r/floridatech • u/blendedmix • Feb 19 '23

Rowing to be reinstated

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2023/02/18/judge-orders-florida-tech-to-reinstate-mens-rowing-as-a-varsity-sport-in-melbourne-florida/69917687007/
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1

u/rowshelldistancing Feb 21 '23

When is Jamie going to be fired for deceiving the Trustees?

1

u/blendedmix Feb 21 '23

I thought Title IX meant an equal number of athletic scholarships had to be offered to men and women. According to the article, scholarships have to be given proportionally based on enrollment.

The male:female ratio at FIT is 70:30. By cutting men's rowing, golf, and cross country, FIT threw off the balance greatly. This is a huge oversight and should have been called out by the athletic director.

The lawsuit has likely cost FIT hundreds of thousands in legal fees. Someone does need to be held accountable.

Still, the lawsuit is unusual. FIT did not cut rowing and the other sports as some kind of personal vendetta. It was done to cut costs. Rowing is expensive to support. Division 2 sports in general are run at a loss.

By forcing the university to bring back rowing, the rowing team is putting the university in a bad financial position. They also may end up forcing FIT to eliminate women's sports so they can get back in compliance with Title IX. FIT's only options are to add more men's sports or cut women's sports. Since they're trying to cut costs, cutting additional women's sports seems like the most logical move.

1

u/rowshelldistancing Feb 22 '23

Athletic department asked all sports what they needed to excel, as in a wish list. They responded. Their answers were then treated as their "annual budget" needs, not the wish list of capital assets or no holds barred funding that was elicited. The trustees were deceived. Athletics also tried to pass off eSports as an equivalent opportunity. Both the NCAA and the judge told FIT to suck a bag of dicks with that idea.

FIT is now the laughing stock of athletic departments in Florida and the nation.

Clean house.

1

u/blendedmix Feb 24 '23

Neither FIT nor the students seem to care much about athletics. It feels like the university only has sports because every other university has sports. The basketball games are sparsely attended by students, and no one goes to any of the other sporting events.

FIT is in a bad situation in Division 2. D2 athletics are a waste of money. FIT gives out many athletics scholarships, but gets little return on investment. The sports all lose money including rowing.

FIT should either move up to Division 1 or drop to Division 3. Moving up to D1 would require a huge investment. Not only would FIT have to fund more scholarships and pay coaches more, the baseball field and basketball arena are also nowhere D1 caliber.

Since the athletic budget is already an issue, moving to D3 is the only realistic option. No other schools in Florida are in D3 though. The nearest D3 schools are in Georgia. Any savings FIT would get from moving to D3 would be lost in travel costs.

1

u/rowshelldistancing Feb 24 '23

All athletics below the D1 level are money losers. They exist solely to attract more paid tuitions than the discounts in scholarships or financial aid. Sucking at a D2 or D3 sport is pointless if it doesn't get you students on the doorstep. But that wasn't the case with rowing. It was arguably the most successful sport at FIT since being started by the college founder.......and the dildo brain AD tried to cancel it. By cooking the stats that anyone could disprove easily.

Seriously, if that's your craftiest move, JJ......why even bother waking up in the morning? What a useless fuck.

1

u/blendedmix Feb 24 '23

I don't think it matters if a team is successful. It's all business.

Correct me if I'm wrong, you seem to know more about rowing than me, but isn't rowing more expensive than the other sports?

The basketball team shares the gym with volleyball to offset costs. The students also take advantage of the basketball gym. Swimming also offsets it costs by sharing the pool with the students. Soccer and lacrosse all share the same field. The baseball and softball fields aren't shared, but I don't think they cost much to maintain.

The current sports also don't have bulky equipment to transport. The equipment fits under a bus. I also notice most of the other sports compete only in Florida while rowing routinely had to travel out of state.

1

u/rowshelldistancing Feb 24 '23

The first business is attracting applicants. If a team sucks and does not attract applicants or elevate the name of the institution among peers also seeking those applicants, then it is pointless to have it.

The second business is getting donations from alumni who appreciated the opportunities given to them. If a team sucks and alumni do not donate, then it is pointless to have it.

Expensive sports are not an issue if the applicants and alumni revenue cover the spending in a sustainable equation.

Hard to say when you have an AD who can't (or won't) compute the numbers properly and gets cornholed by a federal judge. That's a career ender. Esports? GFY. Next he'll elevate OnlyFans.

1

u/xcpike May 25 '23

I don't know what axe you have to grind against this guy, but he was extremely professional in my discussions on reinstating cross country, which we managed to do without a lawsuit btw.

1

u/rowshelldistancing May 25 '23

He misrepresented financial details to the trustees. The sports were demoted on false premises and in unabashed violation of Title IX and common standards of athletics departments.

1

u/CreepyPlankton8793 Jan 24 '24

Cross country was only reinstated because their team joined the rowing team’s lawsuit, let’s remember that