http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/29/academic-leaders-question-oregons-football-budget/

Why should the athletic department provide for general academics?

I'm sorry. Let me cry you a river so you can build a bridge and jump off of it.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

Why should the athletic department provide for general academics?

---

Because professors with double doctorates in Shakespearean literature and women's studies think they contribute more to society than football coaches and are resentful that they slave away for crap wages while football coaches get paid.

---

You're as bad as the *****y professors.

p.s. The two profs quoted were the former dean of the business school and an economics professor.

---

Can't alumni and Nike decide how their money is spent? Schools stealing money from athletic (and sometimes non athletic) programs is not an uncommon issue. Didn't Grambling Football get money for its mildew problem?
A friend of mine runs a sustainable farm at a small DFw school. She says the school has taken her programs' donations on multiple occasions.

quote:

---

Can't alumni and Nike decide how their money is spent? Schools stealing money from athletic (and sometimes non athletic) programs is not an uncommon issue. Didn't Grambling Football get money for its mildew problem?
A friend of mine runs a sustainable farm at a small DFw school. She says the school has taken her programs' donations on multiple occasions.

---

Schools stealing money from athletic programs is really rare. At nearly all universities, athletic expenses exceed revenues (http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D1REVEXP2013.pdf). Though football tends to be a money-maker.

quote:

---

Why should the athletic department provide for general academics?

---

Because the athletic department is part of the university, not the other way around. I'm sure if the engineering department was making millions of dollars in profit every year that the university would want a cut of that too.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Can't alumni and Nike decide how their money is spent? Schools stealing money from athletic (and sometimes non athletic) programs is not an uncommon issue. Didn't Grambling Football get money for its mildew problem?
A friend of mine runs a sustainable farm at a small DFw school. She says the school has taken her programs' donations on multiple occasions.

---

Schools stealing money from athletic programs is really rare. At nearly all universities, athletic expenses exceed revenues (http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D1REVEXP2013.pdf). Though football tends to be a money-maker.

---

I don't think that is proof of how rare it takes place. A friend of mine is a booster for LSU, wanted to give money to football and was talked into donating to other sports instead. Not stealing, but you get the point.

quote:

---

"It would be really good if we were all in this together and the athletic department was trying to help the rest of the university,"Oregon economics professor Bill Harbaugh said.

---

How many people are aware of the university thanks to the money being pumped into football and the subsequent success of the Oregon program?

quote:

---

quote:

---

Why should the athletic department provide for general academics?

---

Because the athletic department is part of the university, not the other way around. I'm sure if the engineering department was making millions of dollars in profit every year that the university would want a cut of that too.

---

Once the university funds the AD instead of making it run on its own budget, then they can take profits. Until then, they should keep out.

quote:

---

quote:

---

"It would be really good if we were all in this together and the athletic department was trying to help the rest of the university,"Oregon economics professor Bill Harbaugh said.

---

How many people are aware of the university thanks to the money being pumped into football and the subsequent success of the Oregon program?

---

Businesses, and even universities, usually don't let the marketing department keep surpluses or whatever extra money the marketing company attracts. It's part of a larger operation and they take what they need and the higher powers that be decide how to best spend the leftover money.

I'm sure there were plenty of instances over the years when the athletic program at Oregon got direct financial help from the "university".

Very, very, very few athletic programs are self-sustaining and even less have been self-sustaining since the beginning of time.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

Why should the athletic department provide for general academics?

---

Because the athletic department is part of the university, not the other way around. I'm sure if the engineering department was making millions of dollars in profit every year that the university would want a cut of that too.

---

Once the university funds the AD instead of making it run on its own budget, then they can take profits. Until then, they should keep out.

---

The president of the university hires and fires the athletic director, no? I'm not sure the budgeting model makes any difference. It's still a department of the university.

Alright. Then, perhaps he needs to call Phil Knight and ask him to give more money to the university. The problem isn't their football program's usage of funds. And of course rev & expenses are almost a net zero. The other money is probably held by the athletics fundraising arm.

quote:

---

If I donated a million dollars to the athletic program and then found it was being used for education I would be pissed. Especially if I was a former player.

