Wagner and Moosbrugger in Blade

Sunday's paper contained an interesting interview that John Wagner did with AD Bob Moosbrugger.

It is very interesting and worth a read.  Check it out and come on back here for my comments.

It was sobering.  People complain about it, but the decision to have a Fundraiser/AD can't be denied.  Money literally has to be on his mind every minute of every day.  The section where he does the math on where our finances would be if we sold every ticket to every home (hint, not much farther ahead) gives you an idea of the financial pressure on our department, which is near the bottom of everything we are involved in.

Most other MAC schools make it up with additional subsidy, something which he indicates is off the table, and that's something I support.  WMU, for example, was the highest spending school in the MAC, and they had a $26M subsidy, which is literally double what BG's was.  Most of those subsidies are found in student fees and students are paying enough for their education.

He says that BG is going to need to tap its alumni base to make it work.  That's going to be interesting.  First, most people I went to school with at BG reverted to OSU fans the day they left, if they were BG fans in the first place.  Many alumni went through their entire time at BG without attending one game.

As he points out, the University also needs donors for the non-athletic parts of the university, which are (obviously) what the school exists for.  Even with that, the portion that cares about athletics needs to be engaged in this effort and I suspect that will include everything from major gifts to smaller annual gifts.

Note also the section about what to expect as it relates to new facilities....90% private funding.

Anyway, excellent interview.   This is a very difficult time to be an AD at BG and the school's ability to continue the program we know today is not for sure.

Happy Mother's Day to the Falcon Nation

Mother in action....

Happy New Year to the Falcon Nation

Happy New Year to the Falcon Nation...this is a natural day for reflection and re-energizing.

Truthfully, nothing stops us from doing this every day, so maybe that's a good goal for 2017.  Let the success and failure of the past go...as St. Francis said, " Let us begin again for until now we have done nothing."

New Football Verbal

#NestUp17 🔶 pic.twitter.com/NYTVNZFJC6

— KholbeColeman-Abrams (@Kholbes_Life) July 31, 2016\

So, the Falcons have a new football verbal.  He comes from Hoover HS, which is a suburb of Birmingham, AL.  For those who don't know (and this included me until about 30 seconds ago), this is a big-time HS program in Alabama.  Since 2000, they have won the state title 9 times.  (Their coach is the highest paid HS Coach in Alabama).

Kholbe is a LB, 6'0" and 215 pounds.  He told Scout that he has been told by coaches he would be a MIKE (MLB) in college.  He had D1 offers from Middle Tennessee State and Southern Mississippi, as well as four other non-D1 offers.

So, welcome to the Falcons, Kholbe.

BG Names New Athletic Director

So, within a couple weeks of Chris Kingston's departure, Bowling Green has named its new athletic director.  His name is Bob Moosbrugger, and he is a '94 graduate of the University.  His current job is as Deputy Director of Athletics/COO at San Diego State University.

He's been in San Diego since 2000.  He started in their development operation, spent a couple of years with the San Diego Sports Council and then he went back to SD State as the lead for the development program.

This is from his official bio at San Diego State:

Since returning to San Diego State eight years ago, Moosbrugger has been in charge of the department's record fundraising efforts. He has implemented capital improvement projects, including the construction of the Jeff Jacobs JAM Center (basketball practice facility), Willens Tennis Locker Rooms and the SDSU Softball Stadium clubhouse. He has also raised funds for facility improvements to the Fowler Athletics Center as well as for renovations to the locker rooms for men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball.

So, most fans will tell you that this is a return to the Greg Christopher management style.  I do think Christopher gets a little bit of a bum rap---he did hire some good coaches, including Dave Clawson---but he was an ardent fundraiser who did a lot to address some serious facility issues.  There is buzz that Kingston was falling down in that area, along with some rumors that a capital campaign to refurbish the Doyt is lagging badly.

So, you see in that paragraph above...I'm just guessing that capital fundraising prowess helped make Bob an attractive candidate.  And look, we need money.  That's a reality.

Moosbrugger was a student-athlete at BG, earning 2 letters for the baseball team.

Prior to SD State, he worked at Ball State and Fresno State.

He must really want to be an AD...he's leaving the city with perhaps the best weather in the continental US to move to Blowing Green.

So, welcome home, Bob.  Press conference Tuesday at 10 AM with a livestream.

Happy Mother's Day to the Falcon Nation...

Happy Mother's day everyone.....

Financial Swamp: USA Today Database on Athletic Spending

Earlier this week, the USA Today released its athletic spending database, allowing for a wide variety of analysis and comparisons.  As always, the story for the MAC is not good and even a little bit disturbing, maybe for what it is and maybe because it is nothing new.  Hustle Belt has broken the thing down and I'd recommend popping over there for a read and then coming back here for a discussion.

OK, a few hard facts.

