Hofstra Cancels Football Program

[CDixonDesign]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4709412

Wow...that's all I can say...discuss?

[NJTank]

I think it has allot to do with the Jets moving to Florham Park. I think in the years the Jets practiced at Hofstra helped the University with the high cost of football and now that the Jets are gone they can no longer afford it.

[DelayedPenalty]

Rabinowitz noted that even on the Hofstra campus, there was little interest in the team. He said students were offered free tickets to games, but an average of only 500 students attended games at the 13,000-seat campus stadium, and that included cheerleaders and a pep band.

Well, there's your problem! We'd get 1000+ students at a cold and rainy SVSU football game! (Division 2)

[DarkJourney]

2nd CAA team to drop it's program this year after Northeastern

[Jimmy!]

If you're one of the 27 Hofstra/Northeastern football fans, is it better to be surprised or to know your programs were going to go away?

Digressing question: Just out of curiosity, what makes schools like Hofstra and Northeastern Div. 1-AA in one sport (football), but D-1 in another (basketball)? Is it strictly a financial issue or are other factors involved?

[Cujo]

Wayne Chrebet..... Marques Colston..... Any "Flying Dutchmen" I'm forgetting?

[Seadragon76]

If you're one of the 27 Hofstra/Northeastern football fans, is it better to be surprised or to know your programs were going to go away?

Digressing question: Just out of curiosity, what makes schools like Hofstra and Northeastern Div. 1-AA in one sport (football), but D-1 in another (basketball)? Is it strictly a financial issue or are other factors involved?

They're all Division 1 schools techinically, but there are different rules for FBS and FCS schools. Most notably in terms of scholarships. FBS programs have 85 scholarships to give while FCS programs can only give out 63 scholarships, but FCS programs can divide their scholarships so they can also reach the 85 player limit. Also of note, three conferences in the FCS level (Ivy League, Patriot League, Pioneer League) do NOT give out scholarships for football (The Patriot League does give scholarships for other sports, though) and the Northeast Conference gives out 30 scholarships (It will increase to 40 within the next five years).

[Jimmy!]

They're all Division 1 schools techinically, but there are different rules for FBS and FCS schools. Most notably in terms of scholarships. FBS programs have 85 scholarships to give while FCS programs can only give out 63 scholarships, but FCS programs can divide their scholarships so they can also reach the 85 player limit. Also of note, three conferences in the FCS level (Ivy League, Patriot League, Pioneer League) do NOT give out scholarships for football (The Patriot League does give scholarships for other sports, though) and the Northeast Conference gives out 30 scholarships (It will increase to 40 within the next five years).

So if an FCS school wanted to make the jump to FBS, they just restructure their scholarships?

[crashcarson15]

If you're one of the 27 Hofstra/Northeastern football fans, is it better to be surprised or to know your programs were going to go away?

Digressing question: Just out of curiosity, what makes schools like Hofstra and Northeastern Div. 1-AA in one sport (football), but D-1 in another (basketball)? Is it strictly a financial issue or are other factors involved?

Football is the only sport where D-1 is split into two divisions. All FBS and FCS schools are D-1 schools in all other sports.

[rams80]

They're all Division 1 schools techinically, but there are different rules for FBS and FCS schools. Most notably in terms of scholarships. FBS programs have 85 scholarships to give while FCS programs can only give out 63 scholarships, but FCS programs can divide their scholarships so they can also reach the 85 player limit. Also of note, three conferences in the FCS level (Ivy League, Patriot League, Pioneer League) do NOT give out scholarships for football (The Patriot League does give scholarships for other sports, though) and the Northeast Conference gives out 30 scholarships (It will increase to 40 within the next five years).

So if an FCS school wanted to make the jump to FBS, they just restructure their scholarships?

A likely stadium expansion, and (of course) NCAA permission would also be needed.

A couple years old, but....

http://www.utsa.edu/ucomm/athletics/IV.htm

Other pertinent points are that you need to average 15000 paid and actual fans at games annually, given out at least 200 athletic scholarships (or $4 million in student aid to athletes) as well as sponsor 16 NCAA sports.

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I guess this is another reason why the New York UFL team is fleeing to Hartford.