---

If the athletic department doesn't need all of your donation, you'd really be pissed off that it got diverted to better the academics of your university?

While it'd be fair to ask questions of why it got diverted, I don't know why you'd be so mad.

And you better be prepared to answer the much more common questions:

From students: "why do I have a MANDATORY athletics department fee?"

From academics: "Why do we subsidize the athletic depaetment every, single year?"

From donators to the univeristy: "why are my donations to the univeristy potentially being diverted to fund the athletic program?"

quote:

---

quote:

---

If I donated a million dollars to the athletic program and then found it was being used for education I would be pissed. Especially if I was a former player.

---

If the athletic department doesn't need all of your donation, you'd really be pissed off that it got diverted to better the academics of your university?

While it'd be fair to ask questions of why it got diverted, I don't know why you'd be so mad.

And you better be prepared to answer the much more common questions:

From students: "why do I have a MANDATORY athletics department fee?"

From academics: "Why do we subsidize the athletic depaetment every, single year?"

From donators to the univeristy: "why are my donations to the univeristy potentially being diverted to fund the athletic program?"

---

Why would I as a donor, care about any of that? I gave my money to better the athletic department. It should be used for that purpose. And they may not "need" my donation to operate in the black, but it will absolutely Get used by them. Upgrades to facilities, equipment etc. happen all the time.

And same thing. If I donated money to a certain college in the university, and found out another department was stealing it, I would be pissed.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

If I donated a million dollars to the athletic program and then found it was being used for education I would be pissed. Especially if I was a former player.

---

If the athletic department doesn't need all of your donation, you'd really be pissed off that it got diverted to better the academics of your university?

While it'd be fair to ask questions of why it got diverted, I don't know why you'd be so mad.

And you better be prepared to answer the much more common questions:

From students: "why do I have a MANDATORY athletics department fee?"

From academics: "Why do we subsidize the athletic depaetment every, single year?"

From donators to the univeristy: "why are my donations to the univeristy potentially being diverted to fund the athletic program?"

---

Why would I as a donor, care about any of that? I gave my money to better the athletic department. It should be used for that purpose. And they may not "need" my donation to operate in the black, but it will absolutely Get used by them. Upgrades to facilities, equipment etc. happen all the time.

And same thing. If I donated money to a certain college in the university, and found out another department was stealing it, I would be pissed.

---

Who said anything about stealing money?

BTW, of the small minority of athletic programs that are self-sustaining, many give to the academic part of the academic side. The 12th Man Foundation does it.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

Can't alumni and Nike decide how their money is spent? Schools stealing money from athletic (and sometimes non athletic) programs is not an uncommon issue. Didn't Grambling Football get money for its mildew problem?
A friend of mine runs a sustainable farm at a small DFw school. She says the school has taken her programs' donations on multiple occasions.

---

Schools stealing money from athletic programs is really rare. At nearly all universities, athletic expenses exceed revenues (http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D1REVEXP2013.pdf). Though football tends to be a money-maker.

---

I don't think that is proof of how rare it takes place. A friend of mine is a booster for LSU, wanted to give money to football and was talked into donating to other sports instead. Not stealing, but you get the point.

---

Your anecdote offered to refute the linked article has absolutely nothing to do with trying to refute the linked article. I have no idea what your point is (other than your friend was convinced to change his mind about something)

quote:

---

Who said anything about stealing money?

BTW, of the small minority of athletic programs that are self-sustaining, many give to the academic part of the academic side. The 12th Man Foundation does it.

---

All I'm saying is that if I spend the money for x, and they plan to use it for x and y, they better make sure I'm cool with it.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Why should the athletic department provide for general academics?

---

Because the athletic department is part of the university, not the other way around. I'm sure if the engineering department was making millions of dollars in profit every year that the university would want a cut of that too.

