(03-20-2018 08:10 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  

(03-20-2018 08:02 AM)emu79 Wrote:  

(03-20-2018 07:31 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  Never good when a school drops programs-kids lose opportunities.

According to the press release I guess if the students stay enrolled at EMU the school will honor their scholarships (until they graduate?) or work with them to transfer.

Scholarships will be honored through their initial eligibility (not necessarily until graduation, if they take an extra year). That's standard practice.

Here's an FAQ from EMU Athletics on the situation: http://www.emueagles.com/sports/2018/3/2...spx?id=922

And the key figure from the main press release: $2.4 million saved per year.

Thanks Frank. The EMU statement is the best source of information on these matters.

I believe EMU spends about 18M in cash to support its athletic mission so the quoted number (2.4M) is very significant. That (18M) is the number I heard if my memory holds.

There are some hard cash numbers. Say HR might quote the total cost of 8 FT coaches as say 650 - 750K, including fringes like health insurance, FICA taxes,etc. Who knows travel might be another 750K (I'd have to look to where these teams travel to figure). The rest could be cash payments for room and board, etc. etc.

When I thought that sporting cutting was coming I thought M&W's golf so I looked at where they travel. The student-athletes may be on partial scholarships, BUT traveling all over the country to compete isn't cheap.

This isn't like an one hour bus ride to Toledo. Many sports like golf, baseball, etc. involve a lot of travel to 'warm weather sites' and that can be very expensive.

Baseball, for example, is a very expensive sport, not because of the number of scholarships. Think the number is around 13 full scholarship equivalence. But the travel all over the country to play all over the sunbelt waiting for spring to come to the Midwest.

Think what it costs to take a family of four to Florida for a weekend and multiple that by say eight. Think of the number of players who travel, coaches, trainers, other support staff, etc.

How does cutting men's swimming and diving cut costs if you still have to maintain the facilities for women's swimming and diving?

(03-20-2018 08:53 AM)Block_E Wrote:  How does cutting men's swimming and diving cut costs if you still have to maintain the facilities for women's swimming and diving?

Would have to look it up, but the cost of staff salaries, travel, and direct costs for athletes (e.g., room and board, books, etc.) to the degree funded by their scholarships.

I'm surprised by men's S&D because there isn't much travel involved.

I don't know if there are Title IX considerations involved.

The three big factors as I see it:

1). Direct costs (e.g., salaries, travel, student athletes expenses such as R&B, etc.)

2). Title IX considerations. if a woman's sport, e.g., softball, is cut then a big cut needs to be made on 'the other side of the ledger (men's side)'.

3). Upkeep to facilities. N/A here because if one squad compete the facilities need to be kept up regardless.

QUESTION:

Where does women's softball compete? What happens to that playing field?

(03-20-2018 09:01 AM)emu steve Wrote:  QUESTION:

Where does women's softball compete? What happens to that playing field?

Right off Huron River Dr., on the corner of campus. Right next to The Village and Cornell Court dorms.

Will be right across the street from the new medical building. Prime real estate for new academic building, dorms, and parking.

Drop the following instead.

New football scoreboard.
Cut football coaching salaries.
Football players: one helmet, one uniform for home, one for road only
Drop plans for new football practice facility
Cut advertising and PR.
Drop all changes made because of racist graffiti, which turned out to be done by a black man.
Drop plans for a new weight lifting facility.
Drop classes like Hip Hop Lyricism and Queer Studies (actual name of class)
Drop the entire women and gender studies program.

As much as I root for our football team, it has not been a source of pride. It will always struggle. It has built in disadvantages. Other sports do not have the same obstacles.

This is a big mistake. Instead of being known as the school with a weak football program, but exceptional athletes in other sports, we'll just be the school with the weak football program.

(03-20-2018 09:10 AM)ljmhurons Wrote:  Drop the following instead.

New football scoreboard.
Cut football coaching salaries.
Football players: one helmet, one uniform for home, one for road only
Drop plans for new football practice facility
Cut advertising and PR.
Drop all changes made because of racist graffiti, which turned out to be done by a black man.
Drop plans for a new weight lifting facility.
Drop classes like Hip Hop Lyricism and Queer Studies (actual name of class)
Drop the entire women and gender studies program.

