All I Know

[cuseguy]

This program is a friggin soap opera.

 

[Cusefan95]

It would be kind of ironic if the end result of this is that Syracuse decided to de-emphasize athletics - because ESPN is currently negotiating a new TV deal with the ACC, and a big part of the increase is due to the attractiveness of Syracuse. So ESPN may be overpaying for a product because they set in motion a series of events that devalued the product.

 

[cuseguy]

It would be kind of ironic if the end result of this is that Syracuse decided to de-emphasize athletics - because ESPN is currently negotiating a new TV deal with the ACC, and a big part of the increase is due to the attractiveness of Syracuse. So ESPN may be overpaying for a product because they set in motion a series of events that devalued the product.

That's not happening. But a lot of people at Syracuse are going to have to take a closer look in the mirror.

 

[Cusefan95]

That's not happening. But a lot of people at Syracuse are going to have to take a closer look in the mirror.

Curious why you say that it won't happen - if I was a university administrator I'd certainly be wondering if we have the ability to be successful in football within a reasonable budget and if dealing with the drama in hoops is worth it. I'd probably be advocating going cheap on athletics and using the ACC money to ensure the athletic department stays in the black.

 

[cuseguy]

Curious why you say that it won't happen - if I was a university administrator I'd certainly be wondering if we have the ability to be successful in football within a reasonable budget and if dealing with the drama in hoops is worth it. I'd probably be advocating going cheap on athletics and using the ACC money to ensure the athletic department stays in the black.

You're not a university administrator. I guess this is how you would react if you were. If SU was serious about downgrading sports, they would have stayed in the BE...not uprooted themselves for the ACC.

 

[Cusefan95]

You're not a university administrator. I guess this is how you would react if you were. If SU was serious about downgrading sports, they would have stayed in the BE...not uprooted themselves for the ACC.

Joining the ACC is about revenue certainty, not about competing for national championships. The absolute BEST time to downgrade athletics is when you've created revenue certainty regardless of your on field performance. So I think joining the ACC demonstrates nothing in regards to the long term commitment to athletics on the hill.

 

[zeekay]

Joining the ACC is about revenue certainty, not about competing for national championships. The absolute BEST time to downgrade athletics is when you've created revenue certainty regardless of your on field performance. So I think joining the ACC demonstrates nothing in regards to the long term commitment to athletics on the hill.

So basically go the Boston College route? They jumped ship and refunneled most ACC money into school operations instead of athletics.

 

[Cusefan95]

So basically go the Boston College route? They jumped ship and refunneled most ACC money into school operations instead of athletics.

Pretty much sums it up, although I think having every sports journalist in the country turning over rocks in Syracuse provides SU more justification to do so than BC had

 

[orange79]

Joining the ACC is about revenue certainty, not about competing for national championships. The absolute BEST time to downgrade athletics is when you've created revenue certainty regardless of your on field performance. So I think joining the ACC demonstrates nothing in regards to the long term commitment to athletics on the hill.

Did you read through your posts to see if they made any damn sense at all? Downgrade athletics. Really? Please explain to the free world why we would join the ACC only to downgrade athletics. What do you think the ACC would do if we said, "ya know, thanks and all, but we're gonna go the 1-AA route. OK with y'all?" Just wow, dude.

 

[Cusefan95]

Did you read through your posts to see if they made any damn sense at all? Downgrade athletics. Really? Please explain to the free world why we would join the ACC only to downgrade athletics. What do you think the ACC would do if we said, "ya know, thanks and all, but we're gonna go the 1-AA route. OK with y'all?" Just wow, dude.

Didn't say downgrade as in dropping down to DIAA...talking about reduced financial commitment. And - when you already know that your revenues are secure - you can consider reducing your financial commitment (obviously the on-field performance will decline as well).

So, uh, yeah - its actually a pretty logical and consistent position I'm taking. Sorry you're not intelligent enough to understand it.

 

[orange79]

Didn't say downgrade as in dropping down to DIAA...talking about reduced financial commitment. And - when you already know that your revenues are secure - you can consider reducing your financial commitment (obviously the on-field performance will decline as well).

So, uh, yeah - its actually a pretty logical and consistent position I'm taking. Sorry you're not intelligent enough to understand it.

Will.Not.Happen.Sparky

 

[Shermthegeneral]

This board is a soap opera! Some of the comments lately are ridiculous!

 

[Cusefan95]

Will.Not.Happen.Sparky

Other than "because I don't want it to", please give a reason why the University would not take this course of action.

I think people are way too emotionally invested in this. Right now the university is facing all kinds of PR issues. they've gotta be discussing their strategy for the short term and near term on how to manage a "crisis" situation. If nobody in the room has even brought this up as an option to be discussed, the wrong people are in the room. It may not be the final plan (for a variety of valid reasons) - but to dismiss it out-of-hand is foolish.

 

[BleedsOrange44]

Other than "because I don't want it to", please give a reason why the University would not take this course of action.

