Vorel sit down interview with Burman: Part 1

[MrTitleist]

http://trib.com/sports/college/wyoming/wyoming-ad-burman-calls-for-state-commitment-to-help-fund/article_bba564b0-82c5-5f33-bcba-d23b3163d991.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[McPeachy]

:rofl:

"And when I say ‘we,’ the fans, the university, the students and the state. Between all of us, we can figure out how to generate $35 million. I know we can.” - Tom Burman

I was really looking forward to how McGinity would respond to what I view as a complete piece of shit - aka - the UW athletics plan. I was thinking, certainly, he will see through the fartfog of this plan and kick it back to Burman saying something like, "pretty colors and graphs, that is real neat, but your content is garbage, top to bottom - do it over, and do it right, or you are done."

But after Burman lobbed the doozy quote out there (listed above), not sure we will publicly see anything. It is just too easy - too deflating - and too humiliating. "we can figure out how to generate $35 million" ?? That is YOUR job Tom. Please retire.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

I like the direction this is going. The issue is on the table. It's not going away. We all know what it is.

Now it's time to shit or get off the pot. If the A.D. can't get it done then it's time to move on to an A.D. that can.

I think we're going to end up with an athletics endowment from this. The state, donors, and coorporate sponsors have a hard time donating to the budget. Increasing the budget requires that you donate EVERY year. That's difficult to get anyone to set aside a million a year for the next thirty years. We've made great progress on our facilities. Burman has had success raising funds for projects that DONT require an annual payment. The state is willing to pay for those types of projects. They will not increase the amount they are required to give every year.

That's why we need an athletics endowment. The state would be willing to contribute money to an endowment that generates interest to pay for improvements to the budget. Donors would be more willing to toss money into an endowment as well. In Wyoming, it's carreer suicide for a politician to inflate the state budget. Those guys usually don't end up working in the state legislature very long. However, it's not carreer suicide to make one time contributions of surplus money for improvements.

I think an endowment is part of the solution. The rest of it, I guess we'll just have to see what ideas they come up with.

 

[laxwyo]

I like the direction this is going. The issue is on the table. It's not going away. We all know what it is.

Now it's time to shit or get off the pot. If the A.D. can't get it done then it's time to move on to an A.D. that can.

I think we're going to end up with an athletics endowment from this. The state, donors, and coorporate sponsors have a hard time donating to the budget. Increasing the budget requires that you donate EVERY year. That's difficult to get anyone to set aside a million a year for the next thirty years. We've made great progress on our facilities. Burman has had success raising funds for projects that DONT require an annual payment. The state is willing to pay for those types of projects. They will not increase the amount they are required to give every year.

That's why we need an athletics endowment. The state would be willing to contribute money to an endowment that generates interest to pay for improvements to the budget. Donors would be more willing to toss money into an endowment as well. In Wyoming, it's carreer suicide for a politician to inflate the state budget. Those guys usually don't end up working in the state legislature very long. However, it's not carreer suicide to make one time contributions of surplus money for improvements.

I think an endowment is part of the solution. The rest of it, I guess we'll just have to see what ideas they come up with.

Elect me and I'll take the bullet

 

[WyoBrandX]

The list of potential donors reads like a lineup of the usual suspects. Can the state legislature pitch in more? Will there be a boost in game day revenue, or an added commitment from the Cowboy Joe Club?

Lets hope it all happens. In the mean time, do what you can to raise money. Serve beer, liquor, whatever at the games. Let people have fun at the games. It's getting rough and boring to be a cowboy fan. In my 20's, I'd just sneak the alcohol in and we would take down the goal posts when beating BYU. If not, we were drunk and had fun anyways.

Sell some cheap gameday tickets for the top third of the stadium only for $5 each. You have enough security to make sure they sit in the "cheap seats" at the top of the stadium - use it.

Hire on a couple of kindergartners to put on their thinking caps and come up with some unique ideas using our existing resource.

 

[WyoBrandX]

Raising student fees is not a realistic option, either. Wyoming only had 8,309 full-time undergraduate students in the 2012-13 school year, significantly fewer than every other Mountain West member. The next-smallest conference school is Hawaii, which has 11,721 undergraduate students.

This kills me - TCU used to have what - 8 or 9k students enrolled as undergrads? "Oh no - we are small - initiate small time syndrome....."

 

[WyoBrandX]

Anyone feel like doing the math? Two semesters in a year.

“Most of our counterparts in the league, what they’re going to do -- I’m guessing, but I’m pretty confident -- they’ll just raise student fees," Burman said. "If you’re at 30,000 enrollment and you raise student fees eight bucks per semester, you’re going to raise a lot of money. We can’t do that.

ok - per year, 30,000 students @ 16 bucks a year = $480,000. 8,309 @ 16 bucks a year = $132,944. Ok. I got it. Slightly larger schools should go after cash because they can get more cash. Smallers schools should ignore it because its smaller.

 

[WyoBrandX]

I always tell people if the key was in marketing, we’d pay our marketing guys a million bucks and not football coaches," Burman said. "We’re paying our football coaches a million bucks. We’ve got to produce a product that people will get excited about."

How many state farm commercials do I have to listen to on basic cable? Seriously - he doesnt think he can't market it a bit more?

We gotta win some games, but i've seen marketing sell shit as the next best icecream.

 

[WyoBrandX]

This is particularly significant when considering the university's location. Because Wyoming houses so few high schools and legitimate Division I prospects, UW's coaches are forced to travel farther than their Mountain West competitors to recruit talent.

Really? Denver is 2 hours away. Much of Colorado is closer to Laramie than most of Wyoming is. Add in Nebraska, Kansas, toss in the interstate....If Laramie was in the dead center of the state, this is an argument. Laramie is closer to an international airport with good rates than all of wyoming - with maybe the exception of cheyenne.

 

[WyoBrandX]

"We’re a long way from the markets, so our coaches are in an airplane," Burman said. "They’re staying in hotels, whereas many of our competitors are not. They can recruit in their hometowns. I wish we could, but we can’t. And so, that’s critical, what we’re doing.”

So are the SDSU coaches. They just flew to Sacramento to recruit some players from up there. Granted, they probably spent $150 a ticket to fly from southern cali to northern.

I bet Hawaii has hell with this cost....If it ain't hawaiian, they are flying.

 

[WyoBrandX]

This is the last thing I have to say for the night. Wyoming belongs. We have it better than alot of teams in the is conference. Just like the complacency we have at UW, we have in the athletics department. Too many people are just collecting a paycheck and making excuses.

The State, us fans, we have all invested alot into our University and our athletics. It is time to see our cash used for something useful. There are way too many "valued" people extracting money from UW. It is time to remind ourselves that UW is a great institution. We are small - but we will only succeed when we get the leaches removed.