The Audi Crooks news is a massive gut punch. I really thought she’d be the one to stick around and lead the rebuild for her senior year. Tough to hear Chris and Brent so down on the pod, but they aren't wrong about how much this stings.
Williams & Blum: More Cyclone Therapy
- Thread starter Aiden Wyatt
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This is me. As of this moment I still don't know who won the natty last night. I started watching and realized I couldn't name one player on the court and I didn't care who won.
The podcast (and many others previous) was depressing to me and many times I wonder why I still invest with both my dollars and my passion. I've consistently given both but hearing 'we're not in a good place but keep on buying tickets and giving money or it will get worse' is ringing hollow.
Chis & Brent aren't wrong but knowing my dollars are the tiniest drop in the bucket is tough. Without a billionaire donor or two, we're screwed no matter how many of us little guys pony up our hard earned and saved dollars.
I think that's part of the reason I've gotten more passionate about the wrestling program. It takes a lot fewer dollars to compete and we do it pretty darn well. We're a top 10 program and we can beat anybody, with a couple exceptions, on any given day.
I was a pretty faithful listener to Two Guys before Campbell left. Iowa Everywhere was full of horrible podcasts during that time & I haven't went back.
They specifically said all of our big 3 needed extra $ to stay.
I don't know if I had the same sad/depressed takeaways as some of you. Yes, it did suck to hear that the influx of funding was too late for this cycle of women's basketball and that program will be decimated for at minimum a season in all likelihood, but it sounds like it is or will be in place for football and especially men's basketball. I don't like that the Big 10 and SEC seem to be separating themselves from the pack so much recently, but things like success are cyclical. First men's basketball championship since the turn of the century. Football for them had been similar until Michigan won a couple years ago too. One can only hope that it is just their cycle and balance will be restored again someday.
It was brutal to listen to, but it was honest and forthright. I love listening to Williams and Blum because they give their point as a fan and then what the business side is. The need for major wealthy donors is REAL or we will continue to lose players and coaches. I hope President Cook can our athletic financial future.
Shouldn't that be our AD's job?
My pie in the sky hope is that since the SEC football viewership numbers are way above the Big 10 that the next media round will put the SEC way above the Big 10 in $$$. Then maybe we can get the Big 10 to come to the table with the rest of us. If one of the big 2 conferences came to an agreement with the Big 12 and ACC about rules, we could strong arm the other one.
Didn't listen to the pod yet, but a thought did enter my mind:
Anybody ask the West Virginia players/program how they felt about missing the big dance but reaping some reward from playing the Crown? I realize it has a "tank the season to get the first pick" vibe to it, but the players got to play longer than if they'd lost in the sweet sixteen, and got paid to do so. Problem is that if the tourneys add a revenue-for-results element, the big money programs will quickly find a way to game that system also.
Nevermind.
Anybody ask the West Virginia players/program how they felt about missing the big dance but reaping some reward from playing the Crown? I realize it has a "tank the season to get the first pick" vibe to it, but the players got to play longer than if they'd lost in the sweet sixteen, and got paid to do so. Problem is that if the tourneys add a revenue-for-results element, the big money programs will quickly find a way to game that system also.
Nevermind.
Along those lines, we need a critical mass of universities to agree to a spending/salary cap that all of them can achieve. I'm not optimistic that will happen (it's a prisoner's dilemma) but that would go a long way to creating a sustainable, entertaining college sports industry.
The Crown has a very Poptarts Bowl vibe to it. Entertaining and rewarding to a degree, but just not the same as the real thing, despite having to wait 3+weeks to play in it. I'd still take it over the alternative of no March/April basketball for my team though.
I don't think Cook's potential impact is being fully understood today. Looking at the huge amount of money Cook and the university raised/got pledged/reallocated for the NDSU football team is rather amazing when you research it. I'm very excited to see what he can do down here in a much more affluent urban area with a much larger pool of potential donors.
Obviously, the gross is much smaller than ISU, but being able to double your football funding to change divisions for that size of school is impressive by any metric.
NDSU
Enrollment 12,000
Football Attendance 15K
Football Budget $16 million (Was $8+ the year before changing divisions)
UNI
Enrollment 9,200
Football Attendance 9K
Football Budget $4.35 Million
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Well said.
So far, Cook seems to be a positive step in at least trying to move the needle towards the right direction ("right" meaning - push like hell to find new fundraising opportunities).
I know we want big corporations to jump on board with NIL opportunities, but what about the former athletes? I realize NIL and rev sure is only a few years old and our most successful players (Haliburton, Purdy) didn’t get NIL, but it sure would help if the athletes that actually benefited from a scholarship and everything that comes with it gave back to the school and AD that helped them get to where they are today. I’m sure some of them are contributing, but don’t ask middle class me to donate to the cause when I just paid off my own student loans and they got a free education and making multi-millions each year to play a game.
I'm beginning to wonder how aligned Cook and Pollard are going forward. Cook seems to "get it" by going out and getting sponsors, but is Pollard feeling a bit undermined? Is the above rev share strategy change due to Cook providing more support to the AD or is he forcing Pollard to change his strategy.
The revisionist history wears a little thin, IMO. For months, and years really, everyone fawned over Wendy Wintersteen as a president who really "got" athletics and was highly supportive. Now that she's gone the people who know are clearly suggesting that wasn't as true as they made it out to be at the time. In just one month on the job, David Cook is making inroads that apparently nobody else before him could?
I suppose at some point it's on me as a listener to be more discerning and stop taking things at face value.
I suppose at some point it's on me as a listener to be more discerning and stop taking things at face value.
If Pollard feels undermined instead of thankful for having a boss that is getting in the trenches with the athletic department then that's a poor reflection on JP.
I don’t know if a salary cap will happen, but maybe you could have players sign contracts?
