Thinking out loud, while wondering if the President will excuse my college parking violations from 1981? ‘Cuz that is a student debt load.
The rush to cash in on the big business that college athletics has become isn’t just limited to student-athletes making money off their name, image, or likeness, or Power 5/Power 6 schools jumping across the country for bigger TV deals.
ICYMI, smaller schools across the country are also hoping to make bank. For some, it’s not just for exposure, but for survival.
Front Office Sports revealed this week there are 16 Division II schools in the process of moving into Division I - from FCS to FBS - and even all the way from Division III into Division I.
Meanwhile, the University of Hartford heads the opposite way, downgrading from DI into DIII. Head basketball coach John Gallagher is suing a member of the school's Board of Regents, alleging he was reassured Hartford wouldn’t be moving – so he turned down a chance to become an assistant at Oklahoma.
While Hartford is an outlier in this case, the recent movement that began with Texas and Oklahoma heading to the SEC last year has had a ‘cause and effect’ ripple throughout academia.
Schools want their time in the spotlight. Schools want what others have. Schools (and their leaders) are narcissistic. For some however, they need the exposure (and $$$) moving up a division might bring them…for sheer survival.
The focus for smaller, private schools is always to recruit, recruit and recruit. That includes outside of athletics…and moving into DI allows the smaller school to promote an elevated status, gain an elevated caliber of opponent (not to mention guaranteed paychecks for being athletic cannon fodder) and perhaps an improved athletic program to match already-established academia within the institution.
Fundraising becomes easier. If Providence College weren’t in the Big East, does the Ruane Center get built?
Kind of a ‘chicken or egg’ thing, amiright?
And don’t underscore the effect of moving into DI and having your schools’ scores beam across the bottom of a TV on ESPN or Fox. That’s big. Believe it or not, something that simple can help drive enrollment…just for the exposure it brings.
Marketing and branding are major undertakings for many schools across the country, especially those who aren’t plugged into mega-TV deals. Moving into higher-profile leagues makes that job easier, even if the moving process takes time.
Bryant is an example of the move from DII to DI being ‘worth it.’ The Bulldogs capitalized on an appearance in the DII national basketball championship game in 2005. The multi-year transition into DI began in 2008…leading to the programs’ first-ever appearance in March Madness last spring.
Yes, transformation doesn’t happen overnight. But Bryant has now moved into America East (and the Big South for football) from the NEC, a league that may help them generate more R&R – rivalry and revenue.
Stonehill College is moving from DII into DI this year – replacing Bryant in the NEC. Going from Division II into Division I is a four-year process, while moving from FCS into FBS is a two-year process. James Madison is doing this, joining the Sun Belt.
And moving has its upfront costs, more than just packing a UHaul. The application fee is upwards of $2 million, which isn’t chump change for a place like Stonehill. There are also a strict set of requirements designed to ensure the school has enough money and the resources to compete at the higher level.
All for the chance to say, “we’re big time.” For a chance to Dance in March. For the fleeting moment your score crawls across the bottom of the TV. It’s risky, sure.
But it’s a risk some can’t afford NOT to take…if they’re ultimately competing for students in the same pool with bigger schools.
You either sink, or swim, with the sharks. Just sayin’.
The Friars’ swim with the sharks will include a return to Late Night Madness in person this year, as a part of Homecoming Weekend on October 1st. Five-time Grammy nominated recording artist Khalid is the feature performer.
If you’re a student or a season ticket holder, you can purchase tickets to attend the concert at the AMP…the building formerly known as the Dunkin Donuts Center, aka the Providence Civic Center. Where you been?
Khalid is Top Three on the “Most Streamed Artists in the world” list on Spotify…so I’m told. Having a hard time humming his signature, familiar tunes though.
What we love to see: Alumni giving back. Ex-Friar and current Brooklyn Nets guard David Duke is doing just that, hosting his first Community Day in Providence last weekend…just blocks from where he grew up, and where he attended school.
Can Georgetown become relevant again in the Big East? They will have two starters back from the team that won the BET in 2021 – Qudus Wahab (back from Maryland) and Dante Harris – plus LSU transfer Brandon Murray and UConn transfer Akok Akok.
The Hoyas are waiting on a potential waiver for Arizona State transfer Jay Heath to play right away. If they get it, how is THIS team only 10th or 11th in the league next season?
