Quick Thoughts...

[ShotgunDawg]

1. College football is in trouble long term. The current business model of very few competitive games that matter doesn't work. We can argue about the solutions but something has to change in a major way if this sport is going to continue to grow & survive long term. I see apathy from the media & administrators though. The are focusing on the quarterly returns instead of the long-term future of the sport.

2. Is baseball attendance next? The MSU fan base & administration have managed to destroy basketball & football attendance already. Why stop there? Let's move on & destroy baseball attendance while we're at it. Do people not like coming to Starkville anymore?

3. I don't see how we are going to matchup with Kentucky in the trenches. If MSU is to wins this game, our OL will have to play it's best game.

4. Davis Wade Stadium needs a massive renovation & makeover. It's just not good enough currently. Instead of building a new bad-mitten dome, perhaps MSU should invest in the stadium of it's cash cow. Just a thought. And don't give me the "write a check" BS. If MSU fans have to suffer through 100 degree 11:00 AM games, then those fans should at least see the benefit of that money going to towards their comfort in the football stadium not the bad-mitten dome.

5. If we're going to continue down the road of these 11:00 games, why not schedule all of them prior to the year? Yes, I know how the TV contracts work, but it shouldn't be that hard for the SEC to look at the schedules in July & pick out mid-tier games for the 11:00 AM time slot. I think people being able to prepare for the 11:00 games months in advance would help the attendance of those games. At very worst, it's worth a shot to see if it helps. Maybe the university could plan events after those games to bring more people in.

6. Could Ole Miss have gotten a better time slot this week vs Cal? Playing a Pacific time zone team at 11:00 AM in the CT. That means Cal's body clock will be at 9:00 AM. Awesome break for Ole Miss here. Watch out for Cal in the 2nd half though once they wake up.

7. The speed at which some of you trust coaches & administrators that have not earned it is very concerning. I'm not sure if you're being genuine or if you just prefer to bury your head in the sand. Do you live the rest of your life like that?

8. The students need to pick it up. We all know the student section will be virtually empty on Saturday. Not sure where they went.

9. Auburn will get beat Saturday night by A&M because Bo Nix simply isn't good enough. Bo Nix's recruiting ranking in one of the worst I've ever seen. Right there with Montez Sweat's 3 star. I wish there was some accountability for rankings that are that bad. Like someone needs to be fired.

10. My favorite quote of the week on this board: "I like the idea of Joe Moorhead, but I just don't think he's the guy." I agree 100% with this.

11. JoMo's 1st down play calling has been awful. It destroys his offense. On offense he calls a play for what he wants to do, not for what will actually work

[Jack Lambert]

1. College football is in trouble long term. The current business model of very few competitive games that matter doesn't work. We can argue about the solutions but something has to change in a major way if this sport is going to continue to grow & survive long term. I see apathy from the media & administrators though. The are focusing on the quarterly returns instead of the long-term future of the sport.

2. Is baseball attendance next? The MSU fan base & administration have managed to destroy basketball & football attendance already. Why stop there? Let's move on & destroy baseball attendance while we're at it. Do people not like coming to Starkville anymore?

3. I don't see how we are going to matchup with Kentucky in the trenches. If MSU is to wins this game, our OL will have to play it's best game.

4. Davis Wade Stadium needs a massive renovation & makeover. It's just not good enough currently. Instead of building a new bad-mitten dome, perhaps MSU should invest in the stadium of it's cash cow. Just a thought. And don't give me the "write a check" BS. If MSU fans have to suffer through 100 degree 11:00 AM games, then those fans should at least see the benefit of that money going to towards their comfort in the football stadium not the bad-mitten dome.

5. If we're going to continue down the road of these 11:00 games, why not schedule all of them prior to the year? Yes, I know how the TV contracts work, but it shouldn't be that hard for the SEC to look at the schedules in July & pick out mid-tier games for the 11:00 AM time slot. I think people being able to prepare for the 11:00 games months in advance would help the attendance of those games. At very worst, it's worth a shot to see if it helps. Maybe the university could plan events after those games to bring more people in.

6. Could Ole Miss have gotten a better time slot this week vs Cal? Playing a Pacific time zone team at 11:00 AM in the CT. That means Cal's body clock will be at 9:00 AM. Awesome break for Ole Miss here. Watch out for Cal in the 2nd half though once they wake up.

7. The speed at which some of you trust coaches & administrators that have not earned it is very concerning. I'm not sure if you're being genuine or if you just prefer to bury your head in the sand. Do you live the rest of your life like that?

8. The students need to pick it up. We all know the student section will be virtually empty on Saturday. Not sure where they went.

9. Auburn will get beat Saturday night by A&M because Bo Nix simply isn't good enough. Bo Nix's recruiting ranking in one of the worst I've ever seen. Right there with Montez Sweat's 3 star. I wish there was some accountability for rankings that are that bad. Like someone needs to be fired.

10. My favorite quote of the week on this board: "I like the idea of Joe Moorhead, but I just don't think he's the guy." I agree 100% with this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMsrE-9CLFg

[ShotgunDawg]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMsrE-9CLFg

Always enjoy your analysis

[Jack Lambert]

Always enjoy your analysis

Thanks!

[1bigdawg]

I agree that attendance and revenue would be increased by putting some cover over the stands to help with the sun. It would be nice to make other "comfort" changes, but that is the big one.

One problem with poor attendance at early games is that people get into the habit of not coming.

Also, with the lights closer to the field because they would be at the end of the cover, the field would have better lighting for night games and there be less of a bug problem.

[AROB44]

Some times you should keep your thoughts to yourself.

[Tbonewannabe]

1. College football is in trouble long term. The current business model of very few competitive games that matter doesn't work. We can argue about the solutions but something has to change in a major way if this sport is going to continue to grow & survive long term. I see apathy from the media & administrators though. The are focusing on the quarterly returns instead of the long-term future of the sport.
I agree, somehow there are less Cinderella stories in football and it takes away from it. It has been a few years since I even watched the Playoff games. I might have watched 1/2 of a game total between the Playoffs and Championship.

