What Will Huskers Do With All the Money?

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
He has a plan. He rattled off a list of to-do items. The new gymnastics training facility — approved by the Board of Regents on Friday — is the start.

» Finding a way to get Nebraska’s men’s and women’s golf teams to practice on campus. Currently, they practice at local courses. “They’re our only program now that trains off campus,” Eichorst said.

» A new natatorium. Nebraska’s swimming pool inside the Devaney Center is outdated and only 25 yards long. Woods Pool, a city-owned outdoor venue in central Lincoln, is longer. “That’s a big project and a big question,” Eichorst said. “Campus and I have talked about a collaboration over a period of time, so we’ll continue to explore that.”

» Finally, the big-ticket stuff inside Memorial Stadium — especially in the end zones, where more than half of Husker fans sit. The curved video boards, designed to serve North Stadium fans, is one step. Eichorst said more are to come. Easier access to seats in South Stadium. More concessions and bathrooms. More “seat comfort,” which translates to bigger seats. That’s the complaint I get from fans.

“We need to ‘right size’ our capacity a little bit relative to where we’re at,” Eichorst said.
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OWH

 
Hate Eichorst all you want (I'm neutral) but he is obviously working really hard to improve all athletics at Nebraska and I think that deserves some appreciation.

 
I think he is doing a pretty good job listening and trying to address fans concerns. The fact that he took several thousand seats out of Memorial Stadium so that fans could have more seat width was not something he did for revenue. He did it to help the fans feel appreciated and heard. Same thing with the wrap around video boards.

He seems to be wise in his financial approach, not blowing money on crazy things like doubling the size of the videoboard in north stadium to keep up with the Jonses as many people would like.

I love that he's addressing all athletics and giving some of the non revenue earning sports upgrades and love. Some AD's would just pour all the money back into football and basketball. He could be building a players center with a lazy river and mini golf like Clemson. But he's looking at a pool for the swimmers, and a gymnasium for the gymnasts.

 
That last part, “We need to ‘right size’ our capacity a little bit relative to where we’re at”, YES YES YES YES!

 
If other schools are any indication, we will add in a barber shop, more waterfalls, and a mini golf course to the player facilities.

 
How about we save a bunch for a 'rainy day' like when the season plays out like its being 'projected' by all the know-it-all talking heads and self proclaimed experts.?

We've hIelped the student body in general for decades with lots of improvements to facilities not directly or restricted to student athletes I believe.

We can always invest more in academic programs for the athletes as there are plenty of reasons to have us double our academic all americans and who is going to complain about teaching students?

Parking, concessions, pre and post game activities and events, more fan involvement and events, more attendance at non football sporting events by free or cheap tickets. Let's build more interest in track, gymnastics, baseball, start a hockey or other programs. There are plenty of great ways to build a bigger future for the athletic department. Economics change and the money may not always be there. While we have it, invest in the athletics. Nothing agaist the student body as a whole but face reality - $5 Million a year is penny ante for 25,000 students. $250 buck a year. Not going to make or break any student's succcess rate. But bringing another 50,000 fans into arenas for a bunch of 'other' sports can generate lots of new donors, more interest, more economic benefits for the community, etc. "Prime the pump' is a good way to use some extra cash.

 
My understanding of the AAU issue was that the research dollars were not there. Three things in regard to that issue. One is that Ag research does not count the same and is not worth as much to the AAU research dollar metric. The second thing is that the medical collage is not part of the UNL campus (obviously), so none of those research dollars count. Nothing that the athletic department could do other than projects like those in the works on understanding concussions, etc. will help that. The third is Screw those damn Texans and the Big 10 "brethren" that voted UNL out.

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