What Are We Doing?

[Spanky]

What are we doing with our so called non revenue sports? Sports such as track, cross country, golf, tennis, soccer, volleyball? Are we serious about these sports or do we just field teams to meet NCAA requirements? It doesn't appear that we are serious when one reviews the weak, abbreviated schedules. Do we offer scholarships to student-athletes to join these teams and compete on behalf of UM? Are our coaches authorized to recruit at national high school tournaments/events so they are able to view these athletes prior to offering them a scholarship or are we merely granting scholarships blindly? Many of you are concerned about money and our ability to compete at a reasonable level of collegiate competition, but you don't seem to be aware or concerned with these non revenue sports. It appears to me that UM is spending a considerable amount of money with little results and a lack of effort to recruit the very best student-athletes possible. Where is the oversight? I realize that Dennison is only concerned about football, however, he currently is spending a great deal of money with little return as a result of poor management of these programs.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Spanky your average fan does not attend those sports even when they happen to be good. The university generates very little outside revenue in these sports. Why spend the extra cash to recruit on a bigger scale for them? It has so very little impact on revenue, and I think they are more concerned about losing as little money as possible with these sports.

There are 3 sports we do not have that I feel would draw some fan interest if we had them. Wrestling, Baseball, and Softball. I know I would be very interested in attending baseball and softball games, and even an occasional wrestling tournament.

Lacrosse or Hockey also may draw some interest, but not like the other 3.

 

[Hammer]

LaCrosse is coming around. 3 years ago I didn't know a thing about it. I caught a Griz cat lacrosse game on the riverbowl field a few years ago. Loved it. Did some research and watched more on tv and have started to love the game. It is very fast, exciting and physical. Now it will never replace football as my favorite sport but it may get to #2 someday. Given the chance it could become a popular spectator sport at UM.

 

[MrTitleist]

Lacrosse is great to watch. The NLL stuff is fun to see.

 

[grizband]

I think if given a chance, hockey could be a good sport here as well. Missoula already has a very large fan base outside of the university, and many out of state students come from hockey-rich areas. If the Griz ever were to move to FBS, I would think hockey would be a sure bet to add another sport for men and women.

 

[Spanky]

mtgrizrule....I understand your points, but don't agree. The athletic department of any university is made up of more than football. Certainly, profit is important, however, the overall image of the department is important and it is much better to have excellence with all sports offered rather than mediocrity which currently is the case with non revenue sports. Our AD must adapt a standard of excellence within the entire athletic program and strive to, at least, win the conference championship every three years in non revenue sports. Regarding the money issue which you pointed out, be advised that we are already spending the money on scholarships, however, we aren't recruiting athletes at the level we should or could, in part, because we are accepting lesser quality merely to fill the rosters and our schedules are reflective of a junior college AD's efforts.