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Trouble brewing

7

7220Fan

Well-known member
Mama and I were discussing our CJC donation last night and it doesn't look good. In a very soft spoken voice, she said, "if the athletic dept. doesn't care to change the direction of our sports programs (football and basketball), then I think we have a lot of other things that we can do with our $5,000.

If she is saying that, then I am quite sure that there are alot of others that are feeling the same way. I understand that not donating just adds to the decline of the athletics at UW but it is tough to argue with her when nothing changes except the losing. Where have the good times gone? It's tough to believe we will ever get it back!

I am sure that there will be some that will belittle this post about not being a true fan, blah, blah, blah. I was born and raised with the pokes and seen the good and bad for over 46 years. I just have never seen it this bad where apathy has set in all over this state. This past critical a long time ago and I just don't see it recovering. Sad part is that I am not sure that we have hit rock bottom yet. I think there is still trouble brewing. A whole lot of changing needs to be done and quickly!
 
Go "Black" on the wheel! You'll get a better return on investment even if it come up Red.
 
you not donating will hurt the football team more than the bball team. I think the football team is heading in the right direction.
 
My wife and I discontinued our giving to CJC over a year ago and now funnel our giving to academic only programs. We discontinued our season tickets for all sports and will not purchase tickets for any sporting event until both AD and mens basketball coach are replaced. Fans of a program have a duty to keep that program accountable, and at UW the only way to make a program accountable is through the pocketbook. We will continue to give to academics but until Burman and his buddy Schroyer are replaced, atheltic donations will be non-existant from us.
 
wyopokesfan23 said:
you not donating will hurt the football team more than the bball team. I think the football team is heading in the right direction.
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How is the football team heading in the right direction? Last in the conference and in 2 years of the DC era, not 1 conference win over a team with a winning record. Only 1 conference win in a league this weak is truly pathetic. I think the jury is very much out if he can turn it around.

We have an incompetent AD who gave a contract extension to a BB coach who makes Joby Wright look like John Wooden. The school president has to pull his head out of the sand and realize just how dire the situation is. If not, UW may end up without a conference in 3-4 years. Our big rival may end being Montana or South Dakata st..

I've always felt that BB is more important than football. It makes the long winters go by a lot quicker. When the AA had 10k plus, the atmosphere was unbeatable. It's a lot easier to be competitive at BB. We have a great facility, weather is not a factor, and we HAD great crowds. It's gone now and it's going to take a magician to get it back, not some unproven assistant willing to work for bottom of the conference pay.
 
7220Fan said:
Mama and I were discussing our CJC donation last night and it doesn't look good. In a very soft spoken voice, she said, "if the athletic dept. doesn't care to change the direction of our sports programs (football and basketball), then I think we have a lot of other things that we can do with our $5,000.

If she is saying that, then I am quite sure that there are alot of others that are feeling the same way. I understand that not donating just adds to the decline of the athletics at UW but it is tough to argue with her when nothing changes except the losing. Where have the good times gone? It's tough to believe we will ever get it back!

I am sure that there will be some that will belittle this post about not being a true fan, blah, blah, blah. I was born and raised with the pokes and seen the good and bad for over 46 years. I just have never seen it this bad where apathy has set in all over this state. This past critical a long time ago and I just don't see it recovering. Sad part is that I am not sure that we have hit rock bottom yet. I think there is still trouble brewing. A whole lot of changing needs to be done and quickly!
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I won't belittle your concerns, and I am probably one of the more outspoken critics of the current leadership, however....I would ask that you please reconsider and continue to support UW athletics.

Burman and Schroyer won't be here forever. It will make it much easier to hire their successors if the revenue is there to do so. In addition, the student-athletes that represent UW deserve our support. It may sound trite, but our donations to CJC help fund scholarships for UW athletes to pursue their dream of competing at a high level. The vast majority work very, very hard and represent UW very well.

I rip Burman almost continuously, but when I get a chance to come back home and visit the AA, I find myself just as angry with the current students and the fanbase as I do with Tom Burman. So what if Schroyer is a terrible coach. No excuse not to support the team.

The dirty little secret is that if we had kept our attendance at 10k when the program started to slip, we never would have been stuck with Heath Schroyer. We would have the funds to go after a more accomplished candidate.

Anyway, I hope we all continue to support the program in any way we can. For me, that involves CJC and tickets through Cowboys For Kids (since geography makes season tickets a waste of time for me). Everyone has their own way, but now is not the time to decrease our support.
 
NowherePokeI won't belittle your concerns said:
I disagree with almost every point you make. First, how do you know Burman won't be here "forever". It doesn't take that long to totally wreck the program.

Second, the state is awash in energy money. Wyoming is one of the few states that doesn't have a fiscal crisis. They can fund the athletic program if they want to. They don't want to.

