MN Daily Letter to Editor: Holding the Department of Athletics accountable

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Holding the Department of Athletics accountable

http://www.mndaily.com/2012/10/11/holding-department-athletics-accountable

By Willard Shapira, University alumnus

October 11, 2012

The news from the new director of athletics, Norwood Teague, that the University of Minnesota plans to hire a facilities-planning firm to help create a master plan for the next 10 years and beyond for the department of athletics is as arrogant as it is dispiriting.

At a time when every dollar must be carefully budgeted, this department continues to operate with impunity and seemingly no accountability to higher authority or responsibility to the taxpayers.

I urge you to contact Gov. Mark Dayton, your state senators and state representatives and the Board of Regents to demand that any further outside hiring to plan the future of the department of athletics at the University be put on hold while this entire process and program are thoroughly audited and examined by a state agency, say, the Department of the Attorney General. The behavior by the athletics department must be monitored for accountability.

My question always has been: What has big-time sports have to do with education? I have yet to hear a valid response joining the two.

Make this a part of your vetting of candidates for the Nov. 6 election. Ask them what they are going to do about reining in out-of-control spending on the totally wasteful University department of athletics that operates with singular impunity.

Now is the time to stop the tail from wagging the Gopher.

Go Gophers!!
 

missed the boat in 1989 when the internets took off and college/pro sports enjoyed the bounty. somethings never change.
 

'My question always has been: What has big-time sports have to do with education?

Great sentence structure for a formal letter.
 

...and compared with the university's operating budget, the entire athletics budget is a rounding error. What is his point?
 

Exhibit A on why there has been a head wind here regarding improving anything athletics and football related at the U.
FINALLY an AD comes in with the balls to take on the established "sports are a waste" attitudes entrenched in the university and community, and this guy(and many others like him) is calling for an attorney general audit? More like "I think we should cut every sport and become Chicago University."

Keep on hammering away Mr. Teague, and don't be afraid to absolutely rip the hell out of idiot alumni like this jagoff. The less people like this are associated with the U the better IMO, a letter to the editor like this in alabama or columbus would generate a groundswell of blowback. Here, i'm betting one of our slimey new stations actually does an interview with this ahole.
 


Another person who just doesn't get it. We needed an AD like Mr. Teague 30 years ago.


Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!
 

As a 1975 Alum, I say go for it Mr. Teague. I have always felt that the U does not do enough for the major sports. Oklahoma, Alabama and several other schools report that the better their football team does the larger the donations are from alum.
 

Every time the athletic department proposes spending money, Willard becomes indignant and writes a letter to the editor of the Daily.

Ignore him, like the rest of the University community does.
 

Didn't Maturi state many times that the U's athletic department runs in the black? So that would imply Teague inherited that same AD. If the department is running under budget and actually generating a profit (large or small) then they aren't doing anything wrong. Even Maturi said on his way out that he realizes the AD needs to be run more like a business. Teague knows this very well and even spoke to Carlson alums about it.

Plus this is only planning for the future. In a business sense, that takes into account how much it will cost the school, the state, and then determine what needs to funded by donors. Obviously Teague wouldn't pull the trigger on a ton of facilities that are out of the U's ability to operate (whatever that may be). I recall President Bruininks stating that as TCF Bank Stadium was being constructed, that many donantions were coming in for the various colleges at the U. That is one way athletics has added to academics. Every year since TCF opened there has been new construction to enhance academics, research and student life.

So really, this letter above is a waste of time.
 



Because an audit by a state agency would be a good use of taxpayer money...Good one buddy.
 

What do big-time sports have to do with education? Just take a look at the BCS schools, one thing you see is that, for the most part, they are pretty good schools. Sports raises the profiles of schools; for the with the exeption of small number of schools like the Ivy League, most people's awareness of universities comes from sports.

Having experts come in to help with facilities planning is a good idea. When you plan ahead, things are done more efficiently and the cost is reduced.

People like this just won't accept that they aren't paying for sports, that sports are paid for from sports revenues and from donations.

