The Directors Cup is worthless. The only people who care about the Directors Cup are fans of athletic departments that don’t win in football or basketball.

Yeah, I mean no one enjoys watching our teams do well. I bet you probably did not care or even watch when the softball team competed in the WCWS or the match-up in the Elite Eight against Tennesee.

I understand that those sports are not high-end revenue generators, but do not say they are worthless. Will they save Byrne’s job if Sherman does not work out? Probably not, but they are not worthless. As you are well aware, Sherman is Byrne’s first hire as AD. A lot about his legacy at A&M will depend on how Sherman does.

When was the last time we sold out every home game in a season? The high prices Byrne charges makes it prohibitive for families to come to games. Byrne raised the ticket prices 41% before his first season here (2003), and the team went 4-8. For 41% more money, we received 17% fewer wins.
Judging by the lack of sellouts and the falling number of season tickets bought each year, the market isn’t supporting the price.
You do realize that we have the most expensive student tickets IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY?

I don’t believe there is a stadium in the country that let’s you pay by the win. During the 2003 season I bought a ticket to the game in the South Endzone Bleachers for $15 on the day of the game, more than affordable….that’s dirt cheap.

But if you would like to breakdown the dollar amounts. You say he increased prices by 41%, given that tickets are $80 now, in your mind tickets should be around $47. Your complaint is that it is not sold out.

Let me start by saying, I know not every person that walks throught the gate pays $80 a ticket, but for clarity sake, we will charge everyone the same amount.

Ok, this season we are averaging 80k fans at $80/ticket.
80,000 x $80 = $6.4 million

conversely,
85,000 (2,000 over capacity) x $47 = $3.95 million

You would have to sell 136,170 tickets at $47 to produce the same revenue on tickets.
By my calculations, that is 38% over capacity.

Yes, I realize that our student tickets are more expensive than anywhere else in the country, but we also reserve more seating for students than anywhere else in the country. Student attendance was at an all-time high last year and I believe are on pace to beat that this year. Are you just complaining about prices to complain about them? It just does not seem to be affecting the students coming to the game. If the students were outraged over the ticket prices you would see fewer and fewer people at the game.

Also, for last weeks KSU game they sold tickets in the South Endzone for $35, again, very affordable.

I guess you’ve forgotten about him giving Melvin Watkins a contract extension (that we had to buy him out of after we fired him after the following season)

I have not forgotten that. The extension came when a young A&M team worked its way to a .500 record. That team showed a lot of promise with a freshman sensation in Antoine Wright. He was fired because the team with so much promise vastly underachieved the following year. He essentially lost the team during Big XII play that year. He had to go.

Extensions are nothing more than a vote of confidence from the athletic departments around the country. So unless you put yourself in a situation where you can not get out from under someones contract, then this should not really be factor in an AD’s success.

Should he have given him the extension? In hindsight, probably not

or him waiting years to fire Mark Johnson. He went ahead and hired his old pal from Nebraska, Rob Childress, and we’re still where we were under Johnson, making the regionals and Super Regionals, and no trips to the CWS. Staying in place is excelling?

Mark Johnson was a staple at A&M and you do realize that the year before he was let go he took the team to the NCAA Super Regionals, right?

It makes me laugh if you do not think Rob Childress has A&M back on the map in college baseball. In 2 of his 3 seasons, he has made it to the NCAA Super Regionals. Making it to the Super Regionals is not something to be taken lightly. That is the same as making the Sweet 16 in basketball. If Turgeon takes our basketball team to the Sweet Sixteen each of the next 2 years (which would mean he has done exactly what Childress has done), I would find it hard to believe people would be questioning his performance.

He repeats his slogan of "Building Champions", but what he really delivers are some conference wins in non-revenue sports, mostly ont he women’s side. In his 5 years at A&M (this is year 6) we have won ONE (1) conference championship in a major men’s sport, and that was the ’08 Big 12 Championship.

We’ve won 2, both in baseball. The 2007 Big XII Tournament and the 2008 Big XII regular season, I do not think this constitutes a "back to back" moniker, but
Championships in the Big XII are not exactly easy to come by.

Since Bill Bryne arrived here is the breakdown of championships by school for the regular season and post-season tournaments.

Since 03-04 season (Byrne’s hire):
Kansas – 6.5
Texas – 6
OSU – 4 (zero since 2005)
Oklahoma – 3.5
Texas A&M – 2
Nebraska – 1.5 (zero since 2005)
Baylor – .5 (zero since 2005)
KSU – 1 (zero since 2003)
Iowa State – 0
Colorado – 0
Texas Tech – 0
Missouri – 0

Since 2005:
Kansas – 6
Texas – 4
Texas A&M – 2
Oklahoma – 2
OSU – 0
Nebraska – 0
Baylor – 0
KSU – 0
Iowa State – 0
Colorado – 0
Texas Tech – 0
Missouri – 0