Go big blue football

[NSPRIVATEER]

Lets take the our first conference championship in football! My UNO flag is flying in the front of my house and waiving just as proudly as the purple and gold ones in my neighborhood. Before these men decided to bring football to UNO our only fall sport was volleyball. Thank you guys for doing what no UNO administration could or would do and that is give me the opportunity to support my school in football. It is incredible what this group has accomplished in three years with no financial support from the university and no money or help in marketing. Last night several people came up to me at a function and said "so your school is playing for a conference championship". They also know about the promised NCAA team next year, they found out thru their high school alumni associations who publicize their players who represent UNO. Football runs thru the fiber of this community and if you don't have it you are not part of the community. That is just a fact and one that this administration better use in the fight to move forward. Any move to slow down the football process is a move to kill it by those who do not want UNO to have a viable athletic department.

[Privateer220]

Lets take the our first conference championship in football! My UNO flag is flying in the front of my house and waiving just as proudly as the purple and gold ones in my neighborhood. Before these men decided to bring football to UNO our only fall sport was volleyball. Thank you guys for doing what no UNO administration could or would do and that is give me the opportunity to support my school in football. It is incredible what this group has accomplished in three years with no financial support from the university and no money or help in marketing. Last night several people came up to me at a function and said "so your school is playing for a conference championship". They also know about the promised NCAA team next year, they found out thru their high school alumni associations who publicize their players who represent UNO. Football runs thru the fiber of this community and if you don't have it you are not part of the community. That is just a fact and one that this administration better use in the fight to move forward. Any move to slow down the football process is a move to kill it by those who do not want UNO to have a viable athletic department.

The guys who run football can't pay Tad Gormley's rent.
The guys who started football work in admissions.
UNO is the only school in the neighborhood with down admissions. The privates and publics around us are all movin' on up.
Down admissions impacts the student fees.
Lower student fees impact bottom line of department budgets.

I've worked in business for 23 years. If the incoming money is going lower, the time is not of the essence to start something big and new. Got to cut expenses due to lower revenue.

Let's do the math! Benoit, bust out the power point! Timothy is no longer around to do one himself.

Are we sure the math still works? Hire Timothy as our economic advisor! He makes the funny numbers come together. 2+5 = 10!

[NSPRIVATEER]

The Club team does not get money from the athletic department so any money problems that they have has nothing to do with enrollment. The fact that they were able to fund themselves for the season and two trips to Ohio is remarkable. The athletic department should be taking in more money than it is sepending by a wide margin since they no longer count scholarships and the amount of Coaches has been reduced. Just looking at the fees generated by the student body is not the way to prepare an athletic budget. They need to plan and make good on that plan to market season tickets to all alumni and the community and they need to target advertisers to support the programs. If they are not going to do that then fire Amy now and save the salary of the AD. They could easily sell 1000 season tickets in football at $35 apiece with any type of imaginative program. That alone would pay the coaches salary.

[Privateer220]

Where is Andy's source of money?

He was in desperation mode the last two weeks. Did not reach out to me or anyone I know. Got information second hand.

He have a sugar daddy?

[Slidell]

I've worked in business for 23 years. If the incoming money is going lower, the time is not of the essence to start something big and new. Got to cut expenses due to lower revenue.

Let's do the math! Benoit, bust out the power point! Timothy is no longer around to do one himself.

Are we sure the math still works? Hire Timothy as our economic advisor! He makes the funny numbers come together. 2+5 = 10!

This is exactly the type of thinking that has ruined UNO athletics over the years. Fear of trying something new because it's big and expensive. If we do that we might fail...oh no! We've been on a course toward failure for 40 years BECAUSE we've never done football.

The numbers don't work IF NOTHING CHANGES.

So we need leadership determined to change things. Determined to get enrollment up. Determined to raise outside money FOR FOOTBALL.

No. We're UNO. Where it's so easy to say "Bah...enrollment is down which means funds are down...now is not the time. Whew...now I don't have to get off my butt and do anything! Now let's crack jokes to deflect any type of serious discussion of the topic....let's make football one big Andy Benoit joke!"

No vision. If the new administration thinks like that we're doomed.

[NSPRIVATEER]

"let's make football one big Andy Benoit joke!"


I fear that many people on this board will not be satisfied until the last shovel of dirt is thrown on UNO athletics. At first it was until ryan is gone, he is gone and now its Andy Benoit. I hate that Benoit spoke at the direction of his boss and I will never think he was right for doing so. However, do anyone one of you really believe that anything would have changed at the BOS meeting? That is over, I understand if you never want to support anything UNO again, but the fact is the team has accomplished a lot, at the expense of the members, their families and several people who have stepped up to make sure this team got to compete for a championship. That is more than has ever happened before. Heck, this program could not even go out and raise money for Time Floyd to make long distance phone calls for recruiting, They needed money and they raised it. They also made two long bus trips to Ohio and beat the home team to bring home the championship. I know whats next, craping all over anything that the basketball team accomplishes because of the competition. Well they are not on scholarship and they are playing the next team on their schedule, they are doing what they can. I would rather have this level of athletics than nothing. This is what UNO has now, sadly those of us who want to discuss the teams and try and put the politics behind us have no place to do so. I enjoyed this board in the past, good luck in the future guys, I'm history.

[secoer]

Andy Beniot was on the wrong side of this fight. It appears that he and Ryan had a plan and it didn't work out.

Having said that he has done something that many dreamed of doing at UNO and that was bring football awareness to the campus.

I really believe that if the proper planning is done and the right leadership at the top is in place UNO could be playing football in a few short years. It will not happen next year in my opinion as there is no direction at the top (Chancellor's position) and the planning really needs to be thorough. We will not have another chance if it fails.

My wife and I are planning to attend this Saturday evening's game. It will be the first game we attend this year due to schedule conflicts and other circumstances.

Congrats to the team. They deserve it for all they have done.

[NolaShaun]

I, too, am considering attending Saturday's game. I work until 5, and if nothing comes up personally between now and then I'm probably heading down to the Parish when I get off.

[Steve]

I, too, am considering attending Saturday's game. I work until 5, and if nothing comes up personally between now and then I'm probably heading down to the Parish when I get off.

I'm planning to go as well, although I fully anticipate getting lost on the way to the stadium, taking several wrong turns, and never being heard from again. It will be forever known as Benoit's Revenge.

[Slidell]

Sounds like we could have a nice group at the last game.

I'm looking forward to it. I just hope that it is only the last UNO football game of this season...not THE last UNO football game.