Friday, December 14th, 2007
Man, what a career for Georgia Southern’s human highlight reel, Jayson Foster. He capped it off last night with winning the Walter Payton Award, the top honor for any FCS football player and in receiving the award he joins a great class of names, many of which are starting in the NFL this Sunday.
The coverage has been amazing and broad-based and Jayson deserves every accolade that he has received. (I’m running out of text to link to awards!)
Coach Chris Hatcher, who coached NFL great Daunte Culpepper and #1 pick Tim Couch stated, “Jayson is probably the best football player I’ve ever seen with the ball in his hands.”
Talk about a ringing endorsement. Thank you for wearing the blue & white Jayson! We’ll miss you!
Retire #4!
Thursday, December 13th, 2007
Nine months have passed and today we electronically delivered our report to the leaders of the Southern Boosters, Georgia Southern University’s athletic fundraising arm. The report contains the names of approximately 1,100 supporters who have expressed support of the I-A study recently announced by the University.
Some quick facts about the report:
|
Statistic
|
Explanation |
|
96.2%
|
The percentage of signatories who wanted to see an independent study. |
|
$322,644.63
|
The total amount of new money pledged in the first year (excluding student fees). |
|
377
|
The total number of current and potential boosters who are signatories to the survey. |
|
94.6%
|
The percentage of students willing to increase student fees by $28 per semester to support I-A football. |
|
$33,631.05
|
The total amount of one time donations pledged. |
|
$168,353.58
|
The total amount of new annual renewable donations pledged. |
|
$97,320.00
|
The total dollar amount of new season ticket purchases pledged. |
|
$23,340.00
|
The additional revenue from single ticket purchases pledged by the signatories to the survey. |
|
$294.12
|
The average increased pledge amount of the signatories to the survey. |
|
124
|
The number of season ticket holders who are signatories to the survey. |
|
166
|
The number of current boosters who are signatories to the survey. |
|
344
|
The number of current students who are signatories to the survey. |
|
226
|
The total number of individuals who pledged to become Southern Boosters. |
|
139
|
The total number of non-students who pledged to become Southern Boosters. |
|
115.2%
|
The stated projected increase in single ticket purchases by the signatories to the survey. |
|
$1,232,000.00
|
The amount of money that could be raised per year with a $28 increase in student athletic fees. |
|
24
|
The number of athletic scholarships that could be endowed every year with the increase in student athletic fees. |
The public summary can be found archived here. The public report merely provides a short summary of the data gathered and a few supplemental site traffic reports. The detailed report was delivered to the Southern Boosters this afternoon with the signatures and answers to the survey questions for all those who signed up.
Monday, December 10th, 2007
With the recent news blitz having subsided and Coach Hatcher apparently looking less like a one-and-done kind of coach and more like a died-in-the-feathers Eagle, our attention has turned towards back to the political discourse surrounding the I-A debate (now on a larger stage!).
I think we should change our focus and do so quickly. Let’s focus on raising our monetary footprint at GSU by donating TODAY. The phone number you need is 912-681-5520.
Sam Baker is often known to ask that question (in regards to I-A), what exactly are we looking for? I want to apply it to this debate.
The rhetoric has already started … the Savannah Morning News has published their editorial writer’s side of the debate. GATAdotcom has brought about all the mistaken assumptions in Van Brimmer’s articles. The forums are lighting up with the offseason discussion of the RFP, the firms, the fees, etc.
But what is it that we want out of this discussion? From the beginning, we at SouthernFACTS wanted answers, and we’re getting them. We wanted the larger stage and we’re getting that (editorials in the SMN??! WOW!). We wanted to bring all the fans together and focus them on the task at hand. That task is to do whatever possible to help the University reach its goals by raising funds.
The goal today is to find our answers … and to do that, we *must* raise money. So let’s quell the rhetoric and all get on board with one voice … the Southern Boosters.
If you haven’t joined, you can do so by following this link or calling 912-681-5520. They can take one time donations or monthly checking account deductions. Tell them that SouthernFACTS.org sent you, I promise they’ll be glad to hear from you! :)
We got what we asked for … let’s do our part now.
Monday, December 10th, 2007
GATAdotcom posted this over on the GSUFans forum. As a contributor to the articles on this website, we felt obliged to post his opinion. We do not endorse or refute the editorial, however we do feel that educated readers would want to see both sides of this debate. Without further discussion, here’s the editorial:
Adam Van Brimmer’s articles in the SMN
Adam Van Brimmer’s two recent stories on GSU looking into FBS membership are both so full of mistakes and misinformation that they do not hold a shred of legitimacy. For a member of the media to intentionally pass on and fabricate misleading information is an example of what “bad journalism” can do to hinder growth and falsely steer the public’s perception. Mr. Van Brimmer should be ashamed of his efforts.
More…
Man, what a career for Georgia Southern’s human highlight reel, Jayson Foster. He capped it off last night with winning the Walter Payton Award, the top honor for any FCS football player and in receiving the award he joins a great class of names, many of which are starting in the NFL this Sunday.
GATAdotcom