A sort-of research question...

Great job on the article, Andrew. That one gets saved.

One thing - If you were trying to point to the Black hammer excerpt you mentioned, It currently points to the Amazon book link, not to the excerpt a fan transcribed.

haha and NEVER apologize for an epic mega-afro picture of Clive... If I could have a poster of something like that, it would be my prized posession...

Wow... bravo!!! A terrific and thought-provoking read. Should be required reading for any poster here on Pilot Nation.

I forsee a sticky in this thread's future.

Ditto to the last few posts. Great job and inspiring reading.

Excellent thread and article... and upon aleppiek's suggestion, this will remain "stickied"...

I know the article in complete but I would like to share my attraction and experience with other lovers of the UP team. I am one of the daughters that shares my love of the game with my dad. I knew nothing about soccer or this team until my dad invited my brother and I to a game at Portland in 2005. It was so magical. The stands were packed, students drumming and yelling funny jabs at the away team. I couldn't stay seated and my mouth never shut. Although I knew nothing about this team I was sucked in. Ever since then I attend all home games and many away. My dad and I wait anxiously for the next season to begin each year and during the season we never stop talking about them or email articles.

I feel like I know these women. They are so humble. They are so smooth and talented. I am like a kid in a candy store when I watch them after (or before) they have graduated and they are playing on the national team or pro teams. They work so hard and are so passionate... they deserve every bit of recognition and support that they get. They have made me love this game. I will always be a season ticket holder and I will always share this love and experience with my dad.

Just to clarify, GEEZ, Texas A&M does not require that you buy tickets for other sports before you can purcahse tickets for Soccer and vice-versa. A&M Soccer is supported by the Football team as are the other sports on campus, its our cash cow if you will, raking in millions a year, the A&M operating budget is $75+ million. People have the option of buying public season tickets or general admission. A&M students get in only if you have purchased an All-Sports pass or at a discounted general admission rate. While A&M has done extremely well in Women's Soccer on and off the field (attendance) it is not uncommon for the other sports to do well in attendance as well, good promotions and great marketing from out athletic department has contributed to the huge attendance numbers all around, we have the 12th Man Team Rewards program, where for every 12 Athletic events you attend you get a prize of some sort, sometimes athletic gear, other times, gift cards, or flat TVs, etc. Women's Soccer at A&M however has always drawn huge crowds, could be due to the fact that A&M doesn't field a Mens program (due to Title IX compliance).



btw, I have been a Portland Soccer fan since learning about them....great program.

Wow. I should have read this a long time ago. Well done. You definitely captured it, and thanks for listening to our views and expanding on them with your own well-formed opinions. Very cool.

I gess I should ahve piped up on this earlier, but as long as we are on it, The only problem I have is the last sentence.

Women's Soccer at A&M however has always drawn huge crowds, could be due to the fact that A&M doesn't field a Mens program (due to Title IX compliance).

Really? So the only reason you have women's sports is title iX? and you can't field a men's team besides football because of it?

Time to reevaluate. there are a couple hundred men's teams in the country and those programs comply with title lX.

I always think it's funny when an AD tells you they have dropped men's gymnastics, or wrestling or soccer because of title lX.

Title lX demands no such thing, only a commitment to improving equal opportunities to women.

jpscholar :
Women's Soccer at A&M however has always drawn huge crowds, could be due to the fact that A&M doesn't field a Mens program (due to Title IX compliance).

Thank you Geezaldinho!

I don't know A&M's athletic budget but read the following:

From the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education:
While overall, schools have added more male teams than they have dropped, in the only competitive division showing a net loss of men's teams, NCAA Division I-A, the budgets for football and men's basketball consume nearly three quarters (73%) of the total men's athletics operating budget. While these 117 Division I-A schools may argue that this lopsided resource allocation is an investment in increasing revenues, the numbers show otherwise. In these athletic programs, supposedly the “most profitable,” 60% currently operate at an overall deficit averaging $4.4 million per year. Of all NCAA Division I and II schools, 85% currently operate at a deficit. (Fulks, 2005) Putting huge sums of money into one or two men's sports reduces the likelihood that schools will be financially capable of adding women's participation opportunities or reducing inequalities in treatment (scholarships, operating budgets, etc.) to comply with Title IX and increases the likelihood that other men's sports will be eliminated. Unless educational institutions and athletic governance organizations do more to control costs, this financial squeeze will affect all competitive divisions. Only by capping these spiraling costs will institutions be able to grow women's sports programs to comply with Title IX while maintaining existing participation opportunities for men.
http://www.ncwge.org/

Could it be that A&M spends too much on football or men's basketball?

I don't at all think that A&M women's team is not a second choice for fans because there isn't a men's team! They are great players!

This was an exceptional article. It may be worthy of un-stickying though...

I agree with all that has been said about the things that make the UP women's soccer team such a great draw for fans... and don't have anything new to add there.

I have heard that the Nebraska women's volleyball team has a following similar to the UP women's soccer team. While football is clearly king at Nebraska, the volleyball team's home games have all been sellouts for a number of years now. I don't know how the players are treated on campus, but I've been told it is harder to score a volleyball ticket than a football ticket.

From the little bit I know about the situation, I think there are a number of parallels with UP... Nebraska volleyball is always a top 10 team, they play their home games in an intimate volleyball only arena, and Nebraska has a strong youth volleyball program.

Having watched UP v NU in women's soccer in Lincoln, I can tell you the NU women's soccer program has a zero following... they play in the shadows of the football stadium, on a small field, without any fans beyond friends and family... so like the UP women in soccer, seems like the NU volleyball team has bottled up some fan magic.

This thread is clearly HOF material, but has the time come to un-sticky it?