There are legitimate uses for audits, but a fishing expedition is not one of them.
 

Dr.Don said:
'My question always has been: What has big-time sports have to do with education?

Great sentence structure for a formal letter.
Click to expand...

Nice. I noticed that too.

What a dumb letter. You'd think we were Ohio State from its content.
 

Mr. Shapira's dumb@$$ writes regularly calling for the end of college athletics. He still doesn't seem to realize the fact that the athletics department is a SEPARATE BUDGET FROM THE UNIVERSITY. They have been subsidized by the university in the past, but that money has been cut back significantly. The primary people who are paying for the department are fans and donors.
 



BleedGopher said:
Holding the Department of Athletics accountable

http://www.mndaily.com/2012/10/11/holding-department-athletics-accountable

By Willard Shapira, University alumnus

October 11, 2012

The news from the new director of athletics, Norwood Teague, that the University of Minnesota plans to hire a facilities-planning firm to help create a master plan for the next 10 years and beyond for the department of athletics is as arrogant as it is dispiriting.

At a time when every dollar must be carefully budgeted, this department continues to operate with impunity and seemingly no accountability to higher authority or responsibility to the taxpayers.

I urge you to contact Gov. Mark Dayton, your state senators and state representatives and the Board of Regents to demand that any further outside hiring to plan the future of the department of athletics at the University be put on hold while this entire process and program are thoroughly audited and examined by a state agency, say, the Department of the Attorney General. The behavior by the athletics department must be monitored for accountability.

My question always has been: What has big-time sports have to do with education? I have yet to hear a valid response joining the two.

Make this a part of your vetting of candidates for the Nov. 6 election. Ask them what they are going to do about reining in out-of-control spending on the totally wasteful University department of athletics that operates with singular impunity.

Now is the time to stop the tail from wagging the Gopher.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

This attitude is exactly what led to the sports tailspin way back in the 60s and what the entire program is trying to recover from! Though I can appreciate the need to be frugal with tax dollars, especially today and with the state already committing itself to the new Vikings stadium, one of Teagues strengths is fundraising and I think that is intended to be the top source of funds for the plans.

As for sports in academics...one valid response is the color green that a strong athletics program brings to the U along with a public enthusiasm and support. Even Kahler before his appointment stated he recognized the importance of a healthy football program and how that is a positive influence on the entire school.
 

Ole said:
Exhibit A on why there has been a head wind here regarding improving anything athletics and football related at the U.
FINALLY an AD comes in with the balls to take on the established "sports are a waste" attitudes entrenched in the university and community, and this guy(and many others like him) is calling for an attorney general audit? More like "I think we should cut every sport and become Chicago University."

Keep on hammering away Mr. Teague, and don't be afraid to absolutely rip the hell out of idiot alumni like this jagoff. The less people like this are associated with the U the better IMO, a letter to the editor like this in alabama or columbus would generate a groundswell of blowback. Here, i'm betting one of our slimey new stations actually does an interview with this ahole.
Click to expand...
This is one guy, and likely a relatively insignificant one at that. Calm down.
 

Gopherprof said:
This is one guy, and likely a relatively insignificant one at that. Calm down.
Click to expand...

True, and anybody who has seen or experienced the Gopher's athletics (expecially the condition of the football program) probably has already dismissed the letter.
 


I love Gopher sports but I don't entirely disagree with this guy.

Nationally, collegiate athletics is a huge business with no real accountability. Many AD's don't have private-sector experience that force them to focus on return on investment and other key indicators those of us in business have to weigh heavily.

Here's my crazy thought:

We need a salary cap for NCAA programs. Salaries of coaches, AD's, and others have gotten out of the control. If we are academic institutions, I'm all for the fundraising possibilities that athletics provide. But why not limit how much we can spend on a practice facility and mandate all spillover funding goes to cure cancer?
 


Is this Shapira guy the MnDaily clone of GH's Pantherhawk/
 

wels0081 said:
I love Gopher sports but I don't entirely disagree with this guy.

Nationally, collegiate athletics is a huge business with no real accountability. Many AD's don't have private-sector experience that force them to focus on return on investment and other key indicators those of us in business have to weigh heavily.

