Great letter FROM the editor of the Sentinel

[bgpuckster]

This is in today's (3/14/09) Sentinel Tribune from the editor himself.

BGSU should give supporters one year to save hockey program PDF Print E-mail
Written by David C. Miller, Editor/Sentinel-Tribune
Saturday, 14 March 2009

BGSUsports.com - the official site of BG athletics - features photos of Falcon athletes representing five different sports on its home page.
One of those photos shows Dave Wottle, who won the gold medal in the 800-meter event at the 1972 Olympics. Thirty years later BGSU dropped its men's track program.
Another photo shows members of the Falcon hockey team holding up the 1984 NCAA championship trophy they had just won. Twenty-five years later the university is rumored to be dropping its hockey program - the only other Falcon program with a connection to Olympic gold when two Falcon hockey players competed on the 1980 USA team.
The subtitle under BGSUsports.com reads: "Hold up the fame . . . of our mighty name."
It's too late for anyone to hold up the fame of Falcon men's track, but it's not too late to give alumni and community supporters of Falcon hockey and the aging Ice Arena a legitimate chance to hold up the fame of Falcon heritage on ice.
In the 40 years since the first varsity Falcon hockey game was played, the program has become a source of tremendous pride not only for the university and its alumni, but also for the community.


During those four decades, thousands of community residents have participated in figure skating, curling and youth hockey at the Ice Arena, which gave birth to the figure skating careers of Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton and recently-crowned U.S. Figure Skating Champion Alissa Czisny.
No other campus facility comes close to matching the arena for usage by the community.
Now is the time for the university trustees to demonstrate that hockey and the Ice Arena remain priorities at BGSU.
There's no denying the rough budget environment BGSU is facing right now - up to a $10 million budget shortfall at the start of the new fiscal year in July. But the hockey program, given its strong fan support, should not shoulder an inordinate share of making up the athletic department's $750,000 operating loss last year.
As for the Ice Arena, BGSU just completed the largest private fund-raising effort in Northwest Ohio history - surpassing its $120 million goal by $26.5 million. The university trustees should carve out enough money from that Building Dreams campaign total to set aside for the possible resurrection of the Ice Arena and hockey program. The funds should only be used if the supporters of the arena and the hockey program are able to secure enough pledges to match the university's allocation to renovate the arena.
The university was prudent a month ago to put the previously-scheduled $4 million renovation of the Ice Arena on hold. The amount of private pledges toward the project at that time was extremely disappointing. Rumors said that many potentially large donors would have given toward a new arena, but not to renovating a 42-year-old facility. But if the university had announced at the start of its fund-raising campaign that the future of the hockey program was in doubt, many of the more than 70,000 alumni and friends who donated to that campaign would have designated using their gift to save the program and its rich heritage.
When Dr. Carol Cartwright took over as interim president last summer she was stunned by the condition of many of the buildings on campus. None showed their age more than an Ice Arena on life support.
She was not the president who allowed it to deteriorate to that condition. But she is the president who now sits on the hot seat of having to recommend either pulling the plug or investing millions to save it.
In her brief tenure as president, Cartwright has been more active in community outreach than her predecessor was in his 13 years here. She's been very impressed with Bowling Green's town/gown relationship and appreciates the fact that BGSU cannot function as an island surrounded by a community.
She now has the opportunity to establish her BGSU legacy as the president who gave that community along with Falcon alumni the chance to save the hockey program and Ice Arena.
At her installation as permanent president on Jan. 30, she said, "Let's explore the possibilities that enable every Falcon to soar to even greater heights."
When she and the trustees hold their retreat this coming week they should explore giving hockey supporters such a possibility. They should have until the end of next year's hockey season to come up with pledges to match the university funds needed to return the program and Ice Arena to the top of their game as the university begins its second century.
- David C. Miller, Editor

[TG1996]

If I knew BGSUsports.com was the official site of BG athletics, I'd keep it updated a little better.

But thanks for sharing that. I think it's great that more of the community is stepping up to the plate on this issue, I just hope it isn't too late.

And here's the direct link to the S-T article, to give the site some hits and their advertisers some love:

[Altoid_storm]

Great, fantastic article.

I would donate. A lot. Well, as much as I could being a student.