Washingtonian
Hall of Famer
FYI.
When he say this, he has to know what his predecessor said, correct?"Athletic programs and departments are the front door of the institution." Big Balls Brad
When he say this, he has to know what his predecessor said, correct?
When he say this, he has to know what his predecessor said, correct?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...-off-the-court/2011/04/22/AFZINoRE_story.html.
“What happened in the ’06 season gave us the opportunity to tell the great story of George Mason,” he [Tom O'Connor} said. “But we have to put everything in perspective. Many times, people say that intercollegiate athletics . . . [is] the front door [to a university]. It’s not the front door. It’s the side door. In the department store of higher education, we’re the toys and games department. When you think of it, when you go into the side door of a house, it’s usually the family room or the kitchen, where people are smiling. That’s how I look at it. It gave us great visibility for the basketball program, but it didn’t come in the sense that it became more important than the university as a whole.”
"We want to try to do everything we can to put our basketball team in a position to win not only Atlantic 10 championships but also national championships," said Edwards.Different channel, but the 2nd video is 15 minutes long:
http://www.wusa9.com/story/sports/c...wards-is-the-new-ad-at-george-mason/12707885/
...so i missed the announcement and Hewitt was relieved of his duties...free to take his long awaited vacation?!?!"We want to try to do everything we can to put our basketball team in a position to win not only Atlantic 10 championships but also national championships," said Edwards.
College athletics is a business, pure and simple. Maybe 20+ years ago when TOC and others were ADs, athletics had to be part of the "core mission" of a university. Today, its about winning, TV deals, sponsorships, donations and season tickets. It is the tail that wags the dog and if schools don't want to subscribe to that or can't subscribe to that, there are lower divisions of the NCAA as an option or NAIA. We didn't "move up" in basketball because of the core mission of the university. We moved up because of $$ and the potential to generate more $$ than we could have in the CAA. Right or wrong, that's the world we live in these days.I know many on these boards like to think in terms of "front door" role for athletics, but I think TOC statements reflect what many of those in academics believe the core mission of a university to be. Athletics is a major influence in terms of publicity for the university, especially for the masses who don't know the meaning of what research entails or how prestigious a Nobel prize really is within the community of scholars. That doesn't mean we should ignore athletics but it shouldn't be the tail that wags the dog. (Note: I still think a basketball practice facility is not a prudent expenditure).
College athletics is a business, pure and simple. Maybe 20+ years ago when TOC and others were ADs, athletics had to be part of the "core mission" of a university. Today, its about winning, TV deals, sponsorships, donations and season tickets. It is the tail that wags the dog and if schools don't want to subscribe to that or can't subscribe to that, there are lower divisions of the NCAA as an option or NAIA. We didn't "move up" in basketball because of the core mission of the university. We moved up because of $$ and the potential to generate more $$ than we could have in the CAA. Right or wrong, that's the world we live in these days.
Athletic success or failure really has nothing to do with the actual institution's quality.