All of us here at The Improp are deeply saddened by today's news that Hofstra University's board of trustees upon recommendation from University President Stuart Rabinowitz decided to unanimously cut the football program.
As upsetting as this news is, when I first woke up to hear about it I honestly wasn't that surprised. The program had been on the decline for sometime now. They haven't been competitive for a while now, and no one really went to the games. Even homecoming couldn't sell out. The closest James M. Shuart Stadium ever got to a sell out for a football game were highly competitive Long Island football championship games...I remember going to a Farmingdale, Longwood game in 2005 and there were far and away more fans then I had ever seen at a Hofstra game. For too long Hofstra students and fans too advantage of the fact we had a football team. Were all to blame here...even me. Football programs are suppose to generate money for a school, not cost it $4.5 millon annually out of the $18 million sports budget they have. I've heard people saying they wish there was a warning...That maybe perhaps a warning would have motivated students and fans to go to more games. But honestly when your a student body of 12,000 and only 500 go to games even though there is large room for improvement I don't think much would have changed much...
A couple of things to ponder when thinking why the football program was cut...
A lot of people have said the program was cut so President Rabinowitz(who by the way makes over $1 million a year) could help fund his treasured medical school...While this is probably true, lets think about the chain of events that got use here...The Jets announce in April 2006 after 32 years of training at Hofstra that they will be leaving...In October 2007 Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz announces the university will be opening up a medical school on the grounds the Jets had used for their facilities...December 2009 Hofstra University decides to cut its football program...Coincidence? I think not...The Jets leaving took money away from the University, and more importantly the football program. The Jets paid a lot of money to house their facilities at Hofstra, and from my understanding a lot of that money went to the football program.The Jets leaving opened up the property for the medical school...SOOOOO if you think about the Jets leaving really double f*cked the Hofstra football program. The program lost money...The university gained property for medical school...and the university decided to spend money on the medical school instead of football.
In hindsight was the move to the CAA a poor decision? While the CAA gave Hofstra the competitive level it was looking for after dominating America East, it might have actually hurt them in the long run. Instead of essentially traveling only within the northeast Hofstra now had to start traveling down south to CAA schools. The extended travel drove up costs, and I think after a little while started to add up. I know they say hindsight is 20/20, but why leave the Ameirca East and A-10 football to go to a Virginia based conference where practically everyone hates us because were some Yankees from the north?
Maybe this is the optimist in me, but I don't think this is the last we've heard of Hofstra football. We still have the facilities...we have everything we need...we have the money...we have the alum and boosters. Hofstra football will not go down without a fight...I promise you that.
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