Fordham gives scholarship ultimatium to the Patriot League?

[dbackjon]

From the Fordham board...

Fordham has told the PL we want scholarships instituted leaguewide by June 09 .. If the PL balks we are prepared and going independent for 2010 season. then find a new home for 2011 and beyond. this is not hearsay, the FU Head Coach and the administration has sat down with PL commissioner Carol Femovich.. Colgate is on the record as a supporter of scholly's.. rest of schools on on fence. Masella (HC)and Fordham grid alumni like the schools in the PL.. but 1aa football is passing the league by.. so we laid down the ultimatium.. and the alumni are in full support of scholly's or out!!

UCONN is on the schedule 2011. Army is on schedule 2014,2015. we are looking for a 1A opponent 2010,12,13.

ODU, Bryant, Cornell on 2009 schedule. Marist and Dayton dropped us.. marist thought non winnable game for them and Dayton doesnt want travel costs.


there is a good chance Holy Cross game in 2009 will be in Ireland. FU-HC did this in 1991 to a huge success. 20k attendance and a great experience for all players, alumni, coaches, exposure.

http://fordhamfans.smfforfree.com/index ... icseen#new

[danefan]

BTW, this poster's recap of the meeting was confirmed by other attendees on AGS.

This could really shake up FCS football, especially in the northeast.

[dbackjon]

It very much could.

What will the rest of the PL do? Will they let Fordham go? If the PL goes schollie, what will Georgetown do?

[travelinman67]

It very much could.

What will the rest of the PL do? Will they let Fordham go? If the PL goes schollie, what will Georgetown do?

It was always about Gtown and Holy Cross. Both have been resolute in their opposition to scholarships. My vote would be to place the ultimatum on their backs...do it, or take a hike. When you think about it...of ALL the conferences, next to Ivy...the PFL's are clearly the "wealthiest" schools. But most of the players don't come from money. It's not too bad if a player's FAFSA only places a $5-8k per year burden on the family...that can be covered without too much difficulty by anyone. But if the player comes from middle class...and FAFSA establishes a $22-25k liability on the family, even after all the grants and student aid, the family is usually left with $12-15k/yr...and for a middle class family, that can be a heavy bill to cover. I can tell you from experience...some of those schools are downright greedy. Only giving players one set of pants, socks, cleats, each season, and charging for replacements. It's downright bullsh!t. They sit on a half to many billion in endowment, build new facilities costing millions like they were Starbucks, yet niggardly fight to avoid shelling out $1-2m annually for scholarships? And injuries...don't even get me started. Expecting an athlete's personal health insurance to cover sports injuries? And then indignantly defending those policies as "tradition".

We run our local HS program better than some of the PFL's.

It's LONG overdue. NCAA is so heavy-handed in ruling over compliance issues, it'd be nice for them to take a more vocal role in standardization within divisions and conferences. "Pay to Play", is IMHO NOT D1 level athletics.

[dbackjon]

Good perspective T-man, from a former PL connection...

[travelinman67]

Good perspective T-man, from a former PL connection...

I can definitely see why Fordham is having an issue with this. The "core" expenses, housing, tuition, books, meals, only account for the big ticket costs. There's still transportation, clothing, and the potential for players to seek off campus housing...especially if they have a girlfriend or get married.
Fordham's location in NY, while a great school and a beautiful campus, place it in one of the highest cost of living regions in the U.S.
For recuits to evaluate Fordham in comparison with other N.E. schools, they have to include the cost of living into their decision.
Two othe schools within 30-40 miles of Fordham talked to my son during his recruiting period, but were immediately ruled out due to the cost of living issues. Both were great schools, and the coaches were some of the best people we spoke with, but in the end cost was the deciding factor.

[travelinman67]

Dave's recap of the situation...
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnf ... he_fcs.htm

[travelinman67]

FYI...one of the FordhamFans posters called the PL yesterday to confirm if a meeting on the scholly's had taken place on Thursday as had been announced...

...off the record...they confirmed the meeting had taken place, that the schools were "divided" and a decision on Fordham's ultimatum would be released sometime in June.

The poster, Ram83, remarked he inferred the split was a 50/50 (or near) vote...

[dbackjon]

Interesting...

[dgreco]

I still haven't seen an answer, or maybe I missed it. But if the equivalences are still looked at as scholarships with Title IX I am not sure why they wouldn't just change the naming of what they give and allow a school like Fordham to do a little more.

[dbackjon]

Equivilancies are subject to Title IX rules.

The differences that equivilancies are need based, so a upper middle class athlete may not qualify.

[travelinman67]

Equivilancies are subject to Title IX rules.

The differences that equivilancies are need based, so a upper middle class athlete may not qualify.

Confirmed.

In a financially draining test.

[travelinman67]

I still haven't seen an answer, or maybe I missed it. But if the equivalences are still looked at as scholarships with Title IX I am not sure why they wouldn't just change the naming of what they give and allow a school like Fordham to do a little more.

Both myself and a friend had sons who accepted offers from private "non-scholly" schools principally because both offered high level academics and the promise of "high level" athletics. We are both "middle class". The resulting calcs left us responsible for between $15,000 and $22,000 each year after factoring in those schools exhorbitant tuitions. About the same as the entire cost of a year at an "in state" top level university, so in effect, the "offers" while a "reduction" for those universities, offered no incentive when competing against "in state" programs.
Both our sons transferred after one season, as they discovered both institutions had misrepresented the "caliber" of their programs, providing substandard coaching and facilities.
Not saying that's "true" for all non-schollie programs, but both concluded the non-schollies use the "lure" of their school's reputations as a "sales pitch" to make money...and could care less about providing a top level experience.
I applaud Fordham for taking a hard line stance, and hope they succeed. I was reading the other PL boards yesterday and found comments rationalizing their reluctance laughable if not pathetic. At one school, and alum posted that the market problems left the school financially hurting, having lost 20% of their endowment...a decline from a little over One Billion to now, around 800 Million...for a campus with an enrollment of a little over 5,000 students...

...I felt like posting directions to the closest soup kitchen so their faculty would always have a source for a hot meal.