PorkerPoke
Well-known member
Well said…
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Long year...
- Thread starter WyoVaquero
- Start date
Douglaspoke
Well-known member
Watching Louiisville Ole Miss national TV game tonigjt.
Wyo is 5-1"against those 2 teams.
We will never see those teams again
Wyo is 5-1"against those 2 teams.
We will never see those teams again
Thoughts / Opinions / Possibly Obvious Stuff:
1) There are a lot of WYO alums with significant upper middle class money/savings but they don't live in WYO anymore and they're not the type of people that give money to sports programs. I know a lot of them. They left after college and some still go to a game now and then but they're not big donors. That just is what it is.
2) The TRULY mega-rich folk that live in WYO aren't natives and couldn't care less about the school or its sports programs, or the state overall. They like the buzz of living in Teton County and the low tax environment of the state. The "oil rich" folk in the state are a few families in Casper and there aren't that many of them and there never were. A broad base of local landowner oil wealth never developed in Wyoming because of the high precentage of federal minerals vs private fee mineral rights. The ratio isn't good. And that all stagnates in a lot of ways and has always been a drag on the development of broad local oil and gas wealth and private expendable discretionary money.
Every producing federal oil/gas lease operated by a Houston company and paying overriding royalty interests to the original federal lease-flipping individual in Denver, Dallas, or Tulsa is money not staying in WYO to a private mineral Lessor. The federal government is the Lessor and is the main royalty owner. Again, it's no one's fault, it's just land ownership history.
3) Overall there isn't a ton of optimism in Wyoming right now, and it affects the school. The Damocles Sword of shaky oil/gas/coal/trona revenues long term keeps the local politicians spooked. The new industries (micro nuclear, uranium processing, rare earth minerals, data centers, nickel mining, etc) could be significant tax sources but they won't contribute much at all on the human employment front.
4) Coach Sawvel seems to be like a good forklift driver in the shop who got promoted to his first manager gig. Peter Principle. Possibly not a horrible human being, but he's overwhelmed and needs to go back to assistant coaching somewhere.
5) I wouldn't get too down on the football season just yet. This QB looks to be stout and the RBs are good. A couple of WRs are skilled and Jake Wilson in particular is a diamond in the rough. If he stays healthy, look out. The DBs are a concern, and the OL needs work. A few things will likely get straightened out. With this schedule I wouldn't be surprised to see 6 or 7 wins. Would that be even close to the best days of Poke football? Hell no, but you've got to start from where you are.
(Personal Note: I'm not a WYO native and didn't go to UW. I lived in the state for 3 years a long time ago and have a personal connection to a previous local (wife). I have a season ticket that I will always renew and we live far away. I usually send most of my game tickets to a Laramie charity. I don't donate mass sums of money to the program nor do I drive 300 miles in crappy weather to home games, so I understand the angst/frustration of those folks who have been in that boat. And I loathe CSU like Satan.)
Go Pokes! Sorry for the long post.
1) There are a lot of WYO alums with significant upper middle class money/savings but they don't live in WYO anymore and they're not the type of people that give money to sports programs. I know a lot of them. They left after college and some still go to a game now and then but they're not big donors. That just is what it is.
2) The TRULY mega-rich folk that live in WYO aren't natives and couldn't care less about the school or its sports programs, or the state overall. They like the buzz of living in Teton County and the low tax environment of the state. The "oil rich" folk in the state are a few families in Casper and there aren't that many of them and there never were. A broad base of local landowner oil wealth never developed in Wyoming because of the high precentage of federal minerals vs private fee mineral rights. The ratio isn't good. And that all stagnates in a lot of ways and has always been a drag on the development of broad local oil and gas wealth and private expendable discretionary money.
Every producing federal oil/gas lease operated by a Houston company and paying overriding royalty interests to the original federal lease-flipping individual in Denver, Dallas, or Tulsa is money not staying in WYO to a private mineral Lessor. The federal government is the Lessor and is the main royalty owner. Again, it's no one's fault, it's just land ownership history.
