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Axed

PostPosted:Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:39 am
by 76MrMoto
In Monday’s (7-20-2020) print edition of "The Greenville News" there is an article titled "Axed" (i.e. Athletes, coaches move on after sports see cuts by Aria Gerson USA TODAY). If this article has already been quoted in this forum, my apology. The article talks about colleges cutting out sports. A couple of Furman baseball players and the head coach were quoted. Below (from the article) is some information from the head coach.

“When Furman University baseball coach Brett Harker heard his program was being cut, he was shocked. Harker knew Furman was having budget issues. He’d already discussed reducing the number of scholarships on the team next year. But he didn’t expect the program to be axed. “In the moment, it was so surreal,” Harker told USA TODAY Sports. “And it’s one thing if you get fired or something bad happens, but for an entire program to be there one day and be such an established program like we have … if we’re not one of the most surprising cuts in the country, I’d like for somebody to tell me who is.”

"Looking for hope - For Harker, coaching at Furman wasn’t a steppingstone to a larger school. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and had made plans on how to build the program in his hometown. Over the course of one Zoom call, that was taken away. Furman has committed to paying Harker’s salary for the next academic year, so he plans to use that time to do the improbable: raise enough money to bring his team back. Some schools that cut sports programs later brought them back – most notably, Bowling Green reinstated baseball after a round of fundraising. But at Furman, it will not be that simple. “We’re right in the middle of negotiations on what that would look like, what bringing it back would look like, and does it need to be endowed, because a place like Bowling Green raised $500,000 with $1.5 million promised over the next three years,” Harker said. “If that’s all we were looking for, Furman would be up and running within 24 hours.”

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:26 pm
by Sad Din
with all due respect can think of a better word than "axed" as to what happened to baseball folks

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Sat Jul 25, 2020 12:46 pm
by rudyscribe
Seens like a pretty accurate description to me. Would you prefer aborted?

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:28 pm
by FUBeAR
Repurposed

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Sat Jul 25, 2020 3:57 pm
by apaladin
The baseball team suffered from ED.

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:55 am
by fufanatic
76MrMoto wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:39 am
In Monday’s (7-20-2020) print edition of "The Greenville News" there is an article titled "Axed" (i.e. Athletes, coaches move on after sports see cuts by Aria Gerson USA TODAY). If this article has already been quoted in this forum, my apology. The article talks about colleges cutting out sports. A couple of Furman baseball players and the head coach were quoted. Below (from the article) is some information from the head coach.

“When Furman University baseball coach Brett Harker heard his program was being cut, he was shocked. Harker knew Furman was having budget issues. He’d already discussed reducing the number of scholarships on the team next year. But he didn’t expect the program to be axed. “In the moment, it was so surreal,” Harker told USA TODAY Sports. “And it’s one thing if you get fired or something bad happens, but for an entire program to be there one day and be such an established program like we have … if we’re not one of the most surprising cuts in the country, I’d like for somebody to tell me who is.”

"Looking for hope - For Harker, coaching at Furman wasn’t a steppingstone to a larger school. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and had made plans on how to build the program in his hometown. Over the course of one Zoom call, that was taken away. Furman has committed to paying Harker’s salary for the next academic year, so he plans to use that time to do the improbable: raise enough money to bring his team back. Some schools that cut sports programs later brought them back – most notably, Bowling Green reinstated baseball after a round of fundraising. But at Furman, it will not be that simple. “We’re right in the middle of negotiations on what that would look like, what bringing it back would look like, and does it need to be endowed, because a place like Bowling Green raised $500,000 with $1.5 million promised over the next three years,” Harker said. “If that’s all we were looking for, Furman would be up and running within 24 hours.”
Heartbreaking read. Good on BH. I can't say for certain I would be doing the same thing if I were in his shoes. Really hoping a way to start a more sustainable program is figured out over the next 12 months or so. Let's have a baseball restart in 2023!

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:00 pm
by apaladin
Just noticed in the last day or so baseball and men’s lacrosse have been removed from the official site. They were there on Friday. Furman now is showing only 16 sports 7 men 9 women. No longer can claim to have the most teams in the SoCon, that belongs to Wofford now with 9 men, 9 women. All others either have as many or more with only UTC having less(14). Thought we had 20 before the cuts. Have others been cut? Could be wrong about that.

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Tue Aug 04, 2020 4:27 pm
by fufanatic
apaladin wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:00 pm
Just noticed in the last day or so baseball and men’s lacrosse have been removed from the official site. They were there on Friday. Furman now is showing only 16 sports 7 men 9 women. No longer can claim to have the most teams in the SoCon, that belongs to Wofford now with 9 men, 9 women. All others either have as many or more with only UTC having less(14). Thought we had 20 before the cuts. Have others been cut? Could be wrong about that.
I know it's really dumb, but technically men's and women's cross country and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track count as six sports. So Furman still has 18 sports, which I'm guessing is still fairly high up there in the SoCon. Wofford has 20.

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Tue Oct 06, 2020 2:50 pm
by Roundball
Good piece. “When a college cuts a sports program, these are the lives upended.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... gram-cuts/

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:13 pm
by Sad Din
Can only imagine thoughts going thru coaches heads today... if only


At year's end 702 donors had combined to contribute $5,049,284, composed of $685,573 in scholarship donations and $4,363,711 in restricted gifts, well exceeding the $1 million Charge Forward campaign goal. These totals were reached in large measure due to a successful Giving Tuesday campaign that saw Furman Athletics pace institutional fundraising with $182,837 in gifts from 142 donors. Fundraising finished 2020 strong with $3,958,478 in commitments raised in December.

Re: Axed

PostPosted:Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:42 pm
by apaladin
I’ve already bern thinking about what its going to be like on opening day of the college baseball season. Very sad. Thanks ED, I hope you are happy negatively effecting so many lives, young and old.