What has happened at Hofstra?

[Go...gate]

They dropped football, now their BB team has really hit the skids. LAX still seems OK, but one wonders what is going on out on Long Island. xconfusedx

[downbythebeach]

For one, they got passed up by Stony Brook on long island.

[Go...gate]

I don't think they were passed by Stony Brook at all. The schools are apples and oranges.

Hofstra looked like they were going to become at least a strong FCS FB program and a highly competitive eastern Mid-Major BB program. All that is gone now. Is that attributable to Hofstra's President and Trustees? Is the school intentionally de-emphasizing athletics?

[danefan]

I don't think they were passed by Stony Brook at all. The schools are apples and oranges.

Hofstra looked like they were going to become at least a strong FCS FB program and a highly competitive eastern Mid-Major BB program. All that is gone now. Is that attributable to Hofstra's President and Trustees? Is the school intentionally de-emphasizing athletics?

You can't cut football and increase an emphasis on college athletics.

And I do think they have gotten passed up by Stony Brook in terms of athletics and the public image of their athletic program. Its not really apples to oranges when you talk about athletics on Long Island.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Rabinowitz made a gamble that by killing football he'd impress the A-10 to achieve membership. His gamble has backfired spectacularly. Meanwhile, Stony Brook emerged from essentially nothing to become an all-sports powerhouse in their backyard - and their football success is in some part attributable to getting some Hofstra transfers.

[MR. CHICKEN]

They dropped football, now their BB team has really hit the skids. LAX still seems OK, but one wonders what is going on out on Long Island. xconfusedx

SIMPLE CASE O' LOSIN' GAMES....AN' PLAYER CRIME WAVE....COACH WELSH..CANNED AFTERAH DUI....JES' CLEANIN' HOUSE.....BRR-OCK!

[ccd494]

You can't cut football and increase an emphasis on college athletics.

Sure you can. There is nothing the University of Maine could do that would lead to more across the board athletic success than cut football. Take that money, pour it into hockey, add lacrosse, and we might win something for once.

[Franks Tanks]

Sure you can. There is nothing the University of Maine could do that would lead to more across the board athletic success than cut football. Take that money, pour it into hockey, add lacrosse, and we might win something for once.

In theory yes, but that never seems to happen. When a school cuts football they typically do not invest those funds into other sports. The school may also take away the matching funds for female sports which are no longer needed with football gone.

[danefan]

In theory yes, but that never seems to happen. When a school cuts football they typically do not invest those funds into other sports. The school may also take away the matching funds for female sports which are no longer needed with football gone.

Exactly.

[henfan]

Yup, if FB goes away at UMaine, so do the dollars associated with that sport and some of the Title IX equivalancies.

[DFW HOYA]

This wouldn't be an issue at Hofstra if a) Rabinowitz wasn't chanelling his inner John Silber, and b) Tim Welsh had used a designated driver.

[ccd494]

Yup, if FB goes away at UMaine, so do the dollars associated with that sport and some of the Title IX equivalancies.

Maybe. But maybe also every program on campus wouldn't have had to take a mandatory 5% budget cut this past year. The swim program is already entirely funded by private donations (they were going to be cut, and the Maine swim community stepped up to endow it largely through small donations). The women's volleyball and men's soccer programs are gone. Taking a pittance away from everyone has obviously not worked. Any more cuts to some of these sports and they are going to be playing with tattered rags for uniforms. The only thing left to do is cut a big, expensive sport.

The whole athletics department is a dumpster fire, and they just keep cutting and cutting from everyone, which means no one is successful. Something has to give.

[henfan]

The whole athletics department is a dumpster fire, and they just keep cutting and cutting from everyone, which means no one is successful. Something has to give.

I hear you. I've always wondered how much longer that FB program can survive with the kind of fan support they get and now absent most of the former regional rivals.

[pike51]

Who? :)

[bonarae]

In theory yes, but that never seems to happen. When a school cuts football they typically do not invest those funds into other sports. The school may also take away the matching funds for female sports which are no longer needed with football gone.

Agreed. They tend to divert those funds into other things (e.g. arts). Athletics overall is de-emphasized after the subtraction of football.

[bojeta]

In theory yes, but that never seems to happen. When a school cuts football they typically do not invest those funds into other sports. The school may also take away the matching funds for female sports which are no longer needed with football gone.

Classic example: Long Beach State cut football to "reduce costs". You'll obviously need to adjust for inflation here, but..... Their goal back then was to reduce total costs by roughly $300,000. First year following the cut of football saw alumni donations fall by roughly $250,000. Add to that lost revenue at the gate, concessions etc. and you have a net loss. Studies show that having a football program improves attendance at other sports. So, you can subtract additional ticket and concessions revenue as well.

[Go...gate]

I still think the failure of Hofstra and the Patriot League to get together in the early-mid 1990's was bad for both entities.

[Fordham]

I think their Prez is getting exactly what he wants. Right or wrong he is de-emphasizing athletics and focusing on things like the medical school. Not sure how it'll pan out but he's certainly stuck to his plan IMO.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I think their Prez is getting exactly what he wants. Right or wrong he is de-emphasizing athletics and focusing on things like the medical school. Not sure how it'll pan out but he's certainly stuck to his plan IMO.

Kinda like what Paul Stanton did at ETSU, he managed to get a pharmacy school and was planning to get a dental school before he retired. Now with some real leadership, things could get turned around @ ETSU.

[Redwyn]

I think their Prez is getting exactly what he wants. Right or wrong he is de-emphasizing athletics and focusing on things like the medical school. Not sure how it'll pan out but he's certainly stuck to his plan IMO.

It's a pity too - football was amongst the best in the country. The arrangement Hofstra has where North Shore/LIJ controls the med school is a terrible one, and the program is one of the two worst in NYS by a margin.

Was talking to one of the deans at SBU - who's also a huge football fan. He said it'll be 50 years before Hofstra gets close to where SBU is, and that's because of a combination of a broken/terrible model that essentially makes students free employees for the parent hospital, and being sandwiched between SBU (who has school of med control over nearby Winthrop as well), cheaper and better SUNY Downstate, and a Cornell/Columbia/NYU/Yeshiva/Mt Sinai bloc in NYC.

To give a solid comparison to a likely future for Hofstra med - the only other med school in the norhteast controlled by its hospital is Albany College of Med. It's ranked not much higher than the Caribbean in program quality.