It is sad.

Here's what I don't get. If you were to poll Pittsburgh Pirates fans under 25, they'd have no rememberance when the Bucs were one of the best franchises in the National League.

But I don't think you'd hear them say "I don't care about Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente."

I do believe Major League Baseball is a bit different because in Major League Baseball, somehow what Three Finger Brown did 100 years ago is relevant to Cubs fans, and certainly what Babe Ruth did in 1927 is relevant not just to Yankees fans, but all baseball fans. I think it is because baseball cherishes and promotes its history.

We've talked about how ETSU wants to almost discard their history; how "2007 was the greatest year in the history of ETSU sports" according to David Mullins.

That's just out and out propaganda. How do you compare an NIT berth with, say, a Top 10 national ranking?

How do you promote an all-sports trophy in the A-Sun ahead of one won in the SoCon in 1983?

Sad to say, Let's Go Bucs is the new generation of ETSU fans. Perhaps as they get older they'll learn a bit about the Harley Swifts and Mister Jennings, to say nothing of the Donnie Abrahams, the Atlee Hammakers, and the Ernie Bowmans and Jim Mooneys.

However, if there is a positive, and if it is a positive it is a dark one, there seems to be fewer of these "next generation" fans than there were in years past. And, as you know, I believe with a deteriorating fan base eventually some new regime has got to come in and say "I'VE READ THE BOOK- THIS ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR ETSU STANDARDS!"