Discussion with App alums

[Saint3333]

Thanks Rob.

Interesting that you classified some of them as "not sports fans" earlier, but 9 of the 12 are Yosef members and the other three attend 30-50% of our games.

You must have a strict definition of sports fans, I like it.

[sixtoes9134]

NC State hat or UNC hat.

[Kgfish]

We all paid student fees for things we did not agree with and for services or activities we never participated in. That's the way it is. If someone balks at paying the athletic fee fine, tell them to transfer to another school with no athletic programs. If memory serves me well there were over 12,000 wanting the 3,000 or so freshman spots. It won't be a big problem replacing those who do not want to ante up. Don't want to pay the fee, get out of line because the person behind you doesn't have an issue with it. It's simple supply and demand.

Not simple supply and demand. They accepted the best 3000. We want to continue to raise the bar on academics. No where in Appalachian State University's mission or vision statements is football mentioned. Students are the most important assets of any university.

Athletics isn't in the Mission Statement? No need to go all high and mighty on me here and use some common sense. There are just as many applicants with solid academic profiles who have no problem with an athletic fee as those who balk at it. In many cases the best of the best aren't paying anything. The remaining pool of applicants is scattered with kids of professors, alumni and friends of the university who are accepted over others who may be more qualified, as it should be. Regardless of what you think it still boils down to supply and demand.

[Rekdiver]

It's not in the mission statement but after we beat Michigan and won a NC applications upped dramatically and we were able to get even more selective. My wife is a guidance counselor in Charlotte and let me tell you quite a few kids do factor in big time sports into their decision.

Our fees are not out of line and our athletic achievement has gone hand in hand with our academic progress. The students do vote with their feet. Foottball receives an A from the students and basketball an F. I don't mean to discount students voice but this is like a building that is under construction that they weren't asked about and may not get to enjoy. The next class will.

[sixtoes9134]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Sometimes I see them at our games during the playoffs.

I will be curious to see how or whether this changes their $$ spend going forward.

Sad but true.

I am upping my Yosef club status because of this move.

[rbarthle17]

Thanks Rob.

Interesting that you classified some of them as "not sports fans" earlier, but 9 of the 12 are Yosef members and the other three attend 30-50% of our games.

You must have a strict definition of sports fans, I like it.

Actually you have it backwards (I may not have been clear enough). I don't know if any of them are YC members (it's not something we talk about), but of the group there are 3 that I would be surprised to learn were not YC members (meaning I am assuming they are, based on their patronage to ASU events). The rest, if I had to guess, I would be surprised if they WERE YC members.

I think the telling stat in all of this will be how giving is affected by the move. Both in sheer number of YC members, and in what they give.

[Gonzo]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Sometimes I see them at our games during the playoffs.

I will be curious to see how or whether this changes their $$ spend going forward.

Sad but true.

I am upping my Yosef club status because of this move.

I graduated in 2011 (Joining the YC this week actually). I obviously know tons of App grads and some students, all of whom have varying degrees of fanship. The few that follow ACC schools in the spring have told me before that they are an App fan first and formost and they would never give $ to another school's athletic fund. Most of them are App fans and App fans alone. You won't find any higher rate of ACC fanship at App State than that of ECU and much lower than UNCC.

Times are changing. T-shirt infidelity and duel-collegiate fanship are a thing of the past at Appalachian.

[appbio91]

We all paid student fees for things we did not agree with and for services or activities we never participated in. That's the way it is. If someone balks at paying the athletic fee fine, tell them to transfer to another school with no athletic programs. If memory serves me well there were over 12,000 wanting the 3,000 or so freshman spots. It won't be a big problem replacing those who do not want to ante up. Don't want to pay the fee, get out of line because the person behind you doesn't have an issue with it. It's simple supply and demand.

Not simple supply and demand. They accepted the best 3000. We want to continue to raise the bar on academics. No where in Appalachian State University's mission or vision statements is football mentioned. Students are the most important assets of any university.

