University of Massachusets Athletics
Ask Ian Answers
 |  Athletic Director Ian McCaw |
Jan. 27, 2003
Mr. McCaw:
Seeing that UConn has moved up to Division 1A Football team, will UMass ever make the move to Division I-A football?
Jin Yon
Chantilly Va.
Jin,
Thanks for your note.
The most critical issue facing UMass in regard to Division I-A football is conference affiliation. UMass would need a conference home before making this move in order to provide a schedule, television and bowl opportunities. In UConn's case, they are fortunate to have Big East membership in all sports which has allowed them to make this move successfully.
Ian
Ian -
Sat. 3/8 - noon - vs. St Joe's - hoops -home
Sat. 3/8 - noon - vs. Navy - lax - home
Aarrrgggghhhhh!
I submitted this to "Ask Greg" a month or two ago and suggested that he get the hoops start time moved.
He responded with an e-mail direct to me, but guessed it was too late to make changes. What a pity that this will happen with so many of us making the trip that want to see both games and would pay both admissions.
Is it really too late to move the lax to 2 p.m.? We NEED a VP in charge of start times!
Dick Macklem, '62
Manchester, Mass.
Dick,
We are aware of the conflict and I agree that we should attempt to make a change so that our fans can watch both of these contests. We are working on it at this point and hopeful that something can be done.
Thanks for the heads up!
Ian
Hello Ian,
My question revolves around your track program. I sincerely miss the indoor men's program. This was cut this past Spring and I do not understand WHY???
I attended 90% of the meets in the past four years. I will agree that I was lucky that a lot of meets were held in the Boston area. I saw a team which grew in reputation as a power even in competing with your old school, Northeastern. I feel that the overall Track program is being affected by this drop of the indoor men's schedule. This will not help your great coaches in their recruiting in Mass. or the East Coast.
Thanks for your time,
John Howell
Haverhill, Mass.
John,
Apparently the men's indoor track and field program was discontinued last year primarily for financial and equity reasons. It has clearly presented an unfortunate set of circumstances for the track and field student-athletes and coaches.
As an aside, we are very excited about the development of the new outdoor track and field facility that we look forward to being completed by the spring or summer of 2004. This will be a wonderful addition to our athletics facilities.
Thanks for your interest and support!
Ian
Hi Mr. McCaw:
I am a senior sport management major looking for some more experience within college athletics. I was wondering if there were any jobs in the athletics departments for the spring semester or if you know of names I could contact?
Thank you!
Jen
Jen:
Please feel free to contact my office at 545-9652 and we will put you in touch with the appropriate staff members. We are always looking for student workers and sport management students play an integral role in our student staffing needs.
Thanks.
Ian
Ian,
In your last "Ask Ian" a fan asked about a holiday basketball tournament, to which you responded that it would be difficult to attract good teams. It got me to thinking about other opportunities for the University.
As a long time fan of the hockey program, I have always thought the Mullins Center would be a great place for either a Holiday tournament or even a tournament over Thanksgiving break. With the recent success of the hockey program, and the top notch facilities that the University has, maybe its time to look into something of this nature?
Jeff Carson
Hanover, Mass.
Jeffrey,
Hosting a holiday hockey tournament may make sense at this point. I have passed your comment on to Coach Cahoon and we will give it serious consideration. My sense is that with the recent success of the program and our desirable location, this could be very attractive tournament destination for teams.
Thanks for your comment.
Ian
Ian-
Not sure if you remember me, but we worked together for Howie Davis back in 1986.
I wanted to send along my congratulations and best wishes in your position of Athletic Director at UMass. I am sure you will bring us to the next level and bring championship level athletics to the program.
Best wishes
Rob Rose
Mahwah, N.J.
Rob,
I certainly do remember you and have many fond memories of us working in the UMass athletics department in the mid-1980's. Thanks for your good wishes and following the UMass athletics program.
I will be in touch!
Ian
Ian:
I previously posted this (small) marketing suggestion on the umass. hoops.com message board - didn't know if you saw it.
I attended the Northeastern football game with my kids this year. As a U. Mass. alumni, I wanted to buy them souvenirs like U. Mass. hats, T shirts, etc; but they were only selling Northeastern gear. You may want to see if it's possible to sell UMass stuff at road games too.
James Spelfogel
Waltham, Mass.
James,
As I mentioned in a previous Ask Ian post, we are working to develop new marks for UMass Athletics. With that, we also need to improve our distribution of merchandise. Once of the primary markets that we need to get into is Boston, so hopefully you will see more of our merchandise by later in the spring.
I will ask our marketing staff to discuss the possibility of a reciprocal merchandise arrangement with other Atlantic-10 schools. This is a good idea.
Best wishes.
Ian
Ian,
I remember when I was in junior high and I'd turn on ESPN and see the UMass basketball team always headlining the top stories. In the mid 90's, UMass was one of the most feared basketball teams in the nation. Even with the departure of Marcus Camby, the team was still notorious for winning (we were ranked in the top 25 a few times in 1997 and 1998). How come the team can't find the same type of success they enjoyed a few years ago? What will it take for UMass to return back to the NCAA tournament and the final four?
Gandhi J Dipesh
Carol Stream, Ill.
Gandhi,
Thanks for your note. Clearly, the task at hand for Coach Lappas and his staff is to restore our program to the point where UMass is regularly advancing to post-season competition. Once again, I am encouraged by the three freshmen who have played large roles for us this year and the prospects of next year's entering class as well. I feel very strongly that a solid foundation is being put in place.
Thanks for your strong support!
Ian
Dear Ian:
A two part football question, and not about a move to I-A. Coach Whipple does a tremendous job recruiting in South Florida, why not schedule a game against new I-AA teams Florida Atlantic or Florida International? Wouldn't it be a great showcase for the team in a great recruiting market.
Part 2, I realize football scheduling is tough. But with so many I-AA teams locally in the Patriot League, the Ivy, and the Metro Atlantic, why must we ever schedule a DII team. It really puts a terrible burden on the team when trying to qualify for the playoffs.
Thanks Ian, and keep up the good work.
Shawn Michaelson
Weston, Fla.
Shawn,
We have recently been discussing the possibility of scheduling a football game against an opponent in Florida, however, we do not have one in place at this time. We are somewhat limited in scheduling in the A-10 since we play nine conference games and only have two non-conference opportunities most years. As you may know, we recently added Kansas State to our schedule for the 2003 season.
You are absolutely correct that we should not schedule non-Division I opponents in football for several reasons. Not the least of these is that the NCAA selection committee discounts non-Division I wins. From this point on, we intend to only schedule Division I-A and I-AA competition.
You have made two excellent observations.
Ian
Mr. McCaw:
How about making the half-time score sheets available to the fans at Men's basketball games? A lot of folks would like to be able to take a look and see what's going on and they're the kind of people who would really appreciate that UMass thought to do it. You could make them available at the merchandise table (for less than subtle reasons). I'll even donate a ream of paper every game.
I guess I don't really need an answer, it's more of a suggestion. And it's not a selfish one as I have a "source" that gets it for me.
Great work so far by the way. This "Ask Ian" is a really great idea.
Carl P. Lavin
Newton, Mass.
Carl,
Thanks for your positive comments. I am really excited about the direction of the athletics program at UMass.
We will bat around the idea of the score sheets. It is a good idea, however, it may stretch our staff thin in taking on this additional responsibility.
Go UMass!
Ian