The Thread

[fabertong]

Post, my brother, post..................................

[niceguy2005]

OK

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

Rice, as I recall was a great football team decades ago, maybe back in the 30's or 40's. That was back in the day of the real student athelete. Now college teams are nothing more than the minor leagues for the pros and Univesities jump on those cash cows.

I find it somewhat amazing that people slam pro football players for being mercenaries. Yet, from my point of view, they aren't guilty of anything more than being gifted athletes and capitalists. Its the colleges that amaze me. They cash in on the students and often fail to uphold reasonable academic standards for them. [:-]

i don't want to give the impression that i slam pro athletes - more power to them if they can get this money. However, i do think it sort of has a lot to say about society, where a pro athlete will make more money in 1 year than a teacher or engineer (or most anyone else, for that matter) in their lifetimes. Colleges/Universities also have the peculiar double standard you noted, but it is THOUGHT to be a moneymaker for the school. However, most of the time the financial records are OFF LIMITS for examination, and no one really knows what the real story is.

Apparently, someone finally got to do an audit at Rice, iirc, and they found the football program deeply in the red. There was already a lot of tension between the academics and athletics department, and this has strengthened the call of some to dump the football program. Given Rice's academic orientation, this might happen. The excuse in the past was "well, the football program makes money for the school".

Of course, i don't know what they would do with a 73000 seat stadium. This thing (the stadium) is sort of bizarre, considering when i went there the entire student population was about 1400, and not all of them went to the games. We were generally outnumbered by the rival team's student body even when we played at home. On the road - forget it!![:-]

The few people i know that actually went on road trips to see the football games (when they weren't in a bus with other students) regretted it deeply.

[niceguy2005]

Yeah, the universities talk a good game when it comes to athletics. I suppose I'm just a skeptic of beureaucratic systems. I'd love to go to a school like UT and analyze thier books, find out how much of the money that comes in from football goes directly toward academic programs. Here in Colorado, CU just got done renevating its stadium and did away with some student seating in favor of corporate sky boxes. The now ex-CU Regent was often seen in those corporate sky boxes hob-knobbing with the execs.

Oh well, guess I will let it go. I have more important things to attend to like trying to throw Graycompany back out of India!

[niceguy2005]

BTW, I lived in Houston, Clear Lake actually, from '67 (when born) until '78.

[niceguy2005]

Also, I didn't mean to imply that you were slamming pro atheletes. I just saw it as an opportunity to dust off my soap box. I hadn't used it in at least a day or two. [;)]

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

Yeah, the universities talk a good game when it comes to athletics. I suppose I'm just a skeptic of beureaucratic systems. I'd love to go to a school like UT and analyze thier books, find out how much of the money that comes in from football goes directly toward academic programs. Here in Colorado, CU just got done renevating its stadium and did away with some student seating in favor of corporate sky boxes. The now ex-CU Regent was often seen in those corporate sky boxes hob-knobbing with the execs.

Oh well, guess I will let it go. I have more important things to attend to like trying to throw Graycompany back out of India!

Are you at University of Colorado/Boulder? i had a friend that got a PhD or two there and i used to go out there to visit.

[niceguy2005]

Nope, my girlfriend graduated from CU last year. I got my undergrad at UNC, that's University of Northern Colorado.

Boulder is a great place, I would love to live there when my career allows it.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

Nope, my girlfriend graduated from CU last year. I got my undergrad at UNC, that's University of Northern Colorado.

Boulder is a great place, I would love to live there when my career allows it.

Yeah, my friend really liked it and would like to go back there, i think, but is on the East Coast...

[rtrapasso]

Sure got quiet here...

[DuckofTindalos]

<crickets>

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Sure got quiet here...

I think we left them speechless with our brillance.

or it might be that I forgot to shower!

[niceguy2005]

or perhaps everyone is working....slackers!

[dtravel]

If Rice really wanted to make some money off their sports program, they could just disband the football team and rent out the stadium.

[DuckofTindalos]

At 10.20 in the PM? Nyet...

[niceguy2005]

This might be a good time for some cartoons I've been holding back.

[dtravel]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

or perhaps everyone is working....slackers!

Too lazy and I'm enjoying the (unplanned) sabbatical too much to look for a job yet.

[DuckofTindalos]

I still remember that airport security guard he zapped with his freeze ray... and his pancake addiction...

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: dtravel

If Rice really wanted to make some money off their sports program, they could just disband the football team and rent out the stadium.

True. They could just have Janet Jackson half-time shows every week.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Sure got quiet here...

I think we left them speechless with our brillance.

or it might be that I forgot to shower!

as Rice University football program managed to kill the Southwest Athletic Conference, it isn't too surprising that it could stun members of The Thread...[:D][:'(]