Oct. 19, 2005

• Archive of past Q&A's
  
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  Ian,

I would like to know the fans reactions to you about the new stadium seats. So far, the few I have heard are negative, especially the longer legged six foot and taller folks.

Clif Wigley
Robinson, Texas

Editor's Note: Chairback questions were also received from Melinda & John Richards (Houston, Texas), Mark Wood (Austin, Texas), Kenneth Crowson (Longview, Texas), Cathey Hall (Austin, Texas) and James Lanmon (Arlington, Texas).

Clif,

Thanks for the e-mail. We have had many comments about the new chairback seats and they have been mixed. We have had many positive comments and a number of fans who are very pleased with having a chairback seat and being in the Bear Club area.

However, there are a number of fans who have voiced two primary concerns. There are several rows that are very tight. In these rows, the space between one row and another is quite limited and provides minimal leg room. We will explore whether this issue can be addressed.

The second concern is that some of the seats are stiff and don't fold down easily causing some fans to have difficulty putting their feet on the ground. We have asked the manufacturer for an immediate solution to this problem.

We have invited the fans who are dissatisfied with their current seat to either relocate to a vacant area within the Bear Club or bench seating in an adjacent section.

Ian

The recorded music that is played during timeouts is way too loud, plus it is not music selections that I would guess 90% of the students or alumni would listen to. Rock and roll is fine but rap stuff has to go. I know the rap is to fire up the players, but really isn't the purpose of the music to fire up the fans?

Mike Andrews
Seguin, Texas

Mike,

Thank you for the e-mail and comments.

You are absolutely correct that some of the music played during the Nebraska game was too loud and not suitable for an in-game presentation. We will have this corrected for the Texas Tech homecoming game.

We expect an excellent crowd for Homecoming and encourage fans to purchase tickets early by calling 710-1000.

Ian,

I was wondering is there any way that we could see some of the ex-Baylor Bears, such as Mike Singletary, Jerod Douglas, J.J. Joe, and etc., at a rally or gathering.

I love the team we have this year, but maybe it would be a great lift for the community and players to see people who have been a part of our family for years!

Heath Hale
Waco, Texas

Heath,

Thank you for the e-mail. I am very excited about the work that Walter Abercrombie, Associate Athletic Director/Executive Director of the B Association has done in reconnecting and strengthening relationships with our letterwinners. Walter has done a wonderful job of creating events that attract our former student-athletes back to games and campus events.

It was exciting to have the 1980 football team return to campus for the Nebraska game and be a part of the dedication of the Letterwinners Plaza. The team had a wonderful reunion and we are especially grateful to Coach Teaff and Mike Singletary for being so generous with their time. We have a celebration event for Lady Bear basketball planned for November 18 that will be our largest gathering of women's basketball letterwinners.

Ian

What a job you are doing at Baylor! We are so proud of all that has been accomplished since you have arrived in Waco. Thanks so much for all you do for Baylor.

I believe you said in an earlier "Ask Ian" that the empty end zone would have a tarp covering it that said "This Is Bear Country". Is this still the plan? And if so, will it be in place for the big game against Nebraska this weekend?

Bryan Harrison
Waco, Texas

Bryan,

Thank you for the kind words.

Tom Hill on our staff did a great job working with a local vendor to have the South End Zone cover in place prior to the Nebraska game. For those unable to attend the game, it says "This Is Bear Country" in gold on a green background. On each side of the cover, there is an interlocking BU. We have received very positive comments on this addition to the facility.

Ian

How do you expect to fill the Floyd when ticket prices are $35. I mean come on. I'm a proud Bear but to pay this much game in and game out is crazy. How about cheaper end zone tickets. I believe this is the only way to fill the Floyd. Thank you for your time.

Andy Bird
China Spring, Texas

P.S. Go Shawn Bell! Can't stop the Cougar pride!

Andy,

Although we did not "Fill the Floyd" completely on Saturday night, the crowd of 40,857 was the largest non-Texas or Texas A&M crowd to attend a Baylor home game at Floyd Casey Stadium since 1996 We were very encouraged by the tremendous student turnout of more than 7,000.