As much as I root for our football team, it has not been a source of pride. It will always struggle. It has built in disadvantages. Other sports do not have the same obstacles.

This is a big mistake. Instead of being known as the school with a weak football program, but exceptional athletes in other sports, we'll just be the school with the weak football program.

RE: CBP. Once again folks, this is being funded by DONORS. And donors tell the school what they are donating too.

Those funds are not unrestricted.

......I'm extremely proud of our football program. Not a source of pride? I don't know how an alum could not be proud after watching us play in a bowl game after being down for the count for two decades. Best recruiting class since the 1990s. Huge wins in 2016. Win over a Big Ten school in 2017. Two players drafted in last two years.

How could you not be proud? And how do you expect the football program to improve without renovating and upgrading its facilities? Your prescriptions would permanently relegating EMU football to 2nd class status.

And I'm not gonna even bother responding to the academic program statements....

On the main MAC board, someone posted that now MAC Men's S&D is down to 2 MAC schools.

There are a few affiliate conference schools which complete the MAC men's S&D member schools.

(03-20-2018 09:18 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  ......I'm extremely proud of our football program. Not a source of pride? I don't know how an alum could not be proud after watching us play in a bowl game after being down for the count for two decades. Best recruiting class since the 1990s. Huge wins in 2016. Win over a Big Ten school in 2017. Two players drafted in last two years.

How could you not be proud? And how do you expect the football program to improve without renovating and upgrading its facilities? Your prescriptions would permanently relegating EMU football to 2nd class status.

And I'm not gonna even bother responding to the academic program statements....

Right lets terminate a program on the upswing, MAC football assistants do not make alot of $$$$. Agree Frank I believe we are on the cusp of a solid era of football. We haven't invested in athletic facilities in years and now its time to do so.

(03-20-2018 07:18 AM)masttg Wrote:  Just cancelled my season tickets and contacted the Foundation to get my gift back. Go Eagles.

Also, I cannot believe that golf was kept.

I'm considering not renewing my season tickets. I'll still be able to go to games if I want to.

We spend tons of money on football, which we are rarely good at, but cut the thing we're good at.

The wrestling team just produced an All-American, which was determined on the wrestling mat and not by writers.

If we play football three hundred years, it will have fewer league champions than the swim team already has.

BTW, none of this stuff surprises me, at all. Those who like the 'golden days' of the 90s when EMU was building buildings at a fast pace should realize that the State of Michigan isn't the same state as it was 20, 25, or 40 years ago. Same for the Ypsilanti community.

De-industrialization in Michigan and southeast Michigan and the Great Recession of 2008 caused huge hits to higher education funding. It's hard to run into a strong headwind.

"Misery loves company" but we aren't the only MAC school facing these issues.

I might go to the main MAC board and ask if UB is doing better because N.Y. is in better financial shape than say MI, OH, IL, etc. I know Akron has had to make big cuts. The economy of S.E. Ohio is hardly prosperous. Lot of misery to go around in parts of the MAC footprint.

And the fact is, as even President Smith has said, revenue sports are the "front porch" of a university.

UMBC got $20 MILLION+ IN MEDIA EXPOSURE from their tournament appearance, per advertising/marketing experts. We can debate over that being an accurate amount or not, but I GUARANTEE they will see an increase in athletics revenue AND applications to the university. Applications to the university means more students which means MORE TUITION REVENUE.

Nationwide, folks will know EMU far more for success/failure in football and men's (and to some degree women's) basketball. That's it. No one knows anything about our successful swimming and track programs, and they never will. It's football and basketball or nothing.

So that's why we should develop THOSE programs.

(03-20-2018 08:29 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
I would have cut baseball, except for the fact that a lot of money was spent on a new artificial infield, and other renovations to the stadium.

Baseball program made it to the College World Series and has produced numerous MLB players. Why would you suggest that? Baseball is a major sport in this country.

