April 20, 2005
Thank you for doing such a great job increasing our exposure regionally as well as nationally. My questions concern the allocation of scholarships between the men's and women's sports. How are specific sports total number of scholarships determined? Who dictates if the sport is considered a head count sport or one with divisible scholarships? Why are there no plans for adding any new men's programs?
Jon Topolski
Houston, Texas
Jon,
Thank you for the e-mail and excellent question.
The NCAA establishes scholarship limits for each intercollegiate sport. For example, an institution is permitted to award 15 scholarships in women's basketball and 13 scholarships in men's basketball.
As you point out, the NCAA designates some sports as head count sports while others are equivalency sports. A head count sport, such as basketball, deems any athletic financial aid awarded to a student-athlete countable as one award towards the team's scholarship limit. In an equivalency sport, scholarships may be divided in any manner among student-athletes so long as the total awards do not exceed the limit for the sport. For example, in baseball 11.7 scholarships may be divided among an unlimited number of student-athletes.
Ian
Ian, With the tennis team having won 49 straight matches, what is the NCAA record for most matches won in a row?
William L. Garrett
Nacogdoches, Texas
William,
Last night the Baylor men's tennis team won its 49th straight match and its fourth consecutive Big 12 championship. Both of these accomplishments are remarkable feats and a credit to Coach Knoll and his student-athletes. In particular, seniors Benedikt Dorsch and Benjamin Becker deserve a great deal of credit for playing leading roles in Baylor establishing a dominant men's tennis program in the Big 12 and nation.
The NCAA record for consecutive dual matches won in men's tennis is 64 set by the University of Illinois over the 2003 (32-0) and 2004 (32-1) seasons.
Ian
Dear Ian, I want to first of all congratulate the Lady Bears on their winning the National Championship. They did a swell job. I wanted to ask you is there any way possible that I could e-mail the team to send them a few words of congratulations. If there is a way for this to happen please e-mail me the address. Thanks for all the coverage on the Lady Bears, nice job!!!
Latosha Barrett
Waco, Texas
Latosha,
The Lady Bears have been thrilled with the outpouring of support that they have received from the Baylor family, Waco community and throughout the State of Texas and nation since winning the NCAA championship. They are a special group of young women who have achieved a very rare feat.
We have held a welcome home rally and parade for the team in recent days and appreciate the wonderful turnout and support. The athletic department will also be hosting an autograph signing for the Lady Bears on Wednesday, May 4 from 4:00 - 6:00 at the Ferrell Center. We expect a great turnout for this event as well.
Coach Mulkey-Robertson does have a public e-mail account and would appreciate your words of encouragement and support. Her e-mail address is Kim_Mulkey-Robertson@baylor.edu.
Ian
Ian, I recently tried to obtain tickets to the Lady Bears banquet and told that all went to corporate sponsors. This makes no sense to me as the bulk of support derives from individual contributors. Why do you not move the event to the Civic Center and invite everyone who wants to attend? Maybe next year you will think about including the "other" supporters, other than corporate sponsors.
Chris Boyd
Waco, Texas
Chris,
The Lady Bear Salute Dinner on Thursday, April 21 will result in an overflow crowd at the Ferrell Center. This event has grown in popularity in recent years and was nearly at capacity a year ago. Past year table sponsors were given first priority to purchase tables this year and I understand that everyone took advantage of this opportunity. Special concourse seating has been made available this year to accommodate the increased interest in the banquet.
There was consideration to move the event to another venue, however, the video boards and other amenities that the Ferrell Center offers could not be replicated.
I encourage all Lady Bear basketball fans to purchase season tickets for 2005-06 as soon as they go on sale. We expect record-setting season ticket sales and crowds as the excitement of Lady Bears reaches a new level.
Ian
Ian, Congratulations on all the recent success that Baylor Athletics has seen under your watch.
My question encompasses Baylor Athletic events as a whole, and although I know the question has been asked many times in the past I have yet to see any changes over the last couple of years.
With Baylor's budding following and general enthusiasm all things Athletic, I hope that it is time for a hard look at the concessions provided at the various venues.
Fortunately Baylor Athletics has reached a point with all of their success that many fans are left with nothing to complain about except what they will be eating while watching Baylor's next victory.
Jeffrey Paul
Waco, Texas
Jeffrey,
Thank you for the question and comments. I need to tell you that we have received a great deal of positive feedback especially regarding the outside vendors and having hawkers in the stands.
Overall, I have been very pleased with the improvements in our concessions operation over the past year. Our staff has worked hard to expand the menu and improve service. They have visited professional and other collegiate venues to assess best practices and collect ideas from other facilities. You can expect continued improvement in Baylor's concessions moving forward.
Thanks for your interest and support.
Ian
Ian, Could we get a counter placed on baylorbears.com that keeps the average fan up to date on the fund raising efforts for the new football facility and new basketball facility?
Trent Collier
Waco, Texas
Trent,
Thank you for the suggestion about tracking the progress of the Victory With Integrity fundraising campaign. It is an excellent idea and one that we will consider.
Since the Board of Regents approval of the campaign in February, we have had a strong start to the campaign including a number of major gifts for capital projects. We are also enjoying a great deal of momentum with the Bear Foundation fund drive. I want to encourage all fans to join the Bear Foundation at the level that you are able in order to support student-athlete scholarships and enjoy the membership benefits.
You can join the Bear Foundation on-line at BaylorBears.com or by calling 254-710-4214. Thank you for your support of Baylor student-athletes!
Ian
Ian, Even though I live in Houston, I've followed the Lady Bears all season. In fact, I was at the opening tip off in Austin and the F4 in Indy along with several weekend games during the season.
My question is - when will you open up Lady Bear season ticket sales? Not only do I want to sign up now, I think you should "strike while the iron is hot." I expect riding the emotion of the NC, sales would be through the roof!
Thanks in advance for your response.
Tracy A. Schulz
Houston, Texas
Tracy,
Thanks for the e-mail and suggestion about Lady Bear basketball season tickets. While there is good reason to put season tickets on sale immediately, we are going to wait for a while. The 2005-06 schedule is not yet complete, so we do not know how many home games we will have in our season ticket package. With that, we have yet to set final ticket prices for next season.
We are expecting demand for Lady Bear season tickets to be at an all-time high resulting in record crowds at the Ferrell Center.
Ian
Ian, What impact, if any, will the Lady Bears' National Championship -- as well as the subsequent strong merchandise sales -- have on Baylor's ability to move up to the next tier in Nike's retailing structure? In general, will this help our efforts to broaden the availability of Baylor merchandise nationally?
Mark F. Soupiset
Seattle, Wash.
Mark,
If the early returns following the women's basketball national championship are any indication, Baylor is on its way to unprecedented merchandise sales and licensing revenues. Our on-line merchandise sales for the two weeks following the national championship exceeded the combined total of the previous six months.
We are in the early stages of discussing an enhanced relationship with Nike and it is clear that the success of our teams is a primary factor in increased interest from apparel vendors.
Ian
Ian, Is the Baylor women's national basketball championship the first ever national championship for Baylor in either men or women's sports? If not, what other championships have the Bears won?
James A. Page
Corinth, Texas
James,
Baylor has now won two NCAA championships in the past year after having never won a team national championship in the university's history. Men's tennis won the NCAA championship last May and women's basketball won the NCAA title earlier this month.
In addition, Baylor has now won two Big 12 championships this year (women's basketball and men's tennis). We have never won more than two conference championships in any year. The women's tennis team has a chance to clinch Baylor's third Big 12 title of the year later this week if they win matches at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Sic'em Bears!
Ian