We did have some concern expressed about $35 ticket prices for all seats. However, as I mentioned in last week's Ask Ian, Baylor has the lowest ticket prices in the Big 12. Fans who attend the Baylor - Oklahoma game this week should be prepared for minimum ticket prices of $62.

We are committed to selling exclusively full priced tickets for premium games such as Nebraska, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. However, we will continue to offer discounted end zone seats for some games on our schedule each year.

Ian

I really enjoyed going to West Point and was wondering if this series could continue. Also, a series with Navy would be nice as well.

Floyd Shumpert
Dallas, Texas

Floyd,

We are exploring future series with both of these institutions, however, do not have anything to report at this time. We will finalize the 2006 schedule shortly by adding a I-AA opponent. This will give Baylor a rare seven-game home schedule in 2006.

We are still searching for an opponent in 2007 to round out that year's schedule.

Ian

Congratulations to the Bears for their outstanding victory over Iowa State this afternoon! In view of the fact that they are 3 and 2 this year while wearing green helmets, after 10 disappointing and frustrating years, can you as Athletic Director somehow arrange for the gold helmets to continue to get "lost" for a little while longer?

Gordon Goodier
Kingwood, Texas

Editor's Note: Similar questions and comments regarding helmets were received from Lucy (Washington, D.C.), Chris Coultas (San Antonio, Texas), Ben Meek (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Matt McKinney (Keller, Texas), Dr. Steven J. Hernandez (Austin, Texas), B.T. (San Antonio, Texas), Phil Warner (Dallas, Texas), Larry Taylor (Waco, Texas).

Gordon,

Thanks for the e-mail and comments.

There has been a great deal of discussion about the green helmets and you make a great point about not wanting to change what is working.

Despite our success wearing green, I expect that we will see the gold helmets reappear before too long.

Ian

Thanks for the great leadership you have provided to the BU sports program. Pride in BU sports has already risen dramatically and can go a lot further under your stewardship.

There is one area that would further help us demonstrate our BU pride - especially for out-of-state alums. When will we see more selections of BU apparel online? The internet should be the great equalizer and offer comparable items to other schools. I have not seen improvement in this area. Is there someone dedicated to expanding the online selection? Can a bonus be tied to number of online items and not to meeting with vendors?

Thanks again for the great leadership.

Stephen Hull
Overland Park, Kan.

Stephen,

I appreciate your e-mail and support!

The on-line store is managed by Follet the company that operates the Baylor Bookstore. Our staff regularly meets with Follet representatives to express the demand that we have from Baylor fans and alumni for athletic apparel. In my view, there has been some progress made but we have a long way to go.

There is another initiative underway within the athletic department to expand the presence in the market place of Baylor merchandise. We have a staff member charged with contacting retail stores in key markets to request increased presence of Baylor apparel through our new retailer program. We have experienced some success in this area already and expect that to grow significantly in the future.

Ian

We had some great news from the athletic ticket office this past week. Due to a flurry of season ticket sales prior to the Nebraska game, we set a new football season ticket sales record. Special thanks to all of our first-time football season ticket holders who put us over the top!

There is a good possibility of television for the Baylor - Texas Tech Homecoming game. This game is one of four under consideration for three television windows (11:30 a.m. on FSN; 2:30 p.m. on ABC; 6:00 p.m. on TBS). In the event that the game is not selected for television, it will be played at 2:00 p.m.

Many fans have asked about the revenue implications of football television appearances. Each time Baylor is selected for a conference cable game (FSN, TBS) it is worth one unit valued at approximately $181,000. A network appearance on ABC earns a unit that is worth about $206,000. When Baylor receives a non-conference television appearance, two units are awarded. Bottom line: football television appearances are an important and significant revenue source for the athletic department.

Ground has recently been broken for the new basketball practice facility. We have added a button on the main page of BaylorBears.com for fans to follow the progress of this project. It is expected to be completed in August 2006.

This past week, Baylor submitted the final version of its second cycle NCAA Certification report. I want to commend Noley Bice, Mark Dunn, Mike Rogers and Rory Ryan who along with our staff and the subcommittee chairs did outstanding work in completing this document. The next step in this process is for a peer review team to visit campus February 16-17 and meet with various Baylor constituents.