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WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

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  • WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

    The Fargo Forum has a article about Western Illinios and how its been in the D1AA. It talks about the importance of finances. Good information. Macomb, Ill is about the size of Brookings.


    Division I decision: Western Illinois offers view into Division I world
    By Jeff Kolpack
    jkolpack@forumcomm.com
    The Forum - 08/17/2003

    MACOMB, Ill. -- As the quarterback at Fargo Shanley in the early 1970s, Mike Pendergast lived the Deacon football lore. Sid Cichy. Dynasty. A 59-game winning streak.

    Losing wasn’t really a thought back then. And neither was the emphasis on new facilities, weight rooms and equipment.

    Just look at his old school. The old Shanley is gone, being replaced by upscale rental units. The new Shanley in south Fargo is a modern presentation of a high school.

    Pendergast, the head trainer at Western Illinois University for 22 years, is seeing the same transformation at WIU.

    “A lot of things weren’t done with facilities here for many years,” he said.

    Pendergast is a 1975 North Dakota State graduate. As his old college moves into the Division I ranks beginning in 2004-05, the competitive arena for the Bison will include the likes of Western Illinois.

    In football, WIU is a Division I-AA benchmark. The Leathernecks are a success, going 11-2 last year, reaching the No. 2 spot in the Division I-AA national poll and reaching the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs. The school won the Mid-Continent Conference all-around sports trophy.

    With the Mid-Con a possible affiliation for NDSU, it offers this question: How does NDSU stack up?

    Facility-wise, NDSU has the edge in football stadium, baseball stadium, track and field complex and, probably to the surprise of most people, a slight edge in basketball arena.

    The facility edge, however, may not last. WIU is on the move.

    By the time NDSU becomes eligible for Division I postseason in 2007-08, it may lag behind if it doesn’t follow through on its own plans of upgrading the BSA and football locker rooms. Plus, WIU has something NDSU will have to earn: a Division I winning tradition.

    It has won four Gateway Football Conference titles in the last six years and was given the pre-season favorite’s nod this year in a Gateway media poll.

    “The best promotion is winning,” said Dwaine Roche, the school’s associate director for development and promotions.

    Roche is a Macomb staple. If you’re a Macomb resident and you don’t know him, then you probably just moved there. He’s helped orchestrate a money-raising atmosphere at WIU in ways NDSU does not.

    “For a lot of years, we struggled just to maintain operating (capital),” Roche said. “So several years ago, we went to our donors and said if we want to compete in Division I, we need to upgrade our facilities. It’s been ambitious.”

    The school built a Hall of Fame room, where Roche routinely brings potential donors to lay out his WIU vision. NDSU’s Hall of Fame is lost in a trophy case in the upper concourse of the BSA.

    Thanks to a $300,000 initial gift WIU alum and former NFL linebacker Bryan Cox, the Leathernecks have a $1.8 million state-of-the-art football locker room and weight training facilities. NDSU’s football practice locker room is still under the old Dacotah Field bleachers.

    “This is a ‘wow,’” Roche said, after opening the football locker room door.

    It’s situated next to a beautiful Student Recreation Center. Walk a few minutes farther north and you’re greeted by Rocky the Bulldog, a statue that, by tradition, is painted by anybody on a regular basis.

    “At least a thousand coats of paint on him,” Roche said.

    It is here, in the heart of campus, where the small town of Macomb, population 18,558, comes alive on Saturday afternoons.

    It’s a sleepy town in the summer, surrounded by corn and soybean fields. The town’s median age is 23. When classes begin in the fall, the town gets busy.

    The Leathernecks averaged 10,205 fans last season, ranking them 22nd in I-AA.

    Tailgating is huge. Two parking lots are reserved for pre-game partying.

    One is for the large donors, where the school sells alcohol two hours before the start of the game and closes 15 minutes before kickoff. The other, situated in a valley, is called “The Pit.”

    “You better get here early,” Roche said.

    Asked about crowd control, he said, “We don’t have many issues at all with alcohol. We have security that is visible. What we say with our tailgating policy is that the laws of Illinois apply. If you can drink downtown, you can drink here.”

    End of Part 1

  • #2
    Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

    Part 2- The article is too long so had to break it down into two parts.


    The school plans to begin a capital campaign to improve the stadium. It needs it.

    Yet, it didn’t stop the Leathernecks from winning.

