I am tired of people criticizing our spending on football. Not because I think it is a grand idea, my personal views aside, but because these people are the largest hypocrites I've seen.
These people despise the large amount of money donated to our athletics department to raise the facilities of our football program, and attack our school for wasting our money on our football program, which has a puppet coach and no hopes of winning the MAC, ever.
Before I continue, I must clear up one of the biggest misunderstandings about athletics funding: athletics and education are separate. Improving the football stadium will not effect the quality of your education in any direct way, shape or form.
While I have not been to optimist about Ball State football, in fact I said we'd be chanting "keep 'em under 50" at the Purdue game, I do have an understanding of why we are spending such a large amount of money on the stadium. And while I may not agree with the decision, I know that it fits in with both Bubba Cunningham and Jo Ann Gora's vision for our athletics program's success.
But do these critics of football ever comment on other sports? Did they even notice that our cross country team finished runner-up in the MAC by two points last weekend? If they did, they sure didn't open their mouth.
Did they notice when our soccer team defeated Indiana? Or that our women's volleyball team hasn't lost since September?
Do they even know that our men's tennis team and men's volleyball team have been in the NCAA tournament in the past five years?
No.
All they care about is football. Which is the exact reason why the school is focusing on football. The only two athletics programs that can serious raise national attention, which is what Cunningham and Gora seem to want are football and men's basketball, barring some unique success in a specific sport over a large period of time, like UConn basketball, or a dominance in several minor sports, like Stanford, it is really hard to be recognized through success in minor sports.
While this is not the most desirable of circumstances, this is the state of affairs.
So, why are they spending money on improving the football stadium? Because a better stadium, it is argued, increases the quality of recruits. This is a strategy that seems to be true for the most part. Look at Toledo.
With better recruits, you improve you chances of having a successful season. When you have a successful season you improve attendance. With the NCAA threatening with a minimum attendance requirement, and Division-IA football needed to remain in the Mid-American Conference, you can bet Ball State will do anything that will increase its attendance.
Not to mention that, should everything work out, football is a revenue sport.
That means that money from football that our school earns from football can be put to other programs at our school.
I do think it is horribly unfair that the men's track and cross country programs were cut. Sadly, this seems to be an increasing trend in the MAC and around the nation.
There are other sports that cost more per-capita that men's track last year. Football was not among the list.
I suggest if you are tired of Ball State spending money on football, force them to spend money elsewhere. The MAC Championships for field hockey are held at Ball State. Go to it. Go watch our women's volleyball team.
Or at least say something when they do something good.
And resist bringing up football.
Write to Will at wjohargan@bsu.edu
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