BTN Tonight : Doomsday Scenario

[JPhoboken]

Myth: Rutgers is cheap when it comes to athletics. Rutgers economizes and pinches pennies on sports.

Truth: Rutgers spends more of the university general funds on athletics than any other FBS school, bar none. This is known to many as "The Subsidy". Rutgers has the largest by a wide margin. Rutgers is the opposite of cheap when it comes to athletics. What we don't have is a reliable base of large donors. Rutgers is not cheap. Rutgers' fans are cheap.

This money is being spent on Olympic sports. Football and Basketball support themselves. We need fb and BB to become cash cows so they can support other sports. And that isn't going to happen unless the school becomes serious about competing and starts to invest. Show us you are serious and then donations will increase. Obviously donors, sponsors will be critical, but right now leadership is more important. Barchi is willing to take Big money, but investing so we can compete both academically and athletically is a foreign concept to him. He just does not understand the value of BIG athletics, and will never really lead the charge to invest. He is not creating warm and fuzzy climate for more donations.

New leadership at the top is the best thing we can hope to happen in the short term to truly have a chance to compete in the BIG athletically. Everyone has an opinion, that's mine

 

[vkj91]

Honestly, the worst case scenario happened last year, not this year. Flood going 8-5, comeback win over Maryland and the convincing win over North Carolina in the bowl game meant he was going to stick around. Recruiting fell off during Flood's tenure and we scheduled down to guarantee a bowl game.

It would be hard to fire someone who has a winning record (because most Rutgers coaches since Burns did not). So now, we have a coach that the administration won't release, that pretty much isn't wanted, but can't be fired. He would have been fine if we had stayed in the American, but since we're playing tOSU, PSU, Michigan State et. al. every year, he is not up to the task.

The wheels haven't fallen off -- you can make the right hire and turn the decline around. How confident is anyone in Julie to make that hire?

The school administration bows to pressure in every direction so they have no vision or have no backbone (not sure what it is). No help in that direction.

So we continue on a gradual descent. Flood may win some games he shouldn't, though I think we're looking at 4-8 this year.

Can you explain to me how we scheduled down to guarantee bowls?

 

[Caliknight]

The OP might be a troll based on postings I have seen on another board.

This post is a rehash of a million other rehashes. No new info.

 

[PhDKnight]

I want to win really, really bad however ..... I think everyone needs to just go to the games with their friends and family, enjoy the tailgate, enjoy the day out, root for their team and stop getting so tied up about the winning and losing for some time to come. It's a sad state of affairs but it is what it is.

If I was Barchi I would be far more concerned about my academic ratings falling then my athletic department ratings falling. Furthermore, Rutgers is currently inept in pretty much every way possible - local support is terrible, alumni support is terrible, media support is terrible, political support is terrible, financial support is terrible, the PR department is terrible, the culture, quality and morale inside the administration, professors and other employees is low. There is no vision regarding what this school is and where it is going. Should I keep going?

The ONLY reasons we are in the B1G are 1) GS and 2) our location. That's it.

So where do you start the reclamation?

Wherever it is we need actions not words from everyone involved. Imagine what we could do with the cumulative time wasted on this board.

 

[derleider]

This money is being spent on Olympic sports. Football and Basketball support themselves. We need fb and BB to become cash cows so they can support other sports. And that isn't going to happen unless the school becomes serious about competing and starts to invest. Show us you are serious and then donations will increase. Obviously donors, sponsors will be critical, but right now leadership is more important. Barchi is willing to take Big money, but investing so we can compete both academically and athletically is a foreign concept to him. He just does not understand the value of BIG athletics, and will never really lead the charge to invest. He is not creating warm and fuzzy climate for more donations.

