Dave Corstange

Dave Corstange, senior associate athletic director at WMU, believes the school did all it could to promote the game.

"We had a radio station call and give us $6,000 worth of advertising," Corstange said.
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But that's not how college football scheduling works, unfortunately, and Corstange said the start of the game wasn't WMU's call.

"If it was our choice, we would have played it as a night game," Corstange said.
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"There is no doubt they are surrounding us," Corstange said."But there is a big population in Kalamazoo and we're not going to steal their fans.We have a viable I-A program and it's up to the students and the community to support us."

Corstange believes the community can be both Bronco and UM or MSU fans.

"I've always said in your heart, there's always room for two," Corstange said.
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"We've made a big investment into the program and facilities," Corstange said.
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"We will definitely have to look at finances when we schedule our home games," Corstange said."Are we going to schedule six home games or do five and try to get money?"

Corstange said low attendance definitely plays a factor in getting big-time schools to come to Kalamazoo.

"The problem I'm worried about is if you bring a quality team in and the attendance is low," Corstange said."Will they (or other big programs) want to come back?"

Corstange doesn't believe the school will change the way they schedule opponents.

"I don't think that we will change our scheduling philosophy," Corstange said."Obviously when we bring in a UVA, VT, or UConn, we need two things: One, we need to compete against them.Two, we need the support of our people."

Corstange also said bringing in big-time opponents or sticking to I-AA patsies for home games is up to the fans.

"Ask the fans what do they want, I-AA or BCS schools?"Corstange said.

Dave Corstange Senior Associate Athletic Director

David Corstange , senior associate athletic director at Western , said most of the remaining NeXturf material will be installed on the roof of the Bill Brown building , which will at the very least cause passers-by to look up and say , Huh?.

The idea is , when the new NeXturf surface inside Waldo Stadium needs patching , workers will grab a piece of that grass sitting atop the roof and use that.

Since the patches of material will sit atop the Bill Brown building exposed to the same weather as the turf inside the stadium , the fading should be about the same color , Corstange said.

A portion of the leftover NeXturf was also installed behind the bleachers in the northeast corner of the stadium , giving fans the chance to stomp on the new stuff to their hearts' content.

We put some there because we could never get the grass to grow , Corstange said.

TECH , AGAIN : After playing at Virginia Tech next Saturday , Western's football team will be able to give its men's basketball team a scouting report.The Broncos will play the Hokies at Blacksburg , Va. , in a nonconference hoops game Dec. 12.That game will mark Western's first trip into the Big East in men's basketball since 1988 , when the Broncos lost by 23 points at Syracuse.

Although the MAC basketball schedule has not been released yet , the Broncos nonconference schedule is clear :.

"Last year we went there, and they paid us $150,000," says Dave Corstange, WMU's interim athletic director."This year, they're coming here and we have to pay them $150,000."
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Jim has a really great relationship with Coach Darnell and Kathy Beauregard," Corstange says.
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says Corstange.

And students say the national exposure is good for them.
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"We're going to play hard, tough football tomorrow," says Corstange."And anyone who misses that game is going to miss a part of history in Southwest Michigan."

The broncos will get $300,000 for playing at Virginia Tech next year.And that's the end of the agreement.WMU athletics says the money given through the football contracts goes back to all of the sports programs, not just football.