CSNbbs

Tim Chambers of the Elizabethton Star comes to us with this opinion-

Appy State winning many TN fans-

By Tim Chambers
After Saturday, I am convinced that if ETSU wants to bring back football, they better do it soon.

The reason is found less the 50 miles away over the mountain.

Appalachian State football is starting to win over the hearts of many East Tennessee football fans. The Mountaineers opened its season this past Saturday against 12-ranked James Madison at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Fans poured in to see Appy after its 2005 Division 1-AA National Championship.

A crowd of 23,814 witnessed the contest, the fifth largest crowd in school history and the biggest to ever watch at home opener.

That's 10,342 more people than the entire population of Boone, North Carolina.

So where did all those fans come from? Many traveled over the mountains from East Tennessee to watch football at its best among Division 1-AA.

And the tickets are less than a third of what you pay to see the Big Orange in Knoxville.

OKAY- FIRST OF ALL-

More eloquent prose from a man who makes Larry the Cable Guy appear to be intellectual.

"The mountain?" WHAT MOUNTAIN? DOES IT HAVE A NAME?

And how about a study, Tim, investigating how many of the ASU season ticket holders are from the Tri-Cities, Carter and Johnson Counties?

And really, ASU drew a record crowd after winning the Division I-AA National Championship? Really?

He offers up a thought and doesn't have any facts to prove it.

Furthermore, I have to say he brings up a dangerous precendent in "If ETSU is going to bring back football, they better do it quick."

Anyone who thinks it is coming back with Mullins on board is delusional.

The only way to bring back football is to hire an athletic director who wants it back and to have a President who is not concerned with bean counting but rather putting his University into the limelight.

We have neither.

Now, I would say that ETSU should have gotten rid of those two yesterday. But nobody seems to want to go after them.

So unless some attitudes change and people want to push those two out the door, any contemporary effort to bring it back is doomed to failure.

Marky, you used to live in this area. In Carter County, all references to "over 'the Mountain'" refer to ROAN MOUNTAIN.

I agree with what you said about his article though.

I was pleased to see that someone in the Tri-Cities is actually covering Appy State football. There is a big fanbase in Carter County, particularly Roan Mountain. Wes Holtsclaw, the new sports editor down at the star, had a great story on the game. That Matt Hill guy who used to cover ETSU back in the day now writes for the Mountain City paper and he had a great story on the game.

And also, there are over 140 season ticket holders from Carter County, around 70 from Johnson County.