Mike Bohn's dilemma

[SECOBuffsFan]

Another simpler sport could be men's volleyball

I think the introduction of CU into the Pac 12 included a detailed road map of how in the next 10-20 years CU could add enough sports at a good, but not financially irresponsible pace

 

[GregInArlington]

Swimming and diving isn't going to happen soon. We need the facilities for these. The rec center would never do.

We are going to need to help bring content to the Pac12 network, otherwise it'll be overrun by the UC schools (and Stanford and UO). This will be good for exposure for CU. I'm sure Scott is pressing hard on all of the schools so that he will be able to fill up timeslots for airing. That is going to be difficult when it first starts.

Our swimmers would f-ing own training at altitude!

 

[sackman]

Our swimmers would f-ing own training at altitude!

Only the distance events. Similar to track, swimming sprinters don't benefit much from training at altitude.

 

[GregInArlington]

Only the distance events. Similar to track, swimming sprinters don't benefit much from training at altitude.

gotcha. I just know that swimming hard requires a LOT of oxygen (for us mortals).

 

[JimmyBuff]

I think we should stick to getting football going and maximizing revenue there before we start adding a bunch of sports. Football drives athletic departments. We need top notch facilities to compete at the national level.

 

[kalbuff]

Seems to me that the plan should be to focus on sports that are prominent in the Pac - 12. Baseball sure fits that bill. So does volleyball. Not sure about lacrosse although that sport is becoming huge as each year passes. Soccer is pretty big although Santa Clara is the best, typically, on the West Coast.

I am rather prejudiced in favor of college baseball.

 

[Idot Buff]

I think we should stick to getting football going and maximizing revenue there before we start adding a bunch of sports. Football drives athletic departments. We need top notch facilities to compete at the national level.

Spot on, perfect post.....

 

[sackman]

I think we should stick to getting football going and maximizing revenue there before we start adding a bunch of sports. Football drives athletic departments. We need top notch facilities to compete at the national level.

Spot on, perfect post.....

You guys aren't getting it. This isn't about what sports to add. It's about what Mike Bohn is going to do with the extra money. Reading between the lines, I think the expectation is there that CU needs to bring back some sports. I'm sure Mike would rather do exactly what you're suggesting and reinvest the money into things that can pay dividends down the road. He has to walk a very fine line between doing what he thinks needs to be done with the money and doing what the conference would probably prefer he do. At some point, he's going to have to answer some pointed questions. Just look at this thread - a bunch of people talking about what sports they want to bring back. Bohn is certainly getting questions about this already from the fans. Now he's going to be getting them from the conference office as well. He'd be well served to figure lay out exactly what he wants to do with that money. If he doesn't, he runs the risk of having somebody tell him what to do with it.

 

[Idot Buff]

You guys aren't getting it. This isn't about what sports to add. It's about what Mike Bohn is going to do with the extra money. Reading between the lines, I think the expectation is there that CU needs to bring back some sports. I'm sure Mike would rather do exactly what you're suggesting and reinvest the money into things that can pay dividends down the road. He has to walk a very fine line between doing what he thinks needs to be done with the money and doing what the conference would probably prefer he do. At some point, he's going to have to answer some pointed questions. Just look at this thread - a bunch of people talking about what sports they want to bring back. Bohn is certainly getting questions about this already from the fans. Now he's going to be getting them from the conference office as well. He'd be well served to figure lay out exactly what he wants to do with that money. If he doesn't, he runs the risk of having somebody tell him what to do with it.

I guess I am not reading between the lines about what the conference supposedly wants. My view is, and perhaps I don't get it, is we need to rebuild our football program into a Top 20 powerhouse. That would be a hell of a lot more powerful and a greater benefit to the PAC-12 than adding women's underwater BB stacking....

 

[sackman]

I guess I am not reading between the lines about what the conference supposedly wants. My view is, and perhaps I don't get it, is we need to rebuild our football program into a Top 20 powerhouse. That would be a hell of a lot more powerful and a greater benefit to the PAC-12 than adding women's underwater BB stacking....

The Pac 12 doesn't give a rat's ass if we rebuild our football program. So while you and I and Mike Bohn would probably prefer to plow those funds back into the football program, I get the distinct impression that Larry Scott would rather see us bring back a baseball program. He wants content, not competitiveness. That's an oversimplification, but it's basically the truth.

 

[SINKRATZ]

How about beach volleyball?

 

[kalbuff]

The Pac 12 doesn't give a rat's ass if we rebuild our football program. So while you and I and Mike Bohn would probably prefer to plow those funds back into the football program, I get the distinct impression that Larry Scott would rather see us bring back a baseball program. He wants content, not competitiveness. That's an oversimplification, but it's basically the truth.

Having a hard time reconciling the above comment with a previous observation: "You guys aren't getting it. This isn't about what sports to add."

 

[GregInArlington]

I agree with Sacky here. I think that the PAC 12 is, and always has been, very interested in schools having as many sports as possible - especially Olympic sports. More than ever, the conference will want to support sports that are universal. Especially sports that are conducted by other countries in the Pacific rim.

 

[Idot Buff]

The Pac 12 doesn't give a rat's ass if we rebuild our football program. So while you and I and Mike Bohn would probably prefer to plow those funds back into the football program, I get the distinct impression that Larry Scott would rather see us bring back a baseball program. He wants content, not competitiveness. That's an oversimplification, but it's basically the truth.

You may be correct...I am not close to what Larry wants. But I will tell you, most alums could give a rat's ass about baseball or the other sports mentioned in this thread. Get our football program in order, and take it from there.

If the Pac 12 and Larry don't like it, what will they do, kick us out?