New leadership at the top is the best thing we can hope to happen in the short term to truly have a chance to compete in the BIG athletically. Everyone has an opinion, that's mine

Not really. Those are all lagging indicators. Winning comes first. And basically winning is contingent on geography (its not a coincidence that most winning teams come from areas where there are lots of recruits per team - Ohio has the most 3/4/5 star recruits per BCS team and surprise - OSU is usually very good) and coaching (and alot of that is luck of the draw - do you get Steve Kragthorpe or Brian Kelly.)

He actually understands the value of big time athletics completely - that is to say - there is almost no value. Unless you are a relatively unknown school having a really really good season, its basically a blip. We arent relatively unknown to the bulk of our potenitial students (we will always be 80-90% NJ residents), and whether we have a great year is mostly luck once you make a relatively minimal investment. Its, not surprisingly, the FB fans who don't actually understand that losing or winning has almost no effect.

Two things should make that clear. OSU isn't in the US News top 50 and Alabama is barely in the top 100. And PSU rose in the rankings after it had a scandal that linked athletics to the overall administration of the school.

per the poster above - Barchi has much larger fish to fry than FB. To his credit, there has been some major progress in making RU a physically more attractive place to go to school. I cant speak to the rest of the experience, and really - the main way to get better students is to take fewer of them, or to find money to make it cheaper to go (in essence - Rutgers mostly suffers from a supply and demand problem more than anything.)

 

[NickyNewark51]

Madone Bac,
That's a strong analogy.

Yeah Zap it is.....did UConn help themselves or show vision in the midst of conference realignment by hiring dinosaur Paul Pasqualoni at such a critical time when they were all but penciled in to the ACC. A lot of it is luck in making hires but you need visionaries to make them.That hire set them back 10 yrs minimum and got Louisville the open spot.

 

[derleider]

Yeah Zap it is.....did UConn help themselves or show vision in the midst of conference realignment by hiring dinosaur Paul Pasqualoni at such a critical time when they were all but penciled in to the ACC. A lot of it is luck in making hires but you need visionaries to make them.That hire set them back 10 yrs minimum and got Louisville the open spot.

No - Bobby Petrino and Louisvile's overall commitment to FB (they are roughly even in other sports) got them the open spot. Louisville is expdning to 70,000 seats. UConn couldnt fill a 40,000 seat stadium even in the good times.

 

[Upstream]

For those with more knowledge of RU athletics and finances: Is it actually possible to take a loan from the BIG against future revenues? Would a NJ bank front us $15M (assuming a $4M salary for 3 years plus associated buyout costs) against projected B10 revenues?

Getting a loan is pretty much not going to happen.

According to the most recently released financial reports, Rutgers Athletics has a budget of about $75 million and receives more than a quarter of that from University fund (and that doesn't count the additional money received from student fees, nor does it count the money the University paid for AAC exit fees). The $19 million that Rutgers gets from the university is about twice what the next highest P5 athletic department receives from its school. That money is already, essentially, the investment loan against future revenue.

If Julie is looking for an additional $4 MM per year, the easiest place to find it is through reallocating the existing athletic budget. $4 MM is only about 5% of her budget. It really isn't that hard to find 5% ... which would actually only be about 2.5% if she can generates part of the money through donations.

 

[JPhoboken]

Not really. Those are all lagging indicators. Winning comes first. And basically winning is contingent on geography (its not a coincidence that most winning teams come from areas where there are lots of recruits per team - Ohio has the most 3/4/5 star recruits per BCS team and surprise - OSU is usually very good) and coaching (and alot of that is luck of the draw - do you get Steve Kragthorpe or Brian Kelly.)

He actually understands the value of big time athletics completely - that is to say - there is almost no value. Unless you are a relatively unknown school having a really really good season, its basically a blip. We arent relatively unknown to the bulk of our potenitial students (we will always be 80-90% NJ residents), and whether we have a great year is mostly luck once you make a relatively minimal investment. Its, not surprisingly, the FB fans who don't actually understand that losing or winning has almost no effect.

