Leaderboard

So he sees the value of the big three sports as a marketing tool, but you can bet the cuts will include marketing for those programs. So he's happy with status quo, a football program barely meeting NCAA BCS requirements and struggling to contend in the MAC, the basketball program that seems satisfied to contend in the MAC tourney, and the highly successful and popular soccer program that no doubt brings some attention among higher demographics. Not what I wanted to hear. You know my thoughts, "go hard or go home". If you're not going to put a serious effort into BCS football, back out. I'd rather contend at a lower level than strive to be a mediocre MAC team. This past week it was announced Wadsworth was dropping from Division I to Division II in football, and the response has been almost completely positive. We can't compete against the heavy recruiter$. We barely met the requirements for D1 and it was impossible to build with our size and budget. We're going to have a L O T of fun in D2!!! So what does get cut? Sadly, following CSU's lead, baseball is the first to go. It's TItle IX friendly, and our facilities are shitty anyway. It has a heavy travel budget in March. And there's little hope for growth with zero marketing and pulling all but one game out of Canal Park. And it's not a sport a cold weather program has any hope of sniffing a long tournament run. What else? Men's golf, cross country, rifle, track. Women's cross country, golf, rifle, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track, volleyball. On a side note, Cleveland State defunded wrestling to add lacrosse, but then changed their mind by funding it though higher student fees. Anyway it's all moot here as the only sports taken seriously by the majority of posters are the big three. They won't get funding cut, but don't look for funding increases (growth) or any type of serious marketing under Scarborough Fair.

For a short-handed team, game #4 was the worst in the championship series as it was the only time when a third game was played in five days. It was pretty obvious that the Cavs were feeling the fatigue while the Warriors had lots of energy from a deeper bench with players having averaged fewer minutes. Delly spent time on the bench getting more treatment for leg cramps and LeBron getting his head split open on the videocam didn't help. Most of the predictions about Golden State easily rolling over the Cavs were based on a deep and talented roster over a short bench missing two of its stars. Whether or not they win another game, the Cavs have shown a lot of heart under circumstances as difficult as any NBA Finals team has ever faced.

zip-O-matic, while it's possible that OU may have passed UA in total R&D spending since the last numbers cited (2013), the recent trend has been more in UA's favor according to the table I linked to in my last post. Over the six years from 2008 through 2013, UA's ranking has risen every year from #224 in 2008 to #169 in 2013. Over the same period OU has been much flatter, slowly rising from #195 in 2008 to #185 in 2013. UA surpassed OU in this area in 2010 and steadily increased the gap through 2013. Anyway, it's a waste of time trying to convince certain OU boosters that their alma mater is not superior to UA in every imaginable way. There's plenty to discuss about UA rebranding without getting sidetracked on debating which school may be ranked a little higher or lower on the same side of the napkin.

You don't have to be a absurd optimist to see that this is really a glass half full for anyone taking a new job. Someone with vision can handle these problems, particularly the attendance issues. And the glass is half full simple because, on each point, there is reason to hope; Football program is unimportant but that could be said in relative terms for any non BCS team. Facilities are great, recruiting area is rich. Coach has a winning history. All that is needed is a vision and a bit of luck. Soccer program has some serious laurels to either rest on, or to take advantage of. Basketball program is among the most stable in all the mid-majors. Again, vision... Not feeble marketing, but vision will fix the attendance issues. Arena? Patience and hard work. This worm can turn.