3) Overall there isn't a ton of optimism in Wyoming right now, and it affects the school. The Damocles Sword of shaky oil/gas/coal/trona revenues long term keeps the local politicians spooked. The new industries (micro nuclear, uranium processing, rare earth minerals, data centers, nickel mining, etc) could be significant tax sources but they won't contribute much at all on the human employment front.
4) Coach Sawvel seems to be like a good forklift driver in the shop who got promoted to his first manager gig. Peter Principle. Possibly not a horrible human being, but he's overwhelmed and needs to go back to assistant coaching somewhere.
5) I wouldn't get too down on the football season just yet. This QB looks to be stout and the RBs are good. A couple of WRs are skilled and Jake Wilson in particular is a diamond in the rough. If he stays healthy, look out. The DBs are a concern, and the OL needs work. A few things will likely get straightened out. With this schedule I wouldn't be surprised to see 6 or 7 wins. Would that be even close to the best days of Poke football? Hell no, but you've got to start from where you are.
(Personal Note: I'm not a WYO native and didn't go to UW. I lived in the state for 3 years a long time ago and have a personal connection to a previous local (wife). I have a season ticket that I will always renew and we live far away. I usually send most of my game tickets to a Laramie charity. I don't donate mass sums of money to the program nor do I drive 300 miles in crappy weather to home games, so I understand the angst/frustration of those folks who have been in that boat. And I loathe CSU like Satan.)
Go Pokes! Sorry for the long post.
Who are the skilled WR’s?
Charlie Coenen, Jackson Holman and the newcomer Eric Richardson. None of the vets have impressive numbers due to the past QB drought.
None of those guys were open very often on Saturday against CSU. They may be athletic, but that doesn’t make them good WR’s. I’m just not seeing what you are.
Also, Richardson was here last year. He started seven games. He had a total of 10 catches all year.
My mistake on Richardson. Again, I’m not too worried about the WRs’ past stat lines since we haven’t had a functional QB since Peasley.
Excellent post. I attended UW from 2013–2016, and I’m probably a good example of the type of alum you’re describing. I’m firmly upper-middle class now, have giving capacity, and still care a lot about Wyoming athletics.
I used to give a modest amount to Cowboy Joe Club and increased that contribution over time, despite living out of state and rarely being able to attend games. I eventually stopped after a few bad experiences with donor stewardship. My wife’s name was wrong several times, there was very little communication about what my money was supporting, and I never really felt like there was much effort to keep me connected to the program.
The mediocrity in Athletics is matched, if not exceeded, by the mediocrity across a lot of UW. The Alumni Association was just in Atlanta for the first time in a long time, and I got a template email inviting me to events from 10 AM–12 PM on a Monday and Tuesday. In Atlanta. In the middle of a workday. What are we doing? Maybe I’m expecting too much, but it certainly didn’t feel like they were trying very hard to engage working alumni with giving capacity.
I’ve since moved my giving to Club Sports, Half Acre, and other student-facing programs where I can actually see the impact. The handwritten thank-you note from a club sports team, or a phone call from the Half Acre staff, has honestly done more to keep me connected than anything I got from the larger fundraising operation.
The well of big-name Wyoming donors seems to be getting smaller, and I just don’t see much of a strategy for developing the next generation of them. Like a lot of things at UW right now, it just feels mediocre and directionless.
Another good post. I’m right there with you. Younger and higher income but out of state. Cares a great deal. Still giving what I think is a reasonable amount to CJC. Only because of NIL and the other sports, certainly not because of football. I think many on this site probably have the capacity to give high 4 or 5 figure donations but the school doesn’t seem all that interested, nor does that seem like a good use for funds for a generation that has small kids right now given the low level effort of UW and the athletic department at the high levels to be exceptional at anything.
Wyolie Coyote
Well-known member
#2 is exactly the problem with the AD. Defeatist attitude. I know a large donor who has no ties to UW. In fact his wife is a CSU graduate. They live in the state and support UW athletics. You have to try to bring in these people and Burman is too lazy to even try.
