|
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Chris Del Conte chats live Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. CT. Fans are encouraged to submit their questions now.
|
 |
 |
 |
TCU Moderator: Welcome to today's online chat. We apologize for the technical difficulties which delayed us today. |
|
|
| Matt (Dallas): On shop.gofrogs.com there are 29 football related jerseys, but only 4 baseball ones and none of those are actual Nike authentic/replica jerseys. Any chance of getting a better selection of baseball jerseys for fans to purchase? |
 |
|
Chris Del Conte: Great question! We are meeting with Nike reps in San Diego next week to discuss this very topic. |
|
|
| Jeff (League City): I was in Fort Worth last weekend. TCU and the city look great. The University and I-30 and Hulen and I-20 exits are the two front doors to visit TCU. Can we get with the city and have them clean up underneath both exits and maybe put some "Entering The Kingdom of TCU" or something like that note and/or something about being in Big XII country. Hulen exit looked especially bad. All that exit was missing was a burning dumpster fire. Maybe could the city mow it and paint a mural on the sides you exit for Hulen Street for TCU? Maybe purple lighting underneath both exits at night? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Drew Martin, our Assistant AD for Marketing, plans to reach out to city representatives on that topic. During football season, we do have street banners in those areas to promote TCU. |
|
|
| Hudson (Fort Worth): Can you explain why the Frog Club is no longer applying matching gifts from companies for donor parking spots? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: It's not the Frog Club that won't allow matching gifts. It's usually the company that won't permit it for something of personal use. Please double check with your employer to see if they'll allow matching gifts for athletically-related parking and tickets. |
|
|
| Tom (FW): Any news on Casey Pachall or Elisha Olabode getting picked up as free agents? Surprised those guys haven't signed anywhere. Thanks |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: No news yet on them signing with a pro team. We'll keep you posted. |
|
|
| Wayne Morrison (Nacogdoches, Tx ): As an ex-letterman (baseball '67-'69) & a strong follower of the baseball program, I was wondering why there is very little, if any, ethnic diversity on the baseball roster. |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: That's a good question. It's been a topic of discussion throughout the baseball world from the major leagues down to college and high school. |
|
|
| Randy (Coppell): I understand that this area is certainly a professional sports league area, but I amazed out how little coverage TCU gets from the local radio and television media. I haven't heard a single word from the local sports media about the awesome run that the baseball team is having. What can be done to change this lack of coverage? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: We've had great coverage in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, including today's front page column by Gil LeBreton. Channel 5 did a feature on us last week, and Channel 8 ran a piece on us earlier this week. Channel 11 has also contacted us for an upcoming baseball story. I do agree that our baseball team has been on fire for the past month. |
|
|
| Luke (Fort Worth): What conference games are most likely to be night games? I have heard from a few people that there will be more night games this coming football season. |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Through the Big 12 and our television partners, we won't have the majority of our kickoff times until after the season starts. The better you play increases the chances of night games. |
|
|
| Doug (Montgomery, AL): Since the SEC is mandating "Big Five" games in their non-conference football schedules, is there any chance of leveraging that into a long-term TCU-Arkansas series beyond the two games already scheduled? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Our non-conference schedule is booked through 2019. We have upcoming home-and-home series with Minnesota, Arkansas and Ohio State. We have not looked into a long-term scheduling agreement with Arkansas, but we'll have a similar non-conference scheduling philosophy like the SEC. |
|
|
| Carl Saint Hedwig (Skellytown): Has Frog Club ever considered an auction process for some parking spots? I'd park in Megargel to save a few cents, but the chance at a bargain spot closer in might tempt me. |
|
| Carl Saint Hedwig (Skellytown): Has Frog Club ever considered an auction process for some parking spots? I'd park in Megargel to save a few cents, but the chance at a bargain spot closer in might tempt me. |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Since the majority of our parking spots have been sold out on a regular basis, we've never considered an auction process. However, it is worth a look. |
|
|
| Clyde (Roman Forest): I think y'all need some more unique fare from the concessions. Get some good coffee for sale, some real ice cream or gelato, and some good deli sandwiches. The times I've bought a hot dog, they wrapped it so hard that the bun was all smushed. A hot dog with a bad bun is something you start to resent. |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Fair question. No one likes a bad dog! We'll take up your request with Sodexo, our concessions provider. |
|
|
| Scott (wannabe Internet mogul): In light of the Michael Sam situation, what would you say to any TCU athlete that came to you and said he/she was considering coming out publically. OOO XXX |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: I'd embrace their decision. |
|
|
| Lyle (Fort Worth): The ACC made news this week by stating that their teams may play non-conference football games against each other. How do you feel about using this opportunity to publicly challenge them to a home & home series against TCU? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: As mentioned earlier, our non-conference schedule is booked through 2019 with home-and-home series versus Minnesota, Arkansas and Ohio State. |
|
|
| Tim (Keller): What is being done to encourage fans to leave their tailgates and get into the stadium when the game kicks off? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: We have one of the very best game-day environments in college football, and we are well aware that our fans like to tailgate with the best of them. We do have to do a better job of encouraging our fans to be in the stadium before kickoff. We are working on this and will unveil the new plan this fall. |
|
|
| Eric (Fort Worth): Any chance there will be concerts booked for the renovated DMC? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: I would love to host a concert. There used to be concerts in the DMC, including the Grateful Dead. |
|
|
| Hank (Aledo): With all of the renovations to Lupton Stadium, will we ever see the kind of outfield seating options that are so popular in the SEC? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: That's part of our future plan. |
|
|
| Kyle (San Antonio): What award do you want most for TCU's trophy case? |
|
| Kyle (San Antonio): What award do you want most for TCU's trophy case? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: The ultimate goal is to display a national championship trophy. |
|
|
| Carl (Fort Worth): Will there be transportation provided for students to attend home basketball games next year? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: We're in the process of formalizing our plans for next year. |
|
|
| Roger (Arlington): Is there anything planned to honor Pat Sullivan when he returns to TCU with his Samford team in August? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Yes. We're finalizing the details of a reunion for the 1994 Southwest Conference championship football team. |
|
|
| Danny (Fort Worth): When the first College Football Playoff Championship Game comes to Arlington this coming season, will either of the participating teams use TCU's facilities in preparation for the game? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: At this time, I don't anticipate that happening. |
|
|
| Mark (Austin): New Texas AD Steve Patterson has made news recently by discussing the possibility of the Longhorns playing future football games overseas. Has TCU ever explored playing somewhere outside the borders of the USA? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: I've been approached about the Shamrock Series in Ireland, but there's been nothing more than just a discussion. |
|
|
| Jim (aka Frog Daddy) Granbury: I will spare you the sob story, and frustration I share as many other long time faithful Frog fans that supported the Football program during the 'lean' years, and actually showed up to a game no matter what the weather was, or the final score.