Here's my crazy thought:

We need a salary cap for NCAA programs. Salaries of coaches, AD's, and others have gotten out of the control. If we are academic institutions, I'm all for the fundraising possibilities that athletics provide. But why not limit how much we can spend on a practice facility and mandate all spillover funding goes to cure cancer?
Click to expand...
Because.....why? As an academic, I'm all for getting more funding for research, but I'm not sure what the justification for that would be.

I would like to see Minnesota eliminate student fees and use of tax monies for athletics (something that is possible at some B1G universities). But, if someone wants to specifically designate an alumni contribution for a gaudy practice facility, I'm all for that. If they want to contribute money for a new astronomical observatory, even better in my mind. But I don't think it's terribly logical to limit the amount of money someone can contribute for athletics if that's where they want the money to go.
 

who is dumber, this A hole or us caring what he says?
 

Jike Spingleton said:
To take it a step further, Willard seemingly spends his entire life writing "Letters to the Editor" to anyone who will print them.
Click to expand...

Didn't know this when i posted, I do think we've discussed this dbag before.
The daily should just stop accepting his letters if he's beating his own dead horse here.
 


i have seen the name willard shapira on many letters that are anti-U of M athletics. this guy is an idiot and a clown. as someone else already noted, ignore him like most everyone else already does.
 

A quick google search shows that he's a 76-year old rabble rouser who spends most of his time writing letters to people and complaining about things in the comment sections of websites. Best to ignore crackpots like this.


grampa-simpson1.jpg
 

Ole said:
Exhibit A on why there has been a head wind here regarding improving anything athletics and football related at the U.
FINALLY an AD comes in with the balls to take on the established "sports are a waste" attitudes entrenched in the university and community, and this guy(and many others like him) is calling for an attorney general audit? More like "I think we should cut every sport and become Chicago University."

Keep on hammering away Mr. Teague, and don't be afraid to absolutely rip the hell out of idiot alumni like this jagoff. The less people like this are associated with the U the better IMO, a letter to the editor like this in alabama or columbus would generate a groundswell of blowback. Here, i'm betting one of our slimey new stations actually does an interview with this ahole.
Click to expand...

Do you really think so? This community supports more sports programs than any its size and most that are bigger. UM football is probably the 5th most followed program in town behind the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Timberwolves, and Gopher hockey. New stadiums have recently been built or are being developed for the Twins, Vikings, Gophers, Saints while the previously newest Big10 stadium, The Metrodome, is being abandoned. No, I think there's plenty of sports enthusiasm here -- it's just more diluted here than anywhere else so you don't see the zeal for the U's football program like you see in Madison, Iowa City, Lincoln, Columbus, Happy Valley and all the other places that don't have the variety of sports choices we have here.
 

discochris said:
A quick google search shows that he's a 76-year old rabble rouser who spends most of his time writing letters to people and complaining about things in the comment sections of websites. Best to ignore crackpots like this.


grampa-simpson1.jpg
Click to expand...

How is his age relevant?
 

Big time sports bring recognition to a university. The recognition leads to more students (therefore more revenue) as well as world class educators and researchers. The University of Michigan is a perfect example of how big time sports enhances the reputation of Michigan's colleges within the University. There are only a handful of Universities in the United States that can attract students via academic reputation and what those schools do is require their professors to apply for every award that can or could possibly be handed out in order to market academics as a tool for enrollment. The rest of the Universities have to find other marketing tools. A clear and easy winner for bringing in students and thus enhancing the colleges within the University is to have high profile, thriving sports programs.
 

I take strong issue with the upbeat message and feel-good tone of the M spring 2007 article about the new football stadium. I believe it is a total waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult and embarrassment to those of us who abhor the jock mentality that has spread from the Bierman Athletic Building to the office of Pres. Bruininks? How does a football stadium help Bruininks move toward his purported goal of making the U a top research university? Ski-U-Bah!

Willard B. Shapira

********

Lol, at least he's consistent!
 

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