This week the sporting world has started to come to grips with the reality that the economic losses of this pandemic will dramatically impact their community for the next 12-18 months, including a restriction of fans, elimination of seasons, and a general lack of funds.
Nowhere are nerves more frayed than with non-revenue sports like wrestling, where funding is tight and the lack of institutional support is commonplace.
In a move that may end up being evidence of a coming cull, this week the Group of 5 schools requested a four-year forgiveness from the NCAA on their general enrollment standards, including the minimum number of programs. The G5 schools include Fresno State, Wyoming, and Air Force in the Mountain West; Kent State, Buffalo, Ohio, and Central Michigan in the MAC; Navy in the AAC; and already-dropped Old Dominion in Conference USA. If passed by the NCAA each of these schools (save Navy) will be directly in the line of fire by athletic departments with mandates to curtail costs.
The state of college athletics is trending poorly for the wrestling community, but what ideas are out there that can work on the institutional level and which ideas are out there that could preserve wrestling programs specifically?
The No. 1 way to ensure that athletic departments remain intact is rational thinking about what things actually cost, where money is being saved, and to be reminded that with the development of a vaccine will come the end of the pandemic.
The cost of a scholarship is the "free-market" value as determined by that school's administration. If out-of-state is $63,000 then the athletic department (at big schools) are meant to send a check for $63,000 to the school for the athlete. The real cost is of course much less since the only hard costs are room and board. What if those requirements were reduced or eliminated altogether? For example, the schools could ask for only the in-state amount of tuition from the athletic department or give one-year from paying. If in-state is $25K then a wrestling program could be off-the-hook for $400K.
The university at-large is able to absorb these losses of revenue more easily since they have much larger operational budgets and are able to charge for online courses in the fall. The cost savings should go into providing tuition remissions, which is relatively simple to engineer and would provide incredible relief for programs who can then use that money to pay the other costs that aren't transferable or able to be eliminated, like salaries.
The second quick fix is for schools to up the pull from their respective endowments from ~5% to 8%. The school draws 5% in years that it makes 10%, so it stands to reason that increasing the pull can in the short term be seen as a loan for the future. Surviving is the object of the game, not thriving.
The third quick fix is the reduction of ancillary benefits for athletes, like study programs, specialized meal plans, equipment purchases, et. al. These are likely already happening alongside staff-wide reductions in salary, but it's worth a look especially for benefits provided to the major sports.
The next set of options might not be as popular, but they could have a positive effect on the sport, namely reducing the number of scholarships in wrestling from 9.9 to 7.9. That cost savings would show good faith, minimize risk in a financially healthy environment, and would encourage more schools to adopt wrestling programs as they could become more competitive. Again the object is survival.
However, the quickest and easiest solution to the funding problem in college athletics is to eliminate 15-20 scholarships from the football team. As with the above wrestling example, it would lighten the load for each school, create a more competitive landscape in their sport, and lessen the impact of a massive economic incident such as COVID-19. There is no real math behind 85 full scholarships on a football team, so why continue with the unsubstantiated inflated numbers? If you all have the same number of scholarships then nothing has really changed.
This is a money problem, but it's exposing the larger cultural problem that college athletics has become about making money. There is so much more value in the experience including academic opportunities for those of a lower SES, introduction to classmates with vastly different personal experiences, expert-level insight into, well, being an expert.
All these things (and more) have real value in a college community. If the system can't adapt from a one-year economic event, then was it ever really a system that was working for everyone? Or was this always just about sponsorships, ticket sales, and broadcast revenue?
I hope that the leaders of our sports institutions can see that there is something more to protect, and real actionable ways to achieve them before simply dropping sports.
To your questions …
Thomas Gilman topped Cuba's Reineri Andreu Ortega at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: What are your thoughts on Thomas Gilman's move to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club? He downplayed the Spencer Lee angle, but how much do you think Lee factored into his decision?
-- Mike C.
Foley: While you have to take Gilman at his word, there is no way to divorce Spencer Lee from the decision to move. One spot, one club, one alumni base, and two athletes. I think that if Spencer Lee never shows up then Gilman stays, but I don't think it means his decision was based on avoiding Lee as much as it was giving himself clarity of mind and focus on his purpose.
When you consider that the outcome of their match is uncertain (at least to me) then you also must realize it was a necessary for Gilman to have full and complete trust in the intentions of his coaches. I don't think for a moment that Brands + Co. would want anything but the best for Gilman, but even in steady seas an athlete can question the motives of a teammate or coach. In turbulent times that would likely be compounded.
