University Daily Kansan / Monday, November 17, 1986
Sports Monday
7
Some Big Eight athletic departments hurt by times
Big Eight athletic budgts
By NICOLE SAUZEK
Sports writer
Consider the odds, place your bets and let the races begin.
Every year, college athletic departments gamble on budgets, projected incomes and losses and team success much like a gambler would in a horse race.
There are no formulas, no business consultations,
nothing to be absolutely sure of. The only thing officials
can do is make an educated guess and sit back and watch
the money fly or die.
And there's no glory
“This is an unusual business,” said Monte Johnson, KU athletic director. “Each school has to look at its own program and make costs and income balance. There’s no magic with what we do.”
Struggling athletic departments have become an epidemic in this area. Both Kansas State and Missouri are having problems making ends meet in their athletic facilities and student officials across the country are beginning to worry
"There are problems all over the country," said Myron Roderick, Oklahoma State athletic director. "College athletes is having a difficult time. We’re sponsoring so many of our players and helping to survive unless we get the problems under control."
And when a football team has a bad season, which Missouri did last year, the money flow begins to dry up.
Most problems belong to one of two categories: the economy of the state in which the university is located, or the success of its football or basketball teams, the biggest revenue sports in the Big Eight Conference.
Missouri did last year, the money flow begins to dry up. Last spring, the Missouri athletic department moved or replaced people in seven of 10 top positions, including the addition of Jack Lengely as the new athletic director, lowered some projections, borrowed money from the university and promised to turn things around.
"We lost 7,000 student ticket holders this year," said Bob Brendel. Missouri's sports information coordinator. "But, we will always have a lot of band-wagon people that jump on whether we win or lose."
Missouri averaged 41,000 in football attendance a year ago. This year, the athletic department projected only 36,000 in attendance to cushion a possible football revenue shortfall.
"Tickets were down, but not from what we projected." Brendel said. "I really don't think there is any less of an interest. Getting the student body back to the games should be the easiest because they're always going to be here. Otherwise. I'd say we have a pretty hard core of fans."
The Missouri athletic department ended up borrowing $250,000 from the university to balance its $8 million budget.
"The university wanted to reduce the difficulty of getting back on our feet," Brendel said. "We intend, at some point, to give the money back to the university."
Just west of the University of Kansas, the Kansas State athletic department is also struggling to keep its head above water.
With the lowest budget in the Big Eight Conference, close to $5 million, Kansas State simply does not have the revenue needed to keep its athletic department in the black at a time when the Kansas economy is failing.
"We serve central and western Kansas mostly," said Mike Jones, business manager at Kansas State."When the oil industry and farm industry fell, our revenue really increased," he added. "fun money" to spend on football or basketball tickets."
Last year, the K-State athletic department fell $400,000 short of its projected income. It also had to drop women's softball and men's tennis.
This year, the athletic department is pushing to add student fees to its budget. Right now, Kansas State's student senate is considering either a $5 to $10 semester fee or a $20 year fee.
K-State also lost money this year from the KU football game, which is usually a big money maker for both universities. The game was televised at 11:30 a.m., too early for fans from Goodland or Dodge City to drive
"That hurt," Jones said. "It would have been better if both teams or just KU would have had a better record. I think the worst thing that could ever happen to K-State is if KU goes down."
"That's 40,000 people who didn't pay to park and who didn't buy drinks and hot dogs," Jones said. "I mean, let's face it. Winter in Kansas is not a tropical paradise."
With only one game remaining — the Wildcats play Colorado Saturday — Kansas State cannot make up for its lack of ticket sales to earlier ballzams.
Kansas used to be in both Missouri's and K-State's situation. Before Johnson came in 1982, the Kansas University Athletic Corporation's operating costs were minus $107,740 in 1980 and minus $50,829 in 1981.
After Johnson's first year, the KUAC was ahead by $59.701.
