With the increase in revenues due to the SEC network.......

[corona con lima]

should we add any additional sports? If so which ones? My vote soccer.

[RocketDawg]

Soccer is good. Maybe gymnastics also. Most SEC schools seem to have at least a women's team.

[Pinto]

Women's Beach Volleyball. I support Title IX

[msbulldog]

Women's Beach Volleyball. I support Title IX

Me too!

[Coach34]

Easy- Field Hockey

[Jack Lambert]

Hell no. Just make the sports we have better.

[DanDority]

NO! Get better at the ones we currently have.

[HoopsDawg]

should we add any additional sports? If so which ones? My vote soccer.

we don't have a soccer team?

[BeardoMSU]

Can't we just divert all that money into our Opportunity Fund?**

[RocketDawg]

Lacrosse. **

[TrapGame]

Crochet.****

[Goldendawg]

Does ESPN pay the SEC network? If so, I often read that they are losing subscribers at an alarming rate, laying off employees, and trying to update "Sports Center" which is losing viewers in the internet age. We need to be happy with the newfound financial situation and use it very carefully. Things could change quickly in today's world. The last thing we need is a lot more sports that no one wants to pay to see, men's or women's. Why not fund women's equine team? Was surfing channels and saw some of this competition and that Auburn had won the national championship. This was on the SEC channel. Who knew?

[Johnson85]

should we add any additional sports? If so which ones? My vote soccer.

No. We're probably near the peak of TV money right now. Even if it doesn't decline, it seems clear it's not going to continue to grow.

I'm certainly not opposed to a sport like men's soccer. We already have facilities for women's soccer, so it should be dirt cheap to add. But we are already paying coaches six figure and sometimes high six figure salaries for sports that are money losers. If we can't allocate appropriate money to non-revenue sports (within the limits of Title IX), we don't need to be adding more of them.

[nsvltndog]

Adding new sports is not a bad idea, but I hope we are stashing some of the funds in a rainy day account. ESPN is obviously trying to reduce costs as cord cutters come into play. The SEC may be strong enough that we don't have an enormous pop to the bubble of college sports broadcasting fees, but the days of continued annual increases may be numbered.

One thing we have done a very nice job of is working really hard to be competitive and improve our facilities in our existing sports. Outside of Men's golf, softball, and Women's soccer we seem to either have a solid foundation in place or on the upswing in all our sports. Significant facilities upgrades have recently been put in place for Men's golf and softball so it's now on the coaches to get those programs where they need to be.

[BulldogBear]

Lacrosse. **
This without the sarcasterisks

[Liverpooldawg]

Cord cutting will eventually pop the sports TV bubble. You will wind up paying through the nose to watch anything live.

[Goldendawg]

Improve in what we have.

[RocketDawg]

Adding new sports is not a bad idea, but I hope we are stashing some of the funds in a rainy day account. ESPN is obviously trying to reduce costs as cord cutters come into play. The SEC may be strong enough that we don't have an enormous pop to the bubble of college sports broadcasting fees, but the days of continued annual increases may be numbered.

One thing we have done a very nice job of is working really hard to be competitive and improve our facilities in our existing sports. Outside of Men's golf, softball, and Women's soccer we seem to either have a solid foundation in place or on the upswing in all our sports. Significant facilities upgrades have recently been put in place for Men's golf and softball so it's now on the coaches to get those programs where they need to be.

Won't be long till Davis Wade will need to be larger/have work done (like the press box, maybe a west side Club Level).

Speaking of which ... saw a pic of the progress at "The Vaught" a few days ago, and I swear it looks like they're building a steel frame with bleachers (and I think that's what their other addition was ... only been there once but I seem to remember it "ringing"), with some sort of club level on top of that. If that's the case, they're taking the cheap route. Sure glad we used concrete all the way. Of course, I'm not sure why they're expanding anyway, other than to compete with us.

[spbdawg]

#

[RocketDawg]

This without the sarcasterisks

Actually, you're right. I don't understand the sport, but probably could with time. And it probably wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to implement, other than scholarships. They could use Davis Wade, and that would work well because of the Indian burial grounds (it's my understanding that lacrosse was "invented" by the Indians).

[KentuckyDawg13]

My son, a die-hard MSU fan since birth (didn't have a choice), would love to swim for MSU. He is currently an All American and will be a high school junior this coming year, so most likely it wouldn't be in time anyways. Can always dream though...

Most likely, he will have to go to another SEC school or possibly a west coast school.



should we add any additional sports? If so which ones? My vote soccer.

