How Do They Have Money for That!? -The potential building of the FAU football stadium (& more!)

All of these budget cuts across Florida Atlantic University. Some majors are being completely eliminated. Others with very few classes to choose from.

And we're planning on building a brand new "mini-FAU city???"

The Innovation Village is going to include new dorms, stores, restaurants, and of course, a stadium for our "award-winning" football team.

However, I understand this might help our school by gaining interest for a larger student body, and eventually bringing in more money to FAU.

But they need to focus on one thing first. Our football team.

Even if you have a huge stadium, the main thing that will attract student body the most is successful athletics.

So maybe FAU should focus on spending money toward better football players, coaches, and equipment, and then worry about where they are playing.

Then again, to contradict my opinion, if there is an on-campus stadium, that alone may attract better football players.

Hopefully we're right after this multi-million dollar decision!

20 Sports, One Team- Support FAU athletics

The FAU athletic department just handed out hundreds of free t-shirts to student-athletes.

The shirts are being used as an advertisement to get more Florida Atlantic fans out to home games.

The shirt lists all of the 20 sports here at FAU. Every sport has their own date for fans to come and cheer the team to victory.

(To find the home schedules for any sport at FAU, check out the FAU athletic site.)

I hope these shirts are successful. FAU sports have always had a low fan support which may be a critical reason for our unsuccessful teams this season.

In order for a team to stay motivated and play their best, we need support from our fans.

Do you think the University of Florida Gators football team would be successful if the Swamp was empty every game?

Athletes at Florida Atlantic University, just like Gator athletes, count on fans to attend home games and events to cheer them to victory.

As you can see from the ancient FAU Owsley mascot above, FAU has obviously come a long way in academics and athletics over the years. And yes, we aren't even close to the top!

But we need your fan support to become a university with great, successful athletics. So jump off the Gators bandwagon, and support the school you actually attend.

Let's hoot our way to victory! Go Owls!

FAU's 3.0 GPA Recognition Halftime Event For Student-Athletes

Last Saturday, Oct. 3, was the 3.0 GPA Recognition Event for all Florida Atlantic student-athletes.

The athletic department plans this event every year. This year, the event was during halftime of the FAU football game against the Wyoming Cowboys.

But I don't think this event is really necessary or enjoyable for ... anyone.

Yes, I do agree that we need to be recognized for playing a sport and making good grades, but I have found some issues over the years with this event:

1. Not many people even attend the football games.


2. During halftime, the stands are almost 100% empty.


3. The people that are in the stands probably can't hear or care about what's going on.


4. Most athletes don't even want to attend the mandatory event.

Actually, even though the event is mandatory, only about half of the athletes showed up on Saturday--out of about 175 student-athletes that received a 3.0 GPA last spring.

Last year, they were actually pulling random athletes to go on the field for the event because barely anyone showed up! Uh, hello!

The athletic department should realize that this isn't high school. No one really pays attention to these kind of events at a university.

Also, after talking with the students that attended the game, they would rather watch a halftime show anyway.

To make everyone happy, the FAU athletic department should just give student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA something like a Nike book bag or food gift cards, and leave halftime entertainment up to the band and cheerleaders.

If they did, I bet more athletes would get a 3.0 GPA this spring, and more people would stay around during halftime.

Is FAU EVER Going to Win a Football Game?- The FAU football team struggles 0-4

Four games down, and we look pathetic.

How can Florida Atlantic University not win a football game?

(You can depress yourself more in detail with the 2009 FAU football season's statistics, if you dare.)

I understand that the first few games we were missing our top wide receiver Cortez Gent--due to a suspension from problems with law enforcement. But he played the last game, and we still couldn't pull through.

I'm also aware of the football player's endless responsibilities at Florida Atlantic University:

• Team meetings
• Watch film
• Training room rehab
• Weight lifting
• Scrimmages
• Running drills
• Team dinners
• Study Hall
• Daily practice
• And much more!

But that's what I'm trying to point out. After all of that hard work, time, and effort, shouldn't they win more games (or at least ONE game)?

I think these guys are only missing one thing- heart.

Maybe if they put a little heart into this season, they can turn their record around before it's too late.

Change of Heart: Florida Atlantic University men's tennis team has soccer practice?

A couple guys on Florida Atlantic University men's tennis team decided to join the FAU intramural soccer team this season.

But that didn't go well with the FAU men's tennis head coach, Brandon Stokes.

(Obviously, the guys didn't know or mean to cause problems with the FAU tennis team, they were just joining the intramural team for fun.)

However, Coach Stokes was so angry about the guys joining the intramural soccer team because he felt the team should focus 100% of their "athletic" attention to FAU tennis.

Throughout the next week of practice, Coach Stokes decided to change things up a little:

• Coach Stokes went to the FAU men's soccer head coach, Kos Doney.


• Coach Doney gave Coach Stokes a full week of soccer practices, workouts, and drills.


• Then, Coach Stokes explained to his tennis team that since they all love playing soccer so much, they would have soccer practice for the next few days.

But after those intense soccer practices, the FAU tennis team had enough soccer to hold them over until at least next season!

Who knows? Maybe Coach Stokes actually made the right decision and now the men will be ready to focus more on tennis practice, and come out with a Sun Belt Conference championship.

I'm confident in them, as long as they don't "step out of line" again.

FAU Men's Cross Country Runs Into Trouble

Last Friday night, Sept. 25, didn't go well for the FAU men's cross country team.

To start the weekend off, there was a huge 21st birthday bash for one of the guys on the cross country team.

According to one of the teammates, who asked not to be named for underage drinking reasons, said that the party had "lots of pretty girls, enough alcohol for an army, and extremely loud music."

I'm assuming that music faded immediately when four Boca Raton police officers showed up to the party.

Then, one of runners mentioned to the officers that they were part of the Florida Atlantic University men's cross country team.

That didn't turn out the way he planned.

Next thing they knew, three more officers arrived. But this time, it was Florida Atlantic University police.

The cops took every one's name and went straight to--you guessed it--Alex Smolka, the head coach of the FAU men's cross country team.

Coach Smolka was not happy at all.

He sent a text at 7 a.m. on Saturday to both the women's and men's cross country teams about partying, underage drinking, and getting into trouble with the university police, and he held a meeting next practice explaining the potential consequences if this happened again.

But next time, I'm sure everyone will just make a run for it!

RelationSHITS! The troubles of two athletes dating

I no longer consider them relationships.

All they consist of are a relation between two people and bullshit. So now I think that "relation-shits" is a more appropriate word.

But anyway, aren't relationships, I mean relation-SHITS, hard enough? Especially in college.

Even worse, how can you date another FAU athlete and expect to cope if there's a break-up?

The worst things about dating another athlete at Florida Atlantic University are:

• You will see your ex constantly around the Oxley Athletic Center at mandatory meetings, training room, workouts, study hall, or athletic advisor offices.


• Everyone in the athletic department is a mini-family, so everyone will know all the details.


• It's awkward whenever you go to your ex's sporting events, or any FAU games at all.


• Athletes always hang out with each other at parties, dinners, and much more.


• People (mostly athletes) start taking sides after the break-up.


• Other athletes will hesitate to date you because they don't want to cause conflicts with your ex.

These issues make it seem more like a break-down rather than a break-up when you date another athlete at FAU.