WSJ: John Calipari: NCAA Is Crumbling Like the Soviet Union

[GGGG]

Bowlsby's comments are all part of an orchestrated play by the Power 5 to get the flexibility they want.  If they don't get it, they have laid the groundwork for them to potentially leave the NCAA entirely.

Really if they were truly concerned about compliance, they could find a way to get the enforcement division more money.  But they won't do that.

[GGGG]

That's one part of it, the other part is about all the opportunities for young people will now disappear, which is a shame.  No one seems to care about the 99%, it's the 1% that are "on the plantation and can't eat 6 meals a day"

People simply don't care as much about the olympic sports.  It's the free market in action.

[brandx]

That's one part of it, the other part is about all the opportunities for young people will now disappear, which is a shame.  No one seems to care about the 99%, it's the 1% that are "on the plantation and can't eat 6 meals a day"

Really

Why, oh why, do we persecute the people who hold all of the money and power? Why have we made their lives so hard and unlivable?

[Tugg Speedman]

That's one part of it, the other part is about all the opportunities for young people will now disappear, which is a shame.  No one seems to care about the 99%, it's the 1% that are "on the plantation and can't eat 6 meals a day"

The 99% will be fine ... and you accuse me of hyperbole.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Having Olympics sports is a form of penance for the big state schools getting fat off of football and basketball. Perhaps it wasn't a good business model for them afterall even if it did help them feel better about themselves.

[Lennys Tap]

That's one part of it, the other part is about all the opportunities for young people will now disappear, which is a shame.  No one seems to care about the 99%, it's the 1% that are "on the plantation and can't eat 6 meals a day"

People who want to play soccer or volleyball or whatever will still be able to play them, they just won't be able to force the football players and basketball players to pay them to do it. What a pity.

[Texas Western]

He feels the same way I do, Olympic sports will be cut and opportunities for young people removed.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/11243234/bob-bowlsby-big-12-commissioner-says-cheating-pays-ncaa-enforcement-broken

I think many of the Olympic Sports are actually much more financially viable than they are given credit for. These sports only offer partial scholarships.  So if you have 26 kids on the soccer team and 9.9  scholarships spread between them your looking at 16 full tuition paying students. Most of these would not be attending the school if it were not for the sport. So I think a lot of it is in the accounting. As such, I don't think these will disappear. There will end up being more regional conferences specifically for the Olympic sports though to reduce costs.

These other sports add fabric to the schools and there will be plenty of people that stand up for them.

[forgetful]

I think many of the Olympic Sports are actually much more financially viable than they are given credit for. These sports only offer partial scholarships.  So if you have 26 kids on the soccer team and 9.9  scholarships spread between them your looking at 16 full tuition paying students. Most of these would not be attending the school if it were not for the sport. So I think a lot of it is in the accounting. As such, I don't think these will disappear. There will end up being more regional conferences specifically for the Olympic sports though to reduce costs.

These other sports add fabric to the schools and there will be plenty of people that stand up for them.

I'll take that a step further.  The vast majority of athletic programs lose far more money on football and basketball than they do on the other olympic sports. 

I know of large D1 programs that lose 10-15 million a year on football and basketball and about 4-5 million a year on all the other sports combined.  That is with them allocating all "spirit shop" sales to football and basketball and none of that merchandising for other sports.

[Tugg Speedman]

Once you open it up to sponsors, companies can/will sponsor the Olympic sports.  Not the program but the athletes.  Companies will sign promising tennis (like babolat) track (asics)  and swimmers (speedo) to contracts and send them college.  This does not happen now as they are defined as professionals.  Not everyone will get a huge payday.  No, few will get a huge payday.  Some might get a few thousand dollars and directed to a sponsor school ... Not unlike the partial schollies handed out now.  Nike essentially does this now with the University of Oregon.

The business model will change, the current entrenched interest might lose, but Olympic sport athletes will continue just fine on college campuses.

