UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND CUTS MEN'S INDOOR AND OUTDOOR TRACK TEAMS!

It is being recommended that people email the athletic director and university president (while ccing the track coaches) to express their thoughts on the program cuts.

Contact info: Athletic director and president of the university:

jim.miller@richmond.edu

;

edward.ayers@richmond.edu

;

Track coaches

ltaylor2@richmond.edu

;

staylor7@richmond.edu

Make sure you say in your message to Miller or Ayers that you will followup later on (1 week, 2 weeks, whatever) in case you don't hear back from them...which you probably won't. And then follow up.

Inside sources appear to relay that there is really sleazy stuff behind this. Example: If they're getting 3 million in donations, what's preventing them from using that to make a women's team and keep the men's?

bribery? blackmail? i'm surprised there isn't an investigator working away to find out by now.

the dude cuts three teams and becomes assistant to the president the next day. shit's not right, I'm surprised this isn't on the front page. Especially a link to the petition

I sincerely hope that Steve Taylor takes a new job at a school that is a little less interested in how good they look in the rankings and that the majority of the team transfers. UofR can be a great place and I have a lot of wonderful memories there, but the administration is a complete joke and the students never really do anything about the ridiculous decisions they've made it the past. It is great to see these guys fighting for their cause, but I really hope they all transfer to a school that cares more about the current students then their future rankings.

Good luck to those trying to figure out a way around this horrible situation.

If I can offer a word of warning having been in this situation myself...

Be prepared to have no one care. Not because they do not like your sport, but because they don't like sports in general. You will be amazed at the apathy you will face when appealing to people who are not directly associated with sports. Why can't we use a small % of that $3 Million to fund an XC team? "Well, because it needs to go to teachers and educational expenses. You jocks get enough money as it is." To the general public at large, we are all just lax bros.

You can see this simply reading through the comments of the linked article. People who should be supporting you will not because they are blind to the injustice due to it being sports related.

[quote]Sad State wrote:

Good luck to those trying to figure out a way around this horrible situation.

If I can offer a word of warning having been in this situation myself...

Be prepared to have no one care. Not because they do not like your sport, but because they don't like sports in general. You will be amazed at the apathy you will face when appealing to people who are not directly associated with sports. Why can't we use a small % of that $3 Million to fund an XC team? "Well, because it needs to go to teachers and educational expenses. You jocks get enough money as it is." To the general public at large, we are all just lax bros.

I'm confused by what you said. How would the 3 million being going to teachers/education or anything else besides lacrosse? I thought a donor gave $3 million and earmarked it specifically for the lacrosse program. If so , no one else should be able to have a penny of it. If track wants to continue, then they probably need to bring out a big check.

work hard wrote:

Mickylove wrote:

It's title IX. one way or another. It's always title IX

No it isn't. Lacrosse players are more apt to be full pay students than track/field. Universities are a business - the lacrosse players provide more money not just in the present, but because they tend to come from wealthier families, provide long term financial support to the school as alums.

Yup, Lax kids are generally entitled pricks, like someone said on another thread, Lax gives rich white kids something to be good at because they can't play football.

A bunch of George Hugely's, real aholes

the donation isn't earmarked specifically for anything, it goes to the whole athletic program, they just weren't getting it unless lacrosse went varsity. and sources are saying the number is a lot more than 3 mil

Just another comment to say that it really sucks.

How do you stop these irresponsible decisions being made all over the place?

Can a new policy ("Title X") ever force athletic departments to reinstate men's Olympic sports?

Who is next on the chopping block?

According to the roster, Richmond's soccer team has 26 guys. In other words, cutting soccer and adding lacrosse would increase the number of male athletes by 14, while probably not changing the budget very much. I think cutting track is just a matter of convenience: "hell, we cut them and the numbers stay the same, and who cares about track?"

bleu wrote:

Well at least the men still have cross country.

Not for long. Mens CC is on the slate as well.

Why is there nothing about this on the front page????? So much for rallying running community...

Letsrun.com you f***ing failed on this one.

Somehow I forgot that Ed Ayers was the president there. Hmmmm...

Ad Miller is quoted in the paper as saying Richmond is exploring joining the Patriot League as an associate member in lacrosse.

Last time I lokked the PL league had Colgate,Bucknell,Lehigh, Navy, and Army all very competitive usually ranked lacrosse programs. Add new member Loyola(2012 National Champs) and he is worried about not being competitive in Soccer? Also the Patriot league schools field some very large and competitive T&F programs, and very good soccer programs, so it can be done.

Spiders will be the bottom feeders.

confused by what you said wrote:

I'm confused by what you said. How would the 3 million being going to teachers/education or anything else besides lacrosse? I thought a donor gave $3 million and earmarked it specifically for the lacrosse program. If so , no one else should be able to have a penny of it. If track wants to continue, then they probably need to bring out a big check.

I have no idea what the specifics of the situation are on the UR scenario. I am just saying that no one outside of the athletic community will empathize with the Track & Field team.

Regardless of where the money would come from - even if it is earmarked for athletics - people outside of the sports world will not support the cause or even recognize the injustice of the situation.

I agree that a booster or group of boosters could probably save the team with a donation, but that is unlikely at this point. I am not disagreeing with you; I actually agree with you. I was just making a statement about the apathy of those outside the people being directly affected by this situation.

Very little love for this story on the front page. Shame on the Brothers Johnson. Why is their outrage so seemingly selective?

If by little, you mean none...What I will say is this: There is a lot more to this story than just a program "cutting" track. There's a lot here that doesn't make sense, and it will be exposed over the coming days. There are trustees outraged at the decision. Letsrun -- you need to get out in front of this like you did with Paul Ryan's marathon career. There's still time, but you need to get going. Anybody who values the idea of student-athletes at universities will be interested in this story. Yes, the track team is on the chopping block, but if you do the cost-benefit analysis, you will see there is a bigger story waiting to explode...

Charlotte's Spider Web wrote:

Very little love for this story on the front page. Shame on the Brothers Johnson. Why is their outrage so seemingly selective?

Have the track alums been donating heavily to the program since they graduated? If they care so much about the program, I assume they have been. If not, they have nothing to complain about. If they have been, then why are there no scholarships available for men? Athletics is a business and the sports that are funded naturally receive the support of the university. If the program is to remain, I would guess someone had better be writing some checks.