"Indoor Facility ... #1 priority" ... AD Larry Lyons

[fourthandshort]

this deserves its own thread. got restarted on Birdswin thread, "Getting Hurt in Recruiting" and RicoHill's finding the original promo video where Sports AD Larry Lyons speaking about eh 150m campaign, clearly states that the indoor facility is the #1 priority for athletics portion of this 150m Redbird Rising campaign ... he was unequivacle and talked at length about how importance this facility was to the FUTURE of athletics at ISU. It was 100% clear, not parsed or conditioned .. other than pressumably reaching the 150m targeted for entire campaign.

Here is link to original promo video:
https://goredbirds.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Archive=4309&youtube=&autoplay=true&controls=true&title=

Here is link to thread that got this important topic restarted ... props to Birdswin and Rico for re-escalatng this topic:

https://redbirdfan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1562


What changed as far the importance of this facility to the FUTURE of athletics at ISU ??? Attendance down a little last year make you nervous ?? Thatt's all it takes for you to reneg on this ... 1 new data point ?

You made a very public commitment. People donated because of this. Do NOT let us down Larry !!!!!!

 

[isuquinndog]

I won't shut it down but what was the other thread about? The indoor facility, right? I disagree that this needs a new thread but go for it.

 

[fourthandshort]

I won't shut it down but what was the other thread about? The indoor facility, right? I disagree that this needs a new thread but go for it.

Fair point Quinn ... I should have said, the "Getting Hurt in Recruiting" thread could use more blunt eye-catching title. Basically just wanted to draw more attention to the commitment AD Lyons made .... so hopnig my thread title attracts more attention and clearly memorializes his original commitment. Thanks for leaving it up.

At least I gave props and link to Birdswin thread ??? ray:

 

[ricohill]

I won't shut it down but what was the other thread about? The indoor facility, right? I disagree that this needs a new thread but go for it.

Fair point Quinn ... I should have said, the "Getting Hurt in Recruiting" thread could use more blunt eye-catching title. Basically just wanted to draw more attention to the commitment AD Lyons made .... so hopnig my thread title attracts more attention and clearly memorializes his original commitment. Thanks for leaving it up.

At least I gave props and link to Birdswin thread ??? ray:

I understand why this is its own thread. The indoor facility will be Larry's legacy as AD, good or bad. This facility might have the biggest impact on the entire athletic department since building Redbird Arena. This is important for every athletic program.

He has said from the time he took over in 2013 this was his most important priority (https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/indoor-practice-facility-top-item-on-wish-list-for-illinois/article_e4a9b732-2636-11e3-b265-0019bb2963f4.html).

I don't think it is a good look telling donors the money will be used from the campaign to build it then not actually used for it when they raise the money. I just want to know what the plans are and where they are at? A little honesty would go a long way right now.

 

[cubird]

If ISU could ever cover 100 % funding of athletic scholarships thru their endowment..that would free up $$ for other needs. I think if a donation was pledged for a specific purpose, athletics would ask the donor first if it could be used for a more pressing need.

 

[Total Red]

CU may have touched on why the Athletic Dept could reach the 34 million goal without having the money to put up an indoor practice facility. The money received so far could have been earmarked by donors for other purposes. The indoor facility may have been the dept. #1 priority at one time but surprise (not) we're getting a Redbird Arena renovation first.

 

[ricohill]

CU may have touched on why the Athletic Dept could reach the 34 million goal without having the money to put up an indoor practice facility. The money received so far could have been earmarked by donors for other purposes. The indoor facility may have been the dept. #1 priority at one time but surprise (not) we're getting a Redbird Arena renovation first.

The Arena is using bond money to pay for it. I don't think any money was raised for the project.

http://www.videtteonline.com/news/board-of-trustees-approve-arena-updates/article_9f3241d8-d49b-11e8-98a4-8f91467d6662.html

When they got back from Frisco, I wish they would have put together a fundraising plan and goal for the indoor facility. They could have put together a fundraising campaign and probably would have raised enough to break ground.

 

[Total Red]

Ok thanks, good to know but donations could still be directed to other sports or purposes.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

CU may have touched on why the Athletic Dept could reach the 34 million goal without having the money to put up an indoor practice facility. The money received so far could have been earmarked by donors for other purposes. The indoor facility may have been the dept. #1 priority at one time but surprise (not) we're getting a Redbird Arena renovation first.