2. Is baseball attendance next? The MSU fan base & administration have managed to destroy basketball & football attendance already. Why stop there? Let's move on & destroy baseball attendance while we're at it. Do people not like coming to Starkville anymore?
If they didn't kill it with the Leftfield changes along with the new stadium deal then I don't think anything will change for MSU baseball.

3. I don't see how we are going to matchup with Kentucky in the trenches. If MSU is to wins this game, our OL will have to play it's best game.
UK had a great game against UF but they weren't this dominant against the other teams. One thing is disappointing is our Oline play. They have a good bit of experience but aren't much better than the Dline who has no experience whatsoever. How our Oline plays will be the difference in the game especially with Tommy less than 100%.

4. Davis Wade Stadium needs a massive renovation & makeover. It's just not good enough currently. Instead of building a new bad-mitten dome, perhaps MSU should invest in the stadium of it's cash cow. Just a thought. And don't give me the "write a check" BS. If MSU fans have to suffer through 100 degree 11:00 AM games, then those fans should at least see the benefit of that money going to towards their comfort in the football stadium not the bad-mitten dome.
We are correcting our facilities with the tennis court. I think we were one of the few in the SEC without an indoor court. Football needs to be upgraded but it isn't below par in the SEC.

5. If we're going to continue down the road of these 11:00 games, why not schedule all of them prior to the year? Yes, I know how the TV contracts work, but it shouldn't be that hard for the SEC to look at the schedules in July & pick out mid-tier games for the 11:00 AM time slot. I think people being able to prepare for the 11:00 games months in advance would help the attendance of those games. At very worst, it's worth a shot to see if it helps. Maybe the university could plan events after those games to bring more people in.

I think they should divide up the 11 AM games so every team gets a certain amount and that would shut up Bama. Then if you get the National Game of the Week on CBS, it cost you a night game for the privilege. It wouldn't fly because of ratings but it would be the most fair policy.

6. Could Ole Miss have gotten a better time slot this week vs Cal? Playing a Pacific time zone team at 11:00 AM in the CT. That means Cal's body clock will be at 9:00 AM. Awesome break for Ole Miss here. Watch out for Cal in the 2nd half though once they wake up.
Ole Miss is playing hard but we will see what happens when they play someone with talent. They certainly lucked up against Cal though. The NFL has proven that West Coast teams in the early slot always struggle at least early.

7. The speed at which some of you trust coaches & administrators that have not earned it is very concerning. I'm not sure if you're being genuine or if you just prefer to bury your head in the sand. Do you live the rest of your life like that?
Just going by Joe's track record prior to coming to MSU, he has shown to be a winner. Now last year was disappointing due to the great defense but the games against AU and A&M give me hope. I don't know if I have ever seen a team so snake bit as MSU right now. Along with inheriting a very imbalanced recruiting class, we have the suspensions and injury to our starting QB. I will say that Joe has to produce but I would look at the entire picture or else you would have fired Dan Mullen in 2011.

8. The students need to pick it up. We all know the student section will be virtually empty on Saturday. Not sure where they went.
This is a problem at almost every school. I don't know if it is a societal problem or if part of it is due to your first statement.

9. Auburn will get beat Saturday night by A&M because Bo Nix simply isn't good enough. Bo Nix's recruiting ranking in one of the worst I've ever seen. Right there with Montez Sweat's 3 star. I wish there was some accountability for rankings that are that bad. Like someone needs to be fired.

Nix is a true freshman and Malzahn has proven time and again that he doesn't actually develop QBs. Not all true freshmen are going to be Fromm or Tua. This is one reason that we need to give Shrader slack.

10. My favorite quote of the week on this board: "I like the idea of Joe Moorhead, but I just don't think he's the guy." I agree 100% with this.
I can't definitely understand this mindset. I am not 100% sold on his offense being successful against SEC speed defense. He feasted on the shitty SEC defenses last year and had a perfect game plan against AU which was the one good defense he did well against. I think if we had ran the AU game plan all of last year then we win 9-11 games but that is me blowing smoke. At the end of the day, I am going to pull for Joe this year. If at the end of the year, we are staring down 3-5 wins then I think we might need to make a change. I will give him the benefit of the doubt until then. It does nothing to pull against the team now except make the fans look delusional.

11. JoMo's 1st down play calling has been awful. It destroys his offense. On offense he calls a play for what he wants to do, not for what will actually work
We have ran on first down which is what everyone has called for and now that it didn't work you want him to pass more? Do you think that maybe Joe went into the game knowing Tommy wasn't 100% so he was going to lean on the run game? Then he has a true freshman in his first big game and he then wants to lean on the run game. Some of the fans will not be happy no matter the playcalling. I will say that the 3rd and 2 along with the last series made me so damn angry that I could have fired him myself after the game. All coaches have dumbass instances though. If you think they don't, look at Auburn's kick six. Do you think Saban would still kick a fg if he thought about a possible return?

[Tbonewannabe]

I agree that attendance and revenue would be increased by putting some cover over the stands to help with the sun. It would be nice to make other "comfort" changes, but that is the big one.

One problem with poor attendance at early games is that people get into the habit of not coming.

Also, with the lights closer to the field because they would be at the end of the cover, the field would have better lighting for night games and there be less of a bug problem.

Any engineers/construction guys want to give us what it would cost to put a partial dome on our stadium?

[ShotgunDawg]

I agree that attendance and revenue would be increased by putting some cover over the stands to help with the sun. It would be nice to make other "comfort" changes, but that is the big one.

One problem with poor attendance at early games is that people get into the habit of not coming.

Also, with the lights closer to the field because they would be at the end of the cover, the field would have better lighting for night games and there be less of a bug problem.

Good thoughts,

I don't think 11:00 AM games will ever match night games in attendance, but we can make it better than it currently is. Schedule them prior to the season, so that everyone knows months in advance. That will offer enough time for people to make plans, for the university to make plans, & for everyone to put their best foot forward to make sure it's not a wasted Saturday.

The other thing is that I believe the 11:00 AM games should be weighted towards the Eastern Time zone SEC team because they are 12:00 games for them. I realize they can't exclusively do that, but perhaps every SEC West team gets 1 11:00 game per year that is scheduled in advance & the SEC East teams get 1+ however many more are needed to fill out the schedule.

