NEWS

A Contrary View On The Athletic Dept.

The website, L.A. Material, has a lengthy story on USC and its efforts to recover from scandals and financial problems.

This line drew my attention:

“Knowledgeable sources say some of USC’s biggest units — its engineering and medical schools and athletics department — continue to lose money.”

The story does not elaborate but if the athletic dept. is losing money that is a problem, especially after Jen Cohen recently said revenue is “up almost 60 percent over a three-year span.”

The story was co-written by Matt Hamilton, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the L.A. Times investigation into George Tyndall.

  • Another interesting detail from the story is that John Mork, a member of the Board of Trustees, pledged $110 million to underwrite full-tuition scholarships for undergraduates but did not keep up the payments and USC was forced to underwrite the scholarships. The university wound down the program around 2020.

The story also mentions that during a board committee meeting early in the term of president Carol Folt, Mork soliticited her input by saying something like, “Let’s see what the girl has to say.”

40 thoughts on “A Contrary View On The Athletic Dept.”

      1. KAM: And if you were good looking you would be married to Morgan Fairchild..

        DON: As Dandy Don Meredith famously told Howard Cosell 56 years ago, “”If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.”

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      2. If Morgan would have come into the booth with Dandy Don do you think he would have immediately went into another spirited rendition of “Turn out the lights … the party’s over!”

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      4. Cool as the Dandy One was, yeah, next to impossible not to react to her! (and imagine Namath being there instead)

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  4. Just more fodder for Petros Papadakis to work with next Wednesday when he flops in for his 30 minute stream of consciousness on 570 AM ‘Two Pros and a Cup of Joe’ at the 5:00 a.m. mark…you should have posted this last night Scott.

    This all began under Nikias – his indifference to doing his job as chancellor….complete indifference towards ‘problems’ and then the ensuing metastasizing of them….Nikias gave us Folt – good riddance to her too.

    I believe President Beong-Soo Kim is the leader to lead just as Steven Sample did some 30+ years ago.

    Question – is Nikias still ensconced up there on Huntington Drive?

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  6. KAM: I would love to see how leaving the Pac 12 for the Big 18 resulted in a huge cost increase in travel for all the sports teams that must play opponents 3 time zones away.

    DON: Folt’s Folly.

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  7. Keck lost $33 million in the most recent data, and athletics is probably losing money because of title IX spending on a bunch of programs that generate $0 revenue.

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    1. KAM: Search Assist

      The University of Southern California women’s basketball program generated $12,481,639 in revenue but had expenses of $13,121,335, resulting in a financial loss.

      DON: And that’s the only women’s sport that generates real fan support. Imagine how much they have to pay to send the 20 women’s soccer team players to Happy Valley and Columbus Ohio?

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  8. real classy “trustees” SC has. this Monk dude is a disrespectful sexist who welshed on his promise to fund needy undergrads…

    hey wolfman, i’m having deja-vu all over again!! now where did i read about an SC Trustee who stole money from poor undergrads to stuff his and his family’s pockets??? OH I GOT IT!!! Pat “Lil’ Hands” Haden!!! Haden was never prosecuted; his punishment was being demoted to “honorary trustee” which means you don’t get to handle money no more!

    #NoHonorOrTrustInvolved

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  9. KAM: –SC is saying the athletics department is losing money, that just doesn’t jive. I know a ‘whopper when I see one

    DON: The figures don’t add up– The ‘Big-10 promised them $80 to $100-million per year which in reality turned out to be in the $50 to $60-million range Still, that’s good start-up money

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    1. KAM: Carol Folt didn’t tell us how much the increase in overhead would be traveling 3 time zones to play conference teams.

      DON: We need Jen Cohen to be transparent on how much we are in the red thanks to Carol Folt’s Folly.

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  10. DON: With a few exceptions, every top-10 team is kicking arse against second rated talent. It figured

    KAM: But don’t you feel sorry for the Underdog teams, I mean they know they are going to get beat 50-0 and yet are willing to put their bodies on the line against talented guys who know how to hurt you

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  12. KAM: Ohio St at Texas is a tough one to assess. I like Texas with their home fans urging them to victory.

    DON: Last year’s unusually low scoring game didn’t give us much of a read on Saturday’s encounter, except for the fact that defense usually rules in these big games

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    1. Bevo’s record in high stakes roundups is rather dismal (throughout their somewhat inflated history) … of course OsoHighO has often been a no-show in big games (but night and day better since Urban changed the culture) … they did play the same team a year ago and that adds to THE’s degree of difficulty (along with being on the road and Sark having equal if not better talent to squander against Day).

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  13. DON: Pat Haden being denigrated again. Haden for me was the Rose Bowl hero winning the 1974 National Championship. Nothing else

    KAM: Compartmentalizing. Everybody is made up of various parts. You might hate a comedian but yet find him hilariously funny

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  14. KAM: I am beginning to get into the season; these early wipeout games are only good for the players’ statistics.

    DON: Well, it does give the winning coach an idea of what he’s got

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      1. Sparrow,

        If SC had a real athletic director instead of one that thinks that she is on a permanant sorority party, they would tell the pencil neck geek to get to the playoffs and if not, then pack your bags. Also, you will accpet a buy out for $30 million. If not, then we will takee you to court for breach of contract and it will take years for a decision. Or we will pay your salary at $100k per year as an annuity. Your choice.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. He’s already going to get that much per month for the next 5 years, if we fire him at the end of this season.

        Buyouts never really happen. They merely remain on the payroll through the end of their contract and get paid at the same intervals they have since they were hired.

        It would appear that 90% of fans don’t realize this.

        Liked by 1 person

  17. DON: AIs destroying earth conjures up the 1962 Cuban crisis in which the U.S. and U.S.S.R came close to an all-out nuclear bombardment. But even if that had occurred it would not have been the end of humanity

    KAM: The cities would have been decimated but outlying areas such as at the Poles would still have supported life albeit a bleak one

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  18. KAM: So since the earth will still be around, SC will be paying Wiley off for years to come

    DON: When schools think about firing coaches, I ask “Who do you have whose better?’

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  19. Imaginary Wiley: L.A. is a tougher crowd than Oklahoma’s because there I had poor defenses but high-scoring offenses, and they loved me. Here, not so much

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