Recent Comments
We did not have the 3rd highest staff in 2001, Frank Beamer got the 3rd highest public contract for about 3 weeks until other schools past us. Stoops signed a massive deal after winning the title which was right after Frank got his deal. We have no idea what JoePa made, or what ND was paying. By 2005 our staff was outside the top 15 for public salaries.
I'm on this boat as well. I hate the idea of increasing student fees, but I also recognize that the universities are (and have been for some time now) advertising themselves as 'an experience', not just an education.
If VT is selling a 'college experience' (as opposed to a college degree), and part of that 'experience' is watching football... well, it makes sense to charge your customers enough to actually fund the experience.
Now, I don't this is how universities should be selling themselves, but from what I can tell, they're all doing it, so might as well lean in.
To be a D1 school, the NCAA requires that you offer 14 sports (at least 6 men's sports and 8 women's sports). The ACC requires you to offer football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and either women's soccer or women's volleyball.
Today, VT offers 22 sports (11 mens, 11 womens). VT offers the 8th fewest varsity sports amongst the 17 ACC programs.
GT offers the fewest varsity programs of any ACC school at 14. BC is the most at 31.
The reality is that a lot of athletes in non-revenue sports won't be getting scholarships anymore (and will thus bring revenue in the form of tuition to 'main campus')
Will never forget the story that came out of one of their bowl practices. They were forced to practice in a basketball gym due to weather and Vick goes to midcourt and throws a football through left handed...then goes to full court and throws it through right handed.
Shane was clearly a professor of the dork arts.
I feel like we need something more drastic. The things they are suggesting are okay, but unless there's an unknown agreement already in place, I don't think it's enough. I'm personally of the opinion that we need to cut everything we can that isn't football, basketball, and possibly one smaller sport to actually try and win a natty in. Pool what resource we have and whatever we can get into that and shoot our shot. Maybe it works and we can launch ourselves into a legitimate seat at the table. Maybe it doesn't, and that's how it would've gone anyways. Maybe it's already too late, but the longer we sit on our hands the closer the window gets to being shut for good.
Only if we get our own branded beach balls that are massively oversized to release during games.
They need to purchase those Metallica towers at a discount after their tour finishes and find a way to utilize those. /s
Loved Corey, still do, but no, Vick was the best player on that team, and on the field, regardless of who we played. The nadir of my Hokie life and I'm so glad I was on the train for the years before and after Mike, but I knew he was different from the first time I saw him in the spring game. Did he need that really good team to do what he did? Yep, you bet. But no doubt about it, he was the star of the show.
"severely outdated Lane Stadium videoboard."
That's personally the most concerning line of the whole thing. They installed that videoboard when I was a student so it can't be that old... well shoot.
We were (at best) complacent during the early 2000's and now are way behind and grasping at ideas that we should have had 10-15 years ago.
- We were paying top dollar 2000-2005. We had the third highest paid staff in the country in 2001
- 2005-2010, we kept pace. The biggest mistake was being too loyal to staff.
- 2010ish we started falling behind IMO. I don't think the fanbase realized until the Fuente/Baylor debacle.
- Since 2019ish, we've been playing catchup. We were so ignorant prior to that. And the market is just moving too fast. We went from having the third highest paid staff in the conference to 7th or 8th in 6 weeks
.
If your daughter wants a state school/SEC experience, I'm sure she'll be able to find it at SCAR.
If you want to spend time in nature, have a pretty campus, etc, don't go to SCar. But A lot of people don't care what the campus looks like.
So you're saying Shane was the first to try to deny his pussy touchdowns.
Once we start doing light strobes during football games I don't plan to go to another game. I don't need anymore stimuli during a game. Audio is already a problem for most of the home games, I don't need the lights to be a problem also.
Thinking a Metallica song right now... Sad but True.
Generally I agree with you that VT should prioritize student education first and I don't like the idea of increasing student fees to fund athletics. However I do think there are reasonable arguments to be made for the athletics program as advertising increasing the value of the diploma a student receives by increasing brand recognition of the university and attracting a larger pool of applicants with whom to make professional connections. If athletics fees were to increase higher than students or their family valued the potential benefits, there would still be other universities to chose from with lower fees. It's probably an option the board should at least consider.
So, you're saying I should hope my daughter doesn't go there. It's not in her top group of schools (Emory, College of Charleston, Georgia and Wake Forest) but she has it in her next group that she'd be fine with.
I can't stand the light show TD celebration and I know we will wear that shit out for the first season or two.
I'm kinda with you. It would have been cool if we were among the first to do it. But doing it now would just be chasing the crowd, which is lame
Call me crazy, but I would rather be bad at sports than spend tuition and fees from students trying to have an affordable education on athletics.
Yeah it's wierd that the ACC is better than the Big 12 yet the Big 12 are in a much better position.
- Due to the unable revenue sharing, it's being a mediocre b12 team is preferable to being a mediocre ACC team
- The B12 is relatively stable because no one is trying to poach schools from their. The conference has already been picked clean. Not the same for the ACC.
I'm well off (less now with 3 kids), but every year it's look at the auction and there isnt a single thing there i would want for the starting price. These just aren't for me amd im sure there's a lot of fans out there like that.
This is where I'm at. I don't want more shit in my house.
Yeah it's wierd that the ACC is better than the Big 12 yet the Big 12 are in a much better position.
The premium expirences are where lots of things are going for lots of reasons but VT is great and producing alumni with upper middle class jobs. I am not sure the demographics of our fan base support this.
I'm well off (less now with 3 kids), but every year it's look at the auction and there isnt a single thing there i would want for the starting price. These just aren't for me amd im sure there's a lot of fans out there like that.
Yeah, this is the heart of the problem.
We were (at best) complacent during the early 2000's and now are way behind and grasping at ideas that we should have had 10-15 years ago.
But we also have to be honest, VT is poorly built to compete in the Pay For Play world, even with a bunch of "bright ideas" for revenue production. Building a bunch of "Premium" experiences only works if you have a realistic market to fill them with---and there's only so many Advance Auto execs to try to squeeze into some Corporate Suites.
The ACC is obviously a sinking ship, positioning ourselves to be taken up by the P2 Seems to be the only realistic plan at this point. But as we continue to middle away, we become a less and less attractive as a candidate.
This is just uncalled for.
Charging students as a fee isnt really done at most of the P4, which is why i don't like it. I really think that if you prioritize sports then you do so academically by things like our helmet test lab, nutrition research, sports science research, sleep research, sports medicine, etc. Use the brains to further the sport. Sports journalism is important too, its how Mizzou ended up in the SEC. Hospitality majors working with recruits. Create a top tier marketing program. Create alumni in key positions you need for athletics and get research money to further the sport. Ifvyou want to really get top players you go hire the Suns sports medicine team and show every recruit you've got the best people in the business keeping them at top shape. Use the academics.