(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote:  Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

Facts. Memphis is historically a school with a basketball heritage. Never once have I met anyone who associated Memphis with football. In other words, peg, meet hole.

Perhaps this can be changed, but it's going to take a lot of time and money. Who's volunteering to be first in line to pony up?

Here is a list from 2021 that has ambassadors on it.

https://gotigersgo.com/news/2021/9/23/ge...ircle.aspx

(12-16-2022 07:55 PM)MemTigers1998 Wrote:  Maybe BB wouldn’t be underperforming had the big $ folks not continued to pay the doofus now at Ga Tech only to “fix” that mistake by hiring Methuselah who said Memphis could no longer compete.

Exactly!

It sucks but it’s what we’ve been saying for months. We are in real trouble, and those that want to pretend like it’s fans simply being negative are in denial.

(12-16-2022 09:21 PM)bluecrew Wrote:  It sucks but it’s what we’ve been saying for months. We are in real trouble, and those that want to pretend like it’s fans simply being negative are in denial.

Somewhat of a vague statement. Please articulate how, exactly, that we're in "real trouble."

(12-16-2022 08:52 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:04 AM)EvilLore Wrote:  Wake up call for some folks. Football may drive the bus, nationally, but Tiger basketball is the only thing that matters to our ambassadors.

Both of the local rags tried to warn Memphis fans to adjust expectations regarding football. The money simply isn’t there.

You know what? It’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t demand an ambassador to hand over fork loads of cash. Our donors are generous to provide any resources at all. I’m thankful for the support we do receive.

Facts. Memphis is historically a school with a basketball heritage. Never once have I met anyone who associated Memphis with football. In other words, peg, meet hole.

Perhaps this can be changed, but it's going to take a lot of time and money. Who's volunteering to be first in line to pony up?

There are a number of P5 schools I associate with their basketball heritage. Football is a tougher road but they’re still at it.

(12-16-2022 10:16 PM)Browning Hall Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 08:52 PM)msu35 Wrote:  Facts. Memphis is historically a school with a basketball heritage. Never once have I met anyone who associated Memphis with football. In other words, peg, meet hole.

Perhaps this can be changed, but it's going to take a lot of time and money. Who's volunteering to be first in line to pony up?

There are a number of P5 schools I associate with their basketball heritage. Football is a tougher road but they’re still at it.

I don't disagree, but not being a P5 school makes the financial aspect all the more challenging. If Memphis fans want to see Memphis succeed as a football contender, the team needs support, most especially financially. If this is going to happen, people need to open their wallets which in an unfortunate fact of life. This even more critical as a G5 school, when the cards are stacked against you, as an artifact of the established system.

So, the goal is to begin a campaign to get new football support. Seems like it could start with former players. Is there a plan? From what I have seen so far from the Athletic Department.....not sure they understand the concept of having a well thought out plan and executing it or getting ideas from outside their department. We still don't have a person in charge of increasing attendance and probably...never will with this group in charge.

(12-16-2022 08:57 PM)aardWolf Wrote:  Here is a list from 2021 that has ambassadors on it.

https://gotigersgo.com/news/2021/9/23/ge...ircle.aspx

From this article I counted 72 ambassadors. I’ve heard several of them comment before in support of both our football and basketball programs. One of them I know even played football for the Tigers in the 60s. Wish we could all move past the back and forth of football verses basketball and just all support our school as a whole.

(12-17-2022 08:39 AM)RandyW_Class83 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 08:57 PM)aardWolf Wrote:  Here is a list from 2021 that has ambassadors on it.

https://gotigersgo.com/news/2021/9/23/ge...ircle.aspx

From this article I counted 72 ambassadors. I’ve heard several of them comment before in support of both our football and basketball programs. One of them I know even played football for the Tigers in the 60s. Wish we could all move past the back and forth of football verses basketball and just all support our school as a whole.

The issue with football is the monetary commitment necessary to be competitive, which obviously is not there, and its drain on Tiger club donations which are primarily motivated by basketball. We are dependent on the state to fund a Liberty Bowl renovation & if they refuse, we’re locked into a spartanesque Liberty Bowl for the foreseeable future. With football, we simply do not have the funds to act in our own best interest, and with the NIL will have to allocate even more from basketball to field a decent team… which further jeopardizes basketball.

(12-17-2022 09:23 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 08:39 AM)RandyW_Class83 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 08:57 PM)aardWolf Wrote:  Here is a list from 2021 that has ambassadors on it.

https://gotigersgo.com/news/2021/9/23/ge...ircle.aspx

From this article I counted 72 ambassadors. I’ve heard several of them comment before in support of both our football and basketball programs. One of them I know even played football for the Tigers in the 60s. Wish we could all move past the back and forth of football verses basketball and just all support our school as a whole.

The issue with football is the monetary commitment necessary to be competitive, which obviously is not there, and its drain on Tiger club donations which are primarily motivated by basketball. We are dependent on the state to fund a Liberty Bowl renovation & if they refuse, we’re locked into a spartanesque Liberty Bowl for the foreseeable future. With football, we simply do not have the funds to act in our own best interest, and with the NIL will have to allocate even more from basketball to field a decent team… which further jeopardizes basketball.