I am painfully made aware that the mere $2,500 dollar I renewed for my six season 2014 football tickets is not considered much to pay the University in comparison to some. While thankful there are, my question, is there a system we can start where a pion donor as I, can upgrade PURCHASE tickets where the better seats be used that otherwise may be wasted b/c a fan is unable to attend. In return my existing ticket(s) could be available for someone to upgrade. This gives TCU Home field advantage! |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: First of all, I thank you for your donation of $2,500. That is a lot of money, and we appreciate your support of our University and athletics program. We currently do not have an exchange program in place. I do hope all our fans, like you, will be there each time the Frogs take the field. |
|
|
| Damon (Burleson): Keep up the great work CDC! What are you looking forward to in TCU's third year in the BIGXII? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Thank you! It's an honor to work at TCU. I'm looking forward to competing for Big 12 championships in all our sports. |
|
|
| Ray - Colleyville, TX: Congratulations on the hiring of the Women's Basketball Coaching staff. If tey can coach and recruit as well as they have played, this will be a major step up. |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: That's our plan! I do believe they'll coach as well as they played the game during their decorated careers. |
|
|
| Travis (Dallas): Any news on potential sport additions? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: We're adding sand volleyball next spring. We do have plans down the road to further add to our women's athletics program, but have not settled on specific sports yet. |
|
|
| Jason (Plano): Where is the Sand Volleyball team going ot be playing next Spring? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: We have two courts in front of the Rickel and plan to add a third. |
|
|
| Scott (Austin): How concerned are you with TCU's APR of 910 and what are we going to try to do to raise it substantially? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: The APR is based on a 4-year rolling average. I am concerned about the score of 910, but our academic staff does have a plan in place to make sure our 4-year average stays above 930. |
|
|
| Bob (Fort Worth): Are there any plans in the works to renovate other parts of Lupton stadium? Keep up the great work! |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Yes. Phase 1 is the batting cages and practice area. Phase 2 will be locker rooms, coaches' offices, training room, classroom space and outfield patios. |
|
|
| Bob (Dallas): The sound in the upper deck of amon carter was terribly loud last year. Has anything been done this off season to correct it? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: I am aware of the volume levels, and we are working with an outside vendor to balance out the sound throughout the stadium. |
|
|
| Brian (Cleburne): I like that we are the leader in graduation rates within the Big 12. Is this something that is a culture within TCU and the athletic department? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Without question! Our ultimate goal is to graduate all our student-athletes. |
|
|
| Matt (Dallas): Its great that we can view and calculate our Priority Points online. It would be better, however, if we could log into our accounts and actually see our current donations, so we know exactly where we stand. Are there any plans to work with University Advancement to make anything like that possible? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: That's a good question. I'll have our development folks look into it. |
|
|
| Jack (Rio Vista): I realize that men's basketball has struggled, but the image and leadership that Trent Johnson has shown is tremendous. I feel he is the right man for the type of program that we want at TCU. What should we expect this next season? |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: Thank you! I do believe Trent is the right man for the job, and I do expect we'll see improvement on the court next season. |
|
|
| Pat (Arlington, TX): PLEASE try to arrange a way for football season ticket holders to sell or give extra tickets for individual games (which some family members cannot use) to TCU fans only. Maybe we could have a place in Dee J. Kelly Center where TCU alums or fans could go to pick up tickets which others have left there. I was surrounded last year at every single home game by hoards of opposing teams' fans who had bought tickets on Stubhub. I NEVER saw TCU fans sit in the majority of seats in Section 236. We were always surrounded and outyelled by the "enemies." Stubhub is the cause of all of this. We need to have a way to share extra tickets with TCU fans only when we don't know anyone who can use our extra tickets. |
|
|
Chris Del Conte: I understand your concern, and I will do a better job of encouraging our fans to keep their tickets within the Horned Frogs Nation! |
|
|
|
TCU Moderator: That concludes today's chat with Chris Del Conte. Thanks for joining us. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
