Submit your questions for Ian now!
Dear Ian,
Guy Morriss and his staff are doing a great job in recruiting. How is recruiting going overall for the other athletic teams?
Pete
Mart, Texas
Pete,
There is a great deal of excitement about the incoming football recruiting class as well as a number of early high profile commitments for 2005. Clearly, Coach Morriss and his staff are doing an exceptional job in recruiting and the future of Baylor football is very bright!
My sense is that all of our coaches are recruiting at a very high level. At Baylor, we are fortunate to have outstanding coaches, state-of-the art athletic facilities within one of the most attractive campuses in the nation and the ability to offer prospective student-athletes a high quality athletic, academic and social experience.
With the returning talent and strong incoming recruiting classes put together by our coaching staffs, we are looking for great success next year.
Ian
Dear Ian, What is the status of the athletics master plan? When is it scheduled to be presented to the Regents?
Thanks for all of your hard work.
Steven, Mackenzie
Dallas, Texas
Steven,
We have completed a first draft of our strategic plan and it has been circulated internally for comment. Once we receive these comments the report will be put into final form and advanced to senior administration for approval. Subsequently, it will be presented to the Board of Regents.
This plan will chart a clear vision and serve as a blueprint for building the quality of athletic program at Baylor that our alumni and fans both desire and deserve!
Ian
Mr. McCaw, I am just as excited as you are for our upcoming football season. Will I be able to purchase a Nike replica jersey before the season starts? If so when and where. I want to proudly display the team that I will be cheering for.
Aaron Ward
Dallas, Texas
Editor's Note: A similar question was received from Andy Crews of San Antonio, Texas.
Aaron,
I will look forward to seeing you at the Texas State game on September 11 wearing a Nike replica football jersey. You can find these jerseys locally at Richland Mall and on-line at http://gametimeusa.com/baybearmer. We are working on getting replica football jerseys in the Baylor Bookstore by the early fall as well.
As an aside, there has been a strong response to the recent marketing of the replica tennis jerseys that are available through the BaylorBears.com site and the Baylor Bookstore. This is a great way to commemorate Baylor's first team national championship!
Keep watching www.baylorbears.com for more merchandise in the weeks ahead.
Ian
Ian, Anything to report on the two non-conference football games that are TBA for 2005?
Chuck Calvit
Cypress, Texas
Editor's Note: A similar question was received from Mark Johnson of Oviedo, Fla.
Chuck,
We have not yet finalized our non-conference football schedules in 2005 or 2006, however, we are close.
As it stands today, both of these years are 11-game seasons. However, there is strong support in the Big 12 and among many in Division I-A to move towards a consistent 12-game season each year. My sense is that legislation supporting a 12-game schedule will eventually be enacted.
Thanks for your support!
Ian
Ian, I was looking around on the main Baylor website and came across the university marks page. I found the "green-radioactive bear" along with one that had been colored brown? Is the brown colored one the new logo for BU athletics or is your office still creating a new logo?
Thanks for all the work you've done to help restore BU athletics!
Brandon Boyd
Waco,Texas
Brandon,
We have spent a considerable amount of energy recently working on our licensing and merchandising program. While some progress has been made, we have a long way to go. One of the important initiatives is to develop a new Bear logo.
As has been mentioned in previous Ask Ian sessions, we are in the process of developing a new Bear logo that we believe will be widely embraced by the Baylor community. This logo will replace the existing Bear logos with the exception of the sailor Bear. The sailor Bear will remain as a spirit mark only and will be used for a narrow range of purposes.
We have seen preliminary designs of the new Bear logo and will be posting the next set of designs on BaylorBears.com for fan input and voting. We are hopeful to complete the process by the end of the summer and have at least some apparel with the new logo in place for the fall.
I appreciate your interest and support.
Ian
Ian, Is there any way we can get some travel arrangements can be set up for the UAB game. Something like the setup we had for the Lady Bears NCAA visit for the second round of the basketball playoffs would be great.
Bill Whitmire
Cameron, Texas
Bill,
The Bear Foundation is working with a local travel agency to create opportunities for Baylor fans to travel to Birmingham for the opening game against UAB on September 4. Kickoff has been set for 6:00 p.m. More information about this travel opportunity will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.
I will look forward to seeing you at the game!
Ian
Ian, First I'd like to say how nice it is to see the changes made so far to the "experience" at the BU baseball games. Both my dad and I separately commented how "professional" it has become with the great announcer voice, music at appropriate times, almost like going to a Texas Ranger game.
I like it.
My question is can we continue to make it a "major league" experience by allowing fans to bring food/drink into the stadium. Baseball is a relaxing sometimes "picnic" atmosphere to me and probably other fans. It would be great for those of us (including myself) who like to bring the family out but can't afford to by a drink or hot dog every other inning to last the game.
I understand that this would take away revenue from the concessions - no doubt. But I also know that many people don't or wouldn't take advantage of this either. Some will and some won't.
I think you would find more families (complete families) coming out to the games if they could bring in a box of fried chicken and a small cooler of drinks or water.
Just a suggestion. Thanks for all you are doing to make Baylor Athletics better.
Steve Wenzel
Hewitt, Texas
Steve,
Thanks for your comments about the fan experience at baseball games. We are working hard to ensure that we provide a high quality experience at all of our venues and concessions certainly plays an important role. I appreciate your suggestion about allow food to be brought into the Ballpark, however, it is rare for college programs allow for this to occur.
We are in the process of reviewing our entire concessions operation and seeking ways to improve the food service that we provide to fans. We intend to expand the menu including offering additional specialty items, improve vending capabilities and customer service.
We are hopeful that fans will notice a marked improvement in this operation as many of these changes will be in place for the upcoming football season.
Ian
Ian, I have a suggestion for a new feature to the website. How about a virtual Trophy Room? This would be broken down by individual sport and include good pictures and possibly news stories of trophies we have won. Seems to me that it would be a good way to show prospective recruits and Baylor Fans that we have in fact won things. It would be a big undertaking but I think well worth it.
Scott Lackey
Pflugerville, Texas
Scott,
This is a great idea and I will pass it along to our media relations staff who do such a terrific job of maintaining the website. Our staff has made a number of positive changes to the site this year and we have received very favorable feedback from fans.
You may notice that we recently added a national championship graphic at the top of the site. In addition, we have other design changes that will be implemented this summer as we strive to build the finest website in the nation!
Ian