I wouldn't look at the situation as Gilman "running away." We should all be able to agree that he's not the type to be intimidated. He just needed a better environment and that the move for personal and professional reasons makes a lot of sense. Also, be reminded that the NLWC has arguably the best wrestling club outside of Dagestan with an abundance of Olympic and world medalists in the room.
I'm a fan of both wrestlers and am glad that we can now have a less-awkward situation around their training and instead just watch a good ol' fashioned scrap.
Q: If there is no NCAA football season, or if it's postponed, do you think that could cripple college wrestling? I would imagine most athletic departments will be really hurting and wrestling could be one of the first programs to go.
-- Mike C.
Foley: After an unprecedented stay-at-home effort, trillions of dollars spent in economic assistance, and more than 30,000 deaths in just eight weeks the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a costly and deadly setback for the world. There is an immense amount of grief, anger, frustration, and boredom.
The world wants a distraction. I want a distraction. We all want something to discuss beside Tiger King, and something to do outside of video conference. Sports can fill that void, but we have to think about the cost.
Until there is a vaccine no fans will be attending sporting events. There just isn't a way to guarantee they don't create a massive "biological bomb" like was seen in Italy after a Series A match. Packing 105,000 fans into the Big House would lead to a risk profile that is absolutely intolerable for a civilized nation to justify.
There is a small chance that with incredible oversight, rigorous testing, and other controls that some sports would be allowed to be played without the presence of fans. Tennis and golf are quick to come to mind as examples of sports that would be first to return due to the natural social distancing. However, contact sports like football and wrestling will be far, far down the list of sports that can be reopened.
In short, there will be no NCAA football season in 2020 and I'm doubtful there will be a wrestling season. Now, what will that mean for schools and their athletic funding?
As I mentioned before there needs to be a wider discussion over the role of sport, who should take a haircut right now, and why. Without massive interventions by the NCAA to restrict the elimination of programs there will be a 10% reduction in the number of Division I wrestling programs in the next two years. This is a black swan event for which no athletic department was prepared to encounter and for which few have voiced or proposed logical solutions.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Gilman on his move
Rivalry: Taha vs. Geno
Women's wrestling highlight from Nur-Sultan World Championships
Q: Did you see the back-and-forth between Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake? If so, did you think it was authentic? Or manufactured?
-- Mike C.
Foley: By nature, trash-talk is the choice to use uncommon language and conversational style to create discussion around your idea. The language can be inflammatory, controversial, or even just impolite in its directness. Burroughs has done this in the past with Ben Askren (who hosted the show) and has a knack for exploiting his opponent's sensitivities.
Dake, on the other hand, wears trash-talking as well as I wear polka dots. It was awkward.
I think that the jawing was mostly good-natured and might prove to be the type of competitive release both needed during the quarantine. We are all trying to learn new schools, explore new hobbies, and it's nice to see that athletes are taking advantage of the dead air to create some sparks.
I would note, however, that this is not a sprint. Wrestling won't be back from quite some time and if there needs to be this media-first approach, I can be supportive of some friendly jostling among competitors.
Q: A.C. Slater was offered a wrestling scholarship to Iowa in the episode that aired in October of 1992. Had Slater competed for the Hawkeyes (starting in 1993-94), how do you think his career would have gone? Seems like he had a style that could have done well in college. But would he have even cracked the lineup? These are the All-Americans in Slater's first two college years.
1993-94
Lincoln McIlravy (1st, 150)
Jeff McGinness (5th, 126)
Mike Mena (7th, 118)
Joel Sharratt (1st, 190)
Daryl Weber (6th, 142)
Joe Williams (7th, 158)
1994-95
Ray Brinzer (3rd, 177)
Mark Ironside (6th, 134)
Jeff McGinness (1st, 126)
Lincoln McIlravy (2nd, 150)
Mike Mena (3rd, 118)
Matt Nerem (6th, 167)
Joel Sharratt (2nd, 190)
Daryl Weber (6th, 158)
Bill Zadick (5th, 142)
-- Mike C.
Foley: I think Daryl Weber and Bill Zadick need to be grateful that Slater didn't bring those curls to the Midwest and distribute a hearty helping of Hollywood whipass.
On a Lighter Note
By Ethan S.
On a lighter note, Dollamur is currently sold out of home wrestling mats. Personally, I hope many of the kids using home mats are not getting kids to come over/disregarding social distancing, but instead kicking the [crap] out of their fathers who have been offering them armchair and unsolicited advice for years. Time for payback.
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