Onalaska, Tx on Kake Livingston has beautiful scenery too. Sunsets on the Lake are fantastic. It's so nice I bought a place there. But that doesn't mean I want Sam Houston as a conference mate. What are the travel costs, not to mention the toll on the players, to fly to Greensboro and then bus 2 hours to Boone. And as someone pointed out the return trip is no piece of cake either.
BTW, I'm sure Idaho State fans think the Moscow area is beautiful too but just about everyone here agrees travel there is a _____ and not worth having them as conference members.
You do realize that their are some teams that fly into New Orleans (due to costs) and then bus two hours to Lafayette, right? Is Lafayette a crap-py conference mate? App State is going to be competitive in many sports right off the bat, including and not limited to football and baseball. It is an 1 hour and 15 minutes to Troy, Alabama from Montgomery, it is roughly the same distance from Johnson City, Tn to Boone. So the the reality if you wanted to go follow the team, you could get a flight into Tri-Cities Airport in Tennessee would be your best option. App State was one of the best options for the Belt, based on the few options it had to add teams to it. They are a winning program, with better facilities than most of the current Belt teams. They have a history of winning in football, baseball and other sports. They are invested in building better athletic programs from the top down and have a rabid fan base that stretches throughout the mountains, triad, Charlotte and Raliegh/Durham markets of NC. and parts of Tennessee. I would take them, over some of the current members of the belt all day long.
You are sadly mistaken if you think this is some po-dunk college in some po-dunk town. I will give you travel costs, but when your options are limited, App State and the Yosef fan base is one I will take all day long.
I noted your comment about their rabid fan base. Obviously that does not include basketball as I saw an estimate of about 1000 people at last night's game. I watched the game online and agree with that no. Of course when you are 4 and 6 and last night was your third home game almost halfway into the season, that does not encourage fan support.
First off, they have not been traditionally very good at basketball, so you are correct, they do not follow bb like fb. Secondly, I was there, the crowd of 1004, was pretty accurate, the side of the Holmes Convocation Center with the teams on it was pretty good, the opposite side was fairly empty.
The Holmes Center seats roughly 8,500. They do have some renewed excitement around the bb program due to the fact that they have a new coach that came from Davidson College. But they are not a traditional powerhouse in basketball and they need success to drive the program, so you are correct about that. Football on the other hand is a completely different story.
First day of class is next Monday, the 12th. So the students were not in class and that was noticable last night. Most of the fans were family, I saw very few students there. i would bet that with a decent season and students on campus, you could probably assume 2500 or so on Saturday nights.
Enrollment at App State is 18,026.
No, because you can fly directly into Lafayette. Flying to New Orleans and busing is their choice. Hey, I get it. You live there, you like it, etc. Good for you. I, on the other hand, did not like the addition for a number of reasons, travel being one of the biggest. I also don't think much of the "Yosef" fanbase, certainly not as much as they think of themselves.
Enjoy watching the Cajuns play up there. I'll pass.
First of all Dave, great to see you and meet your family.
Boy was I wrong about Boone. I think I shared Hammer's sentiment.
And, concerning the "you can fly into Lafayette" comment, while that may be true, it's often not feasible. Remember in basketball you're traveling 25 or so people. In baseball you travel around 40 people. That's very difficult to do to airports that only offer commuter jet service. Also, you can get direct flights into New Orleans from many cities and, time wise, that's sometimes shorter than making a connection somewhere and then flying into Lafayette.
Having done this travel thing for a long time, I'll tell you, there are several places not easy to get to. Troy is the toughest. It's a long drive (6 1/2-7 hours) and if you fly, it's Lafayette to wherever to Montgomery and then drive an hour.
Arkansas State is a very expensive flight to Memphis (for some reason it really costs to fly LFT to MEM) and then drive 1:15-1:30.
For App. State you go to BR and take a direct flight to Charlotte. Then you bus two hours, but it's four lane all the way.
It's not easy...but in this league, if you fly and you aren't going to Arlington or Atlanta, it's not easy to get anywhere.
Boone is beautiful, the town has a LOT more amenities than I expected, the facilities are top notch and the people and food are great.
Personally, I can't wait to go back in April for baseball.
BTW I spoke to several App fans who came down for football. Said it was one of their better experiences and talked about the hospitality they received.
They're hoping for some fans to come and spend a few days in April so they can return the favor.
There is bound to come a time in basketball season (and maybe even in football) where the weather makes it difficult to get in and out. But weather aside, I would encourage our fans to make a trip.
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