Athletics isn't in the Mission Statement? No need to go all high and mighty on me here and use some common sense. There are just as many applicants with solid academic profiles who have no problem with an athletic fee as those who balk at it. In many cases the best of the best aren't paying anything. The remaining pool of applicants is scattered with kids of professors, alumni and friends of the university who are accepted over others who may be more qualified, as it should be. Regardless of what you think it still boils down to supply and demand.

You are wrong. Supply and demand is what happens at the gas pump. ASU is trying to attract the best and be selective. I pray it does jot become supply an demand. I spoke to several parents this year at scholars day whose kids could have gone to any state supported school in NC. They had no connection to ASU. They chose ASU because of the cost and reputation. Make no mistake keeping student fees low does matter. You are also wrong about the best of the best not paying anything. Go take a look at what ASU offers in the way of academic scholarships. I dont feel like going and checking but I believe there are maybe 5 or 6 full scholarships per year. Maybe more but less than ten. The number was less this year because of budget problems. Thats why the $3M dollar donation recently by the BCBS dude is so important.

[appbio91]

It's not in the mission statement but after we beat Michigan and won a NC applications upped dramatically and we were able to get even more selective. My wife is a guidance counselor in Charlotte and let me tell you quite a few kids do factor in big time sports into their decision.

Our fees are not out of line and our athletic achievement has gone hand in hand with our academic progress. The students do vote with their feet. Foottball receives an A from the students and basketball an F. I don't mean to discount students voice but this is like a building that is under construction that they weren't asked about and may not get to enjoy. The next class will.

Totally agree with most of what you say here. But students become alumni and alumni support the unerversity through giving. Students opinions matter. In this case the university made a decision and like the old saying you can't please everyone.

[vegattk]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Sometimes I see them at our games during the playoffs.

I will be curious to see how or whether this changes their $$ spend going forward.

Sad but true.

I am upping my Yosef club status because of this move.

I graduated in 2011 (Joining the YC this week actually). I obviously know tons of App grads and some students, all of whom have varying degrees of fanship. The few that follow ACC schools in the spring have told me before that they are an App fan first and formost and they would never give $ to another school's athletic fund. Most of them are App fans and App fans alone. You won't find any higher rate of ACC fanship at App State than that of ECU and much lower than UNCC.

Times are changing. T-shirt infidelity and duel-collegiate fanship are a thing of the past at Appalachian.

For once I think we agree Gonzo...

When I was at ASU (late 90's) it was a "second-choice" school. ASU was used by many students as a "second-choice" when their first choice fell through.

When we started winning it really started to change that mindset. Students might have still be using ASU as a "backup" but they were now ditching the colors of the schools that rejected them and donning the black and gold proudly.

I can only hope that continues through what will probably be a transitional period in the next few years.

[Appersrule]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Times are changing. T-shirt infidelity and duel-collegiate fanship are a thing of the past at Appalachian.

I'm going to disagree with that last line. I think alot of ASU fans are dual fans, may this be right wrong or indifferent and its not changing with a move to the Sun Belt. If anything, I think this now becomes more magnified because, if App starts to actually play those ACC teams. I feel like alot of KBS, and the Holmes Center will be red or blue and not black and gold. App has had such an increase in fans overall since 2005, we have gained alot of ASU is my only school fans, and thats good. But to say that those things are a thing of the past at ASU, I feel is quite premature.

This is not to say we don't have alot of students who are not making ASU their first choice of school when applying. Maybe they don't want to go to Carolina. But god forbid those tarholes ever stepped foot to play a game on our campus and the amount of blue shirts that came out of the closet would be sickening I think. And this is coming from a lifelong Tarhol hater.

[Gonzo]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Times are changing. T-shirt infidelity and duel-collegiate fanship are a thing of the past at Appalachian.

I'm going to disagree with that last line. I think alot of ASU fans are dual fans, may this be right wrong or indifferent and its not changing with a move to the Sun Belt. If anything, I think this now becomes more magnified because, if App starts to actually play those ACC teams. I feel like alot of KBS, and the Holmes Center will be red or blue and not black and gold. App has had such an increase in fans overall since 2005, we have gained alot of ASU is my only school fans, and thats good. But to say that those things are a thing of the past at ASU, I feel is quite premature.

