Last Wednesday, 1,000 Rutgers football fans gathered to see coach Greg Schiano introduce his new incoming class. Only a few dozen people showed up two days later to hear final word that six other varsity sports would be cut.
First, the good news for New Jersey sports fans: After an 11-2 season, the long-downtrodden program has generated enthusiasm (and can take partial credit for a 6% increase in applications and a 35% jump in fundraising).
"Nearly 700 people interrupted their workday to watch a spotty Internet feed of Schiano introducing his class to the media yesterday, and another 1,000 or so attended a Touchdown Club meeting at the Rutgers Athletic Center to hear Schiano introduce the class in person," Steve Politi writes in the Newark Star Ledger. "Is it LSU, where 5,000 show up for a party? No, but it's different from a few years ago."
But the 190 athletes -- including swimmers, divers, fencers and tennis players -- who saw their teams lose varsity status aren't happy about the change from a few years ago. New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy resists taking easy shots at football (noting that its losses have declined even as the budget has grown) and points out that Rutgers still has more varsity teams than most state universities.
"It is open to debate whether state taxpayers should support Olympic-style sports that do not interest the vast majority of the student body and rarely lead to discernible careers after graduation," Mr. Bondy writes. "Isn't it better to get that scholarship and class space into the hands of a future doctor than an outstanding fencer? But there is no denying the pain here, and the failed commitments to student athletes who came to Rutgers on faith."
