Sept. 28, 2006
Baylor Family,
Congratulations are in order for our six newest Hall of Fame inductees. Football's Mike Hughes, Loyie "Buddy" Humphrey and J.J. Joe, track's Deon Minor, women's basketball star Carol Reeves-Brandenburg and baseball's Steve Smith comprise the Baylor University Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2006 and will participate in on-campus enshrinement activities Oct. 27-28. Football and track standout Weldon Bigony will join the Hall of Fame's Wall of Honor. We are looking forward to honoring these individuals at the 2006 Hall of Fame banquet, which 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.
We are looking forward to the Big 12 football opener against Kansas State on Saturday evening. This game should be a terrific match-up between two teams that have shown promise during the non-conference portion of the schedule. While we understand that many fans are disappointed with the team's 1-3 record to date, there is a great deal of confidence that Baylor will enjoy a great deal of success in Big 12 play. Now is when the student-athletes and coaches need your support and encouragement the most, so I hope to see you at Floyd Casey Stadium on Saturday night. I want to express my appreciation to Baylor students who are showing up in record numbers to support the team this year. You are making a difference and are a critical part in the building of this football program!
Congratulations to the volleyball team and women's cross country teams for their early season success that has them ranked nationally. Women's cross country is currently ranked 13th in the nation and volleyball is receiving votes in the AVCA poll that places the team 35th in the country.
Men's and women's basketball season tickets are in the final stages of the renewal process and new ticket orders will be available soon. Both teams' schedules have been released and we have some excellent non-conference games, along with the always exciting Big 12 competition. Please contact the Baylor athletic ticket office at 254-710-1000 to make sure that you are part of action this season!
We expect to receive conference football schedules for the 2008 through 2015 seasons in the coming weeks. We are busy developing the non-conference portion of these schedules and desire to provide fans with a number of quality in-state rivalry games. We recently lost one future opponent and are in the process of filling that gap which affects next year's schedule. In addition, we have confirmed a very attractive game in 2012 that we expect to announce later in the fall.
The following are the most recent round of Ask Ian questions.
Ian;
Will Baylor start a men's soccer team in the near future?
Thomas Schaeffer
Waxahachie, Texas
Thomas,
Baylor does not have any plans to add any men's intercollegiate athletics programs. Baylor does have a men's soccer club program that is very popular. We will be adding another women's intercollegiate program in 2010-11. The women's sport will be determined in the year prior to it being added.
Ian
Ian, This is more of a statement than question, but I was member of Baylor CSTV All-Access last year and it was pretty good. But this year CSTV REALLY STEPPED it up. The new design is awesome. Brings class to a great athletic program like Baylor's. Nice job.
Jack Wilson
Austin Texas
Jack,
The CSTV all-access package is evolving and we are pleased with the progress that is being made. We have had a few issues arise early this year, but overall it is a great product that our fans seem to really appreciate.
Moving forward, it is our desire to continue offering audio coverage of our games at no cost to our fans. This season, we've added audio web casts of all volleyball and Big 12 home soccer matches to compliment the football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball games which have been offered in the past.
Ian
Ian, We have enjoyed the first three Baylor football games very much. The banners around the stadium are awesome!
We are wondering if anything can be done to direct traffic before the game at the Franklin and 32nd Street "entrance" (between the old Franklin Shopping Centers)? Trying to turn to the left onto 32nd is usually dangerous and scary with the traffic coming right at you!
Thank you and Sic 'Em Bears!!!
Lori and Robert Evers
Waco, Texas
Lori and Robert,
We have had some complaints from fans leaving the Stadium after games regarding traffic flow and we have entered into conversations with the campus police regarding this issue. We want to provide the easiest and safest possible entrance and egress from the Stadium. This is an important part of the high quality fan experience that we want to deliver every time you come to a Baylor athletic event.
Ian
Ian, Great job overall with the sports programs! I have to ask this question after much hoopla over the summer with all the ads, etc. It appears that our passing game (at least against TCU) was nothing more than short dump passes for the most part. I thought we were going to see an offense that opened things up? With a fifth-year senior at QB, are the coaches not comfortable with him throwing the ball downfield?
Sam Warren
Celina, Texas
Sam,
The Air Raid offense, like most offenses, is designed to capitalize on what the defense gives you. Thus far, the short passing game has been open and that is what our coaches have chosen to attack. Unfortunately, we have not executed as well as we need to in order to be successful. Like most newly implemented offenses, we can expect improvement each week and hopefully great success during conference play this year.
Ian
Ian, What are the chances of making all seats between the 30 yard lines on the east side of Floyd Casey Stadium all general admission? There are always fans asking students to move from their seats. When students go to get tickets, they do not go as a group to get tickets all at once. However, they all want to sit as a group.
Therefore, very few (if any) students are sitting where their ticket shows. Or is there a chance of having a dedicated student section, where no visiting fans or non-students would sit? Thank you for your time and thanks for doing such a wonderful job. Sic 'em!
Cody Sulak
West, Texas
Cody,
The great news is that student attendance has increased significantly and we need space for the students to sit! That, along with record sales of Bear Force One tickets on the East Side, has resulted in some crowding in these sections. Again, this is a positive development.
We will continue to monitor this issue in order to provide our season ticket holders, including Bear Force One fans, and students with the best possible seating situation.
Ian
Ian, I read about the Big Ten starting its own television station. Is this something that could happen in the Big 12 and when would it happen?
David
McGregor, Texas
David,
The Big 12 will enter into its next round of television negotiations in 2007 and the creation of a Big 12 Network is an idea that warrants serious consideration.
The Conference is very fortunate in that many different television entities have a strong desire for Big 12 programming. Moreover, the conference television properties are highly valued financially by these prospective partners.
I expect that the next round of television negotiations will lead to greater exposure for all sports; significantly increased revenues; and, additional branding and programming opportunities being available to the membership. For fans, this will mean that more games will be available on television and it is possible that more entities will be involved in delivering these broadcasts.
Ian
Have a great weekend and Sic'em Bears!
