Southern Illinois University - Official Athletic Site

Ask the AD -- July Edition

Question & Answer with Saluki Director of Athletics Mario Moccia

July 31, 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.

E-Mail a question to Mario Moccia

I attended the last SIU/IU basketball game a few years ago at the arena, and prior to the game, the staff at the arena contracted a group from St. Louis to do pyrotechnics. Do you foresee using any pyrotechnics this year for the Indiana game? It was a huge motivational factor the last time.
Funny you mention this as the VERY first thing I discussed with Chancellor Walter Wendler on my first day was that he never wanted to have fireworks in the arena again. I have heard from many people that the fireworks provided for a great atmosphere, and I am all for that, but in the interest of safety (we are all aware of some pyrotechnic tragedies in the news) and the age of our building, its poor ventilation system and wood bleachers, we won't be having the fireworks again. We will look to create a rabid atmosphere with music, spirit squads and as always, a sold-out crowd.

With the popularity of the Floorburn U line of shirts and other items, has the department looked into trademarking the name and possibly using the logo in the remodeled arena?
Chris Lowery and the folks at Silkworm have a partnership on this line of clothing, and I do believe they have trademarked the name. Silkworm has generously donated all the profits from the sale of these shirts back to Saluki Way, as well as a line of football shirts with a specific tag line.

With the explosion of sites such as FaceBook and MySpace, there are tremendous opportunities for current students and alumni to post Saluki-related layouts to their personal sites. Is there any discussion on getting folks from the marketing side to put together Salukis layout options for us to select as our page backgrounds?
Since Tom Weber our Director of Media Services assists me with this monthly Q & A, I'll ask him to look into what it would take to create Saluki-related layouts. As for our student-athletes, we encourage them not to have these types of accounts, as most often there is personal information available, and several issues have been centered around these sites with inappropriate photos and messages nationally.

Coach Lowery mentioned the fact that potential opponents need to either bus to Carbondale or fly through St. Louis and then drive down. I can see why this would be a deterrence to any major program. A flight, plus over two hours on the road seems excessive. However, I may have found another option. I looked to see what Cape Girardeau airport had to offer, and found out they have grounded their current airline for FAA reasons and brought on a new airline to start this summer. Delta will now be offering connection flights through Cincinnati, OH. A one hour bus ride is better than 2 1/2. What other travel options are there for potentials? Hope this helps.
I appreciate the time and effort you put in on this. There's not much difference between us and Mizzou when you look at it. You can charter into Columbia or Marion and be in your hotel in 15 minutes or fly into Lambert International in STL and bus two hours. I have a feeling that our 79-3 home record over the last 6 years has much more to do with scheduling than our location, but I am aware of the hassle teams must go through to travel to Carbondale as opposed to a school in a more metropolitan community.

In a past "Ask the AD", you mentioned a "Junior Saluki Club". Could you please provide more info., such as when it will start, ages, etc? I have two children (ages 5 & 2 who already love the Salukis), and I can't wait for them to join the club!
A "Junior Saluki Club" would be a dues paying club (perhaps $20 annually) which would get kids a membership card, t-shirt and invitations to selected events throughout the entire year. Many programs do this, and I think we are way behind the curve. We will add it as fast as we can, but at the current time are focusing on filling out our administrative staff, Saluki Way and preparing for the football and volleyball seasons. I have inquired to the University as to what hurdles there would be to add a "kid-friendly" logo to our family of marks. Ultimately, I'd like a more animated logo that could be used with the Club and on kids merchandise, as well as a model for a new Brown and Grey dog. Long story short, it is on the radar, and we are definitely going to add this as soon as we can.

Hi! Any chance of Saluki football or basketball games being on a Chicago area radio station in the near future?
We are getting ready to put our multi-media rights out for bid (an RFP or request for proposal) and have had interest from two national companies (there are about five or six in the marketplace). This is commonplace among BCS schools, and since they are almost all aligned with someone, the multi-media companies are looking at Football Championship Subdivision (that is the new way of saying I-AA) schools as a new business model. Our national basketball profile certainly puts us at the top of the heap for consideration. To answer your question, these companies are experts in dealing with affiliate relations and employ folks where their sole job is to secure statewide affiliates. One of the items that we have put in the RFP is securing a radio station in St. Louis and Chicago. This might cost some big dollars, but if inserted in the overall agreement, might make it easier to swallow. This is a very big goal of mine for the future and remains on my to-do list.

I know this may not be the most appropriate way to ask this question, but I am a law school alum of SIU and now teach at a NAIA institution, the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana - is there anyway we can get our football programs to play each other? Are there issues with playing "down" a level?
Much like many Football Bowl Subdivision teams (new name for I-A) play one FCS team per year, we have been playing a Division II or NAIA program in our home opening game for several years under Coach Kill. We are going to continue this practice and have openings in 2008 and 2009 (2010 is under contract). I will certainly pass on to our Associate AD, Jason King, who oversees our football scheduling, of the potential interest from Saint Frances. One of the biggest factors in selecting which school to play, along with both schools having a mutually available date, is what guarantee money the school is looking to secure. Just like when the Salukis are evaluating which FBS team to play, the "smaller" schools do the same to us.

As a whole, where do you see the athletic department going within the next three years? Can you comment on Olympic sports as well? Also, if you have not, go out to Giant City Park with your family and enjoy the Family Style Chicken Meal.
Gee whiz, I don't have that much time, but some of the realistic goals for the department in three years would be; preparing for the opening of a new football stadium and basketball arena, the men's basketball program having nine-straight NCAA appearances with another Sweet Sixteen appearance along the way; football advancing to the National semi-finals or National title game, the Salukis winning the all-sports award, receiving the highest graduation rate award. I would also like to see a few titles in a sport that perhaps isn't a conference power at the present time, like volleyball or tennis. Now, I have more aggressive goals for sure, but at this time, I'll keep those in my desk drawer, but I do share them with our staff and coaches. Rest assured, your AD likes to eat, and I was at Giant City last week with my in-laws from North Carolina, and of course I had the all-you-can-eat fried chicken dinner! Next time anyone goes, pop in to Mr. Kelly's office and take a look at his baseball memorabilia. It is pretty impressive.