Re: Northeastern Huskies 2015 Off-Season Thread: Unrequited Love
Half of the teams in Hockey East are not giving out these "stipends." While it puts these teams at a disadvantage, NU has always had an uphill climb against the likes of uch and bu.
Copied and paraphrased from Diehard Dogs:
I have found myself really torn about this whole COA stipend issue. But really, this is nothing less than another power grab by Power-5 football and hoops powerhouses that let the athletic tail wag the institutional dog become even more powerful. Basically, it's a scam that lets them legally give their players, most of whom don't attend class, will never graduate, and have poor career prospects, some "walking around" money (something most of them have been doing under the table for years anyway), thereby further fueling the D1 financial arms race in all sports. If you have boxcar-loads of money coming in from your own league TV network and/or lucrative deals with commercial networks (hello, ND) then it's no big deal. The only certainty I see coming out of this is that the uber-rich will get richer and those that can't keep up and/or won't let athletics run the institution will become perennial bottom feeders in their respective leagues. I found it interesting that BC was the only P5 school to vote against stipends, even though they're going to pay them. At least they're smart enough to know they won't be able to keep up forever.
I've been a vocal critic since student days of Northeastern's reluctance burnish its image as a world-class university by applying the same standard of excellence to its marquee sports programs (hockey and hoops--maybe even soccer) as it does to other endeavors, and, in the process, create a proud and energized fan base of both alumni and "subway alumni," some of whom might be more inclined to contribute to various capital campaigns going forward. But stipends, I think, is where I have to draw the line.
For one thing, the whole concept seems to denigrate the already stupendous monetary value of a Northeastern athletic scholarship. There are kids in school now who struggle to keep up financially and otherwise successful alums out there who will be carrying a significant student debt burden around for years. And with no significant television money coming in, the cost of stipends, if we ever award them, will inevitably be paid from increases in tuition and fees that, IMO, are already obscenely high. This, in turn, is likely to drive an unhealthy wedge between mainstream students and at least some student-athletes. (It's already happening in parts of P5-land.)
So, somewhat surprisingly, I find myself agreeing with the no-stipend policy. Much as I salivate for a Beanpot and want our marquee programs to to be perennial championship contenders, I don't want that to come at the price of institutional integrity and certainly don't want to financially burden the undergrads any more than they are already.
