Pearlman's Take on Hofstra Dropping Football

[GannonFan]

Always a good read to get the blood pumping. Say what you want about Pearlman, but the man knows how to write an article people will rail against (John Rocker article, UD is racist article, etc).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jeff_pearlman/12/04/hofstra/index.html?eref=sihp


What I desire, more than any possession or achievement or victory, is that my offspring one day attend a school like Hofstra University.

A school with principle.




Hoftra was spending $4.5 million annually on its football program, and making nothing off the investment. That was one of the stated reasons for the move, and it's a good one. Yet anyone who believes logic and reason generally prevail in decisions involving college football lack, ahem, logic and reason. According to the NCAA's latest report on revenues and expenses, fewer than 25 percent of Football Bowl Subdivision schools make money, while the remaining 302 schools competing in Division I struggle to break even.

[Franks Tanks]

Always a good read to get the blood pumping. Say what you want about Pearlman, but the man knows how to write an article people will rail against (John Rocker article, UD is racist article, etc).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jeff_pearlman/12/04/hofstra/index.html?eref=sihp

What a douchebag.

Athletics are a part of education just like music, art, social interaction. Music, art, plays etc dont make money either so I guess they should be cut as well.

Maybe this fruitcake should go write for another rag, or at least have Jim Harbaugh yell at him!

[ur2k]

Using the logic he puts forth there, all schools except the very few that turn a profit in their AD should just go ahead and stop playing all sports.

[19Duke97]

Yeah, I'm sure ND, Stanford and even USC are shaking in their proverbial educational boots at the powerhouse academic school of Hofstra (no offense to Hofstra, but it's not in that league). Articles like these are not worth the kilobytes they utilize. I just wasted 3 minutes of my life reading this tripe. Athletics and education cannot only coexist, but hey you may actually learn something playing sports - what a novel idea. xnonono2x

[TTUEagles]

More people relate to, or take pride in their universities based on athletics, not the Biology department. Just like pro athletes getting paid more than say, teachers/firefighters, etc. It may not be "right," but it's true. It's just the way it is...Plus, for bigger schools, you don't get a lot of "weekend alumni" donating to universities to benefit the school's cafeteria, but they donate money to support athletics. But, you'll never convince people like this author. Just let it go...not worth arguing.

[Grrrrriz]

What a douchebag.

Athletics are a part of education just like music, art, social interaction. Music, art, plays etc dont make money either so I guess they should be cut as well.

Maybe this fruitcake should go write for another rag, or at least have Jim Harbaugh yell at him!

No... Music, and art and theater are all academic programs, and academics should be the primary mission of any school. Athletics should always come secondary to academics at any college, thats why its an institution of higher learning. Its nice to have a football team, but not at the expense of academic programs. Without those, you don't have a college in the first place.

[danefan]

No... Music, and art and theater are all academic programs, and academics should be the primary mission of any school. Athletics should always come secondary to academics at any college, thats why its an institution of higher learning. Its nice to have a football team, but not at the expense of academic programs. Without those, you don't have a college in the first place.

I learned more about life on the football field then I would have ever learned playing jazz flute, drawing pictures or singing Fiddler on the Roof.

[Grrrrriz]

I learned more about life on the football field then I would have ever learned playing jazz flute, drawing pictures or singing Fiddler on the Roof.

But you wouldn't have been playing football if it wasn't for the academic institution. I would imagine, as well, that you aren't a professional football player now...so it only goes to reason that the academics of the college did its part for you as well.

[Franks Tanks]

No... Music, and art and theater are all academic programs, and academics should be the primary mission of any school. Athletics should always come secondary to academics at any college, thats why its an institution of higher learning. Its nice to have a football team, but not at the expense of academic programs. Without those, you don't have a college in the first place.

One could argue that a play does nothing more than Football to advance the academic mission.

Also Hofstra has 63 kids on scholarship and that equals a potential cost 2.9 million as they say tuition is 46k per year. Is Hofstra paying itself 2.9 million for all those scholly's? No.

So they wont have this huge injection of cash all of a sudden, they just wont allow 63 kids to go to school for free any longer. Certainly still a cost saver by some measure, but not an immediate cash injection.

[danefan]

But you wouldn't have been playing football if it wasn't for the academic institution. I would imagine, as well, that you aren't a professional football player now...so it only goes to reason that the academics of the college did its part for you as well.

Yes, but that's not what you said.

You said music and arts are "academic" programs. I disagree with that generalized characterization. Music and arts are equal to athletics in my eyes and the eyes of many others.

History, english, math, languages are academics.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

What a douchebag.

