Seat Licenses Mean It's Go Time For USC Athletics
posted by Scott Hood on Monday, June 23, 2008
How? With higher expectations, of course.
By holding coaches, players and administrators accountable for what happens on and off the field.
By not just hoping for success, but joining many of their SEC brethren in demanding it.
By informing Athletic Director Eric Hyman that you, the long-time suffering USC fan, are, from this point forward, expecting a healthy return on your investment.
And that’s actually what your Gamecock Club dues, tickets and, starting later this year, seat licenses are: an investment.
Hyman likes to say college athletics is a business. So, it’s time for fans to treat it like one too. Business is all about profit and loss.
Hey, capitalism rocks.
How many of you have called your stockholder in the past and complained about the lack of a sufficient return on your investments? It’s the same thing with Hyman.
He’s merely the conduit through with USC fans are investing their hard-earned dollars in Gamecock athletics. Of course, you can’t fire Hyman like you could your stockbroker, but the theory is the same.
Here’s a sobering statistic: The only sports in which USC has won national team titles are women’s track and equestrian. Georgia has won two national titles this spring in men’s tennis and gymnastics.
And they will play for a third in baseball starting Monday night when the Bulldogs face the, well, Bulldogs of Fresno State in the best-of-three national championship series in Omaha.
But Georgia isn’t the only SEC East foe that’s enjoyed success in recent years. Florida has recently won two national championships in basketball and one in football to go along with numerous past titles in the Olympic sports. Tennessee has won the last two national championships in women’s basketball in addition to that football trophy in 1998.
It’s time for USC to join the party.
Yes, winning national championships is not easy. If it was, everybody would do it. But USC’s lack of titles over the years is, to put it bluntly, unacceptable and downright embarrassing.
So here’s what I suggest USC fans do: when you send in your check to pay your seat license fees for the new baseball stadium, include a handwritten note addressed to Hyman stating in unequivocal terms that, while you’re happy to support the schools’ athletic endeavors, you’re putting him and the entire USC athletic department on notice.
The message should be short and powerful: Mediocrity will no longer be tolerated. It's win or else.
Know what? I have a feeling every athletic administrator and coach employed by USC would welcome the higher expectations from Gamecock fans.
Hyman and all of USC’s head coaches are being paid a lot of money to win, and that’s exactly what they need to do. Yes, I know facilities and all that other stuff factor into it, but the excuses have to stop at some point.
Hyman isn’t stupid or naive, nor does he shrink from his responsibility of building a successful athletics program across the board at USC. He understands the business (I repeat, again, college athletics is first and foremost a business) of NCAA sports very well.
He knows the introduction of annual seat license fees will cause more Gamecock fans to demand greater on-field success. He should view that as a positive thing, because it is. And I'm sure he will.
One thing I’ve always admired about Ray Tanner is that when USC fans voice their displeasure with how the team is playing, he doesn’t back down or offer excuses.
He knows he created a monster by advancing to the CWS three consecutive years from 2002-04, and that’s what fans expect every year. He welcomes the pressure, just like every other great coach out there.
Tanner understands high goals are a good thing. But goals are just empty words on a piece of paper or chalkboard until they become reality.
The important thing is to set goals AND achieve them.
Hopefully, we’re on the brink of a new enlightened era in USC athletics when it comes to how seriously people around the program, including fans, approach winning.
Truly, winning IS everything.
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Now that South Carolina athletic officials have taken the historic step of imposing annual seat licenses at the new baseball stadium – a decision that’s a precursor to the upcoming Williams-Brice Stadium drama of 2009 – it’s time for Gamecock Nation to respond.
How? With higher expectations, of course.
By holding coaches, players and administrators accountable for what happens on and off the field.
By not just hoping for success, but joining many of their SEC brethren in demanding it.
By informing Athletic Director Eric Hyman that you, the long-time suffering USC fan, are, from this point forward, expecting a healthy return on your investment.
And that’s actually what your Gamecock Club dues, tickets and, starting later this year, seat licenses are: an investment.
Hyman likes to say college athletics is a business. So, it’s time for fans to treat it like one too. Business is all about profit and loss.
Hey, capitalism rocks.
How many of you have called your stockholder in the past and complained about the lack of a sufficient return on your investments? It’s the same thing with Hyman.
He’s merely the conduit through with USC fans are investing their hard-earned dollars in Gamecock athletics. Of course, you can’t fire Hyman like you could your stockbroker, but the theory is the same.
Here’s a sobering statistic: The only sports in which USC has won national team titles are women’s track and equestrian. Georgia has won two national titles this spring in men’s tennis and gymnastics.
And they will play for a third in baseball starting Monday night when the Bulldogs face the, well, Bulldogs of Fresno State in the best-of-three national championship series in Omaha.
But Georgia isn’t the only SEC East foe that’s enjoyed success in recent years. Florida has recently won two national championships in basketball and one in football to go along with numerous past titles in the Olympic sports. Tennessee has won the last two national championships in women’s basketball in addition to that football trophy in 1998.
It’s time for USC to join the party.
Yes, winning national championships is not easy. If it was, everybody would do it. But USC’s lack of titles over the years is, to put it bluntly, unacceptable and downright embarrassing.
So here’s what I suggest USC fans do: when you send in your check to pay your seat license fees for the new baseball stadium, include a handwritten note addressed to Hyman stating in unequivocal terms that, while you’re happy to support the schools’ athletic endeavors, you’re putting him and the entire USC athletic department on notice.
The message should be short and powerful: Mediocrity will no longer be tolerated. It's win or else.
Know what? I have a feeling every athletic administrator and coach employed by USC would welcome the higher expectations from Gamecock fans.
Hyman and all of USC’s head coaches are being paid a lot of money to win, and that’s exactly what they need to do. Yes, I know facilities and all that other stuff factor into it, but the excuses have to stop at some point.
Hyman isn’t stupid or naive, nor does he shrink from his responsibility of building a successful athletics program across the board at USC. He understands the business (I repeat, again, college athletics is first and foremost a business) of NCAA sports very well.
He knows the introduction of annual seat license fees will cause more Gamecock fans to demand greater on-field success. He should view that as a positive thing, because it is. And I'm sure he will.
One thing I’ve always admired about Ray Tanner is that when USC fans voice their displeasure with how the team is playing, he doesn’t back down or offer excuses.
He knows he created a monster by advancing to the CWS three consecutive years from 2002-04, and that’s what fans expect every year. He welcomes the pressure, just like every other great coach out there.
Tanner understands high goals are a good thing. But goals are just empty words on a piece of paper or chalkboard until they become reality.
The important thing is to set goals AND achieve them.
Hopefully, we’re on the brink of a new enlightened era in USC athletics when it comes to how seriously people around the program, including fans, approach winning.
Truly, winning IS everything.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.