This is not to say we don't have alot of students who are not making ASU their first choice of school when applying. Maybe they don't want to go to Carolina. But god forbid those tarholes ever stepped foot to play a game on our campus and the amount of blue shirts that came out of the closet would be sickening I think. And this is coming from a lifelong Tarhol hater.

Throughout my undergrad career, and these are very strong memories for me because I was so pissed and shocked by what I heard, I knew two people that told me they would pull for another school over App. One was a Duke fan and one was an Ohio State fan.

Sure I've met tons of UNC BBall fans that went to App, but they would all be wearing black and gold if we ever played the Holes in a sport head-to-head.

[3rd]

To the people who think our fans wouldn't show up to the Holmes if we played UNC. I believe a certain UNC coach said he would never bring another team back to Boone to play basketball because of how his team was treated by the fans. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, that was a long time ago.

[Appersrule]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Times are changing. T-shirt infidelity and duel-collegiate fanship are a thing of the past at Appalachian.

I'm going to disagree with that last line. I think alot of ASU fans are dual fans, may this be right wrong or indifferent and its not changing with a move to the Sun Belt. If anything, I think this now becomes more magnified because, if App starts to actually play those ACC teams. I feel like alot of KBS, and the Holmes Center will be red or blue and not black and gold. App has had such an increase in fans overall since 2005, we have gained alot of ASU is my only school fans, and thats good. But to say that those things are a thing of the past at ASU, I feel is quite premature.

This is not to say we don't have alot of students who are not making ASU their first choice of school when applying. Maybe they don't want to go to Carolina. But god forbid those tarholes ever stepped foot to play a game on our campus and the amount of blue shirts that came out of the closet would be sickening I think. And this is coming from a lifelong Tarhol hater.

Throughout my undergrad career, and these are very strong memories for me because I was so pissed and shocked by what I heard, I knew two people that told me they would pull for another school over App. One was a Duke fan and one was an Ohio State fan.

Sure I've met tons of UNC BBall fans that went to App, but they would all be wearing black and gold if we ever played the Holes in a sport head-to-head.

Fair statement, these are people that told you this knowing good at well at the time, they didn't have to worry about it ever becoming reality as long as we were at the FCS level. Now that we are FBS and this becomes a distinct reality, I wonder how many folks would stick to this when actually presented with the dilemma. I think both of us would be equally upset with how many folks would pick UNC/Duke/etc.

[Appersrule]

To the people who think our fans wouldn't show up to the Holmes if we played UNC. I believe a certain UNC coach said he would never bring another team back to Boone to play basketball because of how his team was treated by the fans. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, that was a long time ago.

That was Doherty, opening night of Holmes in 2000 cause our students were throwing cups of ice on the floor. That night I would say an ugly 40 percent of the fans were pulling for UNC.

[vegattk]

We all paid student fees for things we did not agree with and for services or activities we never participated in. That's the way it is. If someone balks at paying the athletic fee fine, tell them to transfer to another school with no athletic programs. If memory serves me well there were over 12,000 wanting the 3,000 or so freshman spots. It won't be a big problem replacing those who do not want to ante up. Don't want to pay the fee, get out of line because the person behind you doesn't have an issue with it. It's simple supply and demand.

Not simple supply and demand. They accepted the best 3000. We want to continue to raise the bar on academics. No where in Appalachian State University's mission or vision statements is football mentioned. Students are the most important assets of any university.

Athletics isn't in the Mission Statement? No need to go all high and mighty on me here and use some common sense. There are just as many applicants with solid academic profiles who have no problem with an athletic fee as those who balk at it. In many cases the best of the best aren't paying anything. The remaining pool of applicants is scattered with kids of professors, alumni and friends of the university who are accepted over others who may be more qualified, as it should be. Regardless of what you think it still boils down to supply and demand.

I always viewed the Athletic Fee at App as my "Gym Membership".......

Got free access to lots of Athletic Equipment/Facilities for the money I paid... Never once thought of it as "supporting" the athletic programs...

