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BGSU Hockey In Jeopardy
by OHWingsFan40 on 03/12/09 at 11:38 AM ET | View all posts by OHWingsFan40
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Dear KK Readers,
My name is Jeremy Pellek and am a Senior at Bowling Green State University. In light of the current tough economic times, and lack of state funding, BGSU will experience a $6-10 million budget shortfall for this coming fiscal year. As it stands now, many part-time employees will be let go after the school year ends, but further cuts need to be made to negate this substantial loss of money. Recently, it has surfaced that one possible cut may come in the form of the varsity hockey program. While the hockey program has struggled on the ice the past decade, it remains rich in history and tradition, and provided the school with it’s only NCAA National Championship in 1984.
Bowling Green competes in the CCHA against the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, etc. It’s arena is considered one of the oldest and run down buildings in all of college hockey. As programs like Miami OH and Notre Dame have built new facilities, Bowling Green has fallen behind in terms of recruiting and winning teams. The university originally allotted money for arena renovations, but unfortunately this money has been taken off the table, while alumni donations for the Stroh Center, a new facility for the basketball programs have been collected.
Bowling Green’s hockey tradition includes current NHLers Rob Blake, Ken Klee, Kevin Bieksa, coaches Jerry York of Boston College, Ron Mason, former AD at Michigan State, and current coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins Dan Bylsma. Other notable alumni include Capitals GM George McPhee, play-by-play announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick, and Ken Morrow and Mark Wells from the Miracle on Ice team.
If you are on Facebook, we urge you to join the group created to save BGSU hockey.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71342390743&ref=mf
Also, you are welcome to join the discussion on the BGSU fan board.
The loss of a national champion in college hockey will have very negative consequences for the sport. We encourage any and all hockey fans to help us keep college hockey alive at Bowling Green.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, College Hockey | KK Members Blog | Permalink
Tags: Bowling+Green, CCHA,
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I agree, this is a dire situation for hockey in general. Perhaps even worse than Jeremy indicated...the current President of BG is the same one that killed hockey at Kent back in the 90’s!
I’m a BG grad (Ph.D. ‘99..also a UT grad, M.D. ‘93), and I can tell you that the sporting teams in both those places have great personal meaning to me, and I’m guessing that’s the case for a lot of other folks. For better or worse, the sporting profile of any University solidifies the overall image of the school to the general public. BG needs hockey, just as it does football, to help keep it in the public eye. There is a lot of great research there, but hey, with UM about 55 miles to the North, you’re not going to get too many headlines there. But having competitive sport teams give you the chance to at least pull the occasional upset, and those surely do make the front page (ie, UT’s tilt with UM football last Fall).
Hockey in Ohio is not all that strong. I live in the Northeast corner of the State, and both my kids play in the Erie, PA system, rather than Cleveland (I live half way between the two cities). Erie Youth Hockey is ~500 kids deep, and simply better from top to bottom than any civic league in the Cleveland area. Now, if another major college hockey program is axed, it lowers the profile of hockey even farther off the popular radar. Youth hockey will suffer in turn, and the opportunities for kids, be they in grade school or college, are stunted.
I currently work in academics (not at BG), and I don’t know where the answer lies when the question concerns how to account for a $10 million shortfall. They can’t increase tuition (Ohio legislature won’t allow it)...I do have worries for the faculty (they are non-union), and perhaps a buyout of older faculty is a possibility…
I will do the usual alumni thing when theses sorts of threats happen...I’ll call the alumni office & propose that I end my donations, etc. Don’t know if it will help, but if enough of us do that, it’ll probably get their attention.
For what it’s worth, please everyone in the whole KK “family”, consider throwing an email at the BG athletic dept or administration. Joining the facebook page sounds like an easy way to get your voice heard as well.
Go BG!
Posted by VkingDoc on 03/12/09 at 01:18 PM ET