Western Kentucky, Hawaii To Play In 2012

[gangrene]

Western Kentucky, Hawaii to play in 2012

May this have been a key factor in Brion Carnes decision to join the Hilltoppers?

[MDH]

huh? Playing another nonAQ BCS team that had a short run? I...doubt it. Unless you're joking around that he just wanted a free trip to Hawaii.

Edited February 1, 2010 by mdh0192

[stebo]

That's pretty cool... and with the timing, WKY can treat it like a "bowl" game. Fans can travel there before the holidays and the players can get a nice trip.

[UNTFan23]

I file this under "games I don't care about."

[gangrene]

Unless you're joking around that he just wanted a free trip to Hawaii.

That's pretty much it...you never know what may influence a kid these days. June Jones, for obvious reasons, seemed to be dead-set on playing in the Hawaii Bowl last season. Based on comments in the article, it doesn't appear that WKU's intentions are much different than Jones.

[gangrene]

I file this under "games I don't care about."

Which is exactly how 90% of Americans, Texans, DFW residents, UNT alumni feel about UNT football games. Personally, I applaud WKU for their efforts to "reward" their team and fans with a trip to Hawaii to end their season. I'm just curious how they can afford the travel costs for such a trip. We used to bitch and moan about the costs of having to travel to Idaho.

[VideoEagle]

I'm just curious how they can afford the travel costs for such a trip. We used to bitch and moan about the costs of having to travel to Idaho.

The team is on a charter. But for the fans I just looked. Moscow, Idaho, doesn't have scheduled air service so you fly into Pullman, Washington. A flight leaving on 11/26/10 and returning 11/28/10 with one change starts at $446. To get from here to Honolulu the same days starts at $582. It's not that much more for the fans!

[stebo]

Which is exactly how 90% of Americans, Texans, DFW residents, UNT alumni feel about UNT football games. Personally, I applaud WKU for their efforts to "reward" their team and fans with a trip to Hawaii to end their season. I'm just curious how they can afford the travel costs for such a trip. We used to bitch and moan about the costs of having to travel to Idaho.

Flying the football team there isn't a problem. Football pays for itself. It is the other 15 or 16 sports that really drain a budget. I don't think that you can really compare a one time trip to Hawaii (which I am sure that Hawaii will pay them $250K for as there is no return trip) to a trip to Idaho whether it be Boise or Moscow. To get to Moscow - you actually have to fly into Washington, rent a car, and start driving... a long time. Playing them one time means that you probably have to stay up late to listen to the game and it doesn't get into the paper... playing them and other far flung teams on a regular basis means that you are not able to listen to or watch most of your games AND you rarely get to read about the game in the Sunday papers with all the other game write-ups. West Coast games are great for West Coast and Mountain time zones - they just don't fit in with Central time zone media... as we learned in the Big West days.

Edited February 2, 2010 by stebo

[gangrene]

Flying the football team there isn't a problem. Football pays for itself. It is the other 15 or 16 sports that really drain a budget. I don't think that you can really compare a one time trip to Hawaii (which I am sure that Hawaii will pay them $250K for as there is no return trip) to a trip to Idaho whether it be Boise or Moscow. To get to Moscow - you actually have to fly into Washington, rent a car, and start driving... a long time. Playing them one time means that you probably have to stay up late to listen to the game and it doesn't get into the paper... playing them and other far flung teams on a regular basis means that you are not able to listen to or watch most of your games AND you rarely get to read about the game in the Sunday papers with all the other game write-ups. West Coast games are great for West Coast and Mountain time zones - they just don't fit in with Central time zone media... as we learned in the Big West days.

Oh, the pain and suffering we fans must endure when following our team. I'm certainly not advocating we join the WAC but come on....everything can't always be perfect. Being a fan requires some sacrifice and, by the way, there's this new thing called the internet that provides almost instantaneous reporting of West Coast and Mountain time zone games. The days of the Sunday newspaper are numbered...I give them about five more years before they go the way of the eight track. TCU played away games at Air Force, BYU, San Diego State and Wyoming. Other than DirecTV dropping carriage of the Versus network, I don't recall it being particularly difficult to follow TCU throughout the 2009 season.

Again, I'm not advocating we join the WAC, but we'd be foolish to pass an opportunity to join the MWC because of the reasons you stated. Times change and the immediacy of media coverage is changing even more quickly.

I, for one, would be in favor of an agreement similar to the one WKU has contracted with Hawaii.

[stebo]

Oh, the pain and suffering we fans must endure when following our team. I'm certainly not advocating we join the WAC but come on....everything can't always be perfect. Being a fan requires some sacrifice and, by the way, there's this new thing called the internet that provides almost instantaneous reporting of West Coast and Mountain time zone games. The days of the Sunday newspaper are numbered...I give them about five more years before they go the way of the eight track. TCU played away games at Air Force, BYU, San Diego State and Wyoming. Other than DirecTV dropping carriage of the Versus network, I don't recall it being particularly difficult to follow TCU throughout the 2009 season.

Again, I'm not advocating we join the WAC, but we'd be foolish to pass an opportunity to join the MWC because of the reasons you stated. Times change and the immediacy of media coverage is changing even more quickly.

I, for one, would be in favor of an agreement similar to the one WKU has contracted with Hawaii.

Totally agree about the MWC - if that invite were to come along, I think that we would all jump on it. I thought that you were alluding to the WAC overtures. No big deal. As far as the newspapers are concerned - its not just newspapers, its the local news - and perception. Try having a wathing party at the Pourhouse that starts at 10 pm. Ugh, what a nightmare. We get very little ink as is and cutting into that would just be another bad thing about being WACky. But we are on the same page... MWC would be a no brainer. The local news that we would miss would easily be replaced by the national news that we would pick up.

