Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt's Monthly Comments

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Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt welcomes your comments and ideas. Your email will be read by Kirby and answered by either him or a member of the Ohio Athletics staff. Please include your name and hometown, and if you are a Bobcat let us know your class year. Thank you for your interest, your participation and your support of Bobcat Athletics.

April 6, 2007

Dear Bobcat Fans,

I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying the spring weather. As we move into the last competitive segment of what has been one of the most successful years in Ohio Athletics history with record achievements in academic excellence, competitive success and fan support I want to share with you some recent Bobcat successes and update you on a few other items.

Academic Excellence:
Please join me in congratulating our Ohio Bobcat Student-Athletes for their continued focus and success academically during the Winter Quarter. Ten Bobcat teams completed the Winter Quarter with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Our men's golf team led the way on the men's side with a team GPA of 3.366 and our women's field hockey team led the way on the women's side with a GPA of 3.377. In all, we had 276 student-athletes receive a GPA of 3.0 or higher and 151 student-athletes received a GPA of 3.50 or above. Additionally, 118 student-athletes were recognized by making the Dean's list!

MAC Football Student Seating Policy Decision:
As I communicated in my last column, we are going to be required to make a change at Peden Stadium for the 2007 season in order to comply with the Mid-American Conference Football Student-Seating Policy. After discussing multiple options with numerous Phillips club season ticket holders, O Zone members, and Ohio University students, we concluded the best way to comply with the MAC rule is to move the Bobcats' sideline to the opposite side of the field. Therefore, the visiting team's bench will now be directly in front of the Phillips Club seating area (West side of the stadium) and the Ohio Football team will be located in front of the student section on the opposite side of the field. Please know, that the visiting team seats will be moved from mid-field to a far corner of Peden Stadium. Ohio students will now occupy the Phillips Club seating area on the East side of the stadium, further enhancing our home field advantage!

FB Ticket Renewals:
Football season ticket renewal applications will be mailed the first week of May. Season ticket sales are our second-largest revenue producer, ranking only behind the Ohio Bobcat Club. Football season-ticket sales are critical to our ability to continue to provide our programs with the resources they need to sustain the competitive success the Bobcats have experienced this academic year. Please take a few minutes when your ticket application arrives to renew your season tickets and encourage a friend or family member to purchase season tickets as well. Building our football season-ticket base is critically important as we continue to focus on establishing Ohio Athletics at the top of the Mid-American Conference.

Ohio Bobcat Club Success:
Thanks to many of you, the Ohio Bobcat Club experienced unprecedented success in its inaugural year! In short, over 1,030 Bobcat fans contributed over $610,000 resulting in a 75% increase in annual giving. Unrestricted annual giving increased 81%! On behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, thank you for your on-going support and generosity. Your support of the Ohio Bobcat Club allows us to continue to provide our coaches with the resources they need to attract top student-athletes and to deliver a well-rounded, quality student-athlete experience.

Reunion Schedule:
We have some exciting reunion celebrations in the planning stages for the 2007-2008 academic year. Similar to the weekend we hosted this past year in recognizing all former Ohio Bobcat Football All-Americans and Professional Players, as well as the many events held in conjunction with the 100-year celebration for men's basketball, we are planning numerous events for the upcoming year. In the fall we will be honoring and welcoming back Ohio's first-ever bowl team, the 1962 Bobcat football team that participated in the Sun Bowl, as well as the 1967 MAC Co-Championship football team on its 40th anniversary. We also plan to welcome back the 1947 men's golf team to celebrate Ohio's first season of college golf, as well as the 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961 golf teams that won five consecutive MAC championships.

As you know, at Ohio we have a great tradition of athletic success. In future years we plan to recognize and celebrate all significant achievements including, but not limited to, the six straight MAC Women's swimming and diving titles beginning in 1989, our first women's volleyball team from 1968, our 1998 women's soccer MAC Championship, our 1994-1995 women's basketball MAC Championship, our 1970 College World Series baseball team and our 1994 women's cross country MAC championship, just to name a few.

April 21 - Annual Spring Green and White Football Game:
The annual spring green and white football game is scheduled for Saturday, April 21 and will kick-off at 2:00 p.m. However, you will want to make plans to join us well before kick-off as Ohio Athletics has for the second consecutive year partnered with the Ohio University Sports Administration Program to plan a full day of activities. The 5K Gridiron Gallop, Pepsi Tailgreat Park Festivities, Sports Memorabilia Auction and the Bi-Annual Surplus Equipment Sale are just some of the events planned for this particular day. I invite you to visit www.bobcatblitz.com for all the details.

Also, please keep in mind that the Ohio Baseball team will be at home the weekend of the annual spring green and white football game hosting Buffalo. Please make plans to stop by Bob Wren Stadium to support our baseball team.

Thank you for your continued support of Ohio Athletics. If we can ever be of assistance to you, please let us know. I hope to see many of you on April 21 at the green and white football game or at other home athletic events this spring.

Go Bobcats!
Kirby