ETSU Sports

#2
#2
the mini-dome was a terrible place to watch football and an even worse place for basketball.

it seems to me that since they built that athletic center they could tear the the dome down. could they not use Science Hill's facilities at least until they can get some of their own?

i didn't know this was still an issue there. i thought after the students vetoed the raising of their athletic funds that this issue was dead.
 
#3
#3
ETSU can't afford to have a football team. It makes absolutely no financial sense.

I still attend basketball games and baseball games. Doozer is right, the mini dome has got to go. Play Basketball at Freedom Hall if you have to. Everyone knows that place sees way too many dark nights anyway. I'm anxious to see what happens once all the new facilities get built. It could be fun times at ETSU if people will just get over the fact that football doesn't work at ETSU.
 
#4
#4
Hey, i go to school there...first year..I've been to 1 game and it was the Milligan game..I agree, something needs to be done about games being played in the Dome..I walked in that place and was like...damn, this is a crappy place to play basketball. It's so old and dull. They need to at least get some brighter lighting or something.
 
#5
#5
it's not like the students stick around on the weekends to watch the games anyway. everybody know the night to go out and party is Thursday because everybody goes home for the weekend.
 
#6
#6
doozer said:
it's not like the students stick around on the weekends to watch the games anyway. everybody know the night to go out and party is Thursday because everybody goes home for the weekend.
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i think it's more the fact that everyone goes home everyday. I haven't checked in a few years, but ETSU is very much a commuter school. The ratio between commuter and dorm students used to be very high
 
#7
#7
The Thursday night games always had better crowds IMO. It didn't help that the teams weren't very good, atleast when I was there.
 
#8
#8
Basketball in the early nineties was top notch. Mister, Calvin Talford (who won a college dunk contest), Greer, Dennis, Phelphrey, English, Niblett, Silvers, I'm sure I'm leaving a few off.
 
#10
#10
Football has primarily been crap. I do remember them beating #1 Georgia Southern in '01 or somewhere around there. Of course, I was in Knoxville at the USC game instead. I'm pretty sure Ga Southern had Adrian Peterson back then.
 
#11
#11
I think all of the people who still whine about ETSU not having football need to get over it. That was over 5 years ago, move on already. The fact is the current sports programs and the university are all better off financially without football.

The economics of the situation would not allow football to continue. It was by far the most expensive sport, and wasn't making money (despite the fact football is supposed to be the biggest money-maker). Other sports couldn't be cut because you MUST field at least 14 sports to be an NCAA Division I member. It would have taken cutting all of the other sports to equal the amount of red ink eliminated by cutting football.

People complain about 'how much the department has fallen off' and 'how much they suck'...but they won HALF of the conference championships awarded in the A-Sun last year. Yeah, thats really down, lol.

Would it be great to demolish the dome and build a football stadium back on the spot of the old field? Sure. I love football and think it would be great to have...but to do it before the financial situation is right would be idiotic. With the right financing, marketing, and support, I think ETSU football could be successful--in the future.

Oh, and ETSU knocked off Georgia in the Hawaii Rainbow Classic 76-58...poor Bucs.
 
#12
#12
volfanbill said:
Basketball in the early nineties was top notch. Mister, Calvin Talford (who won a college dunk contest), Greer, Dennis, Phelphrey, English, Niblett, Silvers, I'm sure I'm leaving a few off.
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I had some roommates my freshman year on the hill who were from Elizabethton. I got to know that team well. I also remember seeing them beat UT at home in the dark days of the Houston era.
 
#13
#13
vader said:
I had some roommates my freshman year on the hill who were from Elizabethton. I got to know that team well. I also remember seeing them beat UT at home in the dark days of the Houston era.
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what days of the houston era were not dark?
 
#15
#15
volfanbill said:
ETSU can't afford to have a football team. It makes absolutely no financial sense.

I still attend basketball games and baseball games. Doozer is right, the mini dome has got to go. Play Basketball at Freedom Hall if you have to. Everyone knows that place sees way too many dark nights anyway. I'm anxious to see what happens once all the new facilities get built. It could be fun times at ETSU if people will just get over the fact that football doesn't work at ETSU.
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There are some awesome plans in the works for facilities up here. Its simply a matter of getting the funding in place, and working on increasing the fan support and broadening the demographics of the fan base. I think developing/improving our game day atmosphere will also have a big effect on that.
 
