The Truth About The I-A Feasibility Study

Talk about an about face! After years of whining about the unlikelihood of Georgia Southern succeeding at the FBS/I-A level of college football, Sam Baker recently decided to take his athletic department in exactly that direction; one that he has been railing against for years. We, the Georgia Southern faithful, have all been listening to years of Sam's excuses as to why GSU can't be a I-A football school, so you will have to excuse and forgive me for my cynicism when it comes to my opinion on Sam's sincerity in wanting to take GSU to I-A.

Let's face it. Sam Baker commissioning a I-A study for GSU is like Dick Cheney admitting that Global Warming exists and that he is "going green". Needless to say, it just doesn't compute, and it goes against everything the man has publicly stood for in his long career. What could possibly have changed Sam's mind on this subject? Was it the constant Internet message board pressure? Was it Alex Pellegrino's compelling articles on the subject in the Statesboro Herald? Was it a sudden realization that GSU is being passed-by, by schools that were formerly thought to be inferior?(see MTSU, Troy, WKU, etc.)
Hardly. In fact, Sam's opinion hasn't changed one bit since the first day he started telling us that I-A was not in GSU's future. The only difference is that a new source of pressure has exerted itself in this seemingly never-ending I-A/FBS debate. That source, thank God, is the GSU Faculty.

The fact is that this I-A/FBS feasibility study is not Sam's baby at all. That much is obvious. Make no mistake about it, the impetus for the feasibility study has nothing to do with the desires of Sam Baker, or even Dr. Grube. The real spark to this whole feasibility study idea was the faculty vote for the study last year. Dr. Grube had no choice to but to commission the study when his faculty overwhelmingly voted for it. That faculty vote, was the final event that tipped the scales in favor of the I-A study. There is no diminishing the fact that the faculty vote represents a real shift of power on the GSU campus. Finally someone, or some group, has taken it upon themselves to challenge Baker's backwards and anti-growth policies. The faculty vote for the I-A study was like one throwing a lifesaver to a drowning victim. It was as if the lieutenants in General Custer's ranks somehow had voted to stop the attack at Little Big Horn, and thus averted one of the biggest disasters in US military history. The faculty vote was that big for GSU athletics, and it represented a total divergence with the conventional wisdom on the subject, as propounded by our so-called leaders.

Consequently, and as a result of the faculty usurping his power to decide the future course for the athletic program, Sam is obviously just "going through the motions" on this Feasibility Study. One need not read into Sam's body language or demeanor to know his true feelings on the subject. Sam Baker's every public word subtly indicates that he is doing this study begrudgingly, and only because he was instructed to do so by Grube. Listening to Sam's public statements on the issue, is like watching the "Debbie Downer" skit on SNL. You can just hear the horn in the background whining, "Whaaa- Whaaa", as Sam downplays the likelihood of the community supporting the effort with dollars. Let's not forget that Baker is the same guy who has been telling us GSU alumni, for the past 10 years, that I-A football is an unattainable pipe dream.

Sam's previous and infamous statements on the viability and future of the Sunbelt Conference in I-A(the likely fit for a I-A GSU), overwhelmingly prove that he has absoluetly no idea what he is talking about. Those completely off base predictions alone should cause alarm for our fan base. Has there ever been an A.D. at a Division I University who has been so wrong in his predictions, but was still able to keep his job like Baker does? I challenge anyone to go down the list of Sam's predictions for the landscape of college football over the past 10 years.
Sam told us that many I-As would be dropping down to I-AA in the wake of NCAA realignment. (Cue the debbie downer horn........"Whaa-whaa")
He told us that the Sunbelt would be shit, and that it was a "dead-end conference". "Whaa-Whaa" (- as it turns out, the 'Belt just surpassed the MAC in terms of BCS payouts. Oops)
He told us that BVG was the savior of the program. "Whaa-Whaa"

After all of this, my question is a simple one for the GSU fan base.
How the hell can we entrust Sammy Baker to lead a cause, like the I-A movement, that his heart is not into completely?
I swear, it's like Sam's 10+ years in the 'Boro have lulled the formally hardcore and demanding GSU fans into a lazy stupor. In effect, the Baker administration has neutered our athletic program across the board with his "we can't" mentality. Is it any wonder that Erk Russell himself took it upon himself to distance himself from the Baker administration?
When will somebody in a true power position (i.e. the school old donors) step up to say, "enough is enough, Sam"?

I, for one, am sick and tired of the interests of my Georgia Southern University, taking a back seat to those of Sam Baker's golden parachute. Sam needs to take his never-ending retirement tour to another University; one where the stakes are not as high, and the potential not as great. Is there any doubt at all that Baker is obviously and woefully out of his league as Georgia Southern's A.D.? I point you to our recent drought of SoCon titles if you need any more proof.

More later on this new power dynamic, regarding the faculty. Hope your summer is going well.
Go Eagles!

Sincerely,
Opie