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Blue Shovel update

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Re: Blue Shovel update

I just got a thank you from the FAU foundation. Apparently Ed donated the money along with a list of people that contributed to the shovel movement.

FAU - THE REAL SLEEPING GIANT
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Re: Blue Shovel update

Ed, worked his tail off trying to get this thing with shovels done and had all kinds of road blocks. He is a straight up guy trying to do something good for the cause. I talked to him in length at the MTSU game, about the problem with the vendor and the university wasn't doing much at the time to help. He really felt like he let everyone down and I told him hey man you tried they vendor should have had his butt kicked. I think that is when the university started to get seriously involved.
Ed is a guy with a lot of energy who has a lot of good ideas and if they put Smitty and him in charge of the stadium fund raising they would probably have the money by the start of spring training.
I know for a fact Ed took a lot of his own time to try and coordinate this whole thing I just think he didn't expect the road blocks.
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The one questions I have, (that I cannot seem to get a good answer on) is…Why did the University have to be brought in? Any time you bring in someone like the University, Government or ect. you run into red tape. This should have been a grass roots type of project. I thought it was suppose to be a dig (no pun intended) on the entire establishment. Personally, I think the whole reason this has not happened is because of the University's involvement….The money should have been collected, small shovels should have been bought and shovels should have been distributed during the tailgating. It is that simple. We could have easily hid a small shovel in our pants and pulled them out during the game. This would have caused a nice shock & statement to the B.O.T. at the same time. Instead, it seems like another great idea that was not executed properly. Hopefully this can be a nice learning lesson for the future.


p.s. There is a reason why the military has one central command… otherwise would be nothing but miscommunication and failure. 
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Re: Blue Shovel update

Talon said

Ed, worked his tail off trying to get this thing with shovels done and had all kinds of road blocks. He is a straight up guy trying to do something good for the cause. I talked to him in length at the MTSU game, about the problem with the vendor and the university wasn't doing much at the time to help. He really felt like he let everyone down and I told him hey man you tried they vendor should have had his butt kicked. I think that is when the university started to get seriously involved.
Ed is a guy with a lot of energy who has a lot of good ideas and if they put Smitty and him in charge of the stadium fund raising they would probably have the money by the start of spring training.
I know for a fact Ed took a lot of his own time to try and coordinate this whole thing I just think he didn't expect the road blocks.

Was he at the Minnesota game, anybody know?
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Re: Blue Shovel update

Blue Shovel update

Thanks for the comment Talon. I have applied for several positions with FAU - but all require a masters. I have recently applied for another position in the athletic department. I hope that I get the chance to interview.

And even if I don't, I will continue to contribute to my alma mater.

I'm a proud lifetime member of the FAU National Alumni Association. Are you a member? Join now at www.faualumni.org.
Tradition in the Making, One Alum at a Time…
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Re: Blue Shovel update

OK everybody it's time for an update. Yes this is D-Owl, and I need to make a few things clear to everybody, and I will attempt to use my humor to tell our tale of woe, so please read between the lines when necessary. First off I am a crazy FAU fan like most of you out there, and this whole "shovel movement" got started as a direct result of the lack of any apparent commitment on FAU's part to get an on-campus stadium built in time for any and all our kids to play in. Which by the way has been a huge hurdle for Howard and company to over come in the ever important area called "recruiting". How can FAU expect the football program to grow and develop if they don't provide the tools necessary to achieve the goals at hand. As for myself, I had my own reasons for my ideas, my involvement. I have a son playing football for Howard, and he is working very hard, and he is paying his dues just like we all have had to do in our day. So I have to be careful as to what I say, and how I say it, this has been made clear to me, but it is what it is. The most important thing to me is that my son is not affected by any of my efforts or any of my actions, as he personally has nothing to do with this, and has no control over me. My first responsibility is to him, and to be sure that he gets every opportunity that every player at the Division 1 level gets. Which would be, to have the ability to compete on a level playing field. He made the commitment to FAU, and they have a duty to commit to him, as well as to all the players. Just as most of you are parents out there, I feel that Howard and his staff have a duty to act as extended parents to our players and have their best interests at heart, just as if they were their own kids. FAU on the other hand had a duty to deliver what Howard and company would need to do just that, and a On-Campus Stadium is a must at the Div 1 level. This "shovel movement" was started to show support to Howard and company, and thus all our kids. So here goes !

