FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[raiderpa]

Bringing in 100 football players a year to Mount Union is a huge boon to the college and the community. Other schools should take note.   

These students bring dollars, (their own, parents', grandparents', government money, and future gifts).  The PR machine that puts Mount football out there is worth its weight in gold  as they too are instrumental in bringing in students.  The added diversity is a great thing for the college as well.

Ex-Mount  footballers have been instrumental and driving financial backers in the weight rooms, locker rooms, press box, technology center, and new wellness center.  I am sure that there is more I'm leaving out...

The big "Mount takes kids that can't get into other schools" is one I hear most.  What is wrong with giving some kids (athletes or not) a chance to reach their dream?  I know many of us who took high school as a lark, were lucky someone took a chance on us and have made the most of our opportunities.  The kids who really don't care or belong will not last..


BY the way the Kenyon versus Mount debate and their national championships has one major defining similarity....talent

[TooForRaider]

Bruse Brennen was ranting on "All Bets are Off" yesterday about what a natural it would be to bring big time football to Clleveland State."Because the talent is all there.

Doesn't seem to be helping St Schula's and the The Pile

Bruce Drennan is ridiculous to watch. If he can do what he does, there is hope for anyone.....especially anyone with a felony on their record ha

[bleedpurple]

Bringing in 100 football players a year to Mount Union is a huge boon to the college and the community. Other schools should take note.   

These students bring dollars, (their own, parents', grandparents', government money, and future gifts).  The PR machine that puts Mount football out there is worth its weight in gold  as they too are instrumental in bringing in students.  The added diversity is a great thing for the college as well.

Ex-Mount  footballers have been instrumental and driving financial backers in the weight rooms, locker rooms, press box, technology center, and new wellness center.  I am sure that there is more I'm leaving out...

The big "Mount takes kids that can't get into other schools" is one I hear most.  What is wrong with giving some kids (athletes or not) a chance to reach their dream?  I know many of us who took high school as a lark, were lucky someone took a chance on us and have made the most of our opportunities.  The kids who really don't care or belong will not last..


BY the way the Kenyon versus Mount debate and their national championships has one major defining similarity....talent

Great post Raider.  A successful college football program is a great motivator for financial donations. A successful program is a source of pride for alumns. It keeps people interested in the university. I believe this holds true for good football programs below Mount's level as well.  UWW is often criticized for being willing to accept athletes that would not get into other colleges. It is amazing how many of them are now successful in their lives.  None of this even mentions the "quality of life" factor. Not to take a swipe at schools that don't have football programs, but I can't even conceive of going to a school that doesn't have football. If a football program makes money or loses money, it is well worth investing in as long as the program has the backing to shoot for excellence.

[OldOtter]

Bringing in 100 football players a year to Mount Union is a huge boon to the college and the community. Other schools should take note.   

These students bring dollars, (their own, parents', grandparents', government money, and future gifts).  The PR machine that puts Mount football out there is worth its weight in gold  as they too are instrumental in bringing in students.  The added diversity is a great thing for the college as well.

Ex-Mount  footballers have been instrumental and driving financial backers in the weight rooms, locker rooms, press box, technology center, and new wellness center.  I am sure that there is more I'm leaving out...

The big "Mount takes kids that can't get into other schools" is one I hear most.  What is wrong with giving some kids (athletes or not) a chance to reach their dream?  I know many of us who took high school as a lark, were lucky someone took a chance on us and have made the most of our opportunities.  The kids who really don't care or belong will not last..


BY the way the Kenyon versus Mount debate and their national championships has one major defining similarity....talent

Great post Raider.  A successful college football program is a great motivator for financial donations. A successful program is a source of pride for alumns. It keeps people interested in the university. I believe this holds true for good football programs below Mount's level as well.  UWW is often criticized for being willing to accept athletes that would not get into other colleges. It is amazing how many of them are now successful in their lives.  None of this even mentions the "quality of life" factor. Not to take a swipe at schools that don't have football programs, but I can't even conceive of going to a school that doesn't have football. If a football program makes money or loses money, it is well worth investing in as long as the program has the backing to shoot for excellence.

