DI sports program casualities - FURMAN

Swooping back in here with my thoughts



1. Furman is a private liberal arts school with a damn good reputation for academics. As such, yes, it's expensive as hell compared to state schools in South Carolina but Clemson's 'back of the door' out of state price is over $40K per year so take that for what it's worth, too. The difference in the two schools (football aside LOL) is that Furman has some good financial offerings and academic scholarships to out of state students - Clemson is notorious for not having these because of the demand to attend that school. (not bashing Clemson - I'm a graduate of that school and thank God I was there a thousand years ago when it was smaller and more affordable - and when the football program sucked LOL)



2. It's not just sports programs being cut there - or at many schools. From the article - "school officials are cutting the salaries of the president and senior administrators, implement furloughs and enacting budget reductions, according to its athletic website."



3. All universities have taken a financial hit due to this virus. Some have actually refunded money to students - others have not. The ones who did are probably hoping it's enough of a good will gesture to have students return- but many are not out of concern or fear or costs or whatever reason. Let's hope colleges and universities fare better than retailers like JC Penny or Neiman Marcus - hopefully they will because I think educating the next generation is more important than some over priced clothes or the Needless Markup catalog stuff.



4. Not every athlete has the option or desire to turn pro - some athletes actually want to be student athletes, continue to play their sport, get an education and have that resume perk of saying they were a college athlete on their resume. Personally I'd rather hire the kid who juggled 5am lifting, classes, a 2+ hour training session in the afternoon and homework than your run of the mill sorority/fraternity officer. For that reason I sure hope NCAA Athletics don't go away in 20 years - for those kids playing the 'non-revenue' sports while in school.



5. Can't speak to D1 football scholarships as my kid is a female soccer player at a smaller school, but those 'free room, board, tuition' claims are not accurate for most sports. And even the D1 football players at the big schools don't all have 'free rides' - percentage wise, the number of college athletes across all sports not paying a dime for school on an athletic scholarship only is low - very very low. Oh - but the budgets for athletic and academic - separate things -a strong football program doesn't mean a crappy biology department - apples and oranges. Granted sports boosters tend to be a tad more generous than the alumni giving fund, but the two budgets are completely different and one does not take away or lift up the other.



6. College - athletics or not - will be drastically changing as a result of this pandemic. Schools may have to up their IT budget to ensure online learning is secure and available; adjust how professors teach or how certain classes are structured to ensure the health and safety of students. Those who can adapt, will still exist in some form - those who cannot won't.



7. The 'greed' of the NCAA would be tied to the number of sports an institution pays the NCAA to have as a sanctioned team. Therefore eliminating a program has nothing to do with greed of the NCAA but about cost cutting of the school. As for paying college athletes, while I can see the frustration of that star quarterback at a top school seeing his jersey everywhere and he doesn't get a dime of it, that jersey is what got and is keeping him at that school - scholarships likely too if he's good enough to have strangers want to wear his jersey. But does Trevor Lawrence make all the money for Clemson football - no! He's a draw and in 3 more years, there'll be another kid who is that draw watching strangers wear his jersey, too. Again most college athletes don't have that lure of the NFL or NBA out there with hope of making millions and they're just there to play and get the degree. How would you break out the 'payment of athletes - what's the wrestler worth - or the tennis player? Is it tied to ticket sales? That'd be disproportional when the football stadium houses tens of thousands and the tennis venue holds a few hundred. I can't get behind the cries of 'greed' by the NCAA or wanting to pay a 19 year old quarterback to come play at your school. They get 'paid' in other ways - legal and not (again, boosters are generous but not always ethical - go lookup SMU's 'death penalty' years)



8. Finally, the NCAA won't allow sports to be played if the school is deemed 'closed' - it's why the spring seasons were cut short this year. California already announced their state schools would be mostly online but some on campus instruction - just enough to ensure they aren't considered closed and those revenue sports can continue. That is as long as they can sell tickets and people will come to the stadiums. Budgets for academics and athletics may be separate but the desire to get that money is universal and those bigger schools know what a draw a successful football program can be for prospective students who want that experience out of their college years - which means more revenue coming in for tuition from the non-athlete students who want to attend the school and see a good football team.  


For me - I hope we aren't told the season will happen but with no spectators. I enjoy watching my kid on the field at her university. She enjoys the crowds larger than what she had in club or high school. And I think we all just want to get back to normal - whatever that new normal is.

Missed you guys -hope everyone is safe - I better jump back on another work call now