Nah my point was more about making the jump to the big boys isn't always better in the long run. Davis is showing signs of success while UCLA is in full nosedive.
And one other very important fact. We have no newspaper or major news support in the greater metro sacramento region. The Bee is editorially opposed to supporting either UC Davis or the City of Davis. In my email communications with a former editor of the Bee, she said as follows: you have your own PR and we will not add to that. We are the “watch dog” to UC Davis, not a lap dog. Look, the Bee sees all things Davis as a threat to Sacramento. Only a big effort by our new Chancellor May has any chance of fixing this otherwise indelible problem.
that’s spot on. Won’t change them, have to bypass them. They’ll get in the bandwagon only if we generate enough fan interest first. Whoever is marketing the program should realize that unlike virtually any other program of this size there is no local print content being generated and need to generate content in house.
I feel like we have this discussion every time we string a couple good games together.
I can't even buy my kids an Aggie football jersey at the bookstore or the game. They don't even sell hats that the coaching staff wears. We can't decide between logos and we use them all (Davis, two versions of the 'CA', Arena league mustang, athletics department "UC Davis" vs. University "UC Davis")
This stuff seems minor, but it shows where UCD's head is at when it comes to football.
On top of that, I would argue that football in general isn't terribly popular right now with all the CTE issues and resent deaths.
The product on the field is getting better, but Davis has a loooong way to go.
Exactly my thoughts. We're just nowhere close to being ready to make the jump on so many levels. To be quite honest, I don't know how anyone would think that we are. We need new facilities, marketing, more fans, bigger stadium... the list goes on. Why not have the goal of being the next NDSU of FCS? Still unlikely, but more attainable in my honest opinion.
I'm leaving more and more towards getting fully behind shooting for the top of FCS and staying there for a while. We wouldn't get into a power conference so ending up in mountain West or independent or a resurrected WAC would still contribute to a "small time" image. (Heck, I had a UCLA friend ask me if San Diego State, a top 25 team, was D2.)
Let's have football join the ranks of MBB, WBB, and MSOC at getting respected as a top team at our level while not compromising on recruiting principles. Churn out 4 years of winning seasons in all the spectator sports and then reevaluate where we are in terms of stakeholder engagement and national interest.
There are creative things that can be done to move us towards bigger goals.
SochorField, at the 2 tents selling gear at AS they had no hats?
BTW, did we waste all of the old Toomey bleachers? Instead of making 2 benches (near the Bruce Edwards Room), why not make 10, and make them closer to a standard size?
I just don't see the benefit of rushing to try to get to FBS. We would immediately be the small fish in the pond again and would likely face some pretty bad seasons. The bad seasons we saw after our transition to FCS demolished a chunk of our fan base. Are we really prepared to do that again. I would much rather have our goal to be the big fish in our current pond. Not saying that FBS can't be a goal in the far distant future, but right now that move makes zero sense in my opinion.
The Aggie outlet store that is on the north side of the field has been closed for a couple of years now. What happened? They moved a lot old Aggie gear and i bought my fare share . My gym bag is a retired Aggie volleyball bag i bought there several years ago. I have a great raincoat that was an Aggie baseball wind-breaker.
I'm not sure why we don't have jerseys for sale. I know that I sure as hell would buy one. It's stuff like that needs to be addressed before any progress towards FBS can be made.
that was converted to hold temporary lockers when they practice at the stadium. Another reason we need to upgrade our infrastructure, there’s not enough space for the basics ( like a room big enough for the entire team to meet pregame in the Foster center)
If I had known I would have gone there and picked up a piece of the bleachers. Would have made a nice bench for the yard and definitely a conversation starter. Are both sides gone? Don’t they need some for T&F?
I will go by there later, but I believe they’re entirely gone. Drove by a track meet there in the spring and folks were all sitting around the track in camping chairs.
At the time this was announced we reached out to the Athletics department and requested to purchase a piece of bleacher as a souvenir. Response started as "huh, why?" then to "hmm maybe we can work something out, we'll be in touch", to "lead, asbestos, red tape". Being in construction industry myself, lead paint on the superstructure was plausible. Very little chance of the aluminum bleachers being hot. More likely scenario was they already had a demo contract in place and the bid was based on the contractor ripping it down (not gently) and getting the metal recycling proceeds. If I had been in town, I would have tried to work something out with the demo guy. A cold 24-pack gets you just about anything in construction.
If I recall, a UC campus to the west of us tore down an old stadium for a rebuild.
Old wood was reclaimed and fashioned into picnic tables, chairs, and other historical purposes. Seat numbers, chips, history left intact. Most of the wood from seats saved.
ICA keeps missing these things, like the previously deteriorating Will Lotter and crew marker for the soccer stadium. They have all this time, make large salaries, and it keeps happening. Frustrating.