[Tugg Speedman]

Having Olympics sports is a form of penance for the big state schools getting fat off of football and basketball. Perhaps it wasn't a good business model for them afterall even if it did help them feel better about themselves.

Not to hijack the thread, but this is an interesting comment.  It goes to the reality that Americans are really not good fans of sports.  We like football, basketball and few other team sports.  But the rest as far as we are concerned could all go away, including the Olympics.

Europeans, on the other hand, will support soccer like we support football, and find 50,000 top watch a track meet and millions to line the route of a bike race.  Try doing that here.

So, the real problem is we (Americans) are crappy fans, we only have the capacity to bitch about the packers and MU and everything else can go to zero.

[Galway Eagle]

Not to hijack the thread, but this is an interesting comment.  It goes to the reality that Americans are really not good fans of sports.  We like football, basketball and few other team sports.  But the rest as far as we are concerned could all go away, including the Olympics.

Europeans, on the other hand, will support soccer like we support football, and find 50,000 top watch a track meet and millions to line the route of a bike race.  Try doing that here.

So, the real problem is we (Americans) are crappy fans, we only have the capacity to bitch about the packers and MU and everything else can go to zero.

Hey we sided with Ryan Braun! Even when the rest of the country laughed at us!

[GGGG]

Not to hijack the thread, but this is an interesting comment.  It goes to the reality that Americans are really not good fans of sports.  We like football, basketball and few other team sports.  But the rest as far as we are concerned could all go away, including the Olympics.

Europeans, on the other hand, will support soccer like we support football, and find 50,000 top watch a track meet and millions to line the route of a bike race.  Try doing that here.

So, the real problem is we (Americans) are crappy fans, we only have the capacity to bitch about the packers and MU and everything else can go to zero.

Of course you are ignoring that MLB drew an over all attendance of almost 75 million, or 30,000 or so per game.  And the NBA, NHL, college football and basketball...

[77ncaachamps]

That's one part of it, the other part is about all the opportunities for young people will now disappear, which is a shame.  No one seems to care about the 99%, it's the 1% that are "on the plantation and can't eat 6 meals a day"

That is correct.

Not to make this political but athletic scholarships have benefitted the rich but especially the middle class and poor.

Let's not forget the cost of skyrocketing college education.

Get ready for "REFORM"...whatever that meant and means...

[Spotcheck Billy]

Not to hijack the thread, but this is an interesting comment.  It goes to the reality that Americans are really not good fans of sports.  We like football, basketball and few other team sports.  But the rest as far as we are concerned could all go away, including the Olympics.

Europeans, on the other hand, will support soccer like we support football, and find 50,000 top watch a track meet and millions to line the route of a bike race.  Try doing that here.

So, the real problem is we (Americans) are crappy fans, we only have the capacity to bitch about the packers and MU and everything else can go to zero.

Well if we all got 6 weeks of vacation like many countries across the pond I would line the streets to drink beer and watch a bike race too.

[martyconlonontherun]

Not to hijack the thread, but this is an interesting comment.  It goes to the reality that Americans are really not good fans of sports.  We like football, basketball and few other team sports.  But the rest as far as we are concerned could all go away, including the Olympics.

Europeans, on the other hand, will support soccer like we support football, and find 50,000 top watch a track meet and millions to line the route of a bike race.  Try doing that here.

So, the real problem is we (Americans) are crappy fans, we only have the capacity to bitch about the packers and MU and everything else can go to zero.

400,000 show up to watch cars go round at the Indy 500 weekend. Not to mention NASCAR that is mostly in the US. Major golf events are packed in the US. I really not see your point at all. I would really be shocked if there is a huge difference is sports spectating events between continents. Of course the tour de france is gonna be packed, it is held once a year and is the biggest event in the sport at a tourist destination. It's not like people go nuts about cycling all-year round.

[Tugg Speedman]

Of course you are ignoring that MLB drew an over all attendance of almost 75 million, or 30,000 or so per game.  And the NBA, NHL, college football and basketball...

