GarySJ

Maybe the FAMU folks are trying to catch as many football games as they can, while they still have a university.

True. True.

Yeah -- they're going to give the Marquette community a list of choices they've already decided on, while ignoring the fact that 99% of them have made it clear that they want "Warriors." I wonder what the Marquette leadership will do next week, after they've been flooded with write-in votes for "Warriors." This is so absofarkingludicrous I can't even stand it. A history of Marquette athletics that doesn't mention "Warriors" is kinda like a history of Alabama football that doesn't mention Bear Bryant.

I like Bulliever's suggestions. If I may add a couple more: Marquette Fiasco Marquette Pooch-Screwers Marquette United Colors of Benetton

I remember that after the 2001 Pittsburgh game, the fans who went said the scoreboard was quickly turned off after it ended, so they weren't able to get a photo. So it's likely that none exists for that game. We need to get some new "scoreboards" though. 2001 @Pitt is really losing its luster. And 2003 Louisville deserves a bigger space inthe pantheon of USF football wins.

The whole thing is silly anyway, because attendance, paid or actual, is no indicator of a school's ability to field a I-A football team. There are solvent I-A programs with small attendance figures (like Southern Miss) and schools that will never run afoul of attendance requirements, but drown in a sea of red ink anyway (Arizona comes to mind). A better yardstick would be a minimum-scholarship requirement. I-A schools are allowed a maximum of 85; I-AA schools get 60. There are many I-A schools that operate at a I-AA scholarship level, or close to it. These are the ones who should be forced to move down. In fact, this is precisely why sub-divisions within Division I football were created: so schools would compete against other schools with similar resources. Too bad they're not being used. If I were in charge, I'd require I-A schools to fund a minimum of 75 scholarships, and to play a certain number of OOC home games. There might even be demand for a new level between the current I-A and I-AA, for schools who wish to fund more than 60 but fewer than 75. But I'm rambling a bit.

If we did, would anyone notice a difference?

Yup, it's official. Here's what the NCAA just announced (as part of the 12th-game legislation): The phrase "or an average of 15,000 in paid attendance at all home games" seems to bear out what was said on the Pitt board. I think the other part of it really means "you can also comply by having an average actual attendance of 15,000 or more once every two years." But as with all things NCAA, it's vague and poorly worded. http://www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/press_room/2005/april/20050428_d1_bod_release.html

That, and a very obvious travel by Julius Hodge that wasn't called.

And the Hamburg Hulk still wears a girly hat.

I realize that. That was the point of the analogy: that it was an attempt to take a name away from an institution that had far more right to use it.

More to the point, RobD, have you noticed that the oh-so-offended Native Americans are never the ones doing the complaining in cases of this sort? It's always a bunch of white, tenured university eggheads, who've appointed themselves arbiters of what's offensive. Someone needs to realize that these people don't represent anyone but themselves.

I don't if "ferocious" is the word I would use, but West Virginia's "guy with a beard and a rifle" mascot is by far the best of those schools currently in the league.

Yes, what a grand privilege it will be for us to associate with top-flight academic institutions like Florida State University and Clemson, rather than seedy diploma mills like Notre Dame and Georgetown. :

And it's only a matter of time before all these names get changed. Don't you know it's racist to imply that one color is better than another?

Does anyone remember the Denver Gold of the USFL? Yeah, the name sucked in the 80s, too.

Oh, and this was pretty funny too: New Marquette mascot: Bill Nye. Or perhaps Thomas Dolby.

There is one funny part of this story, though: the part where everyone agrees that "Golden Eagles" was lame. Somebody post that on the USM board.

You know, I love how the word "warrior" at some point became the exclusive property of whiny anti-Indian-team-name activists. Someone needs to tell these bozos that word "warrior" is not a tribe name, it's not a racial slur, it's not even a term specific to Native Americans. Every culture since the dawn of time has had its warriors. It's a generic term, like "kings" or "fighters" or whatever. This is like McDonald's asking the city of Hamburg, Germany to rename itself because the word "Hamburg" is an appropriation of their menu. The term can easily be used in a non-native American context. But of course the PC crowd aren't going to allow that, and the university leadership isn't going to stand up for their traditions. So now they're the MARQUETTE GOLD. Cue the MP3 file of Master Shake saying, "You're the gayest thing since gay went to gaytown." Marquette Gold sounds like the name of some crappy weed you'd buy from a French Canadian. Lord knows what they're going to go after next. Here's my guess:

News flash: we're not going to out-recruit UConn and Syracuse, under any circumstances. So it's pointless to hem and haw about whether we did or not, and complain if we didn't. To win Big East basketball games, USF is going to have to build a TEAM that is greater than the sum of its parts. I think RMC is on the right track, though I'd like to see the Bulls perform better early in the season.

Well, we are playing North Carolina home-and-away...

Do you mean Lawrence Funderburke, the basketball player?

I think this is newsworthy enough for the main board... http://www.sportsline.com/general/story/8441935 USF isn't going to see any of this money, but it's nice that the conference got some money out of the ACC, and that this sordid matter is over.

Losing 2 of 3 at home to Tulane isn't going to get USF into the NCAA Regional discussions. The Basebulls need W's.