Some new, interesting NIL initiatives: Wrangler is partnering with Texas athletes on western wear. Some 30+ other schools are set to follow with similar deals. Star running back and early Heisman candidate Bijan Robinson has his own brand of “Bijan” mustard.
PC has launched the AdvantEdge Friar Marketplace, where fans, companies, sponsors, and donors can browse, pitch, book or pay any student athlete for NIL activities.
If you think it, apparently “it” can happen. Creativity is a big part of this new frontier.
Rhody’s non-league hoop schedule is complete, and the Rams open the Archie Miller era Nov. 7th at the Ryan Center against Quinnipiac. Texas State, Kansas State, at BC, PC and Brown will all be challenging…and the Friars and Bears will be at home.
URI football is ranked 22nd in the national preseason Top 25 FCS poll. As such, Rhody football announced this week it has SOLD OUT of football season tickets for Meade Stadium in Kingston…a first in program history.
Some single game ducats do remain…but, that’s gettin’ ‘er dun.
Anyone else noticing ex-Bryant receiver Tom Kennedy getting hard knocks, on HBO’s Hard Knocks with the Detroit Lions? He’s in a battle for a roster spot, despite having a great training camp thus far.
Here’s today’s sobering thought: In-state tuition, room, and board at Alabama for this next school year is $26,326…which seems like a bargain these days. Nick Saban’s salary is $29,315 PER DAY at the same school.
Here’s today’s sobering thought, Part II: The Big 10 could eventually become the Titanic 20. Commissioner Kevin Warren told HBO this week he foresees the conference paying its players, and the league having 20 members.
Gary Gaines is a name you might not know, but you should. He was the Odessa Permian head football coach in the Buzz Bissinger best-selling book “Friday Night Lights,” released in 1988. The subsequent movie of the same name was released in 2004, with his character portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton.
The TV series “Friday Night Lights” was also based on Gaines’ life and career. The book portrayed him as compassionate within a “win-at-all-costs” culture, especially at Permian during a 30-year coaching career. Gaines died this week at age 73.
My buddy “Big E” sez he must have the best debts on the planet. Every single one of them is outstanding.
The Patriots are worth what? According to Forbes’ new valuations, the Patriots are the #2 most valuable franchise in the NFL and on this planet, at $6.4 billion, nearly doubling in value since 2019.
That number is behind only the Dallas Cowboys at $8 billion.
Crazy. And a pretty solid ROI for the Kraft family, which paid out about $170 million for the franchise, stadium, and surrounding land nearly 30 years ago, in 1994.
And yet, with that sort of business acumen which has served the NFL well since, Mr. Kraft will have to wait for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The contributor category will be filled in 2023 by former San Diego coach Don Coryell.
Camping in Vegas has been hot – duh! – and competitive. You don’t think this might help a little for the season opener in South Florida?
The vibe we’ve been tossed here, is the offense may not be as much of a mess as it has appeared to be at times this summer. The defense is noticeably faster. The key, as it is for everyone else in the NFL, is staying healthy.
Why we can’t have nice things: Tyquan Thornton’s collarbone injury looks like it could keep him out for about half of the season.
Luckily for the Patriots, receiver may just be one of the deepest positions on the team…at least to start the year. Can’t believe I just said that.
The present and former versions of the USFL are no longer upset with each other. Good to know.
It seems the holding company that represents the owners of the original version (1983-85) reached a settlement in a trademark lawsuit with Fox Sports after the network successfully resurrected the USFL as a spring football league earlier this year…using several original team names and logos.
Great. So, as someone who never received his final paycheck while working in the old-school USFL as a TV announcer, I only have one, nu-skool question.
Where my money at?
Tweet of the Week I, from @GlobeChadFinn: “This Yankees collapse would be even more fun if the Red Sox didn’t stink.”
The Red Flops lost two of three to the O’s and lost three more to Toronto after going 3-3 on a roady. The Blue Jays have won eight of their last nine at Fenway, through midweek.
The divisional record of 16-35 through Thursday is appalling. Embarrassing. And yet, crickets are chirping from Fenway’s front offices while oblivious fandom continues to warble “Sweet Caroline” ad nauseum like nothing else matters.
Poor Neil Diamond. We’ve sung the **** out of his song. Beaten the **** out of it. Time to retire it, like ‘the wave.’ It’s so…so…eighties.
