I don't want to get into the fray regarding whether or not we should keep the football team, but I did object to blaming the fee increase on women's sports and Title IX. The argument could be framed from many other points of view, but it always seems to come down to those pesky women wanting to horn in on sports. And why give students the impression they had a say-so by giving them the opportunity to vote when it was not something they had a choice in? It seems that it should have been clear that it was only an opinion survey. Janet
-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Looney <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:39:05 -0400
Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] Scrap football and the athletics fee now!
At 10:34 PM 6/28/2005 -0400, Dr. Joe Dumas wrote:
>Tell the Chancellor:
>
>http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_68679.asp
>
The link to the article above includes the following from Joe:
>Don't for one moment believe this fee is about gender equity or increasing
funding for women's sports. The one sport that destroys gender equity, and
uses up the potential funding for all other sports at UTC, is football.
Besides being a perennial loser on the field, the football team is a huge
money loser, with far higher expenses for coaching, equipment,
scholarships, support, etc. than any other sport. If you don't believe me,
read the report at the link above. It's all in black and white.
>
>Were it not for football, all other men's and women's sports at UTC would
be more than adequately funded via existing revenue streams. In fact, if
football were to go away, the athletics department could probably not only
add more than one women's sport, but also a men's baseball team.
Conversely, due to Title IX concerns, as long as the present football
program continues to exist, UTC will never have a baseball team, despite
the availability of Engel Stadium and BellSouth Park and a huge potential
fan base.
>
>This fee increase is not about adequate funding or gender equity. No
matter how the athletics department or the administration try to package
it, it is about keeping a moribund football program afloat. The time to
scrap football, as well as this fee increase, is now. "ETSU eliminated
football with a cost savings of over a million dollars per year." (Football
Study Report)
>
>It is a shame that UTC administrators lack the vision to follow ETSU's
example, and that students will be paying for their folly this fall, and
possibly for years to come. Perhaps if enough of my faculty colleagues, as
well as the staff, students, alumni, and friends of the University speak
out, we can yet make a difference. Who's with me?
>
==============
Well, I'm NOT with you, so I'll throw in a dissenting voice. It's after 5
p.m., so I'm doing this as an alumni of the university and a fan of the
Mocs athletics teams, not as an employee. ;-)
I went to high school in Johnson City, and still talk to many people in the
community. The decision to scrap football at ETSU is not viewed by many in
the community as the rosy picture that the ETSU administration has painted.
And now that they've been forced to the Atlantic Sun Conference (the
absolute worst conference in all of Division I), they are finding out about
the realities of travel costs which are estimated to triple due to the
location of many of the A-Sun institutions (Florida).
Here's an article from earlier this month from "TriCities.com" that I found
interesting....
==================================================
Group seeking to bring back ETSU football:
BY SETH BARTEE
Sports Correspondent
TriCities.com
Jun 12, 4:00 AM EDT
JOHNSON CITY A group of people known as Buc Football & Friends
Foundation, Inc., came together Saturday at the Carnegie Hotel for a
presentation on the "Costs and Benefits of Intercollegiate Athletics."
It became apparent through the three-hour presentation and panel discussion
that intercollegiate athletics produce both a visible and invisible hand in
communities as well as university academics.
Dr. David Larimore, of Tennessee Tech University, produced data on athletic
revenue for TTU sports two years ago. Larimores conclusions showed that if
Tennessee Tech dropped their football program there would be a net loss of
$323,000 for the university.
"Any athletic program is an investment," said Larimore, responding to a
question on ETSUs supposed $1,000,000 shortfall in the football program.
"Universities lose much more money in student services because most
students dont use them.
"There is no Division I-AA football program that is self-sufficient."
Larimore, debunked myths about college athletic programs such as graduation
rates, which are 13 percent higher across the board for college athletes.
Raising the hair of some academics, Larimore pointed out that most of a
universitys publicity and recognition are based upon the success of its
athletics programs not its academic standing.
According to Larimore, 80 percent of whats written about higher education
comes from sports and almost 90 percent of hits on any college web site are
due to its athletics.
"What the leadership at ETSU needs to realize is that football brings name
recognition," said Rep. David Davis, R-6. "We need to pull that back to
where we are playing name brand schools. When we do that we should have a
better academic program because we have a better sports program."
Davis was on hand with other state elected officials Rep. Matthew Hill and
Sen. Rusty Crowe, who are actively participating to bring back ETSU football.
Tennessee High School football coach Greg Stubbs participated in the panel
discussion as well.
Stubbs, who played football for ETSU in the late 1960s, made the case of
the negative impact on local high school football players.
"Athletes dont have the opportunity to play at the next level and stay
around home," said Stubbs. "An athlete now who walks on locally at
Carson-Newman, Emory & Henry or Maryville College will have to pay at least
$20,000 out of pocket to do so. There is not an affordable opportunity for
athletes to walk on a football program around here anymore."
The Buc Football & Friends Foundation, Inc., elected a board of directors
on Friday and met for the first time on Saturday. According to Jerry
Robertson, the longtime ETSU trainer, the group would like to have an
organizational plan ready within a year.
The group may seek the help of[--bleep--]Sheridan, a former head football
coach at Furman and North Carolina State. Sheridan, one of Saturdays
panelists, helped save Furman football when a faculty senate resolution
voted to disband the program in the early 1970s.
Since that time Sheridan has served as a consultant to schools starting up
football programs like that of Coastal Carolina, which was 10-1 in its
second season last year.
Sheridan told those on hand Saturday that he would serve as a consultant if
asked.
"There is a tangible revenue side to a football team," said Larimore.
"There is also intangible things like publicity that is worth a lot.
"This study was out there for the ETSU administration to ponder, but they
chose to ignore it."
Southeast Louisiana is the only program to bring back football, which they
did last season, after a 20-year layoff. Its program is privately funded.
==================================================
This AP story ran in the Chattanooga Times two months ago regarding Austin
Peay University's decision to reinstate their I-AA football program.
Clarksville, TN -
Austin Peay will start giving football scholarships again and return to
the Ohio Valley Conference in 2007 after scrapping the awards and leaving
the league nine years ago as a cost-saving measure.
The Governors have been competing as a non-scholarship Division I-AA team,
and had 17 straight losing seasons before a 7-5 record in 2003. The school
plans to offer 45 scholarships, while officials raised another $750,000 in
private money to pay for 15 more.
"APSU's public and internal images were diminished when scholarship
football was dropped," school president Sherry Hoppe said Friday in a
statement. "I think it's affected how students viewed this university. I
see this as an investment in Austin Peay's future." Since leaving the OVC,
Austin Peay has gone 25-62.
"This speaks volumes to the institution's desire and that of its
supporters to compete at the highest level of I-AA football," OVC
commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher said in a statement. "I eagerly anticipate
the renewal of Austin Peay's football rivalries with the other conference
members."
=========================================================================
Here's another good read on canceling I-AA football. It's on page 79 at
this link:
http://www.i-aa.org/stats/2004FallMagazine/Final.pdf
The article is titled "Anatomy of Canceling Football"
If we cancelled football at UTC, in addition to the damage it would cause
our other athletic teams by being dragged into a pathetic conference like
the Atlantic Sun, I'd have to watch that branch campus of ours up the road
in Knoxville play football games on Saturday. Oh, the horror.......
;-)
Sincerely,
Jonathan Looney
UTC Class of '89
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