To answer your questions pinnacle
Some very good discussion here on ASU.
First of all, I didn't like football until I got into college. Didn't follow the NFL or college.
After being at ASU I began following college FB avidly. Followed ASU's players as they went into the pros. Had some interest in the Cardinals - one of my roomies was a die-hard Cards fan - and it became accute when Jake joined the Cardinals. I kind of felt like they were "my" team. Then I started really watching how the Cardinals did business. I got frustrated and eventually apathetic towards the Cards. Then they went after Karsten Golf Course, and a well-spring of hate was born. Then I found out about the suit, and I now believe the Bidwill's to be evil incarnate.
As for Plummer leaving, it was better for both parties. No hard feelings on that score. Overall, they paid Plummer more than he deserved so it's not like I can really ***** about that, can I?
AZBALLER is right on when it comes to the market and how well ASU does compared to a) other schools in pro-sports towns and b) the pro-sports in this town. Consider that last year was ASU's worst year for attendance in a very long time and they still outdrew all the pro-sports in terms of attendance per game.
As for the schedule ASUChris, I couldn't disagree more. I don't believe you realise what goes into scheduling. Our home slate isn't "huge" but we're playing two BCS teams on the road. We'll get Iowa's return trip next year. Even if Iowa and UNC are down this year, you never know what quality of team you will face when you initially schedule the team as it is usually ~5-8 years or more in advance. (Right now, ASU is scheduled through ~2012).
I totally agree with ripping the athletic department in the late 90s for several reasons. 1) They totally sold out. Loud, loud, loud commercials every game all game. Right in the middle of the pbp by the announcer. Horrible. 2) They were leveraging 1-2 successful seasons and making people pony up, when over the last 10 years it was something like 7-8 poor to mediocre seasons with just 2 good years and people weren't going to shell out hundreds or thousands more to watch poor to mediocre ball. They lost a lot of goodwill in that drive. (Over the long run though, it may be OK as people are now used to ponying up that money. It may end up being good for the long term health of the program even if it did alienate many fans.) They do however appear to be earning some of that goodwill back, as they dropped ticket prices throughout the stadium and instituted "Koetter's Corner", a $5 ticket only purchaseable during the week of the game. Those kinds of moves will bring people back over the long haul. 3) They immediately started spending like they already had the money. Result? Deficit.
As for the Cards and picking up some of those guys that got cut - I don't think Redmond would be a good fit for the Cards, FWIW. He's been real nicked up lately. Belicheck (sp?) often said that he would show "flashes" in every phase of the game that they would put him on, but that he was never very consistent. To me, sounds like a confidence/focus problem. Getting cut may help fix that. It may well be that his NFL story lived and died with the winning drive in the Super Bowl.
Thx for talking ASU,
NED (sdf99)
