Well, this would solve the coaching issue...

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Cuckoo, cuckoo

Shapira is a nut job. I think it's safe to say he has a few mental problems. Hardly a day goes by where he doesn't have some idiotic letter to the editor in the Daily. Enjoys seeing his name in print.
 

Oh that would be great. There would be no need for Gopher Hole, and then where would be all go to bitch and moan.:rolleyes:
 

Ya, let's do away with Medical Research at the U also. :banghead:
 



Does WBGleason every work or just blog all day? I'm not saying he can't manage his time or doesn't have the right, it just sooner of later perception will become reality and that perception could be that he isn't terribly busy.
 

Some people are under the opinion that sports and athletics can't possibly coexist. If he was willing to check the facts, he would see that the member schools in the Big Ten are among the best colleges in the country. This nut thinks that the legislature could sell the TCF Bank Stadium to the Vikings. For one, the Vikings wouldn't want it, the Vikings want far, far, more stadium that that. But secondly, the legislature doesn't have the authority under the state Constitution. The U has autonomy under the state Constitution, the legislature has funding power but cannot dictate to the U. The legislature also didn't have the authority to dictate alcohol policy, but the U chose not to fight this in court, even though it would have been a slam dunk in the U's favor. It probably would have led to funding retaliation from the legislature.
 

There are plenty of colleges and universities that don't place an emphasis on athletics. Why didn't this gentleman choose to seek an education from such an institution?
 

Silvio said:
Does WBGleason every work or just blog all day? I'm not saying he can't manage his time or doesn't have the right, it just sooner of later perception will become reality and that perception could be that he isn't terribly busy.
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A public employee not working very hard?

I'm flabbergasted.
 



http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-top-public

Of the top 100 Public universities, nearly all of them have D-I athletics. Only Colorado School of Mines (#29), SUNY College of Environmental Science and Technology (#34), Michigan Tech (#57) (Michigan Tech does have D-I hockey), Missouri University of Science and Technology (#63), University of Texas Dallas (#72) and Alabama Huntsville (#79) do not have D-I athletics.
 


RodentRampage said:
Some people are under the opinion that sports and athletics can't possibly coexist. If he was willing to check the facts, he would see that the member schools in the Big Ten are among the best colleges in the country. This nut thinks that the legislature could sell the TCF Bank Stadium to the Vikings. For one, the Vikings wouldn't want it, the Vikings want far, far, more stadium that that. But secondly, the legislature doesn't have the authority under the state Constitution. The U has autonomy under the state Constitution, the legislature has funding power but cannot dictate to the U. The legislature also didn't have the authority to dictate alcohol policy, but the U chose not to fight this in court, even though it would have been a slam dunk in the U's favor. It probably would have led to funding retaliation from the legislature.
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Who are these people!?
 




RodentRampage said:
Some people are under the opinion that sports and athletics can't possibly coexist.
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This sentiment is sooooooooo prevalent at the U. As a poster above me mentioned, look at the top achieving revenue sports programs in the country and then look at where those schools fall academically. Doesn't need to be any compromises, you can have both.
 

I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, MrShapira, but after reading your letter to the MNDaily editor..... I point and laugh at you and your existence!! Hahahahaha!!!!

.....unless you are a badger fan. Then I applaud your attempts to exacerbate the already sown seeds of division among your enemy. That is both wise and effective. Kudos and touche, sir.
 

Well, at least the new presidential candidate seems to live in the real world where athletics are a great way to connect people to their state school and that WINNING in the major programs is a key component of that strategy.
 



stevedave23 said:
This sentiment is sooooooooo prevalent at the U. As a poster above me mentioned, look at the top achieving revenue sports programs in the country and then look at where those schools fall academically. Doesn't need to be any compromises, you can have both.
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Who said anything about academics? We are taling about sports and athletics.
 

From the Barn said:
Who said anything about academics? We are taling about sports and athletics.
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We've been talking about academics and athletics from the beginning. The letter writer in question appears to think that athletics and academics can't coexist, which just isn't true.
 