"I just decided that we could either open in the red or re-group." Johnson said of his debut year. "When revenue fell, the honeymoon was over. We adjusted the budget and some other areas in the department. And I just decided that we couldn't spend money until we got it."
One of Johnson's first concerns was the KUAC's low budget, only $4.6 million. It was the next to the smallest budget in the Big Eight. Now, the KUAC budget is almost 7 million.
"It was my job to get our house in order," Johnson said. "Our economy risk now is relying on donations for fundraising."
Thirty six percent of the KUAC budget comes from donations; football revenue brings in 24 percent; 18 percent comes from the Big Eight; 16 percent from basketball; and the final six percent comes from student fees, $6.50 per student this year, the radio network, the KU Relays and miscellaneous income
There was a time, though, that the KUAC was struggling to keep ahead.
According to Susan Wachter, business manager, the KUAC lost money on a Bob Hope concert in the early '80s. Also, a concert with Roy Clark ended up a fluke for the Athletic Department.
But, with a few changes in the department — the addition of Johnson and men's basketball head coach Larry Krusen to the coaching staff — the
This year, even though football season ticket sales fell 1.168 short of the prediction, costing the KUAC $85,000, the Athletic Department has kept its head above water because of donations and the success of the basketball
"We planned that, though," Wachter said.
Capital improvements to Allen Field House, consisting of a $90,000 sound system, $250,000 worth of bleachers and $35,000 to re-surface the basketball court, brought the KUAC below the line by $215,826.
According to Jim Overturf, business director at Iowa State, the Iowa State athletic department is showing a profit, but a small one. Two years ago, the football stadium was a sell-out.
Besides Kansas State and Missouri, most of the other Big Eight colleges are in the black
Now, attendance has dropped and football head coach Jim Crimer was fired last week in the wake of an investigation by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which could cause some additional problems.
Nebraska is not anticipating any problems, according to Gary Fouker, business manager.
"Our football program essentially funds everything but our basketball program." Fourier said.
At Colorado, football revenue was $300,000 lower than what was projected for last year, according to Jon Burianek, associate athletic director. But, with the recent backflow of the Colorado football team, things could turn out better than expected for the athletic department.
Oklahoma, is having no problems, according to Carol Barnes, accounting manager. Its program has the highest budget in the Big Eight. $11.5 million.
Oklahoma State, in the past two years, has had the best football revenue ever, according to Roderick. This year, though, the revenue will probably decline.
"The biggest problem is determining what your budget is." Roderick said. "It would be like comparing apples to apples if you were to look at a budget, without, without the extra donations received and the amount of sports it carrys."
Broncos keep lead with win over KC
"It is difficult to compare. You could take Superman as a football coach and you're still not going to be able to tell what the season will be like. And, we are all going to have problems. The trick is being lucky."
United Press International
■ More NFL results p. 8.
DENVER — The Denver Broncos used defense and special teams to reestablish their dominance in the AFC West.
The Broncos recovered two fumbles on sacks, producing 14 points within 17 seconds, and the special teams added touchdowns on a fake punt and a 70-yard punt return to spark the Broncos to a 38-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Denver improved to 9-2 while Kansas City, which could have moved in to a first-place tie with the Broncos, fell two games behind at 7-4.
Willhite also scored on a 70-yard punt return, and Chris Norman threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Steve Wilson on a fake punt.
Kenney fumble 8 yards for one score and Tony Colorito recovered another at the Chiefs' 1 yard-line one play later, setting up the first of Gerald Willhite's three touchdowns.
"The big plays in the game were tremendous for us," said Denver head coach Dan Reeves. "This was a big win because a two-game lead at
Andre Townsend returned a Bill
"It's an automatic situation for us," Norman said of the faint pun. "If no one is on the outside man the guy is on me to throw it automatically."
Kenney threw touchdown passes of 15 yards to Henry Marshall and 27 yards to Carlos Carson, and Nick Carroll made a 37-yard field goal for the Chiefs.