[ShotgunDawg]

Some times you should keep your thoughts to yourself.

That's what she said

[Lord McBuckethead]

Everything on this list can be fixed by winning, except Bo Nix. Who gives a 17.

[Lord McBuckethead]

That's what she said

That's not how that works?

[confucius say]

From your other thread, so I am clear, are you or are you not advocating fans not going to games right now bc of being unhappy with the program?

[ShotgunDawg]

Any engineers/construction guys want to give us what it would cost to put a partial dome on our stadium?

A heated/cooled dome wouldn't work. I personally like the idea of extended roofing like Washington's Husky Stadium, but, if you wanted something completely covered, then I'd go with something similar to the Seattle Mariners retractable roof, which basically acts like an umbrella but it's still outside.

Seattle's Safeco Field was built for about $520 mil in 1999 with a retractable roof while Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark that does not have a retractable roof opened in 2003 at a cost of $290 Million.

With Construction costs being more expensive Seattle than Cincinnati & Safeco being a generally nicer ballpark, my guess is that a retractable roof cost somewhere around $200 mil. For that amount of money, we may as well just tear DWS down & rebuild something similar to Stamford Bridge, which seats around 50K.

I really think the English Premier league soccer stadiums are the best model for the future. They are intimate & covered. Makes much more sense than the way American stadium architecture went. Instead of massive 100K seat stadiums, college football needs more equivalents to Cameron Indoor, Fenway Park, & Fog Allen

https://cdn.civitatis.com/reino-unido/londres/tour-estadio-stamford-bridge.jpg

https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03341/stamfordbridge2_3341902b.jpg

[ShotgunDawg]

From your other thread, so I am clear, are you or are you not advocating fans not going to games right now bc of being unhappy with the program?

Just said you can't blame them. I hope they show up

[Pollodawg]

The entire university of worse off than it was five years ago.

1.) Our academic reputation is plummeting.
2.) We’ve thrown open the doors to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who can make a 19 on the ACT. That’s a joke.
3.) The future of the bell-cow of athletics doesn’t feel like it’s trending in the right direction.
4.) Tution continues to climb with decline on ROI.
5.) The game day experience is getting worse. Nobody will drop a $1,000 to spend a weekend in Starkville and watch a 6-6 program hang on tooth and nail to avoid the abyss.
6.) There’s a general decline in interest in college sports across the board.
7.) It’s all fairy dust. Not a word spoken here nor game played anywhere means shit in the real world stacked against the reality that Americans are spewing more vitriol at one another on opposite sides of the pole than many can remember, and the world seems more dangerous and scary than ever.
8.) And are we shocked that the generation we’ve harangued since they were children doesn’t care about spending time with us anymore?
9.) I can tell you, for myself, this does t mean much to me anymore.
10.) It’s all in the tank, folks, and there’s little more to be done other than for a gent to lay on the couch, drink wine, and read poetry.

[ShotgunDawg]

The entire university of worse off than it was five years ago.

1.) Our academic reputation is plummeting.
2.) We’ve thrown open the doors to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who can make a 19 on the ACT. That’s a joke.
3.) The future of the bell-cow of athletics doesn’t feel like it’s trending in the right direction.
4.) Tution continues to climb with decline on ROI.
5.) The game day experience is getting worse. Nobody will drop a $1,000 to spend a weekend in Starkville and watch a 6-6 program hang on tooth and nail to avoid the abyss.
6.) There’s a general decline in interest in college sports across the board.
7.) It’s all fairy dust. Not a word spoken here nor game played anywhere means shit in the real world stacked against the reality that Americans are spewing more vitriol at one another on opposite sides of the pole than many can remember, and the world seems more dangerous and scary than ever.
8.) And are we shocked that the generation we’ve harangued since they were children doesn’t care about spending time with us anymore?
9.) I can tell you, for myself, this does t mean much to me anymore.
10.) It’s all in the tank, folks, and there’s little more to be done other than for a gent to lay on the coach, drink wine, and read poetry.

At point 7 you kind of went off the rails a bit

[Tbonewannabe]

A heated/cooled dome wouldn't work. I personally like the idea of extended roofing like Washington's Husky Stadium, but, if you wanted something completely covered, then I'd go with something similar to the Seattle Mariners retractable roof, which basically acts like an umbrella but it's still outside.

Seattle's Safeco Field was built for about $520 mil in 1999 with a retractable roof while Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark that does not have a retractable roof opened in 2003 at a cost of $290 Million.

With Construction costs being more expensive Seattle than Cincinnati & Safeco being a generally nicer ballpark, my guess is that a retractable roof cost somewhere around $200 mil. For that amount of money, we may as well just tear DWS down & rebuild something similar to Stamford Bridge, which seats around 50K.

I really think the English Premier league soccer stadiums are the best model for the future. They are intimate & covered. Makes much more sense than the way American stadium architecture went. Instead of massive 100K seat stadiums, college football needs more equivalents to Cameron Indoor, Fenway Park, & Fog Allen

https://cdn.civitatis.com/reino-unido/londres/tour-estadio-stamford-bridge.jpg

https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03341/stamfordbridge2_3341902b.jpg

That place looks cool.

[Jack Lambert]

That's not how that works?

From my experience if you are doing her right she is unable to speak how ever I have had my wife get sacrilegious by calling me "Dear Jesus" and "Oh God".

[Pollodawg]

At point 7 you kind of went off the rails a bit

Point seven is the main one. Where do sports effect your life in any real sense?

[confucius say]

Just said you can't blame them. I hope they show up

Cool. I hope they do too.

I do disagree that you cannot blame them though.

[ShotgunDawg]

That place looks cool.

No doubt. It's the type of stadium we need.

[Tbonewannabe]

The entire university of worse off than it was five years ago.

