May 29, 2007

"When and if the time comes to tweak or completely re-do our logo, we will look at many different artists to see what can be created for the largest mass appeal. I have heard from many fans that our "word" marks look pretty sharp but the jury seems to be out on the oval dog head version. I have heard positive and negative things about it." Mario Moccia

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How about a holiday basketball tournament between SIU, U of I, DePaul, Northern Illinois, UIC (you get the idea)? I think it would be terrific and generate huge interest all around the state and with the media.
That would generate a lot of interest. With the status of the "exempt" tournaments, there would have to be an outside "promoter" of this event. Also, a venue would have to be selected, and all parties would have to have a desire to play each other and have an opening on their schedules. Finally, administrators would have to agree on the financial terms. Now that seems like a lot of things that would need to happen, but it isn't impossible. When I visited the Chicago Sun-Times office several months ago, the concept of a tournament with in-state teams came up with the paper as a potential sponsor.

I was thinking about the project Saluki Way and the need for contributions to fund this project. I would like to suggest when Atlanta was preparing for the 1996 Olympics, they sold personalized bricks for $25.00 for the paved sidewalks inside the park. What do you think?
These "brick" projects are a great way of generating some cash for capital projects. They can be more labor intensive than just soliciting for donations, but they are more designed for making sure everyone has an opportunity to contribute in some way. Once we exhaust our prospect list for five and six and seven figure potential donors, we will certainly introduce a "brick type" program.

Many students feel that we should focus on new educational facilities instead of a new football stadium and a revamped arena. What would you say to these people to explain why Saluki Way is a good idea?
I would tell them that they are correct, and Saluki Way is a goal to do both academic and athletic projects. Some folks involved in academics aren't as interested in athletic projects and vice versa. The University Foundation has a matrix in place where potential donors are categorized by college, so athletics has their prospects and other colleges have theirs. Now, as for the merits of the new athletic facilities, I'd let them know that these dollars aren't being taken away from academic projects as no one is forced to give to one project over an other. Many times in recruiting students, a University is judged by their athletic teams and facilities and this could enhance enrollment in the future. New facilities would have better and more amenities for not only the alumni and general fans but the students as well. Finally our 350 student-athletes are fist and foremost students, so we are trying to improve their experiences as well. There are many other things I could get into, but these are some of the reasons off the top of my head.

With regard to a question in April's edition concerning the drawing of the mascot...the last time this was done, the Athletic Department "sprung" the new design on the campus without input from current students, staff and alums outside the department. That didn't sit well because a) a lot of money was paid to the firm to design it when that's what we're training students here to do, b) it was implied that those not involved with the athletic program weren't Salukis and c) this campus takes a great deal of pride in being Salukis and no one likes having their "old" mascot taken away in surprise. When you have time to re-look at the designs, will we pay outside firms or utilize talent here on campus, maybe even have a contest where students and staff could vote on the final, say, three designs?
When and if the time comes to tweak or completely re-do our logo, we will look at many different artists to see what can be created for the largest mass appeal. I have heard from many fans that our "word" marks look pretty sharp but the jury seems to be out on the oval dog head version. I have heard positive and negative things about it. One thing we might look to create in the near future is an "animated" version of the Saluki that we can use with a new Brown and Gray dog costume and also for a kids version of the logo that can be used on children's merchandise when we eventually launch a Junior Saluki Club. Getting everyone's buy-off is laborious, and I am trying to find out all the folks who would need to approve of such a concept. Since this is part of the service that the original designers of the current logo offer, we might choose to ask them to take a stab at it for a minimal price, but we would also look to our student population as well. If we look to introduce a new primary mark then we would engage everyone we could.

At SIU, would it be possible to be a student assistant for the football coaches or any sport coach for that matter?
Yes, we employ students in many capacities. I'd e-mail me or our Associate AD for Business Operations, Mark Scally and we can get interested parties to the right people.

Why do we play three Division II basketball games at the beginning of the year (Quincy, Henderson St., and Wash U)? Wouldn't it benefit us more to have mostly, if not all Division I games on our schedule?
Well, to be accurate, we play two exhibition games like all other Division 1 schools which can be against NCAA II or NAIA teams. This past year, we did play Washington University, as we were having an incredibly tough time getting home games. Of course, we would rather play a complete DI schedule, but we had to make an exception in this case. The MVC, which has to approve schedules, was on board as well. We still ended up with an RPI of #9, pretty amazing!!!

What are the benefits of finishing our conference schedule a week earlier than the other conferences? Is it entirely for much needed TV coverage? If so, I can tell you... it was a struggle to watch the games here in Florida. If we could get ESPN to cover it, then I could see a reason to finish a week early.
The ADs did discuss this issue at our spring meetings, and there was much discussion of the benefits of ending a week early vs. the compaction of the regular season schedule. I think there is a chance of us expanding the season one more week and having the tournament with the other conferences, but time will tell. I believe the benefits of finishing early are that we don't have to compete for the TV audience with our conference going against the other conference tournaments. Also, locking up CBS for the final game is pretty key from an exposure standpoint. Since most of the games were on Fox, I'd consider getting DirecTV or Dish Network or do some homework on any local sports bars in your area.

We had a great time in Florida last year, and the prospect of going to California is exciting. When will you be able to tell us where we will play in an early season tournament? We want to make plans to go.
The schedule will be released soon, so I don't want to get into too many details, but at the risk of pre-empting Tom Weber's press release, I'd recommend making plans to have your turkey dinner in Anaheim, Calif.

I read that you are looking into developing a women's soccer program. I was just wondering how long in the foreseeable future that this might happen, being that I am going to be a freshman this fall and was/am really disappointed that SIU doesn't even have a club team in women's soccer.
I do not know the reason why SIU doesn't offer women's soccer in the form of a club team. All it might take is one motivated freshman, and I am sure that one could be organized. With my wife being a former women's soccer All-American at UMass and professional player, I get this question at home a lot. At the present time, we seem to be complying with Title IX from a roster management standpoint. This means the number of our women's and men's student-athletes mirror the percentages of our men and women on campus. With that said, a women's soccer team would be a significant cost in scholarships, creating a field/stadium, coaches salaries, travel and equipment just to name a few. I will say if we ever do add a sport, women's soccer will for sure make the short list.

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