While driving home listening to the Sport Radio Channel, Tom Tobert said "Sigh. Saint Mary College decided to drop the football program and keep the badminton team. ". Hard to believe it in United States. :)

LOL, it's not even April 1

Sadly, incidents of such are also very rare.

Well, badminton would be much cheaper to support than football, and if the college loses in football all the time, not too many would cry about the cut.

Besides, it sounds like a private Catholic school. Maybe football was too violent. Badminton is better suited for teaching good manners and sportsmanship, right?

<whining mode on>

well, truth is, there are 30 other athletic programs in Saint Mary that didn't get cut. only football was.

but why was badminton specificly mentioned in the news radio?

coz the ignorant and short sighted host of the radio program thinks that badminton is a worthless backyard sport so why keep it instead of football.

<whining mode off>

i feel much better now.

Well, football is really hard to support and to fund. Since you really need to spend big bucks on recruiting good players, and the annual cost of a team (at least 40+ people) is really high, not to mention the equipment cost and the field cost.
Also, it's hard to do good in football because there are already too many good schools/teams outside. Private schools always having a hard time on football programs.

In other hand, badminton is easy to do. You just need to get a gym, equipments, and coaches and you are ready to roll. Especially in singles games, it is very possible to have small schools to win since it's not based on the populatino to win a badminton game :).

Anyway, badminton is all good :D

Originally posted by kwun


coz the ignorant and short sighted host of the radio program thinks that badminton is a worthless backyard sport so why keep it instead of football.



I also have the same feeling. At least, the result is good. :o

he shouldn't be sighin, it makes complete sense.

Badminton is tops!!! ya

Originally posted by bluejeff
Well, football is really hard to support and to fund. Since you really need to spend big bucks on recruiting good players, and the annual cost of a team (at least 40+ people) is really high, not to mention the equipment cost and the field cost.
Also, it's hard to do good in football because there are already too many good schools/teams outside. Private schools always having a hard time on football programs.

In other hand, badminton is easy to do. You just need to get a gym, equipments, and coaches and you are ready to roll. Especially in singles games, it is very possible to have small schools to win since it's not based on the populatino to win a badminton game :). Should be promoting this concept to other private schools;)

Originally posted by kwun
<whining mode on>

well, truth is, there are 30 other athletic programs in Saint Mary that didn't get cut. only football was.

but why was badminton specificly mentioned in the news radio?

coz the ignorant and short sighted host of the radio program thinks that badminton is a worthless backyard sport so why keep it instead of football.

<whining mode off>

i feel much better now.

So to expand that report a little, it might go like this...

"How could St. Mary's College drop a red-blooded American sport like football in favor of a sissy sport that was imported to us, which is dominated by other countries, and that should be relegated to backyards and picnics in the park anyway. Next thing you know, they will be dropping baseball and basketball in favor of lawn darts and croquet."

I have a theory on this although i can't provide tangible proof.
Also what i will be saying can be construed as discrimination but it's not. I'm sure St. Mary college wouldn't officially say it either.

So here goes.
Since it's a private school, the students i'm sure come from well to do families and costs of football aren't the reason for dropping the football program. Both St. Mary college and their students can afford any program they wish.

reason #1: Drugs and steroid are prevalent in football, probably highest of any sports. This record give bad image to this private school.

reason #2: I have mentioned somewhere in this forum that football players have necks bigger than their heads. So on average, football players have lower IQ. Students with football career in mind go to college with a football program to further their football ambiton and academic is an after thought. Since academic is low priority and a passing grade is enough get a degree which they prolly don't use anyway except for easier road to pro football. I think some pro teams pressure football colleges to give 'passing grades' to poor performing students so certain students can graduate and sign on their team. It's like a signing bonus, a favor is done for that student. Often bribery is used between school staff and pro team.

As for most colleges,full enrollment and high tuition can only be attain if it has high average GPA. Football students bring the college GPA average down. So to attract the rich and smart students, especially when enrollment application is greater than seats, high GPA and clean image is highly desirable. A college will definitely not go publicly and say we only want 'certain' class of students, or they'll be sued off left and right. Removing the pressure from 'outside' sources is a bonus.

IMO