High school sports in crisis
by BubbaFan on Sep 2, 2009 6:52 PM EDT
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Today's USA Today has a series about how the recession is affecting school sports:
At some schools, budget cuts put sports in danger
Instead of gearing up to run cross country for Grove City High School in Ohio, Andy Bennett is training for a marathon.It will give the 16-year-old some consolation because sports programs and clubs at his school have been shut down. An hour after the last bell each afternoon, it's lights out at the school.
Bennett and his classmates won't have homecoming, prom or a student government — activities that, like sports, are fixtures in American high schools but no longer exist at Grove City because of a financial crisis.
That's the plight of all students who attend South-Western City Schools, which serves part of Columbus and nearby towns and is Ohio's sixth-largest school district. The district has been in dire financial straits for years and is being squeezed further by the economic downturn. By canceling activities, the district cut $2.5 million in expenses, district spokeswoman Sandy Nekoloff says.
"I thought it was the worst thing in the world," Bennett says of the school board's decision to cancel activities after a proposed property tax hike was rejected by voters in August, the third time it failed.
They aren't the only ones. Revenue from sales and property taxes is way down, and it's pretty tough to raise tax rates when the economy is so bad. The other articles in the series describe how schools are coping. In California, parents raised money to fund the sports program. New Mexico changed the format of state tournaments to save money. And Shane Victorino has donated money to keep high school sports afloat in his home state of Hawai`i. (Sports is especially expensive in Hawai`i; even within the state, games may require flying.)
I wonder if we're moving toward a whole different model of school sports - one where students (or their parents) must "pay to play," and perhaps one where driving or flying the kids all over creation for tournaments no longer makes sense. Some school systems, prompted by last year's high gas prices, have already changed their league organizations, so that teams play only nearby teams, reducing travel.
And it's not just high schools feeling the pinch. California is taking the budget axe to college sports, eliminating some sports altogether, and even canceling scheduled games for monetary reasons.
San Jose State announced it is backing out of a scheduled football game at rival Stanford in 2010, opting to travel to Alabama instead.
The Spartans risk a big loss on the field, playing a traditional powerhouse on the road, because Southeastern Conference schools are known to pay visiting teams in the neighborhood of $1 million. Stanford wasn't going to pay nearly that much.
Even the pros are not immune. NFL ticket sales are slow; 10-12 teams may have their games blacked out. Some fans are asking that they suspend the blackout rules until the recession is over.
And what about Major League Baseball? The Cleveland Indians are expecting to lose $16 million this year, and according to Mr. Redlegs, the Reds are in a similar situation. Even the "rich" teams are feeling it. The Yankees, rather than jacking up prices for postseason tickets as usual, actually lowered the price, at least for some of them, likely for fear of fan backlash. The Mets' owners lost $700 million dollars to the Madoff ponzi scheme, and may be forced to sell the team. And the Red Sox? One of their owners is the New York Times group, which had to take out a mortgage on their building and forced the staff of the Boston Globe to take paycuts just to keep the papers in business.
What does this mean for us fans? It could be good news. Teams are likely to offer lower ticket prices and other deals. OTOH...we probably can't expect Bob C. to open up his wallet and buy a bunch of expensive free agents. The hairdos on CNBC are proclaiming the end of the recession. I suspect they may be wrong about that. But even if they aren't, it's going to take awhile for the economy to rebound, and I think the Reds will be cautious. Like Bronson Arroyo said: "People don't own teams to lose money. If you ask any owner whether they would rather make $20 million and come in last place or lose $20 million and win a World Series, there's only one guy who honestly would take that championship: George Steinbrenner. Nobody else."
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The TAPS crew debunked all the supposed evidence, except the apparitions various people claimed to have seen. The home owner or manager or whoever it was wasn’t very happy. She was hoping they would prove it was haunted, I think.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
watched it again on DVR
They really gave it short shrift. I guess nothing that interesting happened.
Supposedly, paranormal events at the house include the sound of a 1930s telephone, a female apparition in old-fashioned clothing, the sound of footsteps when no one is there, and a ghostly woman and child who walk up the servant staircase.