Athletics are a part of education just like music, art, social interaction. Music, art, plays etc dont make money either so I guess they should be cut as well.

Maybe this fruitcake should go write for another rag, or at least have Jim Harbaugh yell at him!

Big picture he's got a point, but loses it in execution.

I'm from the camp that thinks athletics are great, but shouldn't be give scholarships. Scholarships given to field hockey players rather than academics? Not my thing. I really appreciate the football programs that don't need to load up on schollys.

[uofmman1122]

I learned more about life on the football field then I would have ever learned playing jazz flute, drawing pictures or singing Fiddler on the Roof.While I agree that football holds just as much importance as anything else in school, I generally think you're being a little unfair here.

As someone who is somewhat of a musician and artist, I think your post was rather condescending.

Keep in mind, I wanted nothing more than to play football for the Montana Grizzlies since I was about 6 or 7 living in Lolo and Missoula. I loved football until the 8th grade, when I had a terrible season, felt I was too small to play competitively, and gave up.

In hind site, I could have easily bulked up and been just fine. I was just being a lazy teenager, but had I done so, I would have never had the experiences I've had, the wonderful year spent in japan, or met my amazing girlfriend.

Saying you learned more in football than you ever would have doing the other three is kind of silly. You would have learned just as much, but it probably would have been some much different things.

xtwocentsx

[Monarch Nation]

Yes, but that's not what you said.

You said music and arts are "academic" programs. I disagree with that generalized characterization. Music and arts are equal to athletics in my eyes and the eyes of many others.

History, english, math, languages are academics.

Gonna disagree with you Danefan. I have a degree in theatre and have been in professional show business over 25 years. As a matter of fact, it wasn't an easy degree to get.

[Torgo]

I learned more about life on the football field then I would have ever learned playing jazz flute, drawing pictures or singing Fiddler on the Roof.

As Grrrrriz said, you wouldn't have been able to learn that without the academic institution in the first place...and most people who make the football program possible, i.e. the vast majority of students paying fees that go directly to the program, aren't getting that experience you got.


I'm short, slow, and rather bookish...I am not meant to play football. I've played hockey and baseball in my life, but some people just aren't meant for the sporting life. I'm a fan, not a participant. I study an artistic field at an institution that I'm paying out of state tuition to because it is particularly good at the field I study in. I would be at Montana with or without the football program. The Griz are something I take great pride in, and I sure as hell am glad they're there, but academics come before athletics, especially at this level of football.

Ohio State can get away running their football program like a business, most smaller public or private schools can not, which means they are liable to these sort of tough decisions. Especially when you consider a lot of players go to a school like Ohio State with their eyes set on the pros, this is a true education for them. Most kids going into the FCS aren't expecting to be the starting right tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers in four years time, they're there to play football while getting an education. An institution of higher learning's job is to teach its students to succeed in the 'real world' at what they're studying in...and if that means a play loses $10,000 so a couple kids can go on to be set designers off-broadway then so be it. When a school is bleeding millions of dollars for a football team that isn't producing on or off the field its a little different.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I really appreciate the football programs that don't need to load up on schollys.


Hmmmm . . . there just might be a few of those kinds of places left here and there . . . .

[danefan]

Personal experiences are key.

You'd be hard pressed to find any former college football player that doesn't believe that their on-field experiences shaped their future off the field.

Winning and losing (particularly losing) on a team is just as academic as any theater or art program at any school.

Thats why people go out of their way to hire former athletes in the business world.

[bostonspider]

But is a football team bleeding millions of dollars? I mean if 2.9 Million of Hofstra's 4.5Million is going to scholarships, that is money that is being spent on "students". As to the other 1.6 Million that they spent, I imagine a good 400K or so is coming back in game attendance revenue (4,000 x $20.00 x 5 games), as well as parking, and concessions, and Hofstra apparel and the like. And then there are many alumni who give money purely to support the athletic department. The interesting thing is like a great percentage of those 63 scholarship players at Hofstra would have received financial aid otherwise, so that cost difference is probably not that large. A school like Richmond has their football scholarships endowed, though I am not sure how Hofstra does it. The money issue seems a little disengenuous at a school like Hofstra, whose budget must be approaching a billion dollars. But to get back to the arguement over music and theater, sure students do study those programs, but for the vast majority of students, their relationship to the athletic department or some of the arts departments is not that dissimilar.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

It's hard for me to accept the fact that Perlman just continues to perpetrate the lies that came out of Hofstra's press conference: that the school was LOSING 4.5 million a year on the program, as if it's all expenses and no revenues. For good measure, he also perpetrates the lie that it's a tradeoff between football and academics. It in no way is the case.