Two things should make that clear. OSU isn't in the US News top 50 and Alabama is barely in the top 100. And PSU rose in the rankings after it had a scandal that linked athletics to the overall administration of the school.

per the poster above - Barchi has much larger fish to fry than FB. To his credit, there has been some major progress in making RU a physically more attractive place to go to school. I cant speak to the rest of the experience, and really - the main way to get better students is to take fewer of them, or to find money to make it cheaper to go (in essence - Rutgers mostly suffers from a supply and demand problem more than anything.)

Sorry der, your argument makes sense if we were not in the BIG where sports do have value. This is why Barchi doesn't get it it coming from a small college.

I you feel sports has no value, what are you suggesting RU do?

Remember, we accepted membership to a conference whose charter says schools will strive for both athletic and academic excellence. Doesn't this mean we have an obligation to try to compete?

If you truly believe sports have no value, then by your logic, we should not have accepted membership to the conference.

 

[NickyNewark51]

No - Bobby Petrino and Louisvile's overall commitment to FB (they are roughly even in other sports) got them the open spot. Louisville is expdning to 70,000 seats. UConn couldnt fill a 40,000 seat stadium even in the good times.

I know that but isn't the ACC all about academics...didn't they turn away WVU. Jurich outhustled UConn's vacationing admin's for the contested spot. And also wanted to appease FSU and Clemson when they dallied with the B12 whilst i believe Tobacco Rd supported UConn. I do realize the Huskies do like BC/Cuse putting fannies in the seats but who are the Huskies playing to inspire interest, SMU or UMemphis aren't exactly draws.

 

[derleider]

I know that but isn't the ACC all about academics...didn't they turn away WVU. Jurich outhustled UConn's vacationing admin's for the contested spot. And also wanted to appease FSU and Clemson when they dallied with the B12 whilst i believe Tobacco Rd supported UConn. I do realize the Huskies do like BC/Cuse putting fannies in the seats but who are the Huskies playing to inspire interest, SMU or UMemphis aren't exactly draws.

They were all about academics when they rejected WVU. But things change. As you said they wanted to appease FSU and Clemson, who wanted a FB first team. There is no hire UConn could have realistically made that would have put them in front of Louisville at that point. The decision in essence had been made decades before by people who are long retired.

 

[derleider]

Sorry der, your argument makes sense if we were not in the BIG where sports do have value. This is why Barchi doesn't get it it coming from a small college.

I you feel sports has no value, what are you suggesting RU do?

Remember, we accepted membership to a conference whose charter says schools will strive for both athletic and academic excellence. Doesn't this mean we have an obligation to try to compete?

If you truly believe sports have no value, then by your logic, we should not have accepted membership to the conference.

Not so. Sports exist at RU and RU has made investments in them. Since sports can be self-funding, or nearly so, in a big time athletic conference and cant be in a D1AA conference or an AAC level one, it made sense for RU to accept membership in the Big Ten.

But basically I dont think the academic course of RU would have been significantly different had we stayed D1AA, or ended up in the AAC, or in the Big Ten.

RU should try to compete in a general sense, because there is no point at all in having the teams if they arent trying to win. But I dont think them losing is a big deal in the scope of the university, nor should Barchi or any RU president. Sorts should be low on the agenda, and they should be self-sufficient.

 

[Extra Point]

 

[Extra Point]

I don't think things are that bad, it is just this year and we still have a chance to beat B1G teams. For the future the key thing as always is recruiting.

 

[MidwestKnights]

What doesn't this administration understand about being a flag ship state university? Where was the BLOCK R BEFORE GS? Not on bill boards. Not on cars. Not in department stores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Before GS you didn't see Rutgers anywhere. Us old timers remember the accent in the mid 2000s. Without a competive football team a state school dies.

I don't have faith this administration could run a lemonade stand, right now.

This is exactly why I'm open to the Schiano returns scenario. Schiano did the things you expect a state flagship to do and be. He made us visible to the state and to the NYC media market. He literally created the social & academic media, branding, identity and physical infrastructure of the RU football program and by extension the university, because nobody else was doing it.

