Letter to the Editor
What a mess!
Published Monday, April 14, 2008
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To the editor:
I recently attended the state basketball tournament in Anchorage and was shocked that the head coach of Alaska was not in attendance. I realize this may not mean a thing to the athletic department considering that none of them have ties to the state, but as a former University of Alaska Fairbanks player, it upsets me greatly. I heard that he was recruiting at a junior college tournament.
While I did see the assistant coaches, not having the face of your basketball program in attendance is unacceptable and a slap in the face to all basketball players and coaches in Alaska. It is obvious that the UAF does not care about Alaskan players at all. Interesting that UAA’s coaches made appearances at the state tournament. This is the least amount of exposure I have ever seen at the state tournament for the Nanooks! UAF has severed all connections with basketball players across this state.
Why has the News-Miner “covered up” the loss of players at UAF? DeRay Carger, Bo Edwards and Phillipe Jourdain were dismissed or ineligible. In the article announcing that Coach Johnson was named head coach, it stated that the program has straightened itself out. Are you sure?
Isn’t it interesting how Missouri State treats Alaska kids better than our own university. They released Alaskan player Damen Bell-Holter out of his letter of intent because the coach was fired. Either the Missouri State assistant director is more compassionate or understands how an AD should operate.
Has anyone noticed or does anyone care about the quality of athletic programs at the university? Is there any sport except rifle that is competitive? The men’s basketball went from five consecutive seasons of winning 17 or more games to 5-22. I must congratulate the chancellor, Jake Poole, Patrick Lee and Forrest Karr for running the athletic department into the ground. While this is happening, UAA is sending both basketball teams to the final four! I have heard that every UAA fan goes to sleep praying that none of you lose your job!
Community Discussion
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good point mike!!!
I have been waiting for an explination for the mass exodus of all sorts when it comes to the coaches at the UAF. Basketball, hockey, both have seen turn over the past couple of years that shouldnt be happening. I did not participate in a sports program when I attended the UAF (they still dont have a wrestling team!) but it amazes me that so many Universities across the country us there sports programs to help fund there institutions and ours are treated like back burner bonuses. What gives?
JB: There's not enough people in Fairbanks (nor not enough intrest) for UAF to make money with sports. Look at UAF hockey. Admission is ~$7.00 a game for general public. There are maybe 2000 people a game (sometimes more, sometimes less). That means $14,000 a game. By the time you pay for the Carlson Center, pay coaches salaries, pay for practice time, and travel for the players, etc, there is no money left. And hockey is the MOST popular sport at UAF. If you raise admission to a level where you might make money, then no one would go to games (I doubt people in Fairbanks would pay $25 to see the Nanooks play). Sports here simply do not, and cannot make money. It's amazing we even have sports at UAF at all (and it is a big budget sink for the university).
The schools that make money on sports A) have good teams, B) have a local population that will support the teams, C) charge lots of money to attend games. UAF has some good teams (think skiing and rifle), but when was the last time 3000+ people paid $25 dollars each to watch the rifle team.
As for the original post, it is truly pathetic when the head coach doesn't show up for a game (a family emergency, etc. is an acceptable excuse, but recuiting?)
I'm pretty sure uaf games are $12 now? so that means $24,000 a game. The thing is, they bring in all these half decent coaches who don't build winning teams and UAF hockey is lucky to get 2000 fans at the Carlson Center. However, back when Guy was coaching our team to a winning season, attendence was almost always over 3000, and some of the bigger games were selling out the 4000+ seat arena. that means averaging $36,000 or more per game, and that's just ticket sales. The booth which sold shirts/hats/jerseys etc always had a constant flow of fans too. So It's safe to say that when we had a winning team, the school was making 40 to $50,000 a game. With 16 games at home, UAF was making around $720,000 each season when we had a winning team lead by a winning coach. I'm not sure how much they were paying Guy, but it obviously wasn't enough. The University might say they can't afford a good coach, but that's because they don't care about sports and choose to blow their money in other places.
I left Fairbanks to attend college in Texas some years ago (Texas A&M), my father was from Texas and wanted me to get my diploma at the same university he attended. Down there sports reigned supreme, the massive amounts of revenue generated by football alone is almost beyong comprehension. The coaches down there earn upwards of $1 million per year. I honestly think that all coaches use small universities as stepping stones to get to these lucrative positions.
California, Texas, Florida- anytime you pick up a copy of Sports Illustrated , these 3 states seem to be rolling in the cash.