Jason had a family commitment and couldn’t make it, so Grant was running the show. Grant is suspected of being a hoaxer by some fans, so I thought maybe there would be something spectacular with Jason gone. But no, nothing much happened. They heard some knocking sounds, but decided it was just the house settling. They measured high EMF readings, traced it to the wiring, and gave the usual “fear cage” spiel. (Never mind there’s zero evidence that humans can detect EMF fields, let alone be creeped out by them.) There was a moment of excitement when they found the front door open…until someone on the investigating crew admitted they left the door open.
During the reveal, they showed the executive director that the kitchen bells sounded just like a 1930s phone (but couldn’t say what had caused them to ring). They also said that light was really weird upstairs in the house. The house is in the middle of the city now, so headlights, etc., shine into the windows and are reflected in weird ways through the inside doors and around the furniture.
The director seemed rather disappointed at the debunking. She didn’t seem to want to believe the kitchen bells were behind the phone ringing sound.
Haunted or not, it’s a nice house. I like the staircase.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
I was in it once.
They have tea parties there! And yes, it is right on Washington Blvd (where the George Washington Parkway runs through Alexandria). It’s also at the intersection of Oronoco St., which never fails to get this stuck in my head when I drive past.
meh
It’s a strange conflux of situations that makes flying across three time zones more economical than playing in state. I don’t read it as a portend of any doom though.
And I’ll never believe baseball owners about their finances. Never. Open up the books or get off the pot.
also
Since I’ve been a bit of a bitch lately, this was a well constructed, easy to follow FanPost, marked by good grammar/spelling and judicious links and formatting. Kudos.
I wonder
if big name colleges will be able to continue to pay that well. A million dollars a game – wow.
Colleges are really feeling it. Even Harvard, with their big endowment. They lost a ton of money in the market crash – about 30% – and so had to lay off staff. The University of Texas is withdrawing from the National Merit Scholarship Program. They say they can’t afford to award scholarships on merit any more.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
more on this from the McPaper today
Small schools take lumps for a sum
DOVER, Del. — The coaches and players at 3,534-student Delaware State know their chances of winning at mighty Michigan later this season are slim at best.But they also understand why their program, which plays a level of NCAA football below that of the Wolverines, will make the trip: a $550,000 payday. At Delaware State, that’s equivalent to the revenue from at least two years of home games.
“From a competitive standpoint, it’s not an ideal situation,” says Delaware State football coach Al Lavan, whose team plays in a 7,000-seat stadium, compared with the 106,000-seat Michigan Stadium. “(But) you always have hope.”
Navy will get a million dollars for playing the Buckeyes this year.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
I mean, it's not like Michigan would ever lose to a 1-AA team
by Brendanukkah on Sep 3, 2009 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
no grove city marching band?
they have consitantly been one of Ohio’s top marching bands, the envy of the state even. Wow
Bloop
this whole thing about SW schools is killing me here
it’s all over the news every night. people are marching with torches through the streets. their kids cant play football and they are outraged.
why dont they ever react like this when these schools have 60% graduation rates?
by Charlie Scrabbles on Sep 3, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions
why don't they vote for school levies?
the problem with public schools is people have incredibly high expectations, but don’t want to pay for it. Even worse when schools underperform there is a well why should i pay for a shitty school mentality, they are just going to waste my money. Also old people fuck schools, and fuck schools hard. That is why I vote down every old person levy, fuck’em.
PS sorry mads.
Bloop
I think part of the problem
Is that the people paying the taxes aren’t necessarily the ones using the schools. At least, that’s how it is here. Homeowners often have kids that are grown up already, or they send their kids to private school. The renters who use the public school don’t pay the property taxes – at least not directly.
You can’t really blame people for voting their interests. It’s what we all do. Old people have more reason than most; they’re on fixed incomes. In areas where the property values have spiked, retirees end up unable to afford to stay in their paid-for homes, because they can’t pay the property taxes.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
my problem is not that old people dont want to pay higher taxes (though that is a problem)
my problem is that these people only give a shit about the football. these kids are stupid. even if they get high school diplomas, they are woefully underprepared for the world. and we dont say a word about it. no one holds rallies at the American Legion hall because of poor graduations rates. we are ok with our kids being idiots, but if they cant play football then it’s time to call your congressman.
by Charlie Scrabbles on Sep 3, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree with you there
Like when the alumni of Texas A&M pitched a hissy fit because the school tried to lure a Nobel-winning physicist from MIT. Paying a physics professor the same amount as the football coach! An outrage!
