15,000 empty seats…seriously?
I grew up in Mount Pleasant having enjoyed the lifelong benefits of my Mount Pleasant High School and Central Michigan University education where my good fortune in the media business was incubated. I’ve remained in close touch with my home town including a recent donation to the incredible Community Memorial Stadium project.
The Mount Pleasant/Union Township region has been the number one growth metro per-capita in Michigan expressed in both the 2010 and 2014 mid-term census data! The university is forging ahead with its programs and national acclaim. Mount Pleasant was just named a “5-Star City” for entrepreneurial growth, while only a few years ago ESPN listed Mount Pleasant as “one of America’s top 100 sports venues.”
That said, time for a little truth in the common cause.
Like you, I suffered and resented the Dan Enos era which set the CMU football program back to pre Brian Kelly years. Enos was detached, an unremarkable football mind, and had zero affection for Mount Pleasant, proving it by residing elsewhere. But Enos is gone and it’s quite clear to even the casual fan: CMU’s new head coach is here to stay. Head Coach John Bonamego is light years beyond Enos (or Butch Jones for that matter) when it comes to creating a winning culture; part behavior, part performance.
In his first year working with players inherited on the returning roster as opposed to a wish list that didn’t exist, his team played MSU well into the 4th quarter while Cooper Rush out performed MSU’s vaunted quarterback. CMU narrowly lost to currently tenth- rated Oklahoma State by 11 points, leading at halftime. Bonamego’s team beat MAC Champion Northern Illinois a few weeks ago and will likely head to a better bowl assuming a 7 & 5 record.
Bonamego has declared his undying devotion to CMU and the Mount Pleasant area describing it as his “dream job.” For players it’s an ideal destination knowing they’ll start and finish a playing career with the same coach. For the university and Mount Pleasant community, it’s a promise to take the CMU program to the top of the MAC and beyond. I predict you’ll witness a case study in organizational development at work, right before your eyes.
And so I ask, on a night when national television showcased CMU and Mount Pleasant, why were the stadium’s west main stands half occupied? The student body was far better represented though as a percentage of the on campus enrollment, still not where it could or should be. It’s understandable at Western or Eastern where no football championships have existed since the 80’s (and then only one for each school). It’s not understandable at CMU where facilities and accessibility are incredibly good, enveloped by a rising D-1 sports culture.
CMU and NFL fans know on a given Sunday it’s almost impossible to see a pro team without a CMU standout; from the league’s leading receiver (Antonio Brown) to the 49ers’s All Pro Tackle Joe Staley and now Thomas Rawls, lighting up the Seattle Seahawk fan base!
This is Division 1 Football and Basketball. If the community is filling McGuirk Arena it can fill Kelly Shorts Stadium. Mount Pleasant is too classy, too responsive, too proud to let the nation see 15,000 empty seats in prime time on ESPN. From businesses to community groups, get out and see a great coaching staff at work with a lot of dedicated athletes who chose CMU over other schools based largely on its setting.
There are no short cuts to anyplace worth going. After all, you could be in Columbia!
