Maryland T&F XC axed?

[26mi235]

As of today, a group will recommend to UMD President Loh to cut the Maryland Men's Running program. For those who didn't know, the Men's program has won 60 Xc and Track TEAM titles in the ACC. We had the first 110 hurdler on 13 seconds (Renaldo Nedamiah). Being as the news just got out, we ask for your support first. Even if you don't like Maryland, show some support for the 27 current members and hundreds of Alumni who are trying to keep their team alive. Go Terps.

Read more: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4316684#ixzz1dj293cVN

[dukehjsteve]

Very sad to hear of this possibility... and how times change ! Back in the early 60's Maryland was the King Of The Hill in the ACC in Track, by a country mile. There was Maryland and then there was everybody else. As an example... in the 1964 dual meet with them, Duke won just two events, the shot put and one other ! Gee, I wonder what other event it was, and further gee, I wonder what Dukie won that event ??!!

[guru]

Ironic, when you recall one of the main reasons the Syracuse chancellor cited back in September for their desire to move to the ACC.

As a comprehensive, all-sports conference, the ACC provides Syracuse tremendous opportunities for quality competition and growth in all sports...

http://blog.syracuse.com/sports/2011/09 ... s_syr.html

[lonewolf]

Very sad to hear of this possibility... and how times change ! Back in the early 60's Maryland was the King Of The Hill in the ACC in Track, by a country mile. There was Maryland and then there was everybody else. As an example... in the 1964 dual meet with them, Duke won just two events, the shot put and one other ! Gee, I wonder what other event it was, and further gee, I wonder what Dukie won that event ??!!

I dunno, steve, give us a hint.
Very Belated Congratulations.

[Halfmiler2]

I hope Renaldo Nehemiah goes public against this along with other notable track & field alums.

[Mighty Favog]

December 2010: Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen fired, at a cost of $2 million.

November 2011: Maryland athletic department broke enough to cut sports.

Pure coincidence, I'm sure.

[Don Perry]

The Death Knell of Track and Field as we know it in the USA has begun with this 'Batan March' towards the possible elimination of Men's T&F/XC at the University of Maryland:

1. UMD now, your favority University of College could be next
2. Clear potential impact on possible future educational pursuits for minorities that wish to attend college and participate in T&F/XC
3. This will filter down to High School interest and participation in Maryland - Interest will possibly be lessened
4. If Maryland loses this program and negative impact is realized at the High School level then surely we will see ramifications at the Youth/Club Track Levels among parents, coaches and student/athletes

The potential axing of UMD's Men's T&F/XC programs has wide reaching impact and ramifications across all Track and Field in the USA - - - your favority University/College and community could be next. Let's rally around UMD and all do what we can to assist in the continuation of Men's T&F/XC at the University of Maryland

[guru]

Maryland president approves cuts, while giving the respective sports the opportunity to raise EIGHT year's worth of program costs by next year and have the sport restored.

Philip Hersh says it well -

Another gutless college president: U of Maryland chooses to kill the sports real students take part in.

https://twitter.com/#!/olyphil/status/1 ... 1783089153

[guru]

So Maryland doesnt have the $2 million a year for track, swimming, etc, but can cough up $50 million without batting an eye to pay the ACC to leave.

Insanity...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ter ... mediately/

[Marlow]

So Maryland doesnt have the $2 million a year for track, swimming, etc, but can cough up $50 million without batting an eye to pay the ACC to leave.
Insanity...

Nah . . . follow the money . . . it's all about the $$$
Joining the Big-10 gives them more and swifter revenue streams.

The Big Ten has the biggest TV contract in college sports. The league allots each member school more than $24 million a year, according to published reports, including by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, while the ACC provides about $17 million a school

[guru]

I'm well aware of why they're moving, but one would think $50 million - upfront - would be a bit of a challenge for such a cash-poor program.

[Marlow]

I'm well aware of why they're moving, but one would think $50 million - upfront - would be a bit of a challenge for such a cash-poor program.

As with anything, if you want something bad enough, you can find the money. Peter pays Paul; Paul pays the ACC. Eventually, of course, ya gotta pay the piper.

[guru]

$5 or $10 million can be "found", $50 million not so much. If they have that kind of pocket change lying around, they really didnt need to cut seven sports(which included three women's sports, for those itching to heave the Title IX bomb into the discussion).

It will be interesting to see if they use their newfound Big Ten TV money to reinstate the sports that were axed.

Hahahahaha

[Marlow]

1. $5 or $10 million can be "found", $50 million not so much.
2. It will be interesting to see if they use their newfound Big Ten TV money to reinstate the sports that were axed.

1. 'Cept they did.
2. According to the release, the money will keep them from cutting more!

[guru]

$5 or $10 million can be "found", $50 million not so much.

1. 'Cept they did.

Again, if they did, then they didnt need to cut those sports, which $50 million would fund for 10 years(or more), and makes the school president's comments at the time more than a little disingenuous.