[Mjoelner34]

Either curling http://www.charlottestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/charlotte-curling-championship.jpg

or petanque http://www.eunomia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Match-1.jpg

[MaroonBelle]

Equestrian. Already have usable facilities at Horse Park. just add on to those. could have equal # of male and female schollies so no IX implications. Have vet school to help with care of animals. Goes along with ag college while also adding prestige as an Olympic sport. have often wondered why we weren't already involved there.

[RocketDawg]

Equestrian. Already have usable facilities at Horse Park. just add on to those. could have equal # of male and female schollies so no IX implications. Have vet school to help with care of animals. Goes along with ag college while also adding prestige as an Olympic sport. have often wondered why we weren't already involved there.

Great idea, and a very nice sport to boot. I'm with you ... why don't we already have it.

And I'm all for curling too. We would without a doubt be the only Southern school with a curling team. Way back in the '70s, UAH had the only hockey team among Southern colleges, and it was immensely popular. It was Club level at the time (which I understand MSU's team is) but is now Division I and I think the only Div I team in the South. So why not curling? It's got to be super cheap to implement and we could import some more northern tier and Canadian athletes. Could have both men's and women's teams.

[M.Fillmore]

Laugh all you want but NCAA women's bowling is the way to go. It is the most cost effective sport (dollars for Title IX numbers). Vandy did this 10 years ago and has won a Natty. Nebraska is the big power but schools like Sam Houston State and Stephen F Austin have won Nattys in the last five years.

We could fund a team without a lot of money and be a National power quickly. Why pay a lot of money to be an also ran in some other sport?

[fishwater99]

Swimming and Diving...

[Coach34]

Lacrosse and women's gym would be solid choices

[Johnson85]

Laugh all you want but NCAA women's bowling is the way to go. It is the most cost effective sport (dollars for Title IX numbers). Vandy did this 10 years ago and has won a Natty. Nebraska is the big power but schools like Sam Houston State and Stephen F Austin have won Nattys in the last five years.

We could fund a team without a lot of money and be a National power quickly. Why pay a lot of money to be an also ran in some other sport?

Women's bowling is great if you are looking for a cost effective way to add men's sports. If we were to add a men's sport, women's bowling would probably be at the top of the list to balance things out for title ix. That and field hockey, maybe shooting.

[Johnson85]

I'm with this guy. Ladies Gymnastics (as the only such varsity squad in MS) would be an instant hit. It wouldn't require too much in capital expense to house/equip. This would be a revenue positive success. The hardest ticket to get at AL isn't football.....it's ladies gymnastics.

I may be showing my ignorance, but that seems unlikely to me. Even if they could just drag all the equipment into the Hump so that no new building was required, I wouldn't think women's gymnastics would produce enough revenue to even cover the scholarships. Hell, baseball has not been a revenue sport in the past and they've barely had to cover scholarships. I guess there is a lot more travel for baseball than gym though.

[BulldogBear]

Actually, you're right. I don't understand the sport, but probably could with time. And it probably wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to implement, other than scholarships. They could use Davis Wade, and that would work well because of the Indian burial grounds (it's my understanding that lacrosse was "invented" by the Indians).

It is similar too and came out of Indian Stickball. I started watching it some a while back. It is actually fairly interesting with elements of soccer, football, and baseball kind of wrapped up in one sport. Most schools seem to play it on the football field. It's interesting enough that if we had a team I would certainly follow them and go to a couple of games.

[Jarius]

I would be ok cutting some sports that people already don't give a crap about. Certainly don't want to add any more. No need to take money away from the major sports who are already underfunded compared to the rest of the conference (I realize that the major sports have a lot of money compared to the rest of the country, but we aren't competing against the rest of the country, we are competing against the SEC).

[Reason2succeed]

I would be ok cutting some sports that people already don't give a crap about. Certainly don't want to add any more. No need to take money away from the major sports who are already underfunded compared to the rest of the conference (I realize that the major sports have a lot of money compared to the rest of the country, but we aren't competing against the rest of the country, we are competing against the SEC).

I'm with this guy. Increase funding and become more competitive in sports we already have. The likelihood of adding a sport now and winning a NC in that sport in the next 20 years is very doubtful.

Plus, all those extra sports create the possibility of more "mistakes" being made. Ask the Bearsharks.

[spbdawg]

#

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Dodgeball. Just remember the 5 D's. Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. I could coach it. I'd thrown wrenches at 'em.

[SapperDawg]

LAX all day. As the popularity of the sport moves through the South, we would be the first SEC team to field a D1 program. Look at what Denver has done with their program as the first out west.

[maroonmania]

Women's lingerie football team. Hey, it combines football and scantily clad women. How can you go wrong with that combination. :)

[Taog Redloh]

I'd rather give our existing sports more money.

Some of you forget that we are a school located in a small/poor state. Why supplement other sports?

