Most of the Maryland football program’s many critics were satisfied simply with calling for football coach Ralph Friedgen’s firing. But for Washington Post columnist Norman Chad — who was editor in chief of The Diamondback three decades ago — such a move simply wouldn’t have been in enough.
In a column on Monday, Chad called for the end of Maryland football, and for the end of big-time college football and basketball in general.
Now Chad wasn’t just fed up with the program’s sorry state. Rather, he argued that the football program is a drain on university resources.
Which is funny, because it takes up absolutely none of them. Between donations and ticket revenue, Maryland athletics is 100-percent self-supported, and yet it’s become a media cause celebre of late to push the university (and the state that ultimately funds it) to limit football spending.
The (Baltimore) Sun questioned Gov. Martin O’Malley last week on whether public funds should be used to pay out Friedgen’s contract, leading him to make the statement:
“Were they to decide that there needed to be a change, I would hope that they not use public funds to buy out that contract.”
Once again, the problem is: Maryland athletics isn’t supported by public money.
Moral of the story: mainstream press, shame on you. Before you write, next time do your homework.
Ralph Friedgen wasted donors' — not the state's — money with his football team's dismal performance this year.
if you know anything about norman chad, you know he’s the kind of person to make comments that are not to be taken too seriously.
that is not to say that he is a bad journalist, rather, he uses hyberboles..which as “journalists”, you ought to know.
and fuck you for bringing down DC++.
assholes
well, what about diverting ticket revenue into helping the school budget in these hard times? I know it isn’t right to divert revenue from donors that was provided for athletics, and I don’t know if they already do use the ticket revenue for other things. But is it realistic to say “X percent of ticket sales will be diverted to cover the shortfalls in the budget this year, and either donors can make up the football budget or it spends less’?
The statement “Maryland athletics is 100-percent self-supported” is simply not true. The writer ought to do some research of his own. While the revenue the programs generate goes back into the programs, rather than say, pay for professors, or reduce tuition, this revenue alone is not nearly enough to cover the enormous costs associated with the programs. Aside from the millions spent on Friedgen, and the estimated $5,000,000 it would cost the school to fire him, the cost of recruiting and maintaining the program far outweighs the revenue generated. This is a matter of public record.