a substantial percentage of Eastern students are commuters. They aren't on campus on home game Saturdays and don't come back for them.

And third, Eastern has never been able to recruit even competitively with Western and Central in-state and Toledo in northern Ohio because their facilities, campus, and location haven't measured up.

(04-24-2016 10:35 AM)huskiebob Wrote:  

(04-23-2016 06:38 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  Will EMU PLEASE re-evaluate that God Awful gray turf??

Can't even stand to watch on TV when we play them at home.

Eastern Washington's field is MUCH worse!

Good God! Make my eyes BLEED!

(04-27-2016 11:41 AM)timxlydon Wrote:  I'm not going to sugarcoat it, EMU has an awful football program. Seven seasons at .500 or better in the last 40 years is not cutting it. I am not calling for them to be kicked out of the MAC. However, I think they need to consider dropping down to D-II for football. It would most likely benefit all parties involved.

I understand that you old timers remember when "people said the same about NIU", but this just isn't the same situation. If EMU stays I will continue to hope they get better and can become a competitive D-I football program. With that said, if they continue to be one of the worse teams in the nation year in and year out, that only hurts NIU and the MAC.

All teams have slumps. EMU's is extended and does not appear as cyclical as most. Even after few wining seasons, I think most of us doubt actual crowds over 7-10k. God bless all members of the MAC, but I would be ecstatic if they left, they drag the conference rep DOWN.

In the same week Idaho dropped out of FBS and Eastern Michigan denied rumors it would do the same, Massachusetts was thrown into the ring after the school’s faculty senate asked chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to consider dropping football or moving out of FBS.

Subbaswamy wasn’t having any of it.

“I think the program is in good shape and (headed) in the right direction,” he told MassLive. “This was simply a small group of senators who have been carrying on this agenda for some time. And they’re not getting the support they need.”

Describing the movement as “a non-issue that is being made into an issue by a small group of faculty senators,” Subbaswamy was especially ticked at an implication by professor Frank Hungus that there exists a connection between major football programs and a rise in violent sex crimes.

“This guilt by association is something I deeply resent,” Subbaswamy said. “Our student-athletes do not deserve it. Out athletic department does not deserve it.”

This week’s effort marked the third time in four years the UMass faculty senate has attempted to submarine the Minutemen’s football program.

“I can’t control what the Faculty Senate does. It’s a waste of this important body’s time, in my opinion, to keep bringing up this issue,” Subbaswamy said. “We have lots of issues on the curriculum and we have lots of issues on our future planning and so forth. So I think the academic senate’s time should be more wisely spent than debating something over and over again.”

He continued: “The financial judgement is sound. We have the right leadership. We have great student-athletes coming. And we have strong support from the alumni base and our own student body, which we’re going to build even more once we start playing even more games on campus.”

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Friday April 29, 2016

Colorado State: Senior associate AD for sales, marketing and communications Ben Lorenzen has left the staff to take a VP role with Learfield Sports.

Tulane: Associate AD/SWA Sue Bower has left the department to become athletics director at St. Martin’s school in New Orleans.


Thursday April 28, 2016

Jacksonville: Senior associate AD for administration Alex Ricker-Gilbert will become the school’s new AD, effective Sunday. Current AD Dr. Donnie Horder will transition to a full-time faculty member, with his last day running the athletics department being Saturday.







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I believe the UMass faculty, or at least that one guy on the faculty, has repeatedly brought up the issue.