TMQ: ESPN's Resident Hypocrite
I usually like the TMQ on ESPN, even when he's ripping on coaches en masse, however he did something of which he is a huge criticizer. He didn't Check his FACTS!!
IF you are familiar with the article, he often critisizes other writers, annnouncers, and sports figures for not checking his facts, when he did not in his newest article on ESPN. He often notes that mistakes are printed on page 1 in the New York Times, but corrections are printed on page 37.
"Abney notes public money is being thrown in to make the Michigan Stadium super-lavish for the well-off, even as the university's tuition price has risen almost two-thirds in this decade. He writes, "Not only are public funds being used to build luxury suites the average fan and typical university alum will never be able to afford, the cost to purchase access to said seating areas is considered a charitable contribution and therefore billed to the federal taxpayer."
Now we know that the athletic department completely funds itself, which may be a rarity in college sports, but is true in the case of Michigan. In fact the stadium construction is being funded by private donations and the Athletic Department. So public funds are not being used to build luxury tax shelters for the very rich.
Now many people will aruge that the since many of the "donations" needed to have a suite are tax deductible that it is a tax shelter for the very rich. Possibly they are right, but it's not the sinister thing Easterbrook makes it out to be.
".... federal taxpayers will be hit for about $16 million in a year in subsidies for the rich people sitting in the fancy new parts of the facility. That's fairly disgusting. Perhaps a fitting punishment for all those subsidized wealthy twits is … Rich Rodriguez. The football gods have, after all, a sense of humor. "
He then finished with the cheap shot at Coach Rod, which for a NFL columnist, is out of line.
Like I said, I usually like his articles, and even enjoyed some of the other points in the article but this one was way out of line and unfounded. He should be complaining about schools that DON'T self sufficiently fund their athletic departments, you know like all of the rest of the country. (ok not all)
I wrote him a comment to his email, with the link to the correct information. I am not expecting a reply.
Don't Believe Everything you Read
September 30th, 2008 at 10:08 PM ^
September 30th, 2008 at 10:22 PM ^
September 30th, 2008 at 10:25 PM ^
September 30th, 2008 at 10:33 PM ^
September 30th, 2008 at 10:51 PM ^
September 30th, 2008 at 11:05 PM ^
September 30th, 2008 at 11:22 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 8:11 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 9:40 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 9:51 AM ^
LOL.
You two did hug it out after all.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:20 AM ^
FYI,
Shooting coffee out of your nose hurts.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:30 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 9:08 AM ^
I think people need to get over how much is spent on College Football. Michigan is certainly not on an island here, with most major programs dumping millions into their football facilities. In fact, as we all know, Michigan is behind the 8-ball in their renovations.
Let's look on the bright side of this, mmmkay? FACT: the football program brings in millions to help fund the other athletic programs. Because of the football team X girl can get a scholarship for field hockey, because of football X dude can get a scholarship to play golf.
FACT: Black Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.
What's with the cheap shot on Rodriguez? WTF is this guys problem?
October 1st, 2008 at 10:16 AM ^
Here's why the "they spend so much on blah blah" pisses me off, re: football.
You have Gregg Easterbrook whining about how much money Michigan spends on football. Ok, he thinks it is somehow morally wrong.
Easterbrook is paid. By ESPN. To write about football. In money.
But it's wrong for schools to spend money on their football program? It's ok for him to make a personal living writing about it, but it's wrong for the people producing the product to make money off it or try to maximize their profits.
And he can rebuttal with "but I write about the NFL!". Two problems: 1. College football has a close relationship with the NFL - neither would exist in the current form without the other. 2. He's writing about college football. Right now. In this column.
So to me, it reeks of self-aggrandizing hypocrisy to make a living profiting off people's interest in a game, and then denounce the powers that be for making money from the game.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:24 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 10:21 AM ^
Does the University pay the athletic dept for the weekly national television exposure?
Do local ann arbor businesses pay the athletic dept a commission on the millions of $$$ in sales each year from people coming to ann arbor for games?
October 1st, 2008 at 12:24 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 1:01 PM ^
The Athletic Department is a self-funding part of the university, not an independent corporation or entity. The regents have final say over all aspects of the AD and there have always been shared resources and trademarks. The university almost certainly owns the land on which the stadium's built and I doubt they charge the AD rent...because the university also owns and uses the stadium.
The AD is considered self-funding because coaches' salaries, athletic equipment, scholarships (paid to the university's general fund), and, most salient to this thread, facility improvements are funded by the AD with money made from athletics. Many other ADs rely on money that comes from tuition or governments to subsidize them. Who knows (or more importantly cares) who buys the pencils.
One last thing - next time, please use normal grammar and spacing instead of gratuitous punctuation. Your post wasn't very readable.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:25 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 2:18 PM ^
The AD is a revenue-generating department within University. Prior to every fiscal year, they need to come up with a budget. This budget contains typical operating expenses (including labor, non-labor, other overhead) and other special projects - including facilities renovations. It also would include things like expected revenue generation for the coming fiscal year. Given that the AD is said to be "self-funding" we can assume that the expected revenues will cover the expected expenses. Some of that revenue may be in the form of donations, which Easterbrook is so loathe to accept.
In terms of things like pencils, nobody seriously counts the number of pencils (or paper, staples, etc) the AD (or any dept, for that matter) uses and charges for them. There is probably an allocation for things that would fall into an SG&A type bucket (eg, rent, utilities, pencils, etc).
Edit:
In terms of things like access to personal data, the University likely has a single data warehouse and it is really just a matter of permitting the appropriate access to the appropriate levels to the appropriate people. It's not a complicated concept.
Where you are going wrong is that your questions all seem to be built on the assumption that the AD is a separate entity from the University. This is not the case. There are various "revenue" streams. The AD does not tap into any but its own.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:07 PM ^
And there's your problem. Most college football fans wouldn't look at this from the point of view of an economist or try to calculate the AD's "overall" financial effect on the university. "Self-funding" is plenty meaningful to most people, and I don't think whether or not alumni lists are shared or trademarks are used really has anything to do with it (or the diary author's post, for that matter). The fact that the construction is being funded by a combination of money from the AD's coffers, private donations, and bonds that will be repaid by the AD is all that matters.
If you want to argue about whether the AD is a benefit or a cost, I'm perfectly willing to take that up. Somewhere else, though - start your own diary if you'd like.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:14 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 10:29 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 10:37 AM ^
never has any idea what he's talking about.
he might be the least informed writer espn has, which is quite an accomplishment. he's a thesaurus and little more
October 1st, 2008 at 11:31 AM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 12:12 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 12:49 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 1:24 PM ^
Troughs are nicer than what some of those bathrooms have. Some of them you basically just piss on a wall with a little water running down it and it all goes into a gutter sunk into the floor.
Unless they've replaced the piss wall with troughs, which would be a stadium upgrade.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:58 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 1:29 PM ^
October 1st, 2008 at 3:40 PM ^
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