The Arena is using bond money to pay for it. I don't think any money was raised for the project.

http://www.videtteonline.com/news/board-of-trustees-approve-arena-updates/article_9f3241d8-d49b-11e8-98a4-8f91467d6662.html

When they got back from Frisco, I wish they would have put together a fundraising plan and goal for the indoor facility. They could have put together a fundraising campaign and probably would have raised enough to break ground.

Yes, the Athletic Department missed the window of opportunity to build on the excitement and interest following the National Title appearance. That was the time to push Redbird Football if you wanted to move to the next level. I think it is clear that is not an interest in the Athletic department overall. Now after a couple of mediocre seasons, the interest has probably waned a bit and the opportunity is lost Another good season for Redbird Football would help but I think Coach Spack and his staff are back to climbing the mountain of expectations. Instead of expecting the team to be good ... most fans are back to just hoping the team will be good. If you look back over the past couple seasons on this board I think you see that after the title game appearance the expectations were high and fans felt a corner had been turned. Now it is hoping Brady is good ... hoping the receiving corps is solid ... hoping Beathard can turn the offense around ... just hoping. I hope the Birds have a great season in 2019 but I am not confident of making the playoffs or another title run. Why should I be? The Redbird Football fan base is back to just "hoping" we make the playoffs this year. Real movement on an indoor facility would have been a good sign that the university is really serious about being a top-notch program. Coach Spack has already commented that without an upgrade he is seriously hampered in recruiting. You want to have a consistent winner ... you need great players.

 

[fourthandshort]

Virginia .. generally agree but do feel we have been right on the cusp of being very good the past 4 seasons ... main issue has been pass game and QB consistency. Otherwise we have had enough of the other pieces to be very good at times. Every year we see the top of 10 potential is right there.

But yes the window since Natty run is closing .. need another natty run to stoke the donor and fan base.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Virginia .. generally agree but do feel we have been right on the cusp of being very good the past 4 seasons ... main issue has been pass game and QB consistency. Otherwise we have had enough of the other pieces to be very good at times. Every year we see the top of 10 potential is right there.

But yes the window since Natty run is closing .. need another natty run to stoke the donor and fan base.

I agree with you fourth on the potential of the past few teams but it seems that potential has been squandered. A couple of years ago we had a mostly all senior and experienced offensive line coming back and expected that to be a strength but it did not really happen until later in the season. We have the two lost years with the failed Co-Offensive Coordinator fiasco. I would not argue that the pieces have been there for some good results. I would submit that the coaching staff did not do a great job. How many of the past few years have the Birds been totally blown out (SIU) or lost a game they should have won (MOState). Well coached teams do not have performances like those. They play with consistency. The defense overall for several years has been the strength of the team and really pretty consistent despite personnel changes and coaching changes. The offense...different matter. Two seasons of really bad coaching (Co-Coordinators) and last season was a real disappointment, at least on the offensive side of the ball. I know there were factors last season that impacted the offense but three years of really pretty inconsistent and mediocre offensive production has become the identity of the Redbirds ... three straight seasons of it. They play solid defense, have great running backs, can't pass the ball consistently and can't throw the ball deep. Put eight in the box, shut down the run, dare them to through long ... against good defenses last year the Birds were not much of an offensive threat.
Sorry, I got off the topic of the indoor facility. I will disclose that I donated money to the fund and one of the reasons was the stated emphasis on the indoor facility which I think we all know needs to get done. I feel a bit mislead and not certain I would open my wallet again unless I had concrete assurance where the money would be going. Of course, my wallet is not that deep so maybe my donation purchased a whiteboard or something, but I am hesitant to send any more money with the way this kind of played out. My impression is real dishonesty and attempts to mislead. Maybe there were other factors for redirecting the money but it just feel shady to me.

 

[glenn_ma]

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/indoor-practice-facility-top-item-on-wish-list-for-illinois/article_e4a9b732-2636-11e3-b265-0019bb2963f4.html#comments

Did I see that right??? A Slantagraph article in 2013, the top wish list for the AD is an IPF??? 2013??