• No MAC athletic department breaks even, or even comes close.  Those tickets, sponsorships, suites, parking fees...none even come close to covering the expenses of an athletics program.
• In an era of skyrocketing college debt, MAC Athletics only survive because of student fees...ranging as high as 80% of total expenses at EMU and as "low" as 57% at UT.
• The highest revenue in the MAC is WMU at $34M.  Alabama had $148M,
• The lowest revenue in the MAC...BG at $21.

In fact, the numbers for BG are interesting.  With football championships in 2 of the last 3 years and supporting a hockey program, BG has the lowest revenues and expenses in the MAC.  BG spent $21M in the year in question.  The difference is significant...Akron spent $34M as the top spender, 62% more than the Falcons spend.

In a related matter, BG is second lowest in student subsidy by percentage, at 59%, and lowest in total student subsidy at 12.9M.  Which means that the student body at BG is collectively keeping $14M more than the EMU student body.

Even with BG's frugal ways, nearly 60% of athletics revenues come from student subsidies.  It is an astounding figure.

BG's strategic plan has aggressive goals for ticket increases, sponsorship increases and donations.  I support this entirely.  To the fullest extent possible, you'd want the people who enjoy athletics to pay for them.  Even with that, you can't help but think that maybe this whole thing is unsustainable, that its going to topple over from its own weight.  In fact, I'm surprised that given the debt crisis among college students, there hasn't been a move to curb student subsidies.  Perhaps...as much as it is...it isn't enough to be worth the fight.

As readers are aware, I love my Falcons and I love the University.  I stand by what I said in the article on the strategic plan...I see big changes coming.  

Sentinel: Kingston leaving BG

.@BGSU AD Chris Kingston leaving school. https://t.co/gbZ9jFUWkj pic.twitter.com/rVI9dLGNmH

— Sentinel-Tribune (@sentineltribune) April 11, 2016

Boom goes the dynamite.  Chris Kingston is leaving BGSU.  You know this kind of thing is eventually going to happen, you just never know when.  The report in the Sentinel says that he is going to work at Learfield Sports, which is a little bit of a surprise.  Learfield is the entity that handles the marketing of Falcon Sports Properties--basically the corporate partnership and marketing relationships, including the radio broadcasts.

Chris Kingston brought a lot of qualities to BGSU.  I believe he raised the competitive level of our teams and built on the facility work done by his predecessor.  He hired Dino Babers, handled the Jans thing correctly, and made what I believe was a good hire in Michael Huger.  I've written plenty about Jinks, and if that works out he gets credit for that, too...and for more than one reason.

He was known (from the people I talked to) for a legendary work ethic and an incredibly thorough approach to tackling the challenges in front of him.  Just for an example, he spent Sundays getting a list of future coaches identified for the football program, which led him to Jinks and I assume Babers.

He also was a great booster.  I saw his pre-game speech to alumni at the Purdue game, and he was just great.

So, he will be missed here at BG.  This is the world we live in.  People come to our school and they want to make their name.  When they do, they leave.  Or, when they don't, they leave.  The biggest challenge at our level is to win the Russian Roulette game of replacing coaches and administrators.

That game now rests in Dr. Mazey's office.

Best wishes to Kingston.  Good luck in all your future endeavors.

BG's Athletics Strategic Plan

OK people....first post of April...always kind of slow when the seasons end.  Open loops?  Well, a new men's assistant basketball coach...and the signing period opens in a week.  BG has two signees and if there's other news, I haven't heard it.

Just had a chance to look through BG's new athletic strategic plan.  I would certainly recommend that Falcon fans take a look at it.  I think it's well done as these things go...all the goals link up to University goals, which they should.  I think the priorities are right on...it represents a nice balance between competition and academics.  There are strong but achievable goals in both areas.  Clearly, we want to win and we want to graduate good students.

A few random thoughts....

• They are looking at getting turf onto all the grass facilities.  If you are going to keep baseball and softball in the MAC, you can't justify not having turf.
• There is going to be a full renovation plan for the Doyt, which I think we would all be interested in seeing.  I was there Saturday and there is a lot going on right now.
• I'd be interested in knowing what is entailed in "Develop scheduling strategies to position teams for post-season play." Does that mean wins or tough scheduling?

Finally, the revenue goals are interesting:

• A 7% annual increase in gross ticket revenue.  It will be interesting to see how that plays out.  In some cases, there is easy room for 7% growth (men's basketball, for example).  I think fans can expect some additional cost increases as well, though I think basketball is already too high.
• There's also a 7% annual increase in merchandising. I think there might be an opportunity here.  If you heard the chatter about the SBX closing, you head the general consensus (which I agree with) that SBX had a much better selection and quality than the University does currently.  This might be an opportunity for BG to up its game.
• Increase the unrestricted fund by 20% annually.  That's going to be tough.  There is a tactic that says they are going to get a timetable for changing Falcon club rules...it will be interesting to see what that ends up being.