Page's work shows in loss to Yugoslavs
Denver's defense sacked Kenney three times for 44 yards in losses and recovered three fumbles in the first quarter as the Broncos jumped to a 21-0 lead in the game's first nine minutes.
By BRIAN SNYDER
Extra work is beginning to pay dividends for Lenn Paze
Sports writer
Friday night at Allen Field House. Page showed what she had learned in her early-morning workouts in a 66-61 Kansas loss to the Red Star Women's Basketball Club of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Kansas' 6-foot-4 freshman center has been working on quickness and positioning around the basket at 6 a.m. weekday mornings with assistant coach Kevin Cook.
In 14 minutes of playing time, Page grabbed four rebounds, scored seven points and proved she could turn and shoot over the tall Yugoslav players.
"I got the ball inside." Page said, "and I went up for the shot. Even though I was fouled, I got the shot off."
After the game, Page said she could see where she had improved.
She attributed this to increased upper-body strength, an area she also works on in the mornings.
Look said he was pleased just to see Page dedicated enough to attend
"Lynn has good hands," Cook said. "She needs to work on her conditioning and her shooting form. She's also been working on blocking out for rebounds."
The amount of playing time Page gets will depend on her. Cook said
her out there more." Cook said. "Right now, she can only go for four strong minutes."
Kansas jumped to a six-point lead and kept the Yugoslavs down by about seven points for the first 11 minutes.
The second half was marked by the Yugoslavs' ability to get the ball behind the Jayhawks' defense and by point guard Mira Jovanovic's breakaway layups.
But during a seven-minute span in the first half, the Yugoslavs came back and took the lead, outscoring Kansas 16 points to four.
"If she keeps improving, you'll see
With two minutes, 47 seconds left in the half, the teams exchanged the lead, and the score was still close at time, when the Jayhawks led 30-28.
Kansas head coach Marian Washington said after the game she had been confident her team could win but that in the end, the Jayhawks gave up too much height.
"We gave up too many easy buckets," Washington said, "but I was pleased with the ball movement. Our perimeter pressure was also good."
The Yugoslavs have seven players over six feet tall while the Jayhawks have only one - Page
Rugby team loses 15-9 to KSU
By JANE ZACHMAN
Sports writer
The Kansas varsity rugby team ended its merit table season with a record of 4-1 after a 9-15 loss to Kansas State, 5-0, Saturday at Shenk Complex, 23rd and Iowa streets.
"They won all the games they needed to except the big one," Kansas head coach Bill Mills said.
With the victory, K-State became the Heart of America Rugby Union champions and will represent the union in the national plavoffs.
This is the sixth year in a row that Kansas and K-State have played each other in the merit table championships. K-State has won each year.
Earlier this season, Kansas beat K-State 6-4, but Saturday seemed to be an unlucky day for Kansas.
"The ball just didn't bounce our way," Mills said.
Outside center Todd Tubleson scored four points by completing the only first-half try for Kansas. Fullback Paul King kicked the two-point try conversion and then a three-point penalty kick.
K-State matched Kansas' scoring to make the halftime score 9-9
Kansas had three tries called back during the game. One occurred when Jim Loarie, loose-head prop, a position similar to a guard in football, was called for obstruction during a scoring run. The referees called back a second try when they called Kansas for an illegal play that led to a touchdown run.
Kansas went scoreless through the second half, but K-State completed other try and conversion to win the match 15-9.
Jason Eider, Madison, Wis., freshman, jumps up to catch the ball in a line out, a play used in rugby to put the ball back into play after it goes out of bounds.
A third try was called back when the referees declared that the ball had touched down twice with the first touchdown outside the try zone.
"The breaks just didn't go our way," said Scott Stites, tight-head proo.
Mills said the team was confident it would win the game, but that it was Kansas' loss of intensity in the last fifteen minutes of the game, as well as some bad breaks, that tipped the scales toward K-State.
