oldtimeewualum
Active member
I am surprised that there has not been more of a response on this site to Blanchette's article in today's Spokesman. He basically called out our athletic director for the this year's football schedule - and, IMO, rightfully so. Although I am a much bigger basketball fan than football, I have attended many EWU football games over the past quarter century. And you dont have to be a coach or to know that this year's football schedule was setting our team up for failure. This is the worst schedule that I can ever remember.
Knowing that we were opening the season at UW for money, and that we were beginning Big Sky play with Montana on the road in week 3, and in week 4 we were playing last year's conf champs MSU,the only sensible thing to do was to get a home game in week 2!!! A minimally competent AD would have recognized this and got us a home game in between UW and UM.
Even more disturbing to me is how Chaves tried to explain it away in the S-R article by saying that "it isn't easy to get somebody to come to Cheney." And it's easier to get people to go to Vermillion, SD?! First, nobody said it was supposed to be "easy" and second, the AD at South Dakota found somebody to come to Vermillion which is much tougher and much more expensive to get to than Cheney. And their AD found a sucker to do it without even having to return the game to us!!!
Next, he says that it would have taken $50k - $70k to get a drop down game. You should be able to get that money either by convincing the administration that it is crucial, or get off your ass and go raise it. After all, we are the defending national champs with 15 returning starters and need to build on the momentum from last year by ensuring that we are in the playoffs this year. This schedule has seriously jeopardized those chances. Hopefully Beau and the guys can overcome the incompetence of Chaves. I thought the absence of quotes from Baldwin in the article spoke volumes. Sometimes silence is deafening and in this case makes it very clear what I had already heard from behind the scenes - that Baldwin was pissed about the whole deal.
And how about Chaves throwing the university administration (read: President Arevalo) under the bus by blaming the scheduling of Central last year on a neutral field on the "institution?" First of all, any AD worth his salt would never schedule a lower-level opponent on a neutral field. Do you think WSU would play us at Joe Albi? Of course not. You do not give a lower-level opponent a better chance to beat you. Ever. I would challenge all of you out there to name a I-A opponent in last 10 years that has played a I-AA team on a neutral field. That is what we did by playing a D2 team on a neutral field. And on top of that, we gave up a home game to do it, and lost money when you take into account what we paid in rent and what we lost in home ticket sales. And even if the money was a wash, you dont do it! And if the AD was smart enough and/or had a nut sack, he would have stood up and said "No" when the Alumni Office or Development Office brought up the idea. If that had happened, Arevalo would have deferred to the judgment of the AD. And to go one step further, if it was the AD's idea, he should be fired for gross incompetence.
And have you seen this year's gauntlet of a basketball schedule? I happen to know that the schedule changed dramatically from the time Earlywine was fired until Coach Hayford was hired. It seems that Chaves wants the basketball team to get off to the same type of start as the football team.
Knowing that we were opening the season at UW for money, and that we were beginning Big Sky play with Montana on the road in week 3, and in week 4 we were playing last year's conf champs MSU,the only sensible thing to do was to get a home game in week 2!!! A minimally competent AD would have recognized this and got us a home game in between UW and UM.
Even more disturbing to me is how Chaves tried to explain it away in the S-R article by saying that "it isn't easy to get somebody to come to Cheney." And it's easier to get people to go to Vermillion, SD?! First, nobody said it was supposed to be "easy" and second, the AD at South Dakota found somebody to come to Vermillion which is much tougher and much more expensive to get to than Cheney. And their AD found a sucker to do it without even having to return the game to us!!!
Next, he says that it would have taken $50k - $70k to get a drop down game. You should be able to get that money either by convincing the administration that it is crucial, or get off your ass and go raise it. After all, we are the defending national champs with 15 returning starters and need to build on the momentum from last year by ensuring that we are in the playoffs this year. This schedule has seriously jeopardized those chances. Hopefully Beau and the guys can overcome the incompetence of Chaves. I thought the absence of quotes from Baldwin in the article spoke volumes. Sometimes silence is deafening and in this case makes it very clear what I had already heard from behind the scenes - that Baldwin was pissed about the whole deal.
And how about Chaves throwing the university administration (read: President Arevalo) under the bus by blaming the scheduling of Central last year on a neutral field on the "institution?" First of all, any AD worth his salt would never schedule a lower-level opponent on a neutral field. Do you think WSU would play us at Joe Albi? Of course not. You do not give a lower-level opponent a better chance to beat you. Ever. I would challenge all of you out there to name a I-A opponent in last 10 years that has played a I-AA team on a neutral field. That is what we did by playing a D2 team on a neutral field. And on top of that, we gave up a home game to do it, and lost money when you take into account what we paid in rent and what we lost in home ticket sales. And even if the money was a wash, you dont do it! And if the AD was smart enough and/or had a nut sack, he would have stood up and said "No" when the Alumni Office or Development Office brought up the idea. If that had happened, Arevalo would have deferred to the judgment of the AD. And to go one step further, if it was the AD's idea, he should be fired for gross incompetence.
And have you seen this year's gauntlet of a basketball schedule? I happen to know that the schedule changed dramatically from the time Earlywine was fired until Coach Hayford was hired. It seems that Chaves wants the basketball team to get off to the same type of start as the football team.
