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View Full Version : Hold on, is what I just read on Twitter true?



ColonelSteve
10-14-2012, 02:48 PM
That Kentucky spent just as much on the lights at Big Blue Madness as they did on recruiting in football...and that UK is the only program whos paying the womens basketball coach more than the OC and DC combined? Mitch needs to be fired, no wonder were terrible, good for them but lets be honest, who here honestly goes to all these Olympic sports and supports them the same way they do the basketball and football teams? Who here actually watched more than 10 minutes at the MOST of the volleyball match against Tennessee that was on ESPNU a couple weeks back? Honestly...

fastkat
10-14-2012, 07:05 PM
That's two years in a row that as much money was spent on BBM as was spent on football recruiting

Darrell KSR
10-14-2012, 07:32 PM
I believe it to be true, Colonel. I know football recruiting budget was something like $336,000, and I heard the lights cost $300,000.

I am glad attention is given to the Olympic sports. I'm a rare bird that does watch the soccer, volleyball, baseball, etc. games. But UK shouldn't be marketing to me; they should market to football, and I understand that. Everybody should.

ColonelSteve
10-16-2012, 05:13 PM
You have to respect what Barnhart has done to the other sports, he has proven that Kentucky can compete in the SEC in more than just basketball, however I seem to remember Guy Morris being excited because Kentucky FINALLY hired a football guy as the AD, and he has shown NOTHING that would make me believe that, in my eyes, yeah the ADs before him may have cared about basketball, but they sure put more into football than he has...I dont get it

Darrell KSR
10-16-2012, 05:32 PM
Kentucky is unique in the sense that basketball is elevated to a position of prominence not found at any other school, much less any other SEC school. So we have to be mindful of that proper attention always.

But the dirty hidden truth is that football is King. At least co-King with basketball, in terms of financial importance. Yes, we're given a free pass from the SEC's coffers, which overflow with generosity toward the Vandys and Kentuckys of the SEC. But we can't rely on (*just*) that alone.

We have to address football. The other sports are "nice," and I personally enjoy them, but if football is broken, the whole program is broken.

We're admiring shiny hubcaps on our fancy car with a blown engine parked in our garage. Fix the engine.

ColonelSteve
10-16-2012, 05:42 PM
Kentucky is unique in the sense that basketball is elevated to a position of prominence not found at any other school, much less any other SEC school. So we have to be mindful of that proper attention always.

But the dirty hidden truth is that football is King. At least co-King with basketball, in terms of financial importance. Yes, we're given a free pass from the SEC's coffers, which overflow with generosity toward the Vandys and Kentuckys of the SEC. But we can't rely on (*just*) that alone.

We have to address football. The other sports are "nice," and I personally enjoy them, but if football is broken, the whole program is broken.

We're admiring shiny hubcaps on our fancy car with a blown engine parked in our garage. Fix the engine.

Youre exactly right, but the common misconception is Kentucky fans dont care about football, that it's something to pass the time, that's not true, this will be the first year since CWS was expanded that were not gonna be in the top 25 in attendance. Also, at the beginning of the season, Kyle Tucker of the CJ posted a blog on season ticket figures in the last 10 years, and I did some math, and found that when you compare the numbers to the total capacity of the venue, the last 4 years, Kentucky has actually sold a higher percentage of season tickets in football compared to basketball...in 2008 over 83% of CWS was full of season ticket holders, that is unreal and Mitch is foolish for letting that go because like you said, we cant truly thrive unless the football team is thriving themselves.

Also a little proposal, womens basketball has started to really succeed and build a strong following, while Mitchell is in Lexington, we need to take all the earnings from the team and place it back into that team, also the MBB team profits need to fund the Olympic sports so we can use the football earnings, and put it back into the football program, until the ship is righted, its been reported before that most of UKs boosters, put it in writing that what they pay, HAS to go to the basketball team, why not use that to fund the program? UK has the highest earnings in all of CBB last year, it can be done if its done right. A Baseball stadium HAS to be built so that they can be like the womens team while they are succeeding. IDK just my two cents

Doc
10-17-2012, 09:48 AM
The two are unrelated. What one pays the for BBM has no bearing on what is paid the woman's coach or the men's football coach. If Mathew Mitchell is able to negotiate a well paying contract and does his job, what is spent elsewhere it irrelevant. Likewise if what is paid to any other coach is irrelevant. What matters is if they are doing their job. Why no concern that UK should give J-Cal a pay cut? IIRC he is the highest paid coach in college basketball (and IMO he earns every dollar he makes). He is like M. Mitchell in that he has a job to do and is successful. IMO paying Joker $10 or $1,000,000 does not matter because the program is going the wrong direction. I've not heard any recruits decline to attend UK because their recruiting visit didn't have a light show. Cal has created something and it is paying dividends. I would suspect if Joker came up with a similar event AND it reaped benefits, then the $$ associated with it would be of no consequences. BBM is televised and that generates money which helps to cover the costs. You have concessions etc...that comes back to the school. BBM isn't JUST about recruiting. In fact that is a very small aspect of it. BBM is a celebration about basketball, a time to honor the program. The staff takes advantage of that and uses it as a recruiting tool.

As for the other sports, UK promoted volleyball. Isn't that part of the AD's job? Or is he just a basketball/football director? Some sports lose money but that does not make them less important from a developmental aspect. Some of these perceived lesser sports are just as important, whether its swimming, tennis, lacrosse, soccer etc..... The AD should promote them all.