THe Key is to have a plan and share the plan, be transipenant. I would love to see something on paper, something to pont at! Where is is? What is the plan/vison? What can we get on board with?

Do we know where the IPF is going to be shoeshormned in? We don't have a plan/vision yet??? Nothing?

Ok, Let's get something on paper, then this is my IPF plan/vision. Maybe after it has been criticized, it can server some input for the ISU IPF plan.

You have to start somewhere, you need a strawman, a starting point. something you can comment on, pros and cons. Don't be afraid of negative comments, welcome them as they will only make the porposal stonger with feeback. We need an IPF plan, shoot holes in it, point out the weeknesens and the strengths (hopefully a few).

obviously space for the IPF/sports complex area is at a pemium. The IPF is going to loose parking space we so need parking space to replace it. I would love to see the creek covered via. some large culverts.

Paving over the creek would tie in the whole sports complex as well as allow for parking lots and tailgaing over the creek.

Space being a premium, we need to utilize all we have. It will allow us to build paking lots arond the softball fields and west of the tennis courts. If we can swap this new tennis court parking lot for the Uhigh parking lot, that would be hugh for the IPF.

The complete IPF does not need to be built all at once. We can build the IPF then add the extras later. The IPF extensions (wight room, locker rooms, offices, conference rooms, etc.) can be built in later phases. First the IPF, then the IFP exensions.

I would love to see the IPF integrated with the Knaufman building. An expanded/expansiosion Kufman building would house the extenions and extend the full length of the north endzone. Above the Knaufman building would be seating and skyboxes. This would be similare the to U of I endzone. Again, build in phases. keep is simple, work with what we have.

We don't need to collect every penny before we start to, we need to start on infrastructure pojects now!
When we do pull the tiegger, We need to be be is a posistion to be full speed ahead.

Why don't we have volunteers collections at sporting events? Who would not give 20 bucks at a game for the IPF? That like 20k a game. That goes a long way for marketing/planning/infastructure.


I'm tiered of all the talk about an IPF, six years later, lets so something moving! Let't get the creek permits going, let's build some parking lots, let's do something!!! Let't move forward, baby steps in need be, but something!!!

 

[TIMMY]

Put up a bubble or we're up Schitt's Creek.

 

[StLRedbird]

I don't often disagree with Timmy, but ISU has a long history of getting things done once it has decided that it's necessary. They are prudent and I think the consensus in Redbird Nation is that they have marshaled their resources well over the years. Spack - has talked about the importance of an indoor facility for years. Anyone recall when he started talking about inability to recruit top talent? I think that's fairly recent.

But somewhere along the way, the IPF got bumped off the top spot in the priority list. I heard the point about it being funded w bonds, but that does not make it free money. Those bonds are guaranteed by a revenue stream, so all we've done there is agree to pay for it over time. It's mainly just evidence of how basketball remains dominant in their thinking.

I gotta join in with those that are frustrated by the lack information from ISU.

 

[fourthandshort]

Lack of tranparency and honesty to some extent. How can AD Lyons state clearly how important the IPF is to the FUTURE of ISU athletics and state unequivacly that an IPF is THE #1 priority for athletics as part of the Redbird Rising Campaign Promo Video ..... he said it in the promo video. This was not some random interview where he parsed or hinted at possibility .. he said it in the Redbird Rising Promo Video ... #1 athletics initiative.

And then after 1 down year in attendance .. we hit the panic button, and completely change course. This requires vision and conviction. And it is not just about having better football team for sake of having better football team. It is about all sports and about the entire campus experience. Filling Hancock on Saturday's is good for ISU the school and campus. Only other sport that has this ability is men's basketball. That is not to say football and basketball are better or more improtant in and of itself. It is to say, these sports do more to attact students than any other sports by far ... they add to the campus experience. Give the students some to do and be proud of and get excited about. Not to mention homecoming weekend and what it does to keep alumi feeling connected.

Go back to 2014 ... we barely drew 5k for hosting 1st round playoff game against rival UNI. We go on road to EW and UNH and draw maybe 250 and 300 for thosw 2 games. Then we make Natty in Frisco and draw over 3,500 to Frisco TX. As someone esle said .. that should have been all the school and sports admin need to see ... they shouls have pounced on this momentum. Instead they waited, and waited, and now they've blinked and panicked.

