Ohio U. TF- The Real Story - Behind the Axe

The Ohio University Athletic Director turned down the proposed plan by Ohio University Men’s Track and Field alumni to:

1. Eliminate Indoor Track

2. Keep the Outdoor track team with a smaller roster of athletes (35)

3. Raise an endowment that would fund the operating budget for the outdoor

season.

www.runohio.com

Nice post on this issue -

http://www.jjhuddle.com/discus/messages/348563/509012.php

Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 07:43 pm:

Nice reading. I would continue the pressure at OU and All MAC universities.

An EMU alum, in a letter to the OU President and AD stated the following....

"...However, every spring and summer, members of our track team make national championship teams, Olympic teams or club teams where, while the runner is competing during prime-time on Saturday afternoons, I hear the announcer mention our university name 5-12 times in the 4 minute time span that our runner is competing. This is called public relations and brand recognition. Are University presidents and athletic directors so insulated from the the real marketing world that they don't understand such advertising is worth millions to the a univeristy every year? (and during an Olympic year even more?)..."

Basically, he states that the Universities dump money into going to the low level bowl games with nothing to show but a debt... while a runner that runs in a meet that is televised, gets the school mentioned and gets FREE national exposer....

This EMU alum knows what he is talking about, he has an extensive background in marketing....

The complete letter is listed on -

http://bringingbackohiotrack.blogspot.com

What you are forgetting is that people really like football.

enough to leave ohio with a 2+ million dollar defecit?

During a four-minute interview with NCAA president Dr. Myles Brand about cutting Men’s Sports, he said he was against eliminating student participation opportunity. He also said many schools are using Title IX as an escape goat…his interview of March 5th can be found at -

http://www.doubleazone.com/2007/03

Click on - Listen to Mondays With Myles

runohio wrote:

He also said many schools are using Title IX as an escape goat

I can only pray a university president didn't say "an escape goat". That is funny on so many levels that my gut is hurting this very moment.

yes, he did!!

Lets Unite -

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=1772788&thread=1766939

MACer wrote:

yes, he did!!

Lets Unite -

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=1772788&thread=1766939

I just listened to the interview with Dr. Myles Brand.

He did NOT say 'escape' goat. He repeated back to the interviewer Josh when asked why Title IX was used to cut sports; and he said (clearly) Title IX was being used as a scape goat.

Ok

So if they just came out and said, "We don't want to have a men's track team any more." Would that satisfy everyone?

As long as the NCAA requires a school to carry a minimum number of sports (in order to get MarchMadness $$$), that is what they will shoot for.

If the NCAA required schools to carry more Men's sports, then you'd see more wrestling, T&F, XC on campus. Mr. Brand has the power to help, but I doubt he cares.

Jizzmo wrote:

Ok

So if they just came out and said, "We don't want to have a men's track team any more." Would that satisfy everyone?

Mr. Brand has the power to help, but I doubt he cares.

Jizzmo:

Mr. Bland was speaking from this perspective:

If you are going to drop varsity sports, then university's need to be honest and say, we are having budget issues or we want to put more money into another sport. Mr. Bland is expressing that by using Title IX as your excuse, the university is created a disservice to the amendment, and shifting blame onto a civil rights law to prevent offering the truth.

should read universities need or the university needs.

I hope wejo doesn't ban me for correcting my own spelling.

I don't see where the "why" is even relevant. So,in lieu of a good answer they came up with a bad one. If they'd just said "budgetary issues" would there be a 10+ page thread on this?

Jizzmo wrote:

I don't see where the "why" is even relevant. So,in lieu of a good answer they came up with a bad one. If they'd just said "budgetary issues" would there be a 10+ page thread on this?

I'm not sure if there would be a long thread or not. I imagine that cutting a program of any type affects a significant number of individuals in some way. The rationale one offers should at least be truthful. It's called accountability. Alumni and supporters are asking for accountability. What they do with it remains to be seen.

Here are some interesting facts from some of the public records request recevied by

http://bringingbackohiotrack.blogspot.com

Four years ago the nine assistant football coaches and head football coach had a combine salary of $606,640…Last year’s their combined salary for the ten football coaches was $896,246. Not sure how a program which lost $1.9 million last year can justify such a large increase in base salaries.

Also, two years ago the head coach (Brian Knorr) received a base salary of $156,000…The present coach received $249,672.

RIAA tells students: Pay up for downloads Fri Mar 9, 7:02 AM ET

ATHENS, Ohio - The music industry is asking 50 Ohio University students to pay $3,000 each to avoid lawsuits accusing them of pirating songs off the Internet.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Recording Industry Association of America asked the university to pass along letters to the students with Internet addresses accused of being involved with the illegal sharing of copyrighted music. The university notified the students on Monday.

"The downloading has occurred and we can't change that, but we can let them know what their options are," OU spokeswoman Sally Linder said Wednesday.

Patrick McGee, a local attorney the university arranged to meet with students, said $3,000 is the standard offer though cases have settled for as much as $5,000. He has represented four Ohio University students in file-sharing lawsuits.

Jenni Engebretsen, spokeswoman for the trade group, based in Washington, D.C., would not disclose or confirm what the standard settlement offer is. She did say no cases have gone to trial yet across the country.

As part of its ongoing copyright crackdown, the association has already sued about 18,000 computer users nationwide since September 2003. The figure includes 1,062 computer users at 130 universities.

The association said last month that it intended to sue more students and others on campuses in the next three months than it has in the past three years and that it would send 400 letters a month to computer users suspected of copyright infringement.

Letters were sent to 13 universities last week, giving students 20 days to pay a settlement.

A letter to one Ohio University student told her that she distributed 787 audio files, putting her total minimum potential liability at more than $590,000. The minimum damages under the law is $750 for each copyright recording that had been shared, the letter said.

Many students cannot even afford the $3,000, McGee said.

"I think the record company is smart enough to know that a lot of students do not have the money," he said. "They can't actually take them up on the offer."

In a strange twist of fate...

Scott Mayle, a football and track and field athlete at Ohio University wins NCAA Division I Title in the Long Jump this weekend.

http://ohiobobcats.cstv.com/sports/c-track/mtt/mayle_scott00.html