1.) Our academic reputation is plummeting.
2.) We’ve thrown open the doors to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who can make a 19 on the ACT. That’s a joke.
3.) The future of the bell-cow of athletics doesn’t feel like it’s trending in the right direction.
4.) Tution continues to climb with decline on ROI.
5.) The game day experience is getting worse. Nobody will drop a $1,000 to spend a weekend in Starkville and watch a 6-6 program hang on tooth and nail to avoid the abyss.
6.) There’s a general decline in interest in college sports across the board.
7.) It’s all fairy dust. Not a word spoken here nor game played anywhere means shit in the real world stacked against the reality that Americans are spewing more vitriol at one another on opposite sides of the pole than many can remember, and the world seems more dangerous and scary than ever.
8.) And are we shocked that the generation we’ve harangued since they were children doesn’t care about spending time with us anymore?
9.) I can tell you, for myself, this does t mean much to me anymore.
10.) It’s all in the tank, folks, and there’s little more to be done other than for a gent to lay on the couch, drink wine, and read poetry.

1.) Not sure if it is plummeting but not making that one list is worrisome.
2.) I believe the average ACT score is up. Seems like it is a 26 for incoming freshmen.
3.) I am certainly worried about how Joe will finish the year but I will give him the entire year before making a knee jerk reaction.
4.) This is happening everywhere.
5.) I believe the rising costs is probably driving attendance down. Our program has been closer to 6-6 than anything else so it isn't like we are Bama who now is suffering from a shitty coach. So far Moorhead was slightly better in his first year than Mullen's average over 9 years. Mullen is our 2nd best coach in winning percentage so that is a tough comparison.
6.) I agree with this in general.

[Tbonewannabe]

Point seven is the main one. Where do sports effect your life in any real sense?

I have let how much it affects me go for the most part. I used to get mad at a football loss and would stay mad for several days. I now think how does winning a National Title truly affect me. I would remember it but if it wasn't the same 5 teams winning it, would you remember who won 5 years ago? I don't think I could tell you. I am a lot happier for it.

[Pollodawg]

The fact of the matter is that all sports are period is entertainment. Athletes are entertainers. It allows people to escape from their lives for a minute, have a beer, live vicariously through something else for a while like you do at the movies.

That’s it. I know you’re not supposed to say that, but that’s what it is....

[Pollodawg]

1.) Not sure if it is plummeting but not making that one list is worrisome.
2.) I believe the average ACT score is up. Seems like it is a 26 for incoming freshmen.
3.) I am certainly worried about how Joe will finish the year but I will give him the entire year before making a knee jerk reaction.
4.) This is happening everywhere.
5.) I believe the rising costs is probably driving attendance down. Our program has been closer to 6-6 than anything else so it isn't like we are Bama who now is suffering from a shitty coach. So far Moorhead was slightly better in his first year than Mullen's average over 9 years. Mullen is our 2nd best coach in winning percentage so that is a tough comparison.
6.) I agree with this in general.

Yessir.

[ShotgunDawg]

The fact of the matter is that all sports are period is entertainment. Athletes are entertainers. It allows people to escape from their lives for a minute, have a beer, live vicariously through something else for a while like you do at the movies.

That’s it. I know you’re not supposed to say that, but that’s what it is....

Agree, but if we're going to pay people millions of dollars to coach it & invest millions of dollars into it, then we may as well demand winning

[Pollodawg]

Agree, but if we're going to pay people millions of dollars to coach it & invest millions of dollars into it, then we may as well demand winning

Absolutely. If we pay directors and actors millions, and the movie/franchise doesn’t deliver, we find other things to do. We spend our money elsewhere.

[ShotgunDawg]

Absolutely. If we pay directors and actors millions, and the movie/franchise doesn?t deliver, we find other things to do. We spend our money elsewhere.

And another thing: We can't ever forget that right or wrong, sports are the front porch of the school.

MSU will receive more promotion & advertisement in sports that it could ever achieve in any other way.

Don't fool yourself, when you look at success of institutions such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc some & if not a good bit of that success on the academic side is due to the success of their football programs. For years upon years their football program promoted the school, which led to better & better students being attracted there.

If you love the school side of MSU, then it's important to realize that success on the athletic fields helps that side & attracts better students

[Tbonewannabe]

And another thing: We can't ever forget that right or wrong, sports are the front porch of the school.

MSU will receive more promotion & advertisement in sports that it could ever achieve in any other way.

Don't fool yourself, when you look at success of institutions such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc some & if not a good bit of that success on the academic side is due to the success of their football programs. For years upon years their football program promoted the school, which led to better & better students being attracted there.

If you love the school side of MSU, then it's important to realize that success on the athletic fields helps that side & attracts better students

It is probably the most important function of sports. It truly is the college's biggest form of Marketing.

[ShotgunDawg]

It is probably the most important function of sports. It truly is the college's biggest form of Marketing.

Without a doubt & makes winning & putting an attractive product on the field all the more important

[Pollodawg]

And another thing: We can't ever forget that right or wrong, sports are the front porch of the school.

MSU will receive more promotion & advertisement in sports that it could ever achieve in any other way.

Don't fool yourself, when you look at success of institutions such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc some & if not a good bit of that success on the academic side is due to the success of their football programs. For years upon years their football program promoted the school, which led to better & better students being attracted there.

If you love the school side of MSU, then it's important to realize that success on the athletic fields helps that side & attracts better students

100% agree. Even I, great indifferent patron that I am, have logged 3k+ posts on a sport’s message board. It just diminishes the older I get, and I expect that’s true for many. I’d rather save and take the wife and kids to Disney or Hawaii than drop that coin on the BDC and season tix. I speak only for me, but that very freedom is why I post here and not on the other board where the maroon commies lurk, led by Two Fat Comrades where you’re not allowed to not be a hive-minded worker bee.

[crackerjax]

And another thing: We can't ever forget that right or wrong, sports are the front porch of the school.

MSU will receive more promotion & advertisement in sports that it could ever achieve in any other way.

Don't fool yourself, when you look at success of institutions such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc some & if not a good bit of that success on the academic side is due to the success of their football programs. For years upon years their football program promoted the school, which led to better & better students being attracted there.

If you love the school side of MSU, then it's important to realize that success on the athletic fields helps that side & attracts better students

This is true. I?ve heard university administrators at both State and Ole Miss talk about the significant bump in admissions applications that comes when the football team is doing well and getting lots of publicity.