#17
#17
VolInsider said:
There are some awesome plans in the works for facilities up here. Its simply a matter of getting the funding in place, and working on increasing the fan support and broadening the demographics of the fan base. I think developing/improving our game day atmosphere will also have a big effect on that.
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if ETSU can get a basketball arena built, it will be a big selling point to the area. Also, it baffles me that ETSU and the Cardinals can't work something out to share a new baseball stadium. How can Tusculum have someone like Niswonger to build everything they need and a whole lot more and ETSU can't find anyone?

Imagine if Niswonger was a UT booster?
 
#18
#18
doozer said:
What are they building?
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they've built a new soccer stadium, have just started a new softball complex and have long range plans for other facilities. I believe they also upgraded their tennis facilities. Not to mention that freaking awesome Golf Center. That place is top notch. I visited the one for University of Texas this summer (and listened to the coaches brag about it on end) and it has nothing on it.
 
#20
#20
doozer said:
I can't believe they haven't hit up Kenny Chesney for money. Or have they?
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not to my knowledge. I'd seriously hit up Niswonger. He rebuilt just about every athletic facility Tusculum had plus some other buildings, built a performance arts center in Greenville. Greenville? are you serious? He's also paying most the money for the new chidlren's hospital at Johnson City Medical Center.

He's the founder of LandAir transportation. I don't know of any ties he has to Tusculum other than it's in Greenville. He went to Purdue. Why not see if he'll help ETSU out?
 
#21
#21
I stand corrected. According to Scott M. Niswonger Doctor Of Technology he has several ties to Tusculum:

Born and raised in Van Wert, Ohio, Niswonger came to Purdue out of high school and graduated in 1968 with a degree in aviation technology. He is a certified airline transport pilot and has flown everything from J-3 Cubs through Boeing 747 aircraft. He is a graduate of the United Airlines Training Academy in Denver, Colo., and added a degree in business administration from Tusculum College in 1987.

Niswonger co-founded Landair Transport in 1981 with an initial $2,000 investment. Today he is the majority shareholder of Landair Transport while also serving as chairman of Forward Air Corporation, which has been recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the "Top 200 Small Companies" in America. The two companies have a combined annual revenue of $370 million, providing high service level truckload operations and contract services to the air cargo industry and time definite shippers.

Niswonger is very active in community affairs. He is past chairman of the Greene County Partnership, serves as a trustee at Tusculum College, is a member of the Dean’s Executive Council for the School of Technology at Purdue, and is a board member and honorary alumnus of East Tennessee State University. In addition, he is an ordained elder in the Greeneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
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However, he also has some ties to ETSU. I'd be making a phone call.
 
#22
#22
doozer said:
What are they building?
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The uber-sweet golf center ($2.4 mil) was finished in '04, and is among the top facilities in the country.

Soccer stadium ($8 mil) will be finished later this spring in time for the new men's soccer program that starts next year (we do have "futbol", lol). The field is already finished and is considered among the best playing fields in the country.

The ground breaking for the softball stadium ($5 mil) was just held last week.

Groundbreaking for the new baseball stadium will be this spring if the financial details are worked out. It will be a joint venture with Johnson City government and will house ETSU and the Johnson City Cardinals. The stadium will be first-class ($10 mil) with field turf, retail areas, etc. Picture if they had built Smokies Park in downtown Knoxville--thats what we're talking about.

New Facilties for Track and Field ($5 mil) and Tennis ($ 3.5 million) should also start sometime in '08. The tennis center will have 12 outdoor and 6 indoor courts, and honestly looks nicer than UT's.

The basketball arena is the last item on the list and will be completed whenever the funds are raised. The current plans are for a $33 million venue that willl seat between 5k-7k. Though details haven't been finalized...I would like some kind of mini-Conseco Fieldhouse that would help blend the downtown and campus architecture. Something like Gonzaga's new arena.

Details about the whole ETSU Capital Campaign can be found here.
 
#24
#24
that stuff is awesome.

i wish it had been around when i was there. we had Brooks Gym and the mini-dome. that was it.

where are they putting all these new fields and complexes? there were the intramural fields on the west side of campus but it's not like there was a whole lot of room. i can't imagine them taking out parking lots since there is practically none to begin with.
 
#25
#25
I'll take your word on it Insider, but the info I've received is that getting a deal to work with the city and the Cardinals is at the same stalemate it's been for the past two years. Are they still planning on using that parking lot next to the old furniture factory for the said baseball stadium? It would have some incredible views of Buffalo Mtn if they did. And I thought the tennis facilities were already being built. My bad. ODU just built an uber nice tennis complex that is supposedly the nicest in the nation. I would look at their Ted Constant Center if I were planning to build a basketball arena under 10k. It's currently been named the niced arena of that size.
 
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