I have to say, I do not believe I am an overly cantankerous man. However, I do take umbrage when someone essentially calls me out in a letter to the editor in this very newspaper.
My editor has repeatedly assigned articles to me about the wonderful achievement of the women's swimming and diving team. It has come to the point where numerous friends on the swim team have stopped me and thanked me for telling people about their accomplishments.
By any stretch of the imagination, I am not trying to toot my own horn. I am just defending myself and this paper. However, I do agree with Marie Hintz that the women's swimming and diving team has not received enough credit outside of their locker room and outside of this newspaper.
Championship-caliber team at SLU is rare. Let's be honest. Our nationally acclaimed men's soccer team withered under pressure. Our highly publicized basketball team has performed well below their usual NIT standards. And our baseball team, despite all the talent it has, year in and year out, can never seem to find the chemistry to put it all together.
This is a team that has performed well enough to have one diver and one swimmer qualify for portions of the NCAA tournament. By comparison, our basketball team has not made it to the NCAA tournament since 2000. I am by no means trying to bring down the men's basketball team; it is a classless move to bring others down to your level, as opposed to building up your point. My point of contention is with our hallowed athletic department.
I realize that women's swimming and diving is not the cash cow basketball, soccer, and-to a lesser extent baseball are-but it is time for some accountability within our athletic department. Week in and week out in this newspaper are advertisements for our 7-18 men's basketball team and 3-23 women's basketball team.
The athletic department is not a for-profit organization. I do realize that. Their goal every year is simply to break even.
But, surely, there has to be some love in the budget to advertise once for the women's swimming and diving team. Cheryl Levick has done masterful work as the athletic director since taking over this past summer. Her work raising funds for the new arena is exemplary.
I spoke with Levick about the ability to advertise for a non-revenue sport, such as women's swimming and diving. She informed me that the advertising budget is predetermined each year. To go back and advertise for something unexpected is possible through the use of a discretionary funds account.
There is no reason that people should not have known about their last home meet while they were working on an undefeated season. Why was there no banner of congratulations across the quad this past week? There are two large banners hanging from the Bauman-Eberhardt Center about both basketball teams. To me, this is inexcusable.
A three-foot by 10-foot sign at the FedEx/Kinko's on South Grand costs $190. Surely that is not too steep a price to come out of the discretionary funds account to congratulate an undefeated team that holds three total scholarships divided among 22 swimmers, as determined by the athletic department.
It's not like we're simply talking about a solid, or even a winning season for a team. The women's swimming and diving team went out, beat every opponent, and beat them handily.
The closest any team got, as far as scoring is concerned, was 18 points. According to data collected from the Saint Louis University athletics' website, they won their meets by an average of 123.5-59.05. And we cannot get one congratulatory banner? Get serious.
The women's swimming and diving team boosted themselves to an 18-0 record when their coach admitted in the preseason he thought they could win, at best, 75 percent of their meets.
During the recent SGA presidential debates, a large point of contention dealt with how to fix school spirit.
How can the administration expect to increase school spirit when they do not promote their most successful team? And when I say team, I could not mean it any more; this is the consummate team.
These girls support each other through thick and thin, I know, I happen to be friends with a few of them.
I have heard stories of team Thanksgiving dinners and being there for a teammate when she needs a friend. This camaraderie extends well beyond the pool. That is where school spirit comes from: not always from a new on-campus arena.
There is support and encouragement in the pool, whether it is screaming your lungs out for standouts or losing your voice for the girls who provide depth (as the athletics' website so eloquently calls them). They embody "team."
One can only hope the athletic department hears my plea and does something for these girls that should have been done awhile ago. Congratulations again, ladies; you have made all of us at SLU-at least me and Marie Hintz-incredibly proud.