 

[dio]

Colorado (the state) is ripe for a college baseball team, and it would be almost immediately embraced locally.

 

[Idot Buff]

Colorado (the state) is ripe for a college baseball team, and it would be almost immediately embraced locally.

Most alums (and monetary supporters) are not local.

 

[dio]

Most alums (and monetary supporters) are not local.

Maybe not, but enthusiasm like that is contagious, even reaching around the nation. CU alums mostly don't give a **** about basketball either, but you get some excitement for the program and they come outta the woodwork.

 

[BeBe]

How about beach volleyball?

http://www.avca.org/includes/media/docs/Institutions-Discussing-Sand-Volleyball-Programs-3-21-11.pdf

 

[Buffnik]

Interesting. I was wondering if the Pac-12 was going to commit to beach volleyball. It's such a natural for the conference and is one of the women's sports that draws television interest. It was my favorite sport to watch at the last Olympics, actually.

 

[FlatironsBuff]

How about beach volleyball?

Day-yum!

 

[JimmyBuff]

You may be correct...I am not close to what Larry wants. But I will tell you, most alums could give a rat's ass about baseball or the other sports mentioned in this thread. Get our football program in order, and take it from there.

If the Pac 12 and Larry don't like it, what will they do, kick us out?

Agreed. We need to put our resources into football and getting that **** together for Coach Embree. Fooling around and wasting resources on silly sports that will be profit losers like women's field hockey, baseball or softball isn't going to improve our athletic program. We need top notch facilities to build a football progam. That's where all the money from the TV contract should be going to. once we are successful in building top notch facilities and having a Top 20 football program then we can branch out to the non-revenue sports.


Here's the top priorities for Mike Bohn

1. Football
2. Football
3. Football
4. Basketball
5. Everything else

 

[sackman]

Having a hard time reconciling the above comment with a previous observation: "You guys aren't getting it. This isn't about what sports to add."

You have a hard time reconciling a lot of things.

It's not about what sports to add. We've had dozens of threads on what sports we'd like to see. That's not what I'm talking about. It's about the decisions Bohn has to make and how he communicates those decisions. The Pac 12 is going to want sports added. I'm not sure Bohn wants to add sports right now. So how is he going to walk that line? I think the Pac 12 is going to want a timeline for the return of some sports. Can Bohn provide that to them? Can he provide that to the fans?

 

[Mick Ronson]

Most alums (and monetary supporters) are not local.

true, but a decade of success in revenue sports could change that to a degree. we'll always have the out of state kids from Cali and the east coast.....but, been a while since in-state kids-turning into adults could look to CU that way. you move 10 classes of kids through CU who grew up in Denver/Colorado accustomed to CU being formidable.....and some of those grads are going to make it in a big way. to me, that's a big piece of the puzzle. get the Denver area suburb kids as Buff fans before they are the HS seniors with 8.7 GPA's that leave the state to go to Stanford or a "back east" college or university....as their parents would say.

this assuming Benson doesn't drive CU into the ground or make CU the farm-team for a multinational "energy" and biotech corporation led by him and Karl Rove.

 

[bigbang]

Invest more in track and field, Basketball, and Football facilities. I want Baseball, but that doesn't seem possible.

 

[DBT]

If Larry Scott is "encouraging" schools to add sports, I'd assume he wants sports that all PAC teams compete in. I doubt he'd be happy if CU added hockey and joined the WCHA or some such league. Baseball and softball would fit nicely into the PAC as well as balancing each other for Titl IX. How many PAC schools have women's lacrosse? I just don't see it.

Also, do not forget, along with the TV deal, I believe CU anticipates a much higher donation rate now that we are in the PAC where our number of Alums triples over the Big XII conference.

 

[Buffarino]

Colorado (the state) is ripe for a college baseball team, and it would be almost immediately embraced locally.

Agreed, but unfortunately baseball is probably the most expensive sport CU could add. They would need completely new facilities and there are a lot of players on scholarship.

And don't forget Title IX, requiring more women's scholarships as well.

 

[kalbuff]

You have a hard time reconciling a lot of things.

It's not about what sports to add. We've had dozens of threads on what sports we'd like to see. That's not what I'm talking about. It's about the decisions Bohn has to make and how he communicates those decisions. The Pac 12 is going to want sports added. I'm not sure Bohn wants to add sports right now. So how is he going to walk that line? I think the Pac 12 is going to want a timeline for the return of some sports. Can Bohn provide that to them? Can he provide that to the fans?

You need a course in semantics. I understand your intent to parse the concept of a difficult decision about money and how to set the course as the primary problem. Bohn is challenged as you say. But adding sports is a huge part of the situation. This flies in the face of your statement that it is not about adding sports and that people don't get what you are trying to say. But I suppose if you carve out the persona of the "knower of all" you get to define your thread any way you want.

 

[Burrito]

Rugby.

 

[Mick Ronson]

Agreed, but unfortunately baseball is probably the most expensive sport CU could add. They would need completely new facilities and there are a lot of players on scholarship.

And don't forget Title IX, requiring more women's scholarships as well.

you are correct, but usually baseball schollies are partial....so it's not a roster of full scholarships....at least that's my understanding.

 

[DBT]

Agreed, but unfortunately baseball is probably the most expensive sport CU could add. They would need completely new facilities and there are a lot of players on scholarship.

And don't forget Title IX, requiring more women's scholarships as well.

Also, for Title IX, you would most likely have to add women's baseball. As for facilities, if it were me, I'd look for big time corporate sponsorship. Maybe some sort of affiliation with the Rockies/Coors/Anshutz or something along those lines. I think a baseball/softball complex could be funded using, in part, corporate dollars.