Team captain Lou Blanco said, "We're disappointed. I feel like we lost a game we could've won."
Runners place 9th in region
By a Kansan sports writer
The Kansas women's cross country team finished in ninth place Saturday at the NCAA Region V Championship in Peoria, III. The region consists of 18 teams, but only nine teams sent full squads to the meet.
"For the most part, we didn't run very well." KU kospherom Melissa Satterfield said. "We thought we might place him."
She said the team did not expect to finish above the other big Eight Conferences.
Colorado won the meet with a score of 33 points Kansas State and Nebraska were second and third with a score of 43 and 67 points respectively.
The top three teams at the meet qualified for the National College Athletic Association Championships Nov 24 at Tucson, Ariz. The NCAA will hold a ninth place tournament State eligible for the championships with an at least bid
The medalist was Kansas State's Chris Vanatta, with a time of 16 minutes and 51 seconds.
Lisa Kirwan was the top KU runner, finishing in 41st place with a time of 18:50. Other KU runners and their finishing places and times were Michelle Foran, 54th, 19:34; Kelly Coffey, 55th, 19:36; Satterfield, 56th, 19:41; Trisha Mangan, 63rd, 20:07 and Jodie McDonald, 71st, 22:03
The other team scores were Missouri, 144 points; Southwest Missouri State, 189 points; Indiana State, 209; Northern Iowa, 220; and Kansas, 226.
KU plavers fall in ITCA quarterfinals
By ANNE LUSCOMBE
Sports writer
Tracy Treps and Jeanette Jonsson, seeded No 8 and No. 15 respectively, each defeated three opponents before being eliminated in the main draw in the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association Central Regional tournament in Provo, Utah this weekend.
Susanna Lee, No. 2 seed from Brigham Young,
eliminated two Kansas players. Junior Christine
Kim lost to Lee in the second round 6-3, 6-1, and
Treps, a junior, fell in the quarterfinals 6-0-1.
Jonsson, a freshman, defeated No. 5 seed Michelle Taylor from Brigham Young before dropping her match to Renata Barnanski of Oklahoma State 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
"In the singles, I thought Jeanette had a great tournament," said head coach Scott Perclman.
Junior Marie Hibbard won two rounds before falling in the third to Mary Bey Young of Brigham
Young. Senior Barb Inman and junior Susie Berlveld were eliminated in the first round
In the consolation round, Berglund beat Jodi Eronz of Tulsa before losing to Doneta Holman of Nebraska. Inmain defended Marsha Foote of Utah and Sarah Hood of Tulsa and then lost to Kim Moore of New Mexico.
The ITCA tournament was the last fall tournament for the women
Kim and Berglund left to Kris Hoffie and Rachel Haftfaller of New Mexico, and Inman and Hibbard were beaten by Karen Waterman and Julie Vauhn of Oklahoma.
Treps and Jonsson defeated Sally Webber and Michelle Vandenheever from Wichita State 7.5, 6.0 before falling to Fam Miller and Michelle Mraf of Utah 7.5.
"I think it's disappointing to go where we play so hard and see tough competition to end the season this way." Hibbard said. "Once you're out of the tournament it's inspirational. You want to come
back and work harder. But now we have a long wait before we can come back. It's really disappointing that no one went farther than the quarterfinals."
"It was a great college match." Perelman said.
"I had an idea, just siting the team next door."
The Kansas men's tennis team lost to Minnesota in what Perelman called the closest 7-2 match he had ever seen.
Lady Duck was just playing with the ball, Wolf senior, and Craig Widey, freshman, were the only two KU victors in the tournament Juniors Darin Herman, Sven Groeneveld and Kevin Brady and freshman Chris Walker all lost in singles.
Wolf defeated Janus Svensson 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, and Widley beat Casey, CaseyMorton 6-4, 2-6, 7-8.
In doubles, Kansas lost all three matches. Wolf played with Herman, Walker was paired with Widley and Brady and Larry Pascal made up the third team.