Illinois St apparently not division I either

[Hansel]

http://www.dailyvidette.com/media/paper420/news/2005/10/04/Sports/Attendance.Could.Boost.Isus.Rank-1007746.shtml?mkey=97565&page=2

ISU has the population to make the jump into division-I football, but the attendance at games is not there yet. The biggest thing that must change when a school is in transition between the two divisions is the number of tickets sold. ISU will have to build a new stadium when, and if, we go division I. The school is not going to make that investment until they are sure that a new stadium that seats roughly twice of Hancock stadium's capacity is filled nearly every home game.

The biggest misconception a lot of people have when they first come to school here is that there is no energetic atmosphere at the ISU football games. I have a news flash for all the Walter Cronkite's around, there is. Maybe it is not completely their fault because unfortunately usually only one ISU football game is televised per year. People have no way to see the atmosphere that can be created at Hancock due to a big crowd. I wonder sometimes that if an attendance of around 10,000 could create such energy, what an atmosphere we could create here with a division-I stadium

[blur2005]

Here's what I wrote this guy:

Dear sir,

I know you don't know me. I don't even go to your school, as I go to the University of Virginia. But as a member of AnyGivenSaturday, the leading Division I-AA community on the internet, I am saddened by the fact that you don't even know the classification of your own school. Illinois State is a member of the Gateway Football Conference, a Division I-AA football conference. Maybe you weren't aware, but that's a I, not a II, in front of the two A's. What that means is that in every sport Illinois State is classified as Division I. In football, there are two subsections to Division I, A and AA. While Illinois State is in the less prestigious AA, they are still Division I. So please, in the future, know the truth about your own school, so before writing a long column about how your school can go D-I when it already is D-I, you can stop yourself from making such a foolish mistake. Furthermore, why would you want to go D-IA? At least in this division, your team has a shot at a national championship. Would you rather have a shot at that, or be stuck at the bottom of the MAC for all eternity, with only a crappy bowl game to hope for? I think the choice is pretty clear.

Sincerely,

Geoff Skelley

[youwouldno]

What's sad is that "Division I-AA" seems quite clearly to mean "Division I." It's kind of hard to see such errors as anything other than rank incompetence or intentional distortion.

Especially since schools that are D-I in sports HAVE to be D-I in football if they field a team. It's not even an option.

[ISUMatt]

The folks at Illinois State have no clue TRUST ME!!! The Vidette is a student newspaper and the only team they can cover accurrately are the Illini. Its a shame that the student paper can not get simple facts right on their own school. Liek I said before, the fans and alumni can care less about football, they want to go I-A JUST to get into a better basketball conference, that is their only goal, even if it means sacrificing the football program.

[Grande Rosso]

I had also sent him a note, before I saw this thread on AGS:

I noticed your column "Attendance could boost ISU's rank" in the Oct 4 Vidette.

As a follower of Western Kentucky University sports, being in the shadow of the University of Kentucky sounds eerily similar to ISU being in the shadow of U of I.

You talk about the possibility of ISU moving to "Division I". Tecnically speaking, ISU and WKU are Division I FB schools. They are in the sub-classification known as "I-AA". U of I and UK are in the sub-classification known as "I-A". The main difference in the two sub-classifications is that I-A schools get 85 FB scholarships, and I-AA schools get 63. After that, it is up to the schools to determine the other priorities related to the program. However, both programs are technically "Division I".

At the risk of splitting hairs, I'm going to use a quote from your column against you. When mentioning disappointing attendance, etc you state that "What these people don't realize is that a lot of the problem begins with themselves." However slight, you are reinforcing that DI-AA football is not Division I.

Maybe promoting all ISU (and WKU) sports as D-I might be a first step in improving the perception, and attitude about sports at all DI-AA schools.