the athletic department does not have teh financial resources available to light the soccer field at this time with other necessary expenses.

And they want to bring football back?

I believe ETSU football is the right movement but at the wrong time.

It boggles the mind that the foundation would attempt to work with the people who killed the program- Stanton and Mullins.

They do it for the same reason that Dr. Roe and Paduch try to find some common ground.
They don't have the money because they NEVER HAD THE MONEY. This facilities enhancement campaign has been what I've heard military personnel call a "clusterf---"

But here is what I'm saying.

Wouldn't the football foundation be better served if it had WAITED for a new President and AD- and perhaps pushed for them?

During this time the foundation could have raised money- even put the donations into a savings account with interest and an agreement that if and when new administrators were brought on, this money could be shown to the new president.

The goal would be to raise more money for a non-existant team than a real one.

At this point, a sizeable chunk of cash is there- ready made- for a new stadium, recruiting a big name coach such as Mike Smith or Clyde Christensen, or whatever.

Even if donations were sparse- you could say "Look, here's $10,000- a drop in the bucket but the first step in a long journey."

We don't have any of that. We have the hope instead that Stanton and Mullins will suddenly change their minds and say "You know what? We liked football after all."

Stanton has changed his mind, and will do this then retire. Let some other president deal with anything after that, when the big guy goes, Davy boy will be in the same place as many other idiots out there, FIRED!

If he wants it back, then why did he kill it in the first place?

Interesting letter that Kim Reece wrote says that in all her years there was never a capital campaign for athletics- certainly not for football.

What that means is there was a concerted effort to get rid of the sport and it had to come from him.

This is evident by the departure of Keener Fry. You're too young to remember it but Fry really had implemented his mark on the athletic program. Football was winning- he took the broadcasts from WJCW to another station when WJCW was putting Science Hill on over the Bucs- he hired some very fine coaches. Not everything was perfect but there was a foundation and Fry was a local boy.

Less than a year after Stanton got the job Fry- a Gate City native- was on his way to Wyoming in a move that left everyone scratching their heads. Nobody understood why you'd leave the top job at ETSU for a spot as an underling at Wyoming- which may be Division I but isn't exactly Notre Dame, especially when you're from the Tri-Cities.

It's obvious now Fry wanted out. Pergolizzi left- and didn't even have another job to fall back on. Stansbury was a real keeper as well, but he left to go to Oregon State.

The one constant here is Stanton.

In so many words you're telling me that Stanton rolls with the wind. That he realizes the public will remember him as the guy who killed football and so what will it take to bring it back.

But then questions like "Uh, Paul, whatever happened to your statement that you thought Division I-AA football was going to go the way of the dinosaur a couple of years ago?" start to creep up.

We're going to realize that he cost the University a TON of money in this decision- it would have been cheaper to keep the program than to rebuild it- and that the little guy- students- will have to pay for his ineptitude.

And you want to work with the guy? You don't want to hold him responsible for his actions?

I see him creating the task force for Jerry Robertson because Robertson is a well respected- "Loyal ETSU man."

That's the same reason he hired Mullins as an AD. And its the same reason he won't fire him.

If Stanton has kept Mullins on this long- and called him the best AD they've ever had- I can't see him firing him unless the public starts putting bumper stickers on their cars.

I don't see Stanton saying "I want football back." I know the East Tennesseean did a headline that said that- but then you read the article and the content was very different.

I see him looking at the costs. I see Dr. Roe speaking of funding the program with D-I-A money games- we did that before and the result were losing records, disinterest, and not enough coin to keep it going.

Never mind the fact D-I-A's don't want to play D-I-AA's because of the strength of schedule and the BCS.

Now, I believe in the favor of ETSU football returning we also see David Mullins realizing he made an unpopular decision, I see students wanting it back, and I see the public won't hold Stanton to the fire for his flip-flopping.

But when they do put that money number on the table- it's going to be daunting. Bartow, Kemp, and Skole will want to know how you can build a new arena and field for them and also have football.

And there are enough pointy-heads and women who will say "You can't put football ahead of women's soccer!" And Stanton's actions say he merely is listening to a request by Jerry Robertson- not that he is committed to bringing back the sport.

His earlier actions, in fact, say he was committed to killing it. And now you think he's changed his mind?

And even if it does come back- you then have Mullins hiring the new coach (again- I will bet you a dollar right now it's Paul Hamilton), you will have the same problems- etc.

You have to ask yourself if this is the right time for this movement. It obviously is not.

Your defense of it is asking for a lot of faith in a lot of people who don't deserve it.

It is the right time for it because basketball stinks, and that's what we were promised was a NATIONAL POWER in that sport.
Let me ask you, did you vote for Kerry or Bush? Kerry changed his mind more than most West Virginians change their underwear, but he almost won the election.
That's what great about us, we can change, and Dr. Stanton I think for whatever the reason has seen the err in his stupidity, he listened to Dave, Wayne Andrews and DeChellis, and dropped football. Since then two of those people have ran away and the other probably couldn't get a job coaching tennis at Unaka.
And yea, I remember Keener Fry, I know what he had planned, but guess what, when NO MONEY is being raised, in which I will stand by this til the end, people need to go. The Pirate Club throws a damn party/auction every year as their big nut busting fund raiser. It gets about 50 large a year.
Where are the multiple golf outings for alums/donors? Wine them, dine them, golf them, and TREAT EVERY STUDENT AS A POTENTIAL DONOR in the future, treat every fanny that walks through the gate as a potential donor. Give them a good experience, friendly people. That hurt football more than anything, those jack off campus police guys that with the exception of like two of them were complete butt holes.
At the end of the day, state supported or not, college is a business, the students are your customers, and the alumni donating is your repeat business.
ETSU gets an F in how they take care of all of them.

It is the right time because basketball stinks.

Did the emergence of football at South Florida suddenly make the Bulls into a basketball power?

This logic (!?!?) . . . folks- we have the new Superfan!

George "41" Bush told everyone "Read My Lips- No New Taxes" in 1988. Then he raised them and, well, he wasn't re-elected in 1992.

Kerry lost. The bottom line is the American public held these two individuals- who are a helluva lot higher ranking than Paul Stanton- accountable- whereas the Football Foundation does not hold Stanton accountable.