Shane Vicry
Triangle Reporter
In August at the Rhea Students Appreciation and Orientation Dinner hosted in Latimer for incoming freshman from RCHS and their parents, President Livesay made one of the biggest and most stunning announcements in Bryan college history.
Following guest speaker and former Rhea County football coach Micah Ruehling, Dr. Livesay moved towards the microphone with a pep in his step. Grinning from ear to ear, the president had the look of a man swelling with pride for what he was about to reveal. The room was abuzz as the first few words fell from Livesay’s lips.
“I have a huge announcement for you all this evening; one only a handful of people are even aware of.”
Curiosity abounded, but no one in attendance could have imagined the magnitude of what came next.
“You young men in the room,” Livesay continued, “will have the incredible opportunity unlike any before you…to play on the first ever Bryan College football team!”
The room burst into a mix of cheers, applause, and stunned silence from some of the faculty.
At this point, I’m sure you’re all wondering how you haven’t heard about this crazy development. Well, I have some bad news for you. The events I just described to you, though completely true, were in fact the result of Stevie D having a little fun with the members of the community.
Upon first hearing this, I thought to myself, “how gullible those people were, of course we can’t support a football team.” After a little curiosity-driven research however, my position has changed to “why the hell not?”
I know what you’re thinking. I thought the same things. We are way too small. We are made up of one-third homeschooled students. Does the NAIA even do football? We will always be relegated to soccer being the headliner of our athletic department and we should just accept it while weeping openly and tearing our clothes in shame. But hope is not an illusion, friends. The facts are nearly unbelievable.
The NAIA does in fact support football. Surprisingly, with an enrollment just south of 1000, we would not be uncommonly small compared to the rest of the competing schools. We wouldn’t be one of the big boys, but several schools are actually smaller.
Our total athletic budget of $2,059,212 would put us roughly in the 25th to 30th percentile neighborhood in relation to current NAIA football schools. And it would fit us comfortably within the range of schools in our natural geographic conference, the Mid-South.
Yes, it would cost us some money. Statistics bear out that between a quarter and one-fifth of the overall athletic budget is typically allocated to football. So we are looking at an annual expense of around 500k dollars – not taking into account revenues generated (that’s right, football is a collegiate sport that can actually make money). Granted we would have to front some start-up capital, but it’s not like we haven’t thrown more money around on some recent projects (*cough* new entrance).
But if money is the hold-up, allow me to introduce an idea to help us blaze a new trail for the future of Bryan athletics. Why not get rid of the current sports that no one cares about? Don’t read this as insensitive, but rather as pragmatic. It’s not like we can’t find new roles for the exiled athletes in limbo.
So Dr. Livesay, Coach Zensen, I enter my final plea. If you can’t see the sense in the matter, try to look at it this way. You love your country don’t you? Well, it is downright un-American to build a sports program devoid of football. And I’m not talking about the “futbol” we’re playing now. Show the students and community your patriotism. Give us something to really be excited about. Do the right thing.