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
Thank you for that kind introduction, BK
While it is true that ‘old’ people vote against school levies it is also true that old people, middle aged people and young people as well are already paying through the nose for under performing schools. There a couple of incredible public schools in Cincinnati – Walnut Hillis High School and Kilgour Elementary School. Most of the rest are not so good. The amount revenues for public schools spent by the State of Ohio are dependent on taxes…property taxes…this form of taxation is woefully ineffective and public schools are only one example of how poorly executed out taxation system is. Oh and there is supposed to money going directly to the Schools from the Ohio Lottery but only a small portion goes there. The rest goes into the State’s general fund….point is don’t blame us old people – hell I’ve been paying taxes for over 40 years…I always support the school levies but totally understand how folks on an inadequate fixed income just don’t want to pay more and more and more.
What is needed is for young people like Justin to become politically active and motivated – run for office, become a councilman, mayor, county commissioner, state senator, a member of the US congress and then President Justin…you can make a difference…one man or woman can make a difference.
Although it would probably work better if Bubba Fan became President and Justin Vice-President..just sayin’
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
i am trying to get an intern ship for a progressive democrat running for IL state senete in Evanston
Bloop
That's the spirit!!!
Get out there and demonstrate!
My generation fucked things up even worse than we thought we could…but we got off our asses and fought against the war in VN, we fought for civil rights and fought damn hard for no bras.
Drop a couple of hits of Sunshine and you’ll get the pictures…I’ll be your campaign manager when the time comes…the profit driven world will never be able to take care of the poor, the sick and provide education for the masses…you can quote me.
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
We lived in the Kilgour district until I was 10
For whatever reason my parents decided to bus me to Sands Montessori on the west side. I wasn’t bummed about it because all my chums went to the local Catholic school, so it wasn’t like I was going to go to school with them anyways. Sands was actually a great school. For the place and time incredibly diverse (i.e., black, white, and little else), but it was an adjustment to start at a “normal” elementary school after we moved. Does anyone know if Sands is still around? I drove by several years ago and it looks deserted. Granted, it was the summer.
Yes Sands is still around
Several of Daughter#1’s friends kids are Sands Students. Good program.
Not as diverse as Kilgour but a very interesting Montessori approach.
What Catholic schools did your buds go to Pacceli or St. Ursula Villa.
Kilgour and The villa had strong sports rivalries when my kids went there.
I remember D#2’s 2nd grade team getting beat 17 – 0 once. I was coaching the team but was out of town for the game. When I found about the lopsided score i called the Ursula Villa coach and complained about them running up the score (several of our better players weren’t at the game, this was back in the day when 2nd graders still played 11 vs 11). His response was..“Its just a game. The problem with you Kilgour Parents is that you guys don’t teach your kids how to win…that’s why i send my kids to UV…we are preparing our kids for life”.
Wonderful and heartwarming story no….It is true however.
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
They were Pacceli kids
Hence, they did not know how to win.
by ken on Sep 5, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah Montessori education!
I did that when I lived in Indiana…I’m pretty proud of Montessori; even though there are huge social drawbacks, I’m convinced it made me the smarty-pants I am today
"And then there was the USAID guy in Kandahar who drove a giant pink Cadillac, which the locals set on fire one day. If you wanted to destroy something symbolic during a riot, you just could not do better than that. Good stuff." - Ghosts of Alexander
part of the problem,
and I live in this district, is the lack of trust with the SWCS Board of Education. In May of 2005 they passed a levy (property tax) on its third try. Due to funding issues and other issues they made 14 million in cuts. In November of 06 they tried an income tax levy which was defeated. The warm winter saved them and they only needed to cut 1 million from the budget. They did not put a levy on in ’07 hoping that the State would solve their school funding but all of Ohio knows how that ended up. They tried again in November 2008 and failed again. A levy again failed in May and August of this year, despite the threat of cutting all extra curricular activities.
The district is the sixth largest in Ohio and has four high schools; Central Crossing, Franklin Heights, Grove City, and Westland. There are almost 21,000 kids currently enrolled district wide.
The last levy lost by a total of 667 votes and was also on the ballot with a City of Columbus Income Tax Issue that was used to hold voters hostage for police and fire services.
This district has a lot of issues and a large portion of elderly residents is certainly one of them. That being said they do not deserve the blame for the defeat of the levy. They at least came out and voted. Less than 40% of the registered voters showed up. Apathy reigns.
