Since I'm at NMU I don't qualify as a respondent to Brian's request
for information about the way hockey is treated at Division I schools,
but thought I'd throw in something on a more general topic.
 
   I'm not sure we  should label all non-Division I (in everything
but hockey) universities as "small."  I realize  we're speaking in
terms of sports emphasis, not enrollment, for example, and most are
aware that many non-division I institutions enroll far more students
than many Division I athletic powerhouses (people never seem to
realize that Notre Dame has only about 4,000 undergrads, e.g.)  But
even with respect to sports, it may be somewhat of a misnomer.  Here
at Northern the Division II football games in our new domed stadium,
for example, drew over 8,000 fans until the team completely fell
apart (or to be more accurate, proved its early-season ineptness was
genuine).  Basketball also draws quite well.  I'm told that in 1976,
the year after NMU won the Division II national football championship,
over 14,000 showed up to see the Wildcats play Div I MAC Central
Michigan (NMU won).  The Wildcat hockey team plays in front of 3,500 to
4,500 fans.  Admittedly, this is occasionally limited by the size of
the arena, but not usually.  Also, the majority of the hockey fans
are townspeople and university staff members (including faculty), not
students.
 
     My overall point is, that while hockey
is our only Division I sport, and is extremely popular and high-profile
in the area (especially right now), it's far from the "only game in
town" at NMU (despite this region being a hockey-at-all-levels hotbed).
 
   The hockey program here IS well supported, but I suspect the Uni-
versity makes a nice profit on it when you take into account bookstore
sales of souvenirs during successful seasons like 1990-91, plus
ticket sales.  (In other words, I think that hockey, at least when the
team's doing well as it is now, is more than self-supporting.  Unfor-
tunately, it's hard to tell because so far athletic revenues have always
been channeled directly to the university's general fund, so you can't
compare revenues with expenses.  There's a suggestion going around that
this might change soon. Of course, the truly "minor" sports might not
want this to happen.)
                                                 Steve Christopher, NMU