This is the story from the man named "ED". Who believed in everything, that FAU said. He put his sons future, in their trusting hands, as he knew of "Howard's" abilities, as he is one of the best in the land. Football that is, Division 1, National Champions, that's our goal ! And when you finish reading this you will know, (as the late "Paul Harvey" used to say), "The rest of the story" !

You know the story line, so now you need to know all the players involved. Yes this was my idea, and I had what I thought was a core group of 5 of us, that made up our team. First there was Manx who was the one who stayed on top of everyone (in the blogs) to get them to put their money where their mouth was. He got the money comming in, a few people here and there. Then one day a few others had come on the board who stated that they had no funds to contribute but would be able to help in any and every other way, soldiers if you will. They were "Rick" and "Scott" as they had the time and wanted to be a part of this. As it turned out "Rick" was one of the former marketing people for FAU, and he is the one who got the Athletic department involved in all of this, which at the time appeared to be a positive thing. "Scott" was just another fan like us all, who also wanted to be a part of this, and stated that he would help in any way he could. The final player was "Bytor" who as myself, and Manx were the original contributers to this. He runs this site and has FAU and the football programs best interest at heart. The next thing we knew, we had about $1,000. pledged, and the athletic department had requested a meeting as they loved our efforts and my ideas. So the meeting was set up with three representatives from the athletic department. Terry M., Dexter L., and another lady (I forget her name) who never appeared again. I drove down from Tampa, "Bytor" was there as well as "Rick and Scott". That is when I learned that "Rick" used to hold Dexter's position, and I felt a bit of tension between them to say the least. Rick pointed out that I was doing what the marketing department should have been doing. Get the fans involved. I/we pitched our ideas about the "Red Shovel Movement" and they indicated that they wanted to be a part of it, and wanted to use several of my ideas. Shovels in the stands, shovels as part of the season ticket drive for the new stadium, as well as being used for the other sports programs. They requested we use a spade type shovel and not the sand type shovel, and that Coach  would prefer a Blue shovel and not the Red one. Then there appeared to be a rift among the athletic department as Dexter shot me an e-mail advising that Red had become the Primary School color and why did we change to Blue. I advised that we could go with both Red and Blue and that the Fans could pick which ever one they wanted to waive. I saw no reason why we could not use both colors. I expressed my concerns about the time frame, as it was only weeks away. We had already found the sand type shovels and could get them in four colors. They indicated that they only wanted us to use Owl Blue and Owl Red. They stated they had vendors that could get this done in a few days or a week or two at worst case. They gave us a list of vendors and Pepsi was even discussed as a possible source of contribution in our cause. They advised they could and would get us 1000 FAU stickers to put on the shovels. They advised that they would take all the money and hold it in a separate account for us as I did not want to receive or hold any of the money. They also asked us to hold off on starting our own unofficial season ticket drive for the yet to be approved on-campus stadium (this was another one of my ideas) as they wanted to wait until after the September BOT meeting as they said it appeared that it would be approved at that meeting and that they intended to announce a season ticket drive for the new stadium on 10/1. We agreed and we all seemed to be on the same page and a second meeting was set up at that time. We were advised that we could have a tent at the upcoming Fan Fest, so as to get the word out. I then called all their vendors and after a week or so I was advised that they could not help us. So I did my own search and found a USA Company that had a plastic spade type shovel and that they could use our Color codes but that we would need to order 5000 shovels and not just 1000. So I got all the info for the Athletic Department to review. Then it was time for the second meeting (day before the Fan Fest) which I again drove down from Tampa for, again at my time and expense. Rick also was in attendance at that meeting but had advised me that he was no longer going to be involved in this as he had a difference of opinion with Manx and that words were exchanged and the next thing I knew Manx, Rick, and Scott had all walked away, leaving me to do this all by myself. I almost gave up, but I thought how could I let my son see me quit just because things got tough, what type of example would that be ? Then at the meeting Terry indicated that they could not contribute any money at all. I was a bit puzzled by this, as I could not understand why they would get involved and request the meeting in the first place, as well as make all the requested changes. I then found that Pepsi was never contacted and that they never checked into the stickers for us as promissed. I was advised by Terry and his new associate "Bobby Jo" that we were on our own (I was on my own), so I advised that I would be at Fan Fest as planned as I had yet another idea to generate money for the movement. The shovels I bought and made up with my money (as seen in Ted's Blogs), they even printed up donation slips for me. I was then advised when to get there so as to get my tent along with all the other vendors. So I did just that. When I got there that morning Dexter advised me I had no tent but that I could