The Villanova Football Problem...

[falcon]

I think, unless Villanova can do football on the cheap, it would be better off dropping it. With the exception of ND and BC, the Catholic schools should avoid big football. The cost is prohibitive : scholarships, facilities, equipment, travel, tutors, insurance, etc. Thirty years ago, at the Big East Tournament, some Villa alums told me that a few big donors got the school to reinstate football. This was reminiscent of what happened at Holy Cross, in the late seventies, and still relevant in basketball, when a powerful alum, Edward Bennett Williams, used his influence to get the school to turn down an invite to the new Big East conference, because he wanted the school to emphasize football, not basketball. This was told to me by Holy Cross alums. They thought UConn then was invited, in HC's place.

[Wildabeast]

Mazing that the OP (a noted troll) got taken seriously in this thread.

Please reflect in the title thread that this poster has been jettisoned from Villanova boards because he only posts to get a rise out of ppl. He contradicts himself regularly and is posting outlandish crap - trying to work this board in a lather over the fb issue (i.e. bringing up Nova/ACC aspirations and acting like UConn would join the Patriot).

He doesn't speak for Villanova.

[NovaBall]

This is a legitimate issue, which is why it is being taken seriously.

The football tough guy mentality of calling anyone who disagrees with our foolish spending on fcs football a "qweer" or a "football pu$$y" like you see from the villanova football base that refuses to discuss the merits of the issue just goes to demonstrate that the meathead culture of football is past it's prime.

Nova is part of the big east, and should focus on improving it's big east sports like soccer and lacrosse. Not dumping money on a football team that few people care about.

[Hoyas]

Has anyone other than the ball brought this up at Nova at all? Or is this in his own mind and that's pretty much the extent of this? It sounds to me like this is just a small minority and that's it.

[NovaBall]

The small minority are the people who actually pay attention to villanova football.

But yes, lots of Villanovans are discussing this issue. Definitely the hot button topic in the Villanova community right now. Most believe it is time to re-evaluate our position on spending a quarter of our school's annual athletic operating budget on a sport with no following and at the same time contemplating a $50 mill football practice facility for a sport that many hope will be de-emphasized.

[Hoyas]

The small minority are the people who actually pay attention to villanova football.

But yes, lots of Villanovans are discussing this issue. Definitely the hot button topic in the Villanova community right now. Most believe it is time to re-evaluate our position on spending a quarter of our school's annual athletic operating budget on a sport with no following and at the same time contemplating a $50 mill football practice facility for a sport that many hope will be de-emphasized.

Do you have any proof of this other than in your mind or in message boards where you started this?

[NovaBall]

What type of "proof" are you looking for? There are multiple threads on the topic on the vusports rivals football board, none of which are started by me. There was a lengthy discussion on the topic on the 4.6 board, of which I was not the main proponent of the topic. If by "proof" you refer to an official press release from andy Talley stating that football is a problem at villanova, then my apologies as I don't have that.


Back on the topic, it appears that the way this is probably going to head is that nova will drop down to the Patriot League (avg fb operating budget of $4 mill instead of $6 mill in CAA), and the football practice facility will likely become an all sports and students recreation facility.

The big thing is, nova has to start funding lax and soccer more. No excuse for nova not to be very good in those sports. The difference between where nova is now in those sports and the increased cost to fully fund them is not too far apart, so no reason not to put in the appropriate effort.

[Hoyas]

so it's basically just message board fodder then. No indication at all that it's even a remote possibility of happening. Gotcha

[NovaBall]

What is the "it" that you refer to?

By "it" we are talking about
-. $6.5 mill operating budget for a sport that draws under a million in revenue
-. Very poor fan attendance (under 2,000 fans for home playoff games)
-. Concerns about underfunding of lacrosse and soccer right now
-. Open discussions among much of the villanova community about the benefits of the patriot league over the Colonial
-. A disdain among the villanova community about the product being placed on the field for such an exorbitant cost at a level of the sport without much competition
-. A concern that Villanova is about to blow tens of millions of dollars on a football practice facility while basketball is being told it has to "wait it's turn" for a much needed pavilion renovation

You can call "it" message board fodder, but these are legitimate concerns that much of the Villanova community is discussing right now.

Is the dropping of the program imminent? No. Is "it" (ie, the villanova football problem) being openly discussed among the community with possible solutions suggested from many angles? Absolutely.

[Hoyas]

What is the "it" that you refer to?

By "it" we are talking about
-. $6.5 mill operating budget for a sport that draws under a million in revenue
-. Very poor fan attendance (under 2,000 fans for home playoff games)
-. Concerns about underfunding of lacrosse and soccer right now
-. Open discussions among much of the villanova community about the benefits of the patriot league over the Colonial
-. A disdain among the villanova community about the product being placed on the field for such an exorbitant cost at a level of the sport without much competition
-. A concern that Villanova is about to blow tens of millions of dollars on a football practice facility while basketball is being told it has to "wait it's turn" for a much needed pavilion renovation

You can call "it" message board fodder, but these are legitimate concerns that much of the Villanova community is discussing right now.

Is the dropping of the program imminent? No. Is "it" (ie, the villanova football problem) being openly discussed among the community with possible solutions suggested from many angles? Absolutely.

Is there ANY indication that there is a remote chance the Nova admin agrees with that? It sounds just like message board fodder, with no chance of it ever coming close to reality.