I also want to throw this back into the stream....

The State of Maine government should be ASHAMED by the way (or lack
there of) it supports its STATE university.

I am sure there are many people, including Nonni, who can speak to the
fact that Maine is woeful underfunded.

BTW, I'm not down with the taxpayer argument either.  I just want one
game a year in Portland where all the alumni in this area can see a
game in their own backyard!

-Deron


--- nonni daly <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Reserving the right to jump back into the stream again ...
>
> Deron-- you thanked me for pointing out the financial constraints
> that the department faces every year.  May I also mention this ...
>
> Clair, there is no way in hell that the university gives the Athletic
> Department enough money on which to operate.  Travel costs alone are
> an incredible part of the budget, since -- to quote Jack Cosgrove --
> "Orono isn't a place you go THROUGH, it's a place you go TO!" It's
> also a place you go FROM and at the competitive levels at which Maine
> now competes, it is very costly to cover all this travel.
>
> We also compete against a lot of schools who grant tuition waivers
> for scholarship athletes -- all athletic scholarships are billed as
> "in-state".  No amount of proposing has ever given the powers-that-be
> the inclination to reduce athletic costs at Orono by doing the same
> thing.   We have some sports that are there for no other reason than
> to comply with the way-skewed Title IX guidelines ... they all cost
> money and do not produce revenue.
>
> As a result, a good deal of what happens in 19 Division I sports at
> Orono is supported by local corporate sponsors, luxury box buyers,
> dasher/fence signage buyers, scoreboard buyers, single game
> supporters ... is Maine supposed to take teams away from that all
> important cash cow to play in a totally different venue where no such
> support is forthcoming, sometimes even simply in the form of ticket
sales?