---

If the school takes money from the dept there is a real risk that the talent that generates that money goes to another school, then the money goes with them. College sports is a cut throat zero sum game. If Oregon starts diverting money from the AD they will probably find it hard to hang on to their best coaches and support staff, which will affect recruiting, which then means more losses on the field, which is a good way to watch the money slow down (see tu currently for what happens to your money flow when your football team isn't winning as much).

I hope Oregon follows through with this threat because it will put them at a disadvantage on the field. USC is getting past their penalities so Oregon is about to resume their second tier status in the Pac 12 which is where they were when USC had its full allotment of ships 10 years ago.

Hope A&M never does this. We need to put the $ into football at least until we win 1 national title and hopefully many titles!

When you live in a very liberal state and have lots of money, it can be difficult to keep that money since everyone else thinks they DESERVE it. Being located in Oregon definitely isn't helping the athletic department's situation. Look for Knight to suddenly get more involved with his political donations to candidates for state offices.

It's important to know who your daddy is, and Knight has the kind of money that can buy the politicians the put the University president in his position. So even though the AD might work for the president, that doesn't mean he doesn't indirectly control the entire situation.

quote:

---

When you live in a very liberal state and have lots of money, it can be difficult to keep that money since everyone else thinks they DESERVE it. Being located in Oregon definitely isn't helping the athletic department's situation. Look for Knight to suddenly get more involved with his political donations to candidates for state offices.

It's important to know who your daddy is, and Knight has the kind of money that can buy the politicians the put the University president in his position. So even though the AD might work for the president, that doesn't mean he doesn't indirectly control the entire situation.

---

Knight donates a lot more to the academic side at Oregon than he does the athletic side. It doesn't seem like he's upset with the direction and leadership of the larger university and the academics.

I don't think Knight has such an adversarial approach between athletics and academics- he knows better than that- and those two quotes from the Professors notwithstanding, there isn't a good reason why anyone should be taking such an adversarial approach on this.

Question for this thread:

If you had to choose (and I know you don't) between a school with incredible athletics and the best football program, but laughable academics, or a respected academic powerhouse but laughable athletics, which would you want to be identified with?

Yes, yes, yes, I know it's not an either or, and we can strive for both, but still, if you had to choose one, which would it be?

You mean like Alabama vs. Rice?

For undergrad? Absolutely athletics. There are maybe 10 undergrad programs in the nation that actually elevate you. Now there are exceptions, especially with a school network like A&M has. But unless I was going to Yale, Harvard, etc. I'm absolutely picking the one where I'm going to get a decent education and a whole lot of fun.

quote:

---

You mean like Alabama vs. Rice?

---

Good comparison for his question. Answer depends on the individual. Remember that a lot of fans never went to the school, so those fans are going to wear Bama shirts, not Rice shirts. Of those who actually had to get a degree from either Rice or Bama it would depend on the degree and what they planned to do with it and how much they wanted to pay for college and what kind of experience they wanted to have during their college years. For example, a teacher isn't going to be as concerned as a rocket scientist about where their degree comes from.

quote:

---

where I'm going to get a decent education and a whole lot of fun.

---

How about if the academics were on the level of Texas State, or even less "decent". Would athletics really trump academics? Really? That's a pretty expensive athletic allegiance that could as easily be purchased with a couple of t-shirts and some tickets bought online...

They should be questioning some of the worthless degrees they hand out.

Oregon athletics sold their soul to the devil a long time ago

The amount of exposure your school gets has quite a bit of correlation to how much exposure the football team receives.
Both sides benefit from the other, however I'd argue that academia probably benefits more from athletics than the other way around. Think about a lot of schools in the SEC: Alabama, Aurburn, Ole Miss, etc.

quote:

---

The amount of exposure your school gets has quite a bit of correlation to how much exposure the football team receives.
Both sides benefit from the other, however I'd argue that academia probably benefits more from athletics than the other way around. Think about a lot of schools in the SEC: Alabama, Aurburn, Ole Miss, etc.

---

Is this an extension of the "football is the front porch of the university" garbage?