The problem is that many of the basketball-only fans keep talking about shutting down or defunding the football program. They are insane people who held our school back for decades and if they had their way would drive it off a cliff into irrelevancy. Thankfully no one in a leadership role takes them seriously anymore. If not for their decades of stupidity we would have been promoted to a P5 conference already.

The path forward is so obvious now because it has been done so many times before: Louisville, TCU, Utah, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, BYU. Investing in football is an investment. It takes a long time to grow a football culture. But eventually the payoff is enormous. Ask any of the above schools if they regret investing in football. It's unbelievable that people still don't understand this.

The survey outreach is only to 5 out of I believe 40 Ambassadors... A very small sampling and probably not the sentiment of most Ambassadors.

(12-16-2022 11:41 AM)snowtiger Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:32 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 11:31 AM)snowtiger Wrote:  How many ambassadors who were present weren’t quoted in the article.
This is a stirring the pot op

From the article: "I [John Martin] reached out to five ambassadors I know to gauge their thoughts on where the Tigers are and where they might be headed."

I agree this is a ****-stirring bit of nonsense. I've come to expect it from the DM.

Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t read the full article.

(12-17-2022 09:32 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 09:23 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 08:39 AM)RandyW_Class83 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 08:57 PM)aardWolf Wrote:  Here is a list from 2021 that has ambassadors on it.

https://gotigersgo.com/news/2021/9/23/ge...ircle.aspx

From this article I counted 72 ambassadors. I’ve heard several of them comment before in support of both our football and basketball programs. One of them I know even played football for the Tigers in the 60s. Wish we could all move past the back and forth of football verses basketball and just all support our school as a whole.

The issue with football is the monetary commitment necessary to be competitive, which obviously is not there, and its drain on Tiger club donations which are primarily motivated by basketball. We are dependent on the state to fund a Liberty Bowl renovation & if they refuse, we’re locked into a spartanesque Liberty Bowl for the foreseeable future. With football, we simply do not have the funds to act in our own best interest, and with the NIL will have to allocate even more from basketball to field a decent team… which further jeopardizes basketball.

The problem is that many of the basketball-only fans keep talking about shutting down or defunding the football program. They are insane people who held our school back for decades and if they had their way would drive it off a cliff into irrelevancy. Thankfully no one in a leadership role takes them seriously anymore. If not for their decades of stupidity we would have been promoted to a P5 conference already.

That’s a load of bs. It was a load of bs 25 years ago and it’s a load of bs now. Stop blaming people that spend 500K on Tiger athletics

(12-17-2022 10:01 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 09:32 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 09:23 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 08:39 AM)RandyW_Class83 Wrote:  

(12-16-2022 08:57 PM)aardWolf Wrote:  Here is a list from 2021 that has ambassadors on it.

https://gotigersgo.com/news/2021/9/23/ge...ircle.aspx

From this article I counted 72 ambassadors. I’ve heard several of them comment before in support of both our football and basketball programs. One of them I know even played football for the Tigers in the 60s. Wish we could all move past the back and forth of football verses basketball and just all support our school as a whole.

The issue with football is the monetary commitment necessary to be competitive, which obviously is not there, and its drain on Tiger club donations which are primarily motivated by basketball. We are dependent on the state to fund a Liberty Bowl renovation & if they refuse, we’re locked into a spartanesque Liberty Bowl for the foreseeable future. With football, we simply do not have the funds to act in our own best interest, and with the NIL will have to allocate even more from basketball to field a decent team… which further jeopardizes basketball.

The problem is that many of the basketball-only fans keep talking about shutting down or defunding the football program. They are insane people who held our school back for decades and if they had their way would drive it off a cliff into irrelevancy. Thankfully no one in a leadership role takes them seriously anymore. If not for their decades of stupidity we would have been promoted to a P5 conference already.

The path forward is so obvious now because it has been done so many times before: Louisville, TCU, Utah, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, BYU. Investing in football is an investment. It takes a long time to grow a football culture. But eventually the payoff is enormous. Ask any of the above schools if they regret investing in football. It's unbelievable that people still don't understand this.

That’s a load of bs. It was a load of bs 25 years ago and it’s a load of bs now. Stop blaming people that spend 500K on Tiger athletics

I'm blaming decades of bad leadership that de-prioritized football for the sake of basketball. It held our school back from promotion and made us look like stupid idiots in front of the entire country.

The school has been working hard to dispel this negative image now for almost a decade and we are making great progress. But there are still stupid idiots in the fan base who don't get it.

A big problem with both sports is exactly what that one ambassador said. He or she didn’t want to contribute to the NIL because they didn’t believe in it. And I think that’s why attendance is declining. College football and basketball players are now basically mercenaries and that rubs a lot of fans, wealthy and poor, the wrong way. And many out there don’t get why you need to have NIL deals for marginal players, especially in a G5 conference. And I’ve also heard that the money that some of these schools are getting is a bunch of bs too. I’ve heard of a couple of basketball powers that didn’t come through with the money promised the players and that those players are pissed. So I’m not sure the correct info is really out there. I find it hard to believe that SMU has that much money for NIL. They’re going to give some lineman or safety $36,000? Call me skeptical.

