Summer Break

The Everything College Sports Blog is on summer break along with Ohio University. Postings will resume in September. Job postings will continue to be updated.  Thanks for your support!

The Job/Internship Search

It is the time of year when graduating students begin to panic if they haven’t received their dream job offer or even an offer for an internship. If you are one of those still looking for a position, HANG IN THERE. One of the best interns I ever had told me he sent out over 100 applications before he landed the internship with me (4 years later, he is now the Director of Marketing at a Division I institution). So, it will happen – it just might not happen tomorrow. Keep doing the right things to set yourself up to be successful, including;

1. Volunteer with a sport organization. It might be that your resume isn’t quite solid enough to land the job you are hoping for.

2. APPLY. APPLY. APPLY. Until you have a job, your job is finding a job. So, treat the job search like a job. You must get out of bed before noon and search for jobs and then jump through all the application hoops to apply. Sometimes, the application process is difficult and time consuming to weed out those that are not serious.

Roster Management Practice Questioned

The mention of Title IX results in different reactions from different people. I’ve always found myself at somewhat of a cross roads with Title IX. I have been active in the wrestling community most of my life and have seen opportunities eliminated in that sport. I am also a female who greatly benefited from Title IX. Along comes the Quinnipiac injunction, and Title IX has become a national issue once again.

On May 22, 2009 a federal judge issued an injunction preventing Quinnipiac from dropping its women’s volleyball program or any other female opportunities. The ACLU of Connecticut has taken on the case for the women’s volleyball student-athletes and coaches. Expect this case to get more and more interesting as it unfolds and moves forward in the judicial process. During the hearing last week, it came to light that Quinnipiac set roster minimums (floors) for its women’s sports and roster maximums (ceilings) for its men’s sports. This has become common practice nationally in order to ensure compliance with the proportionality prong of Title IX. However, what makes the Quinnipiac case interesting is that beyond these roster management numbers they were allowing men’s sports to cut student-athletes prior to the first competition and then add them back after that competition, and on the women’s side, coaches were carrying their minimums through the first competition without equipment or uniforms and then most of the women who were not allowed to travel or have uniforms and equipment would quit.

Luxury Suites: Pro v. College

It has been a while since my last post, sorry! Ohio University has been very busy with the annual Sports Administration and Facility Management Symposium as well as frequent events celebrating the achievements of the undergraduates. The following is based a little bit on my own research, but is mostly the sharing of my own opinion.

As we all suffer through this downturn in the economy, high ticket prices and corporate spending on sports has caught the attention of everyone. The $800,000 Yankees suites got the media talking about corporations that are benefiting from Federal bailout money, yet are still purchasing high priced suites and other forms of premium seating for their clients while we all support their lifestyle. In the realm of college sports, we’ll have to see if any of this discussion trickles over into next season with regard to bad P.R. for any companies identified as spending big bucks for football tickets while they cut jobs, receive Federal funds from all of us, and their clients are trying to put food on their tables.

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200, You’re Fired!

This post is not specific to college sports, but is is a MUST READ for anyone heading into any segment of the sport industry.

In event management, there are certain things that are non-negotiable.Two of those things, in my opinion and the opinion of many of my peers, are waivers and medical coverage. If an event manager doesn’t get waivers signed or allows someone to participate without signing a waiver–do not pass go, do not collect $200, immediate termination. We live in a litigious society. Not mandating that participants sign waivers is probably one of the single stupidest things that an event manager could do. The other immediately terminable offense is not having any or not having enough medical coverage.

UNO Athletics; The Students Have Spoken!

The University of New Orleans (UNO) Student-Athletes have had a rough couple of years. First, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the campus and athletic facilities. The result was the suspension of 9 athletic teams and decreased student enrollment. UNO Enrollment has still not recovered to pre-Katrina levels which has severely reduced the athletics funding available from student fees. This, plus recent State budget cuts (athletics share was going to be appprox. $1.5mil) have stressed the finances of the athletics department in a big way. Now, last week UNO students voted “NO” to an increase in student fees to keep athletics functioning.

