Rutgers senate panel sets up roadblock for new athletic center.

[Cruising Route 66]

Not a good thing for Julie Hermann.

Rutgers

 

[dawgduice]

Well, kind of happens when the "mission" of a University meets the "mission" of a Sports program. They are NOT really compatible
Sports are really part of the entertainment and "fun" industry. Witness Kentucky BB.

 

[nits74]

Interesting to see what The Big Ten's take on this is. It is after all a conference based primarily on academics as opposed to athletics.

 

[NittPicker]

IIRC, Rutgers is still paying off debt incurred via stadium expansion. Maybe one of their fans can verify this. Once the stadium debt is off the books and they start receiving a larger share of B1G revenue they'll obviously have more means for facility upgrades. But it's only been a year. Nobody should have expected them to have brand new facilities after such a short amount of time. Their senate does seem to be very short sighted.

 

[Art]

It's going to take a while before

Rutgers fully repays the debt for the stadium expansion, figure another 25 years or so. In the meantime, the percentage of the AD's budget funded by the school increases and the percentage of paid tickets to football games diminishes.

 

[michnittlion]

I swear, many RU folk aspire to be Cornell

a land-grant school with good academics and uncompetitive (at the D-1 level) athletics that plays in the Ivy.


Rutgers was fairly good in football this year, but outside of that their all-sports record thus far in the B1G is terrible. I'm not seeing a whole lot of interest or will-power in improvement either.


RU's "true" peers are not Princeton or Cornell, they are Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Virginia, Connecticut, Michigan State, et cetera. E.g., primarily schools in the B1G. Start acting like them.
This post was edited on 3/28 1:19 PM by michnittlion

 

[fairgambit]

Re: I swear, many RU folk aspire to be Cornell

Originally posted by michnittlion:
a land-grant school with good academics and uncompetitive (at the D-1 level) athletics that plays in the Ivy.


Rutgers was fairly good in football this year, but outside of that their all-sports record thus far in the B1G is terrible. I'm not seeing a whole lot of interest or will-power in improvement either.


RU's "true" peers are not Princeton or Cornell, they are Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Virginia, Connecticut, Michigan State, et cetera. E.g., primarily schools in the B1G. Start acting like them.
This post was edited on 3/28 1:19 PM by michnittlion

By Rutgers football standards they had a terrific year. By everyone else's it was just average....3-5 in conference with a loss at home to their BIG RIVAL (at home), crushed by every ranked team they played, and 8-5 overall with a win in the Quick Lane Bowl. Next year they are expected to be even worse.



This post was edited on 3/28 1:36 PM by fairgambit

 

[9fold]

Re: I swear, many RU folk aspire to be Cornell

Originally posted by fairgambit:

Originally posted by michnittlion:
a land-grant school with good academics and uncompetitive (at the D-1 level) athletics that plays in the Ivy.


Rutgers was fairly good in football this year, but outside of that their all-sports record thus far in the B1G is terrible. I'm not seeing a whole lot of interest or will-power in improvement either.


RU's "true" peers are not Princeton or Cornell, they are Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Virginia, Connecticut, Michigan State, et cetera. E.g., primarily schools in the B1G. Start acting like them.
This post was edited on 3/28 1:19 PM by michnittlion

By Rutgers football standards they had a terrific year. By everyone else's it was just average....3-5 in conference with a loss at home to their BIG RIVAL (at home), crushed by every ranked team they played, and 8-5 overall with a win in the Quick Lane Bowl. Next year they are expected to be even worse.



This post was edited on 3/28 1:36 PM by fairgambit

ru is small-time.

Just fueling the big rivalry.

 

[dawgduice]

I live in NJ. Both my son and daughter-in-law are graduates of Rutgers. My brother attended PSU, has a PHD from Rutgers and a VMD from Penn AND he heads a major University's research program (a Big 10 one at that).
None of them nor any of their college friends have any interest in sports. Actually, students and FACULTY (teachers/academics) were opposed to the Sports "expansion" including the Big 10. Much of the "sports" interest was driven by State and local politicians. Rutgers is a very good school. Sports have NOTHING to do with a school's academics.
But we live in a Gladiator environment, so let the games begin !!!!!