[BulldogBear]

LAX all day. As the popularity of the sport moves through the South, we would be the first SEC team to field a D1 program. Look at what Denver has done with their program as the first out west.

Yep. Make no mistake, Lacrosse is headed to the South. It will be here eventually. The first two or three SEC schools to start up will be powerhouses in the Sport for decades.

[RougeDawg]

Lacrosse. **

Lacrosse teams with dual sport players.**

[SapperDawg]

Yep. Make no mistake, Lacrosse is headed to the South. It will be here eventually. The first two or three SEC schools to start up will be powerhouses in the Sport for decades.

No doubt. A great friend of mine is the head coach at Albany Univeristy in NY. The SEC getting in the LAX game is worrying him.

[Coach34]

Lacrosse is growing quickly here in Shreve. I think it will spread faster than soccer

[TaleofTwoDogs]

Why do we need to add any more sports? Please explain. A USM crowd of ten fans seating around watching soccer or lacrosse is not a meaningful way to spend the athletic budget. And the odds of ever having a SEC or national champion in any of these "new" sports is probably pretty low. Cups that don't smell, better concessions, more rest rooms, a parking garage, etc. are things that the average fan would appreciate.

[tireddawg]

I love Lacrosse & think it would be a good alternative to football in some of the smaller private high schools in MS.

I have 2 boys on the smaller side that are pretty good athletes but their mom is scared to death of them playing football but they love it. Lacrosse would be a great alternative. And with the increase of concussion & injury awareness in youth football, I think it would take off.

How would you get started trying to implement it at the youth level?

[Bothrops]

Equestrian. Already have usable facilities at Horse Park. just add on to those. could have equal # of male and female schollies so no IX implications. Have vet school to help with care of animals. Goes along with ag college while also adding prestige as an Olympic sport. have often wondered why we weren't already involved there.

I read something a while back that one of our wealthy alums is trying to get an equestrian program started. It's a natural fit, since we have the vet school and offer different studies in animal science. Only problem is having to compete with the equestrian king, Auburn.

[archdog]

Steel is just jankey as 17. Fits them to a T

[InTheIttaBenaHotSun]

Darts and we host at the Dark Horse**

[SheltonChoked]

Speaking as the father of an English rider, equestrian is ****ing expensive. You can drop $50,000 on a decent horse. Plus board and you have to have 20. Having the vet school helps.

[coastratdog]

Easy- Field Hockey

Is Field Hockey the same as Lacrosse? If so then I second it. This is becoming very popular in the high schools in Central Florida. Played a lot in the Northeast for sure. Just like soccer it can be a men's or girls team with very little equipment cost. Not sure how popular it is in MS. Also girls flag football is very popular for the title 9 people.

[BrunswickDawg]

Speaking as the father of an English rider, equestrian is ****ing expensive. You can drop $50,000 on a decent horse. Plus board and you have to have 20. Having the vet school helps.
Glad my girl is into marching band. Best flute I could buy only cost me $3,500 - and you don't have to feed it.

Actually, if we are going to look for sports/clubs that we can actually compete in look to what our Bass Fishing Team has done and put some money in them. Why don't we have a rodeo team? Sport Shooting/Archery? My grad school had the national champion water ski team when I was there. Look for things with little overhead and facilities requirements.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Crochet.****

Crochet is making blankets and stockings and mittens and stuff. I assume you mean croquet (involves mallet, balls, and wickets). Remind me to call Stricklin and tell him that TrapGame is not qualified to be the MSU croquet coach!

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Water polo. We have Eckie's pond, and the vet school could teach the horses to swim.

[shannondawg]

Haven't watched the gymnastics much, but what amazed me was there were full houses at all the events .



I'm with this guy. Ladies Gymnastics (as the only such varsity squad in MS) would be an instant hit. It wouldn't require too much in capital expense to house/equip. This would be a revenue positive success. The hardest ticket to get at AL isn't football.....it's ladies gymnastics.

[BulldogBear]

Crochet is making blankets and stockings and mittens and stuff. I assume you mean croquet (involves mallet, balls, and wickets). Remind me to call Stricklin and tell him that TrapGame is not qualified to be the MSU croquet coach!

My wife does crochet and is very good. She could be the coach! But she hates when I call it "Crotch-it"

[JETDAWG]

For sure Jack, throw some extra coin towards the big 3

[Fred Garvin]

should we add any additional sports? If so which ones? My vote soccer.

What sport is MS high schools best positioned to feed players into?

[spbdawg]

#

[sleepy dawg]

Women's gymnastics is a no-brainer. It will generate the most interest..

[MSUDawg99]

we don't have a soccer team?

Yes we have a soccer team. A women's team.