Last, how is showing up going to get us a new basketball coach? It's not. Unfortunately, the only way is to stay away until so much potential revenue is lost, that action will be taken. We have an administration that does not care if we lose and lose and lose...etc. The sad truth is that withdrawing support is the only thing that will get any action.
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bladerunnr said:
Second, the state is awash in energy money. Wyoming is one of the few states that doesn't have a fiscal crisis. They can fund the athletic program if they want to. They don't want to.

Last, how is showing up going to get us a new basketball coach? It's not. Unfortunately, the only way is to stay away until so much potential revenue is lost, that action will be taken. We have an administration that does not care if we lose and lose and lose...etc. The sad truth is that withdrawing support is the only thing that will get any action.
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Who is "they"? The elected state government? Who elects them? Who drives the agenda? We do(well, not me as I am not a resident of Wyoming, but you know what I mean). The apathy towards UW athletics by the people of the state is reflected in the relative lack of commitment from the state. However, I would caution against describing it that way. After all, we are among the top 10% (or bottom 10% depending on your point of view) nationally in the percentage of our athletic budget which is made up on "institutional support". IOW, funding from the state government to make up the shortfall that occurs because our revenues are so low. Nobody else in the MWC relies on the amount of government welfare that we do to run our athletic department.

How is showing up going to get a new basketball coach? I will tell you how: the same way it did for UNM. It's no coincidence that when UNM went out to hire a new BB coach that they were able to hire a proven name coach and we got Heath Schroyer. It's because, even at their nadir, they led the MWC in attendance and were able to utilitize that revenue to fund a new coach. If we were averaging 10k than we would have had the revenue to hire a better coach and we would have been able to fire Schroyer last season.

Not showing up hasn't worked very well for San Jose State, Idaho, or any other random school with nobody on the stands and a whole bunch of losses to show for it. Apathetic, fair weather fan bases are not the secret to success believe it or not. When BYU went 1-27 (even worse than we are now, believe it or not) their attendance didn't drop to 4000 like ours (and reality is closer to 400). That support is key in helping turn the program around.

Look, I can't make anyone support Wyoming athletics, but I can assure you that the biggest weakness we have in the Macro sense is not Tom Burman and Heath Schroyer, but rather our limited population base (and corresponding lack of media value) and weak support level. We can't do anything about the limited number of TV sets we bring to the table, but we can support the program at a MWC level and justify our inclusion in a FBS conference. We can average 24k in Football and 8k in hoops. It's time to get it done.
 
No student athlete deserves my money if they are not winning and representing Wyoming well. This is not high school or recreational sports. These athletes are getting a free college education worth tens of thousands of dollars at my expense and most of them aren't even from Wyoming. In return, they get to win games and represent the state. They are also students so they must have good grades, but that is #3 in my book. If my priority is for good kids getting good grades, I'll donate to the acedemic fund.

The contract extension for Shroyer was a monstrous mistake. IF it was automatic due to a contract clause, fine, let us know. IF it was Burman's decision, Burman screwed up big time and should be gone. If we'd had 900 people attending games in Shroyer's second season, maybe no contract extension? Sorry but I have no problem with people staying away in droves with such a poor excuse for a team on the floor.
 
Nowhere, I guess I am just venting as is everyone else but the fact of the matter is that is a lot of money that we put up and then you sit back and watch the school that you love, just get smacked over and over.

My wife took our nephew, up from Texas for the holidays, and went to the Wisc-GB game. He is 12 and has never got to attend a poke game. We have been building him up for years about how fun it is and exciting to go watch the cowboys play. Besides losing to Wisc-GB, my wife was mortified at the attendance and atmosphere. She said that realistically, REALISTICALLY, there were more people at the Gillette Energy Classic high school bb tournament last year than at the AA. She was basically hurt, by the look on my nephews face, as they walked out of the AA. All those years of build up and they went to that?? She knows how special it can be but he doesn't. Not now!

That is when she came back and said "no more money from us." We will continue to give to the academic side but no more on the athletic side. As bad as I would love to argue with her, I just simply can't until I have somekind of base to go off of.

Very troubled at the direction that it is headed and yet, day after day, nothing changes.
 
I am considering moving my money I give each year to CJC and donate it to the academic side. I have had enough of mediocrity and excuses coming from the likes of the coaches and AD.
 
I'm torn with this whole scenario. By not continuing to donate to CJC I feel like I'm cutting off my nose to spite my face. However, some kind of statement has to be made. I'm already voting with my feet and not attending games. Unfortunately, that is not resulting in any kind of change. Now the football team, the women's basketball and volleyball teams, the swim teams, etc. might suffer. I hate that we, and they the athletes, are being put in that situation. Unfortunately, until we the fans' concerns are being heard, I feel that we have no choice. Right now it seams like Burman feels more of an allegiance to Schroyer than the student athletes.
 
