SMU men's program getting the axe?

[gm]

Noticed a piece in the SMU student newspaper that said the men's T&F program was getting dropped. Glad they could find the money to add women's equestrian, though.

What a system, huh?

[jhc68]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

Hmmm, well, whether it is pc to verbalize the thought or not, there seems to be something very wrong with the way Title IX has been implemented in recent years. I'm not unhappy enough about it to become a Republican, but the system, as currently administered, stinks.

[sl]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

This is very sad for the sport, but, once again, collegiate track needs to look at itself in the mirror. Will any general sports fans at SMU or in Dallas care? Hard to think so. When was the last time the SMU track team hosted a meet that put any butts in the seats? When was the last time any real effort was made to even try to do so? Hasn't happened in decades, I'd guess.

This isn't a slam at SMU in particular--Mustang athletes have been exciting factors at many an NCAA meet in recent years--but when a team adds nothing to the life of its campus and local community, is it any surprise it's an easy cut to make when the axe comes out?

[hj197steve]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

>This is very sad for the sport, but, once again, collegiate track needs to look
>at itself in the mirror. Will any general sports fans at SMU or in Dallas care?
>Hard to think so. When was the last time the SMU track team hosted a meet that
>put any butts in the seats? When was the last time any real effort was made to
>even try to do so? Hasn't happened in decades, I'd guess.

This isn't a slam
>at SMU in particular--Mustang athletes have been exciting factors at many an
>NCAA meet in recent years--but when a team adds nothing to the life of its
>campus and local community, is it any surprise it's an easy cut to make when
>the axe comes out?

If we take what you say to its extreme, then ALL sports( and anything else too ) that do not MAKE money for the school should be eliminated. Where does the line get drawn and who draws it ?

[Realist]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

I didn't see anything in sl's post that said anything about money. He just said that the program was doing nothing to promote the sport.

[Helen S.]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

Not title IX- 85 full scholarships for a football team. (what do the pros keep on roster- 54?)

[dgb]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

Sieg Lindstrom's assessment is on the mark. I've lived next to the SMU campus since 1996. When I first moved here, SMU hosted a couple of decent x-c meets and an occasional low-key track meet, but in the past five years: zip. I often wondered why they ran a program invisible to the local community. I saw many elite athletes training at the throwing facility or on the track, yet the excitement of competition was always elsewhere, and the sport remained obscure.

The root problem, of course, is football. SMU is committed to a program it cannot afford, and men's track is just one more sacrifice made to the elusive dream of gridiron glory. I can't imagine that cutting men's track will make much of dent in the tremendous deficit run up by athletics, however. The roster is small, and I assume the two coaches (Wollman, Rembao) will stay to direct the women's program.

[doug b]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

well with all the problems the colorodo football team is having maybe they will drop their football program and add more olympic sports. (sarcastic)

[OldPVcoach]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

Channel 5 NBC in DFW just ran the story on the 6 oclock news. Not only did SMU not host meets they didn't recruit local kids. No one in DFW will miss the program.

[gm]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

They didn't host meets because the school never provided a decent facility or support to host them. This is a brain-dead move that I hope will eventually lead to the death of all sports at SMU. Maybe they should have quit collegiate athletics when they were given the death penalty for their football infractions.

Shame on you, Jim Copeland and your good ole boy football arse-kissers.

[lf]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

Coach Wollman told me that he lost the part of the outdoor track where the 100m is supposed to start during the expansion of the adjacent football stadium. He wasn't very happy about it, because this meant they couldn't host any home meets.

The fact that women's track and field was maintained speaks to the gender equity aspect of the decision, not facilities or fan base. This is a very sad day for track and field.

[dgb]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

According to this morning's Dallas Morning News, the AD (Jim Copeland) said that keeping men's track would have "forced" SMU to add a women's sport. With the elimination of men's track and XC, SMU now has 6 men's sports and 10 women's sports (note: football roster of 83 means that total number of male athletes is greater). I wish SMU would realize that a university is not obligated to try to provide professional sports entertainment, esp. in a city where the Cowboys and Mavericks fulfill that role. I fear this commitment to football is suicidal; it's bankrupting the school.

[wabryan]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

This decision was supposedly made as a way to save 1.4 million dollars by not having to add a womens sports program to comply with title IX. As an alumni and 4 year letterman, I can assure you that if the need for the money had been voiced, it would have taken about 3 phone calls to get it. There is more here than meets the eye.

It is sad that collegiate athletics has become nothing more than how to divide the money generated by a schools football program. Now that my sport has been eliminated, guess who is not getting any more of my money. I can assure SMU and Mr. Copeland that the 1.4 million defecit will now become much larger as all of us dedicated supporters of SMU athletics now have nothing to support.

By the way, it sure is exciting to sit in a half full football stadium to watch an 0 and 11 team play.

[trackstar]

Re: SMU men's program getting the axe?

>Hmmm, well, whether it is pc to verbalize the thought or not, there seems to be
>something very wrong with the way Title IX has been implemented in recent
>years. I'm not unhappy enough about it to become a Republican, but the system,
>as currently administered, stinks.

You just hit the nail on the head: Title IX is not the problem; the way it is administered is. The idea, when it was written, was to INCREASE opportunities for women, not take them away from men. This whole notion of killing men's programs to acheive equility is the exact opposite of the law's intent. Take a few of those 85 football scholarships and hand them to the women, and you could achieve equality while doing minimal, if any, damage to the football program.

To make an admittedly imperfect analogy: This is sort of like if, in response to Brown v. Board of Education, the Southern states had just decided to abolish public education rather than integrating. Denying EVERYONE an education certainly would have achieved equality, but in the completely wrong way.