[ASUMountaineer]

We all paid student fees for things we did not agree with and for services or activities we never participated in. That's the way it is. If someone balks at paying the athletic fee fine, tell them to transfer to another school with no athletic programs. If memory serves me well there were over 12,000 wanting the 3,000 or so freshman spots. It won't be a big problem replacing those who do not want to ante up. Don't want to pay the fee, get out of line because the person behind you doesn't have an issue with it. It's simple supply and demand.

Not simple supply and demand. They accepted the best 3000. We want to continue to raise the bar on academics. No where in Appalachian State University's mission or vision statements is football mentioned. Students are the most important assets of any university.

Athletics isn't in the Mission Statement? No need to go all high and mighty on me here and use some common sense. There are just as many applicants with solid academic profiles who have no problem with an athletic fee as those who balk at it. In many cases the best of the best aren't paying anything. The remaining pool of applicants is scattered with kids of professors, alumni and friends of the university who are accepted over others who may be more qualified, as it should be. Regardless of what you think it still boils down to supply and demand.

I always viewed the Athletic Fee at App as my "Gym Membership".......

Got free access to lots of Athletic Equipment/Facilities for the money I paid... Never once thought of it as "supporting" the athletic programs...

I never once thought of it--at all. I'm sure my parents did (they paid half of the costs). The thought of fees never crossed my mind. I was not a business major.

[Gonzo]

We all paid student fees for things we did not agree with and for services or activities we never participated in. That's the way it is. If someone balks at paying the athletic fee fine, tell them to transfer to another school with no athletic programs. If memory serves me well there were over 12,000 wanting the 3,000 or so freshman spots. It won't be a big problem replacing those who do not want to ante up. Don't want to pay the fee, get out of line because the person behind you doesn't have an issue with it. It's simple supply and demand.

Not simple supply and demand. They accepted the best 3000. We want to continue to raise the bar on academics. No where in Appalachian State University's mission or vision statements is football mentioned. Students are the most important assets of any university.

Athletics isn't in the Mission Statement? No need to go all high and mighty on me here and use some common sense. There are just as many applicants with solid academic profiles who have no problem with an athletic fee as those who balk at it. In many cases the best of the best aren't paying anything. The remaining pool of applicants is scattered with kids of professors, alumni and friends of the university who are accepted over others who may be more qualified, as it should be. Regardless of what you think it still boils down to supply and demand.

I always viewed the Athletic Fee at App as my "Gym Membership".......

Got free access to lots of Athletic Equipment/Facilities for the money I paid... Never once thought of it as "supporting" the athletic programs...

I never once thought of it--at all. I'm sure my parents did (they paid half of the costs). The thought of fees never crossed my mind. I was not a business major.

Exactly. These kids swipe their App cards like it's full of Monopoly money.

I'd be willing to bet that more than half aren't even aware of athletic fees.

[AppinVA]

Much to my disappointment I have several friends who are App grads, but who choose to spend their $$ supporting NC State Wolf Pack Club and/or Rams Club and who are season ticket holders here locally.

Times are changing. T-shirt infidelity and duel-collegiate fanship are a thing of the past at Appalachian.

I'm going to disagree with that last line. I think alot of ASU fans are dual fans, may this be right wrong or indifferent and its not changing with a move to the Sun Belt. If anything, I think this now becomes more magnified because, if App starts to actually play those ACC teams. I feel like alot of KBS, and the Holmes Center will be red or blue and not black and gold. App has had such an increase in fans overall since 2005, we have gained alot of ASU is my only school fans, and thats good. But to say that those things are a thing of the past at ASU, I feel is quite premature.

This is not to say we don't have alot of students who are not making ASU their first choice of school when applying. Maybe they don't want to go to Carolina. But god forbid those tarholes ever stepped foot to play a game on our campus and the amount of blue shirts that came out of the closet would be sickening I think. And this is coming from a lifelong Tarhol hater.

The App-first students need to make sure they call those folks out on this if/when we play these games. Light blue, dark blue, red — whatever the color. If they ain't with us, they're again' us.

[Gonzo]

The App-first students need to make sure they call those folks out on this if/when we play these games. Light blue, dark blue, red — whatever the color. If they ain't with us, they're again' us.

ONLY A SITH DEALS IN ABSOLUTES!


...and this dark lord agrees, wholeheartedly.