I am not sure what is the fair way to fund schools. The only thing I know is that we, as parents, the community, educators and administrators have let these young people down. And it will take several years to recoup the losses, some of which can never be recovered.
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
well said
you know i guess it’s true. old people, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose. thanks Caleb!
by Charlie Scrabbles on Sep 10, 2009 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Who are you calling cold?
Not Caleb…or did you say bold…
What’s that dear..Time for my Kao…gotta run…
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
The WSJ
took on the issue of student loan debt today. Denninger says this is unsustainable: students are coming out of school with more debt than they can ever repay in their lifetime. Eventually, there’s going to be a crash.
Oh, and he thinks the economy is seriously screwed.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
i know that first hand
i am almost $100K in debt. That will cause a crash, because we won’t be able to pay back our loans.
Bloop
I think
a lot of colleges will go out of business, and college will go back to being something for rich kids.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
That's why we need a Public Education Option
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
bottom line
everyone isnt entitled to a college education. and dont get me started on graded inflation.
the world needs ditch diggers too.
"Plain and simple, I wake up in the morning and piss excellence"
Hence people like jch24
I couldn’t agree more…however our education system is at best soft …no flaccid…I bet the ditch diggers in Japan and Germany and India are a hell of a lot better educated than US ditch diggers…I’m all for trade schools, associate degrees etc…but I am even more adamant about Americans (and all people for that matter) being able to fucking read, write their names, do basic math and be able to have a general understanding of geography, history and how our gov’t is set up.
That is not too much to require for from the richest nation on the planet. The USA can’t compete on the world stage with a +30% drop out rate from American High Schools. Its already happening e.g. the Auto Industry…
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
government is really important
high school civics suck, and nobody realizes how important politics really is. I bet 70% of Americans can’t tell you who their state senator is. I bet a large amount of Americans can’t even tell you who their congressman is. Sometimes I wonder if it is a conspiracy, the powers that be don’t want us to learn how teh government works, so we stay out of it.
Bloop
by justin007000 on Sep 6, 2009 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Its a conspiricy between the Pinko Leftists and the Right Wing Fascists
Guys like Larry Craig bonding with guys like Gerry Studds (may he rest in peace) along with Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and Rush Limbaugh realizing that ‘keeping the country off balance’ by never taking any kind of functional bi-partisan approach to government, makes for just enough chaos and bullshit to keep things pretty much the way they’ve always been.
I.E. go into politics at the highest level and become very rich and socially prominent…ah the life of a politician
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004)
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
the bigger problem
is that a large percentage of parents couldnt tell you the name of their children’s school principal.
one of my main concerns is that people vote for candidates solely on their alleged stance on some hot topic issues (which really dont affect Main St) as opposed to voting for integrity, intelligence, decision making ability and decency.
"Plain and simple, I wake up in the morning and piss excellence"
Heer Heer! Who is the man that wrote this?
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
a friend of mine who was a professional student once said...
they can’t foreclose on a education.
Nobody listens to Andrew
funny, I was just thinking about that
What if they changed the law so that you could? That is, if you don’t pay back your loans, the records of your enrollment and degree are wiped.
Sure, you’d still have the knowledge…but that’s not really what people are paying for. They’re paying for credentials.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
the other thing that you must keep in mind is...
that student loans are not forgiven in bankruptcy so you can’t run forever !
as for wiping out the credentials.. not a good idea, but l do think they could garnish their wages
Nobody listens to Andrew
you can leave the country
Some people do.
The system is just so screwed up. The cost of college has gone up at twice the rate of inflation.
One of the people who fled the country to avoid repaying his student loans borrowed $400,000…for a music degree. That’s just nuts. What was he thinking, borrowing that much, and what was the lender thinking, letting him?
This is why Denninger thinks the economy is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The past 30 years or so have been an insane debt bubble. Now it’s time to pay up, and it’s going to take a very long time.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
That's great
And there’s now help even for people who aren’t working for nonprofits.
But it doesn’t really address the underlying issues. As this former financial analyst puts it, “Whether we’ve been gorging ourselves on the Gingerbread House or merely nibbling at it, we now find ourselves in a cage.”
