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MACHIAVELLI
April 3rd, 2006, 07:30 AM
With the unbridled joy of its first Ivy title still fresh in its mind, the football team has decided to take a step up and play with the big boys. According to an announcement made by Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger yesterday afternoon, Brown has scheduled non-conference games against two Division I powerhouses - the University of Southern California and the University of Texas - to start the 2011 season.

"We have already proven ourselves as the best in the Ivy League, and with the building blocks that (Head Coach) Phil Estes has put in place over the last eight seasons, I expect the program to be at the top of the Ancient Eight for years to come," Goldberger said. "That being said, we still do not get to prove ourselves in the Division I-AA playoffs, so logically the only way we can make a ripple on the national scene is by lining up schools like USC and Texas."


......(page 2)
Yet not everyone is happy about the games with USC and Texas. Most of the criticism has come from outside the Brown community, in particular from other Ancient Eight athletic departments. Harvard Athletic Director Bob Scalise '71 is the leader of the opposition. A Brown alum, he criticized his alma mater for the scheduling.

"The Ivy League is one of the few remaining examples of all that is good and pure in college sports," Scalise said. "By scheduling games against USC and Texas, Brown has stepped away from what makes the Ivy League great. They have sunk to the level of seeking athletics-generated revenue above all else. This is a dark day for college athletics; a very dark day indeed."

Thomas Beckett, Yale's athletic director, is another critic of the games.

"Big Division I powerhouses like USC and Texas are essentially minor league football programs. The athletes those schools recruit aren't really student-athletes, they're just athletes," Beckett said. "What good does it do for an Ivy League school to play against a program like that if the only thing it will get in return is a fat check and a 70-0 evisceration?"

President Ruth Simmons fired off a striking rebuttal.

"What Mr. Scalise said is much easier to say in his position, that of athletic director at a university with enough money to purchase a small country," she said. "This money can be a great boon to our university, not just the athletic department. With the revenue generated from these two games we can finally build a student union, provide more financial aid, purchase more land for the University and make Brown an even more alluring choice for applicants."

Estes said he was annoyed with Beckett's comments.

"We averaged 34 points a game over the course of this season," he said. "Most of our players could have easily gone to Division I programs but wanted the benefits of an Ivy League education. And if there's one thing my players don't do, it's roll over and play dead. Whoever we play will be in for a fight for 60 minutes."

http://www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2006/04/03/Sports/Football.To.Play.IA.Powerhouses-1777177.shtml?norewrite200604030828&sourcedomain=www.browndailyherald.com

65 Pard
April 3rd, 2006, 08:27 AM
Wow.....how about scheduling a Vandy or an Indiana first? This is a surprise. Methinks Brown is reaching a bit too far.....They cant be so hardup for money that they want to put their boys through such a meat grinder...

I can remember a couple of years when LC held its own against Army and almost beat them, but those were just fair to good Army teams of the 70s and 80s, not the nationally ranked Michigans and Notre Dames...

Umass74
April 3rd, 2006, 08:42 AM
Are you sure this wasn't published on April 1st??

65 Pard
April 3rd, 2006, 09:16 AM
Are you sure this wasn't published on April 1st??
That's what I was thinking at first....is this a joke?

OL FU
April 3rd, 2006, 09:16 AM
No pointed in just sticking a toe in, jump right on in:)

UAalum72
April 3rd, 2006, 09:40 AM
Are you sure this wasn't published on April 1st??
Dated April 3 - but the writer is Sidd Finch (famous Mets pitcher with a 153-mph fastball, as reported in Sports Illustrated in an April 1 issue many years ago)

*****
April 3rd, 2006, 09:48 AM
April fools joke... other headlines:
"In an upset for the ages, President Ruth Simmons defeated professional baseball slugger Barry Bonds in an arm-wrestling match to win $10 million for the University's Campaign for Academic Enrichment Saturday."
"World Series renamed after Tropicana juice company"
etc.