AD Lyons .... you said it was #1 in the promo video, you talked about the FUTURE of ISU athletics .. what happened ???? The proverbial tail (sports) should never wag the dog (school) .... but, if the tail is wagging, the dog is happy. It is about the entire campus experience. Picture Hancock 3.0 with 20k capacity on Homecoming. The IPF helps us get there .. and it helpd many other sports too. It helps us "keep up with the Jones". Not doing it will likely cause us to fall further behind.

 

[ricohill]

The indoor facility (not a bubble) is a game changer for the entire athletic department and is huge for all the sports programs.

It is frustrating that it has been the number 1 priority since 2013 and nothing has been done. The lack of transparency and lying is unacceptable to me.

 

[TIMMY]

I don't often disagree with Timmy, but ISU has a long history of getting things done once it has decided that it's necessary. They are prudent and I think the consensus in Redbird Nation is that they have marshaled their resources well over the years. Spack - has talked about the importance of an indoor facility for years. Anyone recall when he started talking about inability to recruit top talent? I think that's fairly recent.

But somewhere along the way, the IPF got bumped off the top spot in the priority list. I heard the point about it being funded w bonds, but that does not make it free money. Those bonds are guaranteed by a revenue stream, so all we've done there is agree to pay for it over time. It's mainly just evidence of how basketball remains dominant in their thinking.

I gotta join in with those that are frustrated by the lack information from ISU.

StL I'm pretty pragmatic and really only care about the now. We don't agree on this one but that's Okay. I just don't see 4 walls and a roof going up in the next ten years. Nothing would make me happier than being wrong. But when the athletic dept. pulls down video and doesn't promote something I've gotta think it's been moved to the back burner. In the meantime a bubble and a solid plan for a future building will help with recruiting now. But mostly it will serve our athletes in every sport now. I read about covering creeks and moving Uhigh and that's all real nice. But we have student athletes that want to be competitive now. And fans who have no problem bitching and moaning when they're not. Trust me the first time our QB and a receiver are not on the same page.....
Every day your opponent is doing something and you're not you fall behind. Simple truth. And if they keep at it you never catch up. I've lived it for years.
This is how deep into the department a bubble would reach. When my niece was a gymnast at Mich. St. they ran their gassers in their indoor facility so their legs wouldn't take the beating that they do on a hard floor. Every athlete/every day.

 

[fourthandshort]

Agree a bubble is way better than what we have today and would certainly address the issue adequately. But ISU made a public commitment ... I'll take the bubble if a IPF building is not going to happen within a few years. But the bubble will be a constant reminder that AD Lyons fell short and failed to deliver on his commitment.

 

[StLRedbird]

StL I'm pretty pragmatic and really only care about the now. We don't agree on this one but that's Okay. I just don't see 4 walls and a roof going up in the next ten years. Nothing would make me happier than being wrong. But when the athletic dept. pulls down video and doesn't promote something I've gotta think it's been moved to the back burner. In the meantime a bubble and a solid plan for a future building will help with recruiting now. But mostly it will serve our athletes in every sport now. I read about covering creeks and moving Uhigh and that's all real nice. But we have student athletes that want to be competitive now. And fans who have no problem bitching and moaning when they're not. Trust me the first time our QB and a receiver are not on the same page.....
Every day your opponent is doing something and you're not you fall behind. Simple truth. And if they keep at it you never catch up. I've lived it for years.
This is how deep into the department a bubble would reach. When my niece was a gymnast at Mich. St. they ran their gassers in their indoor facility so their legs wouldn't take the beating that they do on a hard floor. Every athlete/every day.

I don't think anyone questions the utility of the IPF. Maybe I'm misinterpreting, but it looks like your case for the bubble is based on how we're not going to get anything done for 10 yrs, so something is better than nothing. We have a history of making prudent judgments about how to allocate resources, so I'm willing to give our Admins the benefit of the doubt until they go on the record about the status of the IPF. I understand that's not the majority opinion.

 

[StLRedbird]

Agree a bubble is way better than what we have today and would certainly address the issue adequately. But ISU made a public commitment ... I'll take the bubble if a IPF building is not going to happen within a few years. But the bubble will be a constant reminder that AD Lyons fell short and failed to deliver on his commitment.

:text-+1: