Agree basketball must be top priority. But I'd suggest we begin planning a capital campaign for athletics that includes ALL sports. The plan would include a convocations center(to be used for hoops, entertainment, symposia, etc), new recreation complex, legit football stadium, 400 meter track, etc. It's way overdue. If students/alums learn we can play Army, Navy, Duke, Tulane in football if we go scholarship, the response will be overwhelmingly positive. I think you know that, but are afraid to admit it. Setting up games with those schools is fairly easy, & a professional AD can get it done. -- FORDHAM RAMS FOOTBALL FORUM

>

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, [10] ]

Subject: Agree basketball must be top priority. But I'd suggest we begin planning a capital campaign for athletics that includes ALL sports. The plan would include a convocations center(to be used for hoops, entertainment, symposia, etc), new recreation complex, legit football stadium, 400 meter track, etc. It's way overdue. If students/alums learn we can play Army, Navy, Duke, Tulane in football if we go scholarship, the response will be overwhelmingly positive. I think you know that, but are afraid to admit it. Setting up games with those schools is fairly easy, & a professional AD can get it done.

Author:
Rambacker
[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
Date Posted: 17:55:38 11/19/04 Fri
In reply to: Ramadama 's message, "The number of posters on this board is insignificant compared to the number of alums. We're the zealots. We need a facility and staffing to move up. The costs are more than you think. We need to get basketball on the right footing and get some kind of facility, first. You can't do it all. Currently, we have no relationship with any of the schools you mention. It can be built but it will take time. Navy and Army have relationships with the 1AA schools they play. No reason to think they would drop those just to play us. Finally, there is no student/alum outcry for this move." on 17:05:58 11/19/04 Fri

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Subject Author Date

They may well and as soon as we tart hearing the demand for it, it might be the way to go. Right now we have a hug gap to fill to get where we want to go and there are more important things to focus on. A new AD is going to have to reverse 50 years of lack of direction and inept management. He's going to have more than enough to do without propping up a program that has little internal or external support. Until I see the mandate for it, I can't agree. (NT) Ramadama 08:01:15 11/20/04 Sat

No one has even begun to sell it the students and alums. When that happens, there will be overwhelming support. Improvements in our Athletic program should be a PART of building the future Fordham, not separate from it. The strategy of viewing athletics as a separate(and low-priority entity has been used in the past and is a major reason why we have struggled. (NT) -- Rambacker, 09:31:30 11/20/04 Sat

I don't think we can do everything you want at one time and do it all the right way. You have to get basketball straightened out, build an athletic facility and a recreation center. Get those done, see if we can build a market for basketball and then look at football. (NT) -- Ramadama, 12:17:10 11/20/04 Sat

I agree we should prioritize, but in some cases efficiencies are found in planning capital/administrative programs as a single entity, not separately. Eg., we could save a lot of $ by tearing down McGinley/Lombardi/Rose Hill Gym, then replacing them with one interconnected complex to include a state of the art Campus Center/Convocations Center/Recreation Complex. That way we get 3 major benefits instead of 2, all as part of the same plan/construction project. If we connect luxury boxes in the Convocations Center with the football facility, we take care of football at the same time. (NT) -- Rambacker, 12:34:12 11/20/04 Sat

That's fine, I'm not an engineer or a campus planner. If it makes sense to do it that way, great. Then we have to revive basketball and make sure there is a market for it that justifies upgrading football. I look at it as a 3-4 step process. I can't see commiting the resources otherwise. Too many other things to be done. Show we can get some some priorities addressed on the one side and then take a next step. Too easy to make a bad choice and you can't go back once it is done. (NT) -- Ramadama, 13:52:24 11/20/04 Sat

I think basketball is on it's way to being competitive, possibly very competitive. I agree that this must be done in stages and that there are several priorities that should be addressed before athletics. But the student experience must be enhanced at Fordham to enhance our ranking, and soon. A new Campus Center, Recreation Complex and Convocations Center will take us a long way toward that end. We have renovated much of the Rose Hill campus and built and renovated all the dorms. It's time. (NT) -- Rambacker, 10:24:41 11/21/04 Sun