The weather there is obviously a factor. I have noticed when the recruiting results is published (I keep up with the Alama Mater) these states seldom recruit outside their borders. Their population is able to produce all they need to compete on the national level in any sport.
We don't have that luxury, however I for one love going to the games any chance I get. You are right that we dont generate the revenue but then, for me anyway, it is all about the game. I think the atletes here are as dedicated as any I have ever seen.
Yes!!! I agree, for a head coach to have something more important on his plate than encouraging his student-atletes to do their very best is in my judgement pretty tacky!!!
The population of our state grows each year, but any dreams of competeing with states located in the "Sun-Belt", or Big 12 Conf., or Southeast Conf. is not realistic.
We need to continue to support our team and if a coach moves on, well that is their perogative. there is quality here in the atletes, but (to re-visit your comment) why we dont have a wrestling team is beyond me!
Personally, I think the athletic depart. could use a serious over-haul.
akkid86 says "The University might say they can't afford a good coach, but that's because they don't care about sports and choose to blow their money in other places."
And well they should! UAF is not in the entertainment business. It is a University. It should be focused on teaching. When they have their millions of dollars of deferred maintenance all taken care of, then, maybe, they should think about sports teams.
As far as sports making money in Fairbanks, it is simply not going to happen. We don't have the population base required to turn a profit on sports. We don't even have a sufficient population to support a real music scene (for bands with typically only 4 or 5 members). How the heck do you think we are going to have the population to turn a profit off of huge hockey or football teams?
You need a city on the order of a million to do that. We don't even have enough people in our state, much less our city!
Sumtimes i ferget that uafs purrpus is the edyoucateshun and stuff. all dis time i was thought is just too play sports. i know we got stuff like fizzicks, mattmatticks and bollygee. but really, who cares about all dat, it shud juss bee for sports. da reason dat we ain't got no good cocches and stuff is cuz there ain't no money, cause they spend two much on stuff like reesurch.
sdoownek ---
*ROTFLMAO*
That's just priceless! Keep it up!
Obviously the main purpose of UAF is to educate its students, and I know that the athletic teams are a small part of the overall picture. It is however frustrating when the University spends over 40 million dollars building a new museum, and 80 million dollars on a new biology building, when both of the existing structures were/are sufficient for our needs. I can see spending money to fix up the buildings, but spending over 120 million to build completely new structures seems excessive. It would be nice to get even a fraction of a percent of that funding in order to recruit winning coaches, especially ones who support their own players.
akkid86, I share your frustration with the university's spending priorities, but there are still many underfunded academic departments at UAF. I'd love to see schools get out of intercollegiate sports altogether and put more money into health and recreation resources for their student bodies. I'm speaking as a former college athlete (rowing).
As a student at UAF, I am a bit frustrated. From my perspective, the university is beholden to the Athletic Department. With little to no input from students, we will see a 220% fee increase to bail the community's beloved athletic department out of debt...AGAIN. In fact, the fee is based on per credit hour, so now for every credit you take to earn a degree, a student must fund athletics at a greater rate. So this fee amounts to $96 per semester or $8 per credit capped out at 12 credits. But the vast majority of students don't attend the UAF sporting events because they're working and doing homework, so the students are shouldering the burden of a program on behalf of the community, not themselves. Otherwise, the program as it is, and to maintain the beloved Division I status, would simply be unsustainable.
Furthermore, students pay for setup of broadcasts only for the athletic department to turn around and shell out $8,000 to ClearChannel to broadcast the game, instead of just using the free service offered by KSUA. Why do they do this? Because that is what YOU want.
But where is the outrage that tuition has risen 56% in 4 years, and doubled in 8? We know from an internal survey that students are dropping out because they cannot afford the education anymore, not because of grades or the quality of the education. And with the average age of UAF students at 27, that $96 could be spent on groceries. This state desperately needs college graduates, including those from TVC, yet people are aggressively making demands for more athletic spending.
Enough's enough. Can we please focus on education. Fund entertainment on your own dime. I'm taking out student loans to fund your sports team.
It is interesting that a school that is fast becoming an International leader in geophysics and polar research can't find a balance. It's true that education is the purpose of a university, but also true that well run athletic departments bolster the school's economy rather than become a drain on it. Perhaps the system of recruitment for upper administrative positions should include their ability to balance an all purpose budget. I don't feel the students should have to pay increasingly higher tuitions to get an education for any reason......especially with some of the state's budget spent on more frivolous pursuits. So, how about doing what Fairbanks does best and band together to find a solution that will support our outstanding university AND provide quality athletic opportunities with coaches staying long enough to remember their names.
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