New videoboard should be ready by spring game

[factman]

I don't disagree with Drago either. Not that I want to see hockey dropped especially, BUT if they can't compete for championships, it will just be another also ran sport that is a bottomless hole that is competing for the athletic department dollar. That being said, I am not a big hockey fan and probably go to about 3-5 games a year, and maybe a few more if they were winning big and most of the people I know are about the same. Hell, to make things worse,we even schedule hockey and basketball on the same night around here, but that is a whole different problem. I would love to see a profit and loss statement, done by competent people, on each of the so called revenue sports, to see just how they stack up. It would be an interesting study.
Bowling Green's main problem is that we have too many "revenue sports", not producing revenue, but LOSING money.

[Flipper]

Hockey feels like it's at a point where we either need to be all in or out...

[factman]

Good summary, Flip!

[Hockey John]

Drago and Zete,

For all us loyal BGSU hockey fans, move to Toledo!

Go Falcon Hockey!!

[zete]

Then I would have to drive too far to see Falcon basketball and football.

[hammb]

We can't be rid of hockey fast enough for me. A drain on the athletic department for sure.

Then again, I think football probably is as well.

[Hockey John]

To all,

Why can't we just cheer for BG whether it is football, basketball, soccer, or hockey. Though I am not a soccer fan, I cheer for BG and want our team to do well. I choose to get season tickets to hockey and women's basketball and attend most football games as well as some men's bb and volleyball. Just because some of you dislike hockey does not mean it should be done away with.
In the 70's we were in an upstart, weak hockey league and the league grew up as we grew up. With BG and Northern being successful, led to MSU, Notre Dame, and Michigan to join the league. Why can't we rise again? I don't believe that our time has passed. If Miami can do it, we can as well.

Go BGSU in all sports!!!!

Hockey John, a Bowling Green State University Fan

[AyZiggy97]

We can't be rid of hockey fast enough for me. A drain on the athletic department for sure.

Then again, I think football probably is as well.

Aren't all sports, except those at the top levels of BCS schools, a drain on their school's athletic departments? I mean, they're all money losers. The question is whether BG hockey is an unacceptable drain.

Is it just my perception, or does every thread turn negative now? This started out as a positive: A new video board at The Doyt.

[Warthog]

To all,

Why can't we just cheer for BG whether it is football, basketball, soccer, or hockey.

Did anyone say there weren't rooting for BG? It's not about rooting for hockey, but considering the economic cost to the University, is the hockey program worthwhile? I'd root for BG in tiddlywinks, beer pong, and a staring contest, but if those events were financial strains on the school, I would say they need to be discontinued as well.

[pdt1081]

You people are forgetting the amount of money the hockey team, and the Ice Arena made for the athletic department in the late 70's and through the 80's. If only that money had been reinvested into the program and Ice Arena, the team would still be sitting on top of the CCHA. You know, the CCHA that was started by Bowling Green, and is now one of the top conferences in college hockey.

The investment needed to get the hockey team BACK ON TOP OF THE NCAA is a hell of a lot less than needed to achieve the same for football. So, until you all are ready to knock football down to FCS, quit bitching about cutting hockey.

[footballguy51]

And yet, a larger percentage of the American population likes to watch football over hockey. For that matter, a larger percentage of the American population understands football better and generally cares more about football. The only reason I know there is a school named Ferris State is because they play BG in hockey. Outside of the CCHA, nobody has ever heard of Ferris State.

[hammb]

Is that the same CCHA that is basically going the way of the dodo?

I'm sorry, but I am quickly coming to grips with the fact that the athletic department at BG needs to cut back. I think we're wasting far too much money on Division 1 sports that we cannot hope to compete in. I'm afraid the same applies to football as well...I'm wondering if the MAC will ever have the financial means to return to where it was even 10 years ago. The BCS has quickly widened the gap between the haves and have nots, and I don't see it changing any time soon, unfortunately.

When it comes to hockey I think our best bet is to either commit to hockey as a hockey school primarily (a la Ferris/Alaska-Fairbanks), or drop it from D1 play altogether.

Maybe I'm overreacting to the way things have gone of late, but what is the point of playing so many D1 sports when we're among the worst in the country at most of them? I know I've become completely disillusioned by MAC football over the past 4 years and it doesn't seem to be getting much better.

I know my opinions are in the minority, but when I look at how much money our AD loses and how much it takes from the students, I really start to question its viability. I find it VERY hard to believe that a terrible CCHA program and middling MAC programs are doing much for the image of the university. I'd much rather pick a sport and sell out the athletic department to make that sport a premier program. Given the facilities and recent endowments (and success of the women's program) I think basketball would probably be the best focus.

