More happiness with direction of football program

[Kosty]

I'd be willing to bet there wasn't much viewership for that piece last night because I'd bet a good amount of people actually changed the channel once Atlanta went up 35-0........

[eldonabe]

Every single progam has people bitching about it for one reason or another. Some object to the money spent, some is the neandrethals that play the game.

The problem Umass has is that the ratio of supporters to bashers is probably pretty dam close to inverse (90/10 for those programs versus 10/90 for our supporters).

The bottom line is that in most cases athletics is a loss-leader for about 98% of colleges (probably even higher). Even if Football "makes" money the rest of their olympic sports use that money as they have almost zero income and all expense. If you really took every single pure dime of money spent - including scholarships, equipment, facilities, utilities, travel, salaries etc... versus real money earned - merchandise, ticket sales, TV revenue, and concessions - it is a net loss. What you can't accurately measure is donations because it is impossible to pinpoint exactly how much is coming in just because of sport (whether it is earmarked that way or not), and then the unmeasureable marketing value componenet as well.

It is a very fucked up system if take away the your personal pro/con biases and just look at the real mechanics of college athletics in its pure form. Athletics are not education, they are extra curricular activities that had unintended [originally] consequences of unbelievable marketing exposure and gobs of cash revenue (not income, just money moving). Schools figured out that sports were a great way to garner alumni support for donations and selling merchandise with their stuff on it. It is the epitome of the "look at me" society that we live in today.

I am not bashing the system, I am just trying to reduce it to its lowest common denominator. People who don't like or want Umass Sports, don't like or want sports. Sports is my reality TV, and it is about the only thing I have time to follow these days outside of work and kids. If you peel back the onion and see the real cost/income ratio, a rational person would/should be against college sports across the board, but it does not work that way. The value we put on entertainment is irrational compared to the value we put on scientists and thinkers who really affefct the world we live in - most people could give a shit that Jake the Chemist made a better drug for headaches for the planet, but Jake the QB threw for 350 and 3 TDs and people do backflips and page after page of articles are in the paper.....

In the news....

Umass get grant to build new engineering building - "Yawn...."
Umass adds three weight benches to its football facility - "WOW, Really, that is awesome...."

It's a fucking joke, but it is reality...

[sleepy sheep]

^^^Great post plus 100. UMass may be doing better and higher ranked higher than it ever has been and what put it on national TV? The basketball team making a postseason tournament in March.

[Mass Grad]

Athletics are not education

Mind, body, spirit is an ancient educational philosophy.

Also the motto of the YMCA and Springfield College

[classof62-64]

What you can't accurately measure is donations because it is impossible to pinpoint exactly how much is coming in just because of sport (whether it is earmarked that way or not), and then the unmeasureable marketing value componenet as well.

The value we put on entertainment is irrational compared to the value we put on scientists and thinkers who really affefct the world we live in - most people could give a shit that Jake the Chemist made a better drug for headaches for the planet, but Jake the QB threw for 350 and 3 TDs and people do backflips and page after page of articles are in the paper.....

In the news....

Umass get grant to build new engineering building - "Yawn...."
Umass adds three weight benches to its football facility - "WOW, Really, that is awesome...."

It's a fucking joke, but it is reality...

Well said. I'm hardly a big time donor, but I am a donor. Living on the West Coast, national recognition, which, like it or not, comes mainly through athletics, gives me a feeling of connection to UMass - which I didn't have until sometime in the 1990's. Hence, the dollars (limited as they may be) keep on flowing.

[eldonabe]

^ and you are EXACTLY why Umass has to be successful on the field (wins).

There are not enough Signman's or NJUmass's out there to blindly suopport Umass sports. It's the associational support that is so important (associated with a winner or a team in the headlines - not fo some silly reason like you went to school there...). That is how the Mullins got built.... Not because they needed it (which we all agree they desperately did) but because everyone wanted to hitch their cart to Calapairi's Umass Minutemen which meant donantions donations donations....

[Jack]

Mullins center was planned in the 1980's, long before Saint John was on campus.

[DrG]

I corroborate Jack's account. I was close to this thing back in the early 80's. The origin of the Mullins Center was a bond issue inspired by hockey alumni who wanted to bring the defunct program back and called for a hockey rink on campus. State Representative Bill Mullins and others expanded on this and crafted a bond issue for a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena that eventually got passed, and all this happened before Cal's arrival. Hey, I love Coach Cal, but he always kind of took credit for the Mullins Center when in fact he had nothing to do with it. In fact, I wonder if he would have taken the UMass job if the plans weren't already on track.

[Dickie Dunn]

It is interesting how much the design of the Mullins changed in a relatively short time. There is a picture of the sketch of the outside of the proposed Mullins on the back of the 1989-90 men's basketball media guide, and it really looks nothing like Mullins. Ground-breaking was less than a year later.

[MikeUMA]

Max Page event today at 4
http://www.umass.edu/events/distinguish ... r-max-page

Will any football fans stand in the back and heckle him?

[njumass08]

^ Won't be able to make that one, but he's coming to NYC Public Library next Wednesday. Contemplating whether or not I should show up with my Muck Fax Page t-shirt.

http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/201 ... oster-rice

(Don't worry, I'm not really going to go)

[cox'n]

NJ, what about if we all chip in $20.00?

[njumass08]

^ Nah, I have to play it cool right now. Haha, but if he comes out with more anti-football stuff before next Wednesday I could change my mind.

[njumass08]

@KSubbaswamy · 3h 3 hours ago
With Prof. Max Page who delivered the Distinguished Faculty Lecture last night.

Keep your friends close, BUT YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER

[njumass08]

^ BTW, totally a "I own you smile" from Swamy and a "I really don't like this guy" smirk from Max.