[LoveMG]

To get to Moscow - you actually have to fly into Washington, rent a car, and start driving... a long time.

not a long drive. you fly into pullman and drive to moscow, only about 8 miles. less than dfw to denton.

at this point i would vote for wac membership. sell our souls but they get more respect and media than the sbc does.

[stebo]

not a long drive. you fly into pullman and drive to moscow, only about 8 miles. less than dfw to denton.

at this point i would vote for wac membership. sell our souls but they get more respect and media than the sbc does.

The Pullman airport is about as big as Denton's. They do have commuter service for about $300 bucks round trip from Seattle or Boise but nothing from Dallas. So you have to buy a ticket to Boise or one of a couple places in WA... then another into Pullman. We just chartered busses when we were in the Big West. I suppose the football team could charter a plane into Pullman though. We would still need a bus when we got there and hotels are scarce. I was really responding to the availability of flights for fans and the non-football sports to attend a game in Moscow. The basketball team certainly can't charter a flight into Pullman. Nor can any of the other sports, they had to fly into either Boise or Washington and then charter a bus and drive. I have been there for a game, it's not a fun adventure. Very dreary trip actually. Boise is not as bad because you can get there via Denver (still need a stop to get there with a fare below $400 bucks)... but it sure is expensive... and like Pullman/Moscow, getting the other teams there for games is very expensive. Football has never been the problem with a WAC invite - it is all the other sports. The same goes for Logan, UT. The same goes for Las Cruces in a way - you have to fly into El Paso and then drive. The Belt is far flung but other than Troy - there is a major airport near or in every city. Is Miami far? Sure... but round trip airfare is half of any trip out west. Multiply that by 200 atheletes and you have significant travel costs. The only location with travel problems in the Belt is Troy. You have to fly to Montgomers and then bus it the rest of the way. But we have a reasonable travel partner for Troy because of the conference footbprint.

Now - with all that being said, we are getting ready to build a new stadium and we will now have a much bigger budget. Maybe we can afford to be WACky in a couple of years if the Belt is showing insecurity. But how attractive would that WAC be if they lost Boise? What if they lost Boise, Reno, and Fresno? That is another problem with the WAC - everyone wants out.

Edited February 2, 2010 by stebo

[VideoEagle]

at this point i would vote for wac membership. sell our souls but they get more respect and media than the sbc does.

(sigh)

Ok, once again there is nothing wrong with the WAC. If NT was in the Mountain or Western TIme Zone it would make sense to join it. It doesn't seem to register with everyone that Denton is NOT in either of those two time zones. Because we are not in either of those two time zones, the media in Texas does not cover those WACy folks very well. During Bowl games that often take place at 3pm or 5 pm in the West, they do get coverage. But very, very little for regular season games. The games end after the newspapers have to go to press and all you get is a single line "see the web for more information." About 3 people out of every 100 subscribers then look up the story. On the Sundays after most college football games there is this organization called the NFL that also plays football. NFL coverage pushes out college coverage on Mondays because 1. far more people follow the NFL than college and 2 the college game was two days ago and is thus now old news.

TV newscasts happen at 10pm in our time zone. That is 8pm on the West coast so night games are generally just around halftime. Thus the TV coverage is "NT is currently playing school X. The current score is X. In other sports...." Please don't try to suggest ESPN as an alternative. Look at the ratings differences between local TV stations and ANY cable channel. Local news has been losing viewers for years, but they still have ratings in double digits while cable channels local ratings generally begin with a decimal point and often a decimal point followed by a zero and THEN a number.

Resect for the WACy schools. Really? You honestly think that? Was SMU, Rice, TCU or Tulsa respected for being WACy? Obviously not. Ask a TCU fan how Wyoming is did last year and they aren't sure. Ask about San Jose State and you will probably get an answer of "who?"

A few years back, the WAC approached NT, U of Louisiana and Arky State about changing conferences. All of them looked at the real financial data that was available through the Louisiana state government thanks to La Tech and all said thanks but no thanks. As a result, the WAC took U of Idaho which was their last choice, the choice they wanted to avoid if at all possible. The last choice for the WAC was the only school interested.

Let's get more recent. What do the two WACy schools to have been to BCS bowls think of the WAC? They both want to leave. In fact Hawaii, Fresno, Nevada, La Tech and Boise has all been actively campaigning to get out of the conference that some assert gets more respect. Thats over half the conference who have actively campaigned to leave! While many SBC schools would jump at the chance to join CUSA, only FAU has actively campaigned to join another conference. Even Western Kentucky has decided the SBC was better than the alternative of the MAC.

And please don't suggest being WACy would increase NT's home attendance. The only school in the WAC that wasn't in the Big West is Hawaii. Our attendance was not great when those same school visited before. The only school of the bunch with a higher profile is Boise. La Tech's attendance does not make a huge jump when they visit now. Of course there is a lot less alternative choices for the sports dollar in Ruston than in the DFW market.

If we were the University of North New Mexico, then the WAC would make sense. We are not. Suggesting otherwise ignores sports reality. Don't go WACy.

[NT80]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc09.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[gangrene]

Wow, I never dreamed this thread would turn into the annual off-season WAC-off debate.

[GrandGreen]

Hawaii trips are subsidized with among other things, the right to schedule a 13th game in that year.