Flood's job was to keep that intact. We will need someone to not only rebuild the team but the larger program and identity.

I'm not wedded to Schiano, but there are very few coaches who can do what he did.

 

[DHajekRC84]

Getting a loan is pretty much not going to happen.

According to the most recently released financial reports, Rutgers Athletics has a budget of about $75 million and receives more than a quarter of that from University fund (and that doesn't count the additional money received from student fees, nor does it count the money the University paid for AAC exit fees). The $19 million that Rutgers gets from the university is about twice what the next highest P5 athletic department receives from its school. That money is already, essentially, the investment loan against future revenue.

If Julie is looking for an additional $4 MM per year, the easiest place to find it is through reallocating the existing athletic budget. $4 MM is only about 5% of her budget. It really isn't that hard to find 5% ... which would actually only be about 2.5% if she can generates part of the money through donations.

would love to see a sport by sport net revenue ranking and see where the money is going vs. how much each sport generates. nobody is going to want to cut programs and I bet there is one sig. loss program that ranks up there pretty high we'd never touch (in fact recently re-committed to)..

Football at Rutgers is like Federal Taxes in NJ..lots more goes out than comes in. We also need to get better naming rights at HPSS and something for the RAC. And maybe get people to stop bitching when they don't get a FREE Magnet and give the school a couple of bucks for it. That way we will know who supports the athletics. If you can't spend $5 to put an R on the back of your call, STFU.

 

[derleider]

This is exactly why I'm open to the Schiano returns scenario. Schiano did the things you expect a state flagship to do and be. He made us visible to the state and to the NYC media market. He literally created the social & academic media, branding, identity and physical infrastructure of the RU football program and by extension the university, because nobody else was doing it.

Flood's job was to keep that intact. We will need someone to not only rebuild the team but the larger program and identity.

I'm not wedded to Schiano, but there are very few coaches who can do what he did.

Good point Moz. RUs rankings have SOARED with all of that additional visibility.

 

[RUCookie]

Oh jeeze!! First you say that it's not bad than counter it could fixed in SIX years!!! Six f-ing years! NO! We should't have to hit rock bottom again. Fix it now!.

Just wondering are you related to Barchi in any way??

Actually, I would say that it took longer than 6 years to correct. How long were in a horrible embarrassment before Schiano even got here. Before the current run, our last winning season was '92. The University was fine with wallowing. Schiano took over a program that was desperate. Now, this program is humiliated. Fair-weather fans or not, there were donations to upgrade facilities the last round, that Schiano demanded that as an investment in our future. Don't expect donations to come rolling in now that we are regular headliners in SL. The University leadership needs to deal with this immediately... as in NOW, this season! This season is a wash. So use it to fix problems. If we follow history - we are sunk.

 

[MidwestKnights]

As a fan, first we have to define winning and competitiveness, before deciding whether Rutgers is successful or not. Some of us would say last year, we won (won more games than lost and made a bowl for the 3rd straight year), thus, competitiveness was achieved. Others will only look to the blow-outs and say we were not competitive and did not win.

As for the future, none of us can predict. Worst case is if we stink this year and next year and even the year after that, in time business will be affected, administration leads will change and we'll see a new coaching staff with optimism about what the future will bring, re-building and changing.

Yes, some of the posters are over-reacting here and believe we'll lose all our games for many years to come, go back to Shea era performance (losing to FCS schools), get kicked out of the B1G due to such losing, revert back to playing Patriot League teams and all the nonsense that goes with either being miserable, attempting to attract sensationalism on a message board or being a fan of another program and on this board for kicks and jollies.

How about this. We were competitive last year. But we weren't the year before and so far we are not competitive this year.

Combine that with all the off the field issues at the start of the season and it's pretty clear by the body of work that this a Rudderless ship. It needs a new hand at the helm.