[BrunswickDawg]

This is true. I?ve heard university administrators at both State and Ole Miss talk about the significant bump in admissions applications that comes when the football team is doing well and getting lots of publicity.

It's not just football -
I literally sent my SAT score to State because of the 1985 & 1990 CWS appearances - that's the only knowledge I had that the school even existed.

[sonofozarka]

1. College football is in trouble long term. The current business model of very few competitive games that matter doesn't work. We can argue about the solutions but something has to change in a major way if this sport is going to continue to grow & survive long term. I see apathy from the media & administrators though. The are focusing on the quarterly returns instead of the long-term future of the sport.



This is a good topic, I think college football fandom has peaked and is on the 2nd/3rd yr of a downward trend, but that doesn't mean it's "doomed" or destined to go away completely.

Just because it's not going to grow anymore doesn't mean it can't still be extremely profitable and "level off" at attendance/interest levels of let's say 1990. Even if 85K still consistently came to Bama and UT games, and 45K came to State/OM games, that would still be a huge cash cow, just not the obscene amount of money college athletics is making now.

Plus tv contracts are the primary cash cow, and the cable/cord-cutting industry and the unknowns of how that will work out will determine how lucrative tv deals will be in the future, which is the lifeblood of athletic revenue.

But yes, competitive imbalance and basically knowing that there are 5 teams that the 4 team playoff should come from every yr (Bama, Clemson, UGA, OU, & Ohio St... with the potential of a run someday by Texas, USC, or Notre Dame) make the week to week of the season not compelling.

1st of all, I think the game would be a lot more interesting if Power 5 teams played only against other Power 5 teams (maybe ONE G5 game or a G5 game for the Spring game). I just don't see the point in buying season tickets anymore when I don't have any interest in seeing us play Abliene or ULL, those teams don't belong on the field w/ an SEC team anymore, not to mention one like UGA/Bama. That would get rid of these weeks where EVERYONE is playing a non-competitive game for the first 3 weeks of the season (and the next to last week for SEC teams)

[SheltonChoked]

A heated/cooled dome wouldn't work. I personally like the idea of extended roofing like Washington's Husky Stadium, but, if you wanted something completely covered, then I'd go with something similar to the Seattle Mariners retractable roof, which basically acts like an umbrella but it's still outside.

Seattle's Safeco Field was built for about $520 mil in 1999 with a retractable roof while Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark that does not have a retractable roof opened in 2003 at a cost of $290 Million.

With Construction costs being more expensive Seattle than Cincinnati & Safeco being a generally nicer ballpark, my guess is that a retractable roof cost somewhere around $200 mil. For that amount of money, we may as well just tear DWS down & rebuild something similar to Stamford Bridge, which seats around 50K.

I really think the English Premier league soccer stadiums are the best model for the future. They are intimate & covered. Makes much more sense than the way American stadium architecture went. Instead of massive 100K seat stadiums, college football needs more equivalents to Cameron Indoor, Fenway Park, & Fog Allen

https://cdn.civitatis.com/reino-unido/londres/tour-estadio-stamford-bridge.jpg

https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03341/stamfordbridge2_3341902b.jpg

Looks like what Houston did for it's soccer stadium.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/BBVA_Compass_Stadium_Midfield_Panoramic.JPG/900px-BBVA_Compass_Stadium_Midfield_Panoramic.JPG

Too bad those designs are HORRIBLE for heat.

[vv83]

1.) Not sure if it is plummeting but not making that one list is worrisome.
2.) I believe the average ACT score is up. Seems like it is a 26 for incoming freshmen.
3.) I am certainly worried about how Joe will finish the year but I will give him the entire year before making a knee jerk reaction.
4.) This is happening everywhere.
5.) I believe the rising costs is probably driving attendance down. Our program has been closer to 6-6 than anything else so it isn't like we are Bama who now is suffering from a shitty coach. So far Moorhead was slightly better in his first year than Mullen's average over 9 years. Mullen is our 2nd best coach in winning percentage so that is a tough comparison.
6.) I agree with this in general.

Not saying you’re wrong but do you have something you can link about the ACT scores being 26? I find that insanely difficult to believe. Anyone who can’t get into state school in FL,GA, and AL come to state if they want SEC. 19 sounds right to me

[BrunswickDawg]

Not saying you’re wrong but do you have something you can link about the ACT scores being 26? I find that insanely difficult to believe. Anyone who can’t get into state school in FL,GA, and AL come to state if they want SEC. 19 sounds right to me

The average freshman ACT score is 25.6-

https://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/about-msu/msu-in-brief/statistics/

[RocketDawg]

Not saying you’re wrong but do you have something you can link about the ACT scores being 26? I find that insanely difficult to believe. Anyone who can’t get into state school in FL,GA, and AL come to state if they want SEC. 19 sounds right to me

The University has sent information regarding entering freshman entrance exam scores, and 26 on the ACT is about right. That's not outstanding, but it's not bad either. The bad part is that you only need a 16 to gain admission, and a person could guess at answers and score that high. That's because of the infamous Ayers court ruling. But fortunately, 16 isn't the average. Most students are pretty good.

Has the ACT gotten easier over the years? I've heard that it has, but don't really know. Pretty sure the SAT has gotten easier though.

[RocketDawg]

The average freshman ACT score is 25.6-

https://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/about-msu/msu-in-brief/statistics/


They need to fix the entry in line 6. It should say the average entering SAT is 1210.

[BrunswickDawg]

The University has sent information regarding entering freshman entrance exam scores, and 26 on the ACT is about right. That's not outstanding, but it's not bad either. The bad part is that you only need a 16 to gain admission, and a person could guess at answers and score that high. That's because of the infamous Ayers court ruling. But fortunately, 16 isn't the average. Most students are pretty good.

Has the ACT gotten easier over the years? I've heard that it has, but don't really know. Pretty sure the SAT has gotten easier though.

This article says the ACT has gotten harder - especially the essay section

https://blog.prepscholar.com/is-the-act-getting-harder-over-the-years

[IMissJack]

The entire university of worse off than it was five years ago.