And management is completely out of tune with the way they’ve “built” this team.
Nah, this team couldn’t have used Justin Verlander…who continues to mow through the opposition at age 37 like my new lawn mower tractor cuts through crabgrass. With ease.
Yes, hindsight is 20-20. Every time. But it’s foresight that builds champions, as this organization has previously shown. Metrics are vastly overrated. Numbers and trends are a harbinger of disappointment when you don’t include the ‘eye’ test on a player.
Hey, how’s Mr. Moneyball, Billy Bean, doing these days? Great movie, though.
And yet, this management group seems bound and determined to do it the ‘nerdy’ way. They haven’t gone stupid overnight, and moved Bobby Dalbec to shortstop because the ‘numbers’ say he plays better from the left side of the infield, have they?
Wait. Wut?
Happy Birthday, Yaz. The one-and-only Carl Yastrzemski turned 83 this week. Whoa.
Vote for The Gator: Ex-Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell won the Republican nomination for Lee County (Florida) Commission District 5. He was appointed to the seat by Governor Ron DeSantis after the death of a longtime predecessor…and he’s the favorite to keep the seat for another two years.
Got this other note from Chad Finn this week: ESPN has debuted a new “30-for-30” podcast on baseball’s longest game, Pawtucket’s legendary 33-inning win over Rochester back in 1981.
Tweet of the Week II, with a tip o’ the cap to the MBTA’s Orange Line shutdown, @_TyAnderson: “I would like the Boston Red Sox to have a Subway Series of their own and shut it down for at least one month.”
Not for nuthin’, but SNY (SportsNetNY) had its’ best viewership for a single event in its’ 17-year history this past week for the series finale between the Yankees and Mets.
Take that, LIV. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are helping to launch the TGL Golf League, a stadium-based competition with virtual courses. The PGA has also announced a renewed commitment of the top stars in the sport to play in at least a dozen headline events, plus the majors.
Oh, and more $$$ too. For everyone. There’s always that.
He was probably better known for his golf course architecture than for his playing career, especially for a younger generation, but Tom Weiskopf did win 16 PGA events and a British Open at Royal Troon. He was outspoken and accurate as a broadcaster, which didn’t make him – or let him keep – many friends on the tour.
Weiskopf was also one of the ‘coolest’ golfers I ever watched play back in the ‘70’s. He and George Knudson, too, who frequently lit up a heater while walking the course. Weiskopf won seven times in 1973, including the Colonial NIT where I watched him beat Bruce Crampton and Jerry Heard, and wowed at his skill.
Weiskopf passed away this week at age 79 after a bout with pancreatic cancer.
Len Dawson is also probably better known as a broadcaster than as an athlete to a younger generation, having hosted “Inside the NFL” on HBO for decades as well as becoming a local TV guy in Kansas City.
But the second career came after the first one as a Hall of Fame QB for the Chiefs. He won three AFL titles in the ‘60’s, facing the Packers in the first Super Bowl…and became a meme for the ages with a photo of him lighting up a lung dart at halftime in the locker room with a soft drink bottle at his feet.
Dawson was the MVP of SB IV in KC’s win over Minnesota in ’70. He later paired with Charlie Jones on NBC’s AFC telecasts in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s…and they were a fantastic broadcast team. Lenny the Cool died this week at 87.
ICYMI, last week the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame enshrined five new members, with two former Friars included. The ceremony was held for the first time since 2019 because of the pandemic, and the Hall added Bob Bellemore, Rob Gaudreau, Harvey Bennett, Jr., Tom Mellor and Ralph Warburton.
The rumor mill is running. Does Pasta want out of Boston? He (and the Bruins, of course) haven’t won a thing during his time with the B’s. Is that his fault, or the fault of others?
Let’s give it up to ESPN PR. They have quite the creation in Stephen A. Smith. And the man certainly knows how to push buttons. He told Paul Finebaum’s radio show this week that if he thought he could win…he would run for President.
Of the United States.
The world is at least $300 trillion in debt? So exactly which planet do we owe it to?
Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions, comments, and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Would appreciate the follow on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and join in on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke . Don’t forget to tune into Providence’s 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am for Cordischi and Coit! Call in at 401-737-1287 or text at 37937.