University of Massachusets Athletics

Ask Ian Answers

Ask Ian Answers Athletic Director Ian McCaw responds to your questions
Athletic Director Ian McCaw

Athletic Director Ian McCaw

April 28, 2003

Dear Friends:

Before responding to the most recent batch of Ask Ian questions, I want make a few general comments on items of interest to UMass fans.

Congratulations to our spring teams and their respective head coaches. We are truly having an outstanding spring athletic season led by our men's lacrosse team that improved to 12-1 on Saturday with a thrilling 14-13 overtime win against perennial national power Syracuse. The softball team is having another outstanding season and congratulations to Coach Sortino on her 800th career victory. Women's tennis had a wonderful performance at the Atlantic-10 championships finishing second. Baseball is currently leading the East Division of the Atlantic-10 with an 8-4 record. The Crew team won the A-10 championship for the eighth straight year, and the men's and women's track and field teams have had some strong performances as they head toward next month's championship season.

The athletic department has recently retained the services of Phoenix Design Works, a leading athletic logo development and branding company based in New York. Phoenix has been charged with updating and improving the UMass logos and marks and assisting the University in increasing its licensing and merchandising revenue. The company has developed a preliminary series of recommendations that it recently passed by eight focus groups that represented various UMass constituencies. We received some very enlightening and favorable feedback and look forward to a very successful outcome of this project which is scheduled to be completed by late May.

We learned last week that the State House has proposed extremely serious cuts to the University of Massachusetts System in the order of $80 million. We are very concerned about how these reductions will effect the University and in turn the athletic department. We expect to learn more in the coming weeks about the depth of the cuts and the impact that they will have on UMass Athletics.

Thank you for your continued support of our programs.

Ian McCaw
Athletic Director
University of Massachusetts

Mr. McCaw,

Do you see UMass ever moving to a more competitive conference? The A-10 seems like is the wrong conference for a relatively big school such as UMass.

Thank you for your time,

Andrew Anderson
Amherst, Mass.

Andrew,

Thanks for your e-mail.

There continues to be considerable speculation regarding conference re- alignment involving the ACC and Big East. Any movement involving other major conferences in this region could provide either opportunities or threats for the Atlantic 10 and its member institutions.

I spend a considerable amount of time monitoring the environment and evaluating possible conference scenarios that could present future opportunities for UMass. I feel very strongly that UMass is an upwardly mobile athletic program and is attractive due to its tradition, facilities, market penetration (Boston) and the quality of the institution.

The Atlantic 10 has served UMass very well in many ways, although I agree with your comment about us being much different than many of our conference peers.

We appreciate your interest and support.

Ian

Dear Ian:

I wanted to thank you for making a serious attempt at responding to UMass fans questions, concerns, and comments. It certainly shows a lot from the institution and yourself that you are willing to take the time and effort to do so. I have full confidence in the work the athletic program is doing and I can only hope that your work will bring UMass sports to the national level where they deserve to be. It would be nice to see to the basketball team return to its previous national level, the hockey team continue its rise, and the football team make its move to the D-1A level. Thanks.

Jordan Goldsmith
Scarsdale, N.Y.

Jordan,

Thanks for the kind e-mail. I do enjoy the Ask Ian questions and the opportunity to interact with UMass fans. It is critical that we enhance our communication with alumni and friends of the athletic program and we have discussed some new initiatives for next year that we think everyone will enjoy.

Clearly, as you point out, basketball returning to its winning ways is our most important task at this point. I am encouraged by the quality of the freshman players and incoming recruits. We are also excited about the progress of the hockey team. I will address the I-A football question below.

Best wishes.

Ian

Dear Mr. McCaw:

Where is the University in regards to Div 1A football? Has there been any serious thought of trying to join the Big East? I have been a season ticket holder and contributor to UMass sports for over 10 years. My understanding is that season ticket sales have declined over the last few years but my seats for BB have remained the same. I would have thought they might have been upgraded. Your thoughts?

I retired from Berkshire Comm. College last year after 30 years of service, the last 14 as Dean of Students and Enrollment Services. I would be happy to consider volunteering my services, maybe a day a week to the UMass Athletics Dept.

Thank you.

Gary Lamoureaux
Pittsfield, Mass.

Gary,

Advancing to Division I-A football remains something that we view as a goal, however, it has become significantly more difficult with the new criteria imposed by the NCAA. In order to move to Division I-A an institution must meet a series of criteria which include having 30,000-seat stadium, averaging 17,000 tickets sold per game (audited), offering 200 scholarships throughout its athletic program and scheduling five home I-A football games each year.

At present, UMass does not meet any of these standards. The most critical first step necessary in order to move in this direction would be to secure I-A conference affiliation.

Regarding your questions about basketball seating, I will ask one of our staff members in the UMass Athletic Fund office to contact you. In addition, I will share your interest in volunteering. We deeply appreciate all of the volunteer support that we receive.

Thanks.

Ian

Ian,

With the removal of the outdoor track to build what I believe is a new power plant, what are your plans for track and will the baseball program receive any improvements to their facility.

Alan J. Twomley
Fitchburg Mass.

Alan,

We are excited about the new synthetic track and field facility that will be constructed adjacent to Rudd Field on campus. We expect that facility to be completed in the summer of 2004. It will provide UMass with one of the top facilities in New England.

Baseball is not scheduled to be affected by the power plant project. We have had some preliminary discussions regarding improvements to Lorden Field.

We appreciate your support!

Ian

Dear Ian:

Is there any truth to the rumor that UMass-Amherst will start a woman's ice hockey team in the 2003-2004 academic year? If not, what are the opportunities to play hockey at UMass-Amherst?

Thank you.

Jackie Schnare
Lexington, Mass.

Jackie,

As you may know, UMass has an outstanding women's club hockey program. You would be welcome to tryout for the team and can receive more information by contacting our recreation office at 413-545-0022.

At this time, we do not have any plans to add a varsity women's hockey program.

Thanks.

Ian

Ian,

Around the country, there is talk of massive realignment. It is apparent that without a move to Division 1A Football, UMass will end up in a lower quality basketball conference. It seems like the only way that UMass can become a top basketball school would be to move up in football and get accepted into a stronger conference. What are your thoughts on realignment? Thanks.

Mike Raposo
Amherst, Mass.

Mike,

Thanks for your excellent question.

As I mentioned above, there is considerable discussion regarding conference re-alignment. The six BCS conferences along with Notre Dame are in a very strong, and some would argue monopolistic position, through their control of major bowl revenue and television revenue. These institutions are not reception to adding other schools into the BCS since they would be dividing the pool of funds more ways. With that, there is a clear separation between the BCS leagues and other Division I conferences. To date, there has not been any opportunity for non-BCS schools to move into the BCS.

Great question.

Ian

Dear Ian:

What does an athletic director do? I'm in college right now, and thinking about majoring in sport management. Can you tell me what your job is like? Thanks.

Nick Cole
Amherst, Mass.

Nick,

There are probably quite a few folks around our department that wonder what an athletic director does as well?

The best description that I can offer is that the job is very much like being a CEO of a small company that operates within the structure of a higher education institution. Athletic directors provide leadership, management, vision, decision making and direction for a department that includes coaches, administrators and support staff.

I strongly recommend that anyone interested in being an athletic director pursue a business or sport management degree at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Good luck in your pursuit of an athletic directorship!

Ian