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Forum Guru
 
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Just a quick visit with reality folks!!!! SIU Carbondale and Edwardsville will barely make payroll this month! Not only is WIU suffering from the money crunch, but so is the SIU's and Eastern! Western continues to make payroll but is still strapped! Everyone is feeling the financial crunch. Go ask Hofstra!!!!!
Is the other man's grass always greener??????
jc
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Freshman
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Last Login: 7/22/2011 8:54:15 AM
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Conditions are the same here at WIU. State universities has gotten basically no funding from the state this fiscal year. My guess is that money will have to be borrowed to make payrolls in the upcoming year. WIU has always been able to avoid cutting jobs, but that may be the next step 
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Yes, go Hofstra. Obviously led by a leader with guts and the best interests of the program in mind instead of a insecure leader who will only make it more difficult to get out of the hole we are in. Don't be so dogmatic leaders of WIU. You have to make decisions about academic programs, why would athletics be any different? Competing at Division II would enable us to fulfill the mission of the university, provide a better experience for our athletes, and no go as far into debt as more years in division I will bring us.
How much money do we get from the conference as our share of the membership from what gets kicked back to us in the NCAA men's basketball tournament every year? Our cut is at most 1/10th of a share of whatever the league gets for having one team in the tournament (I don't know all the particulars). More teams from the conference in the tourney, more money for us. This is the reason most teams jump to d1, in pursuit of money to save their programs and gain respect. Does the Summitt League have enough respect for us to go further into seven figure debt? I don't think so. When was the last time more than one team from our conference got into the Big Dance? How many times has this happened? How much money do we get every year from TV contracts? Does channel 3 pay us any dividends or premiums? (Please know this is sarcasm, a rhetorical question)
Go Division II now so we can get in a good conference seamlessly and lets move forward instead of looking behind.
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Forum Member
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Those who have been on the site for a couple of years remember discussions about D2 status earlier. I believe a good argument has- and can be made- that is where WESTERN belongs. The one problem, is what conference would be left to join? GLVC? MIAA? Something in Wisconsin? It would be a hard swallow.
WESTERN has found itself handcuffed.
Some folks seem to have their self image closely related to where their college fits athletically, and that is hard to fight.
I have said before, the resources are difficult- location, area economics,lack of population etc. You cannot EXPECT Bob Nardelli (sp)Pella or whoever to parachute onto campus and save the day.
Maybe they need to cut programs/funding and become a Pioneer League school- as mentioned before.
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Forum Member
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Last Login: 6/9/2010 11:49:06 AM
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| They say that in life, everything tends to come full circle. Wouldn't it be ironic if all of the state schools (WIU, EIU, SIU, NIU, etc.) and a couple of Iowa or Wisconsin schools got together again just like the old IIAC days? With the Illinois legislature offering no immediate help on the horizon, drastic changes could be coming regardless of egos, pride, traditions and so forth. For some people to say that it will never or cannot happen....wake up and smell the coffee.
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Freshman
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Found this on a message board when I did a search. It only shows football but some food for thought with it...notice that no DII teams are in Illinois.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106639805590221892410.000449ee05f89d54bfb11&ll=36.985003,-94.306641&spn=16.714334,39.199219&z=5
I don't know what the thought would be, but the trend for all schools dropping programs is a budget saver, not competition based. With the Illinois state budget, I just don't see a move being a approved that isn't budget based, regardless if it fits the vision or mission of Western. And we can't forget the fact that it completely our personnel. If we drop, no way would the University agree that all staff members (coaches, trainers, administrators) would remain at their current pay level. Who knows though...i don't have all the answers, just the ones that make me think I'm smart. I'll leave the rest to all the well informed on this board.
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Forum Member
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| If a drop were to ever happen, it would obviously affect some jobs and salaries. But, maybe no more than staying put and slashing programs to keep the ship afloat. I bet if you were to look at some of the bigger and more successful D-II programs, a few of those coaches would not be taking much of a pay cut (if any) to come to Macomb.
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Forum Guru
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Cripes, enough already with this "The sky is falling" mentality leading to the advocation of dropping to D-II.
What would that say about WIU? A move down would put WIU in a class all by itself in then being the only one of the "Big" State schools ( UIUC,ISU,SIU,NIU,EIU,WIU) to be D-II.
Heck SIUe is now D-I, are we trying to buck the trend and move the other direction? Are we trying to be on par with DII UIS? UIS was founded in 1968 and started as a commuter school for upper classmen.
Quincy University is D-II. Are we trying to be on par with a school and hour away with an enrollment 1/10th that of WIU?
Illinois is not Missouri either, for whatever reason the State of Missouri seems to have embraced D-II with half a dozen public and private universities bearing that NCAA designation. Those schools in MO have the strength of numbers and there is no negative stigma associated.
Hey, if you thought WIU was remote, isolated and insignificant in the minds of the general populous before? Add to WIU's Geographical obscurity a self imposed demotion and see what you get.
Like if or not there has become a connection between NCAA competition classification and the percieved stature of a University.
For a Large segment of the Population a D-1 University equates to being better than a D-II. This of couse is a very generalized view, and is a flawed view, of course we know schools like the University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve, Johns Hopkins......and so on don't need any stinkin NCAA classification to be World renowned. However, your good value State schools across the land do seem to be given more or less prominance based upon their Athletic classification.
For many a State school athletics is the biggest ambassador they will ever have.
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Forum Guru
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As a well coached former basketball player would, I followed you to the basket to make sure you scored but there was absolutely no need because you "slam dunked it" with your reply! And thanks 177 for your observations as a university employee!
I have grown tired of this discussion and last night "swore" that I would cease to participate in it but I had to show my approval of both of these posts!
A number of football recruits are on campus today for visits! As Gene Hackman stated in Hoosiers, "make it a good one Strap!"
[Wink]
jc
jc
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Forum Member
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The last time I looked, this was a message board. Folks might say things not everyone agrees with, but that's how it is. Anyone who paid their money and graduated from WIU has every right to post their thoughts.
I might add, more than one person on this board has coached a high school sport- or higher, been employed in higher education, or had a professional position. Noone is anymore an "expert" than anyone else.
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