The eagle does not always do what shes told. But at least shes now being told to do something.When Eastern Michigan hired Heather Lyke as its athletic director in July 2013, the universitys live eagle mascot would appear at football games and meet recruits in the team room before leaving with its handler. Where does the eagle go? Lyke asked her staff. Doesnt it hang around the stadium? Do we have a place for it?It hasnt always been a smooth flight, but Lyke is trying to take Eastern Michigan athletics to new heights.Throughout its history, Eastern has performed well on the fields and courts. The school has been a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) since 1971 and has won more team championships than any other league member during that span. Of course, cross country and swimming dont get the same attention as football. And on the gridiron, the Eagles historically have not gotten off the ground.Their last winning football season was in 1995. Theyve appeared in just one bowl game in their 41-year history, in 1987. The team had the lowest home attendance in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) last year. Football is expensive relative to other sports, and an HBO Real Sports episode that aired in April questioned whether the school should abolish the sport because of its cost to the university. The program won just seven games over the previous four seasons before this one.This year has been different. The Eagles are 6-5 and bowl eligible for the first time since they posted that same record in 95. Theyll reach the seven-win mark for the first time in 27 years if they beat Central Michigan at home on Tuesday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN3) in their regular season finale.People arent proud of Eastern Michigan because the football team hasnt been so good [in the past], Lyke said. Whether we want to believe it or not, football drives the attention, viewership, enrollment, fundraising. Having a successful football program to go along with the amount of success weve had in other sports was a real priority.And so she brought in coach Chris Creighton, now in his third season and one of nine head coaches -- along with a dozen administrators -- Lyke has hired at Eastern. Together, theyve tried to improve the culture and win more football games, recognizing that succeeding in one task often helps the other.Eastern renovated Rynearson Stadium before Creightons first season, replacing the field with gray turf, nicknaming the stadium The Factory, and plastering the athletic departments motto, Champions Built Here, on the wall below the student section. The phrase emanated from the programs desire to be tough and southeast Michigans manufacturing history.Creighton also introduced a 51-pound wrench that represents the teams mission to close the gap (the vices illustrate the gap) between its current status and its potential. When the team comes out for warm-ups, they are led by someone -- a coach, administrator, or former player, for example -- carrying the wrench. Lyke carried it last week. And before the team takes the field for home games, a few players use sledgehammers -- which are adorned with the jersey numbers of teammates who delivered big hits in the previous game -- to knock down a wall of cinder blocks.It will take hard work beyond these motivational symbols to revitalize the football program, and Lyke knows it. A 1992 University of Michigan graduate (where she was a two-time captain under legendary softball coach Carol Hutchins), she worked as an associate AD at Ohio State for 15 years before coming to Eastern. Those two Big Ten schools have financially self-sustaining athletic departments and very famous football teams. Lyke says the guiding principles of an athletic department administrator -- academic success, winning teams, alumni pride -- are similar at all schools, but the approach varies.Managing a train thats already on the right track is very different than turning the train and moving it in an absolutely different direction, Lyke said. Thats the fun of it. You get a chance to create a new track and build tradition and do things that have never been done before.Shes one of just 37 women conducting a Division I athletic department (out of 352, according to the latest NCAA data, from 2015-16). Among schools with FBS programs, Lyke is one of only seven women. When I go to a meeting, everybody knows who we are, she said with a laugh. The reality is that the athletic directors chair, for whatever reason, has been pretty stagnant. Shed like to see that change.I want women to aspire to do this because theres nothing to say you cant, she says. There are a lot of terrific men and women who will give you a chance. There might be some that wouldnt. Presidents and board members are making these decisions. I can build relationships with donors and board members just as well as a man can. You have to have the self-confidence to do the job. Put yourself out there and dont be afraid to go after it.She listed long-time ADs Debbie Yow (NC State), Judy Rose (Charlotte) and Sandy Barbour (Penn State) as mentors for her and other women in the field. She also mentioned Kathy Beauregard, the AD at Western Michigan, another MAC school in the state and an example of a football program that has drastically turned things around. Western went 1-11 just three years ago and is 11-0 this season, and ESPNs College GameDay visited Kalamazoo on Saturday.She was very aggressive when she got there, Beauregard said of Lyke wasting no time hiring coaches and staff. It was clear she had done a lot of evaluating ahead of time and didnt hesitate to move forward. She has an outstanding career ahead of her.While attendance numbers for The Factory are typically unreliable, Lyke feels the hard-working, middle-class community of Ypsilanti, Michigan, has embraced the Champions built here theme, and shes seen turnout rise.When Lyke arrived at Eastern, she repeatedly heard that the athletic department would never succeed because the Ypsilanti campus in southeast Michigan is just 10 miles from the athletic powerhouse in Ann Arbor. (She was told another reason was that alums were unhappy with the schools 1991 decision to change its mascot from Hurons -- referring to a Native American tribe -- because the name was deemed insensitive.) Given the drastic financial gap between the schools, Lyke said the University of Michigan is just not our