June 30, 2007

This is the latest installment of our monthly feature called, "Ask the AD." If you have questions for Saluki Director of Athletics Mario Moccia, feel free to submit them by e-mail.

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Can you discuss the future of the Saluki Baseball program? Please address: (1) playing at least some games at Rent One Park, (2) increasing funding - actually I'd like to also know what SIU spends on baseball versus others in the Valley, and (3) the coaching situation.
I would be very interested in playing selected games at Rent One Park. I see many benefits to this. From a recruiting standpoint, letting prospective student-athletes know they will be playing under the lights with a state of the art video board, etc... is a definite plus. Since it is currently free to attend baseball games at Abe Martin, this would/could also be a revenue source from ticket sales, as well as the suites and party rooms that Rent One has to offer, plus concessions. We love playing at home but will look at the schedule and then discuss with the ownership of the Miners to see what their interest level would be.

We take a look at all of our sports' budgets each and every year, and I also sat down with Coach Callahan to see what else we might need to provide to assist him in winning. Baseball has had some successful fundraisers, and I think it has a competitive budget in the MVC. It is difficult to compare budgets to others in the league because it is never apples to apples. Some budgets include salaries and some don't, and some include maintenance and some don't, so it becomes more of a "what do they have that we don't" which does make it less scientific. Trust me, the coaches know who has what and who doesn't, and we will try to get it for them, if we can afford it and it will assist us competitively.

Coach Callahan is our current head coach, and I support him. I think he and his staff are doing a good job. I won't discuss personnel situations further than that.

As a resident of New York, I follow very closely all the Saluki teams. I drove through a snowstorm to go to Columbus to see them in the NCAA Tournament. Why doesn't SIU schedule some games here on the east coast, particularly in the NY area? It would be great exposure for the team.
We would love to get to the northern part of the east coast (note that we did play in Florida last year). We would, as always, need for someone to return the game to Carbondale. Perhaps there could be a pre-season NIT or a Coaches vs. Cancer game in our future, which would get us to New York City? The better we do, the more likely we are to be invited for these types of games. Charlotte is the furthest east we are going to play this year.

Hasn't the Saluki football program reached the level of being able to play a six-game home schedule each season?
Unfortunately no. Beginning in 2008 with the addition of North Dakota State and South Dakota State, we will always have four home Gateway conference games. With the remaining three games, one will always be a Division I road game and one will be a Division II or similar game to begin the year. The remaining game will be a I-AA non-conference opponent which will rotate between home and away, so we will still be stuck on five and six games for a while.

What advice can you offer younger students and professionals with aspirations of becoming an athletic director? What are some likley paths to follow to become an AD at a school such as SIU? What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome to be the AD at SIU?
My advice would be to work hard and make yourself too valuable to lose. I have seen many interns come and go (I was one myself for a whopping $400 per month), and a few have done so much that when their time was ending, we didn't want to lose that person, so lo and behold, we hired them on full time. If it takes volunteering, then so be it. Since it is hard to get in, you don't have the luxury of waltzing into a "front office job" right off the bat.

A likely path would be to get your master's degree, since you will be working at a university. An advanced degree is imporant, though it's isn't the end of the world if you just have a bachelor's degree. Most AD's seem to come from the external side of the department as this is where the public interaction is, but even at SIU, my predecessor, Paul Kowalczyk, came from the internal side and did a remarkable job in his tenure.

I don't know if I have run into a "big" obstacle yet. In getting the job at SIU, I had to prove that I could be an AD without yet having been an AD. Also, I've had to convince people I like being here and want to stay here and am not looking to jump to the next job. I was surprised at how many people were ushering me out the door to the next job, and we didn't even have curtains at our house yet. Another challenge might be getting folks to realize that we are a big time athletic program, which is why I overload people with our statistics all the time. I know it must bore people, but stats don't lie.

After almost 40 years of bringing water or hot coffee to SIU football games, we are now searched at the gate, and any water or coffee in our possession is dumped on the grass. Since no water is available via drinking fountains, and the coffee available is at best only slightly warm, my friends and I are furious that we cannot bring in water and hot coffee to help us stay comfortable during both hot and cold weather. My husband was so cold during one of the last games last fall, he went across the street to the student center and bought some coffee. Thinking it would be in an acceptable container, he approached the turnstiles and was told he would have to pour it out. He was much too cold to do that, so he went back to the student center and sat there until he finished his coffee. Why can't we bring in coffee and water into the west stands during football games? I can assure you that if the answer is that you make money on the drinks you sell during the games--you lose one thousand times that amount in the good will of your old loyal fans. P.S.-You did a great job at the Summer Theater fundraiser. Thanks for being such a good sport!
Very interesting question. First, we need to make sure we do a good job on providing basic services to our fans. If our water fountains don't work at McAndrew, which wouldn't surprise me, then I will have a discussion with our game operations people on lifting this ban. As for the coffee, this is a concession item that we need to do a better job of working with Chartwell's to ensure that they are producing and distributing a quality product at the correct temperature. We are always mindful of revenue, but we never want to do this at the expense of our fans' comfort level. We need to be mindful that we don't go too far the other way, and then folks want to bring soda and snacks, etc.... Either way, I am going to make sure that Jason King, our Assistant AD for Facilities and Game Operations, is aware of this, and we will take the necessary steps that our fans can have access to water, even if it means them bringing it in to the stadium.

Thanks for the kudos on the Summer theater. I am sure our fans would be happy to know that my first on-stage performance (and last) took place not in grade school but age 39! I am glad their fundraiser was a success.

Is a new scoreboard (preferably one with a video screen and individual points/fouls listings) in the Arena's near future?
When the arena is retrofitted, we will definitely have a new scoreboard with video and individual stats capabilities.

Shouldn't all student-athletes be required to take basic economics and investing classes as a freshman? Particularly basketball and football players.
Well, the University itself sets specific standards on required classes. We have a "Life Skills" program that is led by Brooke Morgan, and we certainly cover these type of everyday issues, but I would agree that your suggestions would pay off for all our student-athletes, as well as all incoming freshmen.

With the new NCAA rules on 3-point lines, how will SIU handle the difference in distance between the men's markings and the women's markings on the court? I have seen a suggestion that there will be a 1 foot wide line, with the men having to be behind the line, and the women having to be just inside of it. While it may be a more aesthetically pleasing solution than two separate lines, I think it would be confusing for a referee to determine in the women's game how far inside the line the women have to be before it is no longer considered a 3-point shot.
These are things that make my head hurt (ha-ha). I am sure that the NCAA will be providing us with some guidelines, and once again, Jason King will give me the options that we will go over with Coach Lowery and Coach Eikenberg to make sure that we are compliant and have the most aesthetically pleasing floor possible.

In the past, SIU had a very strong and active Saluki Booster Club. The previous AD for unknown reasons did not favor such an organization. What is your perspective on a Booster Club that supports SIU athletics?
The standard in an overwhelming majority of athletic departments is to promote an overall fundraising arm, like the Saluki Athletic Scholarship Fund (SASF.) This assists all student-athletes and eliminates "cherry picking" of the two most traditionally popular sports, football and men's basketball. Now anyone can still contribute to their favorite sport, such as football, women's tennis or men's golf, but they won't get the credit toward seating and parking to football and basketball that they would in donating to the SASF. The SASF is very strong and has recorded a 40 percent increase versus last year, which will help us tremendously.

Is there any talk of having a "midnight madness" kind of start to the basketball season?
I will encourage both Dana and Chris to consider this, but each coach is different in their preparation, and I would defer to them as to what they think is necessary to prepare for the upcoming season.

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