have a table out in the 90+ sunshine. I went ballistic as Bobby Jo and Terry had promissed me a tent just the day before. Luckily Bobby Jo saw me and asked what was going on and I advised her of Dexter's comments, well I did get a tent. Then Terry came by and said that they would not process my donations for the shovels I had made and I had to turn away 4-5 people before my frustrations again got the best of me and I again spoke to Bobby Jo and she said to go ahead and take the $50 donation for the shovel and that they would process them as they were on credit cards. Then after I accepted the donations and gave away a few shovels, Terry again came up and said no they would not process them. So at this time I have not received any form of payment for the shovels, yes I could track down the people and explain what happened but as of this time I have not done so. But the worst part of it (fan fest) for me was that instead of getting the help from Rick and Scott as I had thought, I was left to attend the table and tent all by myself, and I did not get to watch the scrimage, and yes my son play. That SUCKED !!! So on the following Monday I contacted my original sand type shovel vendor and confirmed that we could get the 1000 shovels in 4 colors and then advised him that FAU would be calling him to pay for the said order. I called Bobby Jo and left a message for her but never got a return call, so I called again the next morning Tuesday (3 times) before we spoke and she said that we agreed not to use the sand type shovels and that they only wanted the OWL Blue and Owl Red, I advised that is all we could afford as they were not contributing to our cause and that I was doing as we had origionally planned. We had a heated discussion and it was not until after I spoke with Terry that I got our funds made available and the call made to the vendor. The vendor called me later on that Tuesday and advised he had been waiting for over a day for the call and that when they did call they told him they only wanted 1000 Blue shovels and not the other three colors. Well he told them no it could not be done and that I knew that already (which I did and so did they) and that it took them three different credit cards to pay for the order. He was the VP & GM of the company and assured me we would get the shovels by the following Thursday or Friday at the latest (which was before the Saturday game vs MTSU). I called and was advised that everything was on track and then just three days before the game I was informed that he (VP) had dropped the ball and that the order had not been shipped out yet, but that for $900+ we could get them overnighted. We could not afford that, so I/we got screwed. No shovels, I had to tell Terry that and he said thats OK as they wanted us to wait for the USF game anyway, after their announcement. But I would now have the problem of time as the US manufacturer would only do an order for 5000, and nothing is getting in from China due to all the lead problems. So I again by myself had to regroup, I tried getting help from anybody but no help came in. So I came up with another idea, which I now think is an even better idea. F*** the plastic shovel idea, lets go with foam. I have two ideas, one is a foam shovel just like the one I made and can be seen in Ted's Fan Fest blog, about 18-20 inches long. As well as a foam type shovel mit that you put on your hand, just like the the Giant hands. Or the the USF Two fingered type hands that they have come up with. You put it over your hand and your arm becomes the handle or shaft part and the spade style mit fits on your hand. We could do them in two colors, Owl Red and Owl Blue that way everybody gets what they want. We could have them for football, basketball, and for baseball. They can be used at all the sporting events. I have called about 6 different vendors and are getting spec's and costs from them. We can use our color codes and I can see Tens of thousands being sold. I think we could market them, get licensed and sell them as a vendor for the school. Everybody I have talked to loves the idea. So now we shift to the USF game, Dexter comes up to me at the game and says, Hey "D-Owl" Terry and Bobby Jo have taken over the Shovel movement, and starts to walk away, and I go back to him and say no they are not. You all have done nothing for this/us and I have busted my ass for them and the school. He just walked away. Then I get to me seat and see Talon and he advised me that I have been getting ripped in the blogs and that everybody is pissed at me but that he has put them in their place (thanks Talon). I advised him that I have asked for help but have got none. Nobody, not a single person has sent me an e-mail or made any inquiry as to what has been going on, let alone can they help. No, I did get one e-mail (and he advised you all of that in a prior post here) and yes I contacted their contact but they too have been unable to help. I have got more done on my own. I have not even been contacted by anybody at the FAU athletic department. Then after the game I saw Terry and I immediately left my family (and my son) and went to talk to him and I advised him what Dexter had said and that I was pissed. He said that was not true, I then advised him of my foam ideas, he again said he liked them but that there servers had gone down and that they had no money for us. When I asked him why I have not heard anything from them or anything about the season ticket drive for the new stadium he said it's because they still have no idea if they will have seat backs or not. At this point I do not think that anybody will care about that as long as they know the money will be applied towards the season ticket to the new on-campus stadium. If they owe more they will pay the difference, if it's less then FAU will owe them something back. Is it not the point to generate money towards the new stadium ?

