No, Tennesseans pretty much want to watch football
Michael Adams had some comments in a Chattanooga Time Free Press look at the "arms race" in college athletics and a new fundraising drive at Tennessee. Adams has made headlines not only for his playoff proposal but also for speaking out against the increased commericalism in college sports.
“I do believe there are some (athletic) programs that are heading toward a cliff, and I’m not sure these kind of increases in spending can be sustained,” he said.
Georgia is not one of those programs.
“We are very fortunate at the University of Georgia to have a loyal fan base that allows us to remain on the plus side of the ledger and to actually have a surplus of funds (in the athletic program) even though we don’t use any taxpayer dollars” (Adams) said.
While the article touched on the struggles of smaller programs like UTC and their reliance on student fees to fund athletics, academics like former UTC Chancellor Bill Stacy have their heads in the clouds.
“But I also long for the day when Tennesseans are as eager to see a poetry reading or hear an academic lecture as they are to go to a football game,” he said.
Comments
Dawg Media
RSS 2.0
3 Responses to 'No, Tennesseans pretty much want to watch football'
Subscribe to comments with RSS
Thomas Brown
February 28th, 2008
6:18 am
Yeah, it’s got to be a lot of fun to be a vols football fan with the vols the Number 19 team in the nation in wins starting 2001, 7 seasons running now. At Number 14 average recruiting class according to Rivals since 2001 as well for Phil Fulmer, Fulmer has consistently not recruited well and has done even more poorly in getting wins at No. 19 seven years and counting in a row than his recruiting would indicate over these 7 years and counting at No. 14 average Rivals’ Recruiting Ranking.
How much fun can it be to go to the vols’ football games when the vols have not been ranked ahead of The Georgia Bulldogs in Football in the Final AP Polls in these same 7 consecutive years and counting now ?
Did anyone notice that The SEC has 8 of the Top 11 Non-Conference Games of the Top 40 Non-Conference Games for 2008. UGA has the No. 4 Non-Conference Game in the nation against Arizona State and the No. 7 Non-Conference Game against Georgia Tech.
CoastalDawg
February 28th, 2008
2:06 pm
The comment about college football becoming more and more commercialized certainly hits home @ UGA. Since Damon Evans took over as AD, the space beneath the bridge on game day is becoming a sea of commercial exhibits. Poor UGA whose popularity has increased instead of waned, now has only his one little parking spot although thousands of fans flock to see him before and after the games. It must be disconcerting and disgusting to the Seiler Family to be so squeezed that they can’t enjoy visiting with the fans any more. Add to that space the truck which accompanies the band and all those people and it makes for a very crowded place. Once you’re in the stadium EVERY scoreboard “event” is sponsored by some commercial entity – the NCAA won’t allow the athletes to even earn money while on scholarship, yet they allow schools to sell off every spot available to the highest bidder. Mix all of that with the ever increasing ticket prices and UGA football in person is pretty much out of the reach of the average family. Sad, sad, and sad.
Groo
March 2nd, 2008
9:18 am
Coastal, that’s a really good point. If Adams is leading a crusade about the commercialism of college sports, you’d think he’d make his own University a model for restraint. It doesn’t look as if that’s the case, does it?