 

[RURM85]

This is the divide. Some of us have seen the writing on the wall for a while now, while others hoped to see Flood grow into the position.

I would rather bite the bullet before the program reaches the level of total tear-down. Flood's recruiting classes start rosy, but collapsed by signing day; the S&C (my pet peeve) went down; technique went out the window for young players, etc.

When looking at the overall health of the program, "Ws & Ls" are a lagging metric; by the time you hit a low period on the scoreboard, you've got 3 classes rising behind with the same skill level. Scheme can overcome some recruiting shortfalls, but I don't think anyone will confuse Flood with being a tactician.

This latest row of events is an excuse to move on, and I think the AD should start planning her short list.

I see it somewhat different. I see Flood operating in administrative, political and media environments that make it impossible to achieve the type of consistent winning we expect or any sustainable success. If the school will not pay for a major coach in a big way that has a proven track record of sustaining championship level winning (you could probably count those coaches on a few fingers), then I'm not sure I see the point, barring a losing disaster of which we're not there yet with 3 bowls in 3 years and a season that's 3 games deep. The school doesn't have the money and with these environments is currently unwilling to invest in the future. Any other coach we bring in is fighting the same current environments and will be no better and no worse than the status quo. These issues are much bigger than the coach.

 

[RURM85]

How about this. We were competitive last year. But we weren't the year before and so far we are not competitive this year.

Combine that with all the off the field issues at the start of the season and it's pretty clear by the body of work that this a Rudderless ship. It needs a new hand at the helm.

Yes, blame Flood for all the off the field issues. Only at Rutgers do players get arrested. That's because we're special.

He's taken us to 3 bowls in 3 years operating in an environment that is not supportive of winning in terms of revenue, media press, politics or any other type of support a football program typically receives from a University and support system that is attempting to have success on the field. Unless you plan to bring in Belichick, the next Coach we cheap out on will have no different results and you'll be crying again that we're rudderless in a few more years.

 

[RUMassAlum]

This is exactly why I'm open to the Schiano returns scenario. Schiano did the things you expect a state flagship to do and be. He made us visible to the state and to the NYC media market. He literally created the social & academic media, branding, identity and physical infrastructure of the RU football program and by extension the university, because nobody else was doing it.

Flood's job was to keep that intact. We will need someone to not only rebuild the team but the larger program and identity.

I'm not wedded to Schiano, but there are very few coaches who can do what he did.

Thank you, MidwestKni

This is exactly why I'm open to the Schiano returns scenario. Schiano did the things you expect a state flagship to do and be. He made us visible to the state and to the NYC media market. He literally created the social & academic media, branding, identity and physical infrastructure of the RU football program and by extension the university, because nobody else was doing it.

Flood's job was to keep that intact. We will need someone to not only rebuild the team but the larger program and identity.

I'm not wedded to Schiano, but there are very few coaches who can do what he did.

Thank you MidwestKnights, perfectly and accurately put. Very perceptive. Schiano could restore some credibility fairly quickly, depending, of course, on some big variables, but I agree, Schiano did all of what you said for this program.

 

[Upstream]

would love to see a sport by sport net revenue ranking and see where the money is going vs. how much each sport generates.

You are certainly welcome to file an open records request to see detailed financial info.

But you need to be aware that when you get to too low of a detail, it is hard to identify which sport actually generated which revenue or generated which costs. For example, how do you determine what part of the Athletic Director's salary gets assigned to each sport, or how do you determine what part of the RAC utility costs and office/practice space gets allocated to each sport.

Same thing on the revenue side. Look at revenues Rutgers earned from the conference (I am going to use Big East revenue from 2010, to avoid any anomalies due to exit fees). In FY2010, Rutgers earned $4.1MM from the BE for non-football sports (the Big East had separate payments for football, and all other sports). The same year, Pitt received $3.9MM. I assume Rutgers didn't receive more than Pitt due to the performance of our MBB team. Rutgers went 15-17 (5-13) in the BE while Pitt went 25-9 (13-5) including an NCAA bid. So the extra money that Rutgers received is certainly due to sports other than MBB.