(12-17-2022 10:05 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 10:01 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 09:32 AM)MemphisFootballFan Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 09:23 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(12-17-2022 08:39 AM)RandyW_Class83 Wrote:  From this article I counted 72 ambassadors. I’ve heard several of them comment before in support of both our football and basketball programs. One of them I know even played football for the Tigers in the 60s. Wish we could all move past the back and forth of football verses basketball and just all support our school as a whole.

The issue with football is the monetary commitment necessary to be competitive, which obviously is not there, and its drain on Tiger club donations which are primarily motivated by basketball. We are dependent on the state to fund a Liberty Bowl renovation & if they refuse, we’re locked into a spartanesque Liberty Bowl for the foreseeable future. With football, we simply do not have the funds to act in our own best interest, and with the NIL will have to allocate even more from basketball to field a decent team… which further jeopardizes basketball.

The problem is that many of the basketball-only fans keep talking about shutting down or defunding the football program. They are insane people who held our school back for decades and if they had their way would drive it off a cliff into irrelevancy. Thankfully no one in a leadership role takes them seriously anymore. If not for their decades of stupidity we would have been promoted to a P5 conference already.

The path forward is so obvious now because it has been done so many times before: Louisville, TCU, Utah, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, BYU. Investing in football is an investment. It takes a long time to grow a football culture. But eventually the payoff is enormous. Ask any of the above schools if they regret investing in football. It's unbelievable that people still don't understand this.

That’s a load of bs. It was a load of bs 25 years ago and it’s a load of bs now. Stop blaming people that spend 500K on Tiger athletics

I'm blaming decades of bad leadership that de-prioritized football for the sake of basketball. It held our school back from promotion and made us look like stupid idiots in front of the entire country.

The school has been working hard to dispel this negative image now for almost a decade and we are making great progress. But there are still stupid idiots in the fan base who don't get it.

You know why Tiger football sucked for all those years? Terrible coaching form the late 70s on. Yeah Rex had one good year and was tragically killed. Who knows what he would have done. But since him we had mediocre, pathetic non innovative coaching from 1983-2012. Justin Fuente turned the program around not fan support, not facilities and not stupid fans that blame another sport.

When I read about the Tiger financial woes, it is one of the few times I regret I am not wealthy.

The other two are charity contributions and a private jet .

I am a football & basketball fan, but the harsh reality of this new NIL era is programs with limited resources are trying to compete with programs with increasingly unlimited budgets. In the end, we’re going to have to pick & choose where we can compete.

Basketball, at Memphis, has always been able to fundraise because there was demand for tickets, and that demand funded the TSF & kept the entire athletic department afloat. Football has never enjoyed that position because there’s never been scarcity, even in the best of times. Instead of blaming boosters for favoring basketball, we need to create the demand that allows basketball to command a seat license. Either that, or do away with it, because we cannot compete if fans won’t commit to that same level of support. Again, a fan can go to a Tiger game on Saturday for about the same price as MUS game on Friday, & honestly, on most nights, the HS game has better atmosphere. If we can’t do better, then we need to focus on basketball.

(12-17-2022 10:06 AM)Eagleonpar Wrote:  A big problem with both sports is exactly what that one ambassador said. He or she didn’t want to contribute to the NIL because they didn’t believe in it. And I think that’s why attendance is declining. College football and basketball players are now basically mercenaries and that rubs a lot of fans, wealthy and poor, the wrong way. And many out there don’t get why you need to have NIL deals for marginal players, especially in a G5 conference. And I’ve also heard that the money that some of these schools are getting is a bunch of bs too. I’ve heard of a couple of basketball powers that didn’t come through with the money promised the players and that those players are pissed. So I’m not sure the correct info is really out there. I find it hard to believe that SMU has that much money for NIL. They’re going to give some lineman or safety $36,000? Call me skeptical.

Surprisingly, even the Ohio State cannot keep up with the NIL arms race for now. https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb...uit-report

(12-17-2022 10:46 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  I am a football & basketball fan, but the harsh reality of this new NIL era is programs with limited resources are trying to compete with programs with increasingly unlimited budgets. In the end, we’re going to have to pick & choose where we can compete.

Basketball, at Memphis, has always been able to fundraise because there was demand for tickets, and that demand funded the TSF & kept the entire athletic department afloat. Football has never enjoyed that position because there’s never been scarcity, even in the best of times. Instead of blaming boosters for favoring basketball, we need to create the demand that allows basketball to command a seat license. Either that, or do away with it, because we cannot compete if fans won’t commit to that same level of support. Again, a fan can go to a Tiger game on Saturday for about the same price as MUS game on Friday, & honestly, on most nights, the HS game has better atmosphere. If we can’t do better, then we need to focus on basketball.

Honestly, if it was not for the G5 spot in the new FB playoffs, I would consider folding the tent.