Minus $1.755billion
Minus $1.755billion
No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. But this university doesn’t play the game the way the top G5 and P5 programs do. We do what we can to stay afloat and competitive.
We don’t do everything we can to succeed at the highest possible level. Martin Hall doesn’t even know how to do that. They are the people who are just happy to be invited to the ball.
It's not about having a better G5 athletic program. It's about the perception of the future of that athletic program. When we get the stadium redone, our commitment is tangible. No powerpoint presentation needed.
Tulane has a nice stadium, but they don't have the success and commitment across the athletic program that we do.
Tulane has success in sports and is recommitted to doing so across the board, what they bring to the table is something we don't have and probably will never have and that is an alumni base with money willing to spend it.
What I found interesting was the sports that Tulane participates in. First lets look at the common and traditional sports.
Football---They are committed to being good right now, history for them is up and down, but right now they are as good as they have been in 40 years. They are ahead of us right now, but over the past 10 years I would say we have been better, but historically they probably have an edge.
Men's Basketball--They have a history back to the old Metro Conference days, they have not been very good lately, but their old history with guys like John "Hot Rod" Williams, Paul Thompson, Clyde Eads and Darryl Morreau days were very good, those teams were led by Ned Fowler and I know they got hit with penalties, but they were good teams. I think the programs are pretty even.
Baseball--Traditionally very good, not just good, really good. They have gone through a rough patch, but this is a historic baseball program. I think the programs are pretty even, granted we are on an upswing and they are on a downswing right now.
Men's and Women's Tennis have been traditionally very good, men especially. Consistently better than us.
Women's Basketball--Has a very good history, much better than ours.
There are a few other sports where we have like programs, like Track and Field, Cross Country and Women's Volleyball, but that is the extent of it. Where we differ from them is sports that they participate in that we don't and granted we have softball and they don't but check this out.
men's and women's and coed Sailing.
Beach Volleyball
Women's Golf
Women's Bowling
Swimming and Diving
By the way, they are very good at Sailing, Bowling and Beach Volleyball. They have clearly taken a different path in many of the "Olympic Sports" than we have.
Just recently a husband and wife gave 2.75 million dollars to Tulane to build, and get ready for this.....a new community Sailing Headquarters on Lake Pontchartrain. In all Libby and Robert Alexander have given now over 7 million dollars to Tulane Sailing program over the past 5 years.
On the list of regional schools ahead of us for future P5 membership are Memphis, SMU and Tulane.
Our competition in LA has always been Tulane. The problem is that it is exponentially easier for a rich, Academic school like Tulane to field highest quality athletics than it is for a small public school like us to field highest quality athletics AND highest quality Academics.
See the problem?
I have always believed that hoping and praying for a P5 invite to save us is a complete waste of energy and time. If it ever happens, great, but we should be focused on our own business.
We should be focusing on building a P5 quality program, now. I don't give a rat's arse what conference we are in. Constant fundraising. Constant building. Constant upgrading of the schedule. Constant demanding of excellence in EVERY aspect.
The only thing stopping us from this vision is fear.
Is the ncaa the only sports governing body that allows the members to decide which conferences/divisions they play in? And if so why?
Don't think the cubs and cardinals would ever be able to conspire to leave the nl central to head back to the nl east.
Could usa mens soccer try to move out of concacaf?
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