I think people are way too emotionally invested in this. Right now the university is facing all kinds of PR issues. they've gotta be discussing their strategy for the short term and near term on how to manage a "crisis" situation. If nobody in the room has even brought this up as an option to be discussed, the wrong people are in the room. It may not be the final plan (for a variety of valid reasons) - but to dismiss it out-of-hand is foolish.

Because Syracuse athletics mean too much to the community, the perception of the school as a whole, and makes too much money. Doing what you're suggesting would make Syracuse vulnerable to being excluded from other expansion or being replaced in the future.

Also, it would significantly decrease boosters and financial donors to the University, who largely give based on athletics. If they see the athletics being diminished as you're suggesting, they likely wouldn't as generous with their donations.

 

[Cusefan95]

Because Syracuse athletics mean too much to the community, the perception of the school as a whole, and makes too much money. Doing what you're suggesting would make Syracuse vulnerable to being excluded from other expansion or being replaced in the future.

Also, it would significantly decrease boosters and financial donors to the University, who largely give based on athletics. If they see the athletics being diminished as you're suggesting, they likely wouldn't as generous with their donations.

I don't believe emotional appeals of the value to the community are likely to carry the day. The reputation of the school may be suffering due to the national perception right now, so that may be more of a negative than a positive. The additional money from the ACC would (probably) more than cover any lost gate receipts - certainly they would be leaving money on the table and it would be one reason not to de-emphasize athletics.

Various studies on booster donations correlated to athletic success show conflicting results. I would imagine that it's university specific; if you are correct that booster/donor money would decrease substantially it would be a reason not to de-emphasize athletics. It would certainly be a point to cover in the discussion.

in my mind by far and away the biggest drawback from de-emphasizing athletics is that - for a small private university - there is virtually no going back from that decision. Once it's been made and implemented, it would be very hard for Syracuse to ever recover. Possibly in basketball they could substantially recover, but falling too far behind in football means being a perennial basement dweller. That leads into the other point you made, that the conference affiliations are so fluid right now that Syracuse could easily find themselves on the outside looking in once all the maneuvering is done. In general nobody wants to make a decision that cuts off almost all options to you to adapt to future conditions...if Syracuse remains committed to a vision of competing for championships in all sports I believe this will be the reason why.

 

[Moontan]

Syracuse University (including its chancellor) looks at athletics as a recruiting tool. Scaling back in this area would likely be part of a plan to reduce the overall size of the university. I do not believe that the chancellor has plans for such actions.

The athletic director is focused on on-field/court success. All programs are expected to compete for conference championships, and beyond. If a program is deemed not to be able to compete (due to facilities) it is considered for elimination (e.g. swimming & diving). Any coach that is in a 3-year decline should be concerned about his/her position.

 

[SU2NASA]

This program is a friggin soap opera.

Here, I found you a new avatar.

 

[orangecuse]

Other than "because I don't want it to", please give a reason why the University would not take this course of action.

I think people are way too emotionally invested in this. Right now the university is facing all kinds of PR issues. they've gotta be discussing their strategy for the short term and near term on how to manage a "crisis" situation. If nobody in the room has even brought this up as an option to be discussed, the wrong people are in the room. It may not be the final plan (for a variety of valid reasons) - but to dismiss it out-of-hand is foolish.

Your thinking is a bit illogical. What makes you think that if SU were to ever do such a thing, that the ACC wouldn't just kick their arses out ala what the Big East did to Temple?

 

[Cusefan95]

Your thinking is a bit illogical. What makes you think that if SU were to ever do such a thing, that the ACC wouldn't just kick their arses out ala what the Big East did to Temple?

Don't know for certain, but I would expect all conferences have minimum standards for member institutions athletic departments. Temple wasn't meeting the minimum standards which is the justification for why they got booted. What I'm suggesting is Syracuse wouldn't spend much more than whatever minimum standards the ACC has in place. Hard to boot a member institution that is meeting the guidelines...

 

[Cusefan95]

Syracuse University (including its chancellor) looks at athletics as a recruiting tool. Scaling back in this area would likely be part of a plan to reduce the overall size of the university. I do not believe that the chancellor has plans for such actions.

...or it would mean that circumstances have changed significantly enough that a successful athletics department is not looked at as a viable recruiting tool. One possible such circumstance would be that your coaches cannot jaywalk without having it be the lead story on Sportcenter and portrayed as a symptom of a university that lacks institutional control. (Exaggerating for effect, hopefully you get the point - there is such a thing as bad publicity).

I suspect that we've become such a win-at-all costs culture that prospective students would rather go to a school with an outlaw winning program than a losing program that plays by all the rules - everything else being equal. So there may be no level of bad publicity that will sway SU from wanting to maintain winning athletic programs.

 

[Bortukal]

This program is a friggin soap opera.

Its like a bad 80's sitcom. Its like we are at the point where we should be gasping, "What else could POSSIBLY go wrong!?" Then the Dome gets raided by the ATF and the beer taps are shut off.