FOOTBALL A MONEY MAKING SPORT

[birdman]

Boys; don't take Birdman personal. Out of 18 sports football is the only one making money. Yes, i could go away and be banned fact is there is a lot of money going into the football program. The only thing I keep hearing is reasons why we are not winning. The coach's get payed six figure income to field a winning product. Why is this any different from the private sector. We should have higher standards.

[Flipper]

Nobody wins every year...not in the MAC anyhow. There's a similar cylical pattern in the private sector...some years are profitable, some aren't. Generally, when a CEO is hired to take over a struggling brand, it's a given that they'll probably be a down year or two..or more..while they get the ship righted.

We're in that kind of a situation here. The program had a good deal of success in GB's tenure...and I agree that there should have been more, but the off field and academic issues, not to mention all the kids who blew out from recruiting classes in 2005 and 2007 put us behind the 8 ball. We paid for it last year. I think Clawson is bringing in more talent than his predecessor. Even though he took over late in the recruiting process, 2009 was an OK year. 2010 was a good recruiting year...probably in the top 3rd of the conference. This year looks even better..we have six *** kids on Scout, we've never had that before. So, I expect to see some improvement this year...don't know if we can expect a MAC title yet, but I think we're closer to that goal than we were a few years ago.

BTW, I don't know that fooball makes money here...

[daspollak]

Should Texas fire Mack Brown? Penn St. should have gotten rid of Joe Pa a few years back? No team is immune from having a losing season. Texas hauls in some of the top recruiting classes year in and year out, but the perfect storm hit them this year. Losing a four year starter at QB, having the receivers lose a lot of talent, and having several players from the D drafted. This made for a talented yet inexperience team taking the field. Sound familiar? (Minus having the players drafted part.) It takes more time to stockpile talent in the MAC, and I'm sorry Clawson can't meet your instant gratification demands birdman.

With recruiting classes under Clawson's belt we should see some improvement this year, but I don't expect a MAC title.

[birdman]

FLIPPER: One reason the class of 2005 and 2007 blow out was that the money these player were to receive in the summer was taken away from them to give to incoming freshman. Most of the 2007 class had to fend for themselves and meet mandatory workouts and classroom money on their own. Also they were told if they did not start by their fifth year BG would not renew their scholarship. Don't take my word for it ask one if you can find them. These were the players who have been in the program and future leaders. They blew out. Out of that class of 18 only four were on the team last year.

[MarkL]

birdman ... you don't know a thing. We lost tons of players from the 07 class, yes, but it was primarily to academics and personal conduct. There also were three JUCOs in that class, and two of the three finished their time (Vrvillo and Iovenelli) and the other (Ransom) quit due to excessive injuries. Gregg Brandon was a great coach at developing athletes into great players, but he may have been a bit over his head in terms of program administration. Too bad, because he was a great guy. Regardless, the 05 to 07 classes had a TON of attrition.

You don't know a thing about BG football. You hide behind some little BG-sounding name while hurling insults with no evidence to back them up. Everybody on this board knows who Freak, Flip, Hammb, Cincy, Peregrinner, me, and many many others are, hence we don't chuck around baseless accusations. You, on the other hand, are just as likely to be a 13 year old massive UT fan who thinks he can brew trouble at BG as you are a BG townie who loves the program as nobody knows who you are and you accuse the program of all kinds of trouble while using such evidence as "trust me" or "I know what I'm talking about."

[Flipper]

birdman...MarkL is exactly correct. The kids thst blew out from the 07 class were largely gone within a year or two, tops. You keep talking about people getting passed over or having things taken away. Are you a parent of a kid or a player who blew out here or got passed over on the depth chart or something? You definitely have an axe to grind...why don't you come clean and let us know who you are and what your specific problem is?

[Falcon Commander]

why do we keep responding to this guy (or gal)?
he knows the answer to ever question and statement he makes.
he's just stirring the 'Troll' kettle

"Ignore"

[Lord_Byron]

If I recall correctly, issues like this got the board shut down last year. Be careful of how we interact with new posters or we could suffer the same fate again.

