June 26, 2003
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics
FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Director of Athletics
This Week:
I had planned to write to you about another subject this week, but a column by Glenn Guilbeau in the Baton Rouge Advocate on Monday caught my eye. When a sportswriter pens a column, it’s his opinion and it’s often written to elicit a reaction. It certainly worked for me and I’d like to tell you why I disagree with Mr. Guilbeau’s opinion.
In a nutshell, Glenn said that fancy athletics facilities are not all that important, and I agree. They don’t have to be fancy. But, I am here to say facilities ARE important because people are important. It is people that make an athletics program work: the fans, the athletes and the coaches.
Facilities help attract and keep the best coaches and athletes. And we owe it to the fans to provide an enjoyable and safe place to watch LSU events, to take your family and to have a meaningful and fun experience.
It is true that the burden of supporting an athletics program falls mostly on the football fan. That is true here and at all successful Division I athletics programs across the country. It is the most expensive sport to attend and the most expensive to operate. When football is successful, the entire athletics program thrives. When unsuccessful, the entire program suffers.
Glenn makes a living writing and I make a living making sure LSU fans, athletes and coaches are serviced so we can succeed. Here is my opinion in my column to you.
Glenn’s column states that LSU did better in 1986 without good facilities. We did do well in 1986 and we have about the same facilities today. At one time LSU had great facilities, but other schools continue to pass us by (I’ll give you some actual spending figures next week).
The column says it’s okay to fix the PMAC, but a football operations center is not necessary. It says that hiring good coaches is the way to go, and I agree. But when you hire good coaches, or in our case a great coach like Nick Saban, they want and deserve better facilities, which are simply the tools they need to succeed.
At Nick’s insistence, the TAF raised $15 million (all private donations) and built the new Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes, a facility utilized by all students at LSU. After building the facility, Nick had the No. 1 recruiting class in America. John Brady has had his best recruiting class as well. Facilities do matter.
Mr. Guilbeau states that Florida has the best of everything in facilities and I agree. While he’s right that Florida football had an off year with a coaching change, let’s get this straight: Florida this year won the SEC All-Sports Award for the SEVENTH YEAR IN A ROW. Facilities do matter.
Ohio State has invested over $300 million in their facilities in the last decade. The Buckeyes won last year’s football national championship and have the best all-around athletics program in the Big Ten according to the NACDA Director’s Cup Standings. Facilities do matter.
Texas made over $90 million in facility improvements in the last seven years. LSU fans are all too aware of the Longhorns’ success in post-season play this year, and Texas has the best all-around athletics program in the Big 12 according to the NACDA Director’s Cup Standings. Facilities do matter.
Many of you have written and asked for details on what other SEC schools are doing with their facilities, so in next week’s Cyber-side Chat, I’m going to take you on a brief tour around the league. I think you will agree that, if we don’t make some important decisions soon about our facilities at LSU, we will fall behind our competition in this important part of our athletics program.
I encourage you to send your feedback to us at LSUvision@etigers.net. Although I cannot guarantee a response to every e-mail, please know that they will all be read, so I hope you will participate. Thank you for your continued support of Tiger Athletics.
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