How do you determine how much of the $4.1 million from the BE gets assigned to MBB, WBB, Lacrosse, Baseball, etc.?


There are many accounting options. But in the end, all of them are somewhat arbitrary and open to debate. There is no single right way to allocate the money.

 

[BOGDANOVICH]

The OP might be a troll based on postings I have seen on another board.

This post is a rehash of a million other rehashes. No new info.

Why is it so easy to dismiss a post you disagree with as the work of a "troll"?
There are some here who believe that the current problems are a mere blip on the screen and they will easily be fixed. However, the optics suggest anything but that. BTN is the latest example.

Gerry Dinardo and all of BTN have been amazingly supportive of this program
since the beginning of Rutgers' entry into the Big Ten. Dinardo seems to really like Rutgers and Flood (at times), and he has always talked up the program.
So it is significant that BTN and he are now sounding a very loud alarm. It is apparent to them that Rutgers is taking such a hit in public perception right now that it is in danger of losing all the goodwill and optimism that had been built over the past 12 years. This is a national issue because Rutgers is now a national program
in the most prominent conference in the country. The country IS watching, and what they have seen makes Rutgers look totally amateurish. The wild postgame presser was just the latest example of administrative incompetence. No media types could have prepared him better? Again, total amateur hour.
So Dinardo is asking just how long can such nonsense continue without seriously damaging the program and the school. He warned that recruiting will take a hit and that the perception of the program will revert to what it was in its worst days. Dinardo may be only the latest commentator to sound the alarm, but he may be one of the most significant.

 

[ru-baby]

Wow. From reading here from some, beating a bad Kansas team will make everything ok in that we are 2-2 and close to 3-1.

Please don't fool yourself. It takes years to build credibility and a very short time to tear it down. The current caretaker is trying to accelerate that process.

Beating Kansas, especially with the wrong qb for the future, does nothing to stem the wrong direction and culture Flood has developed. Sneaky emails ok from coach? Why can't players shave rules???

This is not how I want my alma mater to be. Forget the weird fball related choices that merit removal in and of themselves, the program's credibility is too stained now and needs a clean slate. If the network that follows the conference can see this, then it's more than those RU myopics. It's the outside world view which is becoming reality.

 

[JQRU91]

Tell that to Pitt, Cuse and BC. They are trying to play .500 ball for the last 6-9 years. I think BC has turned the corner but don't know about Pitt. Cuse has at least 5 more years to turn it around.

As I said, it's about getting the right coach. You mentioned that BC seems to have turned the corner. How long has Addazio been there? Two years.

 

[zappaa]

I want to win really, really bad however ..... I think everyone needs to just go to the games with their friends and family, enjoy the tailgate, enjoy the day out, root for their team and stop getting so tied up about the winning and losing for some time to come. It's a sad state of affairs but it is what it is.

If I was Barchi I would be far more concerned about my academic ratings falling then my athletic department ratings falling. Furthermore, Rutgers is currently inept in pretty much every way possible - local support is terrible, alumni support is terrible, media support is terrible, political support is terrible, financial support is terrible, the PR department is terrible, the culture, quality and morale inside the administration, professors and other employees is low. There is no vision regarding what this school is and where it is going. Should I keep going?

The ONLY reasons we are in the B1G are 1) GS and 2) our location. That's it.

So where do you start the reclamation?

Wherever it is we need actions not words from everyone involved. Imagine what we could do with the cumulative time wasted on this board.

I have zero interest in being a fan the way you describe. I do respect the fact you can be and I think it's great...I just can't.

 

[rutgersdave]

As I said, it's about getting the right coach. You mentioned that BC seems to have turned the corner. How long has Addazio been there? Two years.

