Boy, so many topics in one thread. Sorry to be so long:
Strollo: I think now, and always have, that he does a most excellent job. He is setting YSU up for continued success. Listen to the interviews of ADs during FB and MBB games. You will hear all of them mention WATTS & YSU's campus expansion and how they want to emulate it.
Heacock: Old news, but he did not destroy the program, Like Strollo, he took little & gave back quite a lot. Just not enough. Especially when you consider that either one of our current coordinators make more than coach H and his entire staff ...and this is the first year we have had a decent record. When Tressel was here, we were much more in line with the salaries of other programs, just as we are now with Wolf. Also, there would not have needed to be so much rebuilding had a certain head-coach not forced over 1/3 of the team to quit. You can cover up a wrong by saying they were "dead wood", but people are not stupid. You cannot compare coach H to a couple of terrible WBB coaches.
Crowds: does anyone here remember when the east side was added? it was 1997. So basically, most of Tressel's career here (and all of the "glory years") were in a stadium with a maximum capacity of 16,800 (that 800 is gated standing). So all of those post-season games had about 500-band members and at least twice that number in player/band/staff families & friends. The schools are no longer allowed to pay for these things anymore (band is still allowed to be supplemented, but it has to come from Athletic $$$). I am not going to sit here and say we cannot sell-out games. However, we are Youngstown ...not Marshall; we have more that 1 other DI football team close at hand. I might also add all of those people who seem to eat, sleep and drink HS football. Why don't you go out to the games Friday night and tell them to save their money for YSU? Would it be unreasonable to claim that, in the Mahoning Valley, several times more people go to games on Friday nights than on Saturdays? Tap into the reasons why this is so and you will sell out every YSU game. Some examples:
1. HS games are free or cheap.
2. Rivals are in your blood & right down the street.
3. Families have lived in school districts for multiple generations & there are legacies.
4. You know the players on the field.
5. The media in this town goes crazy over HS games. Why is there not stories on every YSU opponent in the Vindy and Trib every day? If more people read about YSU opponents, they would look down on the field & know the best players. They would feel an association. Will it instantaneously sell subscriptions, ad space and air time? Of course not, it can take years & generations ...but it is the media's obligation.
Scalz(v)o?: You finally have someone that covers YSU & you complain? This is the best coverage by the Vindy since Tressel ...maybe even further back than that. The Trib has been doing better as well. Heck the Trib is the only paper that used to even cover YSU basketball. Can they do more? Along with the rest of the local media ...yes. However as I said above in the terribly-large post ...it is going to take time and faith. The same thing YSU is asking from us.