We are different from many other public research universities in that we receive no state support. We have a financial model for two programs, only two programs, which have to subsidize all the rest of the sports. It is a national model that is faulty, that is inequitable, and that is unsustainable

And yet, they have $50 million to burn...

[preston]

December 2010: Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen fired, at a cost of $2 million.
November 2011: Maryland athletic department broke enough to cut sports.
Pure coincidence, I'm sure.

Doubt it. The CEO of Under Armour, who played football at Maryland, makes the decision as to who will coach there (google Kevin Plank Ralph Friedgen). And the Athletic Department at Maryland, if it's anything like the AD at other schools, is probably a separate entity dominated by boosters like Plank. And, Plank's intent is to make Maryland the "Oregon Ducks" of the Under Armour brand (witness last years most interesting football uniform ever. I loved, most loathed), so the move to the Big 10 gives him and Maryland a much bigger platform for Under Armour and their sports teams.

When was the last time that program was relevant? 20 years ago? 30? Why should the benefits of football go towards propping up of the extra-curricular portions of the resumes of a bunch of XC boys and girls who aren't that good and weren't trying to be good? (I'm sick of T&F as the sport of mass participation; the activity sport.) They will ultimately bring track back but for now they need to pull the mask over the face of that football team and then think about the other sports.

[PDJ551]

Does the Big 10 have a rule that member schools have to field teams in all of the sports that it has championship tournaments in? If that's the case Maryland will have to reinstate xc and track. I know that it's all about the money. Most D-1 football programs in the country in fact lose money, but the power schools make money. Some in fact make so much money that other sports are supported by the revenue. Do all Big 10 schools support xc and track equally? How many scholarships are given to the men's programs?

[preston]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/ ... e-big-ten/

[...] One of the reasons why Maryland and Rutgers have struggled financially is that their football teams are just not very good at a national level. Rutgers has certainly played well against Big East opposition this year, but nobody is expecting either school to compete for a Big Ten championship or BCS berth anytime soon.

That lack of competitive success means the two schools offer the Big Ten little value in terms of national TV deals. The Big Ten currently has deals with CBS and ABC /ESPN that pay $10 million per school annually. Those contracts will be renegotiated to compensate the Big Ten’s two newest members, but it’s unlikely that the conference will be able to secure a much larger per-school payout. Put simply, neither Maryland nor Rutgers moves the needle nationally when it comes to football.

But where the Big Ten aims to profit is with the Big Ten Network. While adding Maryland and Rutgers might not improve the conference’s on-field competitiveness, it increases the amount of potential programming and instantly secures a much wider geographic footprint for the conference-specific network.

[dj]

Does the Big 10 have a rule that member schools have to field teams in all of the sports that it has championship tournaments in? If that's the case Maryland will have to reinstate xc and track. I know that it's all about the money. Most D-1 football programs in the country in fact lose money, but the power schools make money. Some in fact make so much money that other sports are supported by the revenue. Do all Big 10 schools support xc and track equally? How many scholarships are given to the men's programs?

All of the sports, no. Northwestern does not have men's track or cross country.

[Marlow]

We are different from many other public research universities in that we receive no state support. We have a financial model for two programs, only two programs, which have to subsidize all the rest of the sports. It is a national model that is faulty, that is inequitable, and that is unsustainable

And yet, they have $50 million to burn...

Obviously they do not have $50 Mil to burn. They do, however, have $50 Mil that they can scrounge up that will have to go back into whatever pot it came from, once the Big-10 revenue starts coming in.

[Conor Dary]

In the end 50 million won't be that much.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/co ... 54.graphic

[Pego]

Does the Big 10 have a rule that member schools have to field teams in all of the sports that it has championship tournaments in? If that's the case Maryland will have to reinstate xc and track. I know that it's all about the money. Most D-1 football programs in the country in fact lose money, but the power schools make money. Some in fact make so much money that other sports are supported by the revenue. Do all Big 10 schools support xc and track equally? How many scholarships are given to the men's programs?

All of the sports, no. Northwestern does not have men's track or cross country.

Also hockey, only OS, Mich, Mich St, Wis, Min and now PS have it. Women even less. Baseball is also not played by all of them.

[Conor Dary]

Nate Silver, Mr. PollGuru, doesn't think this latest move is a great idea.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.co ... more-37589

[Marlow]

Nate Silver, Mr. PollGuru, doesn't think this latest move is a great idea.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.co ... more-37589

Fascinating - that guy is my new hero!
He's doing to the rest of the America what sabermetrics did to baseball (which I think was long overdue).

[j-a-m]

Nate Silver, Mr. PollGuru, doesn't think this latest move is a great idea.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.co ... more-37589

Would've been a good idea for the Big Ten to make Missouri an offer while they still had the chance:

"The University of Missouri, with about 1.1 million fans, is the most attractive of this group. But it recently joined the Southeastern Conference, after getting on-again, off-again attention from the Big Ten."