1.) Our academic reputation is plummeting.
2.) We?ve thrown open the doors to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who can make a 19 on the ACT. That?s a joke.
3.) The future of the bell-cow of athletics doesn?t feel like it?s trending in the right direction.
4.) Tution continues to climb with decline on ROI.
5.) The game day experience is getting worse. Nobody will drop a $1,000 to spend a weekend in Starkville and watch a 6-6 program hang on tooth and nail to avoid the abyss.
6.) There?s a general decline in interest in college sports across the board.
7.) It?s all fairy dust. Not a word spoken here nor game played anywhere means shit in the real world stacked against the reality that Americans are spewing more vitriol at one another on opposite sides of the pole than many can remember, and the world seems more dangerous and scary than ever.
8.) And are we shocked that the generation we?ve harangued since they were children doesn?t care about spending time with us anymore?
9.) I can tell you, for myself, this does t mean much to me anymore.
10.) It?s all in the tank, folks, and there?s little more to be done other than for a gent to lay on the couch, drink wine, and read poetry.

#4 is going to start killing college for a lot of people in the near future I'm afraid. #4 is also driven a lot by #1 and #2. We continue to lower our standards and let more and more students in the doors, while there are limited $ for scholarships and grants. Increased demands on the infrastructure of the university due to higher enrollment numbers continues to cause new construction, which costs $$. One day the whole "new" college scheme is going to collapse on itself.

[Tbonewannabe]

Not saying you’re wrong but do you have something you can link about the ACT scores being 26? I find that insanely difficult to believe. Anyone who can’t get into state school in FL,GA, and AL come to state if they want SEC. 19 sounds right to me

Not sure where you are finding 19 but I am almost 100% sure that it hasn't been below 22-23 since I was enrolled in the late 90s.

[HailState2008]

Maybe if we had a real AD with real experience of running a athletic program then great idea like this would be implemented on the go.

https://twitter.com/greg_byrne/status/1174792927928864776?s=21

Need to know how to adjust.

[fieldcorporal]

Badminton.

And those little Korean girls who play it are Badasses.

[RocketDawg]

#4 is going to start killing college for a lot of people in the near future I'm afraid. #4 is also driven a lot by #1 and #2. We continue to lower our standards and let more and more students in the doors, while there are limited $ for scholarships and grants. Increased demands on the infrastructure of the university due to higher enrollment numbers continues to cause new construction, which costs $$. One day the whole "new" college scheme is going to collapse on itself.

Correct. I'd rather see much more selective entrance requirements and a much higher academic rating than a champion football team. Sports costs have gotten way out of hand (and it's largely due to Saban getting $4M when other coaches were paid about 1/10th that).

[IMissJack]

Maybe if we had a real AD with real experience of running a athletic program then great idea like this would be implemented on the go.

https://twitter.com/greg_byrne/status/1174792927928864776?s=21

Need to know how to adjust.


It is times like this when you find out what your leaders are capable of. When we are winning, it is easy to put a funny billboard up.

[RocketDawg]

Badminton.

And those little Korean girls who play it are Badasses.

I suspect Shotgun's point was that we spend millions on what are really non-selfsufficient sports (like the indoor tennis facility) rather than on things that pay for themselves. Football costs are ridiculous, but donors appear to not mind and keep sending in money. I doubt you'd get too many donations earmarked for tennis.

[deadheaddawg]

lol at saying DWS needs a massive makeover. Even bigger lol that the person that said it, hasn't been there before

[MoreCowbell]

Man Shotgun, I don?t post much but I read daily and you are making this place pretty miserable. I appreciate you wanting to start 20 threads a day but it is getting repetitive and all the negativity makes this place unbearable. Take a few days off please for the love of God.

[Pollodawg]

Correct. I'd rather see much more selective entrance requirements and a much higher academic rating than a champion football team. Sports costs have gotten way out of hand (and it's largely due to Saban getting $4M when other coaches were paid about 1/10th that).


Correctamundo.

[lastmajordog]

delete

[R2Dawg]

And another thing: We can't ever forget that right or wrong, sports are the front porch of the school.

MSU will receive more promotion & advertisement in sports that it could ever achieve in any other way.

Don't fool yourself, when you look at success of institutions such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc some & if not a good bit of that success on the academic side is due to the success of their football programs. For years upon years their football program promoted the school, which led to better & better students being attracted there.

If you love the school side of MSU, then it's important to realize that success on the athletic fields helps that side & attracts better students

This is sad but true. I know tons of Bama fans from all over the country and the only reason they are there is because of football.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Dude. Drink a beer. Stop and smell the flowers. Good Lord

[timotheus]

Just one?

[DancingRabbit]

Maybe if we had a real AD with real experience of running a athletic program then great idea like this would be implemented on the go.

https://twitter.com/greg_byrne/status/1174792927928864776?s=21

Need to know how to adjust.

He had to go home to Arizona

[DancingRabbit]

And another thing: We can't ever forget that right or wrong, sports are the front porch of the school.

MSU will receive more promotion & advertisement in sports that it could ever achieve in any other way.

Don't fool yourself, when you look at success of institutions such as Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc some & if not a good bit of that success on the academic side is due to the success of their football programs. For years upon years their football program promoted the school, which led to better & better students being attracted there.

If you love the school side of MSU, then it's important to realize that success on the athletic fields helps that side & attracts better students

Wasn't this past sports year one of the best ever overall? Seems I read there weren't many schools that got a New Years day bowl, mens and womens basketball tournament teams and a baseball tournament team.

Based on what I see elsewhere, I'm OK with Dr. Keenum and John Cohen.

[Doggie_Style]

The entire university of worse off than it was five years ago.

1.) Our academic reputation is plummeting.
2.) We?ve thrown open the doors to every Tom, Dick, and Harriet who can make a 19 on the ACT. That?s a joke.
3.) The future of the bell-cow of athletics doesn?t feel like it?s trending in the right direction.
4.) Tution continues to climb with decline on ROI.
5.) The game day experience is getting worse. Nobody will drop a $1,000 to spend a weekend in Starkville and watch a 6-6 program hang on tooth and nail to avoid the abyss.
6.) There?s a general decline in interest in college sports across the board.
7.) It?s all fairy dust. Not a word spoken here nor game played anywhere means shit in the real world stacked against the reality that Americans are spewing more vitriol at one another on opposite sides of the pole than many can remember, and the world seems more dangerous and scary than ever.
8.) And are we shocked that the generation we?ve harangued since they were children doesn?t care about spending time with us anymore?
9.) I can tell you, for myself, this does t mean much to me anymore.
10.) It?s all in the tank, folks, and there?s little more to be done other than for a gent to lay on the couch, drink wine, and read poetry.