I have to agree with the above posts. I have given Schroyer and Burman the benefit of the doubt as long as anyone. But this mess can't go on anymore. I dont think there is any question that Schroyer is gone after this year. I guess the question remains as to whether he makes it to the end of the season. We kept hearing that the conference season would be improved. So, if the Pokes come out tonight in Ft. Collins and get smoked (which to me, given our historical dominance over that crap-hole to the south, is unacceptable) what happens then? Do we just get silence from the athletic department? Or is there some sort of announcement? My fear is that nothing happens, Burman decides to wait til the end of the year, the team wins 2-3 conference games, attendance dips further.
 
Well. Interesting thread. Very CSewe like.

Next time any of you "want" to make a CJC donation (which I highly encourage and do so myself) ask Smiley if you can have your donation allocated to a SPECIFIC SPORT. If he says no, say fuck you and hang up. If he says yes, pick a sport you enjoy backing...football, wrestling, track, cowgirl hoops, etc., and make the donation to continue your support.
 
NowherePoke said:
Who is "they"? The elected state government? Who elects them? Who drives the agenda? We do(well, not me as I am not a resident of Wyoming, but you know what I mean). The apathy towards UW athletics by the people of the state is reflected in the relative lack of commitment from the state. However, I would caution against describing it that way. After all, we are among the top 10% (or bottom 10% depending on your point of view) nationally in the percentage of our athletic budget which is made up on "institutional support". IOW, funding from the state government to make up the shortfall that occurs because our revenues are so low. Nobody else in the MWC relies on the amount of government welfare that we do to run our athletic department.

How is showing up going to get a new basketball coach? I will tell you how: the same way it did for UNM. It's no coincidence that when UNM went out to hire a new BB coach that they were able to hire a proven name coach and we got Heath Schroyer. It's because, even at their nadir, they led the MWC in attendance and were able to utilitize that revenue to fund a new coach. If we were averaging 10k than we would have had the revenue to hire a better coach and we would have been able to fire Schroyer last season.

Not showing up hasn't worked very well for San Jose State, Idaho, or any other random school with nobody on the stands and a whole bunch of losses to show for it. Apathetic, fair weather fan bases are not the secret to success believe it or not. When BYU went 1-27 (even worse than we are now, believe it or not) their attendance didn't drop to 4000 like ours (and reality is closer to 400). That support is key in helping turn the program around.

Look, I can't make anyone support Wyoming athletics, but I can assure you that the biggest weakness we have in the Macro sense is not Tom Burman and Heath Schroyer, but rather our limited population base (and corresponding lack of media value) and weak support level. We can't do anything about the limited number of TV sets we bring to the table, but we can support the program at a MWC level and justify our inclusion in a FBS conference. We can average 24k in Football and 8k in hoops. It's time to get it done.
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This right here is the post of the year. As bad as our current AD and revenue sports may be, stopping what little revenue stream we have is not going to help anything. We are where we are because our fans stopped showing up 4 years ago. The comparison to small schools without any fan support like Idaho is very valid and is where we are headed if we can't fix the problem.

Now I am not advocating for people to attend basketball games or donate to them specifically, because I understand they are putrid, but we can't stop supporting the athletics programs in general if we ever want Wyoming to experience the success we want it to. The biggest thing that holds Wyoming back is not the weather or location, it is the comparatively small fan base that can be very fair weather. Big time teams are who they are because come hell or high water, their fans won't stop supporting their athletics program.
 
McPeach, from what I understand and have been told, giving to the CJC goes into one big pot and you can not request where your contributions go. I don't know if this is correct but that is what I have heard.
 
7220Fan said:
McPeach, from what I understand and have been told, giving to the CJC goes into one big pot and you can not request where your contributions go. I don't know if this is correct but that is what I have heard.
Click to expand...

Could be the case these days I guess. It sure would be fun to ask though...can you imagine?

Booster:
"Hey, Smiley. I have a question. I have 10K burning a hole in my pocket right now, and want to donate it to CJC...but I want all my funds to be allocated to UW Swimming."

Smiley:
"Sorry, Stud Booster. No can do. Tom says so."

Booster:
"Ok, well, then, fuck you." {Dial Tone}


OR

Booster:
"Hey, Smiley. I have a question. I have 10K burning a hole in my pocket right now, and want to donate it to CJC...but I want all my funds to be allocated to UW Swimming."

Smiley:
"Sure for $10K you can do what you want, where you want. And I will help!"

Booster:
"Ewww. Well, I only have $250.00 anyway, still the same deal though right?"

Smiley:
"Not for $250.00. No way. What do you think I am...a whore...oh wait..."

Booster:
"Ok, well, then, fuck you." {Dial Tone}
 
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