In the case of Ron Martin, I'd really like to know who he is.
Memo to the ETSU students in the journalism dept- this is where you contact the sender of the letter so you say write at the bottom: "The author is the founder of the Oakland Raiders" or some such thing to explain what he's talking about when he writes how he's helped start two football teams.
Great letters! I still have hope that the football program is coming back. Thanks for posting them.
Newsflash....the stadiums are being built by donor money. Not student fees.
I think that kind of is the point. If the soccer and softball stadiums can be built by doner money that certainly a football stadium can also.
The administration has to want it though before it can happen.
That speaks a lot of the agenda of this current administration, doesn't it?
Don't tell me you can raise the money for a soccer stadium (or have they- it's STILL half-built!) but you can't for football.
I think that's a bunch of bull. I repeat: If donors had given that kind of money to ETSU, you'd see people standing out there holding big checks on the front page of the paper. I guarantee you Mullins would make a huge fiasco out of it if they had actually raised that much money. Summers-Taylor is the ONLY donor I've heard give anything of substance to ETSU since the effort to revive football. Maybe Bryan Smith ought to look into that one. I'd LOVE to know how they're laundering the money to make it look like donors gave it. My guess is, they are using money donated to the pirate club/BASA by people who think they're giving for scholarships while they are using student fees to fund the scholarships.
Brian Smith won't look into it- are you kidding me?
He's yet to have an original thought. He's just riding the coat tails of stuff I've written years ago.
But he can tell everyone else how to do their job.
Alumni00, What you say may well be true. I had not thought about it that way but with this administration I guess I should have been. They have lied about so many things I would not be surprised if they played a shell game with the money.
Almuni- Here's a thought, and it's one I've held for a long time.
It's my BELIEF that the reason why the stadiums are taking so long to build is because of the lack of funds.
True, in the soccer stadium there have been delays in shipping the right kind of bricks or some such thing. But that doesn't explain why half the seats in the stands aren't there- even to this day!
And why wait so long to break ground in the first place?
The only reason could be- the money isn't there.
That explains everything. It explains why Bartow's contract consistently isn't extended until the fall instead of before recruiting season.
And the only way the money ever will get there is if Stanton and Mullins go.
Well honestly. Who is donating to ETSU athletics right now? Who would want to?
The athletic administration has been parading their donors out on the basketball court during timeouts all year long. One media timeout is for a corporate sponsor and another is used for individual supporters.
Is it possible for a corporate sponsor to build an arena and put their name on it or is that virtually out of the question for a school like ETSU? Ditto a football stadium?
Oh, sure.
Here's the deal, though. Would you want to be a Johnson City Honda and put your name on this product?
I still say the best thing to get a new arena is to have a local politician run for office and pledge it, getting state money to do so.
But that will probably not work here because it's not a conservative message.
I found it interesting that the ETSU athletics calendar and annual report indicated that something like $33.5 million would be needed to build a new basketball arena. Of course nothing is even mentioned about a footbal stadium.
Follow the link below and then click on projects in the works to get a better idea of where the money is going. Some of you are probably familiar with these projects and amounts.
http://www.etsu.edu/rh/pages/cop.html#
Well, of course there isn't any talk of a football stadium! The school has no team!
15 mil for a parking deck?
10 million just to help dig bones out of the ground
I was thinking something like The Comcast Center or some such name. I also like the idea of the legislature passing it if they would do it.
I think there's something against the state giving money to colleges for arenas and such, which is why ETSU should look to joining up with Science Hill for such a facility, because that's how you'd get public money for such a project.
To get a top notch arena it's going to run atleast 50 million. Granted, ETSU will try to half-ass it (like always) and cut corners.
The letters are great. Football isn't going away, eventually they'll get it.