My purpose here is not to blast anybody, but to set the record straight. It is what it is. I will not be, nor look like the fool. Not to my Son, the Coaching Staff, the Fans who have placed their trust in me, or FAU itself. Maybe everybody needs to take a good long look at what is going on. What has been done and what needs to be done. I have busted more than my ass for FAU and this program, yet I get absolutely no assistance, but plenty or resistance. Yet they love my ideas. Hey Mr. Suit, I think you could use my help in getting things on track here, I know I could use yours. After all, we are all on the same team, wanting the same thing.

Is there anybody out there who would like to enter into this venture with me/us. I have talked to several people who have indicated that they could possibly make a significant donation to this venture. Lets make this happen, for all the sports, all the athletes, all the student body, and finally for FAU. Lets be the leaders of this school ! We can make a difference. I think we already have to be honest with everyone. We brought media attention to this matter, and everybody has taken notice of us.

Please send me D-Owl your thoughts, comments, whatever you want to - [email protected] - it's our program too !!!

Now lets Go Owl Country !!!
GO OWLSsssssssssssssssssss !               
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Re: Blue Shovel update

D-Owl,

You do have a great idea and no one will look down on you for the effort you have put forth on this movement, regardless of what may have transpired over the past several months.  Some may have vented some fustrations, but only because they did not know what was happening, especially the ones that have made a contribution and most would do so again, because they do care about this program and want nothing more then to see it more forward like the Vision of Schnellenberger has set forth for this program since it's inception.

Keep fighting the good fight, success comes to the ones that never quit.
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D-Owl,

I donated $100 and offered to build and pay for a website, so I will make a comment…these are my opinions, I have no inside information…

First, great effort.  You only had the best in mind when you started this thing.

Second, I can see why you were met with some resistance from FAU.  You were coming up with ideas and raising money.  There are people that are paid to do that at FAU.  Since I gave $100 to your idea, they may be feeling like that could be $100 that I now won't have available to give to one of their ideas, etc.  You were seen as a competitor even though you were fighting for the Owls.

You raised a couple thousand dollars and that should not really impact FAU as far as raising money, however, what happens the next time someone on a blog has an idea and starts raising money.  Realistically, FAU has to run their own marketing ideas (no matter what we all think of them).  The goal of a marketing group is to make sure the ideas are thought out in advance and that consistency is met through branding, etc.  That's why they insisted on specific colors and logo stickers.

I am sure FAU marketing doesn't want 10 different marketing ideas from 10 different individuals running in 10 different directions collecting 10 different piles of money.  They would prefer a more controlled, planned effort to ensure the biggest bang for their buck.  It does make sense.

This is not to defend anyone, just my 2 cents.

Go Owls!!!
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Re: Blue Shovel update

I'm fairly busy at work so I didn't have the time to read that entire post, can someone give me the cliff notes?

I donated a couple of bucks, what happened to it? I'm sure it will be put to good use so I don't really care, just curious.
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Re: Blue Shovel update

yes, see my last post, about 8 or so up…

the funds are sitting secure on the foundation account…TBD what they will be spent on…i think Ed is mainly wanting some ides, etc as the orginal vendor and some coopreation from FAU dissolved…
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