Great post....you really hit the nail on the head. At what point does a school just say screw it and go D3? Heck we could be playing Sewanee again on Saturday!

[gravedigger]

1. College football is in trouble long term. The current business model of very few competitive games that matter doesn't work. We can argue about the solutions but something has to change in a major way if this sport is going to continue to grow & survive long term. I see apathy from the media & administrators though. The are focusing on the quarterly returns instead of the long-term future of the sport.

2. Is baseball attendance next? The MSU fan base & administration have managed to destroy basketball & football attendance already. Why stop there? Let's move on & destroy baseball attendance while we're at it. Do people not like coming to Starkville anymore?

3. I don't see how we are going to matchup with Kentucky in the trenches. If MSU is to wins this game, our OL will have to play it's best game.

4. Davis Wade Stadium needs a massive renovation & makeover. It's just not good enough currently. Instead of building a new bad-mitten dome, perhaps MSU should invest in the stadium of it's cash cow. Just a thought. And don't give me the "write a check" BS. If MSU fans have to suffer through 100 degree 11:00 AM games, then those fans should at least see the benefit of that money going to towards their comfort in the football stadium not the bad-mitten dome.

5. If we're going to continue down the road of these 11:00 games, why not schedule all of them prior to the year? Yes, I know how the TV contracts work, but it shouldn't be that hard for the SEC to look at the schedules in July & pick out mid-tier games for the 11:00 AM time slot. I think people being able to prepare for the 11:00 games months in advance would help the attendance of those games. At very worst, it's worth a shot to see if it helps. Maybe the university could plan events after those games to bring more people in.

6. Could Ole Miss have gotten a better time slot this week vs Cal? Playing a Pacific time zone team at 11:00 AM in the CT. That means Cal's body clock will be at 9:00 AM. Awesome break for Ole Miss here. Watch out for Cal in the 2nd half though once they wake up.

7. The speed at which some of you trust coaches & administrators that have not earned it is very concerning. I'm not sure if you're being genuine or if you just prefer to bury your head in the sand. Do you live the rest of your life like that?

8. The students need to pick it up. We all know the student section will be virtually empty on Saturday. Not sure where they went.

9. Auburn will get beat Saturday night by A&M because Bo Nix simply isn't good enough. Bo Nix's recruiting ranking in one of the worst I've ever seen. Right there with Montez Sweat's 3 star. I wish there was some accountability for rankings that are that bad. Like someone needs to be fired.

10. My favorite quote of the week on this board: "I like the idea of Joe Moorhead, but I just don't think he's the guy." I agree 100% with this.

11. JoMo's 1st down play calling has been awful. It destroys his offense. On offense he calls a play for what he wants to do, not for what will actually work

1. No its not
2. No its not
3. you dont see......not surprised
4. No it doesnt
5. We arent doing anything. TV determines. You not understanding that makes perfect sense.
6. From complaining about early games to calling them an advantage for another team 90 miles away. See #5.
7. Please explain. On second thought, scratch that.
8. Inside during extreem heat. Like normal people
9. Recruiting rankings bad....check.
10. Wait 10 minutes. Your opinion will change and you will pretend you never expressed otherwise.
11. He wants to make yardage and it didnt work vs Kansas State. It worked in previous 2 games.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

The University has sent information regarding entering freshman entrance exam scores, and 26 on the ACT is about right. That's not outstanding, but it's not bad either. The bad part is that you only need a 16 to gain admission, and a person could guess at answers and score that high. That's because of the infamous Ayers court ruling. But fortunately, 16 isn't the average. Most students are pretty good.

Has the ACT gotten easier over the years? I've heard that it has, but don't really know. Pretty sure the SAT has gotten easier though.

ACT hasn't gotten easier, but HS's are really pushing students to prep for it, at least where I'm at:

I went to HS in '08-'12, and we had 1 free ACT prep course offered once a year after school that I barely even heard, and there was no practice course offered... just the prep course, then immediately take the real thing as a Jr. Between then at '18 when my sister in law started at the same HS, they upped everything. Now, they take the ACT as Fr for prep, the ACT prep course is offered every semester and is heavily pushed, and they take a total of 3 practice exams before the real thing. Also, they take 2 real ACTs as Jrs, not one.

So in the last 10 years my HS went from 1 unknown prep course and 1 real ACT to more prep courses, 3 practice tests, and 2 real tests... also the teachers act like you're going to starve to death if you can't get into an Ivy League school.

Why are they pushing the ACT so hard? So the principle can get promoted, that's why. ACT, GPA, graduation rates, little discipline problems (measured with suspensions and detentions) are the things measured to decide which principle or superintendent gets promoted.

End result? Schools push the ACT, don't fail anyone, and don't discipline students as that would be recorded as a discipline problem. Where I live students call teachers bitches/whores/****s and teachers know there's no point in writing them up; the administration will just tear it up and send them back to class (my wife is a substitute, that's how I know). The inmates are running the asylum.

But hey, the students have a higher GPA and ACT score now, so that's nice. Expect it's not, because those stats are rising everywhere, so relatively speaking nothing was gained

[I seen it dawg]

7. The opposite is true as well.

[ShotgunDawg]

1. No its not
2. No its not
3. you dont see......not surprised
4. No it doesnt
5. We arent doing anything. TV determines. You not understanding that makes perfect sense.
6. From complaining about early games to calling them an advantage for another team 90 miles away. See #5.
7. Please explain. On second thought, scratch that.
8. Inside during extreem heat. Like normal people
9. Recruiting rankings bad....check.
10. Wait 10 minutes. Your opinion will change and you will pretend you never expressed otherwise.
11. He wants to make yardage and it didnt work vs Kansas State. It worked in previous 2 games.

