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

I couldn't get the article...can you post it here...

ohio response wrote:

http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=27261

looks like the link has mysteriosly disappeared.

very odd... not sure what happened to the article

I found this one...see if this works...

http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/articles/2007/02/06/news/17484.html

bump

what is the ohio university presidents email address

Article in today's Columbus Dispatch

COLLEGES OHIO UNIVERSITY

Former track coach disowns his old school

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Mark Znidar

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Stan Huntsman invested 16 years of his life in Ohio University as a graduate student and track coach.

Last week, he invested a couple of dollars in postage to mail his master’s degree diploma in physical education back to his alma mater.

Huntsman is livid that Ohio has eliminated the men’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams for budgetary reasons and to comply with Title IX.

In protest, he has demanded that a plaque honoring him be taken off the wall in the university athletic hall of fame. He was a student from 1955 and ’56 and a coach for 14 years until 1969.

"Definitely do that with my plaque," Huntsman said by telephone from his home in Austin, Texas. "If they don’t tear it down immediately, I could resort to unlawful methods. I’m not beyond that. Don’t try me. I doubt if I’d do that myself. I won’t step foot on that campus unless it’s the Alden Library.

"I’ve completely severed myself from the university. What I’d do is find somebody to take down that plaque for me. Some people would do that for free."

Huntsman also is unhappy that Ohio is dropping men’s swimming and diving and women’s lacrosse.

"I hope the university would reconsider all this," he said. "I’ve talked to a lot of former athletes and they feel as strongly as I do. I’m really concerned about what has happened. This is shocking. I thought Ohio University was above this. At least try to solve the monetary problems another way. The track team’s budget isn’t even $1 million. The university could change this. It doesn’t take a great administrator to be a hangman."

Ohio athletic director Kirby Hocutt said the university would comply with Huntsman’s wishes regarding the plaque.

"Coach Huntsman has devoted a great deal of his life to Ohio University, and he’s going to have a negative reaction," Hocutt said. "I would hope in time he’d reconsider putting his plaque back up. He means a lot to Ohio."

Huntsman is one of the greatest names in the history of United States track and field and cross country. He was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 39 years as coach at Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, Huntsman coached 46 conference champions. He won NCAA titles at Tennessee in cross country (1972) and outdoor track (1974) and was the U.S. Olympic coach for the 1988 Games and an assistant in 1976 and ’80.

Elmore Banton, another former Ohio track and field coach, said he’s "devastated" by the cuts. In a letter to the university, he wrote that Ohio is guilty of "cut-and-run" tactics. He noted that in 2005-06 the football team ran a $1.9 million deficit and the men’s basketball team a $331,000 deficit.

"The cows are too big for the barn and the chickens are being thrown out," he wrote. "I say put the cows on a diet. You’re attacking the wrong animal."

mznidar@dispatch.com

Ohio athletic director Kirby Hocutt said "Coach Huntsman has devoted a great deal of his life to Ohio University, and he’s going to have a negative reaction,"

To Bad the AD came from Oklahoma State and has no ties to the Ohio University community and probably just wants to make a name for himself and move on…while destroying OU Men’s Track Tradition of over 100 years!!

Huntsman is right. After watching BGSU do the same thing, I thought that Ohio was above the fray. Ohio has always operated their sports programs on a tight budget. When Elmore Banton was head coach for women and men he had the funds for one assistant and one 1/2 time position. No other program that I am aware of was expected to operate on such a tight budget. The track teams have never been excessive spenders and serve a large number of athletes both male and female on a welfare budget.

It all smells rotten to me.

where is the magnificant OU football coach in all of this? has anyone heard from him, has he come forward to save sports, or offer to give up staying out of town on home games in order to fund a sport? of course not. classless human that he is.

The expense involved in putting the football team up in hotels for HOME football games would more than cover the opporating expenses of the men's track & field team. Make that known to everyone within the community. No one will understand hotels for Home Games.

Dr. McDavis, Office of the President, 108 Cutler Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701 Tel: 740-593-1804

Here's an email that will get to the president- Alan Geiger, Assistant to the President, Secretary to the Board of Trustees -

geigera@ohio.edu

Ohio River wrote:

The expense involved in putting the football team up in hotels for HOME football games would more than cover the opporating expenses of the men's track & field team. Make that known to everyone within the community. No one will understand hotels for Home Games.

are you in the area? are you sure the football team stays in hotels for home games? do you have proof? what other luxuries does the football team benefit from that you have proof of? if you have evidence, how much would a 1 page add in the local paper cost?

if this is true, it could be a good point to advertise. people might like football, but they also hate prima donnas.

Here's what I sent to Kroger Corp. today. I figure it won't do any good but it might have more of a chance than signing some petition.

I purchase $300-$400 of items from the ****, Ohio Kroger each week for meals for our track team. If Mr. Perry votes for the cancellation of Ohio University Track and Field next week...I'm finally going over to the dark side and shopping at Wal-Mart.

M. Marnette Perry, Kroger Company, is currently on the board of trustees at Ohio University and will be voting next week at OU's board meeting.

crizzle wrote:

http://www.kroger.com/customercomments.htm

Here's what I sent to Kroger Corp. today. I figure it won't do any good but it might have more of a chance than signing some petition.

I purchase $300-$400 of items from the ****, Ohio Kroger each week for meals for our track team. If Mr. Perry votes for the cancellation of Ohio University Track and Field next week...I'm finally going over to the dark side and shopping at Wal-Mart.

M. Marnette Perry, Kroger Company, is currently on the board of trustees at Ohio University and will be voting next week at OU's board meeting.

bump. very interesting.

The letter I sent Monday to the Ohio University president and all of the Trustees is at the bottom of this article -

http://www.runohio.com/news/01-31-07_Save_track.html

www.runohio.com

Nice...

We\'re getting a little warmer here. Below is a link to the Plain Dealer, Cleveland\'s newspaper. While I don\'t agree with the substance, at least this is the first whiff of informing the public in the northern part of the state.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/bill_livingston/index.ssf?/base/sports/1170928276283650.xml&coll=2

bump... let's keep this at the top