As an EMU parent does this mean I see a reduction in tuition costs?

(03-20-2018 09:51 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  EMU Steve is just a proud alumnus who stands up for his school with facts. I think certain posters ought to try that...

BTW, Frank, I could have invited you along for the drive to Lynchburg if there had been a game Saturday...

(03-20-2018 10:00 AM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  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.

Yep. Or at least make a donation the size of your season ticket package price.

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

(03-20-2018 10:00 AM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  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.

Yep. Or at least make a donation the size of your season ticket package price.

Yes or that.

(03-20-2018 09:47 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(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.

Your contempt for Southerners and people who live in rural areas is established.

One last comment or two or three:

1). I agree with Luckey (I think it was he) who basically thought that 21 sports at EMU was 'unsustainable.' That has proven correct. The only question was which sports to cut. The cuts aren't to super fund FB or MBB but to get the school's finances in order and to make cuts across the board.

2). We finally took the big hit and swallowed our bitter medicine. Hopefully, intercollegiate sports is now on a sound footing for the next decade.

3). UB cut sports to save 2M. There is 'right sizing' going on in the MAC as revenues to MAC schools aren't what they should be. This isn't a problem at most P5 schools (but is at schools like Maryland which literally had to join the B1G, because that is where the $ was) as some actually turn an operating profit on both a cash basis (revenues > expenses) and include expensing scholarships (which don't involve out of pocket costs).

And over the next 2-3 years, I am willing to bet more MAC schools will be making the same press release.

The FAQ clearly states that we have no plans to eliminate other sports. Hopefully we are set for decades to come.

For what it's worth, I also want to say to any student athletes of these 4 sports who are reading:

I am sorry. Truly sorry. I don't know what it feels like to experience what you are going through, but I know it is a shame. If I had the money, I would donate to double EVERY EMU athletic program budget.

My 4 years at EMU were the best of my life, and I'm sorry circumstances lead to many of you not being able to say the same. It is unfair. I wish you the best in your athletic career, professional career, and entire life.

6 Affected by the decision are the sports of softball, men's swimming and diving, women's tennis, and wrestling

(03-20-2018 10:02 AM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  As an EMU parent does this mean I see a reduction in tuition costs?

No because the state is cutting higher educational funding, again.

(03-20-2018 10:29 AM)emussuperfan Wrote:  6 Affected by the decision are the sports of softball, men's swimming and diving, women's tennis, and wrestling

I just read an EMU release:

58 men's athletes and 25 females. That certainly has implications for Title IX compliance. IF EMU was not in compliance, it really helps.

BTW, as suggested by a previous poster, maybe EMU has or will have plans for the softball field near where the new health facility will be.

That land has value.

(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....

Yes, I was pleased to see EMU go to a bowl game. Let's be realistic though. There are 30+ bowl games now. A team does not need to be exceptional to get a bowl bid. They only need to be slightly above average.

Notice how everyone likes to say we beat a big ten school, but nobody likes to point out that it was Rutgers? The primary reason they are in the conference is because of access to football fans in the east. Yes, it was nice to beat them, but they're not OSU or Wisconsin. They're not even Minnesota or Illinois. They're Rutgers.

As for facilities. We're just trying to keep up. Once the newness wears off, we'll be back where we started.

(03-20-2018 09:40 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(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.

Both very true. Tough, necessary decisions being made.

It'll be interesting to read some of the student-athletes of these sports discuss/post on social media.

I'm interested in their perspective.

Did their coaches discuss with them beforehand?

(03-20-2018 11:22 AM)JonesGoddard Wrote:  It'll be interesting to read some of the student-athletes of these sports discuss/post on social media.

I'm interested in their perspective.

Did their coaches discuss with them beforehand?

Wetherbee is doing a press conference as we speak. He said they did not know.

Very hard to watch. Wetherbee is very emotional up there, clearly shedding tears and struggling to get out his words.

You got a feed?

Don't have a feed. Here's the clip I'm talking about: https://twitter.com/JasonColthorp/status...5943406593

What I find ridiculous is the people I know who want to cut the athletics budget are upset too right now.

How can you possibly be upset? THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED! They are sharing quotes from the athletes whose programs are cut, but what did they think would happen? If they cut football the FB players would just "Okay, oh well!" and happily move on? You would be affecting 30-50 MORE male athletes by doing that.

You don't get to pick and choose whose sob stories you get to share. If you don't want to hurt student athletes who swim or wrestle, then you don't get to say "oh well" for football or basketball players.

Guys, I know the feeling. I started in the federal government right around 1980 and less than 3 years later comes a big reduction in force at my agency.

Those who were non vets and < 3 years ("career conditional") went out the door. At headquarters we lost 10% of our staff, including yours truly. When folks got their termination notices there were employees crying all over the place. Employees running to the bath rooms not because they had to go potty, but they didn't want to cry in public.

I've seen happier funerals than this day. It was a Friday. Terminated employees had two weeks. Then gone. Gone. Gone.

Those who had were non-vets and < 3 years were not sure how the retention registers would play out. How many would be fired by job series, etc. How much seniority would be enough to save them.

Employees hoped against hope that it wouldn't be as bad as some feared. It was. Maybe worse. I was just shy of 3 years and hoped that I would make it. I didn't.

One of the measures of a tier one athletic program is the number of sports it compete in. We're falling further behind and establishing ourselves as a minor league.