Baylor Family,

The Baylor Athletics year is going very well as we hit the mid-season mark for our fall sports. Baylor football is 2-1 in the Big 12 as it prepares to face Kansas for Homecoming on Saturday. The volleyball team continues to receive votes in the national polls and enters a critical stretch of matches in hopes of reaching postseason play for the first time since 2001. Baylor soccer has been playing very well over the past couple of weeks. Finally, the cross country programs enjoy an off week before the Big 12 championships. Please make a difference by coming out to attend games and cheer on all of these Baylor teams as they prepare to finish strong in 2006!

As a reminder, the 2006 Hall of Fame Induction Banquet will be held on Friday, Oct. 27, in the Cashion Building on the Baylor campus starting at 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the "B" Association's Reba Cooper by phone at 254.710.3045 or e-mail at reba_cooper@baylor.edu.

Men's and women's basketball season tickets will be on sale beginning next week and the demand has been tremendous. Our marketing staff has done a great job in putting together television, radio, print and billboard advertising as we endeavor to fill the Ferrell Center. Please contact the Baylor athletic ticket office at 710-1000 to make sure that you are part of action this season!

We are looking forward to Homecoming this weekend and all of the festivities. If you have not already done so, please make your plans to be a part of the weekend and attend the Baylor - Kansas football game. Among the other events scheduled, Baylor will honor the 1985 and 1986 football teams; Thomas Everett will be recognized as a newly inducted member of the College Football Hall of Fame; and, we will dedicate the Willis Family Equestrian Center.

The following are the most recent round of Ask Ian questions.

Ian;

Just two quick questions or requests for you to consider. I enjoy the latest feature of flashbacks, going over games of the past. My suggestion: do a flashback of the Gotham Bowl. It was a significant victory because of who we played and a player of significance who was pushed around like a rag doll, not to mention that we are the only champions of that bowl. I guess they were so impressed with our victory, they decided not to play it ever again.

The second request is to add trophies in the trophy room from the SWC days. I'm sure we have several, especially in football and baseball. Keep up the great work, and kudos also to the soccer and volleyball teams. I am so proud of them this year.

Michael Grady

Midwest City, Okla.

Michael,

Thank you for the positive e-mail and excellent suggestions. I will pass them on to our media relations staff. We are striving to honor and celebrate Baylor tradition at all of our events and in all of our venues. Baylor has a proud tradition in athletics and we want to remind our fans at every opportunity.

As you know, some of the efforts we have made include hosting team reunions, honoring Baylor legends at games, placing banners recognizing great football players and coaches around Floyd Casey Stadium, and the B Association Hall of Fame.

Ian

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Ian;

Is there anyway we can bring back the "And that's another, Baylor, First Down!!" phrase to the football games. All of the students loved it and as a student, I think anyway to get the crowd more into the game, the better. Plus it kind of gets annoying to the other team if we keep getting a ton of first downs. Bring back the tradition.

Jon E. Higginbotham

Dallas, Texas

Jon,

Thank you for the e-mail. First, let me compliment our BaylorVision staff on the great work that they do with in-game music and video. The entertainment and atmosphere at our games has improved immeasurably thanks to their outstanding work. The "first down" graphic has not been eliminated, but I understand that it is being used less frequently by BaylorVision due to many of the new graphics that have been developed.

Ian

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Ian;

You are doing a terrific job with Baylor Athletics.

The stadium looks great. I like the banners that give the stadium a closed in feel.

I am also seeing more merchandise in my local stores. Please pass along my thanks to the appropriate parties.

Why don't punters get credit for the fifteen yard snap? Field goal kickers get credit for the seven yard snap, and the 78 yard punt on Saturday becomes a 93 yard punt when the snap is counted.

I am currently working on my Masters Degree in Sports Management. Do you have any advice for the aspiring athletic director?

Jonathan Stinson

Cibolo, Texas

Jonathan,

Thank you for the kind words. Regarding the punters, NCAA rules call for the length of the punt to be calculated from the line of scrimmage, not where the punter actually stands. You might find some support for this rule change from Daniel Sepulveda!

I recommend that aspiring athletics directors obtain practical experience in athletics administration in an entry level position where your skills and strengths can best be utilized once your education is complete. College athletics is a very rewarding field and it is a great privilege to serve a university community and especially coaches, staff and student-athletes.

Ian

Ian;

Lady Bears' basketball season is coming up...though not soon enough!

Will the November 21 re-match against LSU be televised? I'm surprised that the schedule does not show it being broadcast by ESPN2.

Carol Anne Sundahl

Seattle, Wash.

Carol,

The Lady Bears game against LSU has not been selected by any of our television partners, however, we will stream it live on baylorbears.com. This will be one of the most anticipated home basketball games of the year and we are looking forward to a great crowd and atmosphere.

Ian

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Ian,

Great job as AD!

A lot of us Baylor graduates are wondering what is going on with the advertised spread offense? We have a 5th year senior at quarterback and all we let him do for the first 4 games is throw short dump passes. I remember one pass thrown downfield in the Army game and the crowd cheered....Can you explain?

Bruce Henderson

Dallas, Texas

Bruce,

The Air Raid offense, like most offenses, is designed to capitalize on what the defense gives you. With that, the short passing game has been open and that is what our coaches have chosen to attack. We have seen some significant improvement in both the deep passing game and running game in the past few weeks in wins against two very good defensive football teams, Kansas State and Colorado.

Ian

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Ian;

I have two questions about radio coverage and a comment. Why doesn't Austin have a BU affiliate? We really cannot always pick up the Dallas, San Antonio, or Waco affiliates. I've also noticed that we have far fewer statewide radio affiliates that the other Texas schools in the Big 12.

On the same note, I know many BU alumni in Austin that listen to local sports talk everyday. Of course, that means about 10 hours of Longhorn coverage. I do not understand why your agreement with the Waco BU flagship station does not require them to stream their broadcast over the internet so that fans (and recruits) can regularly hear about BU.

Finally, I am so glad that we went back to the gold helmets and pants. I think Baylor would benefit from embracing our traditions.

Keep up the great job.

Michael Cushman

Austin, Texas

Michael,

The number of radio affiliates in the Baylor/ISP Network is dependent upon a number of factors including availability, tradition, financial resources and local advertising opportunities. ISP has been working to get an affiliate in Austin, however, there are a limited number of stations available willing to break format for sports events. I know that Texas A&M has had a difficult time getting in the door in Austin as well.

As you may know, we added a station in San Antonio this year and strengthened our coverage in the Houston market. In addition, we have created a partnership with Sirius wherein all of our football games are available on satellite on Channel 161. Finally, fans can listen to all Baylor football games on BaylorBears.com if they do not have a station that carries Baylor games in their home market. We believe that this combination of radio coverage meets the needs of the vast majority of our fans.

Thank you for the compliment on the uniforms. We have received very positive feedback on both the home and road uniforms this year.

Ian

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Ian;

Why did you all schedule a game with Buffalo? Couldn't we find a better game?

Harold

McGregor, Texas

Harold,

Unfortunately, we had a school drop a two-for-one series with us just a couple of weeks ago. With that, we were severely limited in the options available as most non-conference football schedules are completed at least several years in advance. In fact, Buffalo was the only school that had the specific date open that we needed to fill the 12^th game on our schedule.

However, please know that we are pleased to begin a home-and-home series with the University at Buffalo. We feel that this game fits our non-conference scheduling goals and is also a great trip for fans who will travel with the team. The opportunity to visit a great tourist destination in Niagara Falls and watch a Baylor football game is a real treat.

Ian