If I was able to give out Karma I woulda have thrown some to both of you. Completely agree. I work in college admissions and I get to see some kids who just need to be given a chance to succeed at the small schools. Football isn't a money maker at most colleges, but private schools a majority of the funding is tuition based. My freshmen year at OC we brought in 85 guys. That's a big chunk of the 600 or so students we brought in that year. Football and athletics in general are important in making a schools class. For instance, the school I work at now has 45% of it's students playing one of the varsity sports

[bushman]

Date for Mt's first playoff game?

[bleedpurple]

Date for Mt's first playoff game?

November 21, 2009

[TooForRaider]

Good point, Otter. I would imagine that number is even higher at most schools.  When I was at MUC, we had over 200 on the team at the beginning of the year. Obviously a good number of those eventually quit, but with an enrollment of 2200 (give or take), 200 from football is a huge chunk.

[bushman]

thanks bled I just wanted to make sure  no more bys

[Kehresma]

Date for Mt's first playoff game?

November 21, 2009

Bleepur, you kill me!   You're even providing Raider game date answering service! Want to be an exchange student?

[Kehresma]

You know we're a UNIVERSITY now-- supposed to be a major plus for those traveling from afar.

[bleedpurple]

Date for Mt's first playoff game?

November 21, 2009

Bleepur, you kill me!   You're even providing Raider game date answering service! Want to be an exchange student?

I would be an exchange student, but I'm not sure UWW could get enough back!  Hey, I'm all about everyone just getting along! 

[MUCheats]

The sports financial impact for a D3 school is not as simple as expenses versus ticket/merchandise sales like it is for D1.  A successful D3 football program bringing in a 100+ freshmen a year sure helps the college's bottom line when they are all paying their way into school.  That's a lot of $ incoming because of the football team.

I just don't see the numbers working out like that.  Most schools have a rough enrollment number set beforehand, so bringing in a certain number of athletes in a sport just doesn't matter.  If a school plans on enrolling 1000 kids, it doesn't matter how many of them are football players (or basketball players, or soccer players, etc.).  Unless we're talking about a school that enrolls just about everyone that applies and needs every additional student it can get to pay tuition.  The real benefit seems to come from increasing the pool of applicants and potentially being able to increase selectivity and the profile of that incoming class of 1000 students.  

Another thought has to do with the demographics of football players versus the demographics of swimmers, or other types of athletes.  If you're talking about a situation where you could have more swimmers in your student body or more football players, I think you want to have more swimmers, not only because swimming is a cheaper sport, but also because of the type of background the average swimmer comes from.  Other examples would be golf, field hockey, tennis, lacrosse, etc.  These are the types of athletes that you could increase in your enrollment that you know would be likely to pay their way, and may even bring along big donations from mom and dad, as well.  Football, basketball, and track & field?  Not necessarily.

One final thought.  Of all the sports where the stronger academic institutions are at a big disadvantage, football is by far the worst.  Football teams are by far the largest, and where having great depth is most necessary.  Combine that with the fact that football is one of the most expensive sports and the way it can throw off balance in smaller student bodies, I think it becomes obvious why a number of schools opt to not field teams and why they see the return on investment just not existing for them.

[MUCheats]

OAC - I think this board has been instrumental in connecting OAC fans/former players, and in turn has led most of us to support any OAC team that makes the play-offs.  I can honestly say I am a quasi-CAP/ONU fan.

The real test will be how Mount Union fans react if/when they're no longer the big dog and it comes down to rooting for another OAC team to carry the conference flag in the playoffs--perhaps even after knocking off MUC.  May not happen for a decade or more, but still...

Successful Football Program attracting non-football playing students - absolutely.....this has been documented at Mount.

The Flutie Factor, the Gonzaga Effect, there are several names for this phenomenon.  I didn't know it happened that much at the DIII level, however.  If it's happening at Mount Union, it wouldn't be a shock, but I don't know that I see it raising the school's academic profile.

CarrollStreaks,

Surprized you are not talking about another disappointing season
for JCU vs. what  MUC fans may think when someone else in the OAC beats
Mount. I was there when we did not win as many and we still had fan
good fan support. The point being Mount fans still support the other
OAC teams and we have two former Raiders doing at good job as Head
Coaches.

Both JCU and B-W need coaching changes, maybe some other former
Raiders can help with that!