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
Ohio Northern University was 30K my freshman year (2005-2006)
now it is over 40K. THe problem is our economy is college driven. What we need to do is take a European approach to college, and not have so many medicore people in college. I mean I didn’t see it as much at ONU, because it was a small private university, but state schools have to let every in state student in, who has an high school diploma. I feel like we should put far more people on “trade tracks”. But even ONU offers unnescary degrees. They have a 4 year “technology” degree. That is something that should be a jr. college degree.
Bloop
yes
The sad thing is, a lot of students go to college but wash out. They’re even more screwed than the ones who graduate. They have the debt, but no degree.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
i can't believe a bunch of colleges are going to close
i am going to have a Ph.D in 6-8 years. What teh fuck else do i do with my Ph.D in history? What will NYCreds do with his ph.d in music?
Bloop
by justin007000 on Sep 3, 2009 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Welcome to the lucrative world of sports blogging!
by Brendanukkah on Sep 3, 2009 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions
i am not a good enough writer
note the irony
Bloop
by justin007000 on Sep 3, 2009 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions
teach high school
That’s what happened to my sister’s PhD classmates who didn’t land academic jobs.
Um, maybe you better quit posting on the Internets about how much you like young stuff… ;-)
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
i'm engaged now so i should anyway
and i am one of the less perverted members of this community.
Bloop
by justin007000 on Sep 3, 2009 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions
hmmm
i am one of the less perverted members of this community.
Yeah, but that’s kinda like bragging about being taller than Danny Ray Herrera. ;-)
Congratulations on your engagement!
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
Justin engaged
I’ve not met her yet….how could you…
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
Justin!
you bastard! congratulations pal!
by Charlie Scrabbles on Sep 4, 2009 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions
i think many jobs require too much education now.
A few examples:
My dad is a parole officer, he was hired 30 years ago, and at the time he was one of a handful who actually had a 4 year college degree, but at the time the state of ohio only required 6 hours worth of psych courses.
My girlfriends dad does something at GE Aircraft engines. He only has a high school degree. When he retires his replacement will be required to have a chemical engineering degree.
I have a relative who works at an investment firm, and he does not have a college degree, and has work there for years. He received most of his training “on the job”. They require all their new hires to have degrees.
Ohio and many other states now require their teachers to hold masters degrees. Tell me why does an 8th grade U.S. History teacher need a masters degree? Even better why does a 2nd grade teacher need an MA, it probably won’t make her any more or less effective, since teaching isn’t something that can really be trained.
Since almost all decent jobs now require degrees, a lot more students go to school. I hate to sound elitiest, but in my oppinion it cheapens the value of a degree. There were so many people at ONU who were only there, because they wanted to get a decent job, not because they saw a great value in higher education.
Bloop
by justin007000 on Sep 4, 2009 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions
oh, I agree
I think college is now serving the role professional guilds used to. The point is to keep people out, for the benefit of those who are in.
Engineering didn’t use to require a college degree. Some of the best engineers I know got two-year degrees (often via the military), or learned on the job.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
Daughter No.2 Attended Bard for a year several yerars ago - $42,000+
Daughter No. 3 spent her freshman year at University of miami (FLA) $38,500+
Both were on scholarship..both came awaay with a bad taste in the mouths from these ‘little rich kid’s’ schools.
Can’t say as I blame them.
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
anyone who pays $400k for a music degree
is better off being an expatriate.
good riddance.
"Plain and simple, I wake up in the morning and piss excellence"
Unless you are in a specific profession Degrees are pretty overated
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin
more from the baseball finance front
6 interests want to buy Texas Rangers, business publication reports
Six prospective buyers have expressed interest in acquiring the Texas Rangers by notifying the baseball team by an Aug. 18 deadline, according to a sports business publication.Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal quoted unidentified sources close to prospective buyers as saying that owner Tom Hicks values the major league franchise at $600 million but that the actual selling price might end up lower.
Big payrolls paying off in baseball this season
Baseball organizations have been reminded that the game’s most powerful component often is a fat wallet.If the regular season ended today, seven of the top nine highest-paid teams would be in the playoffs, according to the Sept. 1 payrolls of 40-man rosters obtained by USA TODAY. The Colorado Rockies or San Francisco Giants, who rank 14th and 15th and battling for the National League wild card, would be the only playoff team not in the top 10. The payrolls, led by the New York Yankees at $213.5 million, don’t factor in partial salaries paid by other teams.
The article includes payroll rankings for all 30 teams. The Reds are #19 on the list. In last place are the Pirates.
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