WE ARE.

 

[michnittlion]

Fine, let's turn this thread into dogging RU football ....

yes, they weren't Ohio State or Michigan State. But they were mid-tier. They did have a very nice Bowl victory. And they did tie for the 3rd best division record when looking at Eastern division games only (3-3) ....... part of that 3-5 overall conference record is because they got a very tough Western division draw.


Do we want Rutgers fans to come over and start identifying Eastern Division teams that went 0-2 against the West despite getting a rather easy draw?


We'll see where Rutgers football goes going forward. But credit where credit is due ... they were "fairly good" at football in 2014.

 

[fairgambit]

Re: Fine, let's turn this thread into dogging RU football ....

Originally posted by michnittlion:
yes, they weren't Ohio State or Michigan State. But they were mid-tier. They did have a very nice Bowl victory. And they did tie for the 3rd best division record when looking at Eastern division games only (3-3) ....... part of that 3-5 overall conference record is because they got a very tough Western division draw.


Do we want Rutgers fans to come over and start identifying Eastern Division teams that went 0-2 against the West despite getting a rather easy draw?


We'll see where Rutgers football goes going forward. But credit where credit is due ... they were "fairly good" at football in 2014.

Rutgers fans come here whether we want them to or not. Despite a very average year for Penn State, and in the wake of crippling sanctions, we still found a way to beat them, at their house, in what was the biggest game for them in years. I'm sorry but only by the standards of Rutgers, or Indiana, would 8-5 (3-5) be considered "fairly good". Years like that at Penn State typically bring condemnation, not praise. Sorry about the rant but Rutgers football, and their fans, bring out the worst in me. They are ........I'll just say they are not among my favorite teams.

 

[Cruising Route 66]

Originally posted by NittPicker:
IIRC, Rutgers is still paying off debt incurred via stadium expansion. Maybe one of their fans can verify this. Once the stadium debt is off the books and they start receiving a larger share of B1G revenue they'll obviously have more means for facility upgrades. But it's only been a year. Nobody should have expected them to have brand new facilities after such a short amount of time. Their senate does seem to be very short sighted.

Delany told Pernetti just before RU was extended their invitation that he wanted them to build a new stadium. That wasn't going to happen considering the athletic department's poor financial position.

The expansion to their existing stadium cost $102M of which $80M was financed with 30 year general obligation series G bonds and $22M of floating rate short term commercial paper. Only about $11M has been contributed to the bond sinking fund and I had heard rumblings that the remaining debt was to be removed from the Athletic Department books to help the department keep its head above water.

Further, RU won't see a full share of B1G money until year six. Julie Hermann is going to have to raise private money to improve their facilities and that's not going to be easy if their sports programs aren't competitive.






This post was edited on 3/28 5:36 PM by Cruising Route 66

 

[Evan Ceg]

Rutgers for more than a decade has had a vocal group of faculty who assert that the pursuit of big-time athletics compromises Rutgers' academic mission. Given that the Rutgers athletic department operates in the red (as do many others) and the University picks up the tab, their point is more compelling.

Every big-time football/basketball school has faculty who disparage intercollegiate athletics, but at Rutgers, they've made a louder noise.

 

[Cletus11]

RU stadium expansion was a mess. About 18-24 months ago a huge issue in NJ as it turns out that maybe some of the contracts given were not 100% on the up and up (who would have ever imagined north jersey might have some bribery going on). It also went way, way, way over budget. Zero chance that the AD can ever pay off the loan and so teh University and taxpayers are stuck paying it. No way Rutgers gets any money to build anything new in the near future. It would be political suicide as NJ taxpayers are already really pissed about the $100 million dollar white elephant football stadium expansion.

 

[Blueblood4eva]

"Delany's Delusion", and always will be. Consider that beyond the numbers cited here, there is mega debt associated with the merger of the school of Medicine and Dentistry in lovely Newark. Rutgers is B1G alright......big debt and an endowment measured in cents, not millions. I heard they have not invested in a major new building at New Brunswick Campus in 50 years! The place needs cash, and there is none. Maybe they can afford a paint job?

This post was edited on 3/28 8:53 PM by Blueblood4eva