The Weis Guy
Out with the old, in with the new (athletic director)
By Michael Weisman, Senior Sports Writer
February 13, 2008 | noon
Ohio’s athletic department has had its fair share of problems over the past few years, from Solich’s Court Street adventure, to baseball players gambling, to, of course, cutting sports among other things.
And with the departure of Ohio Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt to the University of Miami, it’s time for the athletic department to turn a new page.
Whoever steps into Hocutt’s shoes surely has his or her work cut out for them, so I would like to offer that lucky person a piece of advice. Perhaps our new athletic director should look to the other Miami. The one we all love to hate: Miami University in Oxford.
Their athletic department has had an eerily similar past. They cut wrestling, men’s tennis, and men’s soccer in 1999, and had a backlash much similar to ours. To make matters worse, three years prior they changed their nickname from Redskins to Red Hawks, alienating half of their athletic alumni base. Needless to say, their athletic department was struggling, especially financially – something Ohio’s athletic department can certainly relate to.
Now let me switch to Miami’s present situation. The university offers 18 varsity sports (10 women’s, eight men’s), has a balanced budget, and their hockey team is No. 2 in the nation (they had been No. 1 for much of the season).
Just last weekend, the school was the center of the college hockey world and even made an appearance on SportsCenter and in newspapers nationwide. The then-No. 1 Red Hawks battled the now-No. 1, and then No. 2, Michigan Wolverines in a two-game series, and the school had media swarming around campus.
Students camped out overnight outside the 2-year-old Goggin Ice Center to get the best general admission seats possible. It was a scene from two days prior to a North Carolina-Duke basketball game. ‘Krzyzewskiville’ had descended upon Oxford.
I was fortunate enough to attend Friday night’s clash, and despite a 4-2 loss to the Wolverines, the atmosphere was electric, better than that of the 16-10 upset of No. 23 Pittsburgh (for those of you who were around). When the doors opened, students sprinted to be against the boards as though they were at a rock concert.
That electricity and excitement is something Ohio athletics are missing.
How amazing would it be to see people camping out overnight for any sport, perhaps even the Feb. 23 Bracket Buster match-up with George Mason? Now I know it won’t happen in less than two weeks, but perhaps in the future.
Perhaps Ohio needs to add a varsity sport, rather than cutting a bunch. I’m no CPA, but somehow Miami is able to balance their budget with 18 sports, including hockey, which can be expensive. Why can’t Ohio seem to do this with 16 sports?
Besides, Ohio’s athletic budget only has to appear balanced. If it’s over, just leave some items off so it looks balanced. That’s what Hocutt did. He left off $700,000 in conference dues and student health insurance, which he said became routine over his short tenure at Ohio, to make the budget balanced.
You got yourself a good man, Hurricanes!
And really, making hockey a varsity sport wouldn’t be that difficult. We already have a strong club team, who were the 2004 national champions, and Bird Ice Arena. Let the club players play varsity to start, giving them only a few scholarships, and go from there.
I’m sure former Ohio varsity hockey players (it was a varsity sport at Ohio from 1958 to the mid-1970s) would be willing to donate some money to see the program reinstated.
Since The Bird currently draws well for club games where students have to pay, imagine how popular games would be if students could get in for free, like football or basketball. Over time, as money was donated and season tickets were sold, Bird could be expanded or even a new arena could be built, like Miami did in 2006 when they built a huge facility and doubled their arena capacity from their old arena which they had used for the previous 30 years.
In the future, hockey could bring recognition and pride to the Ohio athletic department and Ohio athletics as a whole, as Miami’s hockey team has done for them. With Bird being so small, the atmosphere could be just as electric and exciting as Miami’s, especially as the team improved.
So to whoever becomes the new athletic director, this may seem like a crazy thought, but it worked for Miami when they were falling apart and look at them now. They offer 18 sports and aren’t hiding things on the budget. Besides, who wouldn’t want to have a team at Ohio that we could say is No. 1 in the country?
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