competition.Eastern accounting professor Howard Bunsis, who was featured on the aforementioned Real Sports episode, said he believes the school should get rid of football -- or at least drop to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) -- because he thinks it would save millions of dollars, money he feels should go toward scholarships and academic support for Easterns 18,000 undergrads.Using data that schools report to the NCAA, USA Today reported that of the $34 million budget for Easterns athletic department, $27 million is subsidized by the university. Thats 80 percent, the largest chunk in the MAC.Despite being a huge sports fan who supports the players and coaches at Eastern, Bunsis said, No matter what we do [on the field], its not going to change the finances. Were not going to get the support. Financial support for college football is cultural. Its just not there at EMU.Right or wrong, its the sort of attitude that Lyke is up against. When asked if there are any plans to downgrade football to FCS, she smiled and said, Absolutely not, a notion shared by the board of regents, who wrote an open letter in April supporting Lyke and her department.Lyke is positive, engaging, and uses the word phenomenal often. And why not? Under her watch the student-athletes have set record highs for graduation rates and GPA. The school won two MAC honors for the first time: the Jacoby Trophy (last year) for having the best womens teams, and the Cartwright Award (in 2014), given to the school whose athletes best mix on-field success, academics and community service. For the 2015-16 academic year, Eastern won the National Championship for Excellence in Management, given to the FBS school that best maximizes fiscal resources through championship victories.Department awards are one thing; winning football games is another. Eastern Michigan almost certainly will fill one of the 80 bowl slots this season. While this would be just the second bowl invite in Easterns history, at least one fan doesnt want the team to settle. At a coaches luncheon last week, an older gentleman advised Creighton, Dont go to that one in Detroit, presumably referring to the Quick Lane Bowl. Never mind that the MAC is no longer tied to that bowl, he was aiming for a better destination.Was this an overly demanding fan or a subtle sign that the culture is changing just a little bit?Andrew Kahn is a freelance writer. He writes about college athletics and other sports at andrewjkahn.com,?and you can find his Scoop and Score podcast on iTunes. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn. Vans Old Skool Wholesale . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Vans Old Skool White . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/vans-old-skool-sale.html . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Vans Old Skool Pink . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Vans Old Skool Black . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. VENTURA, Calif. -- The Latest on a Southern California football player arrested for punching referee (all times local):6 p.m.A Southern California college football player who knocked out a referee during a game says he thinks his five-year suspension is harsh for an accident but he takes full responsibility for his actions.Mount San Antonio College freshman Bernard Schirmer was suspended Monday for clocking the referee during a Saturday night game.Schirmer tells The Associated Press that he was having words with another player whod pushed him and decided to punch himself in the helmet as a way of refocusing -- without realizing the referee was holding him.His school says video shows the 19-year-old accidentally hit the ref with his forearm. Schirmer says hes truly sorry.The college says it will appeal what could be a career-ending suspension. However, police arrested the player on suspicion of battery and theres still a chance he could face criminal charges.Meanwhile, a conference spokesman says the referee has indicated hes fine, just a little sore.---4:25 p.m.A Southern California college football player who knocked out a referee during a game has been suspended for five years.A spokesman for Mount San Antonio College says the school was notified Monday that its sports conference commissioner has suspended Bernard Schirmer for punching the ref during last Saturdays game.However, Brian Yokoyama says the school will appeal the suspension.Yokoyama says the college examined enlarged, frame-by-frame video of the incident and concluded that Schirmers arm accidentally struck the official.Schirmer has apologized for the hit and said it wasnt intentional.Rich Kollen of the Southern California Football Association says he spoke to the referee on Sunday and was told the man is fine but aa little sore.dddddddddddd He hasnt seen a physician.---3:20 p.m.A Southern California referee who was knocked unconscious during a college football game is said to be doing fine.Rich Kollen of the Southern California Football Association says he spoke to the ref Sunday and was told the man was a little sore but has no headache or other problems.Kollen says the ref was checked for concussion and cleared by trainers for both teams but hasnt seen a physician.Kollen says the ref -- whose name hasnt been released -- is scheduled to officiate another game Saturday.Video shows the referee trying to break up a fight during a game Saturday night, and then going down. Mount San Antonio College freshman Vernard Schirmer was arrested on suspicion of battery and has apologized.The school has concluded the hit was unintentional.---7:47 a.m.A California junior college football player who was arrested after he appeared to punch a referee during a game has apologized, saying it was an accident.Video shows the referee falling to the ground as he tried to break up a fight on the field. Police say he was knocked unconscious.Mount San Antonio College freshman Bernard Schirmer was ejected from the game Saturday and later arrested on suspicion of battery. He posted bail Sunday.Schirmer tells the Ventura County Star newspaper (http://bit.ly/2cQZh4e) that he often tries to calm down by hitting himself on the helmet and he didnt realize the line judge was so close. Schirmer says hes truly sorry.College officials say they reviewed video footage and talked to witnesses, concluding that Schirmer unintentionally hit the referee.Prosecutors will decide whether to charge Schirmer. ' ' '