They criticize Nebraska's football program so they can protect their former school's endowments?
I have to admit - that is a take I never saw coming.
Howard doesn't have a clue what an endowment is or its purpose although he once heard some people talking about it. Wilbon is a Northwestern sports journalism graduate and therefore suffers from an inferiority complex.
My hunch. you gotta keep the donors happy just like you gotta keep sports fans happy. For most of the B1G, the endowment money is far more lucrative then athletics and is a big business itself. For example, @ Michigan $2.4 Billion of its endowment is dedicated for use by Michigan Medicine and other clinical activities only. Thats more then Nebraska’s total endowments. You piss these people off by going against their opinions and they will stop donating in future campaigns. Donors can also put pressure on the board to make your life hell on the restrictions on funds.
I know this to some may seem far fetched but what I do know is you follow the money. Jim Harbaugh has been extremely vocal on wanting to play football and his AD Manuel has been very careful in the words he used, never really showing an opinion but rather support on the decision. But someone at Michigan has strong feeling that football was unsafe this fall. And though many people believe Ohio state holds the cards in the B1G, Michigan could buy Ohio State. Old blue is ranked in the top 12 in each school of business, medicine, and Law. Lots of powerful people have gone to school in Ann Arbor. Even more so at Northwestern. Academics is very much king and sports is just a game (and that’s 100% rightfully so).
You don’t keep a top 10 school in arguably the 3 most powerful fields by not having money. And in no world will sports directly or indirectly get you the funding the money that requires. Won’t even put a minor dent in it. Pardon the mccarver-isms but Bama is as good at football as they are bad at academics. Their Endowment is less than UNL. The $6.5 to $7 million their football program it contributes to the school directly is a good chunk of change to the university. Also the scholarships the Athletics pays is a good bit of money to the school too. The branding that football does for the school is priceless. At most SEC schools sports is a key part to its economic structure. Their sports has a say in what goes on. In the B1G, it doesn’t matter. The amount of money that a school like Bama brings in for sports is almost an immaterial amount for a Michigan or Northwestern.
Those schools economic power is from academic contributions. So how’s this have anything to do with Howard and Wilbon? Well obviously these two (as I stated before) are alumni’s to schools that their academic side feels extremely strong against playing football this season. These schools have ties to very powerful people that don’t want sports played this fall. What Frost said was inspiring. The first take on his press conference were rave reviews. This undermined the powers that be. I have no doubt phone calls were made and Frost and Nebraska were made an example out of.
I have no idea if Howard has any dam clue about how much money goes through the university every year via endowments spinoff earnings but I’m willing to bet he knows dam well that you listen to what certain people in power at Michigan say to do. Same with Wilbon at Northwestern. Lots of powerful people come from those schools. Ones that could have either of their jobs at ESPN. And it’s not like Wilbon or Howard to speak against people try to fight the system. Normally they applaud them. So that’s what makes this so strange to me and strongly makes me believe that there’s way more to it then we know.
And why would it be important for the B1G not to have sports this fall? One theory is they want people’s lives to be miserable come this November. I know I’ll lose some on that theory. But the rust built wins or loses elections. An unhappy rust built this November will have a major impact this November. Bill Clinton still claims a 1 point loss to Rice and back to back losses for Arkansas costed him the 1980 governor election in Arkansas. Unhappy people vote the old leader out of office.
So in recap, just a hunch, the power in the B1G is money. That money comes from endowments (not sports). The people that pay for that money could have alternative motives to stop college football this fall and could make it very difficult finically if the schools went forward with it. Howard and Wilbon aren’t acting like their normal self in reporting. Lots of questionable motives going on. Maybe I need to take my cause to Alex Jones and wear tin metal hat. Or maybe just maybe there’s some truth in my hunch. Regardless of which side your on, it’s definitely something to think about.
