It's just too easy
Andrew Beckner of the Daily Mail has an extensive Q and A with outgoing WVU president David Hardesty about his legacy in athletics. He asked a broad variety of questions, but none about the guard dogs and mace. One interesting Hardesty observation:
AB: You brought up the issue of (athletic department) self-sufficiency. At least in this state, that's a unique situation.
DH: Only the best programs are able to do that. Practically speaking, no other school in the state has the streams of revenue or the competitive excellence that we do. We're in a national conference (Big East) and it has pretty good (financial) distributions to its members.
What other state institution is not self-sufficient? I'm going to guess the one that is "Making big strides" with athletic donations by going from the following:
go back to the June day in 2003, when fans at a Big Green gathering at Sleepy Hollow Country Club were informed that only 77 Putnam County residents had anted up $25 or more to the athletic department’s signature scholarship fund.
How about current donations?
By 2004-05, the number climbed to 125, shot up to 161 the next fiscal year and sits at 176 currently.
176 people in Putnam County had an extra $25 or more rolling around in their pockets and have done their best to put their beloved
3 comments:
I think they can also afford orange wedges for the players at half-time now
I'm a WVU grad, but if you think we're even remotely close to being self-sufficient -- considering EVERYTHING, including salaries, facility improvements, etc. -- then you're nuts.
Self sufficient only means we aren't taking state funds. WVU athletics take state loans, but very little state money that isn't repaid. Most improvements are due to Milan Puskar and other private donors such as the Mountaineer Athletic Club. Coaches salaries are being reflected in current ticket pricing increases. The athletic department is also bringing in about $8-10 million a year from the Big East. If you can find large amounts of state funds going to WVU athletics provide a link for us all to see.
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