A recent article (Feb. 13) in The Post is headlined “The Value of Victory.” A more accurate wording, based on the factual information in the story, might be “The Cost of Victory.” The reporter suggests this in the first line: “It is impossible to gauge the exact value of national attention gained when Ohio University’s men’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16.”
Nevertheless, the president and the administrators of the Athletic Kingdom continue to insist that there are benefits to the university mission in spending mega-dollars (about $2.2 million for basketball, according to the article) on sporting success without ever demonstrating a causal relationship.
Athletic Director Jim Schaus and other supporters state, in what appears to be an excess of wishful thinking, that athletic success “trickles down” to other areas of the university.
As usual, that statement is made with no hard proof provided. It is claimed that application rates go up after athletic success, but no information is provided about actual acceptance rates and the cost/benefit ratios of possible higher enrollments versus athletic expenditures.
The “trickle down” notion promoted by Schaus seems rather to be a “floodtide up,” because the new coach is being paid a minimum of $125,000 more than the previous one and allegedly is the only basketball coach in the MAC to make more than the university president. Joe McLaughlin, president of the Faculty Senate, and Distinguished Professor of economics Richard Vedder call that compensation, respectively, “misplaced priorities” and “highly dubious.”
They are wrong, of course, as President Roderick McDavis points out. The investment in sports “leads to an increase in contributions from alumni” (an old claim never accompanied by proof). He also “hopes” it will bring more “national attention and prominence” (quite an investment for nothing more than a “hope”).
In addition, “those on campus and our alumni feel more pride . . . in their university.”
I am sure he is not suggesting that students and alumni are not sufficiently proud of Ohio University because of its outstanding academic programs.
However, I must give the Athletic Kingdom its due: The recent run to the Sweet 16 did indeed raise awareness about OU. While vacationing in Florida in March, I made a point of wearing my OU cap, and unlike in previous years, I only had to explain once or at most twice, instead of ad infinitum, that “No, we are not OSU.”
I suppose that is worth a few million bucks.
Barry Thomas is a professor emeritus of German at Ohio University.
