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Message Replied To ========== Just got back from the baseball National Championship celebration a little while ago. Great celebration and the fans were invited down onto the field to mingle with the players and coaches for autographs and pictures. I started thinking about a discussion in here a few months back about how we should drop some sports so we could funnel more money into the football program in order to be competitive with other schools. UF has won three national championships this spring compared to Alabama's zero for the year, and now UF is one of only four schools to win national championships in football, basketball, and baseball. We're one of only four in history, and the only school in the powerful SEC to accomplish that. Why would we want to diminish that just to have waterfalls in the student athlete lounge? I had a nice conversation with President Fuch, and he loves going to all the sports talking how enjoyable it was to attend tennis and lacrosse matches, so for those hoping programs will be eliminated for the benefit of football it doesn't look like that will happen, and I say good. i know there will be some from other schools, and maybe some fellow Gators who will say that no one cares about all those other sports, but to me that's just sour grapes from people who believe in putting all their eggs in one basket only to see them rot in the sun. ==============================I'll acknowledge that I've been part of those arguments on this forum. When I (and others) expressed joy over the successes of our gymnastics team, our softball team, our women's tennis team, etc., we were reminded by some that those successes paled in comparison to the need for success in football/basketball. That those sports mattered more because they made money. People did indeed argue that dropping some of them would be worth it if we could buy more success in football/basketball (via facilities, dorms, coaching staffs, etc.). Not many, but some. The baseball championship was exciting, but also eye opening. Some of the same people who dismisses the sports mentioned above because they don't make money were excited about baseball, which also loses money. That is when it occurred to me, it isn't about money to those suggesting we focus on football/basketball even more at the expense of other sports, it is that those sports are played by women, and they see no value in women's athletics. That to me is even more shameful. |
