June 8, 2006
Baylor Family,
The 2005-06 year is in its final days with only our men's and women's track and field teams still competing at the NCAA Championship in Sacramento, Calif. It has been another outstanding year for Baylor Athletics with a school-record 13 teams advancing to postseason competition.
The most widely recognized measure of all-around athletic program success is the NACDA Director's Cup. Baylor is currently in 36th place with men's golf, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field yet to be scored. If we are able to hold this position, it will be Baylor's second highest NACDA Director's Cup finish ever behind last year's ranking of 25th.
You may have read that baseball student-athlete Zach Dillon was named Academic All-American earlier this week becoming Baylor's third such honoree this year. In addition to Zach, Daniel Sepulveda and Kelly Osburn have also been named Academic All-American with a couple of other Baylor spring sport student-athletes still under consideration. Baylor has never had more than five Academic All-Americans in one year.
Congratulations are in order for incoming softball student-athlete Kirsten Shortridge who was named Gatorade National Player of the Year. This is a tremendous honor for Kristin and a credit to the outstanding work of Coach Moore and the softball program.
I want to once again thank and commend the Baylor faculty, staff and alumni who participated in the NCAA Certification process. Last week, Baylor was certified without conditions after having previously been cited by the NCAA as one of only two schools in the history of the certification program to have no issues raised in its self-study. Baylor Athletics benefited greatly from this process and demonstrated to the NCAA certification committee and peer review team its integrity, commitment to NCAA operating principles and vision for excellence. The success that we experienced through this process will earn Baylor a great deal of credibility with the NCAA.
This will be a busy summer for our staff as we work to complete several important projects. The Lt. Jack Whetsel, Jr. Basketball Practice Facility is scheduled to be completed by August 1. The Willis Family Equestrian Center is proceeding well and should be complete by the beginning of September. Several projects at Floyd Casey Stadium are underway including the new football recruiting center; Bear Club Seating; the Galloway Suite renovation and the Heritage Program.
Bear Club season ticket holders seemed to enjoy the seat selection process that began this past Tuesday. I want to thank the Bear Foundation and ticket office staff for their excellent work in facilitating this process. The new seats are expected to be completed by mid-August.
Thank you to all who renewed your membership or became a first-time member of the Bear Foundation. You were a part of a record-breaking year in terms of funds raised for student-athlete scholarships. We will be announcing the final total shortly.
As voted upon at the recent conference meetings in Colorado Springs, Big 12 will continue to play eight conference football games each year. We expect to receive eight years of schedules from the conference covering from 2008 through 2015. We have continued to make progress on building our non-conference schedule and expect to solidify our future football schedules for the next six years by the end of the summer.
The following are the recent batch of Ask Ian questions along with my response.
Ian,
Do you have any definitive word on whether or not the BU-TCU football game will be on national TV on Sunday, Sept. 3rd? Living so far away, any time I get to see the Bears on TV it is an incredible treat. And thanks for the great job you are doing. Sic'em Bears!
Dr. Frank Ward
Bakersfield, Calif.
Frank,
The Baylor - TCU game will be nationally televised on Sunday, September 3. We are awaiting word on the kickoff time from FSN. I hope that you enjoy the game. Thank you for the kind words and your support of Baylor Athletics.
Ian
Ian; Over the past few years the colors of the uniforms have changed. We now have men and women's basketball uniforms in black and other sports are wearing various shades of green. Once there was Baylor green and Baylor gold. What happened and why?
Green and gold in consistent shades is good enough for Notre Dame and USC - why not Baylor?
James H Laird
Livingston, Texas
James,
This has been a topic of much debate by fans over the past several years. Approximately three years ago, the university implemented new graphic and color standards that changed the official institutional colors to championship gold (bright gold) and green. Previously, the preferred gold was Vegas gold. As a result, we have some inconsistency with the use of gold among our athletic uniforms with some coaches favoring the use of each shade of gold.
Ian
Ian; I have 2 questions. Where are you in changing the TCU game to Sunday? Also, this next question is out of curiosity. Where is the 2007 Big 12 basketball tournament going to be held?
John Ferrell
Bedford, Texas
John,
Yes, the TCU game will be played on Sunday, September 3. The 2007 Big 12 men's and women's basketball tournaments will be played in Oklahoma City with the 2008 event going back to Kansas City.
Ian
Ian; I am very excited about the direction of our football program. The game day atmosphere has continued to improve each year. I have begun to see more tailgating and pre-game celebrations in the parking lot (much like other universities). This is a great way to mingle with friends, have some good food, and prepare for a great game.
When opposing fans visit our stadium, it looks very bad, in my opinion, to have police patrolling the grounds. Most of the people at these tailgates are adults. Is there a way that this can be limited? I understand our rules, but this seems to be extreme and takes away from the overall tailgating experience.
I look forward to a fantastic season under Guy Morriss.
Darin Upchurch
Austin, Texas
Darin,
Thank you for the upbeat e-mail. I am equally excited about the direction of the football program and look forward to the start of the 2006 season.
We desire to have a family-friendly atmosphere at our football games and have encouraged our security to support the same. We will continue to improve the game day atmosphere including an enhanced Snicker's Touchdown Alley, expanded tailgating areas and further aesthetic improvements at the Stadium.
Ian
Ian, Just a couple of questions about football ticket revenues. Does the home team keep the ticket/gate revenue for Big 12 games or is there some sort of split between the teams?
If the home team does keep the ticket revenue, why don't we raise the Texas A&M and Texas tickets to a price more in line with what they are charging since they seem to be filling our stadium the last several times they play us in Waco? (Let their fans help support our football program.)
Also, why are the TCU tickets more expensive than the Oklahoma tickets and Homecoming tickets are cheaper than TCU also?
We might even be able to sell more season tickets if the "premier" games were more expensive.
Mark, Hollis
Houston, Texas
Mark,
Thank you for the questions and comments. In the Big 12, the home team retains the gate. We do not split gates as the Big Ten conference does, for example.
We price our premium games higher than other Big 12 conference games or non-conference games in order to maximize revenue. Regarding the TCU game, we view this as one of the most attractive home games that Baylor has played in the last several years. TCU will be nationally ranked when it comes to Waco and we expect this game to attract a number of Horned Frog fans.
Ian