Yes, if we get lucky but he was a HC at Temple and our fans didn't even want him. I noticed that when he has a QB, he is willing to pass more. BC was terrible for 6 years with 2 other coaches before they picked Addazio.

 

[DHajekRC84]

You are certainly welcome to file an open records request to see detailed financial info.

But you need to be aware that when you get to too low of a detail, it is hard to identify which sport actually generated which revenue or generated which costs. For example, how do you determine what part of the Athletic Director's salary gets assigned to each sport, or how do you determine what part of the RAC utility costs and office/practice space gets allocated to each sport.

Same thing on the revenue side. Look at revenues Rutgers earned from the conference (I am going to use Big East revenue from 2010, to avoid any anomalies due to exit fees). In FY2010, Rutgers earned $4.1MM from the BE for non-football sports (the Big East had separate payments for football, and all other sports). The same year, Pitt received $3.9MM. I assume Rutgers didn't receive more than Pitt due to the performance of our MBB team. Rutgers went 15-17 (5-13) in the BE while Pitt went 25-9 (13-5) including an NCAA bid. So the extra money that Rutgers received is certainly due to sports other than MBB.

How do you determine how much of the $4.1 million from the BE gets assigned to MBB, WBB, Lacrosse, Baseball, etc.?


There are many accounting options. But in the end, all of them are somewhat arbitrary and open to debate. There is no single right way to allocate the money.

yeah, I was asking you or expecting it to be easily available ( although you do seem to have some facts and figures handy LOL). I understand the concept of allocated costs. I get nailed for them at work too and they are often and source of angst and debate. But I would think that big ones like coaches and operations, travel, etc can be easily done. My theory is that with some success/improved play with the new guys coming in, men's BB could be neutral. That would leave the rest x-non football as the negative contributors. With WBB at the top most likely driven by CVS' contract. Of course the argument there is success and good will. But since that doesn't seem to be in play for Football not sure it should be for the rest if we're talking math.

Or just strip out Football by itself. If Rutgers Football get s XX of the total Budget, what % of the Total Revenues does it bring in?

(IMHO..IF Football is going to be the poster sport for Rutgers, than it ought to be first priority for invested success. Yes that means leaning even more to get the right staff..which in turn could return the investment itself. Or said yet another way...if Football gets $45mm a year then whats another $2-3mm to get a great coach/staff and win/recruit/play better?

 

[DHajekRC84]

I want to win really, really bad however ..... I think everyone needs to just go to the games with their friends and family, enjoy the tailgate, enjoy the day out, root for their team and stop getting so tied up about the winning and losing for some time to come. It's a sad state of affairs but it is what it is.

if that is the case we should just go back to 1AA or independent. I was 18 when Rutgers decided to go BIG TIME. Except for a couple of years the last 37 have been anything but and I am afraid I will die before we ever do.

 

[Caliknight]

Why is it so easy to dismiss a post you disagree with as the work of a "troll"?
There are some here who believe that the current problems are a mere blip on the screen and they will easily be fixed. However, the optics suggest anything but that. BTN is the latest example.

Gerry Dinardo and all of BTN have been amazingly supportive of this program
since the beginning of Rutgers' entry into the Big Ten. Dinardo seems to really like Rutgers and Flood (at times), and he has always talked up the program.
So it is significant that BTN and he are now sounding a very loud alarm. It is apparent to them that Rutgers is taking such a hit in public perception right now that it is in danger of losing all the goodwill and optimism that had been built over the past 12 years. This is a national issue because Rutgers is now a national program
in the most prominent conference in the country. The country IS watching, and what they have seen makes Rutgers look totally amateurish. The wild postgame presser was just the latest example of administrative incompetence. No media types could have prepared him better? Again, total amateur hour.
So Dinardo is asking just how long can such nonsense continue without seriously damaging the program and the school. He warned that recruiting will take a hit and that the perception of the program will revert to what it was in its worst days. Dinardo may be only the latest commentator to sound the alarm, but he may be one of the most significant.

