NYT piece on SUNY "Big Time, Tough Times"

[UBBulls]

SUNY Weighs Value of Division 1 Sports

 

Mostly an overview piece with a missleading title, based on one bit of silly opinion. I saw a topic was posted on this on the AE board, but I don't agree with that thread-starter's opinion. Athletics at all SUNY's have watched their finances and made some cuts, and there are ZERO quotes from SUNY officials, but Assemblyman Rivera's quote is the only one that is negative toward SUNY athletics, and quite silly as well. Rivera cannot speak of what SUNY's mission is because 1) He is not on any education committee, 2) His district falls within CUNY's jurisdiction, not SUNY, 3) He has never attended a SUNY institution, so what does he know of the core mission and values of the University? If he had just said "Perhaps we'll see cuts to athletics at SUNY programs", that's expected. But to speak of SUNY's mission, he's out of bounds.

 

A few errors in the piece as well. I went to HS with the author and sent her an email pointing that SUNY was not the last state system (beside U-Alaska) to see a school's programs go D-1 with UB in '91, as we all know the Dakotas did not see their flagships go D-1 until this decade. Any other errors in the piece that you can see regarding UA, or the AE?

[UAalum72]

I would have liked to see him compare the university subsidy to athletics to other public and private Division I schools.

 

Is New York's prohibition of using public funds for athletic scholarships still in place? Worth a mention.

 

Of course I'm still annoyed with equating the football program with NCAA Division status (Buffalo moved to Division I-A, UA and SBU moved to I-AA, Bing moved to Division I ; should have been written as UB moved to Division I in 1991, upgraded football to I-A in 1999, the same year UA and SBU moved to Division I with their football in I-AA) but probably neither the writer nor 98% of the readers understand the difference.

[Dane96]

No, the prohibition is no longer in place from what I understand.

 

On a funnier note, the Albany pic of Brent Wilson has Will Harris standing over him...of course not taking contact. Will...learn something from Brent!

[Dane96]

No, the prohibition is no longer in place from what I understand.

 

On a funnier note, the Albany pic of Brent Wilson has Will Harris standing over him...of course not taking contact. Will...learn something from Brent!

[danefan]

I'm not sure where they got their budget numbers from. The article is about $5 million off from EADA reporting for Bing, but is pretty close for all other Centers.

 

EADA reporting has the following for the 2007-2008 year:

 

Bing - $12,622,504

Albany - $14,202,538

SBU - $21,325,451

UB - $19,074,882

 

 

What in the world could Bing spend $17 million on?

[Dane96]

Debt service for their Arena that was like 10mm over budget would be a likely start to that ridiculous spending.

[danefan]

Debt service for their Arena that was like 10mm over budget would be a likely start to that ridiculous spending.

 

 

I would think that would be included in their EADA reporting though wouldn't it? Unless they can get around reporting it as athletic expense as its a multi-use facility?

[MRSGDG]

Kind of a dumb article that can't even get their facts straight. Could have been a real insightful piece if the reporter actually got quotes and opinions from people who matter in NYS higher education and SUNY. Instead it reads as if a quick google search was done and they just reached out to someone for a quote that has nothing to do with the subject matter.

[danefan]

I'll bet a pitcher at the Pub that the TU has a similar story this weekend.

 

 

[UBBulls]

The author informed me she did talk to Zimpher, the 4 Center presidents and athletic directors, and other legislators. Zimpher didn't say anything that was different from what the school reps were saying, that being it's basically difficult to measure all of the benefits of D-1 athletics. She will be posting corrections in a day or 2 concerning the order which state schools in the Dakotas moved to D-1. She was relying on old NYT articles which contained incorrect information to begin with.

[UAalum72]

Does that sound any better? - "Well, at least we're ahead of North and South Dakota"

[MRSGDG]

The author informed me she did talk to Zimpher, the 4 Center presidents and athletic directors, and other legislators. Zimpher didn't say anything that was different from what the school reps were saying, that being it's basically difficult to measure all of the benefits of D-1 athletics. She will be posting corrections in a day or 2 concerning the order which state schools in the Dakotas moved to D-1. She was relying on old NYT articles which contained incorrect information to begin with.

 

Did you ask her why she got a quote from Rivera? What was the point in that?

[DanesRGood]

Not sure if this was posted but thought this was an interesting blog entry by the Albany Student Press about this article.

 

http://blog.timesunion.com/asp/802/high-cost-of-high-level-athletics/