Post by jkh67 on Nov 20, 2016 21:00:45 GMT -5
This is about men's basketball and football -- the two key HC intercollegiate sports.
When I came to the Hill in the Fall of 1963, Jack (the Shot) Foley was a recent graduate and the Cousy-Palazzi-Heinsohn glory years were still fresh memories. We had a few good runs after that (Potter-Perry-Vicens in the '80's; and some of Willard's clubs), but we are mired in mediocrity now and I doubt we will break out of the rut in my lifetime, if ever.
As for football, the story is much the same. A storied past (as commentators always say) and still reasonably good in the '60's and quite good in the mid-'80's. Not so much after that, to put it mildly. In fact, one could argue that we have hit bottom with the decision to retain a failed football coach.
Given the track record in recent decades, one could well ask why HC should continue trying to recapture what once was...and is likely beyond reach now. Why should a small college continue to spend millions of dollars on two sports that generate little fan interest (student and otherwise) and are never going to be anything but occasional contenders for PL crowns?
HC's prominent athletic past in these two sports is both a glory and a curse. A glory because, by God, that small school on the Hill that we all love truly did some marvelous things "back in the day". A curse because some of us think we can recapture some of that past glory when the possibility of doing that is small to none.
I have reluctantly concluded that it's time to accept reality. I will no longer be contributing money to HC because I've concluded that a school that can afford to blow $4 million on a miserable football program and apparently doesn't feel the need to take drastic steps to improve must not need my contribution.
When I came to the Hill in the Fall of 1963, Jack (the Shot) Foley was a recent graduate and the Cousy-Palazzi-Heinsohn glory years were still fresh memories. We had a few good runs after that (Potter-Perry-Vicens in the '80's; and some of Willard's clubs), but we are mired in mediocrity now and I doubt we will break out of the rut in my lifetime, if ever.
As for football, the story is much the same. A storied past (as commentators always say) and still reasonably good in the '60's and quite good in the mid-'80's. Not so much after that, to put it mildly. In fact, one could argue that we have hit bottom with the decision to retain a failed football coach.
Given the track record in recent decades, one could well ask why HC should continue trying to recapture what once was...and is likely beyond reach now. Why should a small college continue to spend millions of dollars on two sports that generate little fan interest (student and otherwise) and are never going to be anything but occasional contenders for PL crowns?
HC's prominent athletic past in these two sports is both a glory and a curse. A glory because, by God, that small school on the Hill that we all love truly did some marvelous things "back in the day". A curse because some of us think we can recapture some of that past glory when the possibility of doing that is small to none.
I have reluctantly concluded that it's time to accept reality. I will no longer be contributing money to HC because I've concluded that a school that can afford to blow $4 million on a miserable football program and apparently doesn't feel the need to take drastic steps to improve must not need my contribution.