I'll be looking forward to his follow-up article where he excoriates Hofstra for flying the basketball teams cross-country for games - and those international trips to look for basketball talent, too. For good measure, maybe he can urge Hofstra to withdraw from the men's NCAA basketball tournament, too, on "principle".

[Lehigh Football Nation]

The money issue seems a little disengenuous at a school like Hofstra, whose budget must be approaching a billion dollars.

Rep points for you!

[WileECoyote06]

As Grrrrriz said, you wouldn't have been able to learn that without the academic institution in the first place...and most people who make the football program possible, i.e. the vast majority of students paying fees that go directly to the program, aren't getting that experience you got.


I'm short, slow, and rather bookish...I am not meant to play football. I've played hockey and baseball in my life, but some people just aren't meant for the sporting life. I'm a fan, not a participant. I study an artistic field at an institution that I'm paying out of state tuition to because it is particularly good at the field I study in. I would be at Montana with or without the football program. The Griz are something I take great pride in, and I sure as hell am glad they're there, but academics come before athletics, especially at this level of football.

Ohio State can get away running their football program like a business, most smaller public or private schools can not, which means they are liable to these sort of tough decisions. Especially when you consider a lot of players go to a school like Ohio State with their eyes set on the pros, this is a true education for them. Most kids going into the FCS aren't expecting to be the starting right tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers in four years time, they're there to play football while getting an education. An institution of higher learning's job is to teach its students to succeed in the 'real world' at what they're studying in...and if that means a play loses $10,000 so a couple kids can go on to be set designers off-broadway then so be it. When a school is bleeding millions of dollars for a football team that isn't producing on or off the field its a little different.

xbowx

It's not a popular decision, but Hofstra's president did what he thought was in the best interest of the university. Those 63 scholarships will be redistributed to provide aid for needy students. Remember, he's not dismantling the entire athletics program OR moving it down to Division III; he's simply redistributing the money. Times are hard, and schools are having to make very tough decisions.

A hypothetical example.

Case A - one student who receives a full 46,000 scholarship per year.

Case B - Three students who's parental contribution is $14,000 per year; but their parents are laid off and cannot afford that much in a tuition payment.

If you were a college administrator, which choice would you make?

[aceinthehole]

It's hard for me to accept the fact that Perlman just continues to perpetrate the lies that came out of Hofstra's press conference: that the school was LOSING 4.5 million a year on the program, as if it's all expenses and no revenues. For good measure, he also perpetrates the lie that it's a tradeoff between football and academics. It in no way is the case.

I'm not defending the article or Hofstra's decision, but realistically how much REVENUE do you think Hofstra had?

Attandence was bad, so ticket revenue was poor.
How much FB-only sponsors did they have?
What kind of merchandise sales could they have had?
The CAA doesn't share revenue or have TV dividends like FBS conferences.
1 FBS game pays about $300k

The overwhelming majority of the "revenue" was direct instituational support. Sure, some may be Atheltic Department revenue, but the bottom line is $4M is a lot of money to subsidize a team.

Yes, Hofstra is subsidizing all its sports (basketball, soccer, lax, etc.) but their budgets are not that large. They made a decision that the return on the $4M annual investment wasn't getting enough of a return. Basketball can spend just $2M a year and get a lot of national hype. I don't like it, but that's the reality they saw.

[Grrrrriz]

Yes, but that's not what you said.

You said music and arts are "academic" programs. I disagree with that generalized characterization. Music and arts are equal to athletics in my eyes and the eyes of many others.

History, english, math, languages are academics.

Music and arts are most absolutely academic programs. There is an art department, and a music department. You can major in either at most any university, and graduate with a BFA. You can't major in football. They are just as much a part of the academic progress of any university as history, math, language.

[Grrrrriz]

One could argue that a play does nothing more than Football to advance the academic mission.

Also Hofstra has 63 kids on scholarship and that equals a potential cost 2.9 million as they say tuition is 46k per year. Is Hofstra paying itself 2.9 million for all those scholly's? No.

So they wont have this huge injection of cash all of a sudden, they just wont allow 63 kids to go to school for free any longer. Certainly still a cost saver by some measure, but not an immediate cash injection.

I wonder if they will give the scholarship athletes who will still be students, but not playing football next year equivalent scholarships? That would be the right thing to do. It would be a gross injustice if they didn't, and I imagine a lot of those players wouldn't be able to go to school there anymore. That would be a shame.

[Wildcat80]

What frustrates most CAA football fans on these boards is that we LOVE (caa) football and cannot understand why there are not more of us! Hopefully most of us support these programs financially as able too. Yes as a Northern fan I am very envious of the Southern programs that have tremendous fan (financial) support and have better facilities than some of us. I do not deny the situation at either NE or Hof-- just wish it was not so.

