administrations comments in DMN

[Hoop Fan]

It bothered me that Turner and Copeland made the comments they did in the paper today. Of course the revenue sports need to do better. Telling them to do better in the press when you haven't given them the tools to succeed borders on absurd. Why make those comments? And who exactly can do something about it if they can't? Do something about it guys.

[Scoops]

I agree. It's not like the coaches in the revenue sports weren't aware that they were supposed to try to win games. Winning in football, in particular, is a building process, not something that will happen with the snap of Coach Bennett's fingers, now that he knows that his bosses want him to win.

[PonySnob]

The adminstration must decide if it truly wants to be committed to playing at the Div 1 level. How hard would it be to make a committment to athletics like TCU has done? What did they do that has enabled them to become a top 25 team that goes to bowl games every year?

[EastStang]

And what did TCU do exactly that made them succeed. Have lower academic standards than SMU? Always have, always will. Hire Franchione? He's not available. Basketball is about the same as SMU, so nothing to brag about there. Moved to CUSA? That option was not available to SMU. Got a gift from the Sun Bowl? Dropped Men's soccer? Enlighten us.

[3Titles]

Eaststang: You seem like a real bright guy, but I have noticed on several of these threads that you are shooting down a lot of arguments but aren't really giving any thoughts on what you would do to improve things. Do you think we should stay with the status quo and just hope things get better? Should we drop to Div. II? What would be your plan if you were the AD?

[EastStang]

There are some changes that need to be made. First, athlete friendly major or majors which allow for JUCO transfers to be able to transfer hours. Second, I think Coach Dement has had his chance, his contract ends next year, which I wouldn't renew and would probably work out a buy-out now for maybe a more name coach in basketball. There are lots out there. Its clear to me that he's lost this team. I think Bennett should be given a chance to see if he can right the football ship, but the leash is short. Third, Moody needs a capital campaign to freshen it up a bit. I think that is already in the works. Division I-AA or Division II are not options for SMU except in the minds of some pointy headed faculty members. Lastly, someone call Laura Bush and tell her to tell her husband to get Title IX repealed or she's cutting him off. I would not fire the Athletic Director at this point in time. Given what he inherited, he's had an uphill fight and has made steady progress in many areas. I am not happy about track, but I still think its more a Title IX issue and our PC administration just won't say it. If Title IX was repealed tomorrow, track would be back in about five seconds.

[NavyCrimson]

LOL LOL - East Stang!!!

YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT!!!!

[3Titles]

Fair enough Eaststang. I don't agree with you on the Title IX issue. I think Copeland used it as a convenient excuse to find more money to spend on Football and Basketball. I (and about 10 others) met with Copeland last Friday morning and his Title IX argument didn't really make any sense. The Act has been around since 1972 it wasn't passed last Wednesday, he said himself that he didn't really think the risk was very high of it being enforced, and let's face it the NCAA has bigger fish to fry with the fiasco going on at CU.

The actual operating cost of Men's track is around $250k. Scholarships are not an out of pocket expense--just one more guy in class and Copeland still needs to maintain the track because he didn't cut the women's team. I think he is getting very desparate and is scraping together dollars because he doesn't see much improvement in his revenue stream in the coming years (football, basketball, conference payouts). If it were a one year deal, I think track would have stayed. In fact the group that met with him Friday agreed to fund the program for 1 more year. To me this is all indicating that things are much worse than anyone realizes.

[EastStang]

The NCAA doesn't enforce Title IX the U.S. Justice Department does. All it takes is for one female to blow the whistle and Justice must look into it. We're not talking about political appointees at Justice we're talking about career bureaucrats who pull out their calculators and say, hmmm that's a violation we need to enforce it. There have also been statutory moratoriums on its enforcement, but those grace periods have now expired. First off, one more person eating food, sleeping in a dorm, using equipment has a cost, perhaps not $20,000. But the problem is the Administrators view the cost as $20,000+ which is transferred from the University to the athletic department. They see those free students as a loss of revenue. Certainly, the cost of travel, coaches, etc. is probably only $250,000. But what has the Trustees scared is that we might have to add two more women's sports. That would mean 40 more women attending for free, getting dorm space for free, getting equipment and coaches, and travel. If you add softball, its a CUSA sport, thus that team would have to travel all over the country (not just playing UTA, TCU, UNT, Waxahatchie State, Tulsa, etc). If you add women's lacrosse or field hockey, they might have to play a bunch of games in the northeast. So that is in my view the fear that is there. Are funds in short supply? Of course they are. The Committment was the effort to see how deep the alumni were willing to dig. The School now knows that number. I'm sure its no where near where it needs to be to fund 17 sports for Division 1-A.

[ponyte]

SMU athletics is in deep trouble just to state the obvious. When companies are in trouble, a common strategy is to concentrate on core products and services that generate the greatest potential for revenue and profit.

For all the gnashing of teeth over track, it didn't generate a penny's worth of revenue. Sure it had a great tradition with winning and I am sure there are a few who really thought all those guys running around in tight little shorts were great BUT, it doesn't help our program generate what it needs the most and that is money!

We need to concentrate all available resources (as allowed by law and NCAA rules) to the sports that generate money.

If cutting the track team is part of a plan to improve our most important products, then Bravo to the administration for making a hard decision and carrying through with it.

[EastStang]

To quote from Major League, the track team has only one option, to win the whole f...ing thing. Go for it guys, and see if they want to cut the defending national champions.

[3Titles]

I will second that Eaststang

I don't know if these figures are even available, but does anyone know what percentage of D1 schools are in compliance with Title IX. Also, when was the last time the Justice Department enforced Title IX at a school? Do you think the Justice Department would go after a school that has the First Lady as a member of the board of trustees?

[EastStang]

One possibility is that because Laura is a trustee we are trying to be purer than Caesar's wife in order prevent that October Headline, "First Lady presides over discriminatory University". Remember, we are trying to land the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

[Dooby]

I will second that Eaststang

I don't know if these figures are even available, but does anyone know what percentage of D1 schools are in compliance with Title IX. Also, when was the last time the Justice Department enforced Title IX at a school? Do you think the Justice Department would go after a school that has the First Lady as a member of the board of trustees?

You are in compliance if you are making a continuing effort to get to gender equity. Some schools are there. Many are not. But those that are not have to be "trying to get there", meaning (i) adding women's sports and more scholarships; or (ii) removing men's sports or scholarships.

This website has some of the information you are looking for: http://chronicle.com/stats/genderequity/2002/participationresults.php?comparetype=Division&searchtype=I-A

[3Titles]

Thanks for the link Dooby. Seems we are about in the middle of the pack for compliance. On a good note however, it looks like we are beating TCU in something anyway. Maybe we can get the skillet back for that.