My 1-on-1 interview with Lamar AD - Marco Born

[Chad Cooper]

I sat down with Marco Born last week and ask him about the upcoming goals of the 2018-19 season and changes he would like to see. Fans will see actual fireworks during halftime and/or post game at home games, etc....

 

http://theexaminer.com/stories/sports/looking-ahead-new-lamar-director-athletics-marco-born

[lu cards]

good read.keep the lu articles coming.

[PeckEm]

I sat down with Marco Born last week and ask him about the upcoming goals of the 2018-19 season and changes he would like to see. Fans will see actual fireworks during halftime and/or post game at home games, etc....

 

http://theexaminer.com/stories/sports/looking-ahead-new-lamar-director-athletics-marco-born

 

Did you tell him it's 160 degrees here; people like to hunt and fish; and that he could easily increase football attendance by simply having the games kickoff at 7 instead of 3 or 6?

[geezer]

Unfortunately, until LU is consistently winning conference championships and playing post season football it will remain difficult to get fans in the stadium. Like someone said, there is kids sporting events, hunting, fishing and three FBS football programs with-in a three hour drive of which two of them will make the FBS playoffs if they win their conference and a lot of local fans will make that trip rather than come to a LU game. As for recruiting I say sure make the best use of the talent available in that five hour drive circle but get the best athletes from wherever you can find them.

[eagle eye]

That was a nice interview done by Chad Cooper. I like what Marco Born had to say on a lot of subjects. He is thinking big picture and he is not just focusing on the big 3 sports which I like as well. I hope the softball program rebounds the way Born lines it out and I am happy to hear Amy Hooks is reconnecting with local talent. Local talent seems to be the focus of Marco Born and it should make all the people happy to hear that he wants to tap the deep well of talent in the 'four to five hour radius' of Lamar.

 

A lot of colleges, FBS and FCS, have games in the afternoon. If you like hunting and fishing you have a choice to make and until Lamar starts winning my guess is that choice won't be hard to make regardless of when the games are played. The point made about how hot it is in SE Texas is a good one though and playing in the evening would be a lot more fan friendly.

 

The high visibility of Born in the community is a good thing and he seems to know what the hell he's doing and he seems to have a plan to get LU athletics where we all want it to go. If you are hanging on to how he handled the softball debacle in the spring all I can say is 'get over it'. I know you've heard the term 'fish or cut bait' well, Born cut bait and he took the fallout for it. Good for him. In hindsight it seems like we have a more proactive coach in Ms Hooks and I will support the softball team as I've done in the past.

 

I know that there is a guy who contributed to this site regularly before he graduated and moved up to the Pacific Northwest. I hope Big T weighs in on this article because he always had an interesting insight.

[spoonbill]

That was a nice interview done by Chad Cooper. I like what Marco Born had to say on a lot of subjects. He is thinking big picture and he is not just focusing on the big 3 sports which I like as well. I hope the softball program rebounds the way Born lines it out and I am happy to hear Amy Hooks is reconnecting with local talent. Local talent seems to be the focus of Marco Born and it should make all the people happy to hear that he wants to tap the deep well of talent in the 'four to five hour radius' of Lamar.

 

A lot of colleges, FBS and FCS, have games in the afternoon. If you like hunting and fishing you have a choice to make and until Lamar starts winning my guess is that choice won't be hard to make regardless of when the games are played. The point made about how hot it is in SE Texas is a good one though and playing in the evening would be a lot more fan friendly.

 

The high visibility of Born in the community is a good thing and he seems to know what the hell he's doing and he seems to have a plan to get LU athletics where we all want it to go. If you are hanging on to how he handled the softball debacle in the spring all I can say is 'get over it'. I know you've heard the term 'fish or cut bait' well, Born cut bait and he took the fallout for it. Good for him. In hindsight it seems like we have a more proactive coach in Ms Hooks and I will support the softball team as I've done in the past.

 

I know that there is a guy who contributed to this site regularly before he graduated and moved up to the Pacific Northwest. I hope Big T weighs in on this article because he always had an interesting insight.

As for the softball issue, I think Born handled it poorly...maybe because he had just started and it was his first issue to deal with. Both coaches contracts were up for renewal, they had come off one of their poorest seasons and taken a step backwards. They didn't make the post season tournament. Non-renewal would have created much less stink. They lost a couple of stud players. But what's done is done. I think the new hire is a good one. The main issue with the 3 o'clock home game time is the heat. Not necessarily for me, but if you've been to a home game, I would wager to say a high percentage of "red seat" season ticket holders have their AARP cards to put it nicely. Some of these folks won't be able to handle a whole game in that. Maybe they figure by mid October it will have eased up. Good luck in SETX. I definitely think Born is a forward thinking guy and he has already made some improvements. The pink LAMAR at the top of the scoreboard in no more and the pink Cardinal heads are being replaced also. Thank god! He knows how to smooze with the best of them and that's important for an AD. That was Henderson's downfall. At the banquet Born shook my hand on 3 occasions I assume just making the rounds and making sure everyone was happy. I'm sure it wasn't due to me being a "pillar" of the community lol. I find myself extremely excited and optimistic about the coming football season. We'll see soon enough!! PeckEM !!!!