[RyanMcD29]

Pretty much the reason why this is being cut is because Hofstra's building a Med School. So more or less, the football program being cut won't drive down any tuition costs, which are outrageous enough that I'm spending less money going here at Syracuse than I would be commuting 10 minutes to Hofstra every day (and believe you me, Syracuse's sticker price is comparable to the Ivies for god's sakes, I'm paying a little under half of it thanks to financial aid), and will instead decrease the national recognition of the school.

And why Hofstra needs a med school, when Stony Brook's on the island with one of the best public med schools in the nation (and costs a good 20k less than Hofstra) and NYU, Columbia, etc. are all 30 miles away in the City, is beyond me. Oh, it also helps the school president loves to give himself raises every year while the quality of the school more or less hasn't improved. A lot of kids I know go to Hofstra and many of them can't stand it more or less. Between all that and now yanking the football program, Thank God I didn't end up applying to Hofstra.

[Jimmy!]

A likely stadium expansion, and (of course) NCAA permission would also be needed.

A couple years old, but....

http://www.utsa.edu/...thletics/IV.htm

Other pertinent points are that you need to average 15000 paid and actual fans at games annually, given out at least 200 athletic scholarships (or $4 million in student aid to athletes) as well as sponsor 16 NCAA sports.

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I guess this is another reason why the New York UFL team is fleeing to Hartford.

Thank you, sir. That cleared it up nicely.

[njmeadowlanders]

Wayne Chrebet..... Marques Colston..... Any "Flying Dutchmen" I'm forgetting?

Pittsburgh's Willie Colon.

Lance Schulters went there as well.

I think there's a couple more...

[tp49]

Pretty much the reason why this is being cut is because Hofstra's building a Med School. So more or less, the football program being cut won't drive down any tuition costs, which are outrageous enough that I'm spending less money going here at Syracuse than I would be commuting 10 minutes to Hofstra every day (and believe you me, Syracuse's sticker price is comparable to the Ivies for god's sakes, I'm paying a little under half of it thanks to financial aid), and will instead decrease the national recognition of the school.

And why Hofstra needs a med school, when Stony Brook's on the island with one of the best public med schools in the nation (and costs a good 20k less than Hofstra) and NYU, Columbia, etc. are all 30 miles away in the City, is beyond me. Oh, it also helps the school president loves to give himself raises every year while the quality of the school more or less hasn't improved. A lot of kids I know go to Hofstra and many of them can't stand it more or less. Between all that and now yanking the football program, Thank God I didn't end up applying to Hofstra.

I'd argue that Hofstra has no national recognition to speak of and is strictly a regional school. The only reason I know about Hofstra and where it is would be because I grew up and graduated from High School about a 10 minute drive from there. People where I live with the exception of Gio Carmazzi and his father have never heard of Hofstra.

Honestly I know neither I nor my friends would think about going to football games at Hofstra. If we wanted to see a college football game we'd be more apt to go see Army.

I didn't know Hofstra was building a med school but they figure there's a market for that which would bring in more money for the university then the football program. I do wonder what hospital they'd partner with would it be Winthrop or NUMC/NCMC or whatever they're calling it now.

[njmeadowlanders]

Don't forget an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond revolved around Frank keeping the ball from a record-breaking field goal from a Hofstra kicker and trying to extort money out of the kid to get the ball back...

Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris is from Hofstra, and there are some other fringe players scattered throughout the NFL...

And other notable non-football alumni include:

Bernie Madoff

Speedy Claxton

Francis Ford Coppola

Charles Kushner (who resides a block away from me despite the fact that he's uber-wealthy and could afford to live pretty much anywhere he'd like...I was shocked someone with his wealth would live in the house that he actually lives in, but hey, to each their own right?).

David Patterson

Alan Colmes

[JH42XCC]

I guess this is another reason why the New York UFL team is fleeing to Hartford.

Not entirely true in my opinion.

Shuart Stadium, which also hosts Hofstra's lacrosse team and Major League Lacrosse's Long Island Lizards, as well as the expansion FC New York soccer team in USL-1, might become the home field for the UFL's New York Sentinels (if they don't move to Hartford).