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Baseball articles in the Trib

J

jjjj

Active member
The trib published 4 articles about the baseball team. They discuss the successful tradition, scholarships, facilities, conference affiliation etc. At this point, we only have 4 scholarships after the budget cuts from earlier this year. I am not sure how we will ever be successful being this underfunded. Anyhow, here they are:

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070715/SPORTS/107150122

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070715/SPORTS/107150124

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070715/SPORTS/107150123

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070715/SPORTS/107150128
 
I agree, that expecting any success is unrealistic at the current level of financial commitment.

However, I think it's great the Tribune did the extended piece. It was basically a 4 article solicitation for donations. I don't see the athletic department doing much to solicit donations so at least this is something.
 
Blofeld said:
I don't see the athletic department doing much to solicit donations so at least this is something.
Click to expand...

The athletic department just had a fundraising dinner in Denver a few months ago. Vinny Castillo was the host so don't think they're doing their best they can. It's another case in which our apethetic alumni base won't open their wallets. We all should be used to this.
 
Yes, I hear you but that fundraiser is a good example of what I'm talking about. I'm an alum and I heard not one word about it...

One example I can give is the University of Illinois and their foundation. They plaster that logo everywhere... it's in all their athletic facilities, it's in all their athletic programs, it's all over their athletic website... and they aren't subtle either, it says things like: "To give money to U of I athletics CLICK HERE. We accept Visa, Master Card, American Express."

So here is my idea, create a logo for the UNC Athletic Foundation or whatever they call it, Blue and Gold Club, whatever, and plaster that things everyplace... there is plenty of room on those blank walls of Butler Hancock and all that empty fence space at Nottingham to have the logo all over ther place. There should be a huge banner add on the athletic department website, the UNC website, the Mirror website, hanging from the balcony on the UC, hanging off Michner, on a billboard on I-25, 85, and 36, etc... you get my drift.

Sure it might take a little capital investment but 90% of what I'm talking about wouldn't cost anything.

If I have money I want to give what do I do? Who do I call? Is there a link on the webpage? If so it's fooking small...
 
I see your point but I would hardly blame the athletic department for what's happening with our budget. Yes, they have some responsibility but it's mostly our alumni base's fault. They just don't open their wallets and until they do so we won't be successful at any sport.
 
I see that as a bit of a cop out though. I don't think there is anything inherently different about graduates of UNC than of say CSU, Idaho State, Nebraska-Omaha, or where ever.

The athletic department at UNC has always been an after though or had a low profile on campus. There is no reason that has to continue.
 
I see an improvement though with Hinrichs. He fixed his biggest mistake by bringing back the Blue and Gold Club and orchestrated the student amendments to help upgrade the facilities. Through all of this though the Alumni have not stepped up. Donations have been in decline because of what? I don't have a clue. I want to know what really pissed off a lot of donors. I know donors have been in decline since 2000 when Fallis was here and have been going down ever since. I want to know why. If there are people here on this board who stopped giving money to the university from 2000-present I want to know what made you so made. Please enighten us. There must be some people on this board who fall into this categorie.
 
It's very easy to understand why donations are down. Poor performance on the field, the gutting of the main fundraising arm (the Blue & Gold Club), firing basically every coach on staff, embarrassing off the field incidents. Need I go on?
 
I think it all comes down to one thing. Public Relations. The UNC athletic dpt has been abysmal at this in recent years, and especially this past year. Case in point. Firing coaches, all the ones who were let go, needed to go in my oppinion. However, they should have found a way to let Dalton retire, he wanted to anyway, even if that mean giving him one more season. Rassmusen was a terriable coach, and they did a nice job with transfering him to admin, but the he still wound up leaving under bad terms. I dont think UNC had any more issues than many other athletic departments, but the bad stuff got tons of publicity, and the good is never mentioned.
Fans and donors need to feel valued, and often the best way to do this is by giving out information. Many schools give out special bonus access to videos, interviews, photos, ect to fans who make donations and buy season tickets. UNC gives almost no information to anyone. I know I have beat this drum before, but a total lack of publicity about several big events is a glaring example. No publicty about the improvements to Nottingham, no updates to the other projects photo pages, no mention of new coaches....the list goes on and on. :(
I personally will support athletics and plan on making a donation this year, as I want to support our studnet athletes and I dont think it is their fault that the admin is poor, but I can understand why many fans are discouraged.

PS Blofeld also had a good point about soliticating donations. The donation brochre on the website is from 2005...
 
Maybe they do need to do a better job of soliciting donations but no one has answered my question about why donations have gown down the past years. Hinrichs hasn't been here that long. What happened in 2000 that pissed people off? What did Jim Fallis do? Joe Glenn left in 2000. Was that the issue?
I can see how people were pissed off when the coaches got fired but it's not like all of those coaches were doing a stand up job. Kay Dalton would have been the coach here until he died...literally. He wasn't about to retire any time soon. He's still coaching at Northridge I believe.
 
I had just heard that he wanted to retire when Fallis was around, but Fallis convinced him to stay and oversee the transition.
 
I don't know what the annual donations have been since 2000. Do you have some sort of study you are looking at when you say donations are going down since then? Maybe we can figure it out a bit with some facts to look at.

As for Dalton retiring, GoBears is right - he was asked to stay through the transition. He was an integral part of the program for the better part of 20 years. If he wanted to hang around another year or two that would have been just fine. Heck, I guarantee they would have won more games than they did last year if he was still here.
 
The reality is that winning is the only way to get donations to increase. It's a classis chicken/egg scenario. You need funds to win yet you need winning to draw in funds.

It would be amazing the renewed enthusiasm that would develop even if the team could pull off 5 or 6 wins this season.
 
I think that the administration has dug a hole that they can't get out of. UNC football is playing Hawaii right now and we all know basically the only reason why UNC is there---for the $$$$. However, if donations from Alums are at a steady decline in the past years, what meassage are we sending the Alumni and boosters by playing this game. I personally think that getting embarassed by Hawaii doesn't add to the already dismal reputation that the football program has brought not only to UNC athletics, but also to the UNC community. Who would want to open their wallets up and donate their hard-earned money to a program that has slowly ruined a previously sterling image when it concerns UNC athletics.

To add on to the previous comment of UNC PR, I have to agree. It is horrible. When UNC was in national headlines a year ago, I failed to see the admin. and school officials react they way a school should to help correct their public image. Additionally, the UNC website, an interface for fans to learn more about news and happenings or for alumnus to possibly give to the school is poorly designed and maintained. UNC didn't even have a PR or SID?? person for a the whole spring season!!!! An intern was left with the duties of the full-time position!!!! Due to poor strategic planning the admin. has handcuffed themselves financially and I don't feel sorry for them one bit, I feel for the athletes and UNC fans who have to put up with this for many more years to come.
 
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