Even though these types of things are likely to cost me money, I think fans need to keep the big picture in mind.  BG gets 63% of its athletic revenue from subsidies, most of which comes from student fees paid by BG undergrads.  It is a number that is common in the MAC, but probably already too high.  I don't know how likely it is to go down but you'd like to see it at least not get worse.  So, you need to get a higher portion of your revenue from the people in the stands...it's just right.

Happy Easter to the Falcon Nation

Happy Easter to the Falcon Nation.  Regardless of your religious faith, we can all unite around the idea of committing ourselves to a new beginning.

Happy New Year to the Falcon Nation

Happy New Year to the Falcon Nation...this is a natural day for reflection and re-energizing.

Truthfully, nothing stops us from doing this every day, so maybe that's a good goal for 2016.  Let the success and failure of the past go...as St. Francis said, " Let us begin again for up until now we have done nothing."

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the Falcon Nation

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the Falcon Nation. May the day bring you Peace...


The Magi (The Heart of Man is a Palace)

Oh the magi were the prophets
And they wandered through the desert
They saw the star above them
And they knew they'd find their way
Through the valley of the shadow
With the hope of human kindness
They were strengthened by the vision
Of a new and brighter day.

Chorus:
And the wisemen spoke of peace on earth,
Of harmony and struggle
Know you now a cycle's gone and a new one is revealed.
In the weaving of your fingers
In the whisper of a love that's born again
In the weaving of your fingers
In a promise that we made that never ends.

Well now each man is a pilgrim,
Yes, we all must make the journey
And it seems that time is telling us to be all that we can
To help lift up the fallen, we must sow the seeds of goodness
The torch is passed among us now to light the way of man.

For the heart of man's a palace
And his dreams are as the sunlight
They burn away the darkness, as they warm the freezing cold
As an eagle flying higher, as a river through the canyon
The diamond star shines down upon, a pathway to the soul

(Chorus)2x

In a promise that we made that never ends.
In a promise that we made that never ends.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Falcon Nation

Best wishes to everyone on this special day.  Seek not to want more but to be better.  Demonstrate thankfulness...disturb your peace and make the most of the things you have been given.

Awesome BG Video #falconsflyforever

#FalconsFlyForever from Bowling Green State University on Vimeo.

Another great video from Bowling Green!  Welcome to campus, new Falcons, you are in this thing for life, so enjoy the ride.  This is really well done.  Also, it is the first rap song ever to use the phrase "everything in moderation," so we have that going for us.  Anyway, makes me proud and a little nostalgic.  Have a great year everyone.

Happy Independence Day to the Falcon Nation

Happy 4th of July.

I have a slightly different take than most today.

Yes, I am thankful for those who created our country's Constitution and made us free and I am grateful to everyone who fought to protect our country and its interests.

Now.

You (and me)...

We're independent.

Do something with it.

Two new football verbals

BG continues to be active on the recruiting trail with early commits, lining up two more that I picked up over the weekend.

The higher-ranked of the 2 is TE AJ Garson of Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach.  Oxbridge Academy is college prep academy (but not a post-graduate one).  The Academy appears to be a pretty high end operation.  AJ played TE and LB, but this article from a local paper (where much of the remainder of the information was also gathered) says BG plans to play him at TE.

Why.  Well, he's 6'6" and 230 pounds and runs a 4.7 40.  If that's something you might be interested in.

Thought so.

He is a 2-star recruit on Rivals with offers from Cincinnati, Colgate, Oregon State and Idaho.

The other is Cameron Jefferies, a slot WR and CB from Riverside HS, which is in Painesville, OH.  He is not ranked on Rivals, which projects him at DB, which would also be my guess.  Based on the article, he wasn't getting any feelers until he had a couple good camps and then BG and UT both offered him in short succession and he decided to commit to BG.

He's only 5'9" which he feels limited his recruiting, but he has still reached his goal of playing D1 football.  His profile on 24/7 sports reports that he ran a 4.4 40-yard dash.

AJ, Cameron.  Welcome to the Falcons.

Happy Mother's Day to the Falcon Nation

Here's our newest Falcon Mom.  Be nice to your Mom today.  She was nice to you and it wasn't always clear why.

It's a FALCON....

Boom!  From the top of the Wood County Courthouse, the chicks have hatched.  Your heartwarming moment for today....enjoy, they will eventually be ruthless predators.

Happy Easter to the Falcon Nation

Happy Easter to the Falcon Nation.  Regardless of your religious faith, we can all unite around the idea of a new beginning.  One happens every day.

Happy New Year to the Falcon Nation....

Happy New Year to the Falcon Nation...this is a natural day for reflection and re-energizing. Truthfully, nothing stops us from doing this every day, so maybe that's a good goal for 2015.  Let the success and failure of the past go...as St. Francis said, " Let us begin again for up until now we have done nothing."