Steve G's Essay

Question: How does a certain university or college make the decision to allow how much money goes to all of the different sports?

Answer: When our group went to Northeastern University and met with a man who answered to “scruff”, he told us that many different issues go into making a decision such as how much money goes to what sport. First off, “scruff” told us that the sports which will benefit the school with revenue as well as those with the most recruits involved will get a fair share of the scholarship and financial aid money. “Scruff” is a baseball scout coach now and told us that the university only gives 11.5 scholarships to people recruits on the baseball team. Then the baseball coaching staff has to decide how much money goes to what player. “Scruff” told us that he looks at players in three different levels 1a, 1b, 2, and finally 3. The players with more talent will be either 1a or 1b, while the walk-on players will typically be a 3. The majority of the money given to the baseball team will be given to the players who are ranked either 1a or 1b. Then, if there is any money left over they will begin to look at the pla
yers who ranked in as 2. Usually, the money will run out before they can get to the lower ranking players like the walk-ons, but in the off chance that there is still some money left, they will have to come up with a way of spreading the money out evenly or give it to the player who most deserves it.
When our group went to Boston College, we met with a man who is now a scout for the football team. When we asked him similar questions he told us a completely different answer. The process of deciding how much money goes to what sport is much easier at Boston College than it is at Northeastern University because of the differential of incoming revenue. Boston College has a great deal more money to give to their sports than Northeastern University does. For example, the football team’s success is huge to Boston College’s overall revenue income. The better the team does, the more people are going to want to watch them, therefore they buy more tickets which increases revenue. The football team is fully scholarshipped in the idea that the school gives out 85 “full-ride” scholarships solely for football players. Well obviously, more than 85 players will show up at the team’s try-outs but the either the players who make the team, or the players who have been recruited will receive the scholarship. However
, most people need the scholarship to be effective immediately because they cannot pay for college without it. This means that they will receive the scholarship before try-outs and it does not get revoked if the player does not make the team. But, if the college is willing to give the scholarship to that person, chances are they have great confidence in the person’s abilities to make the team. If a player is injured or needs to stop playing football for any reason and they have received a scholarship for playing football, the college will not and can not revoke the scholarship.