IMO if you look at many programs etc at most colleges you can decide they deserve to be cut back. There is not a huge difference between coaching costs at a FCS vs a D-3 school...the difference is schollies. Yet if all of that money is given to 63 low income average students IMO the 63 football players as students are more deserving. Unfortunately these dollars are in the football budget not just student aid where it is lost---yet bragged about!?

I hope UNH does get a facility commitment to match our on field record. Go Wildcats!!xthumbsupx

[Franks Tanks]

I wonder if they will give the scholarship athletes who will still be students, but not playing football next year equivalent scholarships? That would be the right thing to do. It would be a gross injustice if they didn't, and I imagine a lot of those players wouldn't be able to go to school there anymore. That would be a shame.

They will honor the scholarship for as long as the players stay at the school. I suspect most will transfer however.

[Franks Tanks]

What frustrates most CAA football fans on these boards is that we LOVE (caa) football and cannot understand why there are not more of us! Hopefully most of us support these programs financially as able too. Yes as a Northern fan I am very envious of the Southern programs that have tremendous fan (financial) support and have better facilities than some of us. I do not deny the situation at either NE or Hof-- just wish it was not so.

IMO if you look at many programs etc at most colleges you can decide they deserve to be cut back. There is not a huge difference between coaching costs at a FCS vs a D-3 school...the difference is schollies. Yet if all of that money is given to 63 low income average students IMO the 63 football players as students are more deserving. Unfortunately these dollars are in the football budget not just student aid where it is lost---yet bragged about!?

I hope UNH does get a facility commitment to match our on field record. Go Wildcats!!xthumbsupx

Very good point. Most of the "cost" here is in essense letting 63 kids go to school for free. They are apparently just allowing 63 other kids, or the equilivant of the tuition of 63 kids, go to school for free.

[Hoyadestroya85]

I'll cut him a break, he did write a great book about the greatest baseball team in history.

[Hoyadestroya85]

Jeff Pearlman may also be the best writer employed by any of the major magazines.. his blog is a must read.

[wr70beh]

More people relate to, or take pride in their universities based on athletics, not the Biology department.

Very few colleges can take pride in one of their schools or departments, and most of them are private schools.

[LacesOut]

Jeff Pearlman may also be the best writer employed by any of the major magazines.. his blog is a must read.

He always made me laugh and yet cringe when I used to read him years ago when we were both at UD. He would rip with his articles athletes, Greek Life, the UD admin, professors, commuter students, out of state UD students, pretty much everyone! He was good at what he did.

Looks like he is still doing it.

[Seawolf97]

Very few colleges can take pride in one of their schools or departments, and most of them are private schools.

I would recommend SBU's Medicine, Nuclear Engineering or Marine Biology programs to any parent with a high school student for a son or daughter. They are some of the best in the country. Stony Brook is by far not a sports power by any means but academics takes a back seat no university.xpeacex

[GannonFan]

He always made me laugh and yet cringe when I used to read him years ago when we were both at UD. He would rip with his articles athletes, Greek Life, the UD admin, professors, commuter students, out of state UD students, pretty much everyone! He was good at what he did.

Looks like he is still doing it.

He was and is a provocative writer - I read him a lot then too when I was in school with him. Always an interesting read.

[GannonFan]

Very few colleges can take pride in one of their schools or departments, and most of them are private schools.

Huh? Most of them private schools? Most top research universities, when you're talking any science or engineering field, are public state schools. Private schools typically trail far behind their public brethren in that regard.

[JMUDuke2002]

Music and arts are most absolutely academic programs. There is an art department, and a music department. You can major in either at most any university, and graduate with a BFA. You can't major in football. They are just as much a part of the academic progress of any university as history, math, language.


You can major in Kinesiology, sports management and sports medicine. All of these are academic disciplines. You are making a false comparison. You are attempting to compare academic programs to extracurricular activities. A proper comparison would be football to plays, musicals and concerts put on my academic departments that are not part of the curriculum. Are these a waste of time and money?

[Pantherpower]

Poet Robert Sharpe once said that "The greatest theatre can be found on the playing field."

Some in academia would cringe if they knew he said that.xeekx

[DSUrocks07]

Huh? Most of them private schools? Most top research universities, when you're talking any science or engineering field, are public state schools. Private schools typically trail far behind their public brethren in that regard.

DSU's Aerospace program is right up there with the best in the country. xthumbsupx
But that doesn't stop us from doing our best to be the great athletic program that we want to be. Our mission statement is to help our students and to compete nationally in all aspects. (academically and athletically) xnodx