Last Friday’s decision was a hail Saint Mary’s pass at football.
And, that’s a good thing.
As much as it might be fun — even a bit nostalgic — to bring pigskin back to Saint Mary’s University, the Division III school clearly made the right choice for several reasons.
The announcement on Sept. 29 that Saint Mary’s University would not be bringing back football caught many folks by surprise. Since an exploratory committee had been formed, it was rumored that Saint Mary’s would once again play football, even if that someday was years in the future. Some had even gone so far as to say the committee was all but a formality. Instead, after thoughtful consideration, the trustees unanimously voted the idea down.
Preliminary estimates pegged the cost of restarting the football program at between $6 million and $15 million. That’s just the start-up cost for one sport.
While it’s true that Saint Mary’s University remains the only team in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that doesn’t have football (it hasn’t since 1955), it also has another reputation that far outweighs that sports anomaly — it is one of the most affordable of the Minnesota privates. In this college town, we are constantly reminded of the rising cost of tuition. Affordable college has been relegated to the status of euphemism along with “friendly fire” and “campaign promise.” However, by opting not to bring back the gridiron, we believe Saint Mary’s has made it easier to remain affordable, especially if it doesn’t have to find millions of dollars for a football team.
The exploratory committee and the university should be commended for doing research. Many schools have opted to discontinue football because of the high costs associated with it.
While really large, successful programs bring a lot of attention to a university, we’re unsure how much exposure it would have given Saint Mary’s. Besides, $6 million in advertising would almost certainly be a better investment, if publicity is what the school wants.
Last Friday’s decision wasn’t just about saying no to football, though. It was also a move that said yes to the other established athletic programs at Saint Mary’s. During football season, Saint Mary’s can sometimes be left on the sidelines. But, that’s forgetting the high quality of athletic programs on the campus. Saying no to football means more money and more energy can be devoted to other athletic programs at the university. Saint Mary’s should be commended for choosing to focus on continued improvement for programs that already exist.
Finally, this decision proves that an issue like reinstating football can be studied and debated at a university without necessarily being rubber-stamped. After all, if you can’t examine the merits and drawbacks of any topic at a university, where can you?
Kudos to Saint Mary’s for not giving into football envy, and here’s to plenty of other championship teams that will succeed in part because the leadership of today chose to build better programs tomorrow.
By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham, Jerome Christenson, online editor, photo editor James A. Bowey and sales and marketing manager Tom Best. To comment, call 453-3522 or send e-mail to letters@winonadailynews.com.
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