Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Skip navigation

palmbeach post article

Post

here is an exchange of email from mr. goodman of the post. he sticks to his guns, I wrote him intially ripping into the fact he's pulling a randy shultz, its best read from the bottom up



look, as a wall streeter, you wouldn't be thrilled with a business that predicted results and then fell far short. the 50 pct. increase in attendance is nice, but it's way below the projections that were supposed to make FAU football not only self-sustaining by this point, but profitable. that clearly hasn't happened.
what evidence do you have that attendance will increase 50 percent, or by any pace? that's wishful thinking of the sort you wouldn't tolerate in a corporate analysis. as they say in the mutual-fund offerings, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
if, as you point out, the marlins can win 2 world championships in their short life and still be struggling with building a reliable fan base, how can you argue with any confidence that FAU will do any better?
as you'll notice, i said it's not the team's fault. they've been playing beyond expectations. even so, too many students still can't be bothered.
it's not just football, by the way. FAU men's basketball, which has been division I for 10 years, averages a mere 550 souls at home games. they tried enticing students to the games by offering free meals beforehand…. but the kids just ate the barbecue and left.
south florida is a very tough market for sports teams. back in 1999, when schnellenberger came to FAU, he mentioned that miami – miami! – was having trouble selling enough tickets. why he then thought that FAU could prosper at the gate is a mystery i don't understand.
listen, i agree with you that football is a great part of college. i happen to love football. but the numbers are in negative territory here.
anyway, thanks for reading the column and for writing.
cheers,


Howard Goodman
Palm Beach County Metro Columnist
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
561-243-6638 office
561-312-6076 cell





[Goodman, Howard]

—–Original Message—–
From: Justin Dirico [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:50 AM
To: Goodman, Howard
Subject: RE: FAU editorial


no but look at every great college in America besides the Ivy's and they all have great sport programs. Why are students not turning out? Because 32 year old commuters have no school spirit and too busy getting a college education and working full time, attracting a traditional college student with athletics will only increase attendance. With every non-traditional graduating class there is a new more impressionable class enrolling at younger age and living on campus.

If students are not interested why has that attendance increased 50% a year? On this pace games will see 15k this year and 22k in 06'. 15k and 22k are a lot more than marlins have at there game with the same facilities.

"Goodman, Howard" <[email protected]> wrote:

thank you for making my case for me. if students don't pay for tickets and they're still turning out in poor numbers, what does that tell you about their level of interest? as an economics major, you must know the answer to that.
you seem not to have noticed that i give brogan credit for recognizing that he inherited a bad situation.
in your last sentence, are you saying that a university should be judged mainly by the fame of its football coach? c'mon….



[Goodman, Howard]
—–Original Message—–
From: Justin Dirico [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:17 AM
To: Goodman, Howard
Subject: FAU editorial


I'd like to see those comments in five years. I love the fact you don't mention students do not pay for tickets to sporting events, attendance increases by over 50% a year and Brogan is slowly turning a commuter school into a traditional college atmosphere. Your comments are narrow minded and shouldn't be subjected to the public, I can't believe such a reputable newspaper could post such juvenile, uneducated comments without showing both sides of a story. You are narrow minded and ought to be ashamed of yourself, the university has accomplished great goals in the last eight years. I went there in from 98' to 02' and graduated with a degree in Economics and make six figures on Wall Street, you don't know how many times people have asked about Schnellberger and not once about a chemistry experiment.

