The June edition of Ask the AD

I would like to thank all Middle Tennessee fans who have taken time to pass along suggestions or ask questions for the June installment of "Ask the AD". The response has been outstanding as always and I've taken time to read each and every e-mail we have received and given each careful consideration. Because several questions refer to the same subject matter, I will answer many collectively, but I assure you all the responses are being heard and your willingness to take the time to write is greatly appreciated. We have received some questions regarding personnel issues in the past so please allow me to be clear that it is the policy of this administration to not entertain questions regarding personnel issues in a public forum. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Fan: David Wright (Franklin)
Question: Chris, I am an MTSU alumni and a huge fan of Blue Raider athletics. I met you at the spring game on the field with Sara Walsh. I try to get Sara to put anything on Channel 2 about MTSU sports that I can, so we continue to get Blue Raider athletics an interest across middle Tennessee. Also, the construction cam is a great addition to your site and I look at it daily. I can't wait to see the new field turf in August. Also, what plan is in place for jumbo video screens in the football stadium?
Massaro Response: Thank you for your kind words on the construction cam. It has been fun to follow the turf progression on the internet, and I encourage everyone to buy a Stock certificate for $250 in order to help with the funding of this great project. This is a one-time offering for fans to own a piece of the turf and a chance for certificate owners to be the first ones to walk on the new field and also view the team's new uniform. As for the jumbotron, this will not get into place until we make a decision on our media rights holder which should be very soon. The company will then bundle the package together and sell advertising to purchase the new videoboards. Our goal is to have a videoboard in Floyd Stadium through out media rights holder for the 2007 football season. (FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PURCHASING A STOCK CERTIFICATE, PLEASE CALL THE BRAA OFFICE AT 615-898-2210)

Fan: Jane Lee (Waynesville, NC)
Question: Last month you answered a question about the possibility of out of state fans being able to view games via the internet. You said that audio tapes were more likely. Would this be available for soccer games also? I know much smaller universities that have web casts. It is great for those who want to follow the game, but can't be there due to distance.
Massaro Response: Yes. We are planning to do webcasts on our newly redesigned Web site on GoBlueRaiders.com. This will be part of the subscription based site that will debut in August. We are planning to broadcast home soccer and volleyball games on the internet this season and showing the video from some home games on a tape delayed basis.

Fan: Chris Groce (Murfreesboro)
Question: What are your plans to get our area businesses more involved, especially restaurants, showing their Royal Blue and getting their listing in the Blue Raider Business Directory? We would be more than happy to help coordinate a "Paint the Boro Blue" event like we did in 2005. I think we hung around 350 football posters throughout Murfreesboro and Smyrna. Let us know what we can do to help this "Grass Roots" effort. A special thanks goes out to our football players, who helped a ton with the 2005 event. It made it much tougher for businesses to tell us "no" with the player(s) standing there.
Massaro Response: Chris, thanks for asking. "Paint the Boro Blue" has been set for Saturday, July 29 from 10 AM to 1 PM. Fans who want to get involved can meet at the Hall of Fame building on July 29 at 9:30 AM to pick up posters, schedule cards, and season ticket packages to pass out to all the local businesses in Murfreesboro. Once again, members of the football team will also be involved with this event.

Fan: Stephen Wiley (Murfreesboro)
Question: What are your thoughts on playing several "money" games each year? That is, playing away games that pay us very well but give us a very small chance of winning (I am not interested in future arrangements, just your overall approach to making us big time would be great, thanks). Looking back to last season, teams like Tulsa, Central Florida, and Boise State seem to have attracted an insane amount of national attention. These teams have created a national name for themselves with 2 star recruits and a schedule filled with winnable games. I know we have to pay bills but what are the chances we can start limiting our body bag games to 1 a year and perhaps NONE.
Massaro Response: I totally disagree with the term "body bag games". There is nothing out there that proves there are more injuries in these type games than regular Sun Belt Conference games. Let's not forget that playing these games helps us get quality non-conference home games as well. We play Louisville twice on the road and get them once at home and the same goes for Maryland and Georgia Tech. You just can't have it both ways. We are looking at future scheduling and trying to draft a strategy for our football program. I don't have a quota for those type games but what we do is try to have a balance. We want national televised games and to be solid all the way through out schedule. We are trying to build a successful program here at Middle Tennessee. We plan on winning these tough games and we are not going to take the attitude that we have very little chance of success against the larger conferences. Troy has done it against Missouri and we have had some nice wins against Vanderbilt from the SEC. These are the type games that can become signature wins for your program.

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