Probably the best Rex Walters blog I've read

[illinoisowl]

July 2, 2007

Question from Adam
I just wanted to tell you my story... thought it might be encouraging to you.

I'm an FAU senior, loved the school but never got into watching sports at all. I never went to a football game, baseball game, nothing.

One night last season, I was walking back to my car after a study group and I noticed that the “Burrow” was lit up, playing music, people streaming in and out. I thought, "I've been walking past that place for four years and I've never been inside. I should at least go check it out."

So I put my bag in my car, walked on over, looked in and saw all the commotion. I heard people rooting for FAU with all their might and thought, "Wow, I may finally have found some other people who like this school."

Another thing I didn't know was that I could get in for free -- I wonder how many other people at FAU are unaware of that!

So I sat in and watched the game I think it was the WKU game. I cheered like crazy! I had such a great time! Since that time, I made it a point to try to attend as many games as possible.

I'm glad I did. FAU basketball really grew on me. I hyped it up and brought four FAU friends to “BURY THE BURROW IN RED II.” They had an amazing time too -- sooo close! The crowd was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. Outside, the cars were strewn all over the grass in places I've never seen people park. Just an unbelievable number of people there.

Next season, I'm going to be there. I'm sure my friends are too. We're fans now.

And we're not alone. I think everybody who went to “BURY THE BURROW” wants to relive those moments.

I hope we can pack the “Burrow” to the brim this year. I hope FAU basketball becomes the best thing to do on-campus. We're letting the freshmen know early to get their red shirts and be ready to support FAU.

I wanted to tell you this because sometimes people in Athletics think students don't care. We do. We're FAU students. This is our home. This is Owl Country.

Go Owls!!!


Response from Head Coach Rex Walters
Adam,
Wow! That really means a lot to me. At the end of the day, what we are trying to do over here with the basketball program and Athletics Department is to give our students, school and community something to feel proud of. It is so good to hear that you had a good time and wanted to come back and support us. There is no doubt in my mind that our success is directly tied to our student involvement and we want to be a place for all students to come out on “Game Night” and have a great time. Thank you so much for your email. Your email will be posted in our Locker Room for our players to see.

With much appreciation!

Coach Walters

p.s. I hope I get the opportunity to meet you, please come by the office if you get a chance.


Question from Lew
Hi Coach Walters,
This past April after interviewing DeAndre Rice I contacted Erik Spoelstra of the Heat and told him what I good prospect he would be. I hope that in a small way it helped to get the Heat to take a look at him. Good luck with your recruiting. I look forward to the 2007-08 season.

Lew


Response from Head Coach Rex Walters
Lew,
Thanks for the plug of DeAndre! Mr. Rice played pretty good up there and represented himself and the program well. Thanks again for the positive words to Eric!

Coach Walters

[apetbrown]

Well done, Adam should get all of his buddies ont he boards and build that base

[owlcountry]

apetbrown said:

Well done, Adam should get all of his buddies ont he boards and build that base

I think it's great that the Coach is putting that email up.

[faualum]

Is Adam one of our board members? Adam, step forth and show yourself.

Its got to be tough for coaches and players at FAU. FAU could very well put together a nationally ranked team in one or more than one sport. The turnout at the games has got to be disappointing.

[Exit39]

who cares about putting that up in the locker room? Put it up in the next board of trustee meeting and then maybe they could approve the freaking stadium.

(I'm kidding about the locker room, i think its great)

[TeamBeer]

faualum said:

Is Adam one of our board members? Adam, step forth and show yourself.

Speaking of this, I know that "we" can't advertise on the University's website (right?) but is there a way to get "our" name out there to increase traffic? I'm positive that there are hundreds of die hard FAU fans that have no idea about this community.

[Lm77]

teambeer said:

faualum said:

Is Adam one of our board members? Adam, step forth and show yourself.

Speaking of this, I know that "we" can't advertise on the University's website (right?) but is there a way to get "our" name out there to increase traffic? I'm positive that there are hundreds of die hard FAU fans that have no idea about this community.

We could put some posters up on campus. Maybe the UP could write an article?

[faualum]

does any other college promote their board? It is or was on the wikipedia site. I haven't checked for a while.

I do not think it is allowed on the FAU web site. Including the address and a small write up might be allowed in the prospectus for each sport. This board definitely is a good promotion tool for all FAU sports. You can get more information about each of the teams and players than anywhere else.

Parents of the athletes should be made aware also.

[fauowls44]

I don't know what the rules are, but perhaps a sign can be put up at the sporting events? Other than that maybe someone who knows our beat writers can ask them to mention this site in their blogs.

[BMarkey]

Why wouldn't a link be allowed on the official FAU site? Many other far more commercial links are found there, including some for photographers whose FAU images are not even supposed to be published (according to the SID).

The owners of this board ought to officially ask the SID, president and coaches for a nice link or two (perhaps with a disclaimer that this site is for fans and not a product of FAU).

[Exit39]

the unversity will not put any message boards on the athletic websites or homepage. the only thing that could be done would be to make a banner and put it up at athletic events. someone from the site would have to pay for it.

I'm in for twenty dollars if someone is responsible enough to have it made, store it, put it up and take it down at every event.

would also be a good meeting spot for a lot of people on the board.

It would also be cool to put a shout out to OG on it, maybe the bottom corner or on the back.

[faualum]

I am sure it is a legal thing. Since FAU can't control the direction, content or anything else on the board, they don't want to be liable for anything on it should that happen. By allowing it on the FAU web site, they may feel they would be leaving the university open for complaints and possible law suits. Tha may sound extreme but when you consider a dry cleaning business just got sued for $60,000,000 for losing soneone's pants, then it is possible the university could get sued for the content on the message board.

[CanadianOwl]

I think the board also needs a more memorable URL. That's the No.1 thing about promoting a website, you have to be able to remember its name. Proboards are great, but there's a reason they're free.

fausports-DOT-proboards25-DOT-com just doesn't roll off the tongue.

However, if you can get the right people to give the site a plug (say in a certain coach's blog) that would definitely draw more interest. I know I found this site after coach Cooney mentioned it in his Diamond Diary a few years back.

... or we could always just use the student directory and spam the FAU.edu addresses.

[owlcountry]

canadianowl said:

I think the board also needs a more memorable URL. That's the No.1 thing about promoting a website, you have to be able to remember its name. Proboards are great, but there's a reason they're free.

fausports-DOT-proboards25-DOT-com just doesn't roll off the tongue.

However, if you can get the right people to give the site a plug (say in a certain coach's blog) that would definitely draw more interest. I know I found this site after coach Cooney mentioned it in his Diamond Diary a few years back.

... or we could always just use the student directory and spam the FAU.edu addresses.

I think the owlcoholics.com URL is memorable enough.

I used to write for the University Press (I may still do it, I dunno, they're not as enthusiastic about the school as they could be) and I can mention the idea of a plug to one of the sports writers. However, it only really makes sense to do it in the Fall semester as opposed to the summer semester when nobody's really reading the UP.

[owlcountry]

faualum said:

Is Adam one of our board members? Adam, step forth and show yourself.

Yo.

I'll probably stop by and see him this week because I need to follow-up with Dexter LaMont anyway.