The result of the “NO” vote by students will likely be the elimination of the entire athletics program. Only if the State Legislature steps in to help (or a major private donor) can the program be saved at this point.

Jeremy Tyler going to Europe–Bravo let’s hope this is the beginning of the end of the one and done

Below is a post I put on the NCAA Double A Zone in response to NCAA staffer Greg johnson. There has been much said about Jeremy Tyler leaving high school to go play in Europe and earn a ton of money instead of staying in high school and being forced to play college ball for one year allegedly to get an “education.” Greg states that someone needs to explain to him why going to college for a year is the worst thing that can happen (in fact these kids rarely stay much past the first term, and saying they are actually going to college is debatable).

Greg–please. It is not a prison sentence and Sonny has never even alluded to that. He is saying what is obvious to anyone out there, even to those who purport to think this one and done is some educational panacea. Simply put Greg–for those of us who were or are in the trenches, this rule is simply a way to control the athlete, keep a free farm system, keep the money for the members of the association and the highly paid coaches, and limit someones right to earn a living when their skills are most marketable. There is no education about it when a kid is shepherded through courses to pass those “tough six hours” only to see them drop out after the national tournament once those millions have been earned for others. What’s the rush–you only have so much time to market athletic skills. Who are you to say he can’t do it when he is 17??

Is college athletics a free market

I was struck by a comment by my good friend Bob Boland at the College Sports Research Institute Conference in Chapel Hill, NC last week. I moderated a panel that included Craig Esherick, the former head men’s basketball coach at Georgetown, Boland, a former collegiate administrator, lawyer, sports agent, and now professor at NYU, Matt Denhart, an Ohio University undergrad representing the Center for College Affordability and Accountability, and Dr. Kadie Otto of Western Carolina, the current Executive Director of The Drake Group.

Bob made a comment regarding coaching salaries and athletic budgets in these tough economic times. He stated that he did not have a problem with coaches earning as much as they can because it is a free market.  Bob is one of the smartest people I know and I certainly understand his rationale, and currently without an anti trust exemption coaches salaries cannot be capped. In a perfect capitalistic economic system this makes sense–but in my opinion intercollegiate athletics (primarily at the D One level) does not exist in a logical economic system given that the generators of the income do not share equitably, or in many cases not at all, in the profits of the enterprise that create the market salaries for coaches.

Applications of Facebook in Athletics Development

Image via CrunchBase

This post was originally published by Athletics Development Frontier, which can be reached at www.developmentfrontier.com.

Currently, one of the biggest buzz words in business and sports administration school is the term new media. This word is used to define any type of advertising or communication medium other than radio, print or television. With the advent of blogs, Facebook, mass texts and Twitter, this staple of communication will be around for quite some time.

Coaches Salaries & Using Ohio State as an Example.

Ohio State Athletics Salaries from the Columbus Dispatch

We all know that the discussion of salaries at major NCAA FBS institutions can keep us chatting in the hallways at work or in the classroom for hours. On April 13th, the Columbus Dispatch chronicled “A Decade of Growth” in Ohio State Athletics Salaries. Although, specific to Ohio State, the article reminds us of the tremendous growth over the past 10 years in salaries at the largest and most powerful athletics programs.

Part of me wants to praise Ohio State for supporting all of their coaches with good salaries. The job of being a coach at Ohio State or at any DI institution is not easy and most coaches are underpaid. I’m not talking about football and men’s basketball, but about the other 15-20 programs that DI schools sponsor. Remember, these are folks who place their livelihood in the hands of 17 year olds  during the recruiting process… please choose my school!  They are away from home a large portion of the year traveling with the team and recruiting. Even when they are in town, they are working crazy hours and dealing with everything from girlfriend/boyfriend problems their athletes are having to being a productive member of the athletic department and putting in hours of community service. So, that is the part of me that says, FINALLY – more coaches are being compensated fairly.