So how are you? I hope my readers are doing well and enjoying the summer. Some of my readers are also bloggers who have not seen "Blogger Dashboard" in a very long time and you know who you are. Get to work! Post something! Please?
I told my sister that I was going to leave Todd Bentley alone (just temporarily) and "rant" about something else, and actually, I have two things to mention today. First, I saw in the newspaper yesterday that the coach of the KU Jayhawks, Mark Mangino, received a little raise for the new season. How does $800,000 a year sound? That puts Mangino's salary at $2.3 million annually, and a contract extension to 2012. If he wins another championship, he earns another $225,000. I'm just as big a Jayhawk fan as you are, and was thrilled that they were victorious in the Orange Bowl, and I get that we should pay our coaches competively-I get all that. This reminds me of a recent conversation on a back patio regarding the "must win at all costs" value that colleges place on recruiting the best athletes and on the success of their athletic programs, while academic programs end up on the short end of the financial stick in terms of hiring the best professors, funding research programs, and encouraging students in more scholarly pursuits which may better society as a whole, i.e., cancer research. What do you think? Michael, I especially seek your input-as a rabid Jayhawk fan who probably feels Mangino is worth every copper penny he's paid. Help me, a middle-aged woman who is only a rabid fan of table and card games, understand this (!)
The second rant will wait another day, but it deals with the column recently written in the Eagle by columnist Brent Castillo. Here's a link for you out of towners:
http://www.kansas.com/opinion/castillo/story/465759.html
You may have to copy and paste-I don'tthink I've got the hyperlink thing going here.
2 comments:
It does seem over the top, but so does the millions paid to executives, pro sports players, junk bond dealers, and politicians.
I'm not sure any more what is too much and what isn't.
from mjp:
Yes, there is a win at all costs mentality. Yes, coaching contracts are skyrocketing. But think of this (we'll use Mangino as our example): Mangino's base salary is "only" 229,000. That is all the university (and the taxpayer) is paying. The rest of the money, 1.77 million, is categorized as "professional services." There are also several incentives. The "professional services" and incentives are all paid for by boosters.
Boosters provide more money when teams are successful. Enrollment increases when teams are successful - see KState in the '90s and KU this year, after the Orange Bowl and the Final Four. This also means more revenue. Also consider that most schools only have two "revenue" sports that support the entire athletic departments - football and men's basketball. And some schools don't make money on their men's bball teams, giving them only one revenue sport. More wins = more fans = more attendance = more tickets sold = more concessions etc....it's a snowball effect. Winners generate money, that not only goes back into the athletic department, but the entire university.
So Yes, universities want to win at all costs. But winning affects so many other things, generally making the university better as a whole. Yes, athletics and athletes benefit the most, but the trickle down effect with the money goes everywhere, from the endowments to scholarships and renovating libraries, and on and on.
Post a Comment