Re: cost vs benefit
Has anyone conducted an objective study comparing the winning percentages of college hockey programs to the cost of subsidizing "one and done" or "two and done" players on those teams? A substantial percentage of short-timer hockey recruits are rewarded with scholarships - at a substantial economic expense to the colleges involved.
Do these guys demonstrably contribute to the success of the programs which pay their freight, or are institutions of higher learning exempt from financial accountability? There are other, perhaps more productive ways to spend the money dedicated to short-time students.
I have done one. Allow me please to give you a detailed description of the results. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult to follow though there is lots of math.
Every college hockey team is allowed to provide 18 scholarships. Those 18 are divided whichever way a team's coaching staff decides. In some cases, a player will be on 1/2 scholarship or perhaps on 1/4 or maybe even 2/3 or 3/4's and even 1. Except in the Ivies where hockey players perform lawn maintenance in recompense for their overpriced education.
Now the key here in determining the cost/benefit is a a bit of an obtuse metric that depends on a kind of numerology:
Start with 18 ... the number of schollies
1+8 = 9 ... and since 1 and 8 are 2 numbers you next multiply
2x9 = 18 ... of course there is the Fibronacci Derivation (there is the alternative where you can square the two 9's and get 81 ... but we all know where that leads to)
18x18 = 324 ... the sum of F+I+B+R+O+N+A+C+C+I when you assign arbitrary and random integer values to each of the letters in the sequence ... for instance F=299 I=1 B=2 R=3 O=0 N=-5 A=17 C=3
324-200 = 124 ... because (32x4)+(3x24)
124-7 = 117 ... because 1+2+4 =7
117-18 = 99 ...because 18 is the original #of schollies
9+9 = 18 ... Um ... obvious
You see? It always comes back to 18. So you'll note that if player A is given full inducement to come to the UofX then UofX has 17 schollies left. Player B takes his full schollie and you now have 16. Following the logic here? I know it's complicated ... when the sum total of remaining players C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z equals 16 (as it always will) then you can see that those 18 schollies are completely used up.
I hope that helps. I know the responses you've gotten here have been excellent so far (this group of posters is known to be tremendously knowledgable) and I hope I haven't stepped on their otherwise astute analysis of your important question.
