2/5/2000- Goss to go?

The rumor around town is that embattled Athletic Director Tom Goss will step down, possibly as soon as next week.  Frankly, it seems to good to be true but if it does happen Goss has no one to blame but himself.

What went wrong?  Well, Goss has never been a great communicator.  He has done a poor job of explaining controversial decisions and never seemed to learn from previous mistakes.  He pissed off Alumni and long time athletic department donors by raising football and hockey ticket prices.  Goss never seemed to understand that every decision he made would be scrutinized by the public.  A public that he took very much for granted.

Months ago, I wrote that while Goss could force season ticket holders to pay higher prices due to supply and demand, they would be reluctant to pony up extra donations.  Personally, my alumni donations said good-bye to the Victors Club and 'Hello' to the  School of Liberal Arts last year.  I wasn't the only one.  Donations to the Athletic Department are down and the department ran $2.7 Million dollar deficit last year despite having record revenues. 

Goss renovated the football stadium and said that tickets prices wouldn't increase- and they didn't...until the next year when he attempted to raise prices 30%.  Such was the public outcry that the increase was scaled back to 15%.  Hockey ticket prices were raised 50% pricing many long time season ticket holders out of Yost arena and dramatically decreasing the number student season tickets sold.  People who have waited years for football tickets were sent a letter saying they have been denied season tickets but for the right donation tickets might become available.  The official web site has been a money pit and continues to lack basic functionality despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on its development.  Dealing with some people in the athletic department is a disaster.  Some individuals working in the athletic department wouldn't know how to treat a customer if their life depended on it.

I don't know if Goss is really resigning.  But hope springs eternal...

GO BLUE!

UMGoBlue.COM Editor-in-Chief, Phil Callihan