Rick Smith: January 2009 Archives

The reception with Jarvis

There were some tough questions being asked by the event attendees and Jarvis fielded them well. He said that the team has some really great recruits coming in ... and one of them is apparently deciding between FAU and an Ivy League school. He continued to say they are recruiting students with high GPAs as well.

When asked what the alumni in Texas can do to help the team.... Jarvis responded jokingly with the idea of chartering a team jet. He went on to say in a more serious tone that the traveling the team does has taken its toll on the players - and Thursday away games with a home game Saturday schedule is not conducive to resting injuries, playing well or academics. A chartered plane would allow the team to get in and out in one day and only miss one day of classes - not three.

He never mentioned that Graham had missed the plane that morning... but maybe it was instances like that he was referring to.

I asked the question about conference affiliation and when we can see FAU move into a "better" conference. He said that it all depends on football, but from a basketball stand point, C-USA would be the best bet and that the Big East is a stretch for our program in general - especially because Jarvis' son told the group that there are facility regulations (8,000 seats) that we don't meet to be in the Big East for basketball.

After we establish some loosely-written guidlines (because we aren't supposed to be a govenrment agency with pages and pages of bylaws, we just need some guidelines to help build a foundation) include doing a reception in Houston this summer, tailgate before the FAU v. UNT football game (if it's in Denton this year) and maybe round of golf when FAU football plays UNT. Who knows... maybe we'll do a game kickoff party in Austin.

But I am really looking forward to the event in Houston because we have some energetic alumni who recently moved there and they really want to get things started.

We could also hold more events including "watch parties" that we could organize in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin when the Owls play on TV.

None of those events are official or even in the planning stages yet. But I've got big goals and those are just some of them.

Homecoming 2009 return?

• Track and field facility
• Fitness center
• Burrow renovations
• Business building
• Renovation to Algonquin and the construction of HPT and GPT resident hall, along with the demolition of Modoc, Naskapi, Timuqua, Seminole, Mohave, etc.
• Branding initiative
• Nursing building
• Parking garages
• Student Union renovation
• Cafeteria renovation
• Student Services building

The pictures and captions are below.

Tradition in the Making...One Alum at a Time,

-$'07

Dave Larson and Mike Jarvis - wing span: Jarvis talked to the group about the difference between a player's height and his wingspan. Jarvis said that they are recruiting players with a large wingspan because in reality, it makes them taller than if they had short arms but were really seven feet tall.

Dave Larson, Chancellor Dugan and Shannon Litton: Dave said he sat with the Lady Owls during the men's game and talked with the players and coaches.

Doug Bourne and Mike Jarvis: Bourne has attended several events including the 2007 New Orleans Bowl, 2007 game vs. UNT in Denton and the 2008 game vs. Texas in Austin.

Group picture with Lonestar Burrow Banner: Three alumni and some of the basketball staff 

Ric Hicks and Mike Jarvis: Ric has not been back to campus since 2001. He was an RA and attended FAU only because of a scholarship he received. He made it a point to tell me he wanted to come back for Homecoming this year and see all the great progress the university has made.

Rick Smith '07 and Mike Jarvis - Rick Smith '07 is a member of the National Alumni Association's Board of Directors and was the main contact for this event in Texas.

The Lone Star Burrow will be hosting its first official reception since earning our charter in August. Previous events included a watch party in 2006, tailgates at FAU v. UNT football games in Denton, a "launch meeting/event" in the summer of 2007 and the FAU v. Texas alumni tailgate, where we earned our charter, in Aug. 2008.

We don't expect hundreds of FAU fans or alumni to be there - 15 would be a success and 20 would be amazing.

All the preparations are done except for buying the food and drinks, which I will order today and pick up tomorrow.

We have a meet and greet with Head Coach Mike Jarvis at 5 p.m. CT and then will enjoy drinks and food courtesy of the FAUNAA. And of course, we'll be at the game for tip-off at 7 p.m. CT.

After I give a brief speech at the reception, we'll be able to mix and mingle with each other. In the background, two videos will be playing on loop: The New Orleans Bowl highlight video and the orientation video used at this summer's freshmen orientations.

I'd like to give a quick, but big shoutout to the people that have helped to make this happen
- UNT Alumni Office for allowing us to use their alumni center for our reception
- Alex Sanchez '94 (Austin) for having the vision years ago to create a chapter in Texas
- Paul Metcalf, Pat Breman and Marlene Smith in the FAU Alumni Relations office for organizing everything

At the reception, we'll be raffling off three signed copies of Jarvis' book, along with a team-signed basketball.

The purpose of the event is to keep FAU Alumni engaged with the university, to talk about what joining the FAUNAA does and to continue the momentum that is building in Texas for FAU.

I'll provide pictures via e-mail to the admins of FAUOWLSNEST to post during the event. I'll try to blog tomorrow morning before my nearly six-hour drive tomorrow to Denton from San Antonio. And of course, I'll provide a wrap-up piece on Sunday.

The fan experience blog is back! And although it won't be as exciting as the Detroit fan experience blog... I'll try to keep it somewhat entertaining.

-$'07

Ideas for future FAUNAA events in Texas: Currently, we have thoughts of having a summer reception in Houston and Austin, and then a tailgate for the FAU v. UNT football game in the fall. We have several alumni in Houston who want to have an event - and one specifically e-mailed the FAU office a few weeks ago and is an Ocean Engineering grad who said there are several OE grads out there. My dream event is to have admissions host a prospective student event, followed immediately by an alumni reception. But we'll see what happens.