Kiszla to CSU: "Forget New Stadium...Join The Big Sky Conf"

[DocHolliday]

FORT COLLINS — The two mannequins, dressed from head to toe in green-and-gold football uniforms, stood sentry at the door. They served as silent bouncers at the entrance to the dingy, concrete-gray room where Colorado State coach Jim McElwain meets the press after games at Hughes Stadium.

"We've got door guards now?" asked McElwain, chuckling as he did a double take at the mannequins. The coach was in a good mood. His Rams looked unbeatable Saturday, crushing hapless UC Davis 49-21.

Heck, those mannequins could have gotten behind the slow UC Davis defense that was beaten for 425 yards passing by Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson.

But how could have the Rams really used the mannequins? To fill the stands.

In fact, with an embarrassingly sparse crowd of 21,202 on a gorgeous late-summer afternoon, there is absolutely no reason for Colorado State to spend about $250 million to build a new stadium on campus.

Truth be known, it would probably be a lot cheaper to buy another 10,000 mannequins and make them permanent fixtures at Hughes Stadium, the outdated, inconveniently located facility where the vast majority of CSU alums will never go, regardless of how good a program McElwain is building.

After embarrassing a visitor from the Big Sky Conference with 676 yards of total offense, McElwain said: "We wanted to go out and dominate an opponent."

Mission accomplished.

Sorry you missed it, CSU alums.


From any of the good seats that sat empty, it was easy to see how the Rams could be the No. 1 team in the country. Believe me, under the brilliant direction of McElwain, CSU could win the national championship.

All the Rams have to do is what's reasonable. They can give up competing with Alabama, Notre Dame and the rest of the fat cats in college football.

Drop down to the FCS division, formerly known as Division I-AA, and Colorado State could not only win the Big Sky title eight years out of 10, it could concentrate its recruiting base along the Front Range and be a threat to win the playoffs against every FCS program from Montana to Maine.

Link to rest of story here: http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_265 ... tadium-and" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[johnywyo]

no way they had 21k, looked more like an actual attendance of >8,500. I'm coming to FC for the Wyo game, it's a marker on my calendar every year. Bohl and McElwain may be the best two coaches in the MWC. I for one want the downtown location, I think CSU and the MWC need it to stay relevant. Hughes is not a bad stadium, alums just don't give a rip about they're program in football. poop, they care more about volleyball...figure that one out for me.

[ragtimejoe1]

CSU needs an on campus stadium. Labeling by the P5 is destroying us. The separation of money and power will be complete within a decade. The label of G5 directly affects attendance. We have an entire generation who only know us as non-BCS or G5; i.e. second class that aren't that much different than FCS. Students at our own Universities are as interested in some other P5 team as they are our teams. Anytime garbage articles like this come out, it is a bad sign for us all.

[BeaverPoke]

CSU needs an on campus stadium. Labeling by the P5 is destroying us. The separation of money and power will be complete within a decade. The label of G5 directly affects attendance. We have an entire generation who only know us as non-BCS or G5; i.e. second class that aren't that much different than FCS. Students at our own Universities are as interested in some other P5 team as they are our teams. Anytime garbage articles like this come out, it is a bad sign for us all.

It might be a bad sign for us all, but it's not wrong.

There is a reason they label schools P5 and G5 or BCS and non-AQ etc.

The labels didn't create and define the schools and the programs. The schools and programs created and define the labels.

Funny how CSU can beat CU but CU still gets like double the attendance.
There is a reason for that.
Hell, WYO and CSU combined some years don't even match CU's attendance.

It sucks for the "little" guys but there is a reason they are the "little" guys.
I hate to say it but it's true, and not at all unfair.

[Cornpoke]

CSU needs an on campus stadium. Labeling by the P5 is destroying us. The separation of money and power will be complete within a decade. The label of G5 directly affects attendance. We have an entire generation who only know us as non-BCS or G5; i.e. second class that aren't that much different than FCS. Students at our own Universities are as interested in some other P5 team as they are our teams. Anytime garbage articles like this come out, it is a bad sign for us all.

It might be a bad sign for us all, but it's not wrong.

There is a reason they label schools P5 and G5 or BCS and non-AQ etc.

The labels didn't create and define the schools and the programs. The schools and programs created and define the labels.

Funny how CSU can beat CU but CU still gets like double the attendance.
There is a reason for that.
Hell, WYO and CSU combined some years don't even match CU's attendance.

It sucks for the "little" guys but there is a reason they are the "little" guys.
I hate to say it but it's true, and not at all unfair.

Dude just go away. Your logic is terribly flawed. Markets dictate everything! It no longer matters how a team performs or attendance. It's all about TV market. Boise could win every game for the next decade and it wouldn't matter because the people in charge have stacked the deck in their favor.

However I do think things will change. The best thing that can happen to college football is traditional TV viewing changing... and it's beginning to. Our TV's will be large smartphones and we can click and choose what game to watch. We will no longer be forced to watch what CBS, Espn, etc. want to show us. Archaic TV/Cable rules will change. Cable & Satellite will eventually cease to exist. More viewing options will help bring some balance at least when it comes to market share and outrageous conference TV. The Notre Dame's of the world won't be our only option anymore. A generation or two down the road and people won't even remember what a TV contract was.

[BeaverPoke]

How is my logic flawed? Because I am right about everything I've said?
Big programs are still getting a lot of people to games.
I think yesterday was the 99th straight sellout for the Ducks, maybe I heard wrong but they have some sort of streak going.

But my logic is flawed in saying it's not them being a P5/BCS team that is getting them to sell out? My logic is flawed because I think teams like Oregon actually build something worthwhile and then that is why they sellout?

umm okay?