This guy is on the wrong side of a debate that ended over ten years ago.
 

Sports are also in effect billboards for universities. With the exception of the Ivy League and a handful of other elite schools, most people know universities from sports. When D-I was divided into I-A and I-AA, the service academies considered moving to I-AA. From a purely athletics perspective, it made sense, the days of them being national powerhouses were pretty much done. I'd be surprised to see a service academy in a BCS game anytime soon (It looks like all three are going bowling this year though). They could play a I-AA schedule and be I-AA powers, and the Army-Navy game would be as big as ever.

But from a PR perspective, they do better as a member of I-A. Their sports teams advertise not just the academies themselves, but their branches of the military as a whole. Downgrade sports, and the university slumps into obscurity.
 

RodentRampage said:
When D-I was divided into I-A and I-AA, the service academies considered moving to I-AA...Their sports teams advertise not just the academies themselves, but their branches of the military as a whole. Downgrade sports, and the university slumps into obscurity.
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Exactly. The service academies would never play anything less than I-A, because doing so would be a tacit admission that the armed forces are not really the "best of the best".

RodentRampage said:
I'd be surprised to see a service academy in a BCS game anytime soon
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I agree, though it wouldn't be shocking to see Navy in a BCS bowl if they can keep Niumatalolo around. They have been consistently good since 2004, and their toughest opponent in any given year is usually Notre Dame, who haven't exactly been setting the world on fire.
 

Have we had this letter translated? No? Well here is my translation.

"Dear Future President Kahler:

Please abolish intercollegiate athletics at the University of Minnesota. I seek retribution on the athletes who mocked my intellect in high school and humiliated me in front of girls when I could not operate a ball properly. I have since chosen to excel in an academic field that is not as widely recognized as I wish it were, thus eliminating intercollegiate athletics will allow more funds to come to my department and those scary athletes who haunt my nightmares will no longer cause me to pick at my psychic scars from my developmental years.

Sincerely

Cotton Mather. "
 

After I graduated from college, I wandered about the job market for a few years not knowing what I really wanted to do. During that time, I took a few more courses in an area of study that I considered getting into. I will never forget one of my professors (well, I have long forgotten his name... but I will never forget his viewpoint and the near-vomit inducing reaction it has always created in me).

He said that team sports were just an outlet for an ancient need to be at war with one's neighbors. His "evidence" was the cheering crowds and the "battle" that they watched on the field or court. He was dead serious and there was nothing any of us could say to change his mind. He was utterly convinced that team sports were all about aggression and humiliation of the opponent. He said the world would be a better place if all sports could be eliminated everywhere. People like this exist, and sometimes they even write letters to the editor.
 

Schnauzer said:
After I graduated from college, I wandered about the job market for a few years not knowing what I really wanted to do. During that time, I took a few more courses in an area of study that I considered getting into. I will never forget one of my professors (well, I have long forgotten his name... but I will never forget his viewpoint and the near-vomit inducing reaction it has always created in me).

He said that team sports were just an outlet for an ancient need to be at war with one's neighbors. His "evidence" was the cheering crowds and the "battle" that they watched on the field or court. He was dead serious and there was nothing any of us could say to change his mind. He was utterly convinced that team sports were all about aggression and humiliation of the opponent. He said the world would be a better place if all sports could be eliminated everywhere. People like this exist, and sometimes they even write letters to the editor.
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I have a different take on this. He has it backwards. If you need an outlet for something, removing the outlet doesn't remove the problem. It's like removing a pressure release value from a boiler. The outlet doesn't cause the problem, it solves it.

A football game and a gladiatorial match have a lot on common, it raises similar passions in the fans. But there are huge differences. The bloodlust with gladiatorial matches was real. Today when someone gets injured, people don't cheer, and action stops until the player gets the help he needs.

Humuliation? No, not really. Witness all the people upset about Wisconsin scoring 80+ points. In sports, people shake hands, and both sides look forward to doing it again next year.
 

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