Of course it will never happen, I'm just tired of having us be shitty in every single sport and would gladly give up the other sports to be worth a damn in one. Sorry...this football season really sapped me of all enthusiasm for that program...

[Globetrotter]

Is that the same CCHA that is basically going the way of the dodo?

I'm sorry, but I am quickly coming to grips with the fact that the athletic department at BG needs to cut back. I think we're wasting far too much money on Division 1 sports that we cannot hope to compete in. I'm afraid the same applies to football as well...I'm wondering if the MAC will ever have the financial means to return to where it was even 10 years ago. The BCS has quickly widened the gap between the haves and have nots, and I don't see it changing any time soon, unfortunately.

When it comes to hockey I think our best bet is to either commit to hockey as a hockey school primarily (a la Ferris/Alaska-Fairbanks), or drop it from D1 play altogether.

Maybe I'm overreacting to the way things have gone of late, but what is the point of playing so many D1 sports when we're among the worst in the country at most of them? I know I've become completely disillusioned by MAC football over the past 4 years and it doesn't seem to be getting much better.

I know my opinions are in the minority, but when I look at how much money our AD loses and how much it takes from the students, I really start to question its viability. I find it VERY hard to believe that a terrible CCHA program and middling MAC programs are doing much for the image of the university. I'd much rather pick a sport and sell out the athletic department to make that sport a premier program. Given the facilities and recent endowments (and success of the women's program) I think basketball would probably be the best focus.

Of course it will never happen, I'm just tired of having us be shitty in every single sport and would gladly give up the other sports to be worth a damn in one. Sorry...this football season really sapped me of all enthusiasm for that program...

Its all about momentum in football and going 2 and 6 over the last 8 games was not pretty. is tarted to lose interest as well. (FWIW I dont think this month long away bball schedule was a great idea either).

[hammb]

Its all about momentum in football and going 2 and 6 over the last 8 games was not pretty. is tarted to lose interest as well. (FWIW I dont think this month long away bball schedule was a great idea either).

My problem is it's not JUST the losing. I actually think we have some young talent and will be winning in the MAC next year.

My problem is that I'm sick of MAC football. It has gone so far downhill that it's just not enjoyable anymore. The entire product is NOTHING like watching college football. On any given Saturday there are 5-10 games on TV that are far better entertainment than even a top notch MAC game. The difference between the MAC and the rest of the college football landscape has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years. To the point where I have a hard time sitting there watching the games knowing that there are GOOD games on TV.

The atmosphere, the product on the field, everything about MAC football has gone to hell. And I just don't see how it's going to get better when we cannot even keep average coaches like Beckman in the conference for more than a couple years.

Attendance blows, we screw the fans over for tv games nobody watches, we can't afford decent facilities, we can't afford to pay coaches, and the product on the field resembles good HS football. I just don't see the point in throwing tons of cash at the program anymore.

[Flipper]

In the olden days...pre ESPN and the internet...you followed a team or school "in season". YOu had media coverage of football from September to January with a cursory mention around signing day, basketball was October to March..and the coverage of these sports were more regional. In Toledo you had channels 13, 11 and 24. They covered OSU, UM, Notre Dame...but they also covered UT and BGSU. The Blade was far more influential then than it is now and they covered BGSU and UT pretty heavily. The media "scope" was so myopic that people freaked out a bit in the mid 70's when Michigan AD Don Canham took a "huge gamble" and added a Michigan football radio affiliate in Toledo. Would anyone care about that now?

Today you have people tracking the major colleges 24/7 all year round via cable and the internet...the Big 10 has their own network. Even though we still get covered locally by the Blade and other media, there's so much noise around that coverage that it's getting drowned out. I think we've become more of an afterthought than we were before and we've helped that process along by scheduling home games at noon and allowing the MAC to schedule mid week games in November.

Is it worth the $$$ to say we're division 1 when nobody else thinks we are? How can we change that perception? Is it even possible?

For the record..I like hockey...in the late 70's, the games on WBGU TV were my first exposure to the University. Right now? I don't know...we haven't had a winning squad since the mid 90's. The league we built and for a time dominated has gone (as hammb said) the way of the dodo. I'd love to see the program rebound...but I just don't see how it can. It wasn't relevant as a member of a power conference...how will it be relevant as a part of a third tier league? Will winning the WCHA title mean anything more than winning the MAC football title?

I'm beginning to think we need to consider easing our way down the ladder...I truly believe we're going to have a really good football team next year...really really good...so what? At best we'll win our league, go to the Pizza Bowl and be ranked at best in the low 20's nationally. We lose money in doing so too. we can play CMU or drop down and play Wayne State...either way, at the most 10,000 people will actually show up...