Because I saw your posts on the Penn St. board. You are a Penn St. fan. You attempts to keep projecting the press conference as some kind of cray happening is a perfect example. It wasn't. Keep trying though.

 

[BOGDANOVICH]

Because I saw your posts on the Penn St. board. You are a Penn St. fan. You attempts to keep projecting the press conference as some kind of cray happening is a perfect example. It wasn't. Keep trying though.

I am an alum of Rutgers College and Penn State and Columbia. Hence my interest in all three schools. None of this invalidates my point about significance
of BTN commentary. As for the press conference, the guy was not prepared and came across looking like a fool.

 

[Caliknight]

You are in the minority.

 

[PhDKnight]

I have zero interest in being a fan the way you describe. I do respect the fact you can be and I think it's great...I just can't.

And I appreciate your position too. I am an extremely competitive person, but I have zero control over the matter at hand - so my only solution is to enjoy the pageantry of the games and time spent with people.

The only other option is to do something big that would allow people like us to exert influence over the matter. I suggested the creation of an external donor fund that would both give a carrot to the athletic department and school by making donations for small facility improvements and carry a stick of a war chest to fund buyouts or assistant coaching salaries when I joined the board 2 years ago (funds held in escrow and donated as a group but in each individuals name, so that they can claim pps and tax deductions). After a five page thread on the matter it went exactly no where because when the rubber hit the road I had only one or two others step up to volunteer to participate let alone volunteer to donate.

 

[Scarlet16E]

This money is being spent on Olympic sports. Football and Basketball support themselves. We need fb and BB to become cash cows so they can support other sports. And that isn't going to happen unless the school becomes serious about competing and starts to invest. Show us you are serious and then donations will increase. Obviously donors, sponsors will be critical, but right now leadership is more important. Barchi is willing to take Big money, but investing so we can compete both academically and athletically is a foreign concept to him. He just does not understand the value of BIG athletics, and will never really lead the charge to invest. He is not creating warm and fuzzy climate for more donations.

New leadership at the top is the best thing we can hope to happen in the short term to truly have a chance to compete in the BIG athletically. Everyone has an opinion, that's mine

Of course football and basketball support themselves. That's essentially true at all schools. Yet, Rutgers still spends much more than every other FBS school. Barchi is not holding back money. We still spend more on athletics than everyone else, just like we did before Barchi.

This popular myth that Rutgers does not spend on athletics is just plain false.

 

[brgossRU90]

The big ten invited us mostly so they could better mine new jersey for talent and households. They did not invite us for our illustrious history of 3rd and 4th tier bowl games. Our current administration, like past ones, is content to ride the coattails of this arrangement and allow other states to benefit from talent educated and trained from k through 12 by new jersey tax payers. It makes no sense to me why our administration or legislature sees this as a beneficial arrangement but they do. The older I get the more I realize far too many people are in positions of power who don't belong there.

 

[RUaMoose]

The solution is private money not school/state money. Individual donors from the fan and alumni base. There's the problem: beyond your seat contribution, are we donating?

No one worth a snot is going to come here and work for the two stooges Barchi and Hermann

 

[Upstream]

The big ten invited us mostly so they could better mine new jersey for talent and households. They did not invite us for our illustrious history of 3rd and 4th tier bowl games.

Ummm. No.

I think it is pretty well established that the Big Ten invited Rutgers for our TV market and to establish a foothold on the East Coast.

 

[brgossRU90]

Isn't that more or less what I said? The point is they don't care if we suck, though big ten fans do. I doubt the big ten leadership expects much out of us in the football field. At this point I tend to agree with them.

 

[Upstream]

Isn't that more or less what I said? The point is they don't care if we suck, though big ten fans do. I doubt the big ten leadership expects much out of us in the football field. At this point I tend to agree with them.

I interpreted your comment as they invited Rutgers for recruiting territories.