Ok let me be more specific ... In the US we are fans of team sports.  Individual sports, and many Olympic sports, have lost interest.  The one current exception might be tennis.  (Marty, check your numbers, Golf is collapsing and in crisis right now. see this http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/hbo-real-sports-the-downturn-in-the-golf-industry/127ps57l)

By contrast European (and in particular French) are just as passionate about their team sports as we are BUT THEY ALSO attend, watch and cheer for individual sports in far greater numbers than we do.

Remember I wrote this in response to Chucklehead saying:

Having Olympics sports is a form of penance for the big state schools getting fat off of football and basketball.

He seems to be holding a view of many Americans that all individual sports are worthless and should go away.  The only role they now serve is "penance" (a form of punishment) for big schools with sport team programs.

[Stronghold]

What about boxing and UFC in the USA?

[GGGG]

What about boxing and UFC in the USA?

Pretty niche audience these days for both.

[Stronghold]

Pretty niche audience these days for both.

Probably pretty true...I guess the amount of money they make distorts how popular it actually is.

[GGGG]

Probably pretty true...I guess the amount of money they make distorts how popular it actually is.

Well niche audiences can be passionate and that passion can make it lucrative.  Golf, tennis, cycling, etc. all involve a good deal of money.  They just don't have broad appeal.

[Galway Eagle]

What about boxing and UFC in the USA?

Largest crowd I've fought in front of was roughly 600.  Granted I'm not a household name, or even a big name. 

Pretty niche audience these days for both.

While I agree that's somewhat true I also think that as white college educated American males you might be underestimating the support of those sports.  We aren't the target market at all.  Heck I'm in the sport and not part of the target market. 

[GGGG]

Actually I was basing it on the television ratings, which while on Fox, drew television audiences similar to what the British Open did last Sunday.  Now the British Open rating was terrible by golf standards, and the UFC ratings have slipped since moving to FS.

But that was better than I thought they were.

[martyconlonontherun]

Ok let me be more specific ... In the US we are fans of team sports.  Individual sports, and many Olympic sports, have lost interest.  The one current exception might be tennis.  (Marty, check your numbers, Golf is collapsing and in crisis right now. see this http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/hbo-real-sports-the-downturn-in-the-golf-industry/127ps57l)

http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24585468/the-2014-us-open-is-sold-out
I just don't get your point. The video is about golf participation, not attendance. They are literally turning away people from major golf events. You were saying US people don't turn out for other sports which is false. You used example of premiere single events like the tour de france to say they support those sports. We we showed up for a similar sport in Indy 500 in an equal amount of people. From my experience, it isn't unique to Americans only going to major events that are culturally import. Last summer I would stream Gianni's games from Greece at 2 in the morning to see only maybe 30 people in the stands. Do you have any evidence that these countries support lower tier sports at non-championship times? You are only giving examples of major championships.  

FYI- This major track event had 50K attendance in the US last year. http://www.thepennrelays.com/ You may want to check your numbers.

[keefe]

People simply don't care as much about the olympic sports.  It's the free market in action.

I would disagree as context and location are relevant. The Olympic sports at Michigan, for instance, have solid support and are championed by the overall community. And on Ivy campuses, Olympic sports are much more an integral part of the student experience. Many of these sports have had active teams since before the Civil War.

[brandx]

http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24585468/the-2014-us-open-is-sold-out
I just don't get your point. The video is about golf participation, not attendance. They are literally turning away people from major golf events. You were saying US people don't turn out for other sports which is false. You used example of premiere single events like the tour de france to say they support those sports. We we showed up for a similar sport in Indy 500 in an equal amount of people. From my experience, it isn't unique to Americans only going to major events that are culturally import. Last summer I would stream Gianni's games from Greece at 2 in the morning to see only maybe 30 people in the stands. Do you have any evidence that these countries support lower tier sports at non-championship times? You are only giving examples of major championships.  

FYI- This major track event had 50K attendance in the US last year. http://www.thepennrelays.com/ You may want to check your numbers.

Agree with the post.

And dwindling golf participation is much more a matter of economics than anything else.