[Warthog]

birdman = Gregg Brandon

[1987alum]

Money & Athletics ... well, I'll say this, the money certainly is flowing into the athletic department these days. The Sebo Center, Doyt renovations (including the turf), the Stroh Center, Mr. Frack's un-falcon-believable endowment to men's basketball, renovations to the baseball facilities, Jack Vivian ... the list goes on and on.

Seems to me that some folks with big check books are excited about the type of program, overall, we are putting together. Combined with the non-athletic improvements over the past five years, I can't imagine being more excited about the prospects for BGSU!

[MarkL]

If I recall correctly, issues like this got the board shut down last year. Be careful of how we interact with new posters or we could suffer the same fate again.

I don't think anybody on this board has problems with new posters. We have problems with posters that post nothing but crap. See previous posters (who shall go unnamed), such as massive-Ohio-State-fan-who-claims-to-be-a-BG-alum-yet-is-an-everything-BG-hater, poster-who-constantly-complains-about-BG-coaching-staff-and-picks-a-screen-name-that-reflects-this-view, person-who-calls-BG-football-players-thugs-on-a-consistent-basis, etc. It's pretty clear that birdman is finding his way into this category. His status as a new poster is irrelevant. And I reflect Flip's comments ... come clean, birdman. What's your problem?

birdman = Gregg Brandon

Nah, I respect Gregg Brandon way too much. Yes, there were some big problems during his time, but I have nothing but respect for that man and all the great things he brought to this program. And if I were an athletic director of a university right now and needed a football coach, I would seriously consider GB as long as he has all the support needed to help him administer the program.

[birdman]

Boys: Birdman is flying South for the next few months. I'll be back next Aug. I'm sorry I got so many upset. Hope all goes well with this staff. See you in Sept Hope I am proven wrong, but I don't think so Take care, keep the grade up and support the falcons

[Flipper]

I've been really careful to not attack the birdman personally...I responded on this thread because he raised a valid point for discussion, amely how much of a free pass should Clawson get for last year. His response to my post quickly went back around to the notion that the current staff has screwed or passed people over. If that's your opinion birdman, that's fine...state your case and support it with some evidence. I'm sure most people on here would put more stock into what you're saying if you were to share a bit about your background.

[bgsufan1970]

I've been following BGSU athletics now for over 30 years. Not an alum but grew up in BG and remain a lifelong fan. Having observed all the coaches in the major sports (FB, BB, Hockey) in the past 30 years, I will offer this perspective to the AZZ board/Falcon supporters: have a little faith in Coach Clawson. He seems to be going about it the right way, and with a few good breaks and some support we will have a consistent winner, and championship contender. Organizations/teams that win consistently are built on solid principles, lived by the organization everyday, focused on the details (like going to class, getting your degree, etc.).

Keep things in perspective: Coach Miller (womens' hoops) was brought in to rebuild arguably the best program in the MAC over the past 30 years under Coaches Voll and Clark (not so successful under Coach Knoblauch). Year 1: 9-19, Year 2: 12-16. Hardly banner years. Then Year 3: 21-10, and then we all know what the past 6 or 7 years have been like. Should we have thrown Coach Miller under the bus for losing records his first 2 years? What a mistake that would have been.

Coach Brandon's record excluding his first 2 years was just about at .500 give or take a few wins either way. And the facts remain about the performance of the program in important factors like academic performance. So let's not recall those as the glory years for Falcon football.

2010 was a tough year but a little patience is due when you've got a quality coach like Coach Clawson. True fans are the ones that support the team through the good times and bad. Let's support the coach, trust that he's a professional of the highest integrity, and see where it leads us.

[falconjw]

Not that it totally matters, but to clarify one of birdman's points. Here are the numbers directly from BGSU reported to the NCAA. These numbers are actually from the 04-05 school year, but are quite indicative of most mid to lower tier football teams like our selves.

BGSU Football Revenue
$2,693,575

BGSU Football Expentidures
$4,022,640

Net Money Making
$-1,329,065

http://www2.indystar.com/NCAA_financial ... _stat/show