It's been a frustrating season, to say the least.  That's why I haven't talked much about it--not much to say about mediocrity! 

I don't know what the future holds.  If the school was going to make a coaching change, after this Saturday would be as good of a time as any.  If not, then I think it will be clear to all that institutional  priorities have changed.

[OldOtter]

The sports financial impact for a D3 school is not as simple as expenses versus ticket/merchandise sales like it is for D1.  A successful D3 football program bringing in a 100+ freshmen a year sure helps the college's bottom line when they are all paying their way into school.  That's a lot of $ incoming because of the football team.

I just don't see the numbers working out like that.  Most schools have a rough enrollment number set beforehand, so bringing in a certain number of athletes in a sport just doesn't matter.  If a school plans on enrolling 1000 kids, it doesn't matter how many of them are football players (or basketball players, or soccer players, etc.).  Unless we're talking about a school that enrolls just about everyone that applies and needs every additional student it can get to pay tuition.  The real benefit seems to come from increasing the pool of applicants and potentially being able to increase selectivity and the profile of that incoming class of 1000 students.  

Another thought has to do with the demographics of football players versus the demographics of swimmers, or other types of athletes.  If you're talking about a situation where you could have more swimmers in your student body or more football players, I think you want to have more swimmers, not only because swimming is a cheaper sport, but also because of the type of background the average swimmer comes from.  Other examples would be golf, field hockey, tennis, lacrosse, etc.  These are the types of athletes that you could increase in your enrollment that you know would be likely to pay their way, and may even bring along big donations from mom and dad, as well.  Football, basketball, and track & field?  Not necessarily.

One final thought.  Of all the sports where the stronger academic institutions are at a big disadvantage, football is by far the worst.  Football teams are by far the largest, and where having great depth is most necessary.  Combine that with the fact that football is one of the most expensive sports and the way it can throw off balance in smaller student bodies, I think it becomes obvious why a number of schools opt to not field teams and why they see the return on investment just not existing for them.

You make some great points. Working in admissions, I know that each school has a set number that they shoot for with an incoming class. Athletes at schools in the OAC make up a big portion of that. Academic standards for acceptance isn't any different for football, soccer, swimmers, or any other athlete than it would be for Suzie who wants to major in Chemistry and play the flute. Cost per player is also offset by the NCAA. How I understand it, for each player that fills out the eligibility forms at the start of the season that athletic program gets X amount of dollars from the NCAA. That's why most OAC schools shoot for more numbers, especially in football. They get more money, even if the guy quits after camp.

Enrollment at private schools took a hit last year because of the economy, and it looks like it might get worse this year. It will be important for each school to bring in as many students as they can to make their classes, which won't be easy. Athletes and football player in general will be key in that. Should be a fun year at work!!!

[Raider 68]

OAC - I think this board has been instrumental in connecting OAC fans/former players, and in turn has led most of us to support any OAC team that makes the play-offs.  I can honestly say I am a quasi-CAP/ONU fan.

The real test will be how Mount Union fans react if/when they're no longer the big dog and it comes down to rooting for another OAC team to carry the conference flag in the playoffs--perhaps even after knocking off MUC.  May not happen for a decade or more, but still...

Successful Football Program attracting non-football playing students - absolutely.....this has been documented at Mount.

The Flutie Factor, the Gonzaga Effect, there are several names for this phenomenon.  I didn't know it happened that much at the DIII level, however.  If it's happening at Mount Union, it wouldn't be a shock, but I don't know that I see it raising the school's academic profile.

CarrollStreaks,

Surprized you are not talking about another disappointing season
for JCU vs. what  MUC fans may think when someone else in the OAC beats
Mount. I was there when we did not win as many and we still had fan
good fan support. The point being Mount fans still support the other
OAC teams and we have two former Raiders doing at good job as Head
Coaches.

Both JCU and B-W need coaching changes, maybe some other former
Raiders can help with that!

It's been a frustrating season, to say the least.  That's why I haven't talked much about it--not much to say about mediocrity! 

I don't know what the future holds.  If the school was going to make a coaching change, after this Saturday would be as good of a time as any.  If not, then I think it will be clear to all that institutional  priorities have changed.

Heard from a reliable source  today that the JCU has made a decision regarding their Head football coach.  We will see if that is in fact the case!