I am absolutely convinced that Stevo in on the EMU payroll.

(03-20-2018 09:34 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  And the fact is, as even President Smith has said, revenue sports are the "front porch" of a university.

UMBC got $20 MILLION+ IN MEDIA EXPOSURE from their tournament appearance, per advertising/marketing experts. We can debate over that being an accurate amount or not, but I GUARANTEE they will see an increase in athletics revenue AND applications to the university. Applications to the university means more students which means MORE TUITION REVENUE.

Nationwide, folks will know EMU far more for success/failure in football and men's (and to some degree women's) basketball. That's it. No one knows anything about our successful swimming and track programs, and they never will. It's football and basketball or nothing.

So that's why we should develop THOSE programs.

Absolutely.

I have a Wayne State undergraduate degree and have almost zero connection to the university.

This is silly talk, but if UofM decided that it wanted to be an Ivy school and de-emphasize sports, e.g., make FB like Ivy league FB, does anyone not think that contributions to UofM might not fall 25%? 50%?

Does anyone here (out of school) go to Halle Library? Pease Auditorium? Student Union? Academic symposium?

Inter-collegiate athletics is the glue which binds alums, etc. to their school.

Think about the Univ of Alabama or Clemson. They don't have NFL teams in their states. Their football season is their college's football season.

(03-20-2018 09:10 AM)ljmhurons Wrote:  Drop the following instead.

New football scoreboard.
Cut football coaching salaries.
Football players: one helmet, one uniform for home, one for road only
Drop plans for new football practice facility
Cut advertising and PR.
Drop all changes made because of racist graffiti, which turned out to be done by a black man.
Drop plans for a new weight lifting facility.
Drop classes like Hip Hop Lyricism and Queer Studies (actual name of class)
Drop the entire women and gender studies program.

As much as I root for our football team, it has not been a source of pride. It will always struggle. It has built in disadvantages. Other sports do not have the same obstacles.

This is a big mistake. Instead of being known as the school with a weak football program, but exceptional athletes in other sports, we'll just be the school with the weak football program.

So let me understand. Because the racist graffitti was done by a black person, the hateful message should remain? You don't like the name of a class because it offends YOU. These are not thoughts typically found in institutions of higher learning but rather in a barn in rural Mississippi.

(03-20-2018 09:38 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  I am absolutely convinced that Stevo in on the EMU payroll.

No! No! No!

I live 500 miles from Ypsilanti and am retired. Not on any payroll.

I am disappointed that EMU lost last night because I was going to drive to Lynchburg for the Liberty CIT game Saturday.

I'm not going to post my life's resume here, but I do have an undergraduate business degree from Wayne State (originally wanted to be an accountant), been treasure of a HOA where I live, etc. Think I bought my first stocks when I was 16 or 17 years old where I learned to read financial statements before I got to college accounting.

I did have a course in statistics (probability) at MSU as a guest student. Still have the text book. So when I get geeky on probability and odds, etc. that is where it comes from (plus my annual trips to Vegas).

So financial statements, odds, probabilities, etc. are like free throws to a college basketball player.

The only other thing I would say, it that over the last 25+ years I have been friends with folks who know what is happening at EMU. As some may know, I am a friend of the now deceased Bill Fennel. Bill and EMU were like hand in a glove. Nothing happened at EMU that Bill did not know. Before the Internet, I learned what was happening at EMU from Bill. He would cut out articles from the Ann Arbor News and send them to me. Once a week I received a package of newspaper articles. Probably still have basketball articles by John Barton (?) and Amy Whitesall of the Ann Arbor News. We're talking 20 years ago.

Dear Bob,
I could say the same thing about men's swimming. You eliminate a program that has brought more championships than almost any other sport? emu steve is correct when you look at travel costs alone for the baseball team going South or West every year. I'm sure softball was partially eliminated for that very reason.

EMU Steve is just a proud alumnus who stands up for his school with facts. I think certain posters ought to try that...

If you are choosing to not buy season tickets because of it, I hope you put your money where your mouth is and are at every one of the last softball, wrestling, swimming, and tennis events this year.