Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
“We can talk, but money talks, so talk ‘mo bucks” - Jay-Z, “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
This isn’t the first time in my life that I’ve tried to find a way for Jay-Z’s lyrics to correlate to my life and I promise you that this won’t be the last, but it seems as if Jigga might have been onto something when he uttered the above line in 2001. In the world of college athletics, it seems that money talks - whether under the table or out in the open - and big programs are spending more and more in an effort to get a bigger piece of the cash cow that is TV deals and endorsements.
So, it came as no surprise that when the Chronicle of Higher Education released a report of school’s recruiting spending for the 2006-2007 that almost half of the programs in the country had doubled or tripled their budgets in the past decade. Kentucky found themselves ranked 20th overall in spending and the orange-clad inbreds from the south finished first. It should be noted that these figures are for all sports, both men’s and women’s, but you can assume the majority of the funding went to football and men’s basketball. Here are the exact figures and the top 20 rankings:
1. Tennessee - $2,005,700
2. Notre Dame - $1,758,300
3. Florida - $1,451,400
4. Auburn - $1,374,900
5. Kansas State - $1,316,700
6. Georgia - $1,284,000
7. Nebraska - $1,275,000
8. Arkansas - $1,259,700
9. Duke - $1,245,300
10. Ohio State - $1,236,800
11. Illinois - $1,203,500
12. Texas - $1,156,800
13. Syracuse - $1,121,200
14. Oklahoma - $1,120,800
15. Virginia - $1,112,000
16. Georgia Tech - $1,111,900
17. Michigan State - $1,098,800
18. West Virginia - $1,094,200
19. Oregon - $1,077,300
20. Kentucky - $1,056,100
You can argue all you want about whether or not Tennessee validated itself in spending that sort of money, but you have to admit that with a top football team, a basketball team that rapidly rose in stature and a women’s team that recruits all over the country, that their spending might be justified. Feel free to debate that statement below. But, I’m a little surprised that Kentucky isn’t ranked higher because of their cross-country basketball recruiting and their need to spend in hopes of competing with the SEC football powers. It’s all just water cooler conjecture really. But, I thought it might be interesting to see what Tennessee could have purchased with that chunk of change instead of targeting recruits. Here is what they could have spent their money on:
- 80,388 boxes of TrimSpa chocolates for Phil Fulmer
- Bruce Pearl could have purchased 100,335 copies of Girls Gone Wild: Dorm Room Fantasies
- They could have bailed out roughly 573 players arrested for misdemeanors. About 133 for felonies.
- Pat Summitt could have had surgery to turn into a man. Then back to a woman. Then back to a man. Woman. Man. Woman. Man. Woman. Man. Woman. And so on….for about 20 times. I’ll save you the counting on your fingers. She ends as a woman.
- The managers could have stocked up on 286,938 sticks of Gillette Clinical Strength Advanced Solid Anti-Perspirant for Pearl
- According to WikiAnswers, Duke Crews and Ramar Smith could have purchased 8,022 ounces of weed
- They could get 9 more years of the Buzz Peterson era
- Bruce Pearl could have purchased 45,594 Olympus WS-100 digital voice recorders for the next time he wanted to record conversations with a recruit to bring down an opposing coach
All in all, the Vols did ok I guess with what they spent. But, I think next time around they might want to church it up a bit and make things interesting. I know I would. Or, at least get some of that prescription anti-perspirant. Dude sweats WAY too much.
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Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
With it being for all sports its hard to tell what is really what. It is no surprise to see Tenn. #1 being good in at least three teams, don’t keep up with really any of the others…
Our football team seems to stay fairly local, majority of guys from the east side. The top four on that list are all football powers. Football has a lot more guys to recruit.
We know BCG is everywhere but at the same time he has been reported to be stopping at fast places like McDonald’s so he isn’t spending the big bucks on fine dining all the time.
Don’t we have our own private jet now? I know many programs including UT do not, so spending money on flights is not as much with having your own plane.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
It’s obvious Kansas St. does not spend their money wisely.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:46 pm
That was when Tubby was recruiting 2006-2007
July 31st, 2008 at 4:46 pm
YEa Tubby’s last night. Barely over a Mill..
I bet we are moved up on this list now.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I bet the football team spent more than Tubby did that year. It was Tubby’s last year…. just mailed it inh.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I can’t wait til Ol’Bruce gets busted for stalking the co-ed’s.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Funny funny stuff
July 31st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Excellent Beisner–one of your best postings yet!
The Pat Summitt bit had…has…me rolling, hilarious!
Keep up the good work!
(p.s. I share your condolences on Griff..it wasn’t supposed to have ended this way..now I’ll cry myself to sleep)
July 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Any exact $$ figures on the amount of Super 8 Motel suites shared by Pat and Bruce during recruiting trips?
July 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Summit could buy enough studio time to queef a cover to Stairway to Heaven.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I,as well, share in the condolences of the Griffey-less Reds and rejoice in the general jackassery that is Bruce Pearl.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:40 pm
My guess is that when they do the next list, we will have moved up quite a bit. My sense is that Billy G. is spending a lot more on recruiting than Tubby did. Plus, I would bet that the football program and other sports have kicked it up a notch….
July 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
The picture of Pat’s make-over is nasty.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I am amused.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Ooops Memphis…I hope this FedEx bullshit (amongst God knows what else) they have going on over there does that slimeball Calipari and his program some real damage. Gotta kinda play by the rules better when you start to get noticed Johnny.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8399474/NCAA-to-investigate-Memphis -booster’s-phone-call
July 31st, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Thanks for the “ridiculous manner”, very funny!
July 31st, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Please tell me Transy out spent Centre?
July 31st, 2008 at 6:58 pm
2)That’s just how much it cost to get Beasley.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Where does Louisville rank?
July 31st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
How much of Duke’s money was spent recruiting defense lawyers for their Lacrosse team, and “entertainers” for the aquittal party? Historically, the NCAA seems to always get ‘lost’ navigating “Tobacco Road” for recruiting violations. Hmmm?
July 31st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
poor Notre Dame, all that money and nothing to show for it
July 31st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Summit should have one of those addadicktomys. Pearl already has obviously.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
No UCLA, and no Southern Cal surprised me a bit.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
The issue is not that UT is ranked number 1 and UK number 20, but rather the fact that UT ($2,005,700) is spending double what UK ($1,056,100)is.
UK is not spending enough!
UK probably should be spending in the $1,250,000 to $1,500,000 range. That would put them in the Ohio State, Duke, Arkansa, Georgia, Auburn and Florida range.
As for value, I would have to say that Florida at $1,451,400 is getting better value for their money spent than UT at $2,005,700.