PS, I'm not going away and love that you get all upset over my posts because you disagree and somehow think Wyo has the greatest team ever and everything UW has ever done is the best thing ever.

[Cuttslam]

I'm thinking old Beaverpoke has schizophrenia.

[Asmodeanreborn]

Funny how CSU can beat CU but CU still gets like double the attendance.
There is a reason for that.
Hell, WYO and CSU combined some years don't even match CU's attendance.

It sucks for the "little" guys but there is a reason they are the "little" guys.
I hate to say it but it's true, and not at all unfair.

CU gets a ton of their attendance from having their stadium within walking distance of the most popular parts of Boulder and from being very good at marketing and giving special deals to local businesses. I get CU tickets for $25, for example. Not exactly a lot of money.

On top of that, they also have a ton of different bus deals for cheaply getting to games from towns around the area.
Aaand last but not least, Boulder's a more popular tourist destination than Fort Collins.


If CSU had their stadium on campus rather than 3 miles off of it, they'd average a lot more people - not just students, but actual Fort Collins residents too. If Wyoming can pull 20k in Laramie, CSU should be able to get twice that when even reasonably successful based on city and university population alone. Air Force averaged over 32k last season despite being terrible. Fresno State had 38k. Compare that to Washington State's 28k last season... or maybe Duke's 26k in a 10-4 season?

[ragtimejoe1]

It sucks for the "little" guys but there is a reason they are the "little" guys.
I hate to say it but it's true, and not at all unfair.

So, it is perfectly acceptable to limit opportunity based on wealth and popularity?

Sorry, I couldn't disagree more. Imagine telling a STEM student, you can't present in a National contest or meeting because your seminar series isn't well attended and your University doesn't bring in enough grant money.

It is horse crap and should be unacceptable.

[wellpoke]

If CSU had their stadium on campus rather than 3 miles off of it, they'd average a lot more people - not just students, but actual Fort Collins residents too.

I just don't think that's true. Having worked in Fort Collins for 8 years, I can tell you that for the most part the people there just don't care. And there are enough of them right now fighting the new stadium that I don't think it will happen anytime soon. An on-campus stadium might draw a few more students, but my experience with them is that most of them don't care either. It's just apathy, plain and simple.

And I'm not sure it would even matter if they were contending for conference championships. There just isn't great interest in football in Fort Collins anymore, and I'm not sure that's ever going to change.

GO POKES!

[pokefanchaz7]

There was a new recruit on Casper star this morning and he was a wide receiver from colorado. This recruit said he chose wyoming over csu because football is a bigger deal in Wyoming.

[McPeachy]

I can tell you that for the most part the people there just don't care. And there are enough of them right now fighting the new stadium that I don't think it will happen anytime soon. An on-campus stadium might draw a few more students, but my experience with them is that most of them don't care either. It's just apathy, plain and simple.

And I'm not sure it would even matter if they were contending for conference championships. There just isn't great interest in football in Fort Collins anymore, and I'm not sure that's ever going to change.

GO POKES!

That is the feeling right now, I agree. But I can't help but think if they were a top MWC team for 3-4 years in a row, that their attendance would follow the pattern when Sonny took over and started winning.

If they don't get an on campus stadium built, I am afraid for UW football as much as I am for CSewe football (and MWC football frankly). I think CSewe not getting an on campus stadium puts us into year 2030 before we make any substantial counter-move. And I think at that point, I may be dead, so that sucks.

[POKE FAN]

There was a new recruit on Casper star this morning and he was a wide receiver from colorado. This recruit said he chose wyoming over csu because football is a bigger deal in Wyoming.

The only thing funnier than Kiszla's column was reading Joseph Parker's comment about CS-ewe. It's been posted at least a couple of time on this forum, but this doesn't get old:

“Being around Colorado State, I saw that football wasn’t really a big sport there," Parker said Sunday night. "When I went to Wyoming, it was almost sold out. The atmosphere was great. It was really alive."

Hahaha!

The attendance figures during the Lubick era were a historical aberration for CSU football. The apathy and fan participation rate relative to surrounding population base has always been quite amusing and surprising to me.

[Asmodeanreborn]

If CSU had their stadium on campus rather than 3 miles off of it, they'd average a lot more people - not just students, but actual Fort Collins residents too.

I just don't think that's true. Having worked in Fort Collins for 8 years, I can tell you that for the most part the people there just don't care. And there are enough of them right now fighting the new stadium that I don't think it will happen anytime soon. An on-campus stadium might draw a few more students, but my experience with them is that most of them don't care either. It's just apathy, plain and simple.

I think a big part of that (the rest of the town) is also them being terrible, though. I have quite a few friends who were planning on going to games and then never made because they were "pregaming" and couldn't get there because they were too drunk to drive. Not sure how representative my friendship group is, but considering how many people are out partying downtown on any given game day, I wouldn't say they're alone in having that potential problem.

[stymeman]

There was a new recruit on Casper star this morning and he was a wide receiver from colorado. This recruit said he chose wyoming over csu because football is a bigger deal in Wyoming.

we'll take him, friends don't let friends go to to CSewe...lol

[Wyo2dal]

It sucks for the "little" guys but there is a reason they are the "little" guys.
I hate to say it but it's true, and not at all unfair.

So, it is perfectly acceptable to limit opportunity based on wealth and popularity?

Sorry, I couldn't disagree more. Imagine telling a STEM student, you can't present in a National contest or meeting because your seminar series isn't well attended and your University doesn't bring in enough grant money.

It is horse crap and should be unacceptable.

This 100% I agree with this, Money is the reason College athletics is going into the poop.