    Ray “Rock” Hanson would be proud. As the head football coach in the 1920s, he was appalled at the education school’s nickname: The Fighting Teachers.

    A former Marine Corps officer, he wanted something tougher, meaner. So he went to the Department of Navy and asked for permission to use “The Leathernecks,” a name given to a branch of the Marines. Congress approved it in 1927.

    “They’re hard core, tough guys,” Roche said.

    The women’s teams go by the nickname Westerwinds.

    As a Division I mid major, life can be tough on some of the WIU teams. The men’s basketball team went 7-21 and went through an off-season coaching change. The women’s volleyball team was 3-26 and the women’s soccer team 1-14-1.

    “We have some slippage,” said Kathy Orban, the associate director for compliance/senior women’s administrator. “Not all of our programs are funded at the Division I level. Because of that, some are not as successful.”

    It may be several years before NDSU is fully-funded at the Division I level, if at all. Asked what NDSU could learn from Western Illinois, which was a Division II school when Pendergast first got there, he said, “A lot of it is financial input. You can have great tradition but if you don’t put the money into it that can tend to balance it out.”

    Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546



    © 2003 Forum Communications Co., Fargo, ND, 58102, All rights reserved

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting


      WIU is definetly a program on the move, and definetly one SDSU and NDSU should look at. Ironically, I'll be going to the WIU vs LSU game in Baton Rouge this fall, I hope the Leathernecks can stand in there in "Death Valley" before 96,000 drunk cajuns, and a top 10 D1A football team- I would love to see a close game.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

        Wow WIU has their hands full taking on LSU, but with success in recent years, they should have a respectable finish. It definitely a good paycheck for WIU.

        If my memory serves me right, SDSU had a series with them in the 1970's and we won at least twice maybe more.

        I hope the Flandreau Flier has a good time. Are you near Houston?

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        • #5
          Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting


          I live in a suburb of Dallas called Allen about 30 miles north of downtown, but right in the heart of suburbia.
          It's a long way in more ways than one from Flandreau but I still get back home 6-7 times a year. Always scheduled around Jacks games. I try and catch a couple of LSU games every year-A friend of mine has six season tickets, Thats a model football program for a university-huge stadium(96,000) always filled, with waiting list a mile long for season tickets. Speculation is they may close in a section of the upper deck to increase capacity to around 110,000-that would be some pretty nice revenue, But in basketball, I'll take a sold out Frost Arena over what LSU has anyday.

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          • #6
            Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

            WIU sounds a lot like SDSU. Both have about 10,000 students, both are in communities of 18,500, and their doesn't seem to be a major city very close to them either. But their football attendance is double what SDSU has. I think they are a great football program to model after, but in basketball we definately have the edge.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

              Charger:


              Macomb is probably closest to Peoria. Not sure how many miles, but maybe no more than 80.  Everyone in Peoria is a Bradley fan for basketball, but I am sure they are getting some fans from there now.  The students have been big in attendence, as I recall in 1981 and again 1977 at the SDSU games. I worked in suburan Chicago with a few WIU alums. Going back for Homecoming and bar hopping was quite popular even for the alums I worked with.

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              • #8
                Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

                I wish the entire city of Brookings made game day an event. Tailgating, bar hopping, and other family events would no doubt bring in more people from Sioux Falls and the surrounding area. I also notice that the Rams training camp is at WIU. I wonder if SDSU or NDSU has a shot at the Vikings training camp. I have heard NDSU mentioned, but nothing for SDSU.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

                  Charger,

                  Love your new avatar. I think once the wellness center is done, SDSU would be an ideal place for a NFL training camp. I know the Vikings are thinking of moving and the Chiefs are as well.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: WIU Article in Fargo Forum-Very Interesting

                    I don't believe either Brookings or Fargo have a shot as Red McCombs and Vikings officials want to get closer to the Twin Cities not farther and basically want to have the host city subsidize their stay so they can make money on camp and not lose $500,000 like they claim they lost or spent this year. It will most likely be a Twin City Suburb which makes no sense as the whole idea is to go to place off the beated path where you avoid distractions. Another thought is River Falls where the Chiefs maybe vacating their trainiing camp home. I think the Vikes would take a lot of grief if they relocated to Wisconsin. My gut is that Mankato will step up and give old,cheap Red what he wants to stay in Mankato. aae b

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