The Doyt statue dream....not so much

[1987alum]

BO:

This gets back to the whole tradition thing.

While I was generally happy with the new marketing director's quotes on the athletics Web site a few weeks back, I was a little miffed at his comment (and I'm paraphrasing from my faulty memory here) that we needed to create some traditions.

We have some good, fun traditions to go along with our rich history. Why not exploit those first?

I mean, I read something about a "We are ... BG" chant. What's that? For as long as I can remember, it has been "BG ... SU!" Other schools have been doing the "We are ... [insert BCS school here]" for years. We throw Tootise Rolls after scores, we sing Ay Ziggy Zoomba, well, whenever we can. I won't bring the whole logo discussion into this, but let's just say it would be nice to see us build on some of the foundation we have - Perry, Casey, etc.

To the statue ... the stadium is, after all, named after the man. A statue would seem perfectly reasonable.

OK, enough venting. Carry on.

[Globetrotter]

How much does a bust and a plaque cost? Why not a Garden of champions somewhere around the stadium? Busts and plaques of all the great players. Plaques list their accomplishments. You can walk around it and explain to your kids how Josh Harris was pulled as a redshirt freshman to try to save a season and his wins against Northern Illinois and Purdue. Or Omar Jacobs 41 td 4 int year.

[KeyWestParrot]

I think a statue of Doyt Perry would be a terrific idea. A cirlce of honor could be incorporated within the stadium in some fashion. Maybe at the south end of the stadium they could bump out the service drives and put Doyt's statue there with a circle of former players who have had their number retired or are in the BG HOF.

A perimeter fencing around the entire stadium would be a great feature also. Something like Michigan has around Michigan Stadium would be nice. Brick pillars with black wrough iron fencing. It is time to make this stadium the best looking stadium in the MAC. The land is there around it to do most anything.

Put big fundraising pots out at each home game for the purchase of a Doyt statue.

[Bleeding Orange]

Hypothetically, how many of us would be willing to sacrifice tailgaiting this year to make the Doyt statue happen? Tough as it would be, I would be game if I wasn't alone.

[Schadenfreude]

If it's $75,000 for a life-sized bronze statue, that's hardly cost prohibitive. It would take one guy with deep pockets who wants it done to issue a challenge grant, and the money would come together quickly.

I bet Don Nehlen and Bo Schembechler (who ought to have some coin) would chip in if someone got it started with a big chunk of change.

And I'll tell you where I'd put the thing. In the stadium, right off the south end zone, on top of a four-foot rock pedestal, so that every player in the stadium could see Doyt, even a quarterback backed up at his own (north) five.

In other words, if Perry Stadium was a baseball stadium, I'd put the thing in play, like the old Tiger Stadium flagpole.

I'll grant that there are probably better ways to spent money. I personally would rather junk the wire fence and put something in substantial. Concessions need work.

But the Perry statue should not be dismissed (I'm not sure our AD did that, exactly). It's a good long-term idea, and it would be 1,000 times classier than a mural.

Shifting gears...

Is there a football number that needs to be retired?

I'm not sure about this. What do you all think?

[Falcon30]

I bet Don Nehlen and Bo Schembechler (who ought to have some coin) would chip in if someone got it started with a big chunk of change.

I agree with everything you said except the Bo Schembechler thing....

[Schadenfreude]

I bet Don Nehlen and Bo Schembechler (who ought to have some coin) would chip in if someone got it started with a big chunk of change.

I agree with everything you said except the Bo Schembechler thing....

Duh. Wow. I can't believe I did that. I'm stone cold sober, too.

Well, he woulda chipped in.

[KeyWestParrot]

I think if Bo was still alive he would be more than willing to contribute, Woody would feel the same way too. I'm convinced that a beautiful area at the south end of the stadium would be the perfect spot for a Doyt and football HOF.

There is so much cosmetic items that need to be done to the stadium simply for appearance. Concessions are a major concern, they are dated and never seem to flow very well when big crowds attend and the dogs they sell are horrible.

The Doyt statue is something that really needs to be pressed. If the stadium is named after him then the least the athletic department or Falcon Club could do is take control and see to it that it is done.

[TG1996]

Is there a football number that needs to be retired?

I'm not sure about this. What do you all think?

McClure...Casey...mayyyybe J5 some time well down the road. I'm even fairly wishy-washy on the first two... McClure put up some sick numbers, but he didn't QB *every* game of either MAC title team he's credited with QB'ing. Casey was a beast that almost single-handedly broke the "Miami Jinx" in '59 (in one disgustingly awesome half of football), but there were a ton of folks that contributed (a lot on defense) to that National Championship team. Hell, if anything, retire the number "59" in tribute to that season and leave it at that.

I would just rather it not turn into a circus of retiring numbers, though I'd love to see something done to recognize the greats of the past that seem to be lost in the back pages of the media guide, sometimes...

[BGFan]

Certainly if they can have a half buried, really strange statue of Paul Olscamp on campus they can justify a statue of Doyt Perry.....

[BGDrew]

I disagree on the placement. I think it needs to go right beside where the players come out of the locker room. Put it right next to the Sebo looking out over the field.

[BGFootball]

I disagree on the placement. I think it needs to go right beside where the players come out of the locker room. Put it right next to the Sebo looking out over the field.

I kinda like the idea of having it by the tunnel. Maybe somewhere that the players can all give it a high five for good luck before comin on to the field or something. I dunno we did something similar for baseball at my highschool.

[KeyWestParrot]

I think the only downside to having it by the player entrance/exit would be the availability to it for the public especially on game day. The plus side to having it at the south end zone would to include a ring of fame around Doyt who made the program what it is today.

Doyt would only be surrounded by a ring of the best players BG has ever had on the field. A first criteria would be they must be in the BG HOF. Formers players such as Don Nehlen, Paul Miles, Mike Weger, Martin Bayless, Phil Villipiano to name a few would be there.

It would be such a high point to put something like this together and have a ceremony before the game with all the surviving players or their family present.

But I do like the idea of the players being able to 'high five' Doyt as they come out for game time.

[Schadenfreude]

Is there a football number that needs to be retired?

I'm not sure about this. What do you all think?

McClure...Casey...mayyyybe J5 some time well down the road. I'm even fairly wishy-washy on the first two...

My first reaction was McClure -- and I do think, given some time, maybe Harris would be worth considering.

But I'm not sure I think any player is so head and shoulders above others that we need to start retiring more numbers.

That said: What if we retired Doyt Perry's number? He did play for Bowling Green, did he not?

[TG1996]

But I'm not sure I think any player is so head and shoulders above others that we need to start retiring more numbers.

That said: What if we retired Doyt Perry's number? He did play for Bowling Green, did he not?

Agreed.

And Doyt played at least 3 sports at BG.... He was #54 on the football team.