So you just happen to disagree with everything? That seems disingenuous

About number 1: yes it's a problem. Why do you think what's going on right now in the sport is good?

[ShotgunDawg]

7. The opposite is true as well.

But shouldn't trust be earned?

[gravedigger]

So you just happen to disagree with everything? That seems disingenuous

About number 1: yes it's a problem. Why do you think what's going on right now in the sport is good?

Because college football is still evolving from the late 70's with scholarship limitations, more television money and the market is driving it. College football is what consumers make it. We used to rely on sportswriters and whomever filled out the poll for the coaches. Later it went to a Championship game. now we are at a Championship series. Next will be a tournament. All driven by consumers. There are downsides. With big money comes corruption. No governing body is going to be trusted whether its called the ncaa or something else.

College football is what it is. And it's what we as consumers have demanded.

[ShotgunDawg]

Because college football is still evolving from the late 70's with scholarship limitations, more television money and the market is driving it. College football is what consumers make it. We used to rely on sportswriters and whomever filled out the poll for the coaches. Later it went to a Championship game. now we are at a Championship series. Next will be a tournament. All driven by consumers. There are downsides. With big money comes corruption. No governing body is going to be trusted whether its called the ncaa or something else.


College football is what it is. And it's what we as consumers have demanded.

But a tournament is a waste of time because 2/3 teams are waaaay better than anyone else.

A tournament will happen and it'll be the same 2/3 teams still. Perhaps them we'll
Make the correct adjustments. Or we could just the 20 year lag and make the changes now.

Point is, the games suck.

[Tbonewannabe]

But a tournament is a waste of time because 2/3 teams are waaaay better than anyone else.

A tournament will happen and it'll be the same 2/3 teams still. Perhaps them we'll
Make the correct adjustments. Or we could just the 20 year lag and make the changes now.

Point is, the games suck.

At least then you get teams like UCF that could possibly knock off one of the big boys on the right day if everything falls correctly. It also gives us a chance in 2014 if we beat UM to go to the playoffs.

[gravedigger]

But shouldn't trust be earned?

If you are wondering why our Head football coach and AD are trusted, then are you assuming that we dont know them personally?

If you mean why do we trust them given some less than desirable results on the playing field, I say I didnt start with the expectation that those things werent a possibilty in the normal co

I question what your expectations were of ANY coach or administrator. You went from 'throw the bums out' when we lost a couple of commitments at WR, to liking him again when we got Tommy Stevens, to losing your shit again when on the losing end of a game that had many factors as to why.

[gravedigger]

But a tournament is a waste of time because 2/3 teams are waaaay better than anyone else.

A tournament will happen and it'll be the same 2/3 teams still. Perhaps them we'll
Make the correct adjustments. Or we could just the 20 year lag and make the changes now.

Point is, the games suck.

If you think they suck now, you should have been in the stands in the late 70's and early 80's. Was even worse in the 60's. There were way fewer teams able to compete. It's gradually getting better. The reason pros are so even is salary caps and they still have dynasty teams and teams that suck. Our salary cap is scholarship limitations. There isnt a magic potion. What drives EVERYTHING that is not a public service like fire, police and medical services is profit and consumers. There isnt some mystical structure or organization or set of rules that will make MSU on an even playing field with Texas. Stop wringing your hands about it and stop making everyone else so miserable wringing your hands about it. It will never happen. We will have our lightening in a bottle moments but if we are fairly consistent as we have been for the last decade, our fan base is fine with that. Your 20 threads a day arent enlightening anyone.

[basedog]

If you think they suck now, you should have been in the stands in the late 70's and early 80's. Was even worse in the 60's. There were way fewer teams able to compete. It's gradually getting better. The reason pros are so even is salary caps and they still have dynasty teams and teams that suck. Our salary cap is scholarship limitations. There isnt a magic potion. What drives EVERYTHING that is not a public service like fire, police and medical services is profit and consumers. There isnt some mystical structure or organization or set of rules that will make MSU on an even playing field with Texas. Stop wringing your hands about it and stop making everyone else so miserable wringing your hands about it. It will never happen. We will have our lightening in a bottle moments but if we are fairly consistent as we have been for the last decade, our fan base is fine with that. Your 20 threads a day arent enlightening anyone.

I saw all those decades you refer to, pretty awful, Houston 74-Msu-0 I remember Jack saying after the first score, "well we better get the record book out, this is gonna be a long game"! LOL Most have not a clue, hell no beer in Starkville in those days!

[yjnkdawg]

I saw all those decades you refer to, pretty awful, Houston 74-Msu-0 I remember Jack saying after the first score, "well we better get the record book out, this is gonna be a long game"! LOL Most have not a clue, hell no beer in Starkville in those days!


Yeah, I can relate to what you are saying, and those who didn't experience it don't have a clue of how it actually was. I was in the stands for the 74-0 massacre. Bill Yeoman, the Houston Coach, poured it on, and his offense showed no mercy on us. I think Houston put a 100 on Tulsa that year too.

[basedog]

Yeah, I can relate to what you are saying, and those who didn't experience it don't have a clue of how it actually was. I was in the stands for the 74-0 massacre. Bill Yeoman, the Houston Coach, poured it on, and his offense showed no mercy on us. I think Houston put a 100 on Tulsa that year too.

I remember a few players telling me a few years later about playing in the Astro Dome. First time they had even seen Astro turf much less playing on it. To say they were over matched and in awe is an understatement!

[tcdog70]

I remember a few players telling me a few years later about playing in the Astro Dome. First time they had even seen Astro turf much less playing on it. To say they were over matched and in awe is an understatement!

Yep--times were hard on Bulldog fans. But didn't we beat Houston the next year? Shira was a worse Coach than Croom as hard is that to believe.

[basedog]

Yep--times were hard on Bulldog fans. But didn't we beat Houston the next year? Shira was a worse Coach than Croom as hard is that to believe.

Yes we did, it was a big upset! I loved Coach Shira as a man, but as a Coach, he wasn't a good head Coach at all! He had an uphill battle from day one, he actually left the program better off than what he inherited. How times have changed!

Headed out, let's roll today!