Justin Dirico 02'
516.428.1313
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

Its called the ole "Twist it and turn it but I'm gonna be right no matter what anyone else thinks". Its obvious he has no concept of business especially the escape condesending remark about you being a Wall Streeter. Any normal business takes 3 to 5 years to get on its feet. Thats having a strong business plan in hand and a team dedicated and commited. Even with the mess that was inherited the program is not in as bad a shape as this clown would want everybody to believe. Hey Dirico, mark this in your book, when the program goes black this guy will be all over it like it was his best friend and you will see the reverse twist.
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

It would be easy to just dismiss everything Goodman writes, but you have to admit he does make some valid points. The school does have to figure out why people, especially students who get free tickets, don't go to the games. I know all of the excuses…off campus stadium…there's so much else to do…UM, FSU, and UF playing on the same day, etc. But we've had a team for going on 5 years and there is no reason that the students don't go out to watch them play. Part of this comes from being mainly a commuter school, but you can't give me a reason why at least 2,000 out of our 25,000 or more enrolled students don't care enough to go out and support the team.

I think this is mostly a marketing problem. More specifically, the lack of it. Hopefully with moving to D-I and playing ing higher profile games, this problem will sort itself out. Until then, we are going to keep reading articles from people like Goodman who would rather put down the program than support it.
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

MTSU has the same problem and they have very nice on-campus facilities. However, they compete with Tennessee for fans. FAU has to compete with the big three. It makes it difficult. Once we get more recognizable opponents such as Oklahoma State, the students will begin to show. GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

palmbeach post article

Everyone has got to realize this is not an overnight thing, and it takes time. I mentioned awhile ago that I was a season ticket holder for the UM games during the 70's and 80's and it was sad, very sad. Then when Coach took over it was the most amazing few years to watch as the transition from nothing to a national power took place.

The Palm Beach market is growing and not only should you look to the south when talking about markets, but north. With more kids coming in from central florida area it will increase the interest of fans. As the recruiting spreads throughout the country so will the fans interest.
The move to Division I will will be huge, as the national exposure increases so will the base. it really is amazing how somethings begin to grow on a person and all it takes is a little patients and time.
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

The key is time. FAU as a whole made some big miscalculations early on. Now a more reasonable plan is in place. I think that we will see tremendous growth in the next five years not only in athletics but the university as a whole. National attention will put this program on the map. Look at what UCF did in the early years as a D-1 program. They played anytime, anywhere, and against anyone. They took their lumps but turned some heads. As a result they built a respectable program in a very short time (not including the past two years of course). USF did the same thing. The interesting thing to note is that both teams play off-campus and put lots of money into paying for use of a stadium. If they did it, FAU can do it even without an on-campus stadium. The key is to be financially responsible. Something that wasn't taken into consideration at the beginning. The big payday games will bring attention and money. In the mean time, previous debts need to be paid and we learn from our mistakes. Most D-1 football teams don't consistently make big money, only the top tier teams. However, little by little FAU will improve at the D-1 level and the money and recognition will follow. GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

USF and UCF have very good deals with there leasing agents for the use of the stadiums. As of today the local news here reported UCF is setting up workshop and is continuing forward with the construction of an on campu stadium.

IMO the stadium is more a part of the solution to money problems than a contributor. The reason especially if it is a Dome is the events other then football that it can be used for. Put your marketing cap on for a minute and think about it. One big non athletic event I can think of is Concerts.
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

Talon, I think that is why this thing is very close to getting done and the trustees are confident about the new budget and may be part of the reason that Grossman of the fundation allow part of the debt to be underwritten. Every thing will be riding on the Dome getting done, the revenues posibilities are endless - if our basketball program can get its act together and get back to the big dance a few time, why not make a move to hosting part of the NCAA march madness tourney in the future. How about hosting the High school championship on campus, now that would be huge for us. like I say the list in endless as to the events that we could have and give Boca & Mr. Twit more to write about how bad traffic is.
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

Bytor, I really don't think it would matter what happens at FAU the Twit (I like his new I.D.) would find something negative. LOL I like it "TWIT" simple but to the point.
Back to the top

Post

palmbeach post article

Talon,
I agree about the stadium. The point I was trying to make is that our deal with ProPlayer really put us in